Freya's new best friend

It's official - Freya has her first crush! Her new found love has big brown eyes, a gorgeous smile, the cutest little bottom and.... floppy ears. What more could a girl want?

This little "lurve" bunny is the handiwork of my wonderful friend Julia and was given to Freya this weekend. It was a great couple of days catching up with some of my favourite people and involved all sorts of treats including walking across meadows, along a canal and into an enchanted fairy light lit garden, tea at The Old Parsonage and lots of gossip. But Freya and bunny were happiest with eachothers company- bunny gazed happily at Freya while she chewed and hugged him enthusiastically. I think bunny is destined to be her life-long special friend - I just hope he survives!!!

Charity shop goodies

Just wanted to share my latest charity shop finds - this is all from one shopping session in Headington in Oxford - land of charity shops and cafes! You can't beat a bit of charity shop hunting for guilt free spending and I love the sense of discovery you get when you find a little gem winking at you from under a pile of dusty old horrors!

The haul included 3 vintage scarfs and a mans leather belt that I'm thinking of using for bag handles, a floaty black blouse and a gorgeous Rowan knitting pattern book for vintage style knits using their Kidsilk Haze wool (I'm adding the lacy balloon sleeve top in the photo to my knitting to-do list). And finally, the piece de resistance was absolutely stacks of a fabulous vintage flower-fairy fabric. The design has the sweetest name of "Whisperwood" and is from Vymura - unfortunately I haven't been able to find out when it was produced. I'm not sure how well the design would work for the outside of a bag, but it will be perfect for lining.

Work in Progress

Now that I sort-of know how to be a Mum, I'm trying to get back into regular sewing and am working on a few new bag ideas. It's a challenge as the one thing I've learnt in the past few weeks is that planning and babies do NOT go well together! Anyway, to prove that I'm trying at least, here are pictures of my latest project.


I'm excited about how they are turning out and think the finished bags should look pretty good once they are finally finished (Don't hold your breath though - it did take me ALL day on Saturday to do 4 zips!)

Knitting Rocks!

Thursday night was “Knitting Night” – the second installment of the mini knitting circle that we set up just before Christmas. There are only 4 of us and we’re all nice girls so we’re more “stichlet and bitchlet” than Stitch n Bitch. Snow meant that the original date was postponed – we decided we didn’t want to have to waste our precious yarn on knitting a “HELP” sign for the snow plows to see, although the idea of being snowed in with nothing to do but knit and sew to keep warm is obviously more of a dream for me than a nightmare!

We’re all at various degrees of expertise – Miriam is at the top of the knitted totem pole and is working off-piste (‘scuse the snow pun) on a tank-top for her sister. I’m definitely not up to improvising but am currently knitting my first lace-work project - a ‘matinee’ jacket for the little monkey (so she’ll look the part at all those matinees babies go to, of course) and Lorna is just starting out and was practising stitches – her homework for next time is to decide on her first ever project. Here are the fruits of our labour:

Ask me just over a year ago what I’d be doing on a Thursday night and knitting at a friend's house with a baby at home would definitely not have been my first answer, but I was in 7th heaven!

I’ve got big plans for knitting this year. After the matinee jacket I can't wait to get started on this chunky beauty from Gedifra as featured in the January issue of The Knitter - I've never tried cable stitch before so it'll be a challenge - and an expensive one at that as the yarn costs a small fortune! But it's my birthday soon though so I'm making some not so subtle hints.


I’ve also got my eye on a set of cable scatter cushions for our bedroom, a delicious Debbie Bliss bag with pom poms and another short sleeved cardi for Freya. That should keep me going for a while!

Bags of 2009

A slighty belated but still enthusiastic Happy New Year to you all! I have such a good vibe about 2010 - it's going to be a great year. I can feel it in my toes!

The snow has been keeping us busy for the past fortnight - I was very excited about Freya's first encounter with snow, although I think I was probably more enthralled than she was - the picture below is evidence of her taking it very much in her stride!


I thought I'd start 2010 with a quick review of some of my favourite bag, purse and pouch tutorials of 2009 (and a couple of sneaky 2010 one's too!).

Pictured (clockwise from top left):

1. Fat Quarter Bag tutorial from Jennifer for Sew Mama Sew
2. Petite back pack from Sew to Speak
3. Lined, Zippered pouch from Flossie Teacakes
4. Back to school lunch bag from The Purl Bee

Also:

• Simple Party Clutch: Elizabeth from Oh Fransson for Sew Mama Sew:
• Puffy Pouch from Pink Penguin
• The Phoebe Bag from Artsy-Craftsy Babe
• Crochet grocery bag from The Purl Bee
• Boxy pouch from Three Bears

And last but by no means least, check out these 25 tote bag how tos from Meet Me at Mikes and this great review of the top 100 tutorials of 2009 from The Long Thread

New styles in shop

A quick post to announce the availability of some new styles in my folksy and etsy shops. It's all about statement pockets and unusual details:

The Nancy Sling Handbag is a quirky and funky vintage sixties style that can be worn as a “grab-bag” with the wide strap held in the hand or as a playful shoulder-bag. Thanks to the imagination of a recent customer, I have also disovered that she is reversible - giving you even more versatility!

The Dorothy tote comes with a cute matching clutch purse (known as Dot). The curve and piping detail of the large outer pocket create striking visual interest for this classic shape and fabrics have been carefully selected to provide a retro feel.

To check out these bags and other styles, visit www.madebyloulabelle.folksy.com (prices in UK£) or www.madebyloulabelle.etsy.com (prices in US$).

I'm hoping to squeeze in one more post before Christmas and plan to return to regular posting as soon as possible in the new year - in the meantime, many thanks for your support over the past year and all the best for a fantastic Christmas!

My baby, my teacher

I can't believe our gorgeous little girl will be 3 weeks old tomorrow - it already feels like she has always been part of our lives. Life is very much revolving around this new little person at the moment, but this post is the first stage of poking my head back into the wider world. Night feeds provide plenty of time for reflection and I've been thinking about how much of a learning curve this past few weeks has been, so I'm going to be very self-indulgent with a soppy post, before heading back to bags, vintage fabric and crafts.

I knew that as a new mum I'd quickly learn the intricacies of bathing, feeding and winding, but I didn't expect our wonderful baby to teach me so much other stuff. Here are some of the lessons she has given me:

• the real meaning of living each moment as it comes
• the unbounded and infinite nature of love
• the calming properties of patience
• to hear - and listen - to my instincts
• to prioritise love and family above all else
• a new understanding of my own parents
• a new respect for the human body (even mine!) as a life source
• to enjoy the "feminine aspect"
• a new and precious depth to the relationship with my partner
• the richness of the spectrum of emotions - fear, happiness, frustration, loss, pride
• the wonder of the world in which we live in