French Riviera Scenes

Scenes From The Fench Riviera Break

Eze

Eze

Haut De Cagnes

Haut De Cagnes

Sainte Jean Cap Ferrat

Sainte Jean Cap Ferrat

St Paul De Vence

St Paul De Vence

Villefranche

Villefranche

Nice

Nice

Stunning scenes ... and the sun is shining!

Nice Food

Nice is all about food!

But first a few flowers at the entrance to the food market.

Flower Market

Help Yourself

The Hugest Tomatoes

Largest Choice Of Olives

Garlic Anyone?

Too Many Cheese!

All Sorts Of Everything

Nice, France

Port Area

The Bay

Plan Old Town

Memorial To The Dead

The Sun Is Shining

Beaches Are Full

Streets Still Pretty

Pretty Park Pheonix

I am unexpectedly in Nice, France for a few days. (Perhaps I am just escaping from the dreaded ironing!) More later.

Linen Bag From Two Tea Towels

Disaster with Blogger ... I spent a good hour draft posting, with lots of lovely pics and it just disappeared ... no idea what has happened ... luckily I still have the pics on my camera but the info will now have to be re-written ... so here goes ...

Pretty Linen Bag

Little Bag From Two Tea Towels

I found two pretty tea-towels in a faded linen rosebud design. I felt that they would make a lovely bag. I decided to try something simple and make it up as I went along ... that's me ...

Firstly, I drew a design ...

Design

Secondly, I cut the main body of the bag and the lining ... one tea towel for each. If I had thought more carefully about it I would have chosen different fabrics for body and lining, merely because it is easier to photograph and it makes the instructions easier to follow. It also saves confusion!

Body Of Bag - Cut Four

The measurements I have given are for a small shoulder bag or large bag for a child or teen. I have left the seam at the bottom of the bag in place to add more strength and body to the finished bag. I also left the seam for the top of the pocket (because I am lazy!) The actual linen was rather stiff so I did not pad the bag.

Pocket - Cut Two Leaving Seam For Top Of Pocket

At this point I attached the pockets to two of the pieces - pockets for both inside and outside of the bag.

Back Of  Bag To Show Pocket Sewing Line

The pocket sits centrally and lines up with the bottom seam. It has a central dividing stitch as the pockets will actually go either side of the finished bag ... this will become clear in a moment.

Front Of Bag To Show Pocket Sewing Line

Lay two pieces facing each other (one with pocket and one without) and sew the side seams together (between stars on the design). Do not sew the bottom of the bag at this point. Do this both for the bag and the lining.

Now to turn all of the above on its head! The 'front' and 'back' are both actually the sides! Turn the bag as in the following picture.

Line Seams And Sew Bottom Of Bag

Line up the seams and sew the bottom of the bags - leaving 4" gap in one to be able to turn bags inside out. You should now have two identical pieces, each sewn into matching bags ... one for the outer and one for the lining. You will now see that the pockets go around the bag. It would be wise to place the inner and outer bags (right sides facing) with the pockets on either side ... this will reduce bulkiness and make the bag less lop-sided when it is finished.

Line Seams And Pin

Now to make a loop. Cut a piece of fabric about 7" by 3/4" (I used a seam for stiffness). Turn and sew into 1/4" wide strip. Pop this strip/loop between the bags in appropriate place and pin ends securely in place.

Sew Together Then Snip!

Sew all around the top of the bag and up the straps leaving the ends of the strap open. Double sew the area around the loop. Now snip all around the curve right up to the sewing line. Now turn the bag inside out through the opening and push the lining (with the opening) to the bottom of the bag.

Almost Complete Bag

Now for some finishing touches. Join top of handles together and decorate if desired. Sew opening in the lining together by hand stitching neatly. Now top stitch all around the bag close to the seams. Find a pretty button and place on bag. I also made a pretty flower to sit on the shoulder strap.

Pretty Flower

Finished Bag

Enjoy your pretty bag. Recycling at its best!

Matryoshka Doll

May I introduce the last of my girls ...

