Annies Shack

I am so busy getting ready for my next craft fair, I was in the middle of making a patchwork block and my needle was pulling the thread of the under fabric, so KJ had a look and the needle was bent, I don't believe it, I seriously don't remember having any trouble sewing, what is going on with these needles? 😒

Ok, I am busy getting little bits and pieces ready for our next craft stall which is in November so it should be good. I have made quite a few small items already for selling and I needed something to display them in, so I thought a basket with a lining would look nice, I thought a nice box and then KJ said why don't I sew one, what a brilliant idea as the stall is about sewing so follow me as I make the box. I need to tell you I am completely making this up and have made a mistake already, but guess what, my mistake turned out making my box even prettier, have a look at this. So first of all I cut out a piece of backing fabric and attached all little strips vertically, this is one side, so I have to make 3 more of these. Mistake 1 I attached the lining and turned it inside out, pressed, then the mistake dawned on me, I hadn't attached the corner ribbon closures. Then I was going through my sewing draw and had a good idea. If I attach some of my ribbon along th...

Saturday - myself and my sister in law did our first craft stall ever, it was an experience and we learned a lot, ideas, layout and to take a book for quite periods. Here we are all set up and ready to sell, that's me in the black t-shirt 😊 We took far too much different stock to sell, the table we used was really big and we had all the following for sale bunched up on this table: Fashion jewellry Makeup Greeting cards My handmade items It doesn't sound like a lot, but we had it all in tubs and it was just messy. My handmade bags had to lay flat and bunched on top of each other so they couldn't really be seen which was a shame. There weren't that many people shopping, but we did manage to sell a few bits, really today was a learning curve for us and we also met some really lovely people, it was a nice day. We have booked in to do another craft fair in November and I have lots of plans how to layout the stall, it will be fabulous if I can pull ...

Here is another one I have made recently, I love this, it is so girly with it's shades of pink fabric. It has a really fabulous shade of pink lining, and has two nice size pockets inside, these photos don't do this bag justice. You can find this one on Annies Shack if you are interested in this bag. Note:  If you are interested in this bag, please note that I only ship to the UK at the moment.

As promised, here is my green and blue patchwork tote finished. Features: 1. large pocket on the front 2. fully lined 3. two large pockets inside 4. magnetic closure I added black base to the bottom, I think it's lovely, I really enjoyed making this bag, you can find it in Annies Shack for sale. I really enjoy making patchworks, I love the way all the colours blend in together, the bag actually looks a lot better in reality, I'm not very good taking photos of things, I think I need some lessons in photography, mmm something to think about for the future.  You can see here the lovely cream lining and the two large open pockets with a black trim to match the outside trim, you can also see the magnetic closure. You can use this bag for a shopper or just about anything really, it's a nice size and real good quality. Happy Days

I didn't get very far today with my sewing project, I followed the pattern for the pocket that goes on the lining, the pocket came out ok, but when I tried to sew the edges together the zip down the edge was folded over and guess what? MY NEEDLE BROKE! I have only been sewing 2 days on this project and so far I have managed to break 2 needles 😞 I have undone the pocket and started again with my own version which hopefully won't cause me any grief. I haven't finished the pocket yet, I will update here when it's done. Have a great day!

Ok, I started my sewing bag and I have had a few mistakes along the way already 😒 M istake   1 I cut out the first few pieces of fabric and did them all wrong so KJ took over.  I have trouble cutting out fabric, I use scissors which don't always give me straight edge, when I use my large quilting ruler and my cutter the ruler tends to move as I get near the end of the cut so I struggle a bit with cutting. It took ages ironing all the interfacing on, there are so many bits to this bag.  M istake   2 Once my pieces were all ironed I then got my wadding and the front and lining of the back of the bag and off to my lovely machine I went. Oh I forgot to tell you, I drew all the lines on the front and lining pieces ready for quilting, I used a red drawing pen that disappears when it's ironed, how clever is that 😉 I attached my walking foot and started to sew, I obviously didn't attach it properly because as I started to sew ...

I am so excited to get started on my next project 😊 I found a pattern for a sewing bag, it has hundreds of pockets and compartments, just what I need for all my junk, it looks fabulous I hope it comes out good. KJ has cut all my material out - it was quite a lot - and I am all ready to start, the only thing that is lacking is energy, I am so tired, but will give it a go. I will drag you along with me and show you every step I do, mistakes and all, I do make a few of them lol. Ok, I am off to start sewing wish me luck this is quite a big project 😉

Patchwork Pinks I love patchworks in any shape or form, it's all the colours together that I like about it, so I made a really cute little pocket tissue holder in patchwork pinks with a red edging on the opening. How cute is that to have in your handbag, it would also make a pretty gift for a special friend. The pocket takes ordinary pocket tissues that you can buy in your local supermarket. I did some research and these little cuties sell for around £3 to £4 so I have put my pink one in Annies Shack for £4.99 as there is a lot more work due to the patchwork, it's also free postage so I think that's a bargain. I am going to make some more of these, I am in middle of making a lemon one, it reminds me of a lovely summer day, you can find them in my Annies Shack shop, here's is the link to it. When I start my next tissue holder I will show you exactly how I did it... SOLD! Have a great day!

