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  • sewing a backpack

    Sewing a Backpack

    May 26, 2017June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
    6 Comments

    Sewing a Backpack One of the things I have discovered about being a parent is the sheer amount of stuff you end up carrying about. When my boys were babies, it was little cups, bibs, nappies, wipes and spare clothes. Now they’re older, there’s not much less stuff,…

    Read More Sewing a BackpackContinue

  • how to sew fabric storage boxes

    How to Sew Storage Boxes

    January 26, 2017June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
    11 Comments

    How to Sew Storage Boxes Storage boxes are always useful. I have made a number of fabric storage boxes over the last few years, and I have usually managed to find a use for them within a few days of making them. They’re great for using up fat…

    Read More How to Sew Storage BoxesContinue

  • how to make tracksuit bottoms without a pattern

    How to Make Tracksuit Bottoms

    December 30, 2016June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
    1 Comment

    How to Make Tracksuit Bottoms My eldest boy Dominic has got to the stage where if I shut my eyes for a few seconds, when I open them I’ll find that he’s grown several cm. He never gets any wider, just taller! The trousers that a couple of…

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  • easy backpack tutorial

    Easy Backpack Tutorial

    October 4, 2016June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
    8 Comments

    An Easy Backpack Tutorial When my boys were tiny, I always had a bag of stuff for them. Little cups with milk or water in, an extra blanket, nappies, wipes, a bib, a change of clothes, spare socks, it was easy to fill a large bag! As they got…

    Read More Easy Backpack TutorialContinue

  • How to Make a Shirt Without a Pattern The full tutorial showing how to make a shirt without a pattern is here on the Minerva Crafts Bloggers' Network. My third little boy, Barnabas, took a fancy to wearing shirts a couple of years ago. I don't know the exact reason but I'm guessing it's also why my second boy, Aidan, won't wear trousers unless they're tracksuit bottoms (apart from his school trousers, which he has no choice about!). As I had never made a shirt before and it was something I wanted to try, I decided to have a go at making a little shirt for Barnabas. Children are an easy shape to make things for and, being small, the things require less fabric. I also wanted to try to make a shirt without a pattern. I thought it would probably be doable as long as I kept things simple. Officially I should probably have taken all his measurements and made the pattern that way, but I did not want to chase him round the house with a tape measure and probably trip over the cat and mangle myself on Lego in the process. So instead I used one of Barnabas' t shirts as a guide for making the pattern. You can read the full tutorial showing how to make a little boy's shirt without a pattern here, including how to make the pattern pieces. Barnabas likes his shirt and I'm very happy with the way it's turned out! It is very simple, nothing fancy. The main part of the shirt is three sections. There are button bands on the front, but they're easy to do and they solve the issue of the front bits needing to be wider than just the back cut in half. The collar has a collar stand so that it sits nicely and doesn't distort the shirt. The collar was the only slightly tricky bit. I made a dress with a collar a few years ago from a pattern and it was a disaster! The instructions were totally confusing and I got into a right muddle. This time I did it my own way. It's turned out okay but I'm going to experiment a bit more next time to see if there is a really easy way to get a nice neat collar. The fabric I used is this superhero print from Minerva Crafts.

    How to Make a Shirt Without a Pattern

    August 20, 2016June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
    2 Comments

    How to Make a Shirt Without a Pattern The full tutorial showing how to make a shirt without a pattern is here on the Minerva Crafts Bloggers’ Network. My third little boy, Barnabas, took a fancy to wearing shirts a couple of years ago. I don’t know the…

    Read More How to Make a Shirt Without a PatternContinue

  • easy childs travel pillow neck how to tutorial

    Easy Child’s Travel Pillow Tutorial

    July 21, 2016June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
    5 Comments

    Easy Child’s Travel Pillow Tutorial If you make long car journeys with children, you want to know that they are going to be comfortable as well as safe in the back of the car. And if they get so comfortable they fall asleep, that’s even better! The problem…

    Read More Easy Child’s Travel Pillow TutorialContinue

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Wild Blossom Companion: A Gentle Beginning

A free offering of reflections, creative invitations, and journaling prompts to help you slow down, notice the seasons, and find joy in small creative moments.


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Wild Blossom Companion

The Wild Blossom Companion is a gentle, seasonal guide for creative people. You can find out more here.

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The house martins who spend the summers in their n The house martins who spend the summers in their nests under the eaves of my house have gone, back to sub Saharan Africa where they will spend the winter.

Every year their arrival announces the imminent arrival of summer, and their departure marks the beginning of autumn. 

Hand stitching these little birds has been a way to slow down and acknowledge the seasons changing. It's not a big thing, it hasn't required lots of time or a special trip somewhere, and I already had the fabric and the thread. But it's enough to recognize that autumn is here, and that nature operates in cycles. The house martins have left but they'll be back in the spring.

It's also what I hope the Wild Blossom Companion offers: gentle invitations to notice and mark the changing of the seasons.

#creativelife #wildblossomlife #wildblossomcompanion #slowstitching #noticingthenaturalworld
Under the eaves of my house there are house martin Under the eaves of my house there are house martins' nests. Every year in April,  the house martins' arrive, and all through the summer I hear them chattering in their nests and see them swooping about. 

The sound of those little birds chattering is part of the summer soundscape, until one day I realise that it's quiet, and they've gone. It's usually in late August or early September, and it's a sign that autumn is on its way.

One year they didn't arrive until June and I was worried. But they still came back! 

The house martins remind me that cycles and seasons often involve both beginning again and letting go.

To mark their leaving this year, I've been embroidering a little abstract piece that feels like birds in flight. It's a way of holding onto them even as they leave, and reminding myself that they will be back in the spring. 

#creativelife #wildblossomlife
#wildblossomcompanion #slowstitching #gentlecreativity
I chose the theme of soft for September's Wild Blo I chose the theme of soft for September's Wild Blossom Companion. The light is more golden now and less harsh, there are fluffy seed heads and soft grasses, fluffy clouds and pets to cuddle.

September is that soft edge between summer and autumn. The colours are becoming muted, with more faded greens, ochre and dusty rose. 

We might reach for a favourite jumper in the freshness of early morning, or a blanket as the evenings draw in.

We're invited to walk softly as leaves start to fall.

What does softness mean to you, and how do you weave it into the creative bits of your life?

#creativelife
#wildblossomlife #quietmoments #softtextures #slowingdownforcreatives
Even as we get older, it's very difficult to shake Even as we get older, it's very difficult to shake off the shiny shoes and new pencil case feeling that September brings. 

In some ways, it feels more like a new year than January does! But I don't think we need to rely on other people telling us whether or not it is a new year. We can start a new year whenever we like!

One way to start afresh is to take a moment, step outside and notice what is there. Signs of autumn are appearing where I live, even though it still feels like summer.

Taking a little bit of time to slow down and really see can help us to be there in the present, instead of endlessly rushing from one thing to the next and before we know it, it's Christmas again.

This is why I created the Wild Blossom Companion. It's designed to encourage you to slow down a bit and notice, and see how you might use those in things you make. There's no need to completely change your life. That's not what it is. It's also not a toilet roll long ticky list. It's a way to honour the quieter, slower rhythms of a creative life.

I have a free edition available on my website if you like the idea of it and you'd like to try it without any commitment. It's called A Gentle Beginning and the link is on my bio.

#creativelife #wildblossomlife #wildblossomcompanion #september #newyearanytime #slowingdownabit
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