Applique Houses and some Sketchbook Club inspiration!

I love teaching Applique and enjoy coming up with new samples for workshops.

I started this piece last year and as usual it sat unfinished for months before inspiration finally struck on a last bit of detail that it needed.

I had completed the houses with windows, doors and roofs.

I added some freehand machine embroidery for detail and left the edges uncovered to add texture as they fray.

Then I was inspired by an image I saw via the Jennie Maizles' #Sketchbookclub instagram feed, 

I had already started doing the Sketchbook Club at Butterfly Bright but this wasn't actually one of our modules but I loved it and knew immediately what my applique picture needed!

Clouds!

and not little white fluffy ones but deep blue paisley ones

I think they add real drama to the sky..

What do you think?

I also had a chance to try the sketchbook version myself and was rather pleased with the results!

If you fancy joining me for an applique workshop please check the website for forthcoming dates, our summer term of Sketchbook Club starts again on 21 April so do book early to avoid disappointment!

Enjoy

Ali

x

The latest #ldjcrochethookup

Lazy Daisy Jones and Crochet Now Magazine are having another Instagram #LDJcrochethookup this April.

It's a great chance to meet with like minded crochet addicts and inspirational characters on Instagram!

Here is the breakdown of the first couple of weeks which will give you a chance to get your thinking caps on. There are prizes on Fridays too, just remember to use #cnfridaywin with your posts on Fridays throughout April.

I have just posted my day one: #hookstorage,

I was busy making the pink and white stripey crochet cover for the jar in the middle whilst watching the TV last night - if you like it you can get the free pattern here on my website butterflybright.com.

My friend Caroline at The Happy Thimble made the jar cover on the right.

here is Lazy Daisy Jones' post for day one:

Make sure you join in with the fun over on Instagram!

Follow Crochet Now Magazine

Follow Lazy Daisy Jones

Follow Butterfly Bright

Enjoy!

Ali

Cactus applique

When I received my Mollie Makes magazine back in February I was inspired by their paper cutting booklet for a sewing project.

Inside was a page with three cactus pictures

Cactus are such fun to play around with as they have so many different shapes, colours and textures to bring in to a project.

First I picked out some green fabric to use - my stash basket is somewhat overflowing at the moment so it is always good to try and use up some pieces. I love pink and green together so I used pinks and purples for the pots and flowers. I made some with felt to add a different texture.

I used bondaweb to attach all the pieces and then tried a bit of freehand machine embroidery to add detail to the plants and the pots.

I still have a bit more to do to complete the embroidery and I think I will use some hand embroidery too to give extra texture - perhaps some french knots?

At this point a great friend Ashley (aka Lazy Daisy Jones) popped in for a cuppa and had a play around at putting together a flat lay to show off my work on Instagram.

Didn't she make an awesome picture?!

I will add another picture when I finally finish this piece but I must get back to work now!

Ali

x

Crochet Mandalas

I love colour, and I love crochet, so when I see the two together I get a little bit excited!

Browsing through the Mollie Makes website I spotted these pretty mandalas, there is a free pattern available if you want to try your own:

Then the new "Crochet Now" Magazine facebook page tempted me with these designs by Crochet Millan.

I had just taken delivery of some fabulous new crochet cottons from RICO in some beautiful new spring shades

the colours looked so lovely together I didn't need to think long about using all of them in a mandala

I made quick progress in just one evening

just running out of time to do the last round...

Once complete I pinned it out on my ironing board to block the points

and here is the finished article!

I used one of the free patterns from Crochet Millan's website which was easy to follow if you but do remember that the pattern is written in American terms so you will need to adjust for British terms if you prefer those.

Which one would you try?

Enjoy!

Ali

x

A simple zipper pouch in pretty butterfly fabric

Sometimes a collection of fabric arrives and I just have to make something! I didn't have much spare time yesterday between workshops but I was determined to sew this purse which only took about half an hour in total to make.

First I cut the fabric pieces

there are two butterfly fabric pieces  11" by 6.5" 

and two pink fabric pieces 11"by 3.5"

later you will need two pieces of fabric for the lining which are 11" by 9.5"

and of course a zip

I stitched the butterfly fabric to the pink fabric using my new quarter inch foot (a great new gadget - I have no idea why I didn't get one before now!) Then I anchored the fabric panel to a piece of wadding with a line of stitching just below the join to add detail. Repeat for the other side.

I trimmed the pieces down so that the wadding was the same size as the fabric (there are two identical pieces at this point)

I referred to a great tutorial by Melly Sews on how to sew in a zip (there is a link to this tutorial later in this post)

attaching both outer pieces and the lining pieces

Finally there is a line of stitching around the outer and lining pieces (with that all important gap to pull it all through) to sew the whole purse together and you are done!

You can find the tutorial by Melly Sews here my purse dimensions are different and of course I used wadding to pad it out but it is useful to show you how to sew in the zip

I used a fabrics from the Whisper collection by Windham Fabrics which you can buy in my online shop.

Enjoy!

Ali

x

Spring has sprung!

Whether the British weather likes it or not - Spring is finally here!

It feels like it has been a long time coming but at the weekend we cut the grass and started to venture out into the garden for the first time in ages

There is nothing nicer than delivery of fresh new stock on a Monday morning and I was particularly pleased to open this parcel of RICO crochet cottons in a variety of spring colours..

They look so inviting all lined up ready to be used!

I love to play around with new stock getting a few pictures on my phone to put onto Instagram and Facebook over the coming week and with the sun shining it is the perfect time to stock up my photo album.

The greens looks pretty with this Dashwood Studio Fabric from the Streetlife Collection

I have a wide variety of buttons and accessories to team up with any range of colours

The cool blues might be more appealing when we are finding the summer days too hot - but for now we will bask in the spring sunshine and enjoy the warmth finally breaking through

Remember to bring some of those pretty spring blooms indoors to enjoy 

For now I will head over to my Crochet Pinterest Board for some inspiration on what to make with the new cottons!

I'd like to try a few of these crochet mandala's spotted on Crochet Now Magazines' Facebook page - they are designed by Crochet Millan and the free pattern is available here

Enjoy!

Ali x

Let's run away and join the Circus!

A circus theme keeps cropping up lately

first we had a circus module in our Jennie Maizels' Sketchbook Club

and then this week some amazing fabric arrived from Lewis and Irene

It is freakishly similar and we love it!

There is also a wonderful acrobat fabric 

and some cute little stars to use as a co-ordinate.

You can shop the Vintage Circus fabrics on our website

What would you make?