sewing

For this Easter basket I bought a 99p packet of cleaning cloths, the pastel colours are perfect for this Easter project. In The 99p Shop I found a packet of 15 pearlized eggs, they open up, you can put sweets of your choice inside. Alternatively you could put chocolate or decorated eggs in the basket . For the basic basket I found this comprehensive tutorial on Maya Made Maya has made a beautiful basket, I have just tweaked it a bit for this project.

After doing previous projects using the Suffolk puff (yo-yo's), and being pleased with the effect they give, I wanted to try something else. I liked a brooch I saw on The Eternal Magpie it was another twist on the Suffolk puff. This is my version of the flower.

I used a fine cotton lawn fabric, from this I cut out six circles for the petals and one in a contrasting colour for the centre.

My theme this week has been flowers made from fabric, I think I'm looking forward to spring, wishing away these cold winter days.

These flowers are so easy to make but I think look spectacular. I bought organza made from polyester, silk organza won't work, from the local market, only £2 a metre. I chose a few plain colours but also found a couple that were multi coloured, these are particularly good for depth and colour variation when constructing a flower.

For the pattern I cut out three concentric circles, I just drew round drinking glasses and a lid.

Today I did a sketch of my kettle, turned it into a line drawing then embroidered it. Redwork is addictive, no household object is safe from the Redwork treatment, the more mundane the better! Find out more about Redwork, history and method here

Bib necklaces are really popular at the moment, but can be expensive so why not make your own.

This is my free pattern and tutorial so you can make one for yourself or to give as a present.

You will need:

FELT, for the base. I cut two bibs out from the pattern and machine stitched them together using a zig-zag stitch.

Well after that intermission normal service resumes. I haven't been on holiday in fact the reverse, we had grandma (aka mother-in-law) staying with us. It has meant extra cleaning and cooking but it was nice to see her. While she was here we went over to Hitchin and spent a morning looking round the town. In one of the shops I spotted an old wooden needlework box I liked, grandma said as a thank-you she would like to buy it for me. I've taken some photographs of it. It was made by a company called Morco.

Talking of what to do with a teacup, beside drink tea from it. I stumbled across these little miniature worlds in teacups by Mimi Kirchner They are meant to be pincushions, but it would be a shame to stick pins in that landscape. If you are so inclined there's a tutorial on Craftzine for a basic teacup pincushion.

I made Alice a 'cupcake' apron. If you want to make one similar this is what you do: Take an apron, you can buy or make one. Print off the 'cupcake' attachment. For the applique use *Bondaweb (Wonder Under) ironed onto scraps of cotton material. Cut out the words and image and pin them to the scraps of fabric, cut these out. Position the words on the apron. Following the Bondaweb (Wonder Under) instructions iron them in place. Using a zigzag stitch on the sewing machine sew round the letters and image.

This bunny would make a lovely gift anytime of year but particularly at Easter. These are very easy to make. Print off pattern attachment.

You will need:

I have designed this Russian doll as a tree decoration. The pattern for the doll is included on the felt bird Christmas decoration pattern. Just click on pdf attachment . I also made some dolls with a patterned cotton fabric and felt. Because I used a patterned material I had to make the face from a circle of flesh coloured felt.