Melanie

Cutting + sticking + sewing + baking. My creative life.

A Bit More………….

Thought I'd show you a few more things we made at our Wednesday afternoon sewing group at the homeless day centre.Bow tie blocks made in to drawstring bags.Bunting!Purses embellished with yo-yos (or Suffolk puffs)Haven't we been busy! And as a finale in the last lesson of term everyone is going…

Teaching Needlework at the Homeless Day Centre

I have been teaching needlework at the Salvation Army Homeless Day Centre on a Wednesday afternoon for about two months now. It's quite a small group and so far I have only had four ladies at the most. We started by making felt lavendar heart-shaped sachets.I teach one technique/project per…

Violet

Meet Violet! I made her for my June facebook giveaway. She has her own bag and a lovely dolly quilt to snuggle up under. One of my friends from the Seven Sisters Quilt Group gave me the little triangle blocks when she was culling her fabric stash and I only…

Home Improvements

Our building project has come on marvellously and it is quite fantastic not to be living in a building site anymore. We are well in to the decoration phase now. The car park at the front has been slabbed with beautiful Indian stone. It's immense! I got this tin bath…

Committed to Cloth – Session 5

The month of May brought breakdown printing. We did this technique as it was a lovely, warm day and the screens need to dry before you use can use them.Screen being prepared.Dribbly screen.Demonstration of breakdown printing. Students screens drying. My breakdown printing ready for batching, rinsing and washing.Screen printing spirals.Beautiful…

Gonks

It all started with Gary the Gonk. I made him to go in the 1970s themed gift box I made for my April facebook giveaway.Gary the GonkHere he is sitting on the edge of the gift box. Doesn't he look handsome?We often talk to our kids about the 1970s; when…

What Have I Been Up To Lately?

I wanted to show you some of the projects I've completed recently. They've all gone off to their new homes now but fortunately I took some photos before they left.Goodie bag I made for my March facebook giveaway, packed with tempting treats.A bonnet I made as a tongue in cheek…

Jennie Rayment Workshop

I went on an excellent free machine quilting and machine embroidery workshop taught by Jennie Rayment in Emsworth, Hampshire. We spent the morning learning some really fun machine embroidery techniques including flowers and grass.Do you like my stone wall? Does it look like it needs pointing?And here's Jennie herself!I learned…

Committed to Cloth – Session 4

Session 4 was all about resists! We learned about using soy wax, washable PVC and freezer paper to mask off areas of cloth which could then be printed.I brushed a piece with soy wax and then brushed on thin procion dye in scarlet and magenta.I spent the rest of the…

Bunny + Chick

I made a couple of Easter tree ornaments from some fleecy scraps. I had to get them done early as I am sending them overseas. Hopefully if I send them today they will arrive before Good Friday.Bunny has a tail!Love Melanie

Melanie Makes Meringues