Buttons And Gadgets

One of my favourite things when crafting and creating is spending an excessive amount of time sifting through one of my many vintage button boxes to find the exact button that will marry perfectly with whatever fabric I happen to be using at the time. And when I was making a few gadget/mobile phone/iPod cases I found myself whiling many a minute away selecting the perfectly perfect button.

Here are the combinations I came up with:


Love this big brown button!



A starry affair livened up with a splash of pink wool


Butterscotch button and tweed.

Must start to put these in my folksy and etsy shops too - that's after I've spent another inordinate amount of time thinking up names for them!

Grey Flowers Looking Bright

Another of my fabric finds has been transformed into one of my clutch bags, which I've been meaning to put online for a few weeks now and finally got round to it today. On 1st description - "grey flowers, yellowish background" you could be excused for not thinking this fabric was too cheerful, but when you see how the sweet carnation-like grey flowers sit amongst little white flowers, you realise this is one sweet unique design. I like the background colour too, whether that's because I'm drawn to things that evoke memories of other eras (70's maybe?) I'm not sure, but I think it works well.



I've popped this bag into my folksy shop and called it the Grey Carnation Clutch Bag.

Now to photograph 8 ipod covers and 10 brooches......

Sorting Out The Stash

It was a combination of a few things that prompted me to have a fabric tidy up - new fabrics were waiting to gain entry into the fabric cupboard, and I had a few recent requests to make custom gadget covers so needed a way to show the fabric choices I have.

So today was fabric sort out day - I emptied the cupboard, grouped them into sets, photographed them, then uploaded them onto my flickr page (under the photo set "fabric catalogue"). Also along the way I discovered how to create a photo mosaic so you can see all my little fabric groups on one photo:



This isn't all my fabrics either I have to admit - I haven't included the plain fabrics or the small little pieces I collect - but sorting them out will have to wait til another day!

I Am Not Allowed To Buy Fabric Anymore

I have a cupboard that is very very full. Very very full of fabrics. Lots of them. Plain fabrics, patterned fabrics, vintage fabrics, tartan fabrics....I could go on. And every time I pop into a store that sells anything of a material variety I just have to buy the odd metre of something adorable that I must have.

So I imposed a ban upon myself - no more buying fabrics until I've at least used a small portion of the cupboard (yes, bags and gadget covers are queuing up waiting to be stitched into shape).

But then today I just happened to be walking past my favourite fabric shop (OK so maybe there was a small detour involved). And true to my word I did not buy one scrap of fabric - instead I stumbled on a lovely collection of these cotton trims.



I'm not normally a lace sort of a person but I couldn't resist these - all cotton loveliness. I really liked the one in the middle too which is a great shade of chocolate brown. I have a few ideas of what to do with them - something that will involve wool and crochet too - that will hopefully come into fruition this weekend.

Which also goes to show I can resist fabric (at least when there is something else to distract me anyway....)

Herringbone Happiness

My lovely Aunt recently sent me some fabrics, left over from her previous cape making business. Amongst them were some adorable pieces of herringbone, in shades of grey, as well as some fantastic tartans. Some of the off-cuts are too small to make a bag out of, so I wondered how they would look made into an iPod/phone sleeve, and this is the result:



I added a pink crocheted band of wool and a vintage button to close it - I'm really fond of this grey/pink colour combo, I think it manages to be chic and cheerful at the same time.
This one I've popped in my folksy shop - I'll be working on the tartan ones next!

Hold The Front Page

Yeah one of my favourite brooches made it to the front page of etsy - and I missed it! Luckily there is a flickr group which saves screenshots of the etsy front pages so if you miss your moment of glory you can catch it later.



This was a treasury picked by dandyapple, I love the selection and the colour theme. The brooch has now been sold, time for me to get crafting I think and make more!

Keep your iPod Warm This Winter

Our house seems to be accumulating a number of iPods, mp3 players and mobile phones, all of varying shapes and sizes, so finding compatible covers for them is starting to become a challenge. Combining this conundrum with my love of fabrics I have developed a new line in iPod sleeves/socks/cozy's - whatever you wish to call them.



I love this fabric - I've called it a Busy Ant Fabric - and it just seemed to suit the size of this iPod cover. I added a crocheted band in white and a button for the closure.



This one has been listed in my Folksy shop, I shall be displaying more at the Oxford handm@de craft fair on Sunday then adding more to my Folksy and Etsy shops next week.