Here come the girls!

Hello crafty ladies!

 

First of all I would like to extend a huge thank you to all you lovelies who left such warm and encouraging comments on my last post - much appreciated!

 

Secondly, I have been crafting madly and have something to show for it. I have quite a stash of vintage fabrics and I have some gorgeous little girls in my family. Add them together and you get an idea I had for some cloth dollies. As you may know, I love cloth dolls of all shapes and sizes and yet I have never made one before. Soooo, I did lots of research and had some ideas and came up with these girls....

  

I got ideas from various doll makers online but ultimately just made my own pattern from a sketch and then embroidered the faces freehand so they just evolved! (To be honest, I think one of these dollies is a bit of an ugly sister but hey, it is the beauty within that counts so she is staying!).

 

I sewed the dolls by hand and it was pretty quick really. The hair took AGES though (which is why I am not keen on beheading 'homely' dolly and giving her a make-over). I have pulled at the hair all over to ensure that it is pretty much little-girl-proof.

 

The boy was quite impressed despite them not being made of Lego. He named the one above (with the Scandinavian look) Lizzie, which I think suits her just fine. She is going all the way to South Africa where I hope she will be much loved and played with. I got a sneaking feeling that the boy quite wanted to keep her but then he manned up and asked for a Boy Scout doll!!!

 

Anyway, I have been enjoying all your lovely Christmassy posts and will be back soon, hopefully with something to show. If not, then that is ok too!

 

Have a lovely week xxx

Good to be back

Hello my dear ladies!

It is a new year and I haven't post for some time. Lots of things have been going on including illness in the family. So I am glad to be back and I am so sorry for not keeping up with your lovely blogs.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas or Hanukkah (or both!) and that you are feeling positive and enthusiastic about the coming year.

I really haven't done much in the way of making things but I did manage to put together a couple of little toys for Christmas gifts - one for Secret Santa at work and another for my lovely sister.

I did find it quite hard to part with them but both little beasties are now being well loved in their new homes :)

They are terribly easy to make. I got the pattern from the very generous Jenny who is sharing it for free  here

I think they would look good in all kinds of fabrics (remembering to add a seam allowance if you use a fabric that needs a hem).

So this was just a quickly to say hi and sorry and I have missed my bloggy friends! Apples and Pears is now open for business again! xxx

Heart felt #1

Who would have thought that when I ordered my little stash of felt, I would have had such fun! It is lovely doing this sort of sewing....reminds me of school! And felt comes in such lovely, vibrant colours and is a joy to work with. No hems. No fraying.

I made this little fellow a few days ago from this free pattern and he came together really easily. I hadn't decided what to line the ears with though and he was sitting on a table next to the sofa waiting for me to finish him. I was looking at him yesterday morning when the post arrived.....with the perfect fabric to finish him. It really couldn't be more perfect as I have used both colours in the felt! So here he is in all his Amy Butler glory....

And you can see that I made the underneath from a light purple felt....

 

This was the rest of the stash....in all ten fat quarters of Love for a tenner!!! Bargain!





Enjoy your week! xxx

Giveaway reminder

Last chance to add your name to receive this crochet hook roll ...and maybe some extras....xx

Loved up

Hello Ladies!

As you know by now, I have a very short attention span. That is to say, I am filled with total enthusiasm for a new project and put everything into it, obsessively crafting away...for a while, and then I get bored and have to go off and do something else, returning to the original work feeling more refreshed. I am doing this with with the circle in squares blanket. I have done over 50 squares now but needed a break. It was a friend's birthday recently so I got out my felt stash (isn't felt fantastic!!!) and made this....

I made the hearts freehand, embroidered it and then just blanket stitched it all together. I don't think I've done blanket stitch since I was at school but I really enjoyed making this while watching TV one evening. I love the idea of being able to make something from what I already have stashed away. The beauty of felt is, of course, that it doesn't have to be hemmed and so is ideal for quick little makes. It also comes in gorgeous colours.

Don't forget to add your name on the previous post for the crochet roll giveaway.

Have a lovely, crafty weekend! xxx

Birthday giveaway

Hello ladies!

As you know, I had a big fat birthday last week and to celebrate I am giving away a crochet hook roll. I made it this morning and still not perfect but, hey, it does the job and the fabric is so pretty. The rose fabric is vintage Laura Ashley. I also put a little felt needle pocket on this one. It holds 14 hooks and has two large-ish pockets for scissors and tape measure...or emergency bar of chocolate. I guess it could also be used for double pointed knitting needles. Have a look.....

If you would like this hook roll, then please leave a comment letting me know. Feel free to share this on your own blogs. I will select a winner (name in hat) next Wednesday.

