Flower Girl Dress with Stitched in Keepsake Pendant

I was asked to make a flower girl dress a while back in ivory and sage green. I was given two weeks to make it, brief instructions as to what it was to look like, as well as a bag of satin and lace. The dress needed to look like a mini version of the bridesmaids dresses, but there wasn't a pattern available for a tween girl that was exactly what they were after so I ended up using the Burda 9697 dress pattern and altering it.

The skirt was cut on the bias and it had to be left for a week to hang and allow the satin fabric to drop. Unfortunately due to the quality of the fabric given to me it ended up dropping 3 times after I had hemmed it! Several times I had to arrange fittings with a very patient young girl and her mother and re-sew where it needed it. Next time I will have to make sure that I get more than two weeks notice so I am not madly running around with scissors and a tape measure. LOL

The lace overlay was hand stitched in place around the waist as was the satin bow. I stitched a pendant on the bow that could be removed when the wedding was over so the young girl could have it as a keepsake after the big day when the dress would no longer fit.

More Fun Making and Creating with Flower Soft

Just a quick post today. Here are some more things I have done with Flower Soft.

A card using one of the gum leaf toppers I made the other day, a couple of the Flower Soft butterflies and flowers sentiments and a Wedding stamp.

Creating with Flower Soft and the New Polar White

DH took me to a craft fair over the weekend and they had almost every colour of Flower Soft in stock, including the newly released Polar White! I also found the stunning gum tree leaves and flowers stamp. I instantly fell in love with it and just had to have it as well as a few extra jars of Flower Soft. I have since gone mad stamping and adding flower soft in almost every colour. LOL Can you tell?

Click image to see larger view

The Polar White Flowersoft is very different from all the other colours and even has a little sparkle. It has a different texture, is much softer and stays together a little more. It is perfect for snow! I can't wait to try it on my Christmas cards this year!

The cards are for a swap and the others are toppers that I am in the process of making to add to other cards as they are finished. Once the flower soft glue is dry I add Stickles on the gumnut flowers to look like pollen.

I have heard you can use flowersoft on fabric! I will add that to my technique to try list and let you know how I go.
Have you used Flower Soft? What do you think the new Polar White?

Bling Up Your Blogger Blog - Add A Favicon

For those of you that have not heard of this before a favicon is the little image right up the top there in the web address bar. I have just added a sewing machine to mine.

You will be making changes to the html part of your blog so make sure to create a backup of your blog template before you make any changes. Copy and paste it into a word document then save to your hard drive.

Visit this site to upload a pic and they will make it usable as a favicon. I used a free clip I found on the web and saved to my computer.

Once you have uploaded your image, copy the information where is says host it a iconJ, then you need to expand the widgets on your blog and scroll about a third of the way down. Paste the info to the html part of your blog as below.

]]>< /b: skin >
PASTE LINK INFO HERE
< /head >

If you need step by step directions with pics you will find some really easy instructions here.

I was done in a matter of a couple of minutes. I hope this helps some of you bling up your blog!

Storing and Organising Spools of Thread

More Sewing room storage ideas for you. If you love sewing and are anything like me you have probably accumulated loads of reels of thread. Here is how I keep my stash under control.

My large overlocking threads I keep in a large basket within easy reach of my machine. Each reel holds about 5000m of thread and I have 4 of each of these in the colours I use the most - White, Cream, Black, Navy, Baby Blue and Pink.

The small reels, with anything up to 1000m of thread, I keep on my thread board. I made this quickly and easily by hammering nails onto a sanded length of wood.

To make your own thread board, work out where you will store it once it is finished. Have the timber cut to that size, then sand and paint if you wish. Mark with a pencil every 4.5cm(1&3/4") across and down the board. Hammer a 2.5" nail in at each mark. Make sure you do not nail all the way through your piece of wood, otherwise you will damage the surface you keep the board on. Once all your nails are in, you are ready to add your spools of thread. I usually keep the same or similar colours together for quick access when I need them.

How do you store your sewing threads? If you have a pic somewhere on the web, leave a link in the comments here and I will come and see.

Making A Chain Maille Bracelet

I have had my eye on this Chain Maille bracelet since the launch of the Make Jewellery magazine online party in April and I have finally finished my version. I have never attempted chain maille jewellery before so I printed out the instructions and they were very easy to follow. If you can open and close jump rings as well as wrap a bead with wire you already have all the skills you need.

I ended up pinning my bracelet to a cushion as I worked so I could see where I was up to as I added the jump rings. I spent 5 minutes here and there until all the rings were joined and then spent a few weeks trying to work out just what beads I wanted on it. LOL One must rush these things after all!

I finally decided on a mixture of glass and shell beads in pink and green pastels. I love how they look with the silver rings. These bracelets would make a beautiful gift and look gorgeous too.

Printable Lemon Curd Recipe

I made some lemon curd a few weeks ago and thought I had already posted about it, but for some reason the post seems to have disappeared. So now for attempt number 2......

I absolutely love lemon curd or as some call it lemon butter. Either way it tastes divine on a slice or three of freshly home-baked bread. I use a recipe that I have had for years. Unfortunately I can't remember where I found it, I can only think it may have been a CWA Recipe book or Mrs Beeton's Recipe Book. Scroll down for the recipe.

Anyway the reason I love this recipe is that it uses whole eggs rather than just the yolks so you end up with a larger quantity and no wasted egg whites. A jar of lemon curd makes a lovely gift, perfect for hampers or just a small thank you.

I sterilise all my jars and utensils in the dishwasher and then place them in the oven at 100°C to drain and dry.

The labels I made using Microsoft publisher on the business card setting. I just placed the text and images where I wanted them and printed them out. I adhered them to the jars using clear packing tape, so it would protect the label from moisture damage (I use an inject printer) and to make them easy to remove once the jars were empty.

And now I guess you are all waiting for the recipe............

Just right click on the image that you prefer below to open in a new tab and then save to your computer or print it out.