And The Winner is.................

Thank you to everyone who entered the Summersville fabric giveaway.

So without any further delay, the winner is.............

Number 26, Mousey Brown!

 Picked at random by the Random Number Generator which has had be baffled all morning as I couldn't paste it to blogger with the result showing, so out of desperation I eventually took a photo, I guess I got there in the end even though I'm sure it didn't need to be so complicated!

Well done to Mousey Brown for being the lucky winner of Seamstar's giveaway. 

For all of you who didn't win don't worry as just as this giveaway has ended another has just begun! 

For Seamstar's next giveaway they are offering a Flea Market Fancy fabric bundle up for grabs. All you need to do is head over to Kerry's lovely blog very berry handmade and leave a comment. 

And the great thing about this giveaway is even I can enter!!

My weekend on Instagram!

As technology moves forward there are many times that I feel that my brain is still in rubber key spectrum era! I watch my 4 year old with amazement as he scrolls around on the computer and just seems so at ease with it, and its many uses. There are times when I am quite happy to sit back and watch the latest 'fad' pass me by without feeling the need to get involved or even to try and understand but then there are times when some things fascinate me and make me want to try and 'upgrade' my brain to learn to use them and Instagram is one of them. I've noticed photos taken using it have started to appear on many of the blogs that I follow and since putting it on my phone I've fallen for its charm and ease of putting filters on photos. It did take me a while to figure out how to transfer them onto here but thanks to the help from Lou at Little Green Shed I have discovered a way, so I apologise in advance but I think you will be seeing a lot more of  my filtered Instagram photos! 

So here is my Weekend on Instagram......

Friday ended with sunshine something we have lacked so far this summer so daisy chain making and eating watermelon with its sweet juices were enjoyed. 

And then there was the visit to the fish mongers which I'm pleased to say has become a family ritual on a Saturday and has encouraged the kids to eat and enjoy eating fish like this pollock topped with a parmesan breadcrumb crust. 

And then there was the arrival of scribble and some other prints from Ed Emberleys fabric collection 'Happy Drawing'. The prints are inspired from his Drawing Book of Animals, which was his first learn-to-draw book originally published in 1970 and still going strong today, and my oldest is such a fan of his 'Make a World' book that I couldn't resit buying his fabric's and have already listed some baby bibs and gift sets made using these quirky organic fabrics in my shops.

And then on Sunday we went for a walk on Gem Bridge an amazing bridge 24 metres high that crosses the valley and is such an amazing construction that even the youngest members of our 'walking' party couldn't help but be impressed! 

Not a bad weekend considering the rain that we are experiencing and it's even pouring down as I type.

So for those of you on Instagram I can be found here!
Oh and there is still time to enter Seamstar's  Summersville Giveaway on here where they are offering a bundle of fabric from Lucie Summers first collection all you need to do is leave a comment. Competition ends on Friday the 6th Good Luck! 

Seamstar Summersville Giveaway

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the lovely Courtney who runs the gorgeous online fabric shop Seamstar about whether I would like to hold a giveaway on their behalf, well I jumped at the chance, the only downside is that I've since realised I can't enter the giveaway myself!

So here it is - Seamstar are offering one fabric bundle from the Summersville Collection containing 6 quarter meter pieces of fabric. Wonderful! The prize also includes free p&p and is worth over £20.

You see I want it all! 

Summersville is Lucie Summers first fabric collection for Moda Fabrics it is modern and bright, perfect for quilting, bags and children's clothes and accessories. Seamstar have the whole collection in stock now.

To have a chance of winning all you need to do is leave a message on this blog post. You have until the 6th of July to enter, after that a winner will be chosen at random. On top of that Seamstar are also offering 10% off to Sew Obsessed readers until the giveaway finishes (excludes sale items). Just enter the code SOJune into the discount box when checking out to claim your 10% discount. So how great is that!

So I'm off to do some fabric shopping! 

Seamstar is a lovely established online Craft Shop which specialises in contemporary craft products. The shop is packed full of Modern Fabrics, Trimmings, Ribbons, which I highly recommend and felt. Seamstar is an easy website to navigate and use and their service is fabulous with wonderful rapid delivery. 

 

So there you go - leave a comment, just the one for a chance to win the fabric bundle. Make sure there's also a way to contact you in the comment too, Good luck :)

Right now for the necessary terms and conditions.

The prize (but not the amount of fabric) may vary from the photos shown, 

The winner will be sent the prize free of charge after the draw has taken place.

Non-UK people can enter but free postage is only up to UK post value and you will have to make up the difference.

All prizes must be claimed within 30 calendar days.

Thank you to all those that entered.

The giveaway has now closed.

Sewing for flexible kids!

