Wow, I've made more than I thought...

I was very lucky to win a cross-stitch chart from Cathy at It Will Be Funny Tomorrow. Janlynn's Just-a-chart The Gift of Music arrived safely in the mail yesterday. Thanks Cathy, I love it!

In other news, one of my crafty Christmas presents is all finished!


This knitted washcloth came as a kit with the cotton and instructions - all I needed was the pair of knitting needles. The cotton felt lovely and soft and the colours are just gorgeous! It was fairly quick to knit and has a great textured finish. I learnt to do side edgings for the first time :-) It turned out not quite square, probably because of my tension which has always been very tight. I could just go to bigger needles but I don't always like the look and feel of it then, and so long as it isn't clothing I'm knitting, I don't generally bother.

The sewing machine got a workout the other day too. My grandfather's second wife recently passed away and while Crafty Things was at the funeral she was offered her sewing machine and overlocker. Crafty Things already has multiple sewing machines (4 or 5!) so suggested I would find a use for them. At the moment we don't have any to put them so my grandfather is looking after them, but Crafty Things did bring back two crates full of fabric and sewing supplies.
Inside one we found a stack of aprons, all pinned together that just needed sewing up. We decided that I would sew them up when I found time and then sent them to my grandfather who could then do what he wanted with them.
I got the stack out and found two had already been sewn up and I sewed the other four fairly quickly. Now they're all ready to be posted away. No photos unfortunately because they turned out extremely blurry (still learning to use my camera properly!)



While I had the sewing machine going I made myself a second pincushion - the pink one on the right. It's a really quick and easy pattern from a patchwork book Crafty Things has on her bookshelf. I like being able to just pink the outer edge and leave it rough.

I managed a little more stitching on my Underwater cross-stitch last night while watching the Twenty-20 cricket. It's starting to be close to being finished! I am really looking forward to finishing it, it's the biggest one I've ever attempted so it's quite and achievement.

Still More Holiday Crafting

Oh dear it is almost Easter and I am still posting photos of the Jan/Feb holiday crafting. How silly is that?

Here is my first attempt from The Cute Book. Avid Crafter has much more experience with these little critters and they are definitely fun, addictive and cute. I now have this little bunny dangling from my handbag. Here she is posing amongst the tea-tree flowers.



Aside from finding stray photos of holiday crafting there has been some sewing happening. We both need an apron for a cooking class we have enrolled in - A mother/daughter cupcakes evening - and so far the only one completed is Avid Crafter's fruity goodness.



The pattern is Kwik Sew 2311 - View B with a few minor modifications. The fabric was a bit on the light weight side so we made it lined and that avoided all the bias binding that the pattern had round the edges. We used some pretty ribbon for the neck loop and the tie. The last little detail - not yet done - is to add two little polka dot heart buttons at the top where the neck loop is stitched on. The fabric has strawberries and cherries scattered all over a pretty checked background. What do you think?

Next up on the sewing ranks was this top for Avid Crafter. The fabric had been chosen some months ago but the style of the top was not decided upon until just lately.



The pattern is Kwik Sew 2694 - View B and is very quick and easy to put together with the help of the ever trusty overlocker. This is the second time I have used this pattern and have been pleased with the results both times. Avid Crafter happens to be wearing the other one in the headless apron shot. The pattern sits very nicely and the only modification was to stitch the crossover down to avoid gaping and embellish this stitching with a little heart button. Apologies for the backgound in the above photo but the clotheline was the ideal hanging spot - nice and sunny but the overgrown garden bed doesn't look crash hot - no gardener am I!



Note to myself - do not stitch down crossover before said recipient tries on top as then there will be less unpicking and restitching to make the top sit just so! All that aside the top meet with approval as it was worn straight away. What a great feeling when this happens.

Last note on this post - Winners of the birthday giveaway - the parcels were posted today.