Once upon a time there was a woman who loved fabric and making things. She collected so much fabric and knew how hard it was to find just the right one, she thought she should help other people find their special fabric and make lovely things. So she opened a magical little shop called Make Me Fabrics and filled it with lovely things.
One day the fabric lady's sister paid her a visit in her special little shop, although there wasn't much room to sit because it was so full of magic. The sisters talked about lots of things, of their children and their husbands, of sealing wax and string and of cabbages and kings. They also listened to the stories of the people who came into the magic little shop and they wrote some of them down in a book. As the pages began to fill, the book began to glow because of the magic of the stories that were filling it. The stories of love, giving and creation were magical themselves.
Into the shop came a young gentleman named Luke, he was learning how to make patterns and had already made lots of beautiful things. He had come into the shop to find some special fabric for a special lady, his Grandmother. He picked some matching fabrics to make a wonderful present, he gave the sisters his story and went on his way.
Then a lady the sisters had known for a long time came into the special little shop, she had been a teacher at their primary school a long, long time ago. The lady must have had some magic herself because she looked exactly the same as when the sisters were little girls. She had been in the little shop before and had come to buy fabric for a friend. She picked some fat quarter bundles for her friend in lovely flowery colours. She also told the sisters about a meeting of crafty ladies on a Friday morning at the local library and told them to visit her and her friends. So she gave the sisters her story and went on her way.
Next a woman came into to shop looking for pretty fabrics to make Halloween wreaths out of. She picked some dress net in orange, black and purple and some scary Halloween fabric. She was making a wreath for herself, her mum and a friend and so she was passing on her magic, which is what happens when you make things with love and give them away. So she paid for her things, gave the sisters her story and went on her way.
Other people came and went, looking for little things, elastic, bobbins and hemming bond. They shared their stories and opened little windows into their lives, they paid for their things and went on their way. One lady was mending a hat she loved, someone was turning up trousers and someone was making a headband, but they all had a little bit of magic about them that comes with doing.
One lady bought some beautiful broderie anglais cotton fabric to make a pram blanket for her daughters friend, so she shared her story with the sisters. But her daughter had shared her magic with someone else as well, the things we make to pass on always have a little magic in them.
Soon it was time for the sisters to part, they put away the book filled with stories for another time. They said goodbye and the older sister went on her way, the younger stayed in her shop to pass on her magic and listen to the stories of the people that came into that special place. The magic in the stories grew as they were passed on, as it always does. The people had touched the lives of the sisters in little ways and they in turn had taken part in the stories of the people who had visited the shop.
Stories are as old as time and have no end, the magic in them grows with the telling and the passing on. We brush through others lives and take part in their stories for the briefest time before moving on. The magic little shop is still there and open on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday every week on South Elmsall Market. If you visit the shop pass on your story and leave a little magic behind yourself as you take away your things to make and do, things for yourself and things to give away.
And so this story ends, far now.......
Monday, 28 October 2013
Monday, 21 October 2013
On Love and Loss
Last week one of my daughters pets died, he was just a small creature. A Degu, a member of the guinea pig family, he was 7 yrs old and just died in her hands. Lots of crying ensued and the following day a burial took place along side two previous small pets. My kids over the years have had a lot of pets, guinea pigs, hamsters and a budgie, so we have had a fair few deaths, but it doesn't get any easier. I suppose that encountering loss at an early age prepares them for the concept of death, that no-one and nothing lives forever. We have also lost family members over the years and that in its way is the same, you never become accustomed to loss. Each death strikes you anew and though over time it becomes easier to think of our loved ones with a smile instead of a tear, the loss never leaves you.
The dog has been ill for a while as well, he's 13 next month and has already had two cancerous lumps removed. I am dreading his death, not only for my own sake, he is my constant companion, but with my kids being 19 and 20 he has been a constant in their lives for a long time. They take him for granted, are always going to take him a walk tomorrow and treat him like a kid. Losing a pet, even one you have had for a long time can never be equated with the loss of a person, especially a child. But to most of us it is still a devastating loss and the grief can be overwhelming. I have lost parents and a sibling, but I cannot ever imagine losing a child, it must be the most terrible loss of all, something you struggle to come back from.
