I found this a very fiddly project but I like the look of the finished product!  Because they're made of felt both necklace and earrings are pretty light.

Comments and criticisms?

My husband and I are off to France in March and I wanted a compact bag big enough to fit all of my stuff I expect to need everyday (wallet, phone, glasses case, tissues, camera etc).  I also wanted it to pack reasonably flat and light for the flights.  Obviously I wasn't going to find anything stylish that fit these criteria so I decided to make one.

I don't do a lot of hand-sewing but for some reason I decided to embroider it with lady beetles.  By the time I was sewing on the twelfth one I was glad it was the last!  Yesterday I finished Les Cochinelle:



I kind of loosened up in terms of precision on the last bit of topstitching but it's only really messy on the back, so I'm not too worried.  I'm quite proud of most of it. 



Zip closure courtesy of a tutorial on Craftster (Inserting a gusset zipper, perhaps?).



My first inside zip pocket, also thanks to a Craftster tutorial.



I knew it wasn't going to be precise enough to sew a closure on the flap so I put glass beads along the edge to weight it down a little.



And finally a detail on a ladybird.

So, what do you think?

I'm going to my cousin-in-law's wedding on Saturday and I've decided I'll wear my dark silver fringe dress and some awesome op-shopped red heels.  The problem is, I'm terrible at doing cool hairdos.  So yesterday (when I was off work sick) I created this ribbon headband so I can get away with just doing a normal ponytail.



Somewhat fuzzy close-up showing details:


I'm normally a little bit OCD about things being neat and perfect but I kind of like the organic nature of the 'petals', the way they aren't perfectly spread and arranged.

Comments and thoughts welcomed!

I made these crocheted ornaments for a friend and her family:



The big ones are for mum and dad.  The smaller ones are for the existing son and the yet-to-be-born-and-therefore-yet-to-be-named baby.

Whaddya think?

The reversible cables in the Palindrome hat pattern (http://www.cometosilver.com/patterns/palindromehat.htm) confused me but I wanted to give it a go.  After a couple of false starts I came out with this:



The yarn is Prism, from Lincraft.  It's a 70/30 wool/soy blend, and it's nice and soft and chunky.  I haven't got enough left in that colourway for a matching scarf but I've got some plain cream.  Eventually I plan to knit one with the colour on the ends and the cream in between.  Eventually...

I've been meaning to make one of these for a while.  I had an old one, but it was made from synthetic fabric, so it didn't breathe and I got rashes on my face - not ideal!  Added to that, the elastic was all stretched and useless.  I had planned to use a pattern in a post on this board but when I went to make it the other day I realised I didn't have access to a printer, so I just traced my old one.



I was given the patterned fabric by my great aunt.  I'm not a huge fan of it but wanted to use it.  And besides - I don't have to look at it!  I suspect it'll grow on me.  The patterned stuff is cotton and there's two layers of black cotton homespun in the back.

I added the ruffle as extra protection to keep out any light trying to sneak in around the sides.

Due to my previous experience with dodgy elastic, I thought I'd get a bit clever and attach little ribbon loops to the back to thread the elastic through.



That way if the elastic stretches it's simple to either shorten the elastic or add a new bit of elastic and not have to throw the whole thing out.

And thus ends my first post to the Bath and Beauty board!

My husband's former workmate is having a baby in November and I decided to crochet an alien for the bub.  I used this pattern: http://pepperberry.typepad.com/my_weblog/amigurumi-alien-pattern.html and ended up with this:





I used random acrylic yarn and put a bell in the antenna ball so it rattles.  Cute, huh?

They look kind of normal from the front...



But check out the back!



I saw this post a while ago and thought they were really cute.  However, I'm not game to make something like that to wear out so decided to make some PJ pants instead!  I used an old Simplicity pattern and added the ruffles.  You might be able to tell that they are done in my inimitable "I can't be bothered to use a ruler to mark out the pieces let alone sew them straight" style, but the crushed cotton fabric kind of makes it look like I planned it that way. 



Comments, criticism and questions welcome!

PS I wish to add the usual apologies for the photos, both the for the quality and the model!    However, the last photo is pretty hot.  Flannelette sheets - mmm!

My friend told me the other day she's had all her hair cut off and she's kind of regretting the decision.  A crafty girl like myself can't help but help so I've knitted her a wig.





Trust me when I say it looks better on a real head than a bowl!  I'll hopefully be able to post it to her soon and I suspect she'll get some use out of it, considering she's into theatre.

The pattern is of course Hallowig from Knitty.

... dear Liza, dear Liza.

With what shall I fix it?  Wool, of course!

I'm a sucker for pure wool stuff so I bought this jumper from the Salvos the other day, even though I'm not a big fan of the neckline.  It wasn't until I got it home I noticed that the moths liked it too - it had a small hole at the right hip.  After working up my courage I used this site to make some flowers and buds.  I used one of the blossoms to cover the hole.  I then did some basic chain stitch embroidery and finished up with this:





I'm considering doing some more stuff on one or both forearms but I have a question: should I start the branch at the wrist or the elbow end?  My first thought would be wrist but I'm open to other opinions  .  I also intend this to be something of an ongoing piece so if there are any further suggestions for embellishment please share!