Vietnamese Ao dai

Perhaps not the most interesting way to spend my Sunday evening...weighing cushions!

It's amazing when you stuff cushions just how much variance in weight there can be...even though they're all the same size...

The reason I'm doing it...to enable me to average out the postage cost of my orders I receive. More importantly...I want my products to have a similar look and feel.

It has to be said...I never thought about these practicalities when I started designing and sewing!



When I was travelling around Vietnam, from Hanoi down to Ho Chi Minh, I asked a local seamstress to make an Ao dai for me.

It's the traditional costume of Vietnam. I think it is so elegant.

I chose a dark sea green/gray silk for the tunic...

 ...and an creamy white silk for the trousers.

My photo doesn't really do the costume justice...you can just about see the trousers peeking out the bottom of the tunic, which is split to just below the waist. It fits perfectly.

I'm sure...somewhere...I have a photo of me wearing it. I will have search it out!




Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

A Jungle Frog

One day I might learn to write my blog at the beginning of the day and before I go out...

I've been busy running around tidying...putting away my Farm Box delivery...catching up with friends...before  meeting up with Mr C for a coffee...then we went for a walk...then a meal...and before I knew it I had to run back to write my blog before getting ready to go out with friends. I now have 15 minutes to get ready and make myself glamorous. Eek!

Froggiac that I am...I had to buy a frog when I was in Vietnam.

Here he is. He sits on the side by the kitchen.

He's a (handmade) replica of a frog that was used for communication in the jungle during the Vietnamese war.

You rub the stick along the back of the frog and tap his head. He has a beautiful deep croak.


I often hear him croaking when my family and friends around...especially when there's little people visiting!

Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

It's a Wrap!

Wow...I was home at 8pm last night...that's a record for my friend and me...still that's 7 hours of talking fitted in.

Time enough when I got back to continue battling with the feather clean-up. Hmm...not winning on that one. Not yet anyway. I will though...I will!

I found these patterns in Prima magazine.

I decided to make the long wrap skirt.

Keeping to the Vietnamese theme from yesterday...here I am wearing the finished skirt...in Hanoi. I was lucky enough to visit Vietnam 15 years ago when it first opened up to tourism.

More about my trip tomorrow.










Have a great weekend everyone!

Until tomorrow,
Nic x

Catching the Moon...

Oh my...I think I'm going to be finding feathers in my flat for some time... They have got everywhere!

Still, I now have some perfectly filled feather cushions ready for sale. All neatly labelled...duck or turkey.

I haven't stopped this morning...vacuuming...painting...sewing...vacuuming...

Now I'm off to meet a friend for lunch who I haven't seen for months. He's back in England to visit friends and family. We used to work for the same charity years ago...before I moved back to Devon and he retired and moved to Vietnam.

I thought I best get my blog written before we meet up...otherwise hours will pass while we talk and talk...and the midnight deadline will get nearer and nearer!

Here's a picture I took on one of my visits to Norway.

It's of a jetty in Asgardstrand, a pretty village where Edvard Munch's house is.

'The Scream' is one of my favourite pictures and I've been lucky enough to see it in Oslo.





In the centre of the picture...I managed to catch the moon just above the lights.

We visited the house on one of those lovely crisp autumn days... perfect for tea and cake in the cafe nearby!

Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

Easter Cupcakes

Think I'm going to keep to the sweet theme today...to help me get through the feather filling cushion process that is in my front room. Oh my...but there are feathers everywhere!

I need to 'de-feather' myself somehow as I'm off to the cinema in a couple of hours with my Mum to watch Superman. Hmm...suspect that's not going to be so easy...

From butterfly cakes yesterday to Easter cupcakes today.

Made with my eldest niece...decorated with my favourite chocolate eggs on top.




Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

Butterfly Cakes for a Brownie Badge

In contrast to last Thursday...today has been day of great customer service. Every shop my Mum and me went into we got a 'hello' and a chat. It made for such a lovely shopping experience. Just how it should be!

We've been out and about getting things to use for displaying my products at craft fairs...and for using as props for my Esty shop and website photos.

I've already taken stacks of photos...but they haven't quite hit the mark...I'm getting there though.

A proud Auntie moment...

Last year I helped my eldest niece get her hostess badge for Brownies...we had a great time in the kitchen baking butterfly cakes and a Victoria sponge...which she had to serve to guests.

This week...with Grandma's help this time...she has got her cooking badge.

It was my youngest niece's turn to get her hostess badge. Being a 'Chocolate Girl' she made Chocolate Brownies.

