Slug bracelet

I finished my slug bracelet today.  I'm really pleased with the way it turned out!  As brown is featuring in the Rainbow scrap challenge I thought I would link up (OK its not fabric but it is definitely brown!)  See what others have been doing with their scraps here

Mottisfont

 Today was such a stunning day that we went for a walk around Mottisfont, a National Trust property near Romsey in Hampshire.  There was an exhibition in the main house of paintings from local artists (lots of lovely mixed media work) and outside this sculpture in a beautiful circle of Beech trees.  The four trees in the middle are all dead trees taken from the Mottisfont estate and gilded with motives inspired by the artwork in the house (there is one room that has been  painted by the artist Rex Whistler, you can see more here .  The gilding on the dead trees is real gold and the beech trees are painted with Dutch metal - apparently the lustre will fade naturally over time.  The sunlight reflecting through the trees onto the gold work was amazing, although looking at the photo one of the dead trees looks like a giraffe!

Slug bracelet

When I was on holiday in Florida I started to make a slug bracelet (We were on hols with a friend who owns a bead shop in Basingstoke so she taught me how to do it!) I am determined to finish some of my UFOs before the end of the year ~ so after spending a couple of hours in the garden I manage to add another inch to the slug!  Its quite a nice project to do because you randomly pick up five or six beads on the needle, attach them and onto the next five or six.  There is no pattern to it so it's quite liberating!

Chinese knots and Japanese Braids

These are the Chinese knots I made at Mondays Textile class.  I'm not entirely sure its something I will do again, although I think I will carry on with the red, cream and gold one.

The Japanese braid is something I've done before, using a Kumihimo braiding disc (that's the cardboard ring) and I could probably use the braid in a project.  So I will carry on with that and finish it.

Origami bags

I've wanted this book for some time, although I've never had a chance to look inside.  While in America we visited a book shop and I got my chance to browse.  The book was quite heavy so I decided to buy it when I got home (there is only so much you can cram into a suitcase).  And here it is and well worth the wait!

The book is divided up into levels of expertise.  The Origami bags are easy (what better place to start!) and come in six different sizes ~ I'm making the small version.  I want to make one each for my school friends using the fabric bought in the USA obviously.  So here are my fabric choices, including the fabric for the lining.

And this is as far as I got this afternoon.  I thought I would mass produce, so the zips are set, the lining is attached, now for the origami bit (that will have to wait for next weekend unfortunately!)  But I like them so far!

Lovely to be in my sewing room again and making something!