(note to self...learn how to take decent photos)

Enjoy the rest of your week!

xxx

PS I just loved the comments on my last post! Thank you! Mrs C, you are a scream! Does anyone else have a bonkers crochet or knitted item to share? xxx

PPS Huge congratulations to Ana and Mr Stash on the safe arrival of cute and cuddly Baby Stash. Check him out here

Half term...and a birthday

Hello ladies!

Little S and I are back from my few days at my sister's home by the sea. Unfortunately, the weather was so awful that we barely ventured out!  Sleet, rain, biting cold....horrid. However, we were very brave and managed to struggle to our favourite local yarn shop....Ring A Rosie in Whitley Bay, where Sis bought me some lovely fabric to add to my stash. It was a lovely few days, playing with the puppy and chatting with Sis about quilting, crochet, knitting etc.

There has been another new arrival in the family........and she kept everyone busy....

She is 6 weeks old and her name is Dolly. I am told she is a Bichon Frise/ Shih Tzu cross and that means she is a tiny little thing! She has woolly hair like a lamb and a very cheeky personality. Dolly and Little S managed to entertain one another! I am not really a dog sort of person but this puppy is just soooo cute! She is like a little teddy bear and I just wanted to bring her home.

As she is so black, it is very tricky to get a photo of her...they nearly all end up showing a black ball of wool! So here are some images I uploaded from the web, including a non-black one so you can see what Dolly looks like under all the wool!

All together now....AWWWWWWWWWWWW

It was my birthday on Wednesday - a BIG one; a SCARY one; a birthday I really would rather have forgotten. Fifty. However, loved ones made it a lovely day.

Litle S is mad about trains and Harry Potter so we went to the Railway Museum in York to see the Hogwarts Express. Not just see it, but ride on it (well on a carriage pulled by it!).

It was so busy - hoards of would-be wizards clamouring to see the engine.

If you haven't been before, and you are in the area, I would really recommend a visit to the Railway Museum. It is full of amazing engines from all ages and parts of the world, as well as lovely old carriages. You don't have to be a train spotter! The museum itself  is free, which makes it a good inexpensive day out, but there is a charge for special events - such as the Hogwarts Express. Thomas the Tank Engine is also a regular!

Sadly, the weather was awful in York too and didn't make for good photos, which is a shame because it is such an amazing place. Everywhere you look there is some incredible old (often seriously old) building with a really interesting history. Perhaps the next time I go I can bring you some good photos. This is a lovely old building that can be seen from one of the bridges. I've got a thing about rooftops!

And then it was home to a little party tea for the three of us and, of course, my cake! Yum!

Enjoy your weekend...and thank you so much for the encouraging comments on my crochet hook roll.....I really appreciate them so much xxx

Tea and buttons

Hello! Thanks for stopping by and thank you to all of you who left such wonderful comments on my recent posts. I LOVE reading them :)

Last week I ventured out on a wet and miserable day to visit the beautiful old spa town of Harrogate in North Yorkshire. I met my sister and brother-in-law with the intention of sis and I doing some serious fabric shopping while BiL would go off and do mmm anything BUT fabric shopping!

Of course, you can't visit Harrogate without visiting the famous Betty's Tea Rooms!

If you look carefully at all of this scrumminess in the window, you can see my favourite Betty's creation - the Fat Rascal. This is a sort of cross between a scone and a rock cake (those of you from outside of the UK will probably be lost at this point!) with a smiley face made of cherries and almonds. Very, very yummy!

This is one close up! The photo is so poor because I was trembling with anticipation! That is my excuse anyway.

And the lovely ladies who work in Betty's allowed me to take their picture amongst the bakery goods that have made Betty's famous.

It is like stepping back in time and makes a lovely change to the ubiquitous coffee chains we have everywhere now (although I am very partial to a Costa soya latte!).

On the way to our fabric fest, we stopped by the most amazing little shop that was dedicated to.....

Those of you from Yorkshire will no doubt recognise Duttons for Buttons! A little button-y grotto, filled with colour.

We then reached a little fabric remnant shop that was  absolutely stacked to the ceiling with fabrics of every type and description. It required some careful manoeuvring to find the table of fat quarters, where we spent some time pulling bundles out and putting them back, only to try and find them again! You've been there and done that. I wanted some fabric for a project I am planning in the future... a quilt for my bed, which is a super king size. So not ambitious at all, no not at all. :)

I want it to look French and so chose a selection of inky blues, terracottas, beiges and browns. No toile, I'm afraid but I have managed to track some down. Not at all my usual colour preferences but I can see this thing in my head so clearly. How to get from never having made a quilt to this huge, huge guilty thing. Mmmmm

Meanwhile I crochet. More on that later!

Oh and look what I bought for Jemimah. I promise not to keep going on about her but I had to show you these. After shopping for a boy for so long it has been lovely perusing all the girlish things the internet has to offer!

How cute are they??? Both pics are from Babipur, by the way.

Enjoy the rest of your week! xxx