Lovely stuff...(and a birthday treat)

Hello, happy Friday everyone! It's been a cracking week in the blogosphere, with lots of lovely stuff being posted. Here are some of the best things I've bookmarked this week:

This sewing box from Cath Kidston is just adorable. I do hope my own sewing box doesn't meet with any unfortunate accidents anytime soon....*whistles* *looks shifty*

image courtesy of Cath Kidston 

Talking of sewing boxes - check out what Nette's doing! She's only making her own Cath Kidston inspired one! Truly inspiring.

Tilly and Karen write two of my favourite blogs - they've had a sewing Q&A, read it here. My favourite thing about this post is getting to have a nosey around someone else's sewing space (part of the job description when you become a librarian is to be a bit of a nosey parker - I prefer to call it 'curiosity'). While we're on the subject of sewing spaces, Tilly and Jane have both given us a peek into theirs this week too. Lovely stuff!

How fantastic are these fabric flowers? Jessica at How About Orange has posted a fab tutorial - I can't wait to try it. They'd look fantastic as embellishments for a dress/brooch/headpiece/shoe clip/other...

image courtesy of How About Orange

Jacki at Modern Twist posted this fantastic piece on the vintage details that can really make your creations stand out from the crowd. The pictures she's used are really inspirational and I've bookmarked them for future reference. I can't wait to become competent enough that I can adapt or even create my own patterns. (I came across this via someone else's blog, but I've forgotten whose - if it was you let me know and I'll credit you)

Kate and Wills plates:

image courtesy of Domestic Sluttery

This wedding memorabilia from KK Outlet made me laugh. I wouldn't mind Oxfordshire. Or perhaps a small island. (via Domestic Sluttery)

Have a fantastic weekend everyone - I know I will as it's my 29th birthday on Saturday and my lovely boyfriend has apparently planned a day of surprises! I can't wait! My wonderful colleagues have already spoiled me with lots of cake, HOT SAUCE (in-joke) and a terrorist tea pot (I'm Northern Irish). What a lucky lady I am!

Cx

A bit of a muddle...or how I botched together a rather cute iPod cover

It's my wee sister's birthday next week and she had requested a handmade cover for her iPod nano. Easy peasy I thought! Nope. Not so much.

Does anyone else have trouble deciding what fasteners to put on iPod/iPhone/camera/glasses/etc covers? I am terrible at deciding, so usually I just go for a button and a loop of ribbon. This time I decided to go a bit more sophis and make a proper flap and button hole. My downfall was not deciding this until I'd already sewn the main body of the case, so I have bits and pieces of random stitching that could have been covered up much better had I made it more logically. Unfortunately I don't have time to re-create with the knowledge of hindsight it as it needs to get to Ireland quicksmart. Here's a close up:

My button hole stitching also left a lot to be desired. It was the first one I'd done, and I probably should have practised before attempting it on my (almost finished so no going back) present. The fabric frayed a little bit - I think I should have made the stitches bigger and used a sharper needle. But hey, we live and learn. I just reinforced it with a coating of PVA glue. I told you I was sophis. It doesn't look too bad and you can't see it when it's closed anyway. 

I'm obviously going to buy her something as well, seeing as this hasn't turned out so well. Still, I think it's cute even if it's not perfect and hopefully she'll at least appreciate the love and care that went into it. 

Has anyone else made any cute iPod covers? I'd love to see some more ideas.