Here are some more birthday gifts I've made recently. My littlest niece Noa turned one last week, on the same day that my eldest neice turned nine. For N I made some blue corduroy pants to keep her warm on the farm this autumn. The back pockets you see in the photo were made using…

The mission to breathe new life into unloved things continues unabated around here. A while ago I found a little bundle of embroidered napkins, each with a little sprig of flowers in the corner. The linen around the embroidery was mottled and stained, but they were much too nice to just leave at the rubbish…

Recently I came upon a little stash of vintage fabrics at the flea market that I completely fell in love with. After admiring them all for a while, I began making things from them. More of the wildflower cushion covers like those i made last year (but this time, backed in new linen), and pouches from…

Keira turns six today- i can hardly believe it. Yet, at the same time, it feels like she's always been here. She's more grown up these days- not looking back when I drop her at school, getting wobbly teeth, reading novels and not looking up until the last page. But she does still likes dressing…

It was my niece's birthday yesterday, and I had bought her a gift, but K and A were not too impressed when I described it to them. Keira explained that her cousin would much prefer a blank book with a nice cover that she could put her recipes in. So I made her an apron…

Embroidery of the tiny variety is what I've been up to this week, making very small stitches on linen and wool felt. I made a few things for my shop update today, including some lockets with inset embroideries. I have new findings for these now- they have an embossed pattern on the front and are…

One of the best things about moving into a new house must be discovering what comes up in the garden each season. This summer I was most excited to learn that we had our very own peach tree, and when it was time to eat them (just last week) I discovered it was a red-fleshed…

On the weekend we got to introduce the children to a new puppy belonging to their aunt and uncle, and they fell in love with her. Molly is 13 weeks old and full of energy and happiness. She especially likes swimming. We went walking with her on the beach, and, upon returning home, I started…

These fabric designs were inspired by a book I was re-reading over the summer, called Charleston: A Bloomsbury House and Garden by Quentin Bell and Virginia Nicholson. (I first blogged about it years ago and still look at it regularly!) I've also been doing furthur reading about the lives of writers Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West,…

I saw the pattern for this velvet skirt in a Burda magazine in the library- and I knew I had to make it for this coming autumn. I love velvet and always have, despite its slightly bogan connotations. It's just cosy and old-fashioned and friendly to me. The skirt was very easy to make- (although…