Thursday, May 29, 2014

Sunshine in my life

Button Fayre has been very busy lately designing and sewing for an exhibition, now on 20th June and celebrating the ' Féte de musique ' here in France too, completing orders and generally designing.

Of course it helps to have some sunshine in your life and mine not only comes from up there in the big blue sky but my family is also my sunshine and inspiration, especially my children whom help me to grow and evolve as a person and as a business in so many wonderful ways.  Their faith in me, their joy and happiness when they see something I've designed and sewn, and even their moments of frustration when I need to get something complete and ask them for just 5 more minutes, it's all a huge learning curve for both myself and for them and I hope I'm giving them a wonderful example.

The ' GREAT BUTTON FAYRE ' sewing buzz competition is closing in 3 days, 1st June.  It's flown by and there are the most beautiful entries so far with lots more on the way, it's an incredible example of human nature and kindness and I'm so proud to have set it up and even more proud to have the most amazing friends and colleagues in the crafting world.

Here's a photo of some sunshine on a daisy cushion I recently made, I love it!  Where's the sunshine fallen upon in your home recently?  Do you have a corner of the house that you just love when the sunshine comes in?  



I hope the sun is shining wherever you are in the world today,

Lucy x

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

The thought process in photos

I thought this might be interesting.....I'm not going to say much on this post because I want it to be visual and I'm going to post a few photos of a work in progress, from start to finish, as I love photos like this!
Let your imagination go wild, even try and get into mine through these photos if you want, and most of all, I hope they inspire you to get creative.






' Ooooh, which ones shall I choose for this brooch project today? '


' I've just spent the afternoon freehand machine embroidering these and then machine sewing the flowers on to give a 3D effect, cute! '


' Let's prepare them to sew up into a brooch! '



' Here we go.....action shot! '



' Et voila! '

They're cute aren't they?  They're called ' Folie Mixture ' jug of flowers brooches.  Folie because it's French for a bit of madness and rhymes with ' Dolly ', because these really do remind me of Dolly Mixtures when I look at them, it's the mix and match of buttons I think, he he he.

4 gorgeous brooches sewn up in 5 hours but of course I've not shown you every last detail about how to sew them up, it's my little secret BUT I assure you it was great fun choosing the fabrics, working out the design, freehand machine embroidering and then sewing them up.

Lucy x

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Vintage meets modern

I really, really, love mixing old and new, I always have and used to drive my Mum crazy with finds from out and about that she would call ' junk '.  I would put new life into my treasure though and still do, in fact, living in France really helps my addiction of looking for ' treasure ' with all the flea markets, vides greniers and brocantes, you really could go wild with it all and at such great prices too.  Lucky just isn't the word!!

I'm now on the hunt for all things textile or textile'ish and want to start using lots of different mediums for my work to really start bringing a 3D element into Button Fayre.

Here's a recent hoop ( available in Button Fayre's Etsy land ) and is just so lovely, using found bits and bobs, new Liberty fabrics, sequins and more, it truly is so beautiful but boy these hoops take some time, this one was a 5 hour job but oh so pleasing to the eye.


More of this to come but I've also just spent the last week and a half designing and decorating my new studio.  This room used to be my therapy room when I practiced reflexology and hot stone massage but was then somewhat of a ' squat ' for my teenage son and I've now reclaimed it, yay!
I've gone for white....something I don't think I've EVER done!  My whole house is a hive of colour and I've never been afraid to use some of the most vivid colours but I wanted a peaceful room, pure even, in which to think, design and create.  However, I did find a wonderful vintage piece of wallpaper that I could never afford as a whole wall piece and so decided to buy just enough that I could frame to the wall and it looks amazing.
I've once again mixed old with new and come up with this, my own little haven to sew in.




I love it and of course will be adding to the walls in the way of my work and shelving but some quirky narrow shelving I think in which to display smaller pieces as I don't want the room to feel cramped, I need a good feeling in here to keep my thoughts clean and alive.

The ' Great Button Fayre Sewing Buzz ' is going so well, 40 entrants so far!  Only a couple of weeks to get all entries in though so finger's crossed for everyone, I can't wait to get them and I truly thank you all so much for your love and support.

Sewing magic to you all,

Lucy x