A bit of this & that!!

Well it’s again been a while since I last posted – not intentional; however, I’ve had stuff going on and I suppose lost my sewing mojo to some degree. I moved house mid-May. What I’ve actually done is to move back home, having temporarily moved in and lodged with my sister-in-law for about 18 months – I rented out my house to tenants. It was a great opportunity for me to reduce my mortgage a bit, which is in preparation for me retiring next May when I’ll be 60-years old (cannot wait!!).

In moving back home, I decided it was a good time to have some decorating done, which I did before moving back. I’ve had all of the upstairs and the staircase redecorated and new carpet laid, new wardrobes from Ikea, new light fittings and I’m still waiting on a bespoke handmade chest of drawers, which I designed. So, a fair bit of my time was spent organising all of that. Plus also re-packing my belongings, removals, ending the tenancy and everything that goes with that etc. etc.

So to start with, I made a bag for my nephew’s wife (Hafsa). They had been to Turkey on holiday, and Hafsa had bought back a print of lovely colourful doors. As soon as I looked at the picture, I saw ‘free-motion applique’ which had to be done, and as everyone can use another tote bag, that’s what I decided to do. I used faux leather for the base. Here are the framed print and the bag:

Next, and for whatever reason, I decided to make a ‘Tilda’ duck with some of my Tilda stash – I then thought I might as well make two!!

I’m fairly sure I’m moving away from the Artist Teddy Bears in favour of the Waldorf Dolls I’ve been loving more and more over the last couple of years or so. I have LOADS yet to learn about them, but here is my third attempt.

It’s better than the first two, but I’m FAR from happy with the face – getting it right is about the eye/mouth/chin area, which I’ve not done well; however, it is the face that’s the most difficult to get right. Still, in about 3 – 4 weeks, I shall be attending my first Waldorf Doll Workshop, which will hopefully guide me in the process of the face and hair making. I also made the dress and knitted the cardigan that she’s wearing, together a spare red & white dress.

So then (4 weeks ago) I decided to break my ankle!!!!!!!!!!!! Now if you’d read my last blog post, you may recall I was on crutches then because I’d had a total knee replacement. So, this is a bit of a déjà vu moment – same leg even! What happened was that I was going downstairs (getting ready for work at 6:15am) and thought I was on the last stair before the floor – unfortunately, there was actually another stair, which I missed, and I landed very heavily in a heap on the floor. A trip to A&E and then the fracture clinic resulted in a moon boot and crutches – and 6 weeks (or so) off work!! Mind you, boredom has really set in being housebound! Daytime TV is totally pants – here I am watching the ‘Sewing Quarter’. I’ve even signed up to ‘Netflix’! Still, it could be worse! Speaking about Netflix, have you seen a wonderful film called ‘Lion’? It came out a couple of years ago and is a true story about a 5-year old boy who became lost from his home and family in India; accidently ended up on a very long train journey across India and was eventually adopted by a couple in Tasmania ….. what a fabulous film (and a tear jerker).

I have to keep my leg elevated as much as possible, which rules out sitting at the sewing machine, so I’ve settled down to some knitting instead. A few weeks before the ankle break, I’d been to the Birmingham Yarningham Knitting Festival, where I excitedly bought a kit to make a VERY quirky (which I love) little fox. So excited was I when I bought the kit, it didn’t occur to me to read the pattern. Now, although I’ve been a knitter since I was a child, I’ve only ever knitted in what I’m now terming the ‘old-fashioned’ way on 2 metal single pointed knitting needles with either double-knit or 4-ply yarn. This quirky looking fox has been a massive (and welcome) learning curve to my knitting skills. I’ve had to knit with what is probably equivalent to something like 2-ply yarn (very thin), knitting with dpns (double pointed needles) in size 2.25mm (also very thin) – my sister-in-law said they look more like cocktail sticks, which is true, especially as they’re made from bamboo. I’ve learnt to do something called ‘short rows’, I’ve knitted ‘in the round’ – I’ve cast on with a method called ‘figure of 8 cast-on’ – and all this on needles only a little bigger than cocktail sticks. I did it though and my ‘quirky fox’ is the result AND he looks like the picture on the pattern. He measures about 8 inches from top to toe.

This week, I also finished an ‘Ellie’ which I’d prepared months and months ago. Finishing meant stuffing the body and doing the head. He has a little pair of trousers, but I’ll probably finish him with a little knitted top …….. eventually!!!

Next on my list is a couple of small (I hope) cross-stitch projects.

