Hello 2014... The year to be Frugal!

Hello 2014 :-) it has been a while since I posted on here!

So how has everything been at RRR HQ? Well...

1. I've launched a new shop... all very frugally, with my own money, gradually making bits here and there and building up a stock organically.

2. I have a new Instagram account (Ilovewholefood if you're interested ;-) which I have devoted solely to pics of healthy, simple, whole food cooking. I will gradually post the detailed recipes on here!

3. I have embarked upon a mission to spend wisely and spend less, make what I can, cook from my cupboards, and in general make 2014 the Year of the Frugal! I'm hoping that by posting on here will keep me on the straight and narrow!

4. Been making and creating lots as per usual! A beautiful, handmade, non-competitive birthday party for my son based on the Faraway Tree books by Enid Blyton, handmade presents, more sewing dresses, reusing old clothes and socks and so much more! Plenty to tell you over the coming weeks.

But I'll start with an end of school year gift that my son took in last year. It was his first year of school and his teacher was lovely. She really appreciated homemade things so I got stitching!

His school names the classes after different trees, so I obtained a list of the names of all the children in the class and embroidered their names onto little oak leaves. It's very basic, using only fabric remnants and felt, but my son's teacher was so happy with it she cried! Which obviously got me going too!!

With the end of school coming up soon, perhaps now is a good time to get creative with gifts and save yourself some pennies in the process!

Handmade bag birthday present - tree of life

So my latest labour of love is a birthday gift for my mum. She's a total hippy; loves anything to do with nature, caring about our plant and animals, and wants World Peace!

It's the first time i'd made a bag and was definitely a learning curve, although i'm pleased with the end result. It's a strong little bag too, although my sewing machine went through a lot of punishment to get to the end!

I harvested a pair of my old jeans for the body of the bag, and spent most of the time patchworking and embroidering the main image. I used leftover fabrics and old zips for the rest.

I love the underside of the strap and I feel like I need to make some clothing with the same fabric - it looks gorgeous against the denim!

The main embroidered part of the bag. I patchworked a selection of fabrics for the background and then cut out the body of the tree from felt (below). I then embroidered over the top for more detail.

The felt tree cut out to gauge size and positioning of the background.

The main body of the bag was mostly made from patchwork denim.

The inside of the bag. I used more of that lovely fabric to make a small pocket and mobile phone pocket. I used old saved zips for both the pocket and main bag.

I hope my mum likes it! I think I want one for myself now...!