You try to prepare your children for the things that happen in life, but actual death can only be experienced for itself. But so can childbirth and falling in love for the first time, so along with feeling great sorrows in life we can also feel great joys. In this digital age we all have phones with cameras on, but how many of us actually print off our photos. Digital images do not have an indefinite life span, we lose phones, images corrupt and eventually degrade over time. I'm as guilty as this of anyone, so I'm going to start and print some of our photos off. Rummaging through a box of old photos is a great pleasure and can be an adventure for a child, discovering relatives and friends long since gone. Also discovering the stories that go with the images, passing on an oral history can be just as important. The story of Harry that I put on here not long ago was one my dad was always telling me about my Grandad. I never met him as he died before I was born, but he lived in my minds eye through my dad's stories, as did my Great Grandad through stories about him. Now I tell those stories to my children, as well as ones about my own parents and I hope they continue to travel through the ages from mouth to ear, from parent to child.
And so we learn to deal with love and loss. As well as the physical things we make to become heirlooms for future generations, pass on your stories as well.
Philosophical discussion over, I'm just in a mellow and reflective mood. A combination of the time of year and atmospheric weather perhaps. After all Halloween is originally a feast for remembering the dead not just an American holiday for children to stuff themselves stupid with sweets. So remember loved ones as you put on your costumes, but enjoy making new memories and stories to pass on, and don't forget those photos. After all I'm sure your Great Grandchildren will want to know who the mad people dressed as witches and vampires in the photos are!
All my Love
Louise xx
The dog has been ill for a while as well, he's 13 next month and has already had two cancerous lumps removed. I am dreading his death, not only for my own sake, he is my constant companion, but with my kids being 19 and 20 he has been a constant in their lives for a long time. They take him for granted, are always going to take him a walk tomorrow and treat him like a kid. Losing a pet, even one you have had for a long time can never be equated with the loss of a person, especially a child. But to most of us it is still a devastating loss and the grief can be overwhelming. I have lost parents and a sibling, but I cannot ever imagine losing a child, it must be the most terrible loss of all, something you struggle to come back from.
You try to prepare your children for the things that happen in life, but actual death can only be experienced for itself. But so can childbirth and falling in love for the first time, so along with feeling great sorrows in life we can also feel great joys. In this digital age we all have phones with cameras on, but how many of us actually print off our photos. Digital images do not have an indefinite life span, we lose phones, images corrupt and eventually degrade over time. I'm as guilty as this of anyone, so I'm going to start and print some of our photos off. Rummaging through a box of old photos is a great pleasure and can be an adventure for a child, discovering relatives and friends long since gone. Also discovering the stories that go with the images, passing on an oral history can be just as important. The story of Harry that I put on here not long ago was one my dad was always telling me about my Grandad. I never met him as he died before I was born, but he lived in my minds eye through my dad's stories, as did my Great Grandad through stories about him. Now I tell those stories to my children, as well as ones about my own parents and I hope they continue to travel through the ages from mouth to ear, from parent to child.
And so we learn to deal with love and loss. As well as the physical things we make to become heirlooms for future generations, pass on your stories as well.
Philosophical discussion over, I'm just in a mellow and reflective mood. A combination of the time of year and atmospheric weather perhaps. After all Halloween is originally a feast for remembering the dead not just an American holiday for children to stuff themselves stupid with sweets. So remember loved ones as you put on your costumes, but enjoy making new memories and stories to pass on, and don't forget those photos. After all I'm sure your Great Grandchildren will want to know who the mad people dressed as witches and vampires in the photos are!
All my Love
Louise xx
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Normal Service has Resumed
Sorry about the lack of blogs, I've had a rotten cold. Unfortunately cold and Menieres/Me do not mix well! But I'm on the mend now and although I'm still incredibly tired, I have at least managed to get off the sofa! So here is a brief catch up.
