Handmade Christmas - book bag

 My family includes lots of teachers/academics so thought I'd make some book bags for Christmas presents

 

Started off with a big rectangle of fabric and put my embriodery hoop to good use

I love anything nautical so sketched out a ship design

Er.. I should have sketched the design directly on the the fabric with pencil - I sowed it on the paper and then had to remove it - gah tricky!

Phew paper removed pinned all the parts together just need to put the zip in

 

Zip done! This was the hardest part and a wee bit of unpicking was involved to get it to sit right.

The outer fabric is thick linen - lining is a soft tartan fabric.

A4 sized book bag or document pouch!

Done! Can't wait to give this one

What my tree wore!

Here she is! A lovely wonky lil tree. This is the first year Tom and I have got our very own real tree

I've been trying to have a handmade christmas so I crafted some decorations

 

 

 

 A stripey heart cushion

 

 

Dried out some orange slices in a low oven - house smells amazingly christmassy!

Threaded on red tartan to tie them up

 

 

Made some pom pom wool baubles from old wool

 

 

A hot air balloon

 

 

Printed some plain luggage tags with stamps I bought at a fair in Hebden Bridge last week

 

 

Other decorations I didn't make - a few large pine cones tied on with polka dot ribbon

and some pretty little cardinals I bought last year when we spent xmas in St Louis Missouri with Tom's family.

 

What is your tree wearing this year?

xx

A little DIY

When Tom and I moved into our first flat together in Whalley Range we had VERY little furniture ... for quite some time! It was like camping, but very cosy camping, in a lovely one bedroomed ground floor flat with a pretty garden. Over time we have been given enough furniture by friends and family to fill a two bed terrace house! My mum gave us this chair which was one of the first items my parents bought for their first 'proper home'. As with most if the furniture we have been given it needed a little work to restyle it. The cushions had lost alot of stuffing and the fabric was pretty worn.
I took the chair apart and spent a couple of days sanding and stripping the wood back. Once the legs were sorted I measured the cushion seats and made new covers for them with some Harris tweed I had left from another project. I used velcro strips to secure the cushions in place as putting proper zips in seemed a wee bit fiddly - I don't think my sewing skills quite extend to upholstery yet!



I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I think I will varnish the legs with a bit more matt finish varnish in the spring but for now I have dressed it up with my red Masai blanket and a white cushion to make it look a bit festive!

Jo