Personalised cushions

I thought i would show a few cushions i made for a recent order x

Bunting

These are two strings of bunting which were custom ordered recently. The bunting can be made in either shape shown, any color and with any name on it.

This photo is from a bunting party which i ran recently, every one was really happy with their bunting and had a lot of fun making it xx



Toothfairy cushion

This is a tooth fairy cushion which i made as a bespoke order for a christening.   xx

piping and sock yarn

Hi

I have been attending a sewing course on Thursday evenings for two weeks now and last week we all decided that we wanted to learn how to make piping. So i would like to present my first ever piped cushion. I love it so much, its the right colours for me and its also (if i do say so my self) really well made! I'm so so proud of it. Its hard to get the hang of, i found, but once you get it its a fab skill to have.

This week Ive also been practicing my spinning. Ive defiantly caught the sock knitting bug now, i finished my first pair of sock last Thursday and since then Ive completed one more with a beautiful lace pattern on it. I have been so  excited about knitting the socks that i decide to try spinning my own sock yarn as well. It has been hard as i have never spun anything this thin before but after a few bobbins of thicker yarn i now have some very thin yarn ready to become a sock! i also just love the colours. I'm not sure how easy it is to see in the picture but it has a few streaks of shin through it as well.

I brought the roving from worldofwool.com and I'm so so happy with it! I'm also lusting after this yarn which is 3% sterling silver which just sounds too interesting to pass up, however i think ordering more that 3 skeins of yarn (just for sock knitting) this weekend already is enough and i will have to wait for a little while before i can justify buying this

 

Charlotte xx

Just for me

Hi

Sooooo today I was planning to post some pictures of some place mats that i have been making, however, my sewing machine has decided that on the last but one place mat (of eight) that it no longer wants to use the cotton that i have been using. Very frustrating! Any way so i thought i would show you a few things that i have been working on 'just for me' instead!

So to start with, for Christmas i was lucky enough to receive a brand new computer. Its very lovely, however I've never had a desk top computer before so i don't have a mouse mat. So i tried my hand at some crazy quilting and made my self this mouse mat. 

I wanted something fairly original and quirky so i chose this fabric from my stash and stitched over some of the pattern to create some crazy quilting.

Secondly I have recently been teaching my self to spin using a spinning wheel. I have been trying to get to a spinning group which is held every first Thursday of the month but something has always come up or it has snowed so i had no way to get there! Anyway so there has always been something! So i brought a book called start spinning which was really helpful but i found the most helpful thing was to watch spinning tutorials on youtube. I could then use the book to simply remind me how do do certain things.

I don't think I'm doing to badly for a complete beginner. I even made my first hat from hand spun wool the other day, however it was snapped up by a friend too quickly so i don't have a photo at the moment. But i will get one.

And lastly I am attending a knit-a-long next Tuesday hosted by imake in Guernsey. We will all knit socks, most people attending have never knit socks before. Unfortunately for me that includes me! I don't like the idea that i can't just pick up the pattern and away i go. I read the pattern (with difficulty but i will explain about that later, funny story) and shock horror i didn't understand half of what it was asking me to do. So not being able to cope i had to start my sock before the knit along so it at least looks like i have always know what i am doing! It is a very basic pattern but i am actually fairly happy with how it has come out so far.

Unfortunately the toes fit Steve better than they fit me! Very sad but i think if i promise to make some more in a slightly more manly colour then he will let me keep my very first pair of socks.

Ah yes the funny story that i promised... when Martine sent us the pattern to have a look over before the knit-a-long she attached it as an image but it was upside down. I have an ipad and kept turning the ipad over to try to view the pattern and it kept flipping so it was always the wrong way. It took me a while before i gave up and printed it. Is that not a definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

Anyways that's all form me today

Thanks for reading

Charlotte

  

New Years Resolution

Hi

So after a very long break I am back and in a very bloggy mood. This year my new years resolution is to blog more! I have a lot of very exciting things that are just starting and I think it is important to document all of those things!

I will be introducing new product lines via this blog. and this blog will be under going a make over itself (although I'm not sure how I will be doing that yet, it WILL happen) 

I'm also very interested in a website called pinterest at the moment. I have been finding some very good ideas for my new house on there along with beautiful crafty things and recipe inspiration. It is actually where I got the inspiration to make my first macaroons! I was very very nervous as I had heard so many horror stories about making them, but luck was defiantly on my side and some how I managed to make some fairly successful first macaroons.

Soo....

Chocolate Macaroons with a Butter Cream Filling


Ingredients

• 3 large egg whites
• 100g ground almonds
• 150g icing sugar
• 35g cocoa powder
• 125g caster sugar (divided into two portions)

• Put the ground almonds, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a blender and pulse until it is a fine powder.
• Then sift the mixture into a large bowl.

• Put the egg whites into a large bowl with half the caster sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form.
• Add the rest of the caster sugar and continue whisking until the sugar has dissolved

• Gently mix all of the powder mixture into the egg whites. I used a figure of eight motion. You must take care not to over mix the batter.

• Line two baking tray with parchment paper
• At this point you should be using a pastry bag to pipe small mounds of the mixture, however i don't have a pastry bag and my next best thing didn't work so well either...... so i just used a teaspoon to dollop the mixture on to the tray. they did come out a little wonky but i think it just adds character :-) the dollops should be around the size of a walnut, i didn't see this part of the recipe, so mine were all different shapes and sizes :-)

• Allow the macaroons to sit for 20-30 minutes before you put them in the oven, in this time a skin should form and they will no longer be wet to the touch.
• Now bake the macaroons at 160 degrees (fan assisted) for 12-14 minutes. The shells should be smooth and shiny and they should have feet which i learnt is the bubbly part at the bottom. (i was way too over excited when i saw that mine had this)

• Allow for the macaroons to cool for a few moments and they should come of the baking tray easily.

• For the filling i just mixed up a simple chocolate butter cream

• The boys enjoyed them and the pooch tried to sneak a few too :-)

This is the first recipe i have ever blogged so if anyone tries the recipe and it works or doesn't please let me know as i am very interested in any feedback.

Thanks

Charlotte x