Toffee Apples and Quail Feathers

I have some exciting news for any fans of the original 'Call The Midwife' books by Jennifer Worth. A new book is being published next week (1st September). My very good friend Suzannah Worth has compiled a new book called 'Toffee Apples and Quail Feathers', I for one am so excited for her and the new book.

Info from publishers website...

'Following the death of her beloved mother Jennifer Worth in 2011, Suzannah Worth discovered amongst her manuscripts a folder simply labelled ‘Fifth Book’. Imagine her excitement when she sat down to read and her mother’s distinctive voice came flooding back. She found herself once again immersed in the world of the 1950s East End of London. The voices of much loved, familiar characters spoke loud and clear, particularly that of Fred the boiler man, who features extensively in this joyful collection. From Fred and Maisie’s romance, to Fred’s little earners including boat tours on the Thames, a fledgling singing career and raising pigs on the allotment, these new stories are as heart-warming and funny as the originals.

Published here for the first time and accompanied by a selection of Suzannah’s favourite chapters from the original memoirs, featuring Chummy and Sister Monica Joan, this is a very special addition to the Call the Midwife family.

You can buy from all leading booksellers and Amazon here

Dog Blanket

I'm fairly new to Machine Embroidery, but it didn't take me long to find out I could do other things with it! And one of those things is applique!  I found an applique file for a dog bone, and of course thought dog blanket. So along with a couple of paw prints and the name of my brothers Dog I came up with this.

A friend of mine saw it and immediately asked for one for her dog and one for her daughter!

I have added 'Dog Blankets' to my Etsy shop to be personalised with the recipients name!

The pooches have never had it so good LOL!

Sarah xx

Well Hellloooooooo! I have a new hobby!

Well its been a while, how are you all?

I have a new Job and a New Hobby.  I started my new job last June, its part time in the NHS still, however I now only work mornings which gives me lots of time for my new hobby...

It all started when I decided I was going to treat myself to a new sewing machine (I had been saving up for nearly 2 years). I decided it was going to be something all singing and dancing and something that could do a bit of lettering!  Lots of searching on the internet, I had narrowed it down to a Singer 9960 or a Janome TX607 until one morning I turned on the Create and Craft channel and they were demonstrating a Embroidery Machine. I watched fascinated, think how marvelous it would be to have a machine that could Embroider, just think of all the things I could do!  The price was a couple of hundred pounds more than I was going to spend on my new Sewing Machine, but still nearly £800. Could I justify spending the extra? Lots more searching on the internet followed, and its soon dawned on me that the machine on Create and Craft was in fact Embroidery only, the price of an Sewing and Embroidery machine combined was double at least! Oh well, I thought, there's no way I can justify that amount of money, let alone afford it, until I came across a machine which was Ex Demo/Ex Display and slightly outdated (no USB connection) for less than half price, but still came with full 2 year Manufacturers Guarantee!  Oh My God! Could I possibly justify it, would I use it, much procrastinating, and checking the website to see if it was still there, much discussing with hubby!  In the end I pushed the button and paid for it and 2 days later it was delivered. My new hobby began with my New Elna Xplore Sewing and Embroidery Machine!

My New Pride and Joy

I started with a pack of embroidery threads and a pack of stabiliser, and with the instruction manual on my knee I tentatively hooped a face cloth, pushed the buttons on the display and my first embroidery started to stitch!

Well, that was 6 months ago and I haven't looked back, I've embroidered Face cloths, Towels, T-shirts, cushion covers, bags, fleece blankets and of course the favorite Item of mine the Peg Bag LOL!

Face Cloths

There's a whole world out there on the World Wide Web of Embroidery websites, I've joined a Facebook group which offers invaluable advice.  I have also found it's quite an expensive hobby, so I am hoping to sell a few items and will be stocking my Esty Shop hopefully very shortly - Braddlebury Crafts

Fleece Dog Blanket.

I love my new hobby, its so addictive.  I'm hoping to add a few more projects here from time to time. I've missed blogging!

