Stitch and Bitch ~ In which I finally get around to doing something about all my needles all over the place and I appear no longer to have anything to bitch about !!!

Hippy Woden's Day Loverlies.

Yes I know normally this is a Tuesday thing but Himself had the pics on his phone still so I had to wait for him to wake up ... this afternoon !!! All good though the poor man had been up all night with a toothache... literally all night... I got up as he was going to bed exhausted. Anywhoo have finally gotten to it, this one is a long one so be warned!

So apparently I did have a bit of a bitch after all hahaha!!!

My needlecase or etui for those of you who wish to use the proper word has been something I have wanted to make for some time. In fact the last straw was picking up a book on the coffee table and stabbing myself up 2 nails !! yes 2!!! my thumb and forefinger with needles that were loose on the table and had come up with the book.

So here we go this is how to make a very posh "etui" that will last you pretty much forever and could even turn into a bit of an heirloom.

First design your cover . Decide what size is going to be the biggest of your needles. Remember darning needles and blanket needles and all sorts of other needles that are aboiut twice as long as your average hand sewing needle.

Mine I made 10 centimetres by 7 cm on the front and back with an inch width on the spine of the "book". As I said before mine is a very elaborate one but with the amount of needles I have around the place I figured it was justified. 

Once you have designed your outside cover. Draw your design onto card I used an old packing box to cut out my pieces as i wanted to to be relatively sturdy. Cut them out and make sure they are the size you want your end needlecase to be.

Once you have done this draw your design in pencil onto your fabric you have decided to use. I used a tapestry aida I had laying around the place. 

I started with the front and which  being a book would end up being the right hand side of the design. 

Make sure that when you draw your design onto your fabric that you have plenty of fabric to turn under afterwards.

I used a hoop as well it helped as my design was going to take some time to do and I would need to keep the fabric relatively taute whilst I was doing the work on it. 

I did think at the beginning that i could do a cross stitch on this fabric ... no I was definately wrong this fabric was designed for tapestry and other embroidery not cross stitch.Hoever I tried to struggle on and all that happened was that my cotton kept snapping. I was not impressed. However once the "shrooms" were finished I thought it wise to change down to a tapestry stitch instead.

  

I did decide to add a couple of little special points onto my needles case to make it a bit more useful. For example the wire circle on the front cover is for hanging pre-cut embroidery thread or ribbons I may be using at the time.

I was always taught as a child to try and make the back of my work as neat as the front. This has good reason to it for most projects where the back is visable for example napkins and towels etc. However for the complex array of bits I did it was never going to be as pretty as the front. 

However I think I did ok and since it isn't noticeable from the front I am definately alright with that. 

Once you have finished your cover it is time to add in your card to stiffen the edges. Many needlescases don't have this feature, and it isn't really necessary but I thought it would help protect my fingers if i picked it up in a hurry. 

So here we are laying out the pieces of cover onto the back of the coverwork you have jsut completed. Be very careful to line this up properly. 

Once this is done use a thin thread of pva glue to help hold down the fabric.

It may help to cut the corners neatly so they lay flatter.

Mine wasn't quite as well centred as I thought as you can see, this i belive is more because I didn't allow enough gap between the front cover design and the beginning of the spine design. 

Everntually your cover will look something like this. 

Now you need to work on the "pages"

For this section myself i decided to make 3 "chapters" one for hand sewing needles that i use most often the second for the speciality needles and the third for special pins and odd bits and pieces with spiky bits. 

To put these together I machine embroidered the edges of the fabric to make sure they were neat and it also helped to keep  the chapters seperate as i used a different colour for each one. 

Also trim your edges to make them look much neater like this.

Remember that your pages should be double the width of the actual page as we sew them together down the middle to make double pages. 

Once you have all 3 "chapters" sewn down the middle you will start to sew them onto the inner cover fabric you have chosen for the inside of your needlecase. 

Sew them up using either hand stitching or your machine and sew them up the fabric so they are central and close together. 

Then after this you attach the inner cover fabric to the outer cover as you did before using a thin thread of glue. you can of course slip stitch around the whole thing afterwards and this is advisable as it will last longer than the glue. 

Also don't forget to sew a thin piece of ribbon to either side of the book so you can keep it closed. Once done it will look something like this.... 

....

....

ah .. ok apparently I haven't taken a picture of the finished item. since Himself is at rehersals I will do what I can as soon as he gets home. Until then my deepest apologies. 