I have a list of things to make and do, a Halloween goody bag for my nephew, he wants a monster. Homework for creative textiles, although I have made a start on that this morning and a painting to finish as well as new a new one to start that I have just done the sketch for. It'll be Easter by that time, I knew when doing the course it would be difficult because of my illness, so far I have missed 2 weeks out of 4, not a good start and Jessie is worse still she has missed 3. She couldn't bring herself to leave the house on Tuesday, so I went on my own and here is the story to my getting home.
I got to the train station at Sandle with a 15 minute wait for the train, it was a lovely day so I sat and watched the world go by. The train duly arrived on time and I disembarked at Moorthorpe station shortly after, I have a 10 minute wait for Paul so I went in the cafe and got a hot chocolate. He picks us up on the way home from work at half four, so I sat and waited and waited. At 4.50pm I went outside to see if I could spot the car, no car, so I waited and waited. Now it happened that my mobile has been broken for ages, but as I go out rarely and am either with Jessie or Paul I haven't got a new one. Mine are usually just hand me downs from the kids anyway.
Now not only did I not have a mobile but the night before our internet and land line stopped working. Michael, my 20 yr old son had decided to move the router from the front room to the dining room for a better signal. He couldn't get it to work and so moved it back again, at which point nothing worked. Paul fixed it Tuesday night (a cable was in the wrong port!), but that did me no good on Tuesday afternoon. So no phone, no husband and stranded at Moorthorpe.
So I gave up and caught a bus home, I thought if Paul turned up he could just sit and wait! Unfortunately the Menieres means I now get very travel sick, the train isn't bad because we are only on it for 10 mins. But a bumpy bus is another thing! He had forgotten me completely, he'd called at his mum's on the way home and never thought twice about his poor wife. Just as I was walking up to our gate he was starting to back the car out of the drive. Having arrived home and found me missing, he suddenly remembered where he was supposed to be! I'll have to stamp it on his head next week to make sure he doesn't forget again. He didn't even apologise he just started laughing and put the car away, I'll bide my time and get my own back.
Anyway this morning with my cold finally subsiding I thought I better catch up with some textile pieces. We are learning about dying at the moment and I have bought some Procion dyes to use at home. These are permanent dyes so I have to be careful not to get them anywhere I don't want them to be. So there was me with an old pinny on, yellow rubber gloves and cling film all over the kitchen worktops. I mixed the dyes in old dishes and added in salt and soda ash, these act as mordants to make the dye permanent. I dyed several pieces of calico for use as backgrounds for future projects. I had some dye left so Jessie used it to dye a lace shawl and tablecloth she had bought from a charity shop. They are all wrapped in plastic and in a storage box now, you have to leave them to cure before you wash them out. So some time next week I'll put some photos on of the results. I didn't take photos today because I didn't want to risk getting anything on the camera. The dye does tend to travel about a bit, but our kitchen is old and has random bits of glue and glitter from previous projects here and there anyway!
I still haven't used all of the lovely things Carolyn gave me yet, so now I'm a bit better I'll have to start on those as well. She has some lovely new fat quarter bundles in, all with Christmas prints on, it's fatal being her sister because I just keep seeing things to add to our crafty stash. Pop in and see her new stock, I know she has talked about selling dyes before, she just doesn't have any spare room at the moment. She has pictures of her new fabrics on Facebook, Make Me Fabrics and visit her at South Elmsall market as well to see what other seasonal goodies she has in.
Well I'm off to plot revenge on my husband! Let Carolyn or me know what you are making, it would be nice to see a few photos or take them along to show her. Talk to you all again soon,
Love Louise xx
I have a list of things to make and do, a Halloween goody bag for my nephew, he wants a monster. Homework for creative textiles, although I have made a start on that this morning and a painting to finish as well as new a new one to start that I have just done the sketch for. It'll be Easter by that time, I knew when doing the course it would be difficult because of my illness, so far I have missed 2 weeks out of 4, not a good start and Jessie is worse still she has missed 3. She couldn't bring herself to leave the house on Tuesday, so I went on my own and here is the story to my getting home.