Please note little Miss H...your Auntie is putting an order in for more! They were delicious!



Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

A Snowman in Pyjamas

Hmm...after taking a nice quiet walk along the river yesterday evening collecting flowers to put under my pillow for Midsummer's Evening I thought I would sleep soundly...dreaming about my true love...

It didn't quite happen...my mind spent the night buzzing. So, I may have dreamed about him...but I didn't wake up refreshed enough to remember...

An early night for me I think...and a fresh start tomorrow.

One Christmas I made this Tilda inspired Snowman and hung him up in my front room.

My Mum caught sight of him...and...it was love at first sight.

I carefully wrapped him up as one of her Christmas presents...and made myself another one!



Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

A Gloopy Snow Globe...

I received an email earlier from my friend in Norway...wishing me a 'Happy Midsummer's Day'...and reminding me to place 7 wild flowers under my pillow. Folklore says if you do...you will dream of your true love.

The last time I did this...I was staying with my friend in her summer house by a beautiful fjord. There were three of us staying there for our holiday. Out we went on Midsummer's evening to collect our flowers to place under our pillows.

That night I dreamed of a man...and...two days later I met the very man I dreamed of!

Now...it could, of course, be put down to the excitement of going to see one of my favourite bands that made me dream of the lead singer...but hey...meet him I did...and I have his autograph to prove it!

The band...A-ha!...I've been a fan since I was a teenager...and of Morten Harket. It's one of my guilty secrets...



So, this evening I went for a walk around the park to collect flowers...

Who knows...it may may happen again :)

In contrast to Midsummer...here's a Christmas Snow Globe.

My nieces wanted to make one as their Christmas present for their Grandma...my Mum.

We got a bit short on time so I made it for them.

I followed the instructions...by gluing a cake decoration in the jar...putting glitter in there...then filling the jar with glycerin.

Yes...well...the glycerin is so gloopy the glitter just clumps together...

You can just about see Rudolph pulling Santa in his sleigh...just...




Sweet dreams everyone!

Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

Handmade Buttons...part 3

I've been busy finishing projects again.

One down. Six nearly finished...they just need some hand sewing done. That's a job for tomorrow. Two more projects just about to be started. It's all go!

I was rummaging through my button box the other day...

...and found these red buttons I had made.

Used to decorate the jackets of the Santa's I've made.



Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

Summer Solstice Butterfly

My blog today is for one of my best friends...she will be at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Wow! All in aid of the local hospice.

She came up with a clever idea to help her fundraising...'Wish Upon A Feather'.

She made up lots of these butterfly boxes...using a template.

She inserted a feather in each one and tied the box up with a ribbon.

She then sold the feather in the box...the buyer would make a wish on the feather...and return it to my friend.






She collected all the feathers to take to the summit of the mountain to release them with everyone's wishes...one step nearer to heaven.





I'm looking forward to hearing all about her trip when she gets back!

Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

A Tapestry Cushion...part 3

A fun day today...playing mystery shopper!

Enterprise Club was held in a local town...with the objective of going in independent shops to see whether we would like our products to be sold in them.

One of the main considerations to this is customer service. If you receive good customer service then you know the shop is going to make an effort to sell your products. If you don't...well...your goods...that you have put a lot of love and care into making...are going to sit on the shelves collecting dust...not finding their way into people's homes.

Hmm...lets say that one of the shops I would love to approach to sell my items...put themselves firmly out the game. Not a single 'hello' did we get. It wasn't the only shop this happened in. When you get a small group of people walk into your shop...and in one case there were no other customers...surely you are friendly and make them feel welcome and wanted? It would seem not...

It was a great lesson in how the customer experience can instantly impact on your sales.

The shop we all felt made us feel comfortable...with a good vibe and great displays...was the shop we all spent money in. That's the shop I want my products to be sold in!

Back to my tapestry cushion...

My Grandma had originally wanted to use the tapestry as the seat covering for her piano stool. She realised though that she had cut the material too small to do this. What to do?

I had bought this book by Sarah Moore.

She has a great selection of tapestry cushions...

...with easy to follow instructions.

I thought turning the tapestry into a cushion would be a good way of showing off the picture and shape of the design.

Once I had finished the tapestry stitching I chose the backing material...some corduroy I had left from another project...sewed them together and over-locked the edges so they don't fray.

Here's the finished cushion...flat...

...and fully stuffed and sat on my settee!









Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

A Tapestry Cushion...part 2

Quick blog tonight...even though it's getting late I'm still in full flow...writing my shop policies and product descriptions.



Yesterday I showed you the tapestry my Grandma had been working on.

