Small things

Making small things comes with a disproportionate amount of satisfaction. They are quick, they look cute, they’re simple and they use up those precious scraps of fabric or yarn that cannot be thrown away. What’s not to like?

I’ve been making a great many small things lately. It feels like what I need after all of November and December spent making C’s quilt.

I sneaked in these fabric covered moleskine cahiers in the last few days before Christmas. The instructions are in Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. I love them. They are fun to make and even nicer to give away as presents. Don’t they look pretty?


In the New Year, doing such long hours at work, I stuck to small things that could be tucked into a short sewing session. I decided to make these tiny, fabric bookmarks.


I’m always turning down the corners of catalogues, recipe books and sewing books, and I realised I could easily make some bookmarks with more oddments from my vast basket of scraps.
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My machine was not happy about sewing such thin fabric with a very small seam allowance, and I had a few sweary moments when I started. But a couple of hours later I had over thirty (yes! thirty!) bookmarks with which I am very pleased. And they’re perfect for marking the patterns I want to knit in my new book.


Doll’s clothes are usually a quick and satisfying project. And they’re met with charming excitement by small girls. I made this vintage Cloth Kitty for O for Christmas. She is an exact replica of the one I had at O’s age. I made the doll and her dress by Christmas, but there were other clothes that came in the kit which I didn’t have time to make. Last week I dug the kit out, and in a spare hour thought I’d make the sweet little frilly knickers in the kit.

Goodness me, frilly knickers in doll’s sizes are a complete nightmare. It took me HOURS. The shirring was stressful – I did it by hand in the end. But Hannah, the doll, is pleased with them and so is her owner.

Hannah is now looking through the Mini Boden catalogue dreaming of her summer wardrobe.

And I am moving on to bigger things. The quilt for O will need to be started soon....