Fabric for Friends & Family

As I have mentioned before I am a total fabric addict. I could spend hours in fabric shops and on-line hunting for new patterns and colours to use in my sewing projects. Sometimes I just buy because I like it and put it away knowing it will come in use for something at some point (hopefully).

And then there are the occasions when you see fabric and someone automatically springs to mind. This is exactly what happened with the two projects I made yesterday.

My Mother-in-law is arriving for a visit tomorrow and this bag is part of her birthday present from the family. When I first saw this sailing themed fabric I knew it would be perfect for her - she is a fan of taupe/beige colours and used to sail a lot, so this lovely patterned fabric couldn't be better. I used it as a centre panel and added a base and upper edge in taupe polka dot to make it a little more interesting. The handles are also made from the dotty fabric. As the sailing themed fabric has a splash of pink here and there, I used a pink ticking stripe cotton as the lining which looks fab. It's an ideal bag for the beach or summer shopping - I hope she loves it.


I am officially banned by my family from acquiring any more pets - we currently have a dog, a cat and three guinea pigs so I guess we do have quite a menagerie. If that ban was ever lifted I would love to have a dog just like this gorgeous girl - Bella.

She belongs to a very special friend and is the sweetest dog I know (except for Elsie our dachshund, of course). My friend and Bella came to mind when I found this adorable fabric and I began to think about what I could make with it. Animal themed fabric can often be just too cutesy for my liking but I was delighted to find this simple but classy taupe fabric with a delightful black Labrador motif and cream dot - perfect for a gift for a friend.

This is what I made...

... a cute and quirky, teapot cosy. Tea cosies are a great way to bring a decorative touch to a kitchen. Even if you don't use a teapot they look good sitting on a shelf or a tray to bring a lovely vintage accent to the room. They are easy to make - I am a huge fan. To finish off I added cream bobble edging to tone in with the cream dot of the fabric and cream calico lining, but ribbon or bias binding are just as good when it comes to adding a finishing touch.

So that's my second gift completed and ready to give - must be time for tea. xx