WOYWW....

 It's been a busy week and my little assistant has settled in very well...she needs lots of naps but knows where she's loved.  When I'm in my sewing room she likes to cuddle up here....

I've had lots of orders for Memory characters...

This is the first order for a cat and dog that I've had for a long while and I really enjoyed the challenge.

....they are made to remember a much loved Nan and I've used her favourite scarves around their necks.

These two bears are made for a new customer and she loves them so much that she plans to come back for more soon.

These latest Memory characters bring my numbers up to 858 in total :-)

I've even had a little time for some creative play...I thought it might be an idea for making my Christmas cards....It's got to dry completely before I can know for sure.

That's all from me for today.  If you leave me a little message I will do my best to pay you a return visit when I can.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...13th Year Celebrations

 It's been a manic week here for me but I have still managed to make my ATCs for the swap...I think Jo has a list of the ones wanting to swap because we are both sending them out together. 

Since last week I have....

Made this lovely Memory bear out of a wonderful husband's favourite shirt.

Made these three Memory dogs in memory of a 19 year old little dog that died of old age but was a very special friend for it's owner.  They are made out of the dogs toys and blankets.

Made this Memory cat in memory of a much loved Mum.  I was asked to put a lock of her hair inside when I stuffed it so I made a little fabric heart shaped pocket to keep it safe inside.

On top of all that I have 

• shortened 5 shirts, 
• let out 3 pair of trousers,
• shortened a coat,
• put a zip in a gents hoody
• and adjusted a pair of surgical support pants [yes I do get asked to do all sorts here].

I have also..

Raised both these two bridesmaids dresses at the shoulders and shortened the one.

My next job is to shorten the 4 hems on this gorgeous prom dress so that's what I will be busy doing today plus...

• I have more memory bears on their way and 
• another dress coming for me to work my wonders on this morning.

As you can see the fun never ends here for me and, as always, it never rains but it pours.  I will do my best to call on as many as I can this week but for now...

Happy 13th year celebrations to you all and here to many more.  Thank you all for the love and friendship over the years.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 Oh what a week I've had since I was here last Wednesday.  We had to run Gina to hospital to be monitored again last Friday but thankfully all was well and she was allowed home again.  Sadly our son Mark has now tested positive for Covid and now has to test negative before he can go with Gina to hospital for the birth of their baby....please keep everything crossed for them as I really don't want him to miss all the excitement. [I may be called upon to be Gina's birthing partener if Mark is still testing positive.]

Last Wednesday I was expecting a bag full of factory trousers needing new zips and by Friday afternoon they looked like this...

All finished...

• New zips fitted to 24 pair of trousers
• 2 pair of trousers repaired and 
• a white coat seam repaired

I do have a wonderful hubby who helps by removing some of the old zips and Gina sat and removed one for me on Friday morning too....we make a great team.

I also had orders from two customers for my Memory characters come in so, as I had so much work to do I spent the weekend cuttings out...

• 1 Monkey
• 1 Cat
• 1 Dog and 
• 4 Bears [quite a menagerie!!]

Most of them needed reinforcing with interfacing too so that meant cutting them each out twice of course!

I spent all day Monday making up the 7 Memory characters to the point that they just needed faces, ribbons and 4 of them were to have personalised labels made.

I know it's my day off on a Tuesday but as today I have 3 bridesmaid fittings booked in I spent yesterday finishing off the monkey, cat, dog and 2 bears for my one customer and....

...two Memory bears for another customer.

Both customers were repeat orders and that always makes my heart sing. 

On top of all that sewing I have also replaced a zip in a pair of jeans and tapered the legs on another pair of jeans.....as I always say it all comes at once. :-)

I will be busy today with the 3 bridesmaid fittings and all 3 dresses will need 3 layers shortening so my busy week continues. If you leave me a little message I will do my best to pop over to yours to see what you've been up to this week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Oh what a week's it's been here at Sewing by Annie's.  I posted last Wednesday with the honest intention to visit all my favourite blogs and leave comments but that wen't out the window when Theo walked into a picket fence on his way to school [he was fine but had to be monitored at home for the day] so came here so that Gina could rest and we could play with Theo.....That's when my plate spinning started and it really didn't stop all week.  I played catch up with my sewing and sadly my blogging had to wait.  My intentions are good again this week so let's hope I can actually get round a few blogs to see what you've all been up to.

