Small Child Leggings

Laura from Craftstorming has just released her first PDF pattern under the name Titchy Threads:

It's the most comprehensive pattern I've ever seen, including lots of information on sewing with knits, step-by-step instructions with clear photos, and many hints and tips. The PDF includes several options for the leggings, including shorts and different waistbands and cuffs.

There are links to different versions Laura has made and a tutorial for branding your own elastic here. If I actually knew any small children, I would be buying zebra print elastic and making them several pairs.

The pattern is £6 from the Titchy Threads website.

Bob's Travels

Bob appears on Mr X Stitch's latest Phat Quarter Finds (fan girly squeeee). There's some truly gorgeous stuff on the Phat Quarter Flickr group, well worth a look. I'm taking part in the current Fifth Friday Festival of Fabulousness swap there, the theme is Blinded By Science. I've just finished stitching, just need to sort out the back, so it will be on its way to America in a couple of days.

Amsterdam

I had a scary birthday this year, so we spent a few days in Amsterdam. It was a very cat-themed holiday...

I have no idea why there were cats in an opticians. Or a giant toy deer.



After a lot of getting lost we went to the Cat Museum. It's quite a small town house with a ridiculous amount of cat art, and a few live ones.



Cat is angry and wants to eat you.

Ummmm. Maybe I should attach pom poms to Noddy and Miskit.

We also went to Artis Zoo. This is where my camera finally failed and corrupted all my photos, so I  had to spend a fortune on software to retrieve them.

I have no idea what these two are.

 I have no idea who this is or why he has a moustache.

We went to the Cat Boat twice, - it's a cat refuge on a house boat. They have lots of cats that just wander around the boat who can't be rehomed and some that can be adopted. I fell in love with several of them, even the one that scratched me and drew blood.

On my actual birthday weekend, we went to see Shappi Khorsandi, drank lots of cocktails, visited Monkey World (I love baby orangutans) and Em made me the BEST BIRTHDAY CAKE EVER. 

Bob In The Wilderness

This is Bob. He is lost in a desolate, windswept landscape with only his balloon for company. Hopefully one day he will meet a fellow lonely creature that doesn't want to eat him and doesn't look like a tasty snack.

Background is water soluble pastels, covered with layers of organza. Bob and his balloon are appliqued felt, trees are embroidered in black DMC cotton, rocky ground is various threads (including coton a broder, tapestry wool and perle of different thicknesses) with french knots, bullion knots and various other high relief stitches.

Thanks to the latest issue of Crafty magazine, I have managed to take a semi decent picture of Bob using a kitchen roll and some A3 paper.

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South Wales

Earlier this month I spent a few days in South Wales, where I spent most of my time trying not to vomit and watching the first season of Game Of Thrones. We were there so my boyfriend and his dad could go mountain biking in Afan Forest, which was apparently amazing despite the crashes and injuries. I managed to stagger to the end of the road we were staying on to take pictures of the view:

I saw a huge amount of lambs (extremely cute) and abandoned pubs (not so much). After much driving around Cardiff trying to find a sane parking charge (so many NCP car parks, grrr) we found somewhere for me to buy early 90's punk CDs, many tiny arcades and a button shop. We didn't go inside the castle but I LOVED the animal wall:

 

 

I felt sorry for the anteater, his nose had been replaced at least once.

 

True to Wales' reputation, it started raining by the end of the week. When we got home, Noddy spent an hour sitting on the garden table, staring at us through the window. I think he's forgiven me now.





Another Gorey stitchalong post

Ballet kitty is part of the roundup at Cherry And Cinnamon. There are some amazing pieces there. Next up, Tim Burton!

Ballet kitty travels!

My ballet kitty is part of the Gorey stitchalong roundup on Follow The White Bunny!

Finished monochrome embellished embroidery

This is the finished monochrome piece for the Sumptuous Surface Embroidery course (apart from stretching it to get it straighter and working out how to frame it).  The next piece will be in more colours, so I'm trying to get my head around colour theory. I'm really enjoying the course, I'm learning a huge amount and it's been well worth the money.