I think to be honest, I’ve been doing a lot more dreaming about the crafts I want to do, rather than actually ‘doing’!! I’m really hoping I can do something with my crafts once I retire, such as holding workshops as well as selling made items and I think I’m getting too anxious about it all. Although I have loads of ideas of things to make, I just really don’t know where to start with the ‘doing’ side of things!! I need to do some business research I suppose and make a plan! I also think I’m probably afraid of failure and am procrastinating big time!!

Anyway, to finish, and just because he’s so gorgeous, here’s a photo of my great nephew, Mika, who is just over 8-months old now ……. isn’t he a cutie?

Harold!

I really am rubbish at choosing names for my bears - what a name for a Panda :0)

Anyway, Harold it is! And instead of the traditional black and white, Harold is a lovely chocolate brown and off-white combination. The fabric is Helmbold 20mm pile Mohair. The paw pads are made from Faux Nubuck.

Harold is 5-way cotter jointed. He stands 12½ inches/32cms top to toe and 10 inches/26cms sitting and has the fabric ‘Handmade at Bilberry Lane’ label and the metal ‘BL’ pin at the back. Can you also just see the little white tail? He is filled with the usual firm fibre fill and steel shot for weight - has black glass eyes, and is shaded around the eyes with powder pan pastel.

Harold is finished off with a lovely lime green ribbon around his neck. I hope you like him!

Harold can be adopted for £70, plus shipping and packaging

UK - £10 tracked and signed

Europe - £15, tracked and insured

Worldwide - £22, tracked and insured

Maddy

Maddy  (like the colour, rose madder) is made from a very pretty pink curled Mohair fabric (20mm pile). She has a pink ribbon around neck, a little rose trinket pinned under her neck and a handmade crocheted flower headband.

Maddy is filled with firm fibre fill and steel shot for weight. She has black glass eyes with white felt behind them and has been aged with powder pastels.

Maddy is one of my larger bears so far, measuring 13½ inches/34cms from top to toe and 10 inches/25cms sitting height. She is 5-way cotter jointed – loose joints in the legs.

Also incorporated are my fabric ‘handmade at …..’ label and antique style metal ‘BL’ pin, which you can just about see amongst her fur!

And here’s a photo in my hand in an attempt to give size perspective.

Maddy can be adopted for £70, plus shipping and packaging

UK - £10 tracked and signed

Europe - £15, tracked and insured

Worldwide - £22, tracked and insured

Meryl's bears

That's the best title I can come up with I'm afraid! These two are a pair of commissioned bears for; yes you've guessed, a lady by the name of Meryl.

The story is that a few of my bears were spotted by 'the bride' earlier in the year in a posh Tearoom near to me. They’ve been taking a few of the bears and selling them amongst a small line of gifts they sell – the Afternoon Teas are sublime by the way!! I've only been about ten times so far LOL

Anyway, as I say they were spotted; and I don't know how it came about, but Meryl became aware and somehow discovered my email address and then contacted me ......... the bears were to be a surprise! No pressure there then!!! Thankfully, I had about 3 months to compete them, which was just as well and I managed it just before I moved house recently ......... that gave me enough headaches in itself :0(
…….. talk about living a stressful life!!! Anyway, the wedding took place recently so now I can show them. I've also since had a message from Meryl to say they were very much loved by the bride ....... phew!!!!

In all the stress of moving and getting the bears in the post, I forgot to measure them, but they were from a regularly used pattern so are approximately 9 - 10 inches top to toe and made from one of my favourite viscose fabrics in a lovely pale gold colour. I then had to source some very fine netting for the veil, which I also used for the skirt part of the dress so that you can still see the beauty of the bear fabric. The little headdress was incredibly tricky to wire up, but looked fine in the end. 'His' waistcoat is made from a lovely blue piece of fabric from my woolly stash - blue was the theme apparently.

I’ve just remembered; I do actually know their initials V & P, as Meryl asked me to embroider them somewhere on the bears – this is NOT a terribly good shot of the initialed paw pads!!

So, there you go - two bears in one! I hope you like them.

Ella

Yes, I know it’s been a while (again!!), but I have a good reason. I’ve recently moved house, so enough said – anyone who has been through the process will understand. I’m still dealing with paperwork, but I’m getting there!

Anyway, just before the move, I almost managed to get this little lady finished; and now she is complete. Her name is Ella and she’s a gift for a special lady who I’ve worked closely with for about the last 8 – 9 years and she has just retired …… and since I first started making them, she’s always taken a keen interest in my bears, so it was a natural choice.

I haven’t actually given Ella yet (I hope to very soon), but I think I’m safe, as I don’t think said lady reads my blog.

