A package arrived from Australia today containing new supplies of Melly and Me patterns including some new patterns – both toys and bags.

You can browse all the new Melly and Me patterns on our shop website.

For tips on making some of the toys, Melly and Me’s blog is worth a visit.  They also add pictures of their toys in different fabrics which help to inspire.

Our next idea for Christmas sewing projects is this little Santa Sack.

Little Santa Sack

For this bag we used the Classic Stripe and Classic Scroll Christmas fabrics.

It has an oval shaped base, which has been stiffened, so that the big will sit nicely. The sides of the bag were made by sandwiching a piece of thin wadding with the two pieces of fabric.  This was then quilted in a simple grid pattern.  It was attached to the base piece and sewn up the back to form the bag.

The top can be folded over to show the contrasting inner fabric.  The wadding was smaller than the actual fabric, so it actually stops 5 or 6 cm short of the top of the bag.  This means that the part you fold over isn’t padded and therefore folds over better.  We put a coordinating tie around it and fixed with a loop at the back, under the fold, so that it didn’t fall off.

If you try making your own “santa sakc” like this, do let us know.  We’d love to see your own version!

I’m falling in love with the Melly and Me toy patterns.  This is Phoebe…

Phoebe by Melly and Me

Made with fabric from our stash, she was very quick and easy to make and I’m just delighted with how she turned out!  I think that a collection of Melly and Me toys might be beginning

If you’d like to make Phoebe, then you can get the Melly and Me pattern here.

One of our favourite patterns from the Melly and Me range is Bonzer and Beaut.  So we thought we’d make one of them.  Here’s….. Bonzer!

Bonzer by Melly and Me

He’s so cuddly, but you could equally fill him with beans or rice and use him as a doorstop or bookend.

If you want to make your own then you can get the pattern here for just £6.85.

We’ve been getting ready for Christmas for a little while now and in the past few days we whipped up these advent calendars.

We love the idea that you can fill them with whatever treats you like, and they can be brought out from year to year and even passed down to the next generation eventually.

They’re dead easy to make too…

Each fabric panel contains the backing piece and the pocket pieces and is clearly marked where to cut and where to sew.

1. Cut out the backing piece.
2. Cut out the pocket pieces.  Pockets aren’t always singles.  Sometimes the pocket are in strips of 2, 3, 4 or 5 depending on the advent calendar design.  Pay close attention to the correct cutting lines indicated on the panel.
3. Iron over the seam allowances at the top of each pocket strip.
4. Stitch along the top edge.
5. Make box pleats between each pocket on a strip by bringing the sides together to meet on the dotted line and ironing.
   
6. Press over the other seam allowances at the sides and bottom of each pocket to enclose the pleat.
7. Pin each pocket and pocket strip in place on the backing piece and tack in place.
8. Stitch the pockets on to the backing piece.
9. Layer the calendar onto a piece of wadding and then onto a piece of christmassy fabric.  The back layer should have an allowance of an inch or two around the sides and bottom and 3 or 4 inches at the top.
10. Tack the 3 layers together.
11. Quilt the calendar by stitching along various parts of the design, e.g. around the edge of the sleigh or tree and around the edge of the whole calendar.
12. Fold the side and bottom edges of the christmassy fabric over and stitch to the front, to create a neat border.
13. Fold the top over to create a sleeve in which you can slide a pole to hang the calendar up.

You can buy the sleigh advent calendar, christmas tree advent calendar and christmas fabric from our shop.

As I mentioned recently, we’ve just started stocking Melly & Me sewing patterns in the shop now and my Mum immediately grabbed one of the toy patterns, Rudy, and made this little fellow with some Christmas fabric in her stash.

Rudy by Melly and Me

Rudy is just one of the toy patterns that Melly & Me have designed and I’m sure that we’ll be making some more very soon!

Large rainbow garden quilt

This quilt is the Rainbow Garden Quilt from the Kaffe Fassett book “Country Garden Quilts”.  Extra blocks were added to make a queen sized quilt approximately 95” wide by 82” long.  It looks so stunning;  we would never have thought of putting all these wonderful colours from Rowan’s Kaffe Fassett range into one quilt.

Kaffe Fassett quilt for sale

We made a second quilt the same size as in the book, i.e. 76” by 82” using the Rowan Bekah Green fabric for backing. This goes very well with all the colours, cooling them down a little and pretty enough to be able to turn the quilt over for a change.  The wadding used is the Quilters Dream Poly which is so soft, warm yet lightweight and of course practical as it is washable.  The pieces are joined together by machine and then the layers quilted using a variegated thread.  If you don’t have time to make your own, this one is available to buy on our website.
 
You don’t want to make a quilt … how about a cushion?  We will be posting some designs soon – do come back and check.

A new sewing book arrived in the shop today: Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter.  Lotta Jansdotter is a celebrated international designer who has published 24 of her most popular sewing patterns into this book.  Each project is paired with step-by-step instructions, charming photographs, inspiring design ideas, and helpful, hand-drawn how-to illustrations everything you need to make whimsical pieces for the home and beyond.

Best of all, there’s nothing complicated about the projects!  Perfect for a beginner.

I think the warm, sunny, Spring time weather that we’ve had recently is what has given me an urge to do some sewing. I’m fairly new to sewing so I started with something simple – an A-line skirt. I used Amy Butler’s barcelona skirt pattern and some of Amy Butler’s fabric which I think is perfect for summer.

The instructions that come with the pattern are clear and the pattern pack also includes the instructions for making a layered skirt and an apron.  I might well try the layered skirt next as I’ll need to do some sewing again soon, in order that I don’t forget how to do it!  Perhaps I should have taken step-by-step photos to remind myself of what I did at each stage?

Even for a beginner, it was quick to make – I did it in a weekend.  If I’d really gone at it I could have made it in a day, but I didn’t want to rush it.

Here I am modelling my skirt:

My Amy Butler skirt