While I've been quiet online...

...I've been furiously crafting away! Seriously. I couldn't post most of these until recently because they were gifts for or being sent to people who I know sometimes read this blog. Then I got lazy & decided to post them all in one übercraftpost.

So here goes. 

First up, Noah's towel. Our NCT group agreed not to get presents for everyone, but to do a secret santa type thing & spend between £5 & £10 on one present for one child instead. We all picked names out of a hat & I got Sarah's little boy, Noah. I decided to make him a hooded towel with his name embroidered on the hood. It's my first attempt at embroidery & (typically, feet first Sarah) I chose a tricky fabric to embroider. I also discovered that towelling is not easy to transfer a design onto hence it was a lot bigger on the towel than I'd anticipated when drawing it initially on paper! I ended up drawing it on freehand because none of the transfer methods worked. Tailors chalk? Pfft. Transfer pen? NOT A CHANCE IN HELL. Especially as I chose a darkish towel.

It's a bit wonky, but in my defence it was made with love & towelling is a BUGGER to embroider. Structurally speaking it's the best & neatest hooded towel I've made to date. 3rd time's the charm. What did I learn from my first embroidery experience? However much floss you think you need, always buy two more skeins if you are working satin stitch.

Second. Isaac's birthday party invite. He's going to be the big o-n-e soon so we decided to have a little tea party for immediate family, Not-Godparents & their partners. Little, hehe, that's 18 people already! So, me being me, I had to make special invites. My boy isn't one every day y'know!

Next. Amy's A. I know we agreed to only get one present for one child in our NCT group, but technically I didn't get this gift. I had everything already and the fabric actually belonged to the recipent in borrowed-no-longer-fits-sweater form! I wanted Steph to know that I appreciate how much she does for our wee group of babies & parents, she really is the glue that holds us together. So, I made this for little Amy Mae. With hindsight I should've photographed it before going into the glass to avoid reflection & stitch squashing. I've never framed embroidery before. Does one use glass? Who knows! It'll stop it getting dusty at any rate.

Finally, for this post. Fairy wings! As I'm sure you know, we went to the Just So Festival this weekend gone. I read on the programme of events that there was a fairy trail through the forest, at the end of which was the Fairy Queen. So, I thought to myself, what little girl can meet the Fairy Queen without wings?! With this in mind I set to and wings came forth.

Click image to zoom

They were a hit :-) I have tonnes of tulle left. MUST CALCULATE FABRIC QUANTITIES BEFORE GOING TO BUY ON A  WHIM. Although I figure, little girls + pink + sparkly = not a bad thing². My brain is conjuring up sparkly skirts & dolly clothes for Rosh's Barbies.

I'd like to acknowledge my patient as hell husband Simon for putting up with bits of towel, paper, floss, glue, scissors, card, pens, needles, fabric, cutting mats, sewing machines and other such crafty miscellanea strewn all over the kitchen during my creative bouts. And also for not grumping about the finished crocheted square that's been pinned out on a board on the lounge table for nearly a month while it waits for the one that's been sitting on the arm of the sofa for nearly as long to be finished. And various other U.F.O.s dotted around the lounge/computer room. Thank you hun beam! I suppose I'd better finish those...and the other thing I should've finished by now...and the other thing I should really start...