Anyway, Ella is my second bear using the beautifully soft curly Steiff Schulte Mohair fabric, although a different colour, plus faux nubuck fabric for the paw pads. Again, I have made her a lovely pair of dungarees, except this time I’ve used a genuine vintage fabric (a lovely pale blue with a pretty pink floral pattern) which I picked up several years ago at a vintage fair and has been in my stash ever since. They may be dungarees, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be trimmed with a bit of bling does it .......... aren't they sweet!

Around the back, you can see the bag I’ve made for her, which holds her latest canvas, because she is an ‘Artist’ bear in the true sense of the word! There is a theme you see, as said lady took up painting some years ago, so Ella is an artist; hence also the art palette charm around her neck.

Ella stands 13½ inches / 35cms top to toe and 9½ inches / 24cms sitting and has the fabric ‘Handmade at Bilberry Lane’ label and the metal ‘BL’ pin at the back. She is filled with the usual firm fibre fill and steel shot for weight. She has black glass eyes, with white felt behind them and is slightly aged a little with oil pastel.

I hope you like her!

Delia

Here’s a cute little girl – Delia! She’s a bit larger than my usual bears standing top to toe at 13¼inches / 34cms and 9¼inches / 23cms sitting.

Delia has been made from the most beautifully soft curly Steiff Schulte Mohair fabric, with faux nubuck fabric for the paw pads. Her dungarees are made from a vintage shade of pink 100% cotton fabric. They have old gold style buckles and a front pocket. The bottom of the dungaree legs are trimmed with pink flower lace and around her pretty head is a deep wine colour raw silk ribbon and she is finished with a bottle of pink pearls around her neck. I’ve also added the fabric ‘Handmade at Bilberry Lane’ label and the metal ‘BL’ pin to her dungarees.

Delia is filled with the usual firm fibre fill and steel shot for a good bit of weight. She has black glass eyes, with white felt behind them. Lastly, she is slightly aged a little with oil pastel.

Delia can be purchased for £70, plus shipping and packing:

UK - £10 Special Delivery

Europe - £15, tracked and signed for

Worldwide - £22, tracked and insured

If you would like any further information, please email me at:-

bilberrylane@hotmail.co.uk 

Thanks for looking

Summertime Delight - month 6

I was getting on so well with my Summertime Delight BOM ………. and then they (they being ‘Totally Patched’) sneakily snook in some EPP (English Paper Piecing) – 88 1½inch hexxies! 

Thank you very much!! First I had to cut out 88 cardboard templates; then tack 88 pieces of fabric on to the 88 pieces of cardboard (at least the fabric was pre-cut!) and then 22 darling little hexxies stitched together into heart shapes x 4 …….. AND then the 4 hearts appliquéd on to background fabrics. Okay, normally I love hand-stitching and appliqué, but part of the joy of this BOM quilt was that I could crack on with it quickly each month as it popped through the letterbox with my sewing machine ..... not with my hands!! Still, here it is; all done and back on track. 

There’s not too much more to go now. Four more log cabins, four plain corners and two fancier blocks, plus the borders. It’s looking good!!!!

And just in case you’re thinking I’ve gone of bear making, here’s a sneaky peak at my current creation – approximately half done. Still loving my bears - absolutely!!

I hope to have it completed by the end of the week because (joy of joys) I have a week off work!

April

I know, not a very original name!! So, we’re in the month of April and I couldn’t think of anything else. I started with the name Apple (because of the colour of course) and really, I did once come across a child by that name ….. yes!!!

Now I want honest answers please: what do you think of the green eyes, because I’m not at all convinced? I nearly painted over them with black nail varnish, but then I knew I would probably make a hash of it and ruin the bear completely!! Let me know what you think (diplomatically!) and then I’ll know NEVER to use green eyes again and stick with the black ones.

Anyway, April is made of a lovely lime green mohair and she is totally hand-sewn. She is 10 inches from top to toe, has GREEN glass eyes with some white felt underneath and a brown stitched nose. She is 5-way jointed and filled with firm fibre fill and plenty of steel shot for a nice weighty feel. I have also given her a slightly distressed/aged look around the edges using oil pastels. I have made her a green floral cotton dress (machine sewn), trimmed with vintage crochet lace and I even managed to attach these antique brass popper fasteners - I was very pleased with myself that I managed to attach them without ruining the dress, hence the photo! She also has a pretty pink ribbon around her head. 

I wondered while I was taking photographs whether I should have made her some underwear!!! Too late now though, as my mind is on my next bear.

Mostly because April sort of matches my lovely vase, here she is sitting under my Easter tree next to my multi-colour bunnies (which I did NOT make – they’re way too small)!! 

Your thoughts please