Big Winter Sale

starts Friday, 27th December. This seasons fabrics up to 65% reduced, fleece fabrics from £2.99, jerseys from £4.99 per metre. Grab a bargain while stock lasts:

Click here to visit the website.

I wish all my blog readers, friends and family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It is very unusual

that I get new fabrics is so short before Christmas, but when I saw these beauties I just had to order them: the lovely Jinny-Jou cotton range by the German designer Jolijou:

Different designs in yellow, orange and blue, all combinable, are suitable for all sorts of sewing projects from quilts and cushions to table runners and even kids clothes. A touch of spring in the mid of winter!

Done!

The last of the Christmas custom orders got collected today. Two long sleeved shirts in lizard and striped jerseys for two little boys:

And now I can continue working on my own daughters Christmas outfit!

Where has the time gone? I noticed this morning that my last post was from the 11th of November! But I suppose I'm not the only one who feels that especially in the run up to Christmas time just seems to fly. And no matter how good the intentions are not to have a too busy and stressful advent time, it never goes to plan. There are school events, pantomimes, dance shows, oh the list goes on and on and it is no rare occasion that some events fall on the same day and a decision has to be made which one to attend. I'm really looking forward to the time after Christmas when everything calms down again, hopefully!
Enough of moaning now, I have been busy sewing over the past weeks and here is another skirt I just finished. The lady ordered an Insa skirt in pink not long ago and was so pleased with it that she asked me to make another one in red as a Christmas present.

And here they are

Made from this ebook from Farbenmix. Really fun to make.

Very busy here

The last craft fair in Forfar was really successful, so much so that I sold all of my big owls and also took a custom order away for an Insa skirt in soft baby cord fabrics:

And now I'm working on owls..... pics to follow!

And here are the two reversible boys jackets:

Red and brown sweat fabric, size 62/86

Petrol baby cord and eggshell blue sweat fabric, size 74/80

Two new coats

The next craft fair is only a week away and I've been busy making coats. Here are the first two girls coats, pattern QUINTIA from Farbenmix.

Photos of the boys jackets will follow soon

We went to see The Enchanted Forest in Pitlochry last night. It was really amazing, I've never seen anything like it. A truly mystical atmosphere created by a brilliant light show and sound effects. The weather was perfect for it, no wind at all, and it was sometimes quite difficult to make out if it was the real trees you were looking at or just the reflection in the lake!

News from the workshops

I wanted to show you what two of my students made this week: 

They started a couple of months ago at a beginners workshop and are really enjoying themselves. Well done you ladies!

I will be running elephant workshops at the beginning of the new year, so if you are interested, please check out the programme on my website, it should be online in a couple of weeks.

 http://www.dotsnstripes.co.uk/workshops.pdf

Hoot Hoot

New owls big and small have moved in:

Apologies for my lack of blogging at the moment, but with new fabrics coming in and holding workshops every week, there's just not enough hours in the day.... Here are the latest photos of the two scarf workshop from yesterday:

As promised more bags :-)

New bags

I will be exhibiting at the Flower and Food Festival in Dundee next week and the preparations in my sewing room are well underway. I've tried a new bag pattern from the Farbenmix CD Taschenspieler, and I must say this one in really fun to make, done in an afternoon, and somehow addictive...

I'm sure there will be some more soon :-)

It was so nice

having my friend from Germany here for a week. We had a lovely time catching up over various glasses of wine :-), we went shopping, to the beach, and even did a bit of sewing. It went too quickly though, as always....

Boys Boys Boys

A few things I've made for the next craft fair - the Flower and Food Festival in Dundee at the beginning of September:

 Size 92, age 2

 Size 86/92, age 2

 Size 110/116, age 5-6

Size 92, age 3

A bag goes into retirement

When my friend Jo bought an El Porto bag from me last year (round about April), she said she needed it for carrying her stuff about with her. Jo is a fitness instructor and walks everywhere and only occasionally takes the bus. So the El Porto bag was the ideal solution with its many pockets and the spacious body. For normal use I would say a bag like this would probably have lasted a little longer, but not when you walk with it about 20miles a week. Definitely not. I have to share the photos before and after with you as I've never ever seen a bag being so used as hers:

 and this is what she carries around with her to work, unbelievable, but it all fits in.

And here is her new bag:

waiting to be packed :-)

Lanzarote 2013

It was lovely! Two weeks of summer, sunshine, sea and great food - the hotel was great, the beach just across the road, the village not far away for a little walk. If Leoni wasn't in the pool, she was either in the Hotel's art studio or kids club or playing with a little girl she met right on the third day (they were inseparable). It's just as shame that two weeks fly so quickly.....