Across the Pond Sew Along

▼

Monday, June 3, 2013

English Garden

My own little English Garden....


Where has the time flown ?... It is the beginning of June now, and time to introduce the latest project in our  Across The Pond Sew Along !

 Amanda has come up with a super fun little project for June...  

                                    ~  the  house ornament from Retro Mama.  

  Kim  (Retro Mama )  has a tutorial and a free pattern on her blog, titled "Home for the Holidays" 
Photo from Kim at RetroMama blog

These are 2 little stuffed pillow houses, made by Amanda.....
Amanda's own   little Home for the Holidays cottages ...The Patchsmith
You must go on over to Amanda's blog ,  The Patchsmith , to get an absolutely  adorable idea for a Tooth Fairy Pillow based on  this pattern!!  This is a beautiful keepsake that is easy to make!

 And not to be outdone by Amanda, Amy,  of Amy Made That! blog,  has made her own creation of the little house, into a sweet  summer cottage!  ( She loves visiting the NJ shore....)
Amy's own little summer cottage    Amy Made That!

 I printed out the pattern and got the website tutorial up on my computer.....

 Note:  when I printed my pattern,  it came out very small , and I thought to myself...' this is going to be a stinker to turn inside out and stuff!  And I am not good at sewing super- tiny things...'
I printed it again, making sure I did not have "fit to page" or "scale"  checked... and  I did not.  It came out the smaller size again.

 When  I looked closer at the pattern, I noticed that Kim  has some sizes marked  (see  the chimney and roof pieces ) .  I love scale markings,  so that we get it printed out the right size.

Fortunately, when I have a sewing question,   I am lucky that I can call up my ' Mentor and Expert Quilter'  .... Amy  (my sister!)  She checked her measurements and looked at her magazine pattern.    It was indeed the larger size pattern.

 I am "double -lucky" to also  have Amanda, 'across the pond', to consult  with on pattern corrections and tips, because she loves to' forge ahead' and complete a new project , and let me know what she finds!!

 I discovered after talking to both  Amy and Amanda,   that if I used  the google chrome browser, it was printing  out too small for me .{  I just enlarged my pattern to 150% on my scanner, and it was correct.}
Amanda uses Internet Explorer, so I tried  printing  out the pattern using that browser, and it printed out the correct size!!   ( I don't know if it was a glitch I was having or not...??)

So Yay!  after getting the pattern size resolved and cut out!!
  I decided I did not want to work with linen this time.  I just used cotton fabrics.
I dug out some fabric (literally, I was  digging out of a laundry basket of stash!) to find some favorite fabrics that I made a mug rug with....

My House and Home mug rug   designed by The Patchsmith 

Fabrics:    varous  Vintage Summer    Little Yellow Bicycle  by Blend   
                              Lizzy House    Andover Fabrics
                              Joy   Kate Spain  Modafabrics

I came up with my own little English Garden cottage version....

Susie's Sunroom  little English Garden cottage      pattern design by Kim  RetroMama

 I put a little bit of scrap pellon fusible FF987  into the chimney before attaching it to the roof, to stuff it lightly.
I made a little strap for hanging my cottage over a door handle.  (I like this green color!)

I got the little silk flowers from JoAnn Fabrics
I love flowers!!

The back side     { see anything?! }

LOVE these little ladybug buttons    from JoAnn Fabric !


Hanging on my door handle

 I am going to definitely make more of these.... they would be perfect little pincushions.  And I love seeing it hang on my handle of the door to my powder room!

 Before I leave,  I wanted to share a few of June flowers with you....
I had the wrong name for this flower ( for 12 years) ...  a White Peachleaf Bellflower


Geranium blossom in my planter
Makes me smile to look at it  :)
If you want to see other little homes and cottages, hop on over to the Across The Pond Sew Along Flickr group to see what has been made !   You will be inspired!

   Take time to smell some flowers!
I'm off to my sewing room!

I am linking up at:  

at

13 comments:

  1. KateJune 3, 2013 at 12:36 PM

    Such a clever idea to make the little cottage so it can hang on the door - I like that. Lovely photos today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. CindyJune 3, 2013 at 1:04 PM

    Oh my gosh, Susie!! Your little house is adorable!! I want to come party at your place too! :) And your flower pictures are beautiful! Thanks for sharing all of your awesome information. It's much appreciated!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The PatchsmithJune 3, 2013 at 2:01 PM

    This is just too cute for words. What a pretty little cottage, with its very own (co-ordinating) flowers. And what a neat housebuilder you are.
    I don't know what it is about Google Chrome - it may be a bug in their browser but it resets the sizes back to the smaller every time. Thankfully, with a little sisterly help, you have overcome and created a darling little home.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amy DeCesareJune 3, 2013 at 2:36 PM

    This one is just the sweetest little house on the block!!! I love it all...the silk flowers, and especially that pretty minty green! Well done!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. SamanthaJune 3, 2013 at 3:51 PM

    June flowers? What? JUNE?!?! We're halfway through nearly! I'd best start thinking about Christmas soon now then...:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. vexaJune 3, 2013 at 4:32 PM

    I like your color combo and the flowers! Pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Soma @ inkTorrents.comJune 4, 2013 at 9:12 PM

    Love your mug rug AND the cottage! So very very cute!! It will be so much fun to make them for all four seasons!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Donna@AllthingsMingJune 5, 2013 at 9:15 AM

    I just love these houses!!!! Thanks for the info about the printing ...I too am not great a sewing small things :-( ..

    Be well,
    Donna

    ReplyDelete
  9. Paula@TheSassyQuilterJune 5, 2013 at 7:29 PM

    Those houses are just too cute!!! and awesome flower pics by the way:)
    Following on bloglovin'

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousJune 5, 2013 at 10:04 PM

    These houses are SEW cute! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jane from Lil PipJune 6, 2013 at 12:25 AM

    Found you via the And Sew We Craft Together Linky Party.

    Gorgeous little English house. I would love to make one of these for my daughters room. Or maybe a bigger one as a pillow! Thanks for the idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. legato1958June 6, 2013 at 10:01 AM

      Oh that sounds like a sweet idea!! Put whatever you make in our Flickr group !

      Delete
  12. Ella and NestaJune 15, 2013 at 4:59 AM

    I really love this little house. Saw it on Flickr. Oh, I want to join too, am I still in time. I have a weak spot for these little houses. Will be following on Bloglovin'.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting and taking time to write a comment!