Oh the joys of being a muddle headed pixie.

Have a wonderful evening xox Love and Light xox

LOOK WHAT I FOUND !!!!

The Front

 The Back

 The Spine

 Inside

There you have it .. finally pics of the finished item.
I would love to see pics of yours if you make them feel free to leave a comment and link to a pic of yours

xox Love and Light xox 

Stitch and Bitch ~In Which Himself is Weaving and I now have something to Bitch about !!!

Happy Tyr's Day me Loverlies

Boy have I missed writing my Blog. Sorry about the absence again however I have things going on and things aren't making life easy for someone wanting to write a blog!!! Like serious meds now having to be taken until the specialists decide what to do with my back ... and are quite happy leaving me on crutches and slowly on the road to becoming a morphine addict because noone will do anything until it I can no longer walk because I can't feel my legs!!!

Yes grumpy sorry but hey thats what Stitch and Bitch is all about getting the bitchies out ... so here goes another one .. this is the second time I have written this blog ... I published it an hour ago and since I was here and able to I was getting a jump start on tomorrows and whoops I appear to have deleted it O.o  GRRRRR!!!! Is it Monday and no-one told me or something !!??!! cos it sure feels like it !!!!

Anywhoo the wonderful and most fabbytastic Himself has taken over the loom. It isn't a huge thing can sit on your lap and was a gift from a former flat mate a couple of years ago. I finally brought it off the shelf the other week and dusted it off only to find the instructions in German O.o My wonderful long suffering man that he is Himself translated the whole lot. Let me make clear what he did. He typed out the manual by hand into the Google translator thingy and it took him a goodly couple of hours and then popped the translation into a document in English so I could read it !!!

.... and I still couldn't figure it out o.o pfft!!! so we called upon a friend who teaches weaving at a fabbytastic place locally and she came over with her wonderful little sprout and we figured it out together YAY!!!!! and then it fell to pieces after I had ma\de it long enough and we tied off the ends O.o .....

This is where Himself decides to take over and I helped him keep the tension tight on one end while he threaded the warp around cos the stoopid thing isn't one of these wonderful massive easy things that you thread it individually noooooooo you have to weave it back on itself in one long thread ....

Many rude words have been said about the person who invented this machine ... by myself and our friend and even Himself at times, however he seems to have taken to it and is at the moment making fabby cloths for the girls under thier lamps for thier bedside tables. Now to me thats a real dad !!!

So whilst I am here writing this and a couple of other blogs so i can keep up this week he is in the living room watching boy stuff and weaving hehehe.

 It took ages to get him to stop long enough to get his phone out of his pocket so I could take the pics so I took another one hahahaha!!!!

Whilst all this was going on a Red Admiral Butterfly flew past my face knocking me off balance a bit and landed on one of our chalices on our alter !!!!

Being as this appears to be the kind of day I appear to be being taught things i figured I might just look it up ... and I might just look up the other creature that haunted me and chased me around the flat on  the weekend too!!!!

Spiders normally in this country don't bother me I've lived in Australia and the ones here are nothing compared to what you have to put up with over there, but I am telling you this thing would've grabbed the remote given half a chance and cracked open a beer and watched the game given half a chance!!!!

So lets look at the nice one first

The butterfly is the symbol of change, joy and color.

It is the symbol of the soul. They remind us that life is a dance, not to take things quite so seriously. They also remind us to get up and move. Dance brings the sweetness of life. Butterflies bring color and joy to your life. Look at them and remember what joy is in your life, if it's a lot or a little, it is still joy. They teach us that growth and transformation does not have to traumatic; it can occur gently, sweetly, and joyfully.

 Spider: Creativity and Weaver of Fate

A spider totem teaches you balance --between past and future, physical and spirit, male and female. She is strength and gentleness combined. She awakens creative sensibilities and reminds you that the past is always interwoven with the future. Tarantulas (and all spiders) are the keepers of the primordial alphabet and can teach you how to write creatively. Her body is shaped like the number 8 and she has 8 legs, which is symbol of infinite possibilities of creation. Her 8 legs represent the 4 winds of change and the four directions of the medicine wheel. Spider's message is that you are an infinite being who will continue to weave patterns of life and living throughout time. Do not fail to see the eternal plan of creation. Those who weave magic with the written word usually have this totem.

 http://www.linsdomain.com/totems.htm 

Just in case you want to check any out yourself there is the link this is a great site for suiuch things 

Also I have just been taught an important lesson just cos it looks icky doesn't mean it is ... I kinda like that me thinkies. Makes me feel better having a reason for crawlies about the place!!!

