Mother's Day Beauties

I don't want to wish the year away but Mothers Day is just around the corner.  Do you have a Mum who likes to stitch?  The beautiful kits below would be the nicest gift to receive or if you would prefer to make them yourself each one is achievable in a few weeks . 
Fragrant, fresh lavender has just arrived in from the lavender farm - ready for filling sachets to perfume your cupboards and drawers. Lavender pillows in any shape and size make lovely, thoughtful gifts.  Why not add some of our hand dyed lace, buttons and ribbons to embellish your sachets for extra pizazz.

Click here - Pins and Posies Pincushion

Click here - Treasure Purse

Click here - Lavender Puffs

Treasure Purse

Just finished!

A little treasure purse in crazy patchwork to add a gorgeous touch of glamour  to your sewing basket.

I love the combination of the mother of pearl handles, the vintage heirloom buttons and the little seed pearls.  It makes you feel happy to use all the beautiful silks fabrics, threads and sequins.

The kit should be available in about a week - I couldn't wait to show you.

Lesson in Laraine's Hanah Silk Ribbon Flowers

You will need - 1mt. x 15mm. of Hanah silk ribbon (makes 3)

                         Small piece of Vilene or fine backing fabric

                         Sewing thread to match ribbon,  a fine needle and pencil.

Hanah Silk Flowers.

Cut 30cm. pieces of the 15mm. wide Hanah silk ribbon. Measure and mark 3cm. intervals along the length of the ribbon with a pencil. Load a matching thread (double) into a fine sewing needle and tie a knot in the end. Fold the ribbon in half length ways with the dots on the outside facing you. 
Draw your knotted thread through the ribbon in the fold, 1.5mm. from the end.  Backstitch over the fold to secure your thread. Always start at the fold. Stitch as shown, with running stitches, rounding the corners and making sure the space on either side of the dot is the same. This ensures that each petal will be the same size.  Always take the thread over the fold to pull the edges in. This forms the petal. Gather gently as you go to prevent the thread from breaking. The stitching on the last petal should return to the folded edge. Don't draw up gathers too tightly as this will make the flower too small. End off.

Sew the petals to the Vilene with small stitches into the gathers. Begin at the outside edge and form a circle, turning and overlapping the petals until you reach the centre. The Vilene is trimmed away at the back, being careful not to cut the couching stitches. Sew a few beads or ribbon French knots to the centre of the flower. Arrange the flowers on your embroidery and stitch in place when you are happy with the look.

Hanah silk petals made from the larger size ribbons are measured as 3 times the measurement of the folded ribbon width. ie 25mm. ribbon folded is 12.5mm. so each petal will be 37.5mm.  This is the mark you will make along the edge.  You can also choose to make 5 petal flowers instead of 10.