Heart Lavender Pillows With Wool (Apples And Sailing Boats) For Handmade Monday

Happy Autumn everyone! Yes, the season has officially changed and much as i love Summer, i'm quite excited by the new crispness in the air, turning leaves and ripening berries. There is something wonderfully cosy about Autumn, the temperature might go down a bit but the colours are warm and its nice to snuggle into woolly scarves and big slouchy socks again :) have i sold it to you yet?!

Thank you everyone who left kind and thoughtful comments about my Autumn Apples cushion last week, and also my 'Harvest' banner :) It seems a lot of you are Autumn fans too which is good news as the new season has inspired what i have to show you this week too!

Three Red Apples

I have combined three of my absolute favourite materials (lavender, wool and linen) to make these little Autumn apple lavender pillows (you can see all three pictured at the top being cuddled by my teddy bear :)).

Linen

I've used the pale cream linen I often choose for my sewing projects (because of its gorgeous texture and subtle natural colour) to make the hearts, and the appliqued apples are cut from some pretty striped and checked linens from my collection. There is something so appealing and tactile about linen, despite its tendency to crease i just love working with it. What's your favourite fabric to work with by the way...?

Lavender

Lavender is so soothing and comforting and yet invigorating at the same time, no wonder its so popular! I bought a big bag of Somerset lavender last Christmas and that's what i'm still using - running low now though so will have to stock up before this Christmas i think!

Wool

I looooooooove wool. We have a wool duvet, wool filled mattress and wool pillows in our house - it really does give you a great night's sleep! (you can find out more about this and the other benefits of wool on the Campaign For Wool website). Like many people i find the smell of wool really comforting and i thought it would be the perfect thing to combine with Lavender for these little pillows.

I have kept the design really simple and they are not large or over stuffed. As well as being ideal for popping into a draw to keep clothes smelling fresh, I think they would be perfect for putting under your pillow to aid sleep or even to slip into a bag or pocket if you have something stressful like a job interview - a few (subtle) deep breaths of their calming aroma before hand could be just the thing! :)

Sailing Boat Lavender Pillow

I have lots of ideas for different designs... here is a cute little sailing boat - expect to see more next week when i've had a chance to make them!

I haven't listed any of these lavender pillows on my website, Etsy shop etc yet but expect to see them there in the next few days. Individually they will be £4.50 and a set of three will be £12.

CRAFTfest And Other News

As you may remember me mentioning a few weeks back, i have a stall at CRAFTfest (online craft fair organised by crafters network Creative Connections). It is running all this week (from the 1st to the 8th of September) and there are lots of lovely stalls to look around! There is going to be another CRAFTfest in November so this is also an ideal time to pop over and suss out what its all about if you are interested in getting involved.

So far i have definitely had a lot more views to my Etsy shop (you give a link in your 'stall' to a shop where people can buy your products online) and as part of the promotion i have been introduced to some interesting social networking sites such as Stumbleupon which i hadn't got around to investigating yet... i will let you know more about how it has all gone next week!

I have also been keeping busy with some festive bits and bobs this week (as no doubt you have!) as well as working on a fun commission which i hope to tell you more about soon. Now though, I will leave you with a link to a lovely post that Sarah of A Cat Like Curiosity wrote last Sunday about my blog after reading my last HM post - thank you Sarah! And a link to Handmade Harbour, home of lots of fabulous crafty blogs!

Thank you for visiting x

Strawberry Cushion For Handmade Monday

Thank goodness i managed to take advantage of a 3 second window of sunshine this afternoon to gab a few snaps of the strawberry cushion i've made this week, or i'm not sure what i'd be talking about on this Handmade Monday post... probably the weather!

I love this design, we have a similar one that i made last year in our little cottage, and its just the thing to brighten up a slightly dark interior (old cottage = small windows) as well as combat the gloom of the grey days we're all getting a bit sick of in the UK at the moment!

Here's the back. I've added a little border to the envelope closure that isn't on the original and i'm quite pleased with how it turned out (i like it when cushions have a little something on the reverse side :))

Its actually given me an idea for some napkin rings i'd like to make - i've already had a go at the prototype but unfortunately the sun went behind a big black cloud before i could take a picture, so the reveal will have to wait until next week when hopefully i will have a little collection to share with you!

Cushion Pads, The Price Of Quality

You always give such helpful and insightful comments dear Handmade Monday readers that i thought i would pick your brains today on a conundrum i am currently pondering. The subject is cushion pads. 


As you may already know, cushions make up a large percentage of the handmade items i have for sale (i love cushions!). All of my cushions come with a cushion pad filled with wool from local cotswold sheep which i buy from a wonderful company called Wool Soft (also a great place to find out more about the wonders of wool and its many uses!). Their pads have great eco credentials and the quality is superb - they are soft and fluffy, they smell wonderful and they also last well and don't go all thin and sad looking in the way that the cheaper synthetic fillers can do! I couldn't be happier with the product and wouldn't use anything else for cushions in my own house.


However, they are not cheap. I bought a largish quantity (in small business terms) a few months ago and i paid somewhere around the £6/£6.50 mark per pad (as you may know pads filled with synthetic fillers range from about £1 to £3 depending on quality and feather filled are about £4 or £5). I have been wondering for a while whether i should give customers the option to buy my covers without pads thereby giving them the choice about whether they want to pay the premium.


My mind was somewhat made up today when i visited Wool Soft's website to find that the prices have gone up to £9.20 plus p&p for the pads i normally buy - the trade discount won't knock too much off this and i will have to pass this increase my customers. I worry that this will make my cushions appear over priced as i'm not sure people will necessarily appreciate how expensive the pads alone can be.


So, the question is, should i list my items as a cushion cover alone with the option to buy one of the wool pads as an add on to a purchase, or should i list as the full price and give the customer the option to reduce the cost of the purchase by buying the cover alone. Or should i do something else that i haven't thought of yet, but maybe you have?!


Thank you in advance for your help :)

A Country Life

Thank you too if you left a comment about my country life mug last week (which is now available to buy in my Etsy shop). It was very interesting to hear how many of you draw inspiration from the natural world for your creations, and your kind appreciation of my handiwork was gratefully received! :)


My strawberry cushion was inspired by the bountiful crop we always get from the patch on our allotment (although not quite so bountiful this year due to a shortage of sunny days!). Home grown fruit and veg is another aspect of country living that i love and i had intended to pop over to our allotment today and take a nice picture for you. I didn't in the end because of the gloom. However, here is a shot taken last summer of my little River as a puppy dashing through our strawbs with wild abandon - luckily for him he was just too cute to tell off!

I shall leave you now in the capable hands of Wendy over at Handmade Harbour where there are lots of other fabulous crafty posts to enjoy. A lengthy monologue from me in the end, and there i was thinking i'd have nothing to say! Thank you for sticking with it :) x