Anywhoo I must away have plenty to do and 2 other blogs to write before I am lynched by you lot for not keeping up with it again.

Have a fabbytastic day no matter what you are doing 

xox Love and Light xox  

Stitch And Bitch ~ In which I finally have time to write this and decide to start on a couple of tops for meeeeeee

Hey Loverlies welcome to Thor's Day

Yeap normally I write this on a Tyr's Day but last night we had a bit of a family emergency and I knew you would all understand.

It has been a very hectic week to be honest what with being reminded that The Acoustic Festival of Great Britain is actually next weekend and not the weekend after !!!!! Oh dears!!! Oh wells .. am onto that paperwork this weekend ... but the biggest issue was finding something to wear.

As with most trades people I have nothing to wear that isn't falling to pieces. It makes sense to me, mechanics always have a broken car and builders a half fixed house. It does really go with the territory and we all accept that. So today I have found that I have a little surplus of certain fabrics hand have decided that I am going to use them for myself !!! Cos I can !!!

So today's Stich is going to be me designing and making my new top, well at least one of them. I have kept it all very simples so anyone can make one .. including me whilst knackered HAHAHA!!!!

Ok so Festival Bloo Pixie Top

measure around your chest and then measure from your top of your boobage to the bottom of your boobage and add 2 inches either side for a side seam unless of course you have an over locker and I am not talking about those abominations !!!

Then you need to measure yourself from under your boobage to about the middle of your thigh ... or whereever you feel most comfy. I personally prefer long and baggy !!!

Right so now you want to cut out your fabric, I had some of a loverly turquoise spandex left over from a very special ice skating dress i made so i used that as my top bit.

I also found a very cheap way of purchasing voile on ebay so i used some of that as well for the "skirt" part of the top.

So there you go 2 squares of fabric :~D

Now this is what i started doing with the voile :~

yes my friends these are "petals" I have needed to make 12 of these to get round my frame in an orderly fashion and I shall be making 12 more double the length of these to go under them ... You may have noticed that I have put 2 together. Yes I have the reason for this will be made clear shortly. However I only sewed the two long sides together at this point.

For the very reason of putting silk petals in the fabric ones lose and adding 3 silk leaves to the top of the petal. Now you might think this was a bit of overkill what i did next but personally i found it made life sooooo much easier when it came to putting everything together.

Yeap I actually sewed the tops of the petals BEFORE attaching them to the top of the shirt. Now I did this due to the delicate nature of the embelishments. If I had sewed them all at once I would have lost a few. So this made alot more sense. once they were all sewn up at the top I started sewing them to the top fabric, which by the way was lots of fun, as it has to be stretched and the voile doesn't. so making sure it was evenly sewn does take a bit of swearing and other such tantrums until it happens the way it should.

I overlapped the petals halfway between each other :~

Right well there you go thats the main bulk of what needs to be done to make this shirt. I honestly am not allowed to show you anymore just now as "Stitch" one of my house pixies has said it is only to be unveiled at the Acoustic Festival Hahaha!!! ...

Anywho the basics are here and all you have to do with the longer petals is repeat the process of the shorter ones. I went for popping them between the shorter ones to give it a more layered flower look. The best part of this top is all you have to do at the end is sew it up the back in one even seam. I use rolled seams they have more security in them than with an overlocker which if you snip a thread the whole thing comes undone. I for one can do without such costume malfunctions thankyou very muchly !!!

So enjoy it .. make your own... it's alot of fun and looks great. And yes for the record I did put straps on it HAHAHA I knooooow who I work with I'm not dumb!!! HAHAHA!!!

Go enjoy it

xox Love and Light xox

Stich And Bitch ~ In Which I Remember My Long Hair and Find A Way To make It Happen Again!

Hello Me Loverlies and Welcome to Tyr's Day!!

A conversation came up a few days ago about hair length and I found myself remembering an occasion about 15 years ago when I used to be able to sit on mine!!! It took me 10 years to grow it that long and I was sooo proud of it and loved every inch of it.

