A Handmade Baby Doll Carrier

I didn't have much time for handmade presents this year (did you?!) but the one present I did make was so gratefully received by my six year old I just had to share it with you

B loves to play with her dolls and do everything that she sees young mums going, walking them in the pram, feeding them, changing their nappies and carrying them in a sling. We seemed to misplace our previous toy baby sling in the move so I looked through my vast Pinterest account and found one I could quickly make for her.

I have a Pinterest Board just for stuff to make for the Kids - you might enjoy some pins so do have a a look!

I used the pattern from The Art of Simple and let B choose her fabrics from my fabric collection...

she picked two co-ordinating fabrics from the Moda Canyon collection (one of my favourites!)

It didn't take long to cut out the necessary pieces and dust off the sewing machine which hadn't been used since we moved. B loves to press the peddle when I say "Go!", I have to say stop a little bit sooner than if I was driving but we get there in the end!

The straps give a nice secure hold for the doll which now travels everywhere with her!

Happy Sewing

We have since added a pocket to the front for her baby's bottle, but I have yet to get another picture!

Ali

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A new sewing room...and a new way of life

It's been a busy few months.

In the summer I took the difficult decision to let the workshop go and bring my business home with me, packing up all the fabric and wool and saying goodbye to this beautiful room was hard and I know I will miss it:

But as a family we have embarked on a new adventure...

.. we are now resident houseparents in a school boarding house. Evenings are busy for my husband who has 60+ young people to nurture, and during term time I now take on the whole school run, homework and house keeping role for our kids.

With all this extra responsibility I knew running the workshop/shop was not going to be possible. 

But it's not all that bad, as I do have a new sewing room (even if I have to share it with the kids!) 

The remaining fabric is all available to buy via the butterflybright website (watch out for some clearance activity coming soon!) and most of the haberdashery supplies and some of the wool has found a new home at The Slipped Stitch in Sherborne - do pop in and see Millie and support your local yarn shop!

I hope to return to making and blogging for pleasure once we have finished unpacking and settling into our new way of life, but for now there are kids calling and a dog to walk and a husband to feed and and and...

Ali

How to put fabrics together!

One question I get asked a lot is how to put fabrics together, especially for patchwork.

I always suggest that you start with your 'showstopper', the fabric you know you just have to use - it helps if it has more than 3 colours in it, preferably more, but you must love it!

I have had my eye on this beautiful fabric from Lewis and Irene since it arrived a few weeks ago, I love the detail and the colours but I knew that I would want to put it together with some more vibrant colours to lift the grey tones, this is Butterfly Bright after all!

So, how many colours do you think are in this print, you might guess at a glance perhaps 5 or maybe 6.

In actual fact there are 14 individual colours - and how do you know this? By looking at the selvedge..

Fabrics have dots of colour (or sometimes shapes, such as the butterflies on this print) repeated along the selvedge, these show an equal representation of each of the colours used in the print. It makes it easier to identify the colours which may only have a tiny impact on the fabric but are there, even in the smallest detail.

 This is the perfect tool for colour matching fabrics from different quilting collections to use in a project. Always try to keep selvedges attached to a fabric until you actually use them, this not only protects the fabric, it helps you identify the warp and weft and of course gives you the colour spots.

I soon got to work identifying other fabrics from my shop to put together with this glorious piece. I used another Lewis and Irene fabric with the cowslips on to match with the grey but brought in some vibrant turquoise and lime fabrics too.

What do you think? I like using a mixture of geometric and natural prints and also mixing pattern size for interest. I just need a project to put them into now...

Shall we try another one

How many colours do you think are in this print...

An amazing 16 colours

here is the selvedge with the more traditional circles of colour.

There are so many options with this fabric you could pick out the pinks, the yellows, oranges or the blues and greens.

I went with orange, mint and lime green as I try to break out of my pink and blue/green habit!

I'm not totally convinced with this combination yet so I might play with it in the next few days and see what else I can come up with. When I am happy with my mini collections I will add them as bundles to the webshop to save you some time!

What colours do you love to put together?

Enjoy!

Ali

Shop for Lewis and Irene Fabrics here

If you like my choice of fabric and would like to get an amazing delivery each month you might be interested in the Butterfly Bright Monthly Fabric Subscription Service.

it's time to close the doors...

As you know I moved Butterfly Bright to 81 Cheap Street in January of this year.

This was a deliberate move to take the shop off the high street and make it more of a “workshop” whilst encouraging product sales via the website rather than the shop. With a growing family this means I can fit the business around my children and still offer a valued service to my customers.

After a trial period where the shop has been open part time I have found that this has simply confused customers and so I am taking the decision to move entirely online from mid May.

Workshops will continue as advertised and from time to time I will hold “event days” where the shop will be open for trade.

I look forward to bringing you bigger and better workshops over the coming months and you will of course be able to purchase items from the shop whilst attending any of our clubs or workshops.

Local customers will be able to collect purchases made online from the shop at prearranged times instead of paying for postage.

