the green gal

Lovely Monday

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This is a quilit in progress, and I think it's a lovely refreshing take on the traditional quilt. I love how the maker has picked her favourite fabrics, cut out different sized and shaped pieces and just laid them out to look pretty. I couldn't find a photo of the finished quilt on sewtakeahike's flickr photostream but I'm sure it must look lovely!

Tutorial: How to make a bookmark

It's been a little while since I shared a tutorial and this one is a speedy little number! In just a few steps you can make a lovely stitched paper bookmark so you'll never lose your place in your chosen read again.

1. All you need is a piece of A5 paper (I used handmade paper made from recycled cotton rag so it has a lovely texture and an uneven edge), a piece of leftover ribbon, and either a needle and thread or a sewing machine.

2. Fold your piece of A5 paper in half lengthways and sew all the way around the edge in a contrasting coloured thread, to sew the two sides together. I did this on a sewing machine as it's super speedy but you can just as easily sew it by hand. Punch a hole at one end of your bookmark.

3. Thread a piece of ribbon through the hole and knot it. Voila! You have a pretty little bookmark! You could further embellish the bookmark by embroidering or stamping or whatever you like to make it your own.

I hope you found this tutorial useful!

PS In case you missed it, check out the desktop wallpaper designs to download from Thursday's palette pingpong post :)

Stitch with Love goes to…

…Ali Edwards! Well done for winning my giveaway, let me know your address and your very own copy will be on its way to you soon!

Thanks to everyone for entering, I'm so glad you like the book and my little make from it, better luck next time :)

Stitch with Love book review & giveaway

Well, this is a first for my blog, I've reviewed a book! The kind folk at David and Charles sent me a copy of Stitch with Love to take a look at.

It's a lovely book by Mandy Shaw that shows you how to master a number of embroidery stitches, including chain, stem and lazy daisy stitches as well as the better known blanket and whipped running stitch. Following these pages there are loads of projects and makes to embellish with your new embroidery skills. It's been a while since I embroidered so it was lovely to use the book as a sort of refresher course. 

Mandy also writes about different fabrics and threads to use for different projects, which I found helpful because I'm never sure how many embroidery cotton strands to use for different stitches.

The projects are divided into different areas such as those for use in the garden or kitchen, or follow themes like Christmas or buttons or hearts. 

I thought I'd have a go at a project but me being me, I decided to mix up a couple of the book's projects and add my own little spin too! And this is what I produced:

Mandy shows how to make the apron from an old tea towel (I used a vintage French tea towel I picked up at an antiques fair ages ago) in the cookery themed chapter.

I then used templates of a sewing machine and pair of scissors from the sewing themed section for my embroidery.

I was pleased to find a piece of linen in my stash that matched the vintage tea towel perfectly and the button in the middle of the two pockets was a little addition suggested in the gardening chapter. 

But that's a great thing about this book, the projects can be made exactly as described but everything can be swapped around and adapted and the embroidery designs can be used in any way you can think of.

If this has whetted your appetite to break out your embroidery floss then you might want to enter my giveaway! I have one copy of Stitch with Love by Mandy Shaw, worth £14.99, to be won. Just leave a comment on this post and I will pick a random winner after midnight GMT on Sunday 3 July. Good luck!

The Challenge is over

In February 2010 I set myself the challenge of not buying any new clothes for a year. I allowed myself to buy secondhand clothes from charity or vintage shops, or make my own (that never happened), you can read my original post here. 

So, a year and a few months on, how did I do? Well, since the official end of challenge on 23 February 2011 I have bought a pair of tights. Yep, that's it. And that was only because I felt I should buy something (why I don't know), plus I fancied wearing plum coloured tights. 

A year of not going in clothes shops and recycling catalogues without opening them seems to have retrained my brain to just not think of clothes shopping. I don't buy the usual women's mags so I don't get tempted from that direction either. 

So, what have I been wearing the past year? I won't bore you with numerous snaps of jumpers and tops and dresses, but I thought I'd show you a couple of nice little outfits I found secondhand, just to show I've not been walking round looking like a slob the whole time:

The dress, belt and cardigan all came from charity shops, the leggings are a few years old, the boots were a brilliant find in a Monsoon sale about seven years ago (not sure how many more times they can be resoled), and I bought the vintage necklace at the Bath handmade and vintage fair I had a stall at last Christmas. The dress was too big and needed taking in but this is now one of my favourite outfits to wear.

This is a piccie from last summer. The belt is from a charity shop and my lovely friend, Kirsty, found the dress in her local charity shop and kindly redonated it to me. A little bit of adjustment to fit and it's a perfect summer frock.

And lastly, a little bit of glamour (I know, I'm trying and failing to pull of the Audrey Hepburn look)! I found this 1950s shift dress in my local vintage clothes store, called Shrewd, and it fits so perfectly I just had to have it. The brooch was found in a charity shop, as were the shoes – I had to have them because they're green and they fit but the heels are a bit scarily high for me. I love this outfit, even if I struggle to walk in the heels!