I used to make a point of every fortnight seeing a hairdresser and getting it looked after "properly" as well (since then I have learnt better but more of that another time). There was one time that I went to my normal hairdresser and the person who usually did my hair wasn't there. I wasn't too fazed this kind of thing happened sometimes and I trusted those within the business to be just as careful and professional as she was.

That was mistake number 1 !!! (If your normal person isn't there don't trust the one you have only just met )

So as usual I was taken to get my hair washed and once it was squeaky clean I was put in the chair to have a teeny trim and I mean about an inch just to get rid of any split ends. The hairdresser in question asked me if I wanted a cuppa to which i said "oooo yesh please" and she toddled off out the back to make it.

Mistake number 2 !!!  (Don't let them leave take flask or a take away cuppa if you must )

For some reason I had a look at where she was in the mirror and happend to catch her talking to another hairdresser in there who apparently was the manager and they we looking very serious and and nodding in my direction. I did feel a tad uneasy about this but let it go thinking that I had only just seen it in the mirror and not wanting to seem like a paranoid Pixie blew it off by saying " I hope you aren't in trouble".

Mistake Number 3 !!! (If it doesn't feel right trust your senses they are there for a reason)

So ignoring my feelings I settled myself into having my trim and the hairdresser was friendly enough and chatted away whilst she started trimming my hair even asking me if I was sure I only wanted a trim, to which I replyed "I will cry buckets if I lose more than an inch", to which her reply was " I will make sure I am extra careful then" and smiled at me in the mirror. Within less than 2 minutes I heard a deep intake of breath and she was babbling saying things like "I am sooooo sorry ... it was a complete accident ... I slipped " whilst in her hand lay a handful of my locks at least 18 inches long !!!

Mistake 4 and 5 !!! (If they start talking about taking more off GET OUT OF THE SEAT !!!! .... and when they say oops GET OUT OF THE SEAT !!!!)

The hairdresser and I use that as the loosest of terms had taken my hair off at my shoulder!!! That was no oops that was a "What the hell have you done!!!" The manager came out and being as apologetic as she was and me in pieces at the loss on my hair and having to sit there and endure more of the same otherwise I would have looked a mess. I walked out afterwards and didn't pay, I didn't even pick up my hair as I normally did. (It's a thing)

Mistake 6 !!! (NEVER leave your hair behind if they do that take it with you )

A week later and wearing a hat because I still felt ridiculous I happened to walk past the hairdressers in question and there was my hair in the window as a wig !!!

Needless to say this liddle Pixie was mad as a cut snake and went ballistic on them and called the police and had them charged with theft amongst other things. I had my day in court and they were shut down and lots of other things .... However my hair has NEVER grown back the same since. Now I am lucky if it grows 6 inches down from my shoulder.

I'm not normally a very vain person but my hair was something I treasured and looked after like I did my kids. Nowadays I have to find ways of making y hair longer and feeling better about it. This can take the form of braiding extensions to straightening it and all sorts of other ridiculous temporary solutions, however this one I find is the most fun and is removable without damage and only takes a few hours to do.

These are my Plaited hair "falls" :~

I used 2 50g balls of wool here for this one batch which will make about 4 falls.

attach one end of your wool to something as an anchor otherwise you will be chasing it all over the place !!! I choose to use our table leg like this :~

From there start winding your wool around the table you have chosen to use, here you can see I am winding the second ball. It is entirely up to you if you choose to wind each ball seperately or together. I do mine together as I find it saves me time :~

And this one is of me getting in a tangle .... seee I'm not perfick you know !!!!

Once they are done they should look like this :~

Now grab your scissors and cut through one end making sure not to let the wool go otherwise you will end up with a big mess on the floor and I'm sure there will be some choice words floating round the place. These are the words of experience !!!





Once you have done that tie a ribbon loosely round the middle of the lengths of wool to keep them together :~

After that pick out 12 strands of each colour of the wool :~

After that attach them to a hair tie by doing a slip knot so they hold well and cant move off the tie. Then you can do as I do and hook the hair tie over your big toe or attach it to a knob or something else so you can plait the strands together :~

Make sure you have a good movie on to watch or a decent album or something to keep you occupied whilst you do this as this takes a good hour for each fall of this kind.

Eventually you get something that looks like this :~

Now I only have another 5 or 6 to do and I can literally replace my own hair with them !!!

