sewing lately

I've been on a bit of a sewing spree this week. All of the things I have made are very simple, but I still find a great satisfaction in making something with my hands and working with beautiful fabrics. The project that set the sewing spree rolling was a collaborative one. I worked with my friend Hannah to make a set of miniature bean bags based on the ones I made before Christmas. I loved seeing the combinations of fabrics that Hannah came up with, for a friend of hers who is expecting a baby.

The bean bags are a lovely sensory resource for young children, from the textures of the fabric and ribbons, to the crinkly sound of the styrofoam balls inside. We also made a couple of miniature lavender bags, which provide another sensory experience, with the scent of lavender. They are filled with linseed as well as dried lavender, which has a nice weight to it, adding another variant to the mini bean bags.

Next, I made a couple of waterproof children's picnic mats. They are quite small, measuring 70cm x 70cm, but serve as the perfect mat to fold up and pop in a bag to take on all of the Summer picnics that I am anticipating will happen in the coming months. One side of the mat is oil cloth, and the other is high quality cotton. I stumbled upon a beautiful selection of oil cloths in a local shop, Flo Jo's boutique. I can't quite believe I have never discovered this beautiful shop before - they have a wonderful selection of cotton fabrics as well as oil cloths and an extensive haberdashery. I would happily have bought each and every one of their fabrics, and will be sure to go there again. And again, and again.

While I exercised some restraint in Flo Jo's, a fabric caught my eye which I had seen on a blog a while back, and loved, but had no idea where it was from, or who it was made by. So, I was delighted when I spotted an entire bolt of the fabric in Flo Jo's. It is a Cloud 9 fabric, and their entire range is just stunning. I already had an old cushion at home that I have been intending on recovering, and so used this Cloud 9 fabric for the front, and part of a thrifted pillowcase for the back.

It's the perfect size to give Ruby a little bit of extra support when she is lying on her tummy, and she seems pretty happy with my fabric choices!

If you have any questions about any of the other fabrics featured in this post, feel free to ask away in the comments - I always love to know where I can find beautiful fabrics so I'm happy to share my sources, but realise that not everyone who reads this blog will want to read a long list of fabric sources..