There are some items I won't be selling online so if you pop in over the next week you will be sure to find a bargain! (I will be clearing all of my Rowan wool and pattern books at 30% off).

I will be open as follows:
Sat 7th May 10am-1pm
Monday 9th May 10am-4pm
Tuesday 10th May 10am-4pm
Wednesday 11th May 12pm-4pm
Thursday 12th May - closed.
Friday 13th May 10am-4pm

After that the shop will be closed to the public other than for workshops and event days.

Crochet Club will continue on a Wednesday evening - please join our facebook group for updates on meetings.

I look forward to your continued support during this next phase of Butterfly Bright's colourful evolution!

Ali
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Yarn Shop Day 2016

I wish it could be Yarn Shop Day every day!

the sun was shining and it seemed like everyone was in a good mood!

Carla from The Mousehole Woolery came along to talk to people about her needle-felting workshops and to show off some of her amazing sculptures, hardly a person passed through without being amazed with her work and stopping to ask questions.

It was great to see Maisey and Daisy Mole in the flesh as we are looking forward to running this as a workshop in June. You will get the chance to make Hares and Foxes again in August but book early as orders are already coming in after the interest raised at the weekend!

I particularly liked the toadstool detail in the plant pot!

Lots of customers entered our raffle and the winners will be drawn on Tuesday 3rd May, you have until midnight on Monday 2nd May to purchase tickets online - the prizes are pretty awesome!

I didn't manage to take many more photos of the day because I was so incredibly busy and also juggling my 6, 4 and 2 year old due to a last minute lack of childcare however I did catch this gem of a photo when my youngest climbed up to see Carla's work and gently kissed the mole on his nose!

See you soon

Ali

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Amitola Shawl by Happy Thimble

I have been saving this post especially for Yarn Shop Day!

Caroline, who we miss greatly at Butterfly Bright, is now knitting up a storm over on her new blog Happy Thimble.

I sent her some yummy new wool to play with and not only did she knit a beautiful shawl with it, she actually wrote the pattern herself! What a clever lady I say...

I am not a very advanced knitter but I hope to try this pattern when I get a chance

the detail is just beautiful and the edging divine!

it looks like it would be pretty to wear and cosy all at the same time.

the shawl is on display at the shop if you want to pop in and have a look, we do have some of the Amitola Lace left but it is going fast with such an inspirational make on hand!

Thanks to Caroline for letting us share her pattern - you can read her version here

4.5mm needles

Abbreviations

pm = place marker

sm = slip marker

yo = yarn over

k2tog = knit 2 together

RS = right side

WS = wrong side

RN - right needle

LN - left needle

Start here

Cast on 3, knit 6 rows, at the end of the last row, do not turn your work, but pick up and knit 3 stitches along the side of your garter stitch tab, and 3 stitches along the cast on edge giving you 9 stitches in total.

Now follow this simple repeat alternating between the two balls of yarn every two rows:

1. k3, pm, yo, k1, yo, pm, k1, pm, yo, k1, yo, pm, k3

2. k3, sm, purl to last 3 sts, sm, k3

3. k3, sm, yo, k to first marker, yo, sm, k1, sm, yo knit to next marker, yo, sm, k3

4. k3, sm, purl to last 3 sts, sm, k3

Repeat rows 3 and 4 for as long as you like, this forms the basis of the triangle shawl.

The eyelet rows are made by keeping the k3, yo at the start followed by k2tog, yo repeated across the row to the centre, yo, sm, yo (for the middle) the continue K2tog, yo to the last 3 stitches, sm knit 3.

You can choose to do this once or repeated on RS rows whilst keeping WS rows as row 4.

Finally, I used a picot cast off (make sure you leave yourself enough yarn as it uses approximately 3 times as much yarn as a standard cast off. 

Picot cast off - *cast on 2 stitches, cast off 3 stitches, put the stitch on the RN back onto the LN and repeat from *. There is a great you tube tutorial to help with this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUQ-K6upor0

Enjoy!
Ali

A Patchwork Sewing Machine Cover

I have been meaning to make a cover for my sewing machine for years, and it seems that the new shop is quite a bit dustier than the old one so I decided to actually get on with it!

Using a charm pack is a great way to get a patchwork result that you know will work, I had a few of these Moda Chic Neutrals ones left so I cracked one open.

The squares were soon pieced together using my trustee quarter inch foot

I measured the sewing machine and adjusted the cover to fit exactly

The cover is lined with a different fabric by Studio E in case I want a change! I thought this print was very appropriate...

I think it looks jolly smart in the shop entrance - it even matches the lovely sideboard currently on loan from The Old Shambles in Sherborne - this sideboard has already sold but Paula has lots of lovely new furniture in all the time so do have a look at her facebook page!

What do you think?

I had been asked to come up with a workshop for a sewing machine cover so I will be adding this to the diary soon, keep an eye on our webshop for details.

You can buy the sewing themed fabric from my website here

I also have a few other sewing machines to make covers for so I may come up with some alternative designs in the next few weeks, watch this space..

I hope you enjoyed this post - do please leave a comment or ask me any questions if you like!

Ali

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