Guinea pigs

My children would undoubtedly prefer some guinea pigs instead of the cat they actually have as a pet.

They know that the guinea pigs their cousins have are cute fluffy things, that enjoy being held and petted. Our cat, on the other hand, is far less child friendly, and has clearly not got over the fact she no longer lives in an adult only environment. Hostile would be a better description of her attitude towards our girls, and, due to the many `warning' swipes she has taken at them, they have a healthy respect/fear of cats in general. As a result, the eldest girl no longer feels the need to be particularly tactful about wanting to own either some guinea pigs or a dog when the cat eventually decides to shuffle off this earth.

On Saturday night, I hosted my very own group of guinea pigs. 

It was not hard to persuade some friends to come and let me show them how to make Fondant Fancy Purses, ready to help me spot and iron out any potential difficulties beginners might experience when making them on the workshops I'm planning to host next month.

I like the range of colours these frames come in - it gives plenty of possibilities over fabric choices.

I had a small mountain of fabrics for them to choose from, including bright printed cottons, linens, and some vintage silk scarves to chop up and use. It's always fun seeing what people come up with, as inevitably, they think of combinations that hadn't occurred to me.

There was a fair amount of purse envy on my part by the end of the evening.

I tried to convince them all they should leave their purses with me to look after, you know, as a sign of appreciation for the fun had by all.

Needless to say, they were having none of it!

Getting organised

During the lovely relaxed period in between Christmas and New Year, we went to Cambridge for the day. We had a nice day there - not planned anything in particular, and just wandered around a bit and in and out of a few places selling hot chocolates and other such things to keep the little people happy.

And the grown ups, too, come to think of it. Who doesn't like hot chocolates? In fact, in a bid to continue with this happy habit at home, I stocked up on supplies of hot chocolate and squirty cream. Anyhow, back to the subject of this post.

Whilst in Cambridge, the hubby turned and said, "Why don't you wander off on your own for a bit? We'll be fine on our own, won't we, girls?".

I scampered off in the direction of John Lewis. Although, in a way so as not to look too keen to abandon them all, of course...

Love the word scamper, by the way. The biggest girl discovered The Secret Seven books yesterday - it bought back lots of nice memories to me, namely that one of the children shares my name, and, that the dog is called Scamper.

Whilst the fabric sale wasn't my only reason for going, it would have been unthinkable not go and check it out. With no fixed plans in mind, and plenty of other things I wanted to do with my child free shopping time, as I approached my own equivalent of the sweetie shop for the girls, I resolved I would be spontaneous and quick (rather than my usual dithering indecisive mode when in fabric shops) and go for the first four things I saw and liked that were in the half price rack.

I bought up four pieces, each a metre long, based purely on loving the prints, rather than trying to pin down what I would do with them. I think knowing they were half price made me relax about not having a plan.

The first piece of fabric was turned into the dress for the littlest girl's rag doll.

These little pouches were the next make out of my sale fabric. I already had the black and white piece in my stash, but I love the way it looks with the red and aqua coloured ones.

The pattern came from an Amy Butler book on bags - if I'd realised how long it was going to take to measure out all the pieces for the three sizes, I would have done templates that could be reused, as now I will have to repeat that part of the effort if I make any more. But such was my `just draw straight onto the fabric with a disappearing pen' laziness that came with making these during the festive period.

Still, I really like they way they look now that they're finished, and I'm hoping they might encourage me to keep my sewing stuff a bit more organised, instead of leaving it all over the house. You never know...

In other news, after getting a nice steady stream of requests about courses (maybe lots of people have been given sewing machines for Christmas?!), I've decided to host an additional Handbags and Clutches course.

It is ideal for people who have already done a Beginners' Course with me, or, who have a little sewing experience under their belts.

A glimpse of what you can look forward to making is here and here. The course will start on Tuesday 5th February and run for four consecutive weeks, 8 - 10 pm, and costs £50. Please get in touch if you'd like to come!

Love your scraps!

My friend Rachael sent me the link to these apple and pear pincushions (originally from the gorgeous Mollie Makes magazine) back in January. I've finally got round to making some!

I enjoyed every bit of making these.

From rummaging through my scraps and having the satisfaction of an "I knew these would come in handy" moment, to the sewing itself.

I'm not sure why a grown woman would find making pretend fruit so pleasing, but I do.

And, one just wasn't enough.

I made the first three pieces on Sunday night, and then got started on the additional four yesterday evening, before and after my current bag ladies came round to make their own versions of this bag.

If you happen to try making these yourself, my top tips would be to use tons of stuffing (I used a chopstick to help shove extra into the fruits so that they ended up nice and firm), and, to have a thimble, nice long needle and a pair of pliers to hand for sewing on the buttons and stalks.

Making the pincushions gave me the idea for a new course, appropriately titled, `Love your scraps!'.

It's going to be full of cute little makes and ideas of what to do with the scraps of fabrics you might already have hidden in a box somewhere. And, if you're new to sewing (or not a hoarder), and not in possession of a scrap pile, the things on the course can all be made with minimal amounts of fabric - perhaps the perfect excuse for treating yourself to a fat quarter bundle (am I the only one who finds little bundles of coordinating prints irresistible?!).

If you'd like to know more about my new courses for 2013, please click here. Gift vouchers are available upon request (and valid for one year from date of issue). Booking for courses is going to stay on old fashioned paper for now, but watch this space and things might change!