The Neglectful Blogger

Monday 26th December 2011


I have neglected my Blog for a long time now. So long in fact, I was shamed by my log-in to the Blogger site that informed me that the last time I posted a blog was August. *blush*
I had started out with such good intentions of posting weekly, thoughtful and perhaps even inspiring blogs. And then they fell the way of January diets and pledges of thrice weekly gym sessions.


Well, I must make amends. And if I do it now, it won't seem like a 'New Years Guilt Effort'. Ha!


Project: Christmas Gifts for Special Friends


I really want to share pictures of a project I am very proud of. Ta - Da!!!

I made these cushions with my three girlfriends in mind, as handmade Christmas gifts that I hope conveys my love of each of them.


They were loving crafted from quality cotton drill, embellished on the bottom panel with a penguin made from cotton fabric and appliquéd onto the orange drill. Quite a fiddly job as the penguin is only 3 inches tall, but worth it as he really brings the piece to life.

The middle panel bears the text - title and authors (or recipients names). After a week of practising with free motion embroidery and various fonts, I came to the conclusion that my hand is not quite skilled enough to pull off the specifics of this font which I think is essential in getting the look of the vintage text. So, I printed the text on using photo transfer paper which I think looks ok.
I hope to expand my skill set in the new year and re-visit my brief exploration into silk screen printing. I love this craft and the freedom it lends to textile work, in offering an unlimited palette of prints and colours to fabric. I didn't spend nearly enough time at college exploring this media, so I am hoping this year will afford me some opportunity to 'faff about with inks'.


The top panel is adorned with a variation on the shape featured on the paperbacks of penguin - this reads Peartree Press.


As with all my work, the finish has to be clean and neat. The hems pressed, buttonholes neat and inside seams over-locked to prevent fraying and to ensure the inside is as pleasing to the eye as possible.
I was very lucky to have been given a tin of vintage sewing thread last year and this is where I found the perfect shade of orange for the cotton drill. I think I would describe it as 60's orange! The hem seams on the envelope opening blend in with the fabric, thus not detracting from the clean, unfussy look I wanted to achieve.

The design is instantly recognisable as being inspired by Vintage Penguin Paperbacks and one for me that evokes nostalgia of a summer break spent running around fields, climbing trees, playing lawn games and delving into bookshelves crammed with penguin books, for a paperback treat to while away an early waking in a strange house.


Reading totally eclipsed my youth. I was reading independently by the age of three and my appetite for books was insatiable. Thankfully I had access to many at home and my wonderful Mum would supply me with a mountain of stories to read in bed, made endless trips to the local library and encouraged my thirst for words by any means she could.


I hope to pass on my love of reading to my three boys, along with a slight 'incline' towards a fabulous vintage style!
Clearly my eldest son already has the reading bug. Christmas has seen him holed up in his teen bedroom of red and black with a stack of young adult novels, boxes of biscuits and sweets and some new cd's of rock/metal persuasion. I confess to being quite jealous of all those care-free hours, whilst I have been cooking, cleaning and generally slogging away at Christmas.


My youngest two cannot yet read for themselves, although they do try. I sometimes hear them telling each other an abridged version of stories we have read together, always ending in a flourish of 'THE END. Shallwereadanotherone?' Too cute!


Although I will always try to encourage my children to read the books I have loved, I know they will probably see my choices as old, unfashionable or out of touch and prefer to chose their own.
I will perhaps leave a few books just 'lying around' in the hope that they will find some appeal in the cover or title. Just as I did when faced with a boring early morning and shelves crammed full of seemingly identical orange and white covers of musty smelling papers containing a few of the words that have shaped my world.

Going A Bit Dotty....

Some days I am the stereotypical twin Mummy; unkempt hair, bags under my eyes with a slightly mad look in my eyes as I struggle to the car with a toddler on each arm, humming the wheels on the bus as I go... Today was not one of those days!!! I actually got stuff done and am feeling very proud of myself.
I have successfully booked the cat into the cattery for next week, left a message for the pre-school about start dates, made up a stack of beanbag owl kits, made a start on the Christmas products AND appliquéd three beautiful new teacosies.


And this is how I achieved such heights of accomplishment:

Thanks to good old You Tube, I have set up a playlist for each twin with educational songs for them to watch (with the odd bit of Fireman Sam!). Zakk was watching ABC under the sea on Daddy's headphones which he absolutely adores. Maxx was busy playing Humpty Dumpty with Mr and Mrs Potato Head; this keeps him amused for ages as he acts out all manner of 'falls' off the pretend wall (a wooden trunk) and works out how to rescue him or put him back together. 