Thanks for your support and encouragement over the past year, it definitely helped to know that the wider world knew about the challenge I set myself and would hold me to account over it! If you're thinking of doing something similar I say go for it! If, like me, you're not a big new fashion buff you probably won't find it too hard. 

The challenge has really raised my interest in vintage clothing and, knowing I've given a second life to some really lovely clothes that also only cost me a fraction of their original cost, and that I've saved them from possibly being landfilled, has made me smile a lot over the past year. I'm sure I will end up buying the odd item of new clothing but my attitude towards clothes shopping has definitely changed for good.

T-shirt to scarf in 4 easy steps

My latest make and do for Daisy Green Magazine is on their website now so go check it out!

Ready for my close-up

Yesterday was not an average day at the green gables. I spent the morning tidying and beautifying my garden studio and the afternoon being photographed in it. 

A few months ago I was contacted by Sian Berry, writer and green campaigner, as she was interested in featuring me as a case study in her new book, Junk for Joy. After I got over the shock I agreed, of course. We had a lovely chat all about the creations I make, in particular those made from recycled materials, such as my Remade service where I take treasured pieces of clothing and remake them into new pieces to use or display or give as gifts.

find it here

Junk for Joy is a follow-up to Mend It!, all about helping you to fix an item rather than automatically binning it. Junk for Joy focuses on recycling old into new and I think there are three other people featured as case studies as well as me.

So then I come to yesterday. Sarah Cuttle, the photographer who worked on Mend It!, and her assistant, Issy, arrived to take photos of me (only a few of those, thank goodness) and lots of my handmade products. They were quite taken with my shirt cushions and wildflower paper bunting. 

It is universally agreed that a quite nasty shirt can make a quite lovely cushion cover

They were so lovely and friendly and made me feel at ease in front of the camera, no mean feat I can tell you! It was fascinating to watch them at work on the still life shots, I hope I've picked up a trick or two to improve my own photography skills.

I think until yesterday I didn't really believe it's happening – that I am really going to be featured in a book! For my career to date I've been the writer behind the scenes so to be the subject, all be it a small one among many, feels quite different and v exciting!

Junk for Joy is published by Kyle & Cathie in September and I'm really looking forward to getting loads of ideas and tips from Sian as well as reading about the other featured folk. I'll be sure to tell you all about it as soon as I get my hands on a copy.

£5 to spend at the green gables

I've been playing over at Daisy Green's house again and this time I have two treats for you! First of all there is my latest make and do – this time I show you how to turn an old pair of jeans into a purse and a bag. Find the tutorial here.

And secondly there is a special offer for Daisy Green readers – I'm giving you £5 to spend on anything at thegreenables.co.uk until the end of February! You don't have to spend a minimum amount and the discount applies to everything. You just need the code to get your £5 off and you can find it here.

 

It's a new year at the green gables

I know, we're well into 2011 but as my sale at the green gables has only just finished, only now can I reveal my new pretties!

First of all, thank you to everyone who voted on the colours in this post, here are quite literally the products of that colour debate…

new framed quote prints, find them here

I have created three new quote prints in four new vintage-inspired shades, plus I have made my most popular (and favourite) quote print in the new colours too.

The new quotes are:

"Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower" Hans Christian Andersen

"I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours" Bob Dylan

"Life is too short so, kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly" Author unknown

Plus an old favourite: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return" eden ahbez

I just love each and every one of these quotes, they say so much in so few words. You can find them here at the green gables.

And that's not all! I have also been busy with fabric, and yes, bunting is back! This time decorating three handmade natural linen and cotton cushions…

Bunting cushions, find them here

I'd really quite like to keep these for myself but if I applied that thinking to everything I make I would have been squeezed out of my little cottage a long time ago! So, I hope that they will go to a new and happy home instead.

I hope you like the new additions to my handmade family, to find more simply pootle on over to the green gables!

The shop doors are open

Yes, after much talk and promise I can finally reveal that my very own webshop is open! Yippee! When you go to www.thegreengables.co.uk you will find all my handmade gifts, accessories, art prints and decorations ready and waiting for you to give a new home to.

the green gables online store

AND, because I'm in such a jolly fine mood, I'm giving all my customers FREE P&P at the green gables online store until Sunday 21 November! So, whatever you buy, and however much you buy, you won't pay a penny towards its packaging and postage, that'll be all me. You don't need to put in a code you just shop and no p&p will be added at checkout.

handmade Christmas decorations

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this. Since I first decided to start my own handmade business I dreamt that one day I would be able to have my own online store. And it has finally become a reality, due, pretty much entirely, to my super clever, talented, tirelessly hard-working husband who not only designed my website but also created my shop. He really is the bestest.

art prints

Enough of the gushing, here are just a few of the handmade pieces you can find at the green gables…

eco-friendly shopping bags

paper heart bunting

bunting art

Christmas cards

I'd love to hear what you think of my shop, my site, my products, anything you want to share with me really! You can leave a comment at the end of this post or email me at gabrielle@thegreengables.co.uk

Hope to see you soon (I'll be loitering in an aisle…)!