after making a couple of bibs for fruiby the other day, i got quite carried away and made one in every colour of the rainbow:

i’ve also written a pattern, so that you can make your own if you are so inclined. it’s got pictures, diagrams, and a template, and should be very easy to follow.

just watch how quickly you use up your scraps when you start making these!

you can find the pattern in my etsy shop. i hope you like it!
essie xoxo

i’ve been busily sewing up needle keepers for october’s sisters market, and i’ve put some up in my etsy shop in the mean time:

i think i have made my favourite one yet, using some liberty of london pear-print fabric and a really awesome vintage button:

this one with heather ross’ “far far away” fabric and another great vintage button is also a favourite:

and i’m still sewing away!
essie xoxox

p.s. sorry for accidentally doing two posts in one go - my blog thinks it’s in a different time zone to me!

any craftsperson will tell you that having the right tools is essential to getting a job done.

as i stitch industriously away in preparation for the sisters’ market this weekend, i am very much appreciating my wonderfully fat pin cushion.

i made it using a pattern in rosalie quinlan’s book “a stitch in time” (which i wholeheartedly recommend).

it’s 100% hand stitched, and while it took ages to make, i am extremely fond of it because of the time that went into making it.

if you’d like to come and see me at the market this saturday, i’d be so happy to meet you!
i’ll have kits for my embroidery patterns, as well as needle keepers, and other embroiderer’s accoutrements.
when: 10am - 4pm, saturday 14th august.
where: brunswick town hall, sydney road.
who: yours truly, PLUS, all these lovely creative people.

essie xoxoxo

all embroiderers need a needle keeper. it’s a simple fact. otherwise we can never find our needles when we want them, because they’re stuck in the arm of the couch, and we don’t find them until we end up inadvertently stabbing guests with them when they sit down.

with this fact in mind i have designed a cute needle keeper, for the preservation of your sanity, and your guests’ wellbeing.

the one you see here is now available in my etsy shop, and similar ones will become available as soon as i can stitch them!

essie xoxoxo

my project for the last day or two has been to make some pretty bunting…

each of the letters have been hand stitched, using a big and contrasting blanket stitch, adding a bit of texture.

i love the mismatched yet complimentary fabrics - i think they’ve come up looking great together!

bunting with birthday and christmas greetings might be coming next…

essie xoxox

recently, i bought a wonderful new toy: a kobo (one of the many e-readers currently on the market). i am a bit in love with it. it’s so light, and it can hold over 1000 books in it. it’s making my love of reading that much easier to indulge.

of course, acquiring a new device like this means that i need to craft some sort of home for it…

my kobo cover is completely hand pieced and quilted. the only thing i cracked the machine out for was the button loop (which would have been annoyingly fiddly to stitch by hand!).

as you can see, i have managed to incorporate my love of squirrels into this little creation. they feature on two of the different fabrics i used.

i’m really happy with how it came together. i love the warm colours, and the combination of prints.

as you can see above, i’m now experimenting with altering the pattern, with a view to making kobo covers available in my etsy shop… we’ll see how that goes!

essie xoxoxo

i’ve been piecing away at this pillow for a while now, and i finished it over easter.
it’s almost alarmingly bright, but it looks good on our couch, or (as pictured) on the rocking chair in our study.

all the hexagons are hand pieced, and then i machine quilted them to some cotton batting before sewing them up by hand with some bright yellow binding.

the quilting on the back is a bit wonky, because i am yet to perfect the art of machine quilting!

i used 5″ hexagons for the front, and 4″ ones for the back. i am a bit addicted to hexies at the moment, and am now working on a whole quilt of them using my “far, far away” fabric by heather ross. it’s been hard to cut into that fabric because i have been saving it for so long, but it will be lovely to hand-piece with, because it is so pretty, and so wonderfully soft and delicate.

essie xoxox

as a nerd and a bookworm, i need a big bookbag in which to lug many tomes to and from uni. i’m happy to say that i’ve finished my 2010 bookbag, and i love it!

the hexies are paper-pieced, the bag itself is freestyle quilted, and the handles are hand stitched.
the lining is made of a few of the fabrics that i used to make hexagons.

i love paper piecing, because it’s pretty much the only time that i bother with fussy-cutting, the results of which i always love!

this project was inspired by this beautiful bag by modern acorn, and since it resembles her design quite closely, i won’t be writing a pattern for this one. you should join me in encouraging her to write a pattern that we can buy!

essie xoxox

i hope you’ve had (or are having!) a lovely valentine’s day.
i made my honey a love bird, using molly chicken’s tutorial. it was easy to follow and i think the result is very sweet:

she has named him rupert.

essie
xoxoxoxox

we’re all thinking about christmas gifts at the moment, but this little gift isn’t a yuletide one.
i recently managed to get a friend quite addicted to quilting. she has dived right in the deep end with a hexagon quilt, and she’s doing brilliantly. i feel that since i am responsible for this addiction, it’s only right that i give her some tools to help her along with it.

i designed these and made them up over the course of a few days.

my favourite part was embroidering the little stitchery details. i used cottage garden threads embroidery floss in “maple” and it was so lovely to work with.

it all fits very nicely in this bag, which should be easily stashed in a handbag.

i hope she likes it, and that you do to!
essie xoxo