Yes I know !!! my hair is muggles at the moment but not for long ... it only goes that colour during the winter as it hibernates like I do. It should be back to it's natural self in a few weeks now that the weather appears to have sorted itself out again!!!

Yes hair can get confuzzled too HAHAHA!!!

So on that note I am going to toddle off now and do the rest of my falls... I'm sure in the future I will get hold of materials to do another type which I will also show you. For now however these are the easier and the best. Enjoy making them and have fun wearing them!!!

xox Love and Light xox

Stitch and Bitch ~ In Which I get offered an over 50 plan insurance and all of a sudden have the need to do granny crafts

Happy Tuesday Me Loverlies!!! A Blessed Beltaine to everyone in the North and Happy Samhain to those in the South!!!

Well today, I have to say it has been rather ummm all over the place. Nothing new there I have to admit lol!!! However Himself and I decided to go out and do something special for Beltaine so we went out for brekky. In doing so we ended up going somewhere we don't normally and being able to do something to help the person running the cafe who was in a complete state and needs help.

There is nothing better in a day than doing something good for someone in your community, especially when it means the community pulls together as it should. To be honest thisis the way it has ALWAYS been done, communities looking after their own. In my opinion it is about time our communities starting getting more involved with each other and pulling together and helping each other the way it should be, instead of hiding away behind closed doors and only coming out to take the kids to school and home again and occasionally popping out to the shop.

Anywhoo I had a letter today that kind of threw me a bit I have to say !!! It was from Sun Life Over 50 Plan .... O.o .... PARDON!!!!???!!!! Yeap that is what I said and in that tone, poor Himself looked like he was about to hide in the cupboard, cos this Pixie got a bit cross about it. To be fair I think I am entitled to get cross, first of all some nupmty randomly picked me at 38 to start canvassing for over 50 life insurance !!! Not only this but it wasn't some little leaflet it was a massive package of about 10  A4 sheets plus the envelop that took up more than our letter box !!! I'm sorry ... actually no I'm not for this little rant ... We are desperately trying to recycled everything so we don't need incinerators, and don't need to keep chopping down trees for pulp to make paper and some idiot decides not to check thier demographic of who they send things out to and waste a mass of paper sending out packages to people years before they are even possibly interested !!!! It's just RUDE!!! and wasteful!!! HUMPH!!!!

Himself has the pic on his phone but is out at the moment at a Buckfastleigh Forum meeting so they will be added later when I pin him down for 30 seconds put together hahaha ...

 Oh look there it is !!!!!

Anywhoo today I have been working very hard on making my own shoes. These aren't any ordinary shoes these are Oak Leaf Boots. They have taken me quite alot of work and I has been a work in progress for a couple of years now. More of a labour of love some would say. Either way they are quite special and a pattern I have been working on for quite some time. These boots will be quite special because once finished I will be able to wear them however I want. In other words I will be able to build my own boots. So instead of having 20 pairs for different occasions I can have this one pair and build them however I want to wear them.

As you can see the main boot is a slipper style design and the panels are oak leaves. Each Oak leaf when completed will have eyelets in them that will mean they can be attached to each other anyway I want them to be. They could be short or long or one of each. They could even be coiled up my leg like a vine. Being this style of design means that if I am at a festival I only need to bring this one pair of boots not 5 or 6 pairs for different occasions. I can build the boot to suit the outfit I am wearing. I could even bring different panels which I will be making later on in all sorts of leaf patterns and colours.

Although these can be made out of leather I have chosen here to go for a more natural cloth type boot both for comfort and for ease of packing. As these boots will literally be able to be rolled up on themselves.

These boots aren't at all hard to make in fact they are pretty simple. After drawing around your foot, you choose a leaf shape and use that throughout your boot design. Here I have used the one Oak leaf pattern and just resized it to make the boot itself and then resized it again to make the leg panels.

The bit that is taking time for me is the embroidery. These boots to me are very special and I want them to show that. each panel is individually being buttonhole stitched areound its entirety, this not only makes it look good and ads some extra colour to the panel but also finishes it off beautifully.

As you can see in the pic I have a few more to finish and the eyelets to put in yet and I will do a second blog on these once they are finished, and yes the one in the middle is the one I am working on at the moment. For me this is something I do in front of the tv watching a movie or whatever in the evening, or when I'm not so well I do it then as well, as at those points it is hard to use the sewing machine as I need the support on my back.

