Bird mobile

This time last year I was heavily pregnant and nagging my husband to get everything reading for Gladys' imminent arrival (poor Matt). 

I really enjoyed decorating her room for her and one thing I made was her bird mobile. It hangs above her cot and she still loves to watch the bird move and all the different patterns and textures in the fabrics.

One word of warning though: shortly after hanging the mobile my cat decided to launch himself at it and broke one of the branches!

You can find out how to make it on the spool blog.  

Conservatory furniture

I have recently recovered a set of conservatory furniture for a lady who lives in the village.

The furniture is 10 years old and the light had really begun to destroy the original fabric. After collecting lots of samples in the colour scheme desired, a fabric was chosen and I set to work. The job took about six weeks. I managed to reuse the zips from the previous covers and the fabric was purchased from Bell House Fabrics.

If you would like something recovering please get in touch for a quote.

Wendy's wedding

This week has been spent baking bread, cakes and cleaning our home - the house is lovely and tidy.

Work time has been spent doing alterations for my customers. I have altered a DJ and trousers, a pair of wool trousers and taking up a pair of linen trousers. My 'bread and butter' work. However, these times are a great opportunity to show you past work.

Wendy is lovely and she makes the best cakes (check out her photo album on facebook). I designed and made her bridesmaid's dresses for her wedding. She had her two daughters and her husband's daughter as bridesmaids, and her nephew as an usher.

Wendy wanted all the dresses to work well together as a group, but also to flatter all the different shapes and sizes. We decided on a long halter neck dress with crossover bodice in brown satin for the eldest. For her daughters the dresses needed to have elements of the adult dress, but to be age appropriate. We decided on crossover bodice, with A-line skirts which came down to the ankles. The youngest was dressed in white (flower girl); the middle bridesmaid worn brown to provide the link between the two dresses. The brown dresses had white waist ties, and the white dress had a brown one. The usher had a simple waistcoat with the brown satin front and a bright orange back to tie in with the flowers.

Creating individual outfits that fit and flatter, while at the same time working well as a group is an exciting challenge, and you can't help but get caught up in the excitement working with the bride towards her wedding day!

If you would like me to work with you on your wedding please get in touch for a chat.

One sock

My lovely mummy went to the knitting and stitching show at the NEC and saw people making socks. They made it look really easy, explained how to do it and sold mum two kits... Mum got home, took one look at the instructions and gave the kits to me. Some people just make things look too easy.

I am very much a beginner knitter but I have made one sock. I am so proud of it - now all I have to do is the other one...

Crochet coat hangers

We haven't got a lot of wardrobe space so, although I would love wood and padded hangers, wire ones are a necessity, especially for all of Matt's shirts!

I'm always looking for ways to use up my scraps of fabric and half-balls of yarn. An idea that I read about years ago was crocheting yarn around wire coat hangers. I think this is a great idea as it looks nicer and improves the function (makes them grip to the clothes better).

I added a extra special touch by sewing a random button to one, and a left-over piece of ribbon to the other. I am really pleased with the effect considering how long it took.

A set of five in different colours would make a great present for someone who loves clothes, simple but effective. How do you use up half-balls of yarn?

Matt's cordurory trousers

On Friday, my husband came home from work with a tear in his jeans, making them unwearable! Poor Matt is a little neglected on the sewing front as everything else comes first and was desperately in need of some more trousers.

Matt has been my guinea pig with trousers allowing me to refine my technique. Avoiding the ‘homemade look’ is all in the top stitching and detailing - and I’ve found this takes practice! I use a burda pattern (7915) but have adapted and added to it to get the perfect fit. 

This weekend, I ran up a pair of trousers for him in a lovely green/brown chunky wale corduroy. The inside of the waist band and fly underlap is a remanent of fabric which looks very Paul Smith. Both of these fabrics were bought from a great place called the Croft Mill which sells left over fabrics from the clothes industry. 

Now I have an overlocker (serger) I cut out the fabric and then finish all the seams with a three thread overlock; overlocking the seams before stitching saves so much time. The rest of the trousers are stitched on the machine, the only hand stitching is the button. Using the machine for the stitching ensure that they stand up to the tough life my husband gives them!

Finger puppets

Gladys and I are off to Finn’s 1st birthday party later so while Glads has her nap I have made a couple of finger puppets for Finn’s present.

I love working with felt as you don’t have to worry about the seams fraying and the colours are bold and bright. My favourite type of felt is wool felt, this is more difficult to find but it feels so much softer.

I used two places for inspiration, I have a great vintage book called ‘The Collins Complete Book of Needlecraft’  which has a section on finger puppets and ‘The Idea Room’ blog helped me with the design of my dog and pig.

I really enjoyed making these… I hope Finn and Kate enjoy playing with them.

Recovered chair and four cushions

This is my latest job. I have recovered a beautiful chair and made four simple flap cushions. I love the character of this chair with the marks and knocks it has developed over time. 

If you have something you want recovered, please get in touch.

My first blog post

Wow! I’ve finally done it, I have a blog… now I just need write something interesting enough that someone wants to read it.

I will start off with a bit of an introduction. My name is Lydia Stonely and I live in Kent, England with Matthew (hubby), Gladys (baby girl) and my gorgeous cat (Bailey). 

Before Gladys, I studied Industrial Design at Brunel university. On graduating, I worked at Integrity (a design management consultancy) mostly on the Volkswagen account. I was involved in the corporate identity guidelines… but I found that my day job wasn’t creative enough for me. I was forever sketching out designs for clothes, homewares, and anything else I could run-up on my sewing machine, and never having the time to get them off the page. 

After Gladys arrived in March, I have taken the opportunity and become a (self-employed) seamstress, and I also make lots of things for myself, my family and the home. 

I am really enjoying my new job as a stay-at-home mum, seamstress and homemaker, it is a real challenge juggling all my responsibilities, and I hope to entertain and interest you as I tell the world about my day-to-day life.

If you want to find out more about my business my website iswww.pincushion.biz

I look forward to getting to know you all.