belly dancing costume

In 2010 I took up belly dancing for a short time with two of my lovely New York friends. These two also happened to work in the costume department at the New York City Ballet and so we decided to have a costume making day for when we felt good enough to perform in public (ha ha). Mine never got completely finished, the belt is missing its lining and i never got round to making a skirt, but i thought I'd keep a record of where I got to.

entrelac knitting

I taught myself a new knitting technique recently and decided to turn my practice piece into a funky cushion cover for our new bedroom...

beautiful fabric

I bought some gorgeous fabric from a closing down sale last summer. The idea was to make a skirt for myself out of it... but the first thing that ended up being made was a cushion cover. I went to stay with my sister in Crediton for a few days and attended her sewing class with her. Here is the result.

I used wonder web to stick the applique hearts on before using zigzag stitch to secure them in place. I re-used an old red skirt for the back panel and the hearts.

And there was still enough fabric left over to make my skirt!

a little recycled crafting for the future

Over the last month I have been making a few cushions for the sofa that I will one day own, I the sitting room I will one day be renting/eventually owning... I decided to recycle my end of degree knitted swatches into patchwork cushion covers. For the last 6 years they have been pinned to presentation boards, hidden in a cupboard somewhere, so I have turned them into something useful and creative. Plus I can remind myself of all the hard work I put in to getting my 2-1 and hopefully this will help inspire me to continue being creative when this year gets tough to handle.

ditsy print fabric on the back of the cushions
(envelope finish)

some welcome encouragement from my lovely friend Jane!

I still have enough swatches for one more cushion cover, so when I next get some spare time I'll finish that one up and add the photos to complete the set!

Hubby's Birthday Hat

My husband has been asking me to knit something for him for quite a while now and with one thing and another  I just never got round to it. So for his birthday I found a simple hat pattern, used some of my special chunky black yarn and knitted his birthday present. I think I'll knit one for myself next!

blue eyes

Helping out a friend

Last Summer (2011) I spent a weekend with my good friends Emily and Toby and their boys Lucas and Milo. While the boys (my husband included) went off to spend a day and the park, I helped Emily finish painting her bedroom and created a tree mural for her. She had seen the one I had done in our apartment in Brooklyn and wanted something similar... We had a lovely weekend, Emily and Toby are excellent hosts, and this is the end result of our day spent painting.

Last minute Crimbo pressies for the boys

Painted with acrylic, outlines in Sharpie, on a 12x12 canvas.

Ben Ten, Ultimate Alien for my 9 year old american nephew, Jack Junior.

Mace Windu, Some Star Wars character, for my 10 year old american nephew, Jayden.

Picture quality not so good - I should've turned the flash off!