I managed to

• finish the little Memory dog I was making.
• Repaired a jacket.
• Steamed the wedding dress and two little flower girl dresses.
• Shortened the two nurses dresses and....

.....made the six Memory bears.  Thesee were made in memory of a much loved Grandma and each family member had chosen their favourite item of clothing to have them made out of.....so special.

For those tthat like to know that has brought my number of Memory bears up to 545....that's a lot of Annie's love around the world isn't it?

There are perks to my job...on Friday I had a Slovakian body builder here for fittings on the shirt and waistcoat he wants to wear to his Wedding....because of his body building his shoulders and arms were very muscular [not that I was looking of course] so his shirt and waistcoat needed taking in at his waste. He stripped to the waist in my sewing room and smelt amazing....now now Jan!!  My darling hubby was here for my protection but it did finish my week off with a high :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Firstly I want to say that I'm certain we will all be sending lots of love to Julia and hopefully our love will help her through the difficult time she is going through.....I'm sure she knows that we are all there for her if she needs us.  I don't know if there will be a Mr Linky this week but that we will do our best to keep the wheels turning for her.

Normal service has returned for me this week and the steady flow of demands on my services has bounced back.

I made this Memory bear from a much loved mum's favourite jumper for one of her daughters.  When it was seen by her other daughter she wanted one for herself too so...

....I made this one using what was left of the mustard coloured jumper and part of a favourite cardigan.....I have a feeling there will be more orders coming for the grandchildren too.

I thought you'd like to see the quilt and cushion I made now in place in the nursery with the gorgeous matching wall art.

I stayed the night on Monday with Gina and Theo while Mark was working away [yes that of course included playing Wordle at 6am on Tuesday morning!.....but he had been awake since 5.30am lol].  It's so lovely to be able to help and to be included in the planning for the new arrival.

This morning I am steaming posh frocks...having already shortened two of the burgandy bridesmaid's dresses.

I will also be...

•  Finishing off this little Memory Dog
• Shortening two nurses dresses and
• starting to make a further 6 Memory bears!!!

So as I say normal service has returned to Sewing by Annie's.....and I'm loving it.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

It's been another really busy week here at Sewing by Annie's and I have to start by saying sorry to those I didn't manage to visit last week.  I hope you will understand when you see all I've been busy with...

First was a Memory cat made in memory of a much loved Dad out of one of his shirts that has now gone to it's new home down in Bristol....another area of the country reached by my Memory Characters.

Then I was asked to make 3 Memory bears in memory of a much loved Grandma and because my customer loved them so much she asked me to make ......

.....another one and is planning on coming back for more after Christmas.

And then on Monday I made 2 Memory cats and a Memory dog in memory of a much loved mum and grandma.  I feel so blessed to be asked to make such treasured items and am so often taken into the hearts of the customers I make them for.  As I say hugs here come free.

Hope you like my latest makes and can see why I didn't manage to visit all last week.....I will try harder this week but I still have several last minute orders to arrive through the post that will need making and posting back before the big day.  I do love being kept busy so am loving life at the mo.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

You will all know that I love a challenge and this week I've been asked to get designing. [Sorry if you've already seen them].

On Sunday night I was asked if I could make a Memory Elephant....of course I could was my reply and Monday morning I got my roll of brown paper out and made a pattern for an Elephant and then of course went on to test it out and hey presto.....

....meet my new Memory Elephant.  At lunchtime I uploaded his picture on my Sewing by Annie Facebook page to introduce him with the other characters I make and was then asked if I made a Memory Monkey so I then had challenge number two.....

.....more brown paper cutting and hey presto by the end of the day I had made.....