I got to the train station at Sandle with a 15 minute wait for the train, it was a lovely day so I sat and watched the world go by. The train duly arrived on time and I disembarked at Moorthorpe station shortly after, I have a 10 minute wait for Paul so I went in the cafe and got a hot chocolate. He picks us up on the way home from work at half four, so I sat and waited and waited. At 4.50pm I went outside to see if I could spot the car, no car, so I waited and waited. Now it happened that my mobile has been broken for ages, but as I go out rarely and am either with Jessie or Paul I haven't got a new one. Mine are usually just hand me downs from the kids anyway.
Now not only did I not have a mobile but the night before our internet and land line stopped working. Michael, my 20 yr old son had decided to move the router from the front room to the dining room for a better signal. He couldn't get it to work and so moved it back again, at which point nothing worked. Paul fixed it Tuesday night (a cable was in the wrong port!), but that did me no good on Tuesday afternoon. So no phone, no husband and stranded at Moorthorpe.
So I gave up and caught a bus home, I thought if Paul turned up he could just sit and wait! Unfortunately the Menieres means I now get very travel sick, the train isn't bad because we are only on it for 10 mins. But a bumpy bus is another thing! He had forgotten me completely, he'd called at his mum's on the way home and never thought twice about his poor wife. Just as I was walking up to our gate he was starting to back the car out of the drive. Having arrived home and found me missing, he suddenly remembered where he was supposed to be! I'll have to stamp it on his head next week to make sure he doesn't forget again. He didn't even apologise he just started laughing and put the car away, I'll bide my time and get my own back.
Anyway this morning with my cold finally subsiding I thought I better catch up with some textile pieces. We are learning about dying at the moment and I have bought some Procion dyes to use at home. These are permanent dyes so I have to be careful not to get them anywhere I don't want them to be. So there was me with an old pinny on, yellow rubber gloves and cling film all over the kitchen worktops. I mixed the dyes in old dishes and added in salt and soda ash, these act as mordants to make the dye permanent. I dyed several pieces of calico for use as backgrounds for future projects. I had some dye left so Jessie used it to dye a lace shawl and tablecloth she had bought from a charity shop. They are all wrapped in plastic and in a storage box now, you have to leave them to cure before you wash them out. So some time next week I'll put some photos on of the results. I didn't take photos today because I didn't want to risk getting anything on the camera. The dye does tend to travel about a bit, but our kitchen is old and has random bits of glue and glitter from previous projects here and there anyway!
I still haven't used all of the lovely things Carolyn gave me yet, so now I'm a bit better I'll have to start on those as well. She has some lovely new fat quarter bundles in, all with Christmas prints on, it's fatal being her sister because I just keep seeing things to add to our crafty stash. Pop in and see her new stock, I know she has talked about selling dyes before, she just doesn't have any spare room at the moment. She has pictures of her new fabrics on Facebook, Make Me Fabrics and visit her at South Elmsall market as well to see what other seasonal goodies she has in.
Well I'm off to plot revenge on my husband! Let Carolyn or me know what you are making, it would be nice to see a few photos or take them along to show her. Talk to you all again soon,
Love Louise xx
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Just a little catch up,
Hello, it's been a while since I posted a blog so I thought I would write a little catch up. I've been a bit off the hooks lately and just lost my crafting and writing mojo, I've been so tired everything has been an effort which can be really frustrating as I don't stop having ideas! So hopefully I'm on my way back to normal (whatever that is) and crafty bits will start appearing on here again. I did make an effort yesterday evening and had a go at making a Christmas decoration. I keep going and looking at it, It has possibilities but at the moment I don't really like it much, it needs improvement.
A couple of weeks ago Jessie and I started a creative textiles course, I thought it would help her start to get out of the house and start interacting with people again. We are both really enjoying it and it's nice to learn something new. I've also just signed up for an online art course that starts in January, it's called Life Book 2014 and it looks brilliant. Because I'm ill such a lot, this has stopped me doing a lot of things I love, including furthering my education. But through art a new world is opening up for me and you realise that even though life changes, those changes can open pathways to new and exciting things.
So I'm typing this full of painkillers and with a sore throat, but at least I'm typing! I've still got the bag full of goodies from Carolyn to use up and I'll try and get something on here by the end of the week. I'm also going to start making my Christmas cards soon, as last year I left it to the last minute. I have some lovely Christmas stamps, dies and papers to use, so I really need my mojo back soon!
