That elusive certain something ...

Do you ever make something and think 'uhm, it's okay, but it's missing a certain something'? Some kind of spark that gives your sewing (or drawing, painting, crochet or whatever craft) life and energy. That added extra you can't define but know when you see it. Or rather, when you don't.

I've been making simple Jude Hill style pieces of stitching, some of which I'm more pleased with than others.

The one on the left - the moon with a face - wasn't right, but I knew what to do to stop it annoying me. The yellow material I'd used was too harsh a yellow, and the facial expression wasn't what I'd been aiming for. So I appliqued a more mellow yellow over the original piece, a slightly fiddly thing to do but I was much happier with the result. I haven't re-sewn the face yet, but probably will.

This other piece - in the photo below - hasn't proved so straightforward to put right. It looked too plain, and frankly too boring.

I added more lines of running stitch, then used upcycled sari material to liven up the left hand side of it.

Which was better, but still lacking something or other. Anyway, I've put it aside for now, and maybe coming back to it with fresh eyes in a few days or weeks time will help me work out what I need to do next. In the meantime I've bought the boxes and bags of Christmas decorations downstairs, ready for when I decide it's time to put them up. As they only come out once a year I tend to forget what's in them.

There's a brown and red felt reindeer, made years ago, and a pair of simple embroidered birds sewn last Christmas, complete with a couple of my handmade boho style beads. Well, there's no subtlety to festive decs, are there? It's all about the shiny-ness and the sparkle.

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Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

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....

What are you watching? Part One

Another cold, bright day, and I spent the morning indoors, reluctantly dragging a vacuum cleaner around before getting down to the nicer task of adding wadding to the back of this patchwork. Backing fabric's now tacked on, and it's ready to be stitched. I also squeezed in some reading. I'm currently immersed in 'Transcription' by ever-excellent Kate Atkinson, who can be relied upon for a well-written book. The book I recently finished - hmm, not so good. I'd fancied a lightweight cosy crime, something easy, quick to read, and picked 'A Pen dipped in Poison' by J.M. Hall. Oh my, I've never come across a story in which so many people sigh. Characters sighing all over the place! There's a fair amount of frowning too, and one character is constantly depicted as stirring a cup of coffee, supposedly to indicate thoughtfulness. Seriously, if I was in a coffee shop with her I'd be snatching that spoon out of her hand and yelling 'For g...

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 ...

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