Boxy Bag..

Today i made a boxy bag. Im very pleased with my first attempt!

You are meant to use interfacing to make it firmer, but i made it with a thicker cotton on the outside...next time i'll try the interfacing!

What do you think? I think a duo fabric outer would look cute :)

Love Lil x

New Year, New machine :)

My new sewing machine..Toyota FSL 18. I needed a faster mahine for my needs. I will probably sell my old John Lewis mini one.

I love this machine, its sooo fast, has pink on it, and was only £115!

I also picked up this Sewing accessories travel case (both from argos). This was £25 i think.

Its got 5 plastic boxes inside, all with small sections. Perfect for storing threads, buttons, ribbons, bobbins...the list goes on! I have filled three boxes already!

Its also got fab side compartments and a zip compartment, where i store scissors and larger items.

I love it...and its lilac which makes it even lovelier :)

My mum got me these cute embroidery scissors for my birthday in December. So handy for cutting sewing machine threads, and generally just super cute :)

Hot Water Bottle Cover Tutorial

Remember that kilt i bought in a charity shop a few months back for £1? There i was, sat thinking about what to make next...and so here it is...padded quilt hot water bottle cover :)

You will need:

Outer Fabric (Kilt)
Padding/wadding - very cheap from john lewis or fabric shops!
Inner/Lining Fabric (Strawberry)
Thread (try and make this the same colour as your outer fabric!
Bias Binding - not much, about 50cm!
Greaseproof/tracing paper.
Sewing machine optional, but a lot faster with one!!

Lets Get Started!!...

First, draw around your hot water bottle, leaving a 2cm gap round the edge all the way round.

Do this onto greaseproof/tracing paper as it is easy to work with.

Pin this to your fabric and cut out one whole one, a small half for the top and a larger bottom half, so that when placed on top of the whole one, they overlap.

Next place your cut out sides onto the wadding and cut out - leaving a gap of about an inch all the way round. Do this for all three pieces.

Next do the same with the lining/inner fabric. In the end you should have a sandwich seen below.



Pin this sandwich together and then carefully sew together.

Bias bind together the two straight edges from the broken half.

Lay the whole piece, right side up, and place the smaller piece on top right side down. then the larger broken piece also right side down. So that when all turned inside out, the outer fabric only is showing.

Sew round all edges carefully, The machine will go through this as its all thin fabric!

Turn inside out and voila!!

I know mines not perfect, but its my first attempt and i love it!...

Another christmas present in the bag!!

Lil x

Pretty Bunting Tutorial

This is a really easy tutorial for making pretty bunting. It can be used to decorate rooms, stalls and even cars (yes im thinking car window bunting!)

What you will need...

Fabric..This can be all the same colour, or different patterns as i have gone for.
Scissors..for cutting out your triangles.
A cardboard triangle template...Mine is 14cm at top, and 16 on either side.

Some Bias Binding (170cm) in the colour of your choice (really cheap from fabric shops)

Cotton in a matching or contrasting colour to your bunting.

...Sewing machine is optional but very quick if you have one!

Lets get started!...

Firstly you will need to choose your fabrics, I chose ten as this makes a nice length of bunting.

Place your triangle on the fabric and cut out, leaving a cm either side of the cardboard. You can save fabric by turning the triangle upside down each time you cut.

You will need two fabric triangles per bunting triangle (does that make sense?) for front and back!

You should end up with something that looks like this...

Next, place correct sides together and sew down each side - not the top!!

(Quick tip for sewing machine users..Sew down one side, At the bottom of the triangle keep the needle in and turn the fabric - saves time and having to sew each side separately!)


Trim the excess and turn inside out. Press with an iron to keep flat.

Repeat this for all sets of triangles!






Next you will need to work out which order you want your triangles and fold the bias binding over each of the triangle tops. It makes it way easier to do this all in advance and pin in place, like below :)

Sew all triangles onto the bias, making sure it is always folded correctly, and the triangle is sandwiched inbetween! I just do one continuous sewing strip, and sew together the empty bias inbetween each triangle. This will save you a lot of time over sewing each one in individually!

And here is the finished bunting!

Let me know if you make this yourself as i would love to see pictures!!

Lil x

Frills and things...

Its my best friends birthday next week, so instead of buying something i figured i'd make her something special.

Unsure of what to make, i took to the internet for ideas and inspiration.

I found this amazing cushion on google images, and luckily it turned out there was a tutorial to go with it!...Click here for it...Amazing!

So here is my effort and interpretation.

I had to change some of the measurements slightly, and used 5 ruffles instead of 4...I think its gorgeous and i'd love it myself!

I definately want to make more cushions like this, and for my first effort i'm really impressed with how it's turned out!

Do you know any other pretty frilly cushion tutorials?

Lil x