200 times I've gone blah , blah ,blah !

Have you noticed that of my now 200 posts the majority of them have the label of "not much ",
 I think that says a little about me !
I don't want to turn this into a mushy post but I would like to say a big thankyou to all who visit and take the time to comment , I do appreciate it .
I also want to thank the girls who send me naughty emails as they seem to come at times when I really need a big laugh .
 A huge thankyou to the girls I have become phone friends with as well ,
it feels we have been friends forever .
There you go , more blah , blah , blah !
 Let's get on with the giveaway .
200 posts is a biggie (to me anyway) so there will be 3 prizes .
1st entry drawn will be any 3 of my patterns .
2nd entry drawn will be 2 of my patterns ,
3rd entry drawn will be 1 of my patterns .
Now if you unsure of my designs and you would like to see them in more detail hop over to my shop .
Don't jostle in there ladies it is only a small shop , I'll wait for you here .
I'll just have a cuppa out of my new teapot
while admiring my new canisters both bought at Vinnies this week .

I hope you had a good look and still would like to enter the giveaway .

Just leave a comment please .

I hope to be back early next week with the winners and lots more blah , blah , blah !

Tiptoe through the tulips

My daughter loves tulips and the colour purple and has been asking me to grow them for some time .
To keep her quiet for a bit I made her some with fabric instead .
No not quite the same as the real thing but still very pretty anyway and almost as pretty as her !

PS This is my 199th post !

I would have called you but.....

      I lost your card !

So this never happens again I made a card holder to hang on the wall near the phone

and an extra as a gift to stash away for The Early Bird Christmas Crafters .

Look out if you have ever given me your business card as I might be calling you soon !

It won't really be that soon as the card holders are filled with just my cards....

 maybe I don't have anyone else to call ! 

Just a tip .

This iron cleaner really does work !

But maybe I should have used it before I started ironing my new fabric !

Many hands make light work .

Some of you may remember my stupidity generosity in offering to make a few headbands for a friends shop , yes I can see you shaking your head and going tsk tsk !
I've made 50 already and now I have 50 to go .
Here is where the favour comes in , I'd like you to make a couple too !
They are very quick and easy in fact after the first 50 you'll really whizz through them .
When you've made a few keep them aside for little Christmas presents Judith will be very pleased with you and so will Kris and Peg as you can count them as an OPAM finish .
Ready to help ? Here goes -
You will need 2 different fabrics as these are reversable headbands ,iron on interfacing, about 15cm of 1cm wide elastic(this length fits mine and my daughters heads you may like to check and shorten if making for a smaller person) and some cardboard for making the templates and of course your usual sewing supplies .
Draw up your templates using the measurements below . I like the top of the headbands wide to really show the fabric , you may like to make yours narrower .
Oh look I've left you a jelly baby in case you're hungry .

Double your fabric and place the wider edge of the band on the fold and cut one piece out.

Repeat with a contrasting piece of fabric .

Press interfacing on the wrong side of one band piece .

Cut 2 fabric strips 5cm wide x 30cm long .

With right sides facing and using a 1/4 " seam stitch top band pieces together .

Repeat with the strip pieces .

Clip curves , I trim the top piece with pinking shears .

Turn both pieces right side out and press .

Turn under about 1cm on the ends of the main band piece .

Topstitch along both long edges .

Thread elastic through and stitch one end to secure .

Pull the elastic through to the other end gathering the tube and stitch the end .

Slip the elasticed tube into the narrow headband ends and stitch securing the tubes .

All done !

I know there are probably better tutorials around explaining how to make these but I've been making so many of these on my own I'd really enjoy the company .

If you are going to make some please leave me a note as I'd love to see them in different fabrics , I'm getting very tired seeing them in these same fabrics .

Because I had to wait for the giggling girls up the back of the class to catch up I managed to get a few extra headbands ready to finish so I'll be off now to do that .

Don't forget to let me know how you get on .

A winner , a glimpse and a favour .

Yes there is a winner for Chris the Crocodile pattern and it is Deb from The Angel and Pukeko .
 Congratulations Deb , would you please email me with your address and I'll give directions to Chris and he can swim over to you .
Thankyou to everyone who entered and stayed for a cuppa .
My 200th post is coming up fairly soon so I'll be having another pattern release and giveaway then.
The pattern has been listed in my blogshop and in my ebay shop .
If you would like to buy my patterns from your local craft store ask them very nicely to stock them .

Now here is the glimpse of the fabric being used in my new designs , any guesses ?

Onto the favour (are you dreading this?) I would like a hand with something but I can't tell you about until tomorrow or maybe Tuesday , will you come back ?

I hope so it will be fun .

It's a carnival of ...

CROCODILES!

Yes I know there is no such thing as a carnival of crocodiles but if I used the correct term for a group of crocodiles which is a congregation or a float of crocodiles would you still have come for a look !

Anyway here I am with my new pattern called

Chris the Crocodile .

This one has been a loooong time in the works as I started on him before Christmas and made lots of crocodiles , I think maybe that was when it turned into a carnival or maybe a circus !

I worked so hard on this design (and cried and swore ) and then finally sent it off to the best pattern testers around .

It was thoroughly tested and the pattern was tweaked and then .........ta da !

The winning crocodile was found !

If you would like to see Jeanettes or Fionas or Annettes or Rachels version pop over to their blogs and ask them nicely I'm sure they'd love to show you .  

Thankyou to these girls you are stars !

Would you like to make your own Chris the Crocodile?

No pattern release is complete without a giveaway

so here are all the rules and conditions ...

only joking no rules on this blog .

But if you would like to blog about it I'll count you twice .

Just leave a comment and I will draw a winner on the weekend .

Seeya in a while crocodile .

Thankyou for your interest , this giveaway is now closed .