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

Strawberry Fayre And Even More Peg Bags

Me and my neighbour had a stall today at the Annual Strawberry Fayre. I don't get much time to make stock, but after the success of my recent peg bags, I made a few extra ones to hang on the stall.

Lucky Black Cat

Campervan

Green Beach Hut

Pink Beach Hut

Mauve Cat

The Pink Beach Hut sold has soon as we had set up the stall, to the stall holder next to us.  And then the Camper Van, Green Beach Hut and the Butterfly!  I would have been chuffed to sell 1, so was over the moon to sell 4!

I also sold some other bits and pieces including a needle case, Hanging Heart with a tilda-esq bunny on it and a felt birdie.  I never seem to sell much at these fayres, but I did almost quite well today!

My neighbour sells hand made Jewellery and did very well as usual.

Here's a picture of my half of the stall.

Despite the rain and it drizzled and poured over the afternoon, it was overall, a successful afternoon.

Sarah xx

A Ruby Wedding Gift

It was my very good friend and (Bon Jovi) Tour Buddy's Ruby Wedding Anniversary last weekend, and I decided to take her some flowers!

I bought a plain glass vase from Ikea, and etched it with some Amour Etching Cream.  Using my Silhouette SD to cut out a stencil from vinyl, it was quite tricky applying it to the curved surface, but I managed.

Difficult to see Etching

I've taken a photo, but I forgot to take a picture before I arranged the flowers in the vase, so its a bit difficult to see the etching.

I added some ruby red glass pebbles to the bottom of the vase and finished it off with a tag made with a lovely Ruby Red Rose Print from the Graphics Fairy.

In return for her lovely Flowers in an personalised etched vase,  I was treated to a lovely home raised spit roasted Lamb Dinner at her Ruby Wedding Party held in the Barn at her Farm!

Gorgeous Flower

Sarah XX

Colour Blocked T Shirts

Whilst browsing the fabulous Pinterest recently I came across this blog post for making your own Colour Block T-shirts which had been pinned, I dutifully re-pinned and went shopping.

I bought my T shirts from H & M for £3.99 each. I have a colour block T shirt previous purchased also in H & M for £9.99 which I love and have worn to death.

I cut the T Shirts using my rotary cutter and pinned and sewed the two halves of each t-shirt together using the zigzag stitch as suggested in the original post.

Please excuse my tubby tummy, I'm working on reducing it!

I gave the seams a quick press with an iron and hey presto I now I have 2 lovely Colour Blocked T-shirts.

Sarah xx

More Peg Bags

The ladies in my office wanted Peg Bags made. As they are both dog owners and always talk enthusiastically about their dogs, I decided to make the Peg bags doggy themed.

Labrador

I made the Peg Bags out of plain cotton calico and cut the dog shapes out of flocked vinyl with my Silhouette SD machine. I found the dog pictures on the internet and traced them with the Silhouette software and not wanting to waste the excess vinyl around the dogs, I cut out some paw prints too, just to add an extra something to the bags. I have also Ironed a couple of paw prints to the back.

Border Collie

I made an extra peg bag whilst I was at it, and cut a butterfly out of normal T-shirt vinyl, again I cut the smaller butterflies to use up the excess vinyl. The black vinyl is layered on top of the green vinyl

Butterfly

The ladies were both very pleased with the Peg Bags, especially as the dogs were the same breed as their actual dogs. The butterfly peg bag will go into my craft stall stock!

Sarah xx

Beach Hut Peg Bag

We need a new peg bag! The old one is a bit weathered and the pegs keep falling out of it!

I have made peg bags before, so I looked out my old pattern, which I had previous drawn up.  However, being me, I decided to make something new!

I've always liked the Beach Hut as a quirky design, so decided to base the Peg Bag on it.

I used some stripy fabric and did a bit of applique for the door and life ring (buoy), I made the roof separately and stitched it on after I had stitched the bag together.

I think I need to make it look a bit more beach hut like, at the moment, its a bit Garden Shed, except for the life ring, perhaps a Bucket and Spade would help, or some pastel colours.

However its is perfectly functional the way it is, and my husband and daughter said it looks like a beach hut.

Sarah xx

Doggy Treat Bag

My sister in law asked me to make her a 'Doggy Treat Bag' after the one she had bought fell apart.  The one she had, had a draw string top and a large clip to attach it to your belt. Unfortunately the lining was quite cheap and frayed badly, hence fell apart.

She asked for the bag to have a cross body strap on it instead of a clip. Having given it a bit of thought I decided to create a bag with a flap and button closure, and I lined the bag with some waterproof lining to avoid smells etc,

I didn't use a pattern and winged it a bit, however it is just an oblong piece of fabric cut with a point at one end, and folded up to make the bag and pointed end folded down to make the flap.

The piece of gingham sewn on the front forms a pocket and the flap is also lined with the gingham. I finished off with a button hole, self covered button and matching strap.

This is the lucky dog whose treats will be contained in the bag, he was about 6 weeks old in this picture. He is now at least 4 times as big and still growing.

I hope my sister in law likes it, I have wrapped it up and sent it to her to open on her 50th Birthday. 

Sarah xx

Crochet Baby Owl

I just couldn't resist this Crochet Baby Owl pattern I found on Ravelry when browsing for bootie patterns.

I didn't have any safety eyes as recommended in the pattern, so I made the eyes from felt and stitched them on. So cute!

