Rowan Tree Cottage

 Horace the Gargoyle has an important job.  The hold the bag containing various bird foods. A Great Tit came in onto the bedroom window sill one morning so I used the bird fabric at the top, and Mary Engelbreit  garden fabric for the rest of the outside. I added a pocket to the inside just in case I want to use it when gardening in Spring. The pocket should be enough for seed packets. There has also been this make from a vintage piece of Diary of an Edwardian Lady "Wild Flowers." It covers the little practice amp, and goes with the curtains in the living room which also come from the Diary of an Edwardian Lady range. Da dar! Finished with a plain cream lining and a green dotty binding. The main amp will get the same treatment when the odd metre of the same fabric I tracked down, arrives. I am liking this going away from plastic bags in the cottage and trying to make it cosy and pretty for these colder months which we spend more indoors.

Mary Engelbreit came to the rescue of a very English problem. We buy multi packs of crisps which come in a huge packet which invariably rips when you try to find your favourite flavour. The crisp packets are then scattered all over the cupboard, taking up valuable space. So this is a bag for all those feral crisp packets to be kept in. The yellow lining has cherries on as do the main fabric and the handles. Isn't that armchair perfect for knitting in? The bag is now hanging in the dead space inside the electricity meter cupboard. Thank you Simone for the gorgeous fabrics. Another bag was needed for sheet music and music books now I am teaching Hubby to play the guitar. Mary Engelbreit came to the rescue again. These were unused FQs from her Caroler range with musical notes on. The white with red notes fabric was all used up. I like it when that happens. The outside is black and glittery. It is a stronger than normal cotton as it seems to have a rubbery film on to k...

Tracy of Simple Gifts Pictured and I had a sew a long day last week. We settled on making the 2 items on Simplicity 8230 pattern. I opted for the apron dress (A) and Tracy for the reversible tabard (B). Go to her link to see how well she did. I opted to fussy cut a couple of Laurel Burch mermaids for the pockets on the black linen main cloth. The top were in pink fish from the same Laurel Burch range. I wore it out that evening, and this is it after being washed. It is a tabard shape but has extra wide sides which can either be tied to the front or back like a  conventional apron. This though is doubled, so you have a hole to put your head through, and arm holes. The pocket pleats were very detailed. Instead of having facing pieces, the pattern used bias binding folded and sewn to the inside of the neck and arm holes. This made making the main fabric sit correctly, more fiddly than using a facing, in the conventional way. Before I started I had to alter the pattern s...