See Suzie crochet!!

I've taken up a new hobby.....crochet! Super easy and fun, well to be honest I only choose patterns that are for a beginner and are small so it does stay fun!

Here's a hat I've just finished for my oldest Miss. Pattern is from here, I didn't do the butterfly but the basic shaping is the same. Flower is from here. (the photo doesn't show it too clearly as because of the flash but it was a really easy flower to do and looks cute I think!)
Yarn is Patons Washed Haze Aran which is a cotton blend. It was lovely to work with but be careful if you start something and then rip it back, the yarn tends to split after that and you have to be careful to hook through all the strands.....(I started again only about a hundred times trying to find a pattern I liked!)
Miss 8 loves it and won't take it off, just peeked in on her in bed and she's still wearing it!

Off to make another two......

Some sewing for me.....

Winter has well and truly arrived here and it's been raining and really windy these past few days. What perfect weather to stay inside with a hot chocolate and sew!
First up is a little purse just for me......(not sure what I'll use it for but it's sure cute!)
Embroidery design comes from Aimee Ray from her book Doodle Stitching, The Motif Collection.
I pull this one off the shelf all the time just to look at all the pretty pictures but this is the first time I've actually made something from it!
It's backed with a scrap of denim and lined with red stripes, I just love natural cottons with denim and red really sets it off.

Next was a little basket/bag to organise all the hair ties that are taknig over the house! There are three little girls in my home (and me makes 4) all with long hair so we are in need of lots of hair ties and "pretties" as my girls call them.
I was inspired by this great tutorial although mine isn't exactly the same size and it's not patch worked.
I did have the idea afterwards about putting some pockets in it so I could have all the clips clipped onto the pockets so they don't tangle with the hair ties.....there might have to be a "mark II". I'm sure I can find lots of other uses for this one.

A couple of Ottobre tops

With the frost starting to make an appearance each morning short sleeves were just not cutting it around here so I've dug out my favourite Otto tops and have started making some new winter wear for the girls.
First is a basic Ottobre 301 Creative Workshop t-shirt using seaspray fabric from Spotlight. An elephant applique was requested for the front and this was just done with a small piece of woven cotton. It's a size too big but I'm hoping it will last a while.

The next request was a "doggie" shirt so I used the Hilda/Tilda pattern from 6/2007 using a cotton/lycra french terry knit. The scottie dog was a stencil and his collar is a ribbon with a bow. The new owner was rather pleased!

Lastly is something that I've been wanting to make for a while. It's from 4/2007, one of my favourite Ottobre issues and was in the bigger girls sizes so I have been waiting patiently til they grew a little! It's made with more seaspray fabric and I used my walking foot on the sewing machine for all the topstitching and binding, it sure makes a huge difference to how even the stitches are. I love the gathers on this top and the buttons and beads make it something really special!