A CK kinda Christmas

I am finally putting all that yummy Cath Kidston fabric to good use - no sense hoarding it only to take it out and drool over it now and then is there?  If nothing else this year I have learnt a few of those 'life lessons' you always hear people refer to so from here on things are going to be somewhat different.  I'm not going to keep saving everything for a 'rainy day' I'm going to enjoy them for a time, share them or give them away and move on to something new when they're gone.  Parting with things shouldn't be this hard and besides what exactly am I saving them for?

Well that said I have been sewing most of this weekend and making more fabby things with all my lovely fabric stash - although I'm makin it stretch as far as I possibly can plus getting a few things made for me with it too.  My enjoyment is also the creating process, working with gorgeous fabrics plus of course the sheer joy of giving them and the excitement they bring - let's not forget that.  I have had Eva Cassidy playing in the background (love her Songbird CD), been TOTALLY absorbed in my creativity and had a wonderful sense of restfulness and inner peace as I worked at the sewing machine - my first love and very familiar to me.  Let me show you a little of one project (hopefully without giving away too much) if I can.

I am just lovin working with these 'dreamy' colours and designs.  I had intended to make just a couple of items but got carried away and I'm still not sure if I have added everything I want to yet.  Knowing me I will make one, maybe two more items to tuck in before I finally consider this gift complete.

I originally planned to use a small white-washed wicker basket to pop these items into but when I saw this pretty blue casserole dish in a local supermarket - for a very reasonable price too - I knew it was perfect for filling and would come in very handy as well.  It's plenty large enough to bake the Betty Crocker cake mix that I'm tucking in underneath the kitchen goodies plus it's perfect for a family size lasagne, macaroni cheese or casserole - that kinda thing.

I got hubby involved too by taking me out yesterday to look for suitable linen cloths to alter and a few utensils to add to the effect like these wooden spoons with pink on the handles - how cool are they?  I plan to add thin ribbon or cord to the handles at some point too.

I won't go into detail about the items wrapped up in the ribbon except to say there are two of them and they're what got me started on this gift idea.  I am excited to take pictures of these afterwards so I'll post an update later if I can.

This is a shot showing you the linen tea towels and pretty dishcloths, each with crocheted lace trim and of course a bit of the Cath Kidston name strip that runs down the side of the fabric as a label.  I never quite know where I stand with this kind of thing but as this is a gift item and NOT something for sale I'm guessing it's maybe ok?  The name/logo is on the fabric so it must be ok to use that too mustn't it?

I made hubby take me to SEVERAL stores before I found just the right cloths I had in mind and these two were perfect.  One was a pretty blue polka dot and the other had a pretty embroidered flower detail.  All I had to do was add fabric, lace and labels around them to pretty them up and make them match the other items.  Best of all while this gift looks expensive it's not.  I used mere scraps on the towels (which were a reasonable price), the dish was only a fiver, the spoons half that for all three and the cake mix was even on special!  Can't be bad.  Now I'm on the look out for a pretty white-washed wrought iron kinda towel rail cos these towels soooooo deserve hanging on a wall.

I'll create a pretty CK themed tag and use some pretty polka dot clear wrap and a large ribbon to finish it off before wrapping it up and putting it under the tree.

For now I'm gonna get back to makin a few more 'turbies' in some of the same yummy CK fabrics and THEN I have an idea for the guys I want to get started on.  They're soooooo hard to make anything for aren't they?  I think I may just have found the perfect project - I just need some masculine fabrics.  NOT something I usually work with clearly so I may just have to dig a bit deeper!