Of course I am happy to make simpler versions of these which I can put together very quickly and they will still be awesome. I can of course make a pair like mine but they will take longer and be lots of dosh. If of course you are interested. You can contact me via the website, which is still a work in progress so please bare with me.

Fallen Angel Studios

If not go for it and try it yourself it truly isn't hard at all.

Anywhoo have a great rest of your day ... in my case I'm off to bed !!!

xox Love and Light xox

Ode To The Week ~ In which I survive my first week blogging YAY!!!

WOW!!! Look where we are Freya's Day!!

I MADE IT THROUGH MY FIRST WEEK BLOGGING!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

I am very exctied about this. I have to say that this Blog has done amazing things for me!!! I wake up in the morning thinking what am I going to do today for my Blog and I really have to think. It has given me a focus which is so very important, and it means that I now have a forum for ALL areas of my life in one place. Considering the way my mind works and with everything I want to achieve this has made complete sense of all of it and helped me to calm my brain somewhat.

I also want to thank everyone for thier support in this project of ramblings of mine. I found the stats bit and have watched the numbers climb and climb everyday and have sat here in amazement. I have seen friends post it on Twitter and Facebook and have been utterly amazed at them doing so. As for the beautiful comments left both on my Facebook page and in my inbox have given me the most tremendous boost. Considering this Blog is only 5 days old now I now have had 223 views in that time and I find that extraordinary and very very humbling. I just want to take this moment to say thankyou to each and every one of you YOU ROCK!!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxooxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxox

So enough of the mushy stuff here we go with my Ode to the Week :~

Pixie Towers is our home, it is where we live and we love it. It is a 5 room flat 2 bedrooms, a living room, a loverly kitchen (Which is where I have been writing this most of the week) and of course the bathroom. Most of the time our loverly home is a tranquil setting and people come up just to chill out, which I love. However this week it has been turned on it's head with moving the place around a bit. we have moved into the workroom as we have been making space for a couple of extra beds.

I so can't wait to have my own workshop space, I think we are starting to get to the point where we actually need it !!! Mind you for a lazy bum Pixie like me not having to get out of bed to get some work done isn't the worst thing in the world teeheehee. It is awesomes for me cos it means I can work at all hours without feeling bad about it cos I am still in my nest .... technimacally anyways hehehe.

Just so you get a little idea of our workspace/bedroom is like now take a peek at this :~

Oh yesh and this was my treasure trove I found whilst sorting out the room, I went from "I has no fabrics boohoo " To this :~

Yeap that there is all my fabrics that I founded !!!  That haven't got a home yet ... and aren't for already on the go projects and jobs !!!

It's good though cos I have been eyeing it up thinking "hmmm not enough blooo I needs more bloooo" teeheehee :D

So yes it has been all fun and games round here but the job is almost done!!!

We were lucky enough to meet a loverly couple yesterday Jean and Martin who will be playing for us at the Edge of The Moors Faery Festival in July they are loverly loverly peoples and soooo talented, I tell you what you ever want to have the best experience of people in the world start organising events like this cos it truly is an eye opener !!! Amazingly talented people from all over the country and wonderful giving and generous of thier time and effort and everything else, it truly is a wonderful experience for me, and I hope it will be for everyone else as well. If anyone is reading this and wants tickets to the Ball please check out our website we would LOVE to see you at the festival :~

Bloo Pixie Events ~ Edge of The Moors Faery Festival

We have almost sold out of stalls too now and it's just amazing I can't wait to see everyone set up it will AWESOMES!!! Now all I have to do is find a couple of water sprites or mermaids and we is all set !!!

Himself has been utterly awesomes this week as always helping me out in all my crazy plans and supporting each and every one of them. I did tell him that it was jsut as well cos it was in the job description when he signed up teeheehee :D

I have to admit though he does put up with rather alot from me, both with calming my Agoraphobia and putting up with Pixie Tantrums and helping me stand back up when i bend down too far !!!  He truly is awesomes and a real blessing xox

Oh GOOD Grief!!!! all mushy again ugh really !!! I tell you what he truly has turned me into a right Girl!!!

Am very excited also cos Fallen Angel Studios might just be going to ArmadaCon in Plymouth and running workshops ... am very excitementated!!! More about that as and when it happens :D

Well I think that jsut about rounds up the week... I won't know what to do with myself tomorrow since this is a Monday to Friday thing for me... oh yeah get some work done HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ooooo actually if I do that then maaaybe that will cover my Stitch and Bitch next week .... well me thinkies that is quite the idea ...