Sarah XX

Peacock Cottage Peg Bag

Whilst blog hopping last week, I came across a blogger that had made a Bag out of a piece of fabric from Hillary's Blinds...  It was a competition entry, and the competition was still open. There's nothing like a piece of free fabric and a comp to get my mojo flowing again...  find out about the Hillarys Blinds Country Crafts competition here.

I chose the rather striking 'Bird Parade Teal' and was inspired to re-invent my Beach Hut Peg Bag, into a Cottage!

My cat was very interested in the project and of course came to inspect the fabric and the co-ordinating fabrics I had selected to make the roof, windows and door.

Not wanting to chop a bird in half a carefully positioned my pattern to incorporate mainly the 'tree' for the front and a whole bird for the back.

After making the opening in the front of the peg bag, I appliquéd the door and windows, using a bit of pale blue with clouds fabric for the window panes. I added a small button for the door knob.

The roof is two strips of fabric, hemmed and sewn together and then sandwiched between the front and back whilst sewing them all together.

The whole peg bag is finished with a heart under the eaves of the roof.

Front

And of course the Peacock in all its glory is on the back!

Back

I'm quite pleased with the result. A fresh, bright design, fit for anyone's clothes line!

Sarah xx

Letters to the Midwife - a new book by the Family and Publishers of Call the Midwife author Jennifer Worth

Just a quick plug for my very good friend Suzannah Hart and her family's new book - 'Letters to the Midwife'.  This new book has been put together by Jennifer Worth's family and the publishers and it contains letters that were written by people who had read the 'Call the Midwife' books and were moved to write to the Author.

It also contains some lovely introductions by all of Jennifer's family and Miranda Hart.

I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of this book when I visited the family just before Christmas, I pre-ordered a copy and it arrived today.

If you are interested here is a link to the book on Amazon... Click the picture below.

Sarah xx

Lanterns for a Silver Anniversary Party

It was my Brother and his wife's 25th Wedding Anniversary in August, and I offered to make some lanterns to hang around the garden.

There was plenty of inspiration on the internet and Pinterest. However I decided to personalise the lanterns using my trusty Silhouette SD to make a stencil, and some etching cream to etch the design into the glass.

As it was a Silver Wedding, I used Silver ribbon to decorate and hide the wire used for the handles. and I found some silver coloured granules to put in the bottom of the jars. I also had a bit of brainwave and applied a thin layer of glue and sprinkled glitter onto the stencil, before peeling the stencil off. I think it turned out rather well.

The twinkly effect of the glittered lanterns was lovely with the candles lit as the sun went down.

Sarah xx

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T Shirt -Re-Size and The London Film and Comic Con

Recently we had a family day out to the London Film and Comic Con. My daughter is the enthusiast for all things Manga etc.,  It was a good day, lots of people were dressed in costume and we enjoyed seeing some Cosplay and memorabilia from various films.

I love the look on this lady's face as she met Alien!

There were also lots of famous people from films signing pictures, notably David Hasslehoff,  'The Smoking Man' from The X files and Danny Glover, from Die Hard etc.,  Lots of Star Trek and Sci Fi Movie stars was there and there were people giving talks, we sat in on the man who voices the Mario Brothers!!! (we needed a rest at that point, but it was interesting).

My daughter wanted a few souvenirs of the day and we bought a few bits and pieces including a manga book and a couple of T-shirts, one of which was a bargain at £2 because all they had left were X-Large!  I suggested we buy one, because I could make it smaller for her... hence this post.

X-Large

I did some research and found a really good tutorial on pinterest
 T-Shirt Resizing

I was a bit hesitant about cutting into the T-Shirt, but I considered it wasn't a lot of money to waste if it all went wrong and chopped away! As you can see, quite a lot of fabric needed removing. This method also allowed us to preserve the Logo on the sleeve, which I thought we may have lost otherwise

I zig-zagged all the seams as suggested and zig-zagged the hem as well, and I and my Daughter are really pleased with the results.

Just Right

Sarah xx