Wink Designs

Tea and roses

I'm not much of a roses girl when it comes to fabric but these fat quarters caught my eye today.  I think they would make a great set of placemats, napkins or an apron.  I got out my grandmother's precious cups and saucers to photograph with them.  Afternoon tea anyone?

Bits n' bobs n' baby britches

Just a quickie to show you a couple of bits n' bobs acquired & made recently.

I went to the lovely Mathilda's Market on the weekend (purely for research purposes you understand!) but couldn't resist just a few teensie purchases.  The onesie/jumpsuit with tree applique is in a supersoft organic cotton from Diggadello and you can also see some very cute hair ties and clip from Lottielulu (packaged in the most gorgeous little handmade envelope with a vintage image of children cooking). 

It was lovely to meet Ingrid and Cass (of Snailblazer) and to see their fabulous stall - very successful by all accounts.  Ingrid's recent post shows some beautiful pics from the day.

I made the baby pants myself (to go with the onesie) from Simplicity 3765.  This pattern has everything but the kitchen sink in it (including boys and girls tops, shorts, hats, stroller bag etc.)  Of course, like a bull at a gate, I charged ahead and made the XS size pants which, lets just say, did not cover Miss Wink's ample behind + nappy.  Hence the addition of a top band to add some extra room. Sorted!

No-sew fabric covered boxes tutorial

These are fun and easy to make (no sewing involved) and look great as storage containers on childrens' shelves or desks.

 

 

I also decided to make one for myself for sewing pattern storage using the Alexander Henry "Perfect Pattern" print (I love this fabric - such a simple yet genius design!).  I'd seen the fabric in various online shops but it sells out quickly so I was really happy to find that Tessuti now has some both in-store and online. I added some "dividers" in coordinating prints with ribbon tabs to separate the patterns within the box.

(Grrr, Typepad has still not solved its image pixelation problems, so head over to flickr if you want to see better examples of my images....)

 

   

How to make:

• Use a shoe-box or other ready-made box such as a paper-mache craft box, or make your own to size. (I've included a basic cube box template below - click on the image to get a proper resolution).
• If making your own box, trace template onto cardboard (choose a cardboard that is heavy enough to be durable but not so heavy that folding is impossible!).
• Cut along the solid lines and using a ruler and a dinner knife (not a sharp cutting knife!) make scoring marks/indentations along the dotted lines to assist in folding.
• Fold along all dotted lines so that the box takes shape and attach the side tabs to the adjacent sides in the interior of the box using double-sided tape or craft glue.
• Using a quilting ruler and rotary cutter, cut a piece of (well ironed) fabric to the height and circumference of the box making sure that you add a bit extra to overlap at the back.
• Lightly spray the outside of the box and the wrong side of the fabric with spray glue and attach the fabric to the box smoothing out bubbles as you go.
• Attach a strip of ribbon around the upper edge of the box using fabric or craft glue.
• The dividers for the sewing pattern storage box can be made by wrapping a piece of fabric around some stiff interfacing (or even a piece of cardboard) and glueing together at the back.  (The ribbon loops should first be attached to the interfacing or cardboard before attaching the fabric.)

Black Apple Doll announces winner!

Much more fun to do it this way than a random number generator (and nothing to do with the fact that I don't know how to use a random number generator......!!).

Anyway, congratulations to Erna of the lovely Blij als Mij for being the winner of my blog birthday giveaway.  Send me your postal address Erna and I'll put the notebooks and cards in the mail to you asap!

 

 

And here are some lovely bits and pieces from Clare of Lulu Carter which came to me via our blogmeet lucky dip.  Clare is featured in Artful Blogging (a gorgeous eye-candy laden publication if ever there was one....) and is also the subject of much envy because of her impending trip to the UK where she is reportedly planning some serious Liberty fabric purchasing activity! Bon voyage Clare!

Silver lamé superhero

First, thank you so much for all the lovely blog birthday wishes.  Keep them coming (if you feel so inclined) and I will make a draw for the little giveaway in my next post.

Back to business.  There is a golden rule of parenting that says you should never make open ended offers to children.  Instead give just two or three options at most.  Well I broke that rule when I asked Cee Cee what she would like to be for Halloween and she answered "A rainbow coloured superhero.  And the rainbow has to sparkle...".  Of course.

Where was I supposed to find rainbow fabric that sparkled at short notice?  Just not possible unfortunately.  But good old Spotlight came to the rescue with some rainbow cotton and for the sparkle we improvised with silver lamé applique on the back.  I started to make my own version of a superhero cape and then, after getting stuck on how to do the neck part, Puking Pastilles (gotta love that name!) came to the rescue with her tutorial which I found via Google.  The top part is just like an oversized bib turned around to the front.

 

And of course, we had to have a little matching cape for Cee Cee's beloved Souris (translation: souris = French for mouse):

  

The superhero in action:

   

And traumatising younger members of the family after trick-or-treat induced sugar overload: