Post and shopping = lots to do!

In the post this morning I received a package from the lovely Narcoleptic in a cupboard as part two of the Great Exchange where this time I'm making clothes for Sarah and she's making me a quilt.  She was very naughty though and sent me a present too as well as the patterns for the clothes she wants me to make her!

Mug rug!

My very own mug rug!  I now have something pretty to place my mug on whilst sewing, and isn't that bee really cute? ;)

Here's the patterns I shall be using for her, I'll make myself a version first so that I can get the bumps out as I want to make sure that I do as good a job as I can for her.

Amy Butler's Liverpool shirt dress and Sewaholic's Pendrell blouse

I've been eyeing up both these patterns and will be intrigued to see how easy they are to construct as found the Lotus pattern pretty easy but am slightly scared about the sleeves for the shirt dress as have never done long sleeves before.  I'll be making a Lotus cami for Sarah too from Anna Marie Horner voile, which I'm hoping will turn up pretty soon so I can make a start as ordered it online last week.

I've been really naughty too and bought lots of fabric today for myself, my only excuse is that J took me specifically to fabric shops and then actively encouraged me to buy the fabric on sale!  Honestly he did!  I think he knows I would have regretted it if I'd talked myself out of buying it.  I only went into two fabric shops as there's practically a whole street of them as I thought my bank balance couldn't take any more of a hit!

The fabric is a bit more of a vibrant blue than this and the gold things are ladybirds

Close up of the gold ladybirds

I'm thinking I might make the ruffle sleeve version of the Pendrell blouse with this so I can pair it with my blue cord skirt.

Two fat quarters which I'm going to make into bags, the one on the left is a Kaffe Fassett print but not sure what the other one is.

I really love the polka dots and the Kaffe Fassett print is something I've looked at before.  Thinking of making them into bags and maybe picking out one or two flowers with embroidery thread and beads like the really fiddly project. 

I also got these fab coloured ribbons and trim, you've gotta love a pompom trim!

Yellow pompom trim with pink ribbon with white polka dots and orange ribbon with white polka dots

I'm thinking the ribbon will be used to adorn some of my felt flowers and the yellow trim might be used on some bags/cushions.

And here's the really good bit, well the really expensive bit too...but it was on sale and I'd never see this much of this fabric at this price in this country again no doubt.

Hot pink silky fabric with Chinese dragons and what I think are Phoenix so this must be really lucky fabric as it means long life and new beginning (I think)

I'm thinking this might be a tunic or a jacket as there's 1.5m of it, and here's the other lovely piece:

More dusky pink compared to the one above with silver cherry blossom flowers

There's 3m of this and I'm thinking it would make the most spectacular dress.  J thinks I'd look a million dollars in these two fabrics and that the outfits would look a lot more expensive than they actually are.  How nice is he? ;)  And there was no arm twisting or anything, I've really brainwashed him into fabric too haven't I?

So, lots and lots to do and I've ended up stumping myself as I was supposed to be looking for yellow floral fabric as wanted to make a dress for the Sew Weekly challenge which is to make an outfit like your most favourite female TV character would wear.  I was thinking of Anna Friel's character Chuck in Pushing Daisies, yeah a bit predictable I know but I love the bright colours! 

image taken from buzzsugar.com

And since all the other shows I watch the lead females are always in trousers which I'm too scared to make yet, this was going to be a good option for me, I even had all the patterns I was going to mash together in my head ready to get started on a lookalike dress.  Oh well.