A child's apron/smock

A friend sent me the link to this tutorial for a child's apron/smock a while ago and as I have a few presents for 2-year-olds to make, I thought I'd give it a go. It was really easy to make, looks really cute and covers the front of the clothes well. The first one I made was a little small (the tutorial is for a size 2T but Matilda at 2 years 4 months was too big for it). So I added cotton tape at the end of the straps where they tie at the shoulder to make it more adjustable. I then made another one but this time made it a little wider and longer in length and also did the cotton tape ties. Both were made with Ikea fabric backed with linen (from a pair of unwanted curtains) and a scrap of more expensive fabric (possibly Cath Kidston - I can't remember!) for the pocket.
Here's the first one, which will be a Christmas present for my youngest niece:

Meeting Amy Butler

Here I am sat next to the very glamorous Amy Butler, designer of lovely fabrics, patterns and other creative wonders. She was visiting my local sewing/knitting shop, the Knitting Parlour, as part of a brief tour of some of her UK stockists. The shop invited customers to come along to a 'yarn-tasting evening', to meet Amy over a glass of wine. I went along with a friend (who knits) and we both had a great evening talking to other sewing and knitting enthusiasts. They're a friendly bunch in the Knitting Parlour and they put on a really good event. It would have been a fun evening even without the special guest! But it was also lovely meeting Amy herself - what a friendly and approachable person - I enjoyed talking to her about sewing, quilting, knitting, designing and a lot more besides (including, bizarrely, National Trust properties). It's always good talking to people who are so passionate about what they do - you come away feeling full of enthusiasm.

I've been eyeing Amy's 'Little Stitches' book for a while so I decided to buy it so that I could get it signed. Now I just need to find time to make some of the gorgeous things from it! I was glad that such a rare evening out turned out so well - a couple of glasses of wine, some good company, and surrounded by pretty fabrics and yarns. What more could you ask for?

A bag (and first attempt at applique)

This weekend I made a bag for my niece for her 5th birthday. I used a pattern for a small shopping bag which I had from a 'learn to sew' course at my local knitting/sewing shop. Some new Ikea fabric formed the bottom half and the handles, and the denim was left over from some old jeans I recently cropped. My niece loves all things pink so I used some dark pink thread for the top stitching.

I had decided to add an applique butterfly using some fabric from a japanese-style satin-like top I bought at a car boot sale. I ironed some bondaweb onto the reverse of the top, drew a butterfly shape onto the paper backing and cut the shape out. I then ironed it onto the bag fabric and zig zag stitched around the edge. I'm really pleased with the result - I love the look of applique but when I tried some out before (on some scrap fabric) it went all stretched and the shape was warped - possibly because I didn't use any bondaweb, or possibly because the fabric was t-shirt jersey so had some stretch in it. Anyway, this worked really well - two non-stretch fabrics probably made it easier - so I'm feeling enthusiastic about trying some more applique in future!