Custom Child's Bag

I was just asked earlier today if I could make a little bag for a toddler as my friend wants to give something a bit different,  a gift she can keep. I used my recycled bits and bobs as usual but I have to say it probably took me a while longer than I anticipated as working small is fiddly! I also hand embroidered the child's name on the front as little girls like to have their name on  things.

I did two little handles she can hold, I didn't want anything over the neck as this could be dangerous.

I lined it inside also with the same little butterfly fabric that is on the front.  Also no buttons or fastenings as she wont be able to work them yet.

It isn't very big but when she has done playing dress up with it and is a little older she could keep her crayons in it.  She could also hang it on a peg in her room to keep hair accessories or things like that in.

It would be nice to one day have one of those fancy machines that does all the embroidery for you. That said I do like to sit and hand sew things, it just doesn't have that professional look. Oh well it does have the handmade look though.  It measures 14cm across and is 12cm deep.

New shop

I have just spent the last few days trying to set up a website with shop. I used www.weebly.com which was good as they allow you to set up a site for free and they have templates. However nothing is ever quick is it? This seems to have sucked up lots of my time and some things didn't go as planned you have to go to paypal to sort out your shipping and it seemed to only want to let me have prices based on value whereas i wanted them based on location. For example if I am shipping to USA this was a bit confusing. You can find my Fabbags shop here.  Also my items are one off and it doesn't give you a sold sign on your item as it sells which is something I need really. Oh well I will give it a go and see, I have still kept my Folksy shop also at my folksy shop

Handmade roller blind

I have caught up on a few things this last week. The first thing is I have been meaning to replace the roller blind in the bathroom for a while now and I had the fabric but I just hadn't got around to it.  I bought the fabric earlier in the year from IKEA for £5 pounds which I didn't think was too bad and it's quite a heavy fabric for curtains or upholstery. I took the one down from the bathroom and just removed the fabric from the roller. I then took out the panel from the bottom that makes it hang straight, I laid it out on the fabric and cut a piece allowing for a hem up each side and a channel for the plastic panel at the bottom and hemmed. This really took no time at all so I don't know why I have left it so long.  My husband then got his electric stapler and stapled the fabric to the original roller blind tube. ( If you don't have one of these you could go with my original idea of strong fabric glue, or there are quite strong tapes now that even hold up pictures!)
We put it up and it has transformed the window. Sorry the picture is dark, these dark nights mean that if you don't get time in the daylight you have no chance of a good picture.  I think the orange goes well with the mosaic in my tiles ( sorry you can't see this in the picture)

Now I know you may look and think well shouldn't the birds be the other way? Well you may be right but because of the width of the fabric this way it fitted with the  meter I bought and of course I don't mind.  The mechanism in the blind still works perfectly well and it means I have a new blind for a fiver in just the fabric I wanted.

The other thing I caught up was some more cushions for the living room. I showed a few some weeks ago but this is ongoing as I wanted to replace all of them.  I have done two more using up my fabrics and charity shop pillow cases etc. They are both different designs as I like them to look random. Unfortunately again the picture was taken in the evening so it does not do the colours justice.  

If you look at the cushion with the heart in the center you can see a bit of the cherry vintage fabric that I made someone a dress with a number of weeks ago.  I like to use up all the little bits.