I really can't believe how quickly my youngest is growing up, she will be 3 in October which will be upon us before we know it, which quite frankly scares me. But however much I wish she could stay 2 forever I have also been quite keen to get her potty trained and to finally wave goodbye to nappies! So in the school holiday just gone we had a third attempt at potty training and this time I'm so pleased to say it clicked!

Potty training rather highlighted the lack of trousers that my daughter has and also how difficult some kids trousers are for them to pull up and down, so this weekend I decided it was about time I made some trousers for her. I made the mistake to ask what colour trousers she would like, of course her answer was 'pink' so we set about raiding my 'pink' stash but I needed a meter of fabric due to the length of the trousers and my pink stash is very limited so we eventually settled on this lovely bright fabric. 

The great thing about the busy print and the colours is that even though she has spent the weekend wearing them, playing in the garden, playing on the floor etc they don't show the dirt, and with there simple elasticated waist she can pull them up and down easily herself. I used an existing pair of her trousers to make a pattern and they came together very quickly. 

I'm pleased to say even though she refused to try them on when I was sewing them so I could check there length she now seems happy with them. And after jumping, running and bending in them they have passed her 'flexi' test and have been approved. 

I have promised her that the next pair will be pink so are now on the search for some pink fabric that gets the approval from us both, that I think could take a while!

 

Chalet Style

We are back from our short stay in a chalet, where it rained, the wind blew and the sun stayed stubbornly hidden behind grey clouds, but these sheds painted in all different shades of green didn't fail to charm our damp souls! 

Etsy Treasury Love

 I wanted to share with you this lovely treasury on Etsy where Heather Dodgers has kindly included my 'Baby Burp Cloths Modern Grey' in her Treasury

 'Soft Grey Collection'. 

These have become my 'best' seller on etsy and have now been sent all over the world which feels quite odd really! And it is treasury's like this that help to get them noticed. 

This is not the first time they have appeared in one, but it the first time I have found out how to post the treasury on blogger thanks to this post here. 

Thank goodness the web is a wealth of information!

 

 

'Soft Grey Collection' by lanyapstudios

White Ancient Art S... Tshirt99 $15.99	chalkboard with dri... DAcustomframes $59.99	Set of two 18x18 Gr... DreamPillowZzz $30.00	Grey Lace Cowl / kn... theYarnKitchen $40.00
Extra Large Grey Ye... retrofied $88.00	Felt Flower Brooch-... lapetiteposy $12.50	Gray / Aqua Lake Su... nickelplatepre... $36.00	Wolf MacBook Air 13... BoutiqueID $89.00
Melange gray wool a... BagyBag $93.70	Grey & White Pillow... TangerineHome $32.00	Kindle Case sleeve ... Cartergray $27.00	Five Bunnies are Sh... Periay $22.00
Lace Fleur de lis H... DoogleBambaje $9.99	Weekend SALE text g... artlab $68.00	Baby Burp Cloths Mo... acraftyhen $22.00	Hakuna Matata Burno... ShopRIC $28.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio

A Much Needed Day!

So did you have a nice Easter, is the question I keep getting asked and my answer of no terrible is often met with surprise. You see we really did have an awful fortnight for on the first Sunday on the way to see family we hadn't seen for over a year and some who had never even met our youngest who is now 29 months we broke down leaving us stranded in a lay-by and with learning that our turbo had gone we spent a frustrating time waiting to be relayed home. The whole episode took 4 hours to get home after breaking down an hour away from our house! 

Not the best start to the holidays and we then spent the Easter fortnight without a car. Lets just say thank goodness for lego it saved the boys from getting bored in fact it was our holiday the boys loved spending hours wrapped up in their games. But if at that point we thought the holidays couldn't get any more frustrating or expensive we were wrong as our washing machine broke on the last Saturday of the holidays and a few days later a mechanic gave us the news that it was a right off and a new machine was needed so as our oldest confirmed "This holiday has been rubbish"!

To hear your child claim that there school holidays were rubbish is awful so we have been determined to have some nice family days out since getting the car fixed. So after reading that the National Trust was holding a 'free' weekend we jumped at the chance to go and spend a day out at one of the properties by us.

The National Trust seem to get it right time and time again. We spent an amazing time exploring an incredibly well preserved house that showed us glimpses of life 'downstairs' and 'upstairs' and by offering a 'find the trains' quiz for children it kept them going through 50 fascinating rooms and then after a hot chocolate in the stables we went exploring the grounds.

Considering we were dressed for the rain and watched the showers come and go we were very lucky to walk the grounds in the dry and even see glimpses of sun! And considering it was a dull early Spring April day the gardens were packed full of interest and delight.

 I came away full of ideas of how I would like to see the borders in our garden much to the 'delight' of my OH!!

 We are yet to become National Trust members but after having such a special day out like today where we can all come away feeling like we have enjoyed ourselves and have learnt and seen something new I can only think it is a matter or time!

And thankfully now after a day of exploring and climbing the 'rubbish' holiday seems a very long time ago!!