Pretty Handmades Blog Tour

I am so excited to help celebrate the launch of the  Pretty Handmades a new Tuva Publishing release by Lauren from the studio for pretty stitches Molly and Mama.

Lauren and I have become good friends over the past year or year and I’m continually inspired by her perfect tiny hand stitches and the way she expertly combines felt with fabric.

Lauren’s book Pretty Handmades is as pretty as it is inspirational especially as Lauren has a way of adding the perfect amount of detail to truly make a handmade project unique and precious.

I decided to make two projects from the book for the tour (and look forward to making my way through the entire book especially as Christmas is only a few months away).

The first project I made was the Garden Path mini quilt. In the book Lauren has made a gorgeous version using linen and Liberty print fabric. I decided to make the mini for my brand new baby niece so chose to use Little Dolly fabric from Elea Lutz for Penny Rose. I hand stitched the hexies together using 80wt Aurifil thread (which remains my favourite thread for hand piecing). I then hand stitched around each individual hexie with 12wt Aurifil thread. I find this thread has a nice thickness that doesn’t disappear nor overwhelm the print.

 

Lauren embellished her version with the sweetest embroidered ribbon however Idecided to try my hand using felt for the first time. I cut out a felt circle using pinking shears and then cut a slightly smaller fabric piece that I had backed with thermoweb. Applying thermoweb to the wrong side of the fabric meant it becomes like a sticker (when you remove the backing paper) and I ironed the piece to the felt. I then stitched the button to the mini quilt using the 12 wt Aurifil thread and added an extra row of stitches to the entire project.

 

For my second project I made the Posie Patchwork Pouch. I had never made a box pouch before and Lauren’s instructions are so well written I’m confident even someone new to sewing could make this project. I used a combination of linen, sweet orchard stripes from Riley Blake and prints from the latest Tilda release Cottage.

 

 

I love how Lauren also used a lace zipper for the project. I often buy these pretty lace zippers without a project in mind (and I know from Instagram a lot of other crafters do the same). And now thanks to Lauren’s wonderful book we have the perfect project to get the lace zippers out from our stash and used in a pretty AND useful project.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by on my stop of the blog tour. Yesterday’s make by Sarah of A Little Happy Place blog has showed how different the Posie Patchwork Pouch can look based on your fabric choice. And I can not wait to see how Lauren’s book has inspired one of my favourite designers Elea Lutz when she features tomorrow. Make sure you also take a moment to stop by Lauren’s blog as she has a full list of blog tour participants and you can also enter to win a signed copy of her book!

Happy stitching