Saturday, March 7, 2009

Sweet fragrance divine....

The weather is cooling, I can feel autumn approaching at last. This brings inward twirls of delight (cause if I did them outward my family would confirm with each other that I truly am nuts) as I love to sew in the chill of winter and winter 'aint that far behind autumn! \o/

With all the clearing out of 'stuff' and re-organisation of our home this week I stumbled across something very nice. Maree sent me a beautiful soap with my birthday fat 1/4's, and it smelt SO good that I knew I had to do something with it. When I was cleaning I found a little cotton sack with green crochet insert in my big tub of charity-shop-bought linens, just the right size to hold the soap - the idea being to put it in our linen cupboard so that it's sweet scent would permeate all the sheets, blankets and towels. All I had to do was thread some satin ribbon through the top, drop in the soap, and now every time I open the door of the linen cupboard I am greeted with this heavenly fragrance.

Today I decided I would have a go at making something similiar for Blossom's wardrobe. Last year she had a bit of a crochet obsession - she had just learnt from a friend at sewing group and she spent a couple of weeks just making these tiny crocheted squares and circles! We ended up with heaps in all colours that just got tucked away till such a time as they could find a use. These little fragranced soap sacks seem now to be their destiny!
All you need is a little crocheted piece, some calico, old lace, some ribbon, and a highly fragranced soap.

Here is the first one I made for Blossom. I just cut around the inside where the crochet piece is stitched and remove it so the fragrance has 'air' to seep through. Tomorrow I'll make more for my own wardrobe, the bathroom cupboard, our drawers...well, you get the point. ;-)

We've also removed every cushion cover in the house (except the four I made the boys last month) and now have a hUGe pILe of nude cushion inserts sitting in the corner of my bedroom waiting to be dressed in finery! My goal at the moment is one cushion per day so in about two weeks I should be done.
Again I searched through all the old pieces I've found at the charity store and garage sales. I had a fat quarter in mind, lovely blue roses, but needed something else to add that vintage chic. I dug deep in my plastic tub and found this very pretty piece of embroidered cotton. It used to be a summer top but I loved the design so much that I cut it up and put it away until I could use it. Today was the day!

My friend Liz had sent me some very nice blue and yellow rose cotton strips for my birthday (you just have to love friends who give you pretty fabrics for your birthday!!) and they matched perfectly with the fat quarter and the cotton lace.


As I was sewing the front of the cushion I noticed these tiny little holes along the edge of the cotton lace...
...so I made some little french knot roses to cover them. Cute.

And here is the cushion! It looks so much nicer in real life, and the yellow is much paler than the photo shows, but I'm sure you get the idea how old things become new again if you just think outside the square.


And here is the back of the cushion. I think this is my favourite cushion in the house right now!

Well, on another subject, it's only two sleeps till Block 2 of my Wonky Houses BOM is blogged for you to download.
Loralynn sent me a photo of her first block last night, and what a funky one it is! She's used needleturn applique instead of embroidery - don't you love it!
Have you finished your first block yet?

I hope you're enjoying the weekend, it just doesn't seem to last long enough!
Hugs,
Jenny


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please look at my blog to see the award I've given you

You always have such lovely things on your blog. Beautiful creations. xxx

Annette said...

Your pillow is beautiful! And in my favorite colors: yellow and blue.

Chocolate Cat said...

These little soap bags are a great idea and the crochet really sets them off. Am loving seeing all your new cushions.

2ne said...

Nice pillow you have made - nice in the spring. Have a great day

Cathy said...

Love the "Soap Sacks" what a great idea!! You blue and yellow pillow is gorgeous...how clever to stic\tch those pretty little flowers!! Cathyx

Anonymous said...

I wish it was cooling down here! We've had a week of 37s and no end in sight. :-(

As always Jen, beautiful things on your blog. I can't wait to see all your finished cushions. The blue one is very pretty.

I'm going to blog this week on my pay-it-forward cushion...

Love,
Fee xx

Simone de Klerk said...

I just love your new cushion! And what a great house!

Shari said...

Little soap sacks are such a great old-fashioned idea! Much better than store-bought room fresheners - and there's always a bar of soap handy just in case!

Love the cusion cover. I look forward to seeing what else you create. Are they 20 inch inserts??

Loralynn's house is just too cute. I had in mind to do mine in fabric as well - what a great inspiration!

Thanks so much for sharing such great ideas, and the BOM of course.

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Shari, I used a 16 inch insert for this cushion. I love the shabby shic style of putting a slightly smaller cushion insert in the cushion cover, so they have that very soft and drapey look, beautifully big oversized covers. It's definitely a change for me but I'm sold on it!

Catherine said...

This is my first visit to your blog and I love it! The soap sacks are divine and the pillow is just wonderful. Your talent is inspiring.