CAN YOU HELP?
Here at Pepperberry & Co. Headquarters, we are experiencing a problem.


It appears that every time we sew, one of the following two things happens:

1. The top thread breaks. Ultra infuriating.
2. A stitch is