It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post which was made on what would have been my mum's 97th birthday. I felt a bit sad and since then my thoughts began drifting down memory lane. Whilst having a sort out I found this in my (long unused) sewing table. It belonged to my mum and seems to date from...would you say the 1950's? It looks as though it has never been used but I do remember my mum mending things often when we were children. Strangely, although she worked in tailoring until she got married she never made us children any clothes. Everything we had was bought new for birthdays and Christmas but in a size so enormous that the clothes lasted several years! We never had a lot of clothes but mum made sure we were clean and tidy for school. My secondary school uniform lasted me from the age of 12 until I left at 16! Anyway, I digress....
I decided to do a bit of sewing to make me feel closer to my mum and to try to get back the crafting skills I abandoned once the children grew up. I used to knit quite well and sew a bit (although in a wonky kind of way). I used the aforementioned sewing kit and had a lovely hour making these. I used felt and beaded ribbon raided from my card making stash and some new wadding which I ordered a week ago. I feel quite pleased with them and more will be on the way, I think.
I try to hand make a few Christmas gifts every year and had another brainwave. I have some chipboard plaques with pre-drilled holes in and I decided to make gifts with them.
I bought a tester pot of Apple Crush emulsion from Wilkinsons which cost £1 and painted the plaques with it.
After they had dried thoroughly I decorated them and added a hanging ribbon and a 2015 calendar tab (£1 for a pack of 10) Ta dah! I know my Sister, Daughter and Best Friend will like them so they will become stocking fillers. I have other ideas for decorating them and I know some of you will be much better at it than me. The costing for this one is:
Chipboard plaque 52p
Emulsion(tiny amount) 5p
Ribbon & gems about 10p
(from stash)
Calendar tab. 10p
TOTAL 77p
The only trouble is that my dining table now looks like this and will remain so for several days :-/
Does anyone else find it hard to tidy away 'stuff'' ....work in progress? Oh, for a dedicated craft room, (sigh)
Thanks for popping in x
Hi I have missed your posts, hope you are well, I love your crafting, very pretty.
ReplyDeleteThank you, that's a kind thing to say :-) I think I am over my glum episode now and am raring to go!
DeleteMy dining room is my craft room. My dining table has an overlocker on one end and a dedicated quilting machine on the other.. My Horn cabinet is in the middle with the big janome machine, round the sides are shelves and cupboards full of supples. There is room to lay a double quilt on the floor to square it up and baste it, I long for a massive table, my ironing board fits in and I use a clothes airer to hang blocks and fabric on once pressed. I only have myself to please so I am happy to eat at a small table in the kitchen or lounge.
ReplyDeleteIt seems you have things well organised, Pam. I am impressed! My OH is happy to eat in the kitchen at the breakfast bar on occasions but not all the time :-)
DeleteWhat a lovely gift idea. My dining table looks like that at the moment, its the only place big enough to lay the cutting board out. Oh well got to get our priorities right, crafting comes first :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right ,chickpea. I intend trying the pinwheels at the weekend if I have time. Housework can wait ;-)
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