Memory Blanket

I had to repair some trousers for NYE and loved having my sewing machine out again. I wished quietly I had a reason to sew. Then to my amazement a week later my friend asked me to make a memory blanket for her little boy.
She gave me a bag of superman t-shirts and I set to cutting up the use able ones.
As he is a little boy there were tons of blue shirts so I decided on 3 rows of blue interrupted by 1 red and 1 green.
Despite using a template to cut the blocks, the t-shirts didn't line up perfectly which is a true annoyance to me but alas I wasn't unpicking all the panels that I had only just put together.
I then whizzed the backs of the shirts into the same sized panel and joined the front and back together.
My back hurts from cutting and sewing and I have a blister from my scissors so I should probably be careful with what I wish for but I have truly loved making it.
Who wants the next one?xx

Up cycled baby grows

When you first meet me I promise your first instinct will not be 'wow what a maternal woman' it's much more likely to be 'wow how has this person survived on her own so long'. You think I'm kidding but my nearest and dearest often joke that I'm on day release and they are my carers.
My point: I'm probably the least likely person to be interested in baby clothes. Now I haven't gone to the lengths of Sarah Millican who accidentally collects baby clothes for when Cheryl Cole pops by but I do think they are cute.
This is not your invitation to suggest I start having babies, I know I'm a person in possession of a uterus that is still ornamental but I promise you, I'm merely making a statement.
My latest craft fix comes from taking the baby grow that the child has grown out of, (taking the clothes from babies while they are still wearing them is probably more frowned upon than taking candy right?) cutting it up and making it into something new. This something new happens to be a love heart made out of covered buttons using the baby grows. The parents pick the clothes so they get to treasure the memories for much longer than it's acceptable to keep the baby grow, if Sarah, you are reading this perhaps it's time the tiny jeans go, and you get a keepsake for their room. And it's not just for girls. When a colleague passed me a bag of boys clothes I had a mini melt down but then came up with the dinosaur you see at the bottom.
Both sets of mummies at least liked the pictures from what I could gather and it kept my hands from shoving cake into a reluctant face for at least a day so it's all good. Ok so the face wasn't reluctant. I want cake.

Simple things please simple minds

I'm a horder, there I've said it. You can judge at will. I keep all kinds of random bits and pieces because one day they may come in handy. Why throw away less than a square inch of lace, that could adorn a hand made card one day! Or tip buttons into the bin- that crime should be punishable by eating lard. Each scrap of pretty paper, floral fabric or cute card is saved in this house: just in case.

My husband would argue until the death about this - he likes everything tidy (what a freak) and feels that there has to be a limit of what I save or collect from others too for that matter. But it's on days like today when I revert to being a three year old, I blob my tongue out with pride and say ner ner na ner ner to my other half.

This...

Was a skirt that I bought for £3 because it was £3 and I thought I could wear a belt with it. It was the wrong length and I didn't love it enough so to the bottom of my drawer it went. However when having a clear out (shudder) it was moved from the bottom drawer to my 'fabric for craft' bag and waited there to be converted into a rather lovely vintage apron for my friend. Yes, another PIF gift.

And this...

Was a bathroom curtain from my mamma's house.

Among my favourite words, as long as they are said by someone else, are 'we are having a clear out' my heart skips a beat, my palms get sweaty and my pupils dilate. As soon as I can get in up to my elbows in someone else's stuff I forget all social decorum. 

So until my husband actually threatens me with divorce and even then it would be a tough choice, or the house falls down from the weight of fabric I will collect and store and play with my scraps until the cows come home. I'm ok with being made happy by simple things, and even if it means I have a simple mind... Who actually wants complex?