Well I'm going to keep it short and sweet this time and hopefully we'll have a better chat next time,
All my love
Louise xx.
A couple of weeks ago Jessie and I started a creative textiles course, I thought it would help her start to get out of the house and start interacting with people again. We are both really enjoying it and it's nice to learn something new. I've also just signed up for an online art course that starts in January, it's called Life Book 2014 and it looks brilliant. Because I'm ill such a lot, this has stopped me doing a lot of things I love, including furthering my education. But through art a new world is opening up for me and you realise that even though life changes, those changes can open pathways to new and exciting things.
So I'm typing this full of painkillers and with a sore throat, but at least I'm typing! I've still got the bag full of goodies from Carolyn to use up and I'll try and get something on here by the end of the week. I'm also going to start making my Christmas cards soon, as last year I left it to the last minute. I have some lovely Christmas stamps, dies and papers to use, so I really need my mojo back soon!
Well I'm going to keep it short and sweet this time and hopefully we'll have a better chat next time,
All my love
Louise xx.
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
Noel, Noel the Angels did sing..
My lovely sister dropped me a bag full of goodies off on her way home from her shop yesterday. She brought them to cheer me up because I hadn't been very well over the weekend and there was all sorts of Christmassy loveliness inside. So with today being a damp and dreary indoor kind of day I thought I would make something nice for her, to say thank you. I have included prices where I have them and pictures of each stage of making. I hope you like the finished results and I hope she does as well.
I thought I would use the small embroidery hoops to make a Christmas decoration. I don't like the word XMAS and YULE always seems to conjure up blue frosty colours when I think of it. So I picked the word NOEL, it always seems to be a red and green word. Do you associate certain words with certain colours, or is it just me being me again?
When you draw around the letters remember they will be reversed as they are on the back of the fabric. So after I got it wrong I had to cut another N.
Then I stitched around the edges in gold thread with a running stitch.
I stitched the tube with wrong sides together and created a point. Then turned it inside out, if you trim close to the seam first it will lay flatter when turned. I added a hanging loop to the top and then slip stitched close.
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| Isn't it a gorgeous collection of goodies. |
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| I cut a sixteenth of the fat quarter to fit the hoop. |
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| I laid out the letters to see how much fabric I would need . |
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| I cut a piece of red and backed it with the bondaweb. |
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| Can you spot my mistake, I thought I had been careful! But the N was the wrong way around. |
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| All cut the right way. |
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| Cut the wrong way! |
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After cutting out the letters I ironed them on.
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I cut out the letters and ironed them on to the swatches of green. The glue in the bondaweb held them in place when heated.
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| Place them in the rings. |
Place them as centrally as possible in the rings, tighten the screws slightly. Pull the fabric taught and then tighten the screws fully. Next I cut a length from the red striped fabric and pressed it into a tube shape and folded the ends into a point.
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| My daughter thought it was a tie! |
I added ribbon bows to the top and stitched the rings in place with a few tacking stitches. I then added red ribbon bows to each of the rings. The bells are strung on the gold thread and stitched in place with the ribbon and button. I have loads of fabric left and lots of other bits and pieces out of the stuff she brought me. I'm going to see how many things I can make out of that one bag of goodies, so keep watching. You could put a single word in one of the larger hoops she sells instead or it you want a different word add more hoops.
Below is a list of things I used and the prices I have, if you want the price for any of the others just contact Carolyn on her Facebook page, Make Me Fabrics or pop into her shop. She is open Tuesday, Friday and Saturday on Elmsall market.
4 Hoops @ £2.60 each
Alphabet templates £3.00
Gold decorative thread £1.15
Small red button ?
6 Fat quarters @ £1.50 each
3 large Gold bells ?
Thin red ribbon 30p
Bondaweb?
I still have loads of fabric left, if you wanted the backgrounds to be the same it would mean you could use a fat quarter for that and one for the letters. Hope you like this project, it was quite easy and didn't involve a lot of sewing, but I think it looks quite effective. I'm going to make myself one now, it will look lovely hung on the fire place.
So I'll talk to you all again soon and keep sewing,
All my love
Louise xx
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