Mr Skittles [The Giant Sock Monkey]

I may have made a lot of sock monkeys over the years, but I have never made one for myself...

I loved the socks I wore on our wedding day, and knew that an identical pair would make for an epic sock monkey, and with a special meaning.

I used a sewing machine for the long seams of the legs, arms and tail, but handstitched him together [though I cheated slightly and glued the eyes on!] I also handstitched a heart and our wedding date next to his tail :)

Whilst a pain to photograph, his limbs make him feel like an octopus, and he can wrap himself round everything!

I wanted a colourful name for him, and Skittles sprung to mind, hence his name, Mr Skittles!

Pet Portraits - Gilbert the Rabbit Sketch

When I heard recently that a friend's beautiful bunny rabbit Gilbert had passed away, I felt inspired by one of her photographs of him to produce a quick sketch.

I feel so rusty with a pencil in my hand at the moment, but this loosened me up a wee bit, and was also gratefully received :)

Tried and Tested Tip Number 23 [Rolled Paper Flowers]

I've been going through a bit of a papercraft and origami phase recently... Have you noticed?!

In December, I wanted some simple paper flowers that I could bring together quickly to decorate boxes, envelopes and gift tags. After looking at several different designs and tutorials, I settled on this Pretty Paper Flower Tutorial by Bump Smitten.

They came together really quickly - I simply cut a spiral from a piece of paper/card (no need to draw it), and rolled it up from the outside! It is really easy to vary different sizes depending on the size of paper you cut, and how 3D the flowers are depending on the thickness of your spiral.

I held the flowers together, and attached them to my surfaces, with a glue gun - I think these would be difficult with anything else! The quick drying and stability of it really helps.

They also make really lovely displays, glue-gunned on to sticks and arranged nicely! (I'm also loving using pages from books at the moment - can you tell?!)

These flowers also offer so much variation - with different papers and cards, but also by adding gem embellishments, sponging the edges with paint, or adding some glitter. I am also looking to try this with fabric and felt... Watch this space!

So if you're looking for a quick and simple flower embellishment, I really recommend using this technique :) Super pretty, and effective.

Skirt Refashion

So err, this was meant to be my summer skirt last year! I eventually finished it last October, by which point it became very difficult to get decent photos, due to a combination of the cold dark weather, commitments and health. Well, we were on the beach over New Year, the sun was shining, and the wall at the back of the beach had a beautiful structrual and textural appearance. Whilst we were completely unprepared for photographs, I was wearing my skirt and we had my camera, and what more really matters?!

This was a really interesting project. A few years ago I had a beautiful black skirt made from 75 strips of black fabric, and whilst I intend to make a replica soon, this was a variation and a learning experience! A chance to practise the construction of the strips, without the daunting challenge of a waistband and zip!

The top of the skirt is an old denim skirt, which provided a great base for me to work from. What I didn't realise, is that it is a stretchy denim, and so the frayed edges don't look how I would have hoped!

I added two panels to the denim skirt using black lace, just to add some extra character. I think next time I will add lace to the black strips as I sew them together, too.

I cut 72 strips of black fabric to make the lower section of the skirt, and stitched them all up. This post is getting long, but I will share the patterns for the black fabric, and how to stitch them together later this month :)

I really do love this skirt. I love the texture of the strips folded over and sewn together. I love the extra texture of the fraying (although that wasn't intentional! I don't own a serger, and my machine was rather unhappy at zigzagging edges!) I love the volume the fabric adds to the skirt. I'm excited to make a full version of the skirt now, but I also know just how much work it will be!!