Very quick and easy to make, I have a couple more in the pipe line already.

Sarah xx

Blue Booties and A Campervan T Shirt

Just a quick post this week, to show off the Blue Booties which I had to crochet quickly due to the chap at work having had a baby boy! (I was sure it would be a girl - pink booties here).

This is the last time I will post about crocheting booties (for now! LOL)

I also completed a project with my marvellous Silhouette SD, for my Brother in Law, who requested a Campervan T shirt, after seeing the West Ham one I made for my husband.  Brother in law Terry is a Chelsea supporter, so of course the Campervan had to be in Blue and White and with a Chelsea Logo.

I was really impressed with the way the Silhouette coped with the intricate design of the logo at quite a small size. (The cat logo is already on the t-shirt, which Terry provided me with).

I love my Silhouette machine and must do some more projects with it.

Sarah xx

Pink Crochet Booties - Finished

The Pink Booties are finished I couldn't turn them into Mary-Jane's, I'm just not that clever!  I need to start with a Mary-Jane pattern, I'm sure a more experienced crocheter would have known what to do...

Pink and Cream Booties

However I am very pleased with the Pink Booties, the shape is much better than the green ones from my last post.  It just goes to show that following the pattern and taking your time is worth while.  I've even realised I had only done 3 rounds of cream on the cuff on the green ones, when it should have been 4!

Top and Bottom Views

I have been out and bought some Duck Egg Blue wool, so booties attempt 3 will be on its way soon!

Sarah xx

PS:  The baby hasn't been born yet, so there is still time to have booties ready in the blue too!

The Great British Sewing Bee

I've just finished watching the first episode of this new programme, it was on last Tuesday on BBC 2, however I recorded and watched it latter as it clashed with Holby City!

I was intrigued and excited to see a programme about sewing with members of the public, albeit the "cream of amateur sewers" competing to make the best items. I enjoyed Project Catwalk when it was on a few years ago, which was way beyond my skills with pattern designing and drafting, but the "Sewing Bee" sounds like much more my level!

I understood the programme would take a similar format to 'The Great British Bake Off' and it did!  The first challenge was to make an 'A line'Skirt from a provided pattern in 3 hours.  The 2nd task was to alter and embellish the neckline of a simple top in 1 hour. And the 3rd task was to make a dress from a pattern of their own choosing, but to fit it to a live shapely model in 7 hours.

One sewer got sent home, having not proved herself, a 2nd contestant was supposed to go too,  but one had already gone home sick, so will be allowed back next week.  I personally would have sent a different contestant home from the results I could see!  But they seem to gloss over some of the contestants finished items, so I couldn't particularly judge.

I'm not sure that they really have the 'Cream' of amatuer sewers, but there again I'm not sure that  I would do a perfect job given the time restraints.  I shall be watching again this week, as although I have been sewing for many many years, I have learnt a thing or two... namely invisible zips! and I shall be buying an invisible zip foot for my machine.

Of course there is a book to accompany the programme, reviews appear good!  

Sarah xx

Crochet Booties - A work in progress

One of the chaps in my office at work, wife is expecting a baby any time soon!  What a good excuse for a bit of Bootie making!

I originally was looking for a pattern to sew a pair, however lots of Crochet and Knitting patterns came up when I searched, and my crocheting is marginly better than my knitting.

I used this pattern from Ravelry as it looked about my level (easy!)  And having had a rummage in my stash of yarn, I choose some 55% wool double knit, as it feels beautifully soft when made up.

My first attempt resulted in a green pair of booties which are slightly lop sided. However I have turned the first bootie inside out and they look kinda like a left and right pair.

I have started a 2nd pair (in pink and cream) and this time paid more attention to the instructions and they appear to be coming out a little better shaped.  I have decided instead of completing the bootie, I will turn these into a pair of mary-janes for a girl!  As I don't know the sex of the baby yet, I will have both pairs on stand-by for when the baby is born!

I will post picture of the of mary-janes when I have finished them!


Sarah xx


I love to read comments from all around the world, however it was nice to hear from some fellow UK bloggers on my last post, you may be interested in the a Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/202641099790216/  we are a group of UK crafters from moneysavingexpert.co.uk sharing our makes and chatting about all sorts.

Sewing Companion Case

I couldn't resist this little Sewing Companion Case when I came across it, whilst browsing Pinterest

Sorry my photography isn't the best!

I was was also very happy to find it is a one piece pattern, I love uncomplicated patterns!  I'd bought the Balloon fabric on a trip to a craft show at the NEC in Birmingham over a year ago, and teamed it with the pale blue polkadot fabric, which I thought made an excellent contrast.

Once the 2 fabric pieces, plus some soft iron on interfacing, are sewn together and turned out the right way, some nifty folds form the pockets.

You can (just) see the stitching which holds it all in place on the back. 

In my haste to make this, I forgot to check that my needle work scissors would actually fit in it. And this project was sadly left unfinished for some time. So my top tip is to measure and adjust the size of the pattern to your scissors before you start. The instructions say 4" Scissors should fit, mine are 5".

However, I loved this little Sewing Case and wanted to use it, so I found it is perfect for my Nail Scissors and clippers, the emery board is a little long, but I'm sure I can find a suitably sized one. So, I finished this project with an old fashion popper, and it now sits in my work box, where I can find it when I need a manicure!

Sarah xx