Making stuff

I have made a few things recently. When the creative mood hits, I have to act quickly. I’ll have a flurry of activity for a few weeks and then I’ll go through a stretch where I won’t touch my sewing box for months on end. I’m definitely in a flurry at the moment though so I've been taking advantage of it. This means evenings spent in front of the TV pinning and cutting with drifts of thread and fabric collecting around my feet. And Sunday nights at the sewing machine, getting sleepier and sleepier and later and later, unwilling to stop until it’s finished! (sounds obsessive, right?)

I bought myself a pom-pom maker (R thought I was mad) after watching, ahem, Kirstie's Homemade Christmas (shhh) when wrapping pressies on my own one evening before Christmas. She made some beautiful jewel coloured wool poms using a little plastic pom pom maker which made making them really quick and easy. I remembered trying to make them when I was in school and was intrigued so I ordered one from Amazon (this one I think). Now I'm hooked. They make me smile. A little pop of colour for grey January days. 

Over the last few months I've been making lots of homemade cards. I had a surge of inspiration one day so I dug my watercolours out and began mixing colours and creating pastel-soft watery smudges. I was quite pleased with how they turned out. The lovely thing about homemade cards is that you can personalise them exactly as you want. 

I’ve also been making lots of cushion covers, after discovering (thanks to this tutorial) how to make an envelope cushion. Zips are a little advanced for me as yet. Envelope cushion covers are basically the simplest thing you can make (apart from maybe painting a wooden spoon – did anyone else do that when they were little?)

I made this one from two pieces of beautiful fabric that I bought years ago in Mexico. Now every time I look at it I think of being on holiday with my Mexican friends, a joyous cushion. The fabric has just the slightest sheen to it which somehow makes the colours even more vibrant.

The top two I made for our sofa and the one on the bottom was a house-warming present for some friends who just moved to Brockley (yay!). The card above was also for them. They seemed to like them both. I used two napkins that I made for our wedding that were the perfect size. That cushion cover had a very significant former life.

This is the scarf that took me aaaagges to knit. I’m not a very tidy or skilled knitter, but I do like doing it. The first scarf I tried to make took me even longer and ended up only being big enough for a small child (or large teddy). Still not quite sure what went wrong. Anyway, knitting is the perfect thing to do (a) in front of the TV on a Sunday afternoon and (b) in bed before switching off the light. A bit of knitting and the shipping forecast sends me off every time. What a wild life I lead. By the way, this scarf was neither quick nor cheap to make, but it is the warmest scarf I’ve ever had.

I also had a go at making an eye mask. R and me have become a bit dependent on these since our blind broke in our bedroom and the street light started streaming in. He bought me a lovely Liberty fabric one for my birthday a while ago, but I wanted to have a go at making another one. I couldn’t be bothered to look up how to do this so I just used the one I already had as a guide. A bit messy but not bad for a first try. I think I’ll be making some more of these.

 Putting the pom poms to good use! 

Every single thing I make, I insist on holding up and making R admire it. He’s become very good at this, although he does sometimes question why anyone would need 27 cushions… (stupid question).