....Memory Monkey....and he has been shared on my Facebook page yesterday to much excitement.  I have a feeling he's going to be very popular.  So now along side my Memory Bears I now offer a Memory Dog, a Memory Cat, a Memory Rabbit, a Memory Elephant and a Memory Monkey....and I love them all :-)

The other little share I have today is this one...

Here's the girls sat crossed legged on the floor on Saturday enjoying their knitting.  They can almost knit unaided now and are slowly progressing with their first knitted square that we are going to make into a little bunny....it gives me so much pleasure passing on my skills to the next generation and they really love spending time with me so it's def a win win situation.
Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW....10th Anniversary

Wahoo wahoo wahoo.  Today we are celebrating 10 years of fun and friendship with thanks to a wonderful idea our group leader Julia had all those years ago.  I'm sure when she first uploaded pics of her desk all those years ago she never imagined it would still be going strong all this time later.  So many of us have now met up in person and so many wonderful friendships have been formed because of our Wednesday fun.....So a huge thank you to Julia for linking us up every week [and thank you to Jan for holding the fort when Julia needed a few weeks off to recover from her surgery].

I have made some ATCs if anyone, who isn't coming to the crop on 1st June, would like one but so far only Angela has asked to swap.  It's not too late though so just email me at wipso2310@gmail.com and I will pop one in the post for you....of course I will be sending one to my pass it forward friend as well.

Ive a quick couple of pics to share with you today....

My week started off by making another School Memory bear for yet another local school that I'd not made one for before....so possibly there will be friends who will order one now too :-)

Then this little lot arrived on my desk.  It was all the washed pet blankets brought to me by one of my customers who had very suddenly, without warning lost her dog.  She'd was a good age but hadn't been poorly so it was quite a shock to them that they found her dead when they gpt up one morning so they asked me if I could make a Memory dog out of her blankets....oh and a little key ring using one of them too.

Some of the furry blankets were quite thick so not the easiest to use but, you know me, I love a challenge and my customer was thrilled to bits with the finished result.  Cute isn't it?

The blanket my customer wanted using for the little keyring was one of the thicker fleeces so to make it so tiny was a real challenge....but even that worked out well and my customer commented on just how thoughtful I was to use tiny heart buttons for the eyes....I guess you have to be a dog lover to understand the loss of a much loved fur baby.

Well folks that all from me for today.  That just leave me to say a big thank you to you all for calling in each week and for your love and friendship over the last 10 years.....hope to see a lot of you at the crop very soon.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Hello all.  I'm after brownie points from Julia this week cos it's a quickie from me today.  I've nothing much on my desk I can share today so thought you'd like to see the Memory bear and Memory dog I've made this week....

This little Memory bear is for an up and coming celebration but I can't share the details on his label with you yet....he's a real party bear don't you think?

I've not made a Memory dog for ages so it was really lovely to make one for a change and this one is made from a special fleece blanket so is rather cuddly.  I loved making him and his new owner really loves him so it was a job well done.

That's my lot for this week....short and sweet just how Julia likes it.

If you leave me a message to let me know you've called by then I will do my best to return the favour.  Hope you all have a wonderfully creative week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Oh what a week it's been here at sewing by Annie's.  I seem to have been rather busy so here's my share for this week....

Firstly I'd like to say thank you to...

• Sylvia
• Christine and
• Robin

These are the latest ATCs I've received.  Aren't they gorgeous?

This is the status of my bag making for Margaret's charity...8 made, 6 more cut out ready to sew and Jo gave me another piece of material to make a few more.....when I get a minute!!

I was sent the pile of babygros this week in the post and I spent a while sending pics of each combination of colours to my customer then made the little Memory rabbit exactly as she wanted it....she's rather cute isn't she?

I was thrilled that Facebook and the postal service allowed me to prove a service for a lady who lived in York so obviously couldn't just drop in to see me.

Since last week I've also made these 4 little Memory characters....each one so different but lots of memories made for their new owners.

On top of that little lot I've also...

