Catching up after Christmas...

Blimey December was a busy month! I barely had time to catch my breath between sewing sessions to get all the orders done and keep my area in Fabrication in Leeds fully stocked. Rather than bore you with a post per cape/cloak, here's a round up of some of the beautiful custom pieces which left my workroom in December...

Black crushed velvet cape with a pointed hood:

Semi-circular boiled wool cloak a red lining, with 3 frog-clasps as closure:

Semi-circular pure wool cloak with a midnight blue satin lining and a beautiful celtic clasp - a surprise Christmas present for a very lucky lady!! The hood on this one is detachable, revealing a mandarin collar underneath:

Full-length boiled wool cloak with a jacquard weave lining. This was designed to go over a silk-velvet wedding dress in the same colour as the lining, which I also made but don't have any decent photographs of:

Child's red melton cloak with a white fur trim, after the cloak worn by the main character in the Goth Girl books. Also a Christmas present! 

This month already has a couple of cloaks and a wedding dress lined up, so I'm sure I'll be doing another round-up at some point!

Handmade Mother's Day gifts that really won't break the bank!

Given the speed the year so far seems to have gone, Mother's Day will be here before we've had time to catch our breath. While it's nice to give your mum a treat, I know most people don't have much spare cash at the moment so I've put together a little guide to some of the beautiful handmade items that I've got for sale on my website that shouldn't break the bank.

I've broken them down in to two groups - under £10 and under £20 (of course, if you want to spend more you're most welcome to, but that's not the point of this little guide!) and I've taken my postage charges in to account when selecting them so you really can get them ordered & sent to you for less than the headline amount!

Gifts for under £10

If you've got a mum who enjoys a night out and would like something a little quirky to put in her handbag, how about one of these cute coin purses? They're guaranteed to make her smile when she pulls it out to find her change!

     

     

Whether you think she'd prefer fabric or crochet, these unusual corsages make a great addition to any coat or cardigan:

      

Or, if you've got a creative soul for a mother, why not consider one of these corsage kits? (currently only for sale through my Folksy shop) Each kit contains enough materials to make 2 corsages, and once she's made those she'll still have the instructions so can carry on making more...who knows you might end up getting one back as a gift at some point?

Gifts for under £20 

Pretty much all of my coloured wirework jewellery comes in to the £10-£20 bracket, which gives you a great range of earrings, bracelets and pendants to choose from...and some lovely colours too including purple, turquoise, lilac, blue, red, hot pink and dark green.

      

Alternatively, if silver's more her thing, both of sizes of my silver wirework earrings slip under the £20 mark, as do the pendants (I'm afraid the bracelets just tip over at £21 plus postage).

       

Or, if you think she'd prefer something a bit more practical for everyday use, I have just one sturdy shopper left in stock!

So whatever you think she'd like, go on...treat your mother!