New in: Saltspring dress by Sewaholic

With perfect timing for this glorious British Summer we are having, the new Saltspring dress by Sewaholic has just arrived.

The Saltspring Dress is a breezy, relaxed sundress perfect for hot summer nights and days at the beach. It comes in two lengths, a full-length maxi dress and an above-knee length dress. What’s neat about this dress is the construction.

The inner layer is shorter than the outer layer, which causes the blousiness to sit neatly at the waistline. No need to tuck and then ‘blouse’ the dress yourself, having it slip out of place during the day. You’ll always look effortlessly put-together!

Easy-to-sew inseam pockets make this dress practical as well as stylish. The straps tie in a bow at the shoulders, making it easily adjustable.  

Taking a break and opening times...

Just to let you know that with school summer holidays imminent I will be taking the first of a few breaks at the end of this week and all orders placed between 25th and 31st July will be posted on 1st August.

New in: Nordika by Jeni Baker

New in: Nordika by Jeni Baker, you can find it here.

Book give away: Craft it Up Around the World

I'm very excited to be able to host a give-away for this lovely new book: Craft It Up Around the World by Libby Abadee and Cath Armstrong.

There are 35 crafty projects (perfect for the Summer holidays) inspired by traveling adventures. I particularly like this Eiffel Tower embroidery project - great timing with our recent Tour de France cycling successes.

The wonderful thing about this book is that you don't need a huge supply of random crafting materials to complete the projects, so you can get making straight away.

All you have to do to win (and this is open to the UK only) is leave a comment below saying what your favourite crafting activity was as a child. Mine were making pom-poms and french knitting, hours of fun.

Leave your comment below by 28th July 8pm BST and I will announce a winner next week - good luck!

The week in photos

The weeks are flying by at the moment as we approach the end of term and the many child-rearing commitments this throws at me. Very little time for blogging or sewing, and with 6 weeks off stretching ahead of us, I can't see there being much action here till September. But you can find me sharing all over the place on Instagram, probably my most favourite place to be.

Yesterday this enormous box of Kona solids arrived, they are so pretty and zesty and colourful together.

Many years ago we replaced the fireplace in our house, fully intending to buy some beautiful tiles to frame it, but years and years later it still hasn't happened. This week I noticed that the blocks I made using the leftovers of my medallion quilt perfectly fitted the gap, so I sewed a few together and quite like the result. It is certainly an improvement on bare bricks.

For months now I have been tracking the progress of a particular gardening project in our local park. Two disused bowling greens were dug up and planted as wild flower meadows with a meandering path. 

They are finally out and so, so beautiful. I took some snaps with my phone when out for a run, but I need to return with a better camera.

So many people stopping to take photos or just enjoy, if you are a Brighton native, it's well worth a look and is near the Rose Garden in Preston Park.

More flowers at the end of term as we think about leaving old teachers and moving on to new ones. I fill an uneasy mixture of relief and dread about the impending school holidays. No school run for 6 weeks - hooray! keeping the kids entertained for 6 weeks - ahhh!

And a summer pud I made that looked like pacman, yum.

At this point I should mention that the shop will be closed a bit over the summer holidays, first off from 28th - 31st July, so if you get the shakes when denied fabric, you might want to plan around this.

Have a great weekend everyone!

9

This last week or so, in the manner of the queen, our girl has enjoyed extended birthday celebrations as she turns 9.

We went star themed this year, inspired by a pot of star cupcake sprinkles. The theme continued to presents with a constellation cushion.

I'm not really sure how our chubby-cheeked toddler has suddenly become a long-limbed 9 year old, time is certainly flying by. It's easy to get lost in the daily monotony of traipsing to school, eating your greens, plastering on sunscreen and dealing with grumpiness the morning after the sleepover on the night before.

But reading her school report and viewing her through her teacher's eyes, it's hard not to feel some awe and think 'wow - we made that'. A work in progress; beautiful, insightful and tenatious. How we love her.

Elk Grove and Mod Basics now in stock!

Also just arrived these gorgeous organic prints from Birch fabrics. They are from the Elk Grove and Mod Basics collections, you can find them all here.

 It includes these 2 beautiful birds prints on light-weight canvas perfect for home decorating.

 

Staple Dress now in stock

Now in stock, the wonderful Staple Dress by April Rhodes. This essential dress pattern has been all over the internet, you can find some great photos of Staple Dresses that have already been made here.

It is a pattern you will make over and over, the only question is, which fabric to use?