W ednesday Thoughts The weekend has gone and it's Wednesday already, I cannot believe how quick time is flying by, there are so many things I want to do and not enough time to do them. I think of Wednesday as a Green Day, so it's apt for me to tell you what I did the other night... The night before last I couldn't sleep twisting and turning, in the end I got up at 3:30, it was dark outside everyone was sleeping it was nice and cosy and quite, so I had a cup of tea    - mmm I love tea I drink lots of it  -  had a little think and then I did some sewing. I started making a new tote bag or shopper, it can be used for most things,  I used a mixture of Greens and Blues and I added some Black for edging, so far I love it. I didn't have a pattern, I just cut a base material and got together lots of my fabrics that were not big enough to do anything with and I made a patchwork bag. I zig-zagged all the edges to stop the edges fraying so this bag is a nice ...

I have some fabulous carnival mask cotton fabric, look at this... It's really a lovely soft cotton piece of material and I am going to make an scarf with it. I have been doing some research regarding infinity scarfs: now some people say infinity means never ending so a circle never ends the infinity symbol does have a twist in it if you take a circle scarf and wrap it around your neck twice, that makes a twist some say a circle scarf is a cowl scarf some say a cowl scarf is shorter and infinity is longer so you can twist them some say it's just a personal choice what you call it So, to sum it up, I am still none the wiser 😕 So let's make a scarf... I love this material it is so soft. KJ cut my material to size 60" x 9", so with right sides together I sewed along the long edge. I then sewed the same edge with a zig-zag stitch to help stop the fraying. Then I pulled the end through so it was level with the opposite end and machined ar...

Well here is an update on my rag quilt in flannel fabric. After all that work I was expecting a beautiful soft baby quilt, but according to KJ it was more like a rug and I have to say I do agree with him. The blanket was quite stiff, not at all like I expected, I washed it twice, it didn't soften and the bits and pieces still keep coming even after it was dry 😢 I do like the look of the rag quilt, but I don't like all the mess that comes with it, so it's future is grim. I have decided to cut it up and make a patchwork baby blanket with the fabric...

I've been busy the past couple of days making a ragged quilt for a toddler, I finished it last night after a couple of hours snipping the edges. I washed all the material before sewing with it as I read somewhere it can shrink, but it didn't, right now the blanket is having it's second wash. I put a couple of towels in with it to catch all the bits of fluff, this worked especially well, after the first wash we went into the garden and shook the towels, I couldn't believe how much fluff came off, it was like snowing... This is my blanket before I washed it... I loved making this even though it took quite a while, I sewed crosses on each square before sewing together, each square has 3 pieces of flannel, but I think if I was going to make another one I would only use two as it came out quite study and I would have liked a floppy blanket, so that's something I will try in the future. Once my blanket has finished washing and drying I will post a picture...

Wow this fabric is so soft, I love it. I am going to make a cuddle blanket today, I have seen different ways of doing this and I am going to start with the easiest one which is a no sew blanket, that sounds good to me and it looks quite good when it is finished. This little blanket will be for a toddler to carry around cuddling it, a little security blanket. This is the fabric I will be using Well I made a lovely little blanket, 24" x 24", it will have 1" x 4" strips cut around the edges which will make the actual blanket 20" x 20". I got the square, cut 1" strips all around about 4" long, cut the corners off, then cut a tiny hole at the start of the strips, then pulled the 1" strip through it and it made like little tassles it looked good. Disaster Struck I was busy doing the tassles and pulled one through and it came completely off in my hand, arrgghh I was not impressed 😞 Look at that, my blanket is ruined, maybe ...

Wow, just bought a lot of cuddle fabric, I cannot believe how soft it is, I can't wait to make something with it. As I opened the parcel, I got a lot of fluff all over me, I hope it doesn't always do that, hopefully once I have made something and washed it, it will behave. I am so tempted to make a snuggy cuddle blanket for myself and KJ, for the winter months. I thought about making a ragged blanket, but after the scrunchie I made that kept losing bits all over the place, I am wondering if this will happen to the cuddle blanket. I have not used this type of fabric before, I have mainly used cotton material, so it will be interesting to see how I get on, wish me luck, I will share my project here with you, so if you have any tips for me before I start that would be great 😊

Let's start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start la la la... That's enough of my little song. Today I am going to be making a hair scrunchy, I have never made one before so this should be interesting. My Material: This was an old thin denim skirt that I cut up, it was quite a stretchy material, so let's see how I get on. Step 1. I cut out a piece of material 4" x 18" then cut it in half so it was 2" x 18". Step 2. For the elastic I used an old hair tie which was still in good condition and very stretchy. Step 3. I folded and ironed the length of material so it was easier to cut in half. Step 4. I cut the fabric along the center, faced the wrong sides together, stitched 1/4" seam along one side, then inserted the hair tie, this next part was very fiddly to sew. I sewed a 1/4" seam all around, then pushed the ends into each other and sewed them together. Step 5...

Hi, welcome to my new blog. I am a very creative person and if it can be made I have had a go. I am inspired by colours I just love them, all of them. Recently I have continued with one of my favourite hobbies - Sewing - I will be making handbags, makeup bags, all kinds of bags and I will be making baby blankets and all my items will be for sale in my Etsy Shop. I have bought tons of fabric so stick around and watch how I get on, it will be fun. Janie