Well I'm off til Moon Day

Have  a FAERYTASTIC weekend!!

Do something randomly nice for someone!!

xox Love and Light xox

Stitch and Bitch ~ Pixie Hats and the joys of Agoraphobia

Happy Tuesday me Loverlies !!!

Here we are at our very first Stitch and Bitch and I am going to show you how to make one of these :~

Nooooo not the loverly model ... he's mine and you can't have him!!! I shall however show you how we made the Pixie Top Hat.

What has this to do with Agoraphobia??? I hear you ask, well if youa re sitting comfortably then I will begin.

Being Agoraphobic is not fun when the big episodes start. There are those who won't leave thier home at all and then there are those like me who have good days and bad. My good days mean that with the right sort of head gear I can go out and about in town. On a bad day if I HAVE to go out I will wear my duffle coat which is a loverly velvety patchwork number with a HUGE hood which pulls right over my face meaning all I can see are my feet. Not very practical but with Himself at my side I can get through to see the Hodge who is awesome. On a good day I don't need the duffle coat instead I will wear my Pixie Top Hat, which gives me the feeling of being protected whilst not looking quite like a "Patchwork Palpetine" as Himself has named me *sighs* . It also means that in Summer I am not going to be so hot I pass out, which is also a sensible consideration when it comes to getting dressed.

So here we go :~ The Patchwork Pixie Top Hat

First off here is a picture of the pattern pieces you will need. They are very simple and not at all difficult to work out (trust me if I can figure it out so can you).

To measure the pattern pieces you must take the measurement around the head it needs to fit. from that you now have the circumferance of the circle for the top bit, the length of the side panel AND the inner circumferance of the brim. Not bad going for one little measurement huh!?!

Now the next thing you need to do is work out how tall you want your hat to be I work in 4 inch blocks and my hat is 8 inches tall (Not a size Queen .... much hehehe). so to make your side block take your head measurement and add the height you want plus 1 inch plus 1 inch for the length. "Oh no!!!" I hear you cry "but we don't know inches". Ok well for every measurement I give you multiply it by 2.5 and you have your centimetres. I prefer inches they are more accurate for sewing.

You have also your measurement for the top so cut yourself a circle with the same size round as the length of your side panel.

For the brim use your top panel and draw a half circle or a whole one if you have lots of fabric and make it 3 inches wide and draw the outside circle to make either a half circle or a full tyre shape.

Sewing up :~ First off cut yourself 2 pieces of  each of your pattern in calico or curtain lining or whatever you are using. For the brin you can fold the fabric in half if you are using a large piece or cut 4 semi circles and sew 2 of them together to make your brim circles.

Sew the side panel first giving yourself a 1/2 inch seam (1.5cm). Next attach the top and then the brim. each with a 1/2 inch seam. This is now your inner lining and it will look like this :~

If you are really clever you can get it to stand up like this :~

Next you get your other pattern pieces and start pining your patchwork fabrics on however you want. Take your time or don't its up to you. I tend to pop them all on and just sew them all up like crazy paving. It's far more fun that way. But you can be as fussy as you want to be.

Next you sew the patchworked pieces onto the pattern pieces however the have been pinned. Please remember to take out your pins, they really do hurt if you forget!

Then sew up the pattern pieces as you did the lining. If you have gotten this far and it looks like this on the outside :~

And this on the inside :~

You are an Utter Genius !!! and don't let anyone tell you otherwise !!!

All that is left for you to do now is pop the lining inside the outer hat and sew the brim and you are done!!

Now please please remember to get this the right way in first time, otherwise you will cry and you could shrink your hat depending on the fabric used!

Here is a pic to demonstrate how it should look with the lining about to be sewn in place :~

See the seams are together ... awwwww they likes each other !!!



Now all you have to do is pin the brim together but fold it in on itself and then sew it as close to the edge as you dare!!!


Once you have done that you have your hat and you too can look like this :~

Now if of course you are far too lazy to do this for yourself, you can of course get one from me here :~

Fallen Angel Studios

because round here they tend to breed !!!

I'm sure they are part Tribble !!!

Anywhoo away I go again ...

Have a great whatever it is you are doing (details are not a requirement :P)


xox Love and Light xox