• Shortened a bridesmaid's dress
• Shortened a pair of jeans
• Shortened 3 lady's dresses
• Tapered the legs on 3 pair of trousers
• Shortened 3 pair of trousers and
• Shortened an evening dress

So my rail looks like this!!

Oh and yesterday I had little Theo for the afternoon so please don't think it's been all work and no play for me.  :-) :-) :-)


 So please leave me a little message so I know you've called in and I will do my best to pay you a return visit ASAP.
Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW....

Happy 9th Anniversary to you all.  What a wonderful thing this is that Julia started all those years ago.  I know she doesn't like thanks but I'm sure we all would thank her for her efforts keeping us linked up each week [and Jan too for when she needs to step in and help out].  

My desk today has a pile of spare fabric I begged from my big sister so I can make a few more charity bags for Margaret in my spare time....yes I do get a bit now and then.

These 5 pieces will do the job nicely and I have plenty of pieces I can use to line them with to make the bags all different.

My other shares are this little Memory dog which was the 100th Memory bear/dog/rabbit I've made since I designed the pattern on 3rd August 2016 so that's in less than 2 years.....quite and achievement wouldn't you say?

If you'd all like to pop over to my Facebook page you will see he is also there to celebrate the numbers of my followers now reaching over 700 and why not get your name in the Gift Draw over there.....it would be so lovely if one of you won.

The other special thing I've made this week is this little Shrewsbury Town rabbit.  He's made from old Shrewsbury Town shirts and is to celebrate our local team heading off to Wembley on Sunday for the playoffs.  I hope he brings them luck and they win the game....our men will be there to cheer them on and Jo and I will be having a bit of quality time together but of course will be watching the game on the telly.

That's all from me for this week.  We have posted our swap ATCs and my PIF ATC will be going in the post later today so there will be lots of happy mail flying around the world in the next week or so.....what a lovely way to celebrate special friendships.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

I've not a lot to share with you today but am really pleased to say I've worked very hard with my business accounts and have now got them all up to date....thankfully.

It's been a busy week with coat alterations this week.....guess the 'Beast from the East' has had something to do with that......brrrrrr it's been cold.

The one photo I have to share with you for those that haven't seen it already over on my Facebook page is this little character....

It's a little Memory dog I was asked to make out of tiny babygros.  He also has a label to hang round his neck with the baby's name and all the details of his birth but I've been asked not to share it for obvious reasons.

He's rather cute isn't he?

I've also been commissioned to make two special quilts for two little girls.....one yet to arrive but due any time now. I am to applique the names on a panel in the middle of each quilt and they are to be in pinks, lemons, creams and be pretty and girly.  Of course I didn't have the materials my customer wanted me to use so I've had to order them and cant wait to get going on them.....I've done all the planning and printed off the lettering for the applique so I'm raring to go now.

That's all from me for this week.....hopefully more to share by next week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Hello all. It's been a slightly different week for me here at Sewing by Annie's.  The special offer on my Memory Bears over on my Facebook page ended at the end of January so the orders for my bears have eased a little but I was thrown another challenge.....could I make a Memory Dog?

You all know I like a challenge so it was back to the drawing board to design a dog and here's the first reveal....

I've made him with fabric with little hearts on and have called him Valentine.  He has a cute little tail too and my customer loved him and has ordered on to be made out of her little boys babygros with a special label around his neck with the details of his birth on it.....I plan to launch him over on my Facebook page soon but until then it's a secret just between us.

The other thing I've been doing this week is alterations to these lovely bridesmaids dresses....as well as the rest of the items behind on them on the rail.

The three bridesmaids were really lovely girls and allowed me to take a pic of them wearing the dresses.....but that photo will be over on my Friday's smile post so be sure to check it out....it sure made me chuckle.

That's all from me for this week as I have succumbed to the bugs going around the family and have a tiresome cough and head cold with earache....hubby has had a really sore throat too so we have been looking after one another this week.

Until next week I hope you stay well and happy and enjoy lots of creative times.

Hugs,

Annie x