Miss Betsy Breeze

Miss Betsy Breeze

The three girls, or babushka, are now off to a birthday party ... they are a gift for a lovely little girl that I know. I do hope she will like them!

Betsy Breeze, Ginny Gunn, Sophie Sevenberry

The making of these dolls is quite satisfying but has limited appeal unless you have lots of little girls to cater for! Betsy Breeze is made mostly in the new Breeze range stocked in my local craft shop (Creative Quilting in Hampton Court, Surrey). It has a wealth of fabrics and notions and is a dangerous place to visit ... especially if you have a purse with you! I think Betsy's head is a little large for her body, as unfortunately I am having difficulty getting the proportions right. I still need to perfect a pattern for these dolls - does anyone out there in the blogging world know of one?

Anyway, I really think I have had enough of fiddly dolls for the moment. I really must get down to some serious ironing! At present I am spending approximately an hour a day crafting, an hour a day cooking, an hour a day shopping, an hour a day blogging, an hour a day sourcing materials ... and almost no time at all on looking after my home or family - poor neglected things! There are just not enough hours in the day.

Sewing Machine To Die For

You Just Have To See This

Found this lovely item while reading the lovely Quilted Cupcake's blog at six in the morning ...

I Want One Of Those!!!

Quilted Cupcake's Inspiration

Craft Corner

My Tiny Craft Corner

I thought I would like to show you my tiny craft corner. It is a small corner of a bedroom, which is nice and light and airy but has not much space for cutting or organizing my stash. You may notice a lot of pink and lime green going on there - my favourite colours of the moment! The view from the window is mostly tree tops, although surprisingly we are in a built up urban area of South London/Surrey borders.

View From Bedroom Window

 The stash and finished works are in a cupboard elsewhere in the house and the cutting out and photography are done on the black marble top of my kitchen table. It is generally very chaotic but I have tidied it up for the pics. Latest items made sit on the desk until new ones replace them ... then they go into the cupboard!

My Messy Craft Corner

Apples

After Apple-Picking by Robert Frost

My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.

 The apple tree in the garden is doing so well this year. I can see it from my kitchen window and it is lovely to watch the birds and squirrels eating the apple drop. Today I shall try and make a pie or two, because not only do I have my own apples but a kind neighbour left me a bag of apples on the doorstep yesterday - to add to the store bought ones I already had. So ...

Apple Tree

Store Bought Apples

Neighbours Gift

Yummy Apple Pie

Gallo Fabric

I found this wonderful fabric yesterday by Alexander Henry. It looks so cute. I think it would make a lovely bag for a friend - the colours are so bright and cheerful. Do you like it?

Gallo By Alexander Henry

Again I am waiting for the postman!

Tote Bag Rescue Mission

At last I have worked out how to rescue the dreadful mess of the tote bag (from previous post) ... here it is, still not perfect but well camouflaged!

New Binding And Decorations

The interior has now also been repaired with a secondary binding to cover the knotted threads.

Red Interior With Green Binding

The bag now is completely cured ... and so is the sewing machine ... a tension problem I am told.

Huge Tote Full Of Books

Ta Da!!

Note to myself: No more tutorials for you!

Shop Shop Shop

I'm In Love

An amazing new store in London called 'Anthropologie' has me smitten! Apparently lucky people in the States have had it for seventeen years (at much lower prices) and now its here ... and it is wonderful! It is very expensive but the taste levels in every department are simply off the scales. Do pay a visit if you are in London and near to Regent Street ... here are some tasters ...

Blazing Poppies Wallpaper £128

Dreamscape Wallpaper £248

Flora And Fauna Wallpaper £128

Distant Voyage Cushion £28

Towels From £4

And these sweet little spoons, which most definitely belong in my own kitchen!

Spoons £8

Box Of Wonders Necklace £168

Apparently we pay almost double the costs of these items in the American stores, but with shipping taxes we would probably pay the same total cost ... so London it has to be! I think every department is enchanting: the sets, the lights, the flooring, the clothes, the jewellery ... ah!!   I could go on and on and on ...