So, this is what I've been up to:

Really love the rose print teacup, it looks like vintage china. Might just have to make some more of that design. 

These ones are larger than the first batch I made, so should fit a 4 cup teapot. 

These are a few of the owl kits I've started to make up. Just waiting on a new batch of buttons to arrive so I can attach them to the thread on the cards and then pack them all into the bags and label them all up. 

You can also see a few Robins that I've been working on for Christmas. Thought I'd really better get organised this year and make an early start. They look fab and are a little bit special as they use a chocolate brown velour which is lovely and tactile. 

After looking at this photo again this evening, I have noticed a bit of a theme going on. I am actually going a bit dotty!!! Think I should add a few stripes into my decor?

Little hands make light work??

I've been busy working hard on a new product this last week - Beanbag Owl kits!! I'm quite excited about this one as it's a new direction for The Peartree but one I've been thinking about doing for a long time. Spurred on by the popularity of sewing clubs and interest in crafting, I thought I'd give it a go.
It's taken quite a long time to get some well thought out instructions together, with particular attention to making it simple enough for a newbie crafter to have a go at. I did a set of printed instructions to go in the packs and also a page for this blog showing step by step photos to show the process.

Slightly hampering my progress have been the ever enthusiastic Janna-twins and the lack of child free time as my childminder is on holiday for 2 weeks. Zakk got his hands on the camera while I was cleaning up Maxx's attempt at feeding the cat and left me a record of his antics. Someone got into Mummy's sewing room. Shame he didn't tidy up while he was in there!

I've got a good few orders to be getting on with over the next few days, so will have to think up something really exciting for them to do whilst I burn some rubber on the sewing machine. I wonder if I could teach them to pack up owl kits?

Build a little birdhouse in your soul....

It's wet and cold and I don't feel like doing much at all.


After dropping number #1 son in town for his Warhammer club, I went to retrieve a parcel from the Royal Mail depot. Not the one I had been waiting on unfortunately, so have been unable to finish a customer order until it arrives.
Having quite a few problems with our post at the moment. Sometimes our first post isn't until 6pm and I am regularly carded when I am actually home, the postman just has't bothered to knock the door. Trips to the depot are always a bit of a risk too as they usually try to deliver another parcel while I am collecting the first one. Does anyone else have similar problems?

Took the little ones for a run around in the park to wear them out which worked a treat and gave me an hour or so to get on with an idea I have had for a birdhouse cushion, with colours inspired by our visit to Delapre Abbey.
I'm really pleased with how it turned out and the colour palette used. I haven't used blues much lately but was inspired by the colours in this beautiful walled garden.

I got to thinking about nostalgia and how images, music and smells can take us back in time.
In my final year at middle school, we went on an outward bound trip to Wales and I have many fond memories of that week spent with my friends before we all went off to our respective high schools in September.
One of the girls was really taken with 'They Might Be Giants' and their song 'Make A Little Birdhouse In Your Soul'. Any mention of birdhouses and I'm back there, so the embroidered words on the cushion were a natural progression and I think finish it off nicely. Would have been nice if I hadn't been so carried away with the idea and actually checked the wording before I started sewing. Discovered after some internet research by my husband that it is actually 'Make a little birdhouse in your soul'. Sigh. Evidently 11 year old girls have a unique poetic licence!

Buttons, Pond Monsters and Blueberries

First task of the day was a trip to buy buttons for a special cushion I am making for a customer order. I found the perfect button for a girly cushion in my button box, but unfortunately there was only one and the cushion requires two. Managed to find some more in my local market, so happily trotted off home and spent the rest of the morning enjoying the sun in my sewing room and messing about with the blog design.


After collecting the wee boys from the childminder we visited Delapre Abbey to explore the gardens. We discovered an old pond so covered in algae it really looked like a bright green swamp, so naturally the boys were entranced. Someone had chucked in a large log which made a perfect 'pond monster' and we spent a happy half hour throwing pine cones and calling to the monster who was very rude and did not answer once.
Poor Zakk managed to trip over and scrape his knee so we made a hasty retreat to the car and scoffed blueberries until he felt better.

Collected eldest son from school and was greeted with an abridged version of 'schools out for summer' Hooooray!! That means no coursework for him, and no coursework supervision for me! Yippeeeeee!