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!

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.

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!

Melly & Me are two sisters from Australia who have joined forces to produce a collection of wonderful sewing patterns for bags, quilts and soft toys.  We’re delighted to now stock a large selection of patterns from their range.  We love the toys in particular and are already making Rudy the reindeer with some Christmas fabric from our stash!

Melly & Me sewing patterns

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

Welcome to Hulu – the UK’s newest online yarn and fabric shop.

Setting up the business has been a real delight although it’s been extremely hard to choose which yarns, fabrics and knitting patterns to stock. If there’s something you’re looking for that we don’t have, we would be most delighted to order it in for you.