Most of it was complete...the edges just needed tidying up.






I was lucky enough to inherit her fabulous stash of tapestry wool.

I just needed to decide which colours to use.

I marked out the edges I would work to. I did this by drawing round an oval basket that is just the right size.

Then I choose green wool for the top and a dark marine blue for the bottom edge. The green is already in the tapestry so blends in more. The blue isn't; I decided to go for a contrasting colour to highlight what had already been done.


I also stitched with a tighter tension. When you run your fingers across the tapestry you can feel the difference between my Grandma's stitching and my own. It really makes her work stand out more.

Tomorrow I'll show you the finished tapestry.

Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

A Tapestry Cushion...part 1

I've been busy booking myself into more craft fairs today.

This may seem like a straight forward process...except..some want photos of your work before they make a decision as to whether they will give you a table or not.

I'm in the process of protecting my designs. So today I've been learning how to watermark photos before I email them to anyone. I'm on a steep learning curve!

Then I got a call about some temp work...so had to drop everything and update my CV too. It's definitely been all go today!

Here's a tapestry my Grandma started.

She wanted to re-do the seat cover of the piano stool that always sat at the top of my Grandparent's stairs.

The urn is a design by Kaffe Fassett.

However, she decided to design the flowers in the urn herself.

Some of her drawings show through where she hadn't yet stitched.

This weekend I finally finished her tapestry...I shall show you my work tomorrow.





Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

A Thank You Bug

Not so long ago I got myself into trouble...

I made my sister a bug for her birthday (see A Birthday Bug). My Mum loved it...and waited for her Birthday Bug to arrive a few weeks later. It didn't...

I had made a gift for Mothering Sunday...and so for the first time in a long time I bought her a present.

It turns out it is no longer the done thing...these days handmade gifts are expected...on every occasion it would seem.

Back to the machine I went!



Here is the little lady herself.

Smartly dressed in polka dots with pink buttons for antennae.








She is a bit of a poseur this one. Looking left...






Looking right...

Forward pose.






She was tucked in the handbag I gave Mum on the day of my business launch to say 'thank you' for all her help and support. My Mum is a star! Love you Mum xxxxxxxxx

Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

Dairy Free Ice Cream

A couple of more projects finished today. It would have been more...but...I fell asleep on the settee...

It must have been all the fresh air I got this morning. I went for a walk with a friend...and a trip down memory lane...playing on the rope swing in the woods...well, not me. Not this time anyway :)

I made this ice cream for the same friend. It's dairy free.

I just substituted all the diary products in the recipe for non-dairy. Almond milk, non-dairy cream and then added wheat free ginger biscuits.



Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

Christmas Ice Skates

Think I better get my skates on and get writing as I have less than an hour of the day left... eek!

I've been busy sewing all day. On my own projects this time. I've got seven and half projects completed and some photos taken. Not bad going.

Here's a pair of ice skates I made.

They're from Tilda's 'Christmas Ideas' magazine.







Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

A Silky Knitted Scarf

I've had one of those lovely days that started with hand sewing some products and doing research on the internet...to meeting up with a friend for lunch...shopping for sewing supplies...going to my niece's school fete...a quick visit to my Mum and being given a supply of homemade cake and quiche to keep me going for the next week or more...a quick supermarket shop...then getting an unexpected call from a friend I haven't spoken to for a few months...and now writing my blog. Think I will sleep well tonight!

Here's a scarf my sister knitted for me.

Once again modelled by my tailor's dummy.

My knitting skills are limited to say the least...so...I'm not sure how to describe the wool...except to say it is just silky soft.






Happy weekend everyone!

Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

A Crocheted Blanket...part 2

I've been zooming ahead with sewing today and created three more pictures...then a friend popped round for a cup of tea late afternoon...and I haven't picked up speed since.

Think I'll work for another hour then it's an early night for me...otherwise I'll start snoozing at my sewing machine at this rate!

Here's another crocheted blanket my Grandma made.

I love the green and blue edging.

Whenever I stayed at my Grandparent's house I would ask for this blanket on my bed. Happy days indeed.





Until tomorrow,
Nic xx

A Woolen Wrap

A good day's work done today...a double order taken, possible a third...three more products added to my range...and...confirmation that I have a place at a two day event in August...one in November...and possibly more places in August and November. I'll post details very soon. For now...it's back to sewing!

Here's a woolen wrap my sister made...modelled by my tailor's dummy.

I happily inherited it as she doesn't wear it.

It's quite large for a wrap...

...so large it sits on my settee and I use it as a blanket.







Until tomorrow,
Nic xx