Slow stitch Sunday and more bees

The hollyhocks are blooming lovely. Sugary pink petals and big fat bees who've even taken to sleeping inside a flower to ensure they can feed the moment they wake up.

The butterflies are loving the marjoram. I think this is a Small Tortoiseshell.

In the last few days I've managed another jaunt to the charity shop. I bought an L K Bennet dress and an ASOS top. The dress is too tight for me, it's a tailored size 10 so not surprising. It's headed for my fabric stash. However, the top I'll wear. Weirdly, it's a size 14 and - despite the baggy kind of style - it's tight on me, especially around the wrists. Fashion brands need to standardise sizing, don't they?

Anyway, on to crafty stuff. I've been making a bag recently. Just a big roomy shopper. I've pieced the outer part of the bag, and am still stitching the handle, then I'll find a suitable material for the lining.

It's a mix of new and upcycled material, and I'll post pictures once it's completed. Also - I seem to have a thing about bags lately - I had the urge to make a little slow stitch project, a drawstring bag for keeping odds & ends in.

As with the blue bag, it's a mix of new and upcycled. I decided on soft colours, muted plain shades, then mixed it up by impulsively adding the green patterned fabric. A print that I really love and am eeking out a fat quarter of it, using it sparingly. There's a Fifties kind of vibe to the print with the dots and splodges, don't you think?

I pieced and appliqued and stitched until it somehow felt 'right'.

I don't usually go for novelty prints, but I really liked these doggies, so lined the bag with this.

I had a length of grey cord which was useful instead of a ribbon for the drawstring. Couldn't find any beads to thread on to it, so I improvised with winding cotton thread around and around the ends of the cord to prettify it. (Making those reminded me of having hair wraps years ago. Those hippie style, brightly coloured wraps that were made using Superglue! They had to be cut out once you got tired of 'em.)

What do you think? Now I'm wondering whether to finish the blue bag or read a few more pages of 'Hamnet', the Maggie O'Farrell book that I'm halfway through and is superb. Or maybe an evening stroll around the neigbourhood, work off a few calories?

Decisions, decisions ...

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HOW TO MAKE: these decorative birds

I suggested yesterday that I'd run through how to make a fabric bird wall or window hanging (can't think of a snappier title for it than that!) so here goes. I'll start with the first decorative hanging I made. It's something you could make in any colour combination you want, and would look good hanging at a window with translucent beads that'd catch the light I used five birds for this, but you could make it longer if you prefer. (Incidentally, if you're wondering about what's hanging off the bottom on this, it's a metal Christmas decoration, shaped like a lantern. For some reason I thought it looked appropriate to leave it there, looped over the end.) WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO GATHER TOGETHER: Assorted scraps of fabric for the front of the birds - aim for a mix of colours and textures. Silk looks good, as does anything with embroidery or intricate patterns. You might aim for a hippy-ish boho look, or maybe you're more the minimal Scandi

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I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day. It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice. Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle. Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it? I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning. I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point. Time will tell. This is a link to the listing, if you're interested. This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs. It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday. I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax. The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out. The glue's su

Paper flowers, leaves, feathers ...

I had a few requests after posting this photo on Facebook, people asking if I could explain how I made these paper flowers. Your wish is my command, and here's the info. It's all very simple and you don't need any advanced drawing skills. So grab a stack of gell prints, a pair of scissors and off we go! The type of print that seems to work best is one where there's a fair amount of detail, rather than a block of solid plain colour. Prints where you've maybe channelled your inner Elizabeth St. Hilaire and 'layered layered layered' as she's always urging us to do. POPPIES If we start with simple poppy seed heads and stalks, they're cut freehand from paper that's mainly shades of orange and brown. I glued those on to a sheet of white copier paper, then cut them out, leaving a narrow border around each. Backing the gell print with the white paper adds that contrasting border, but also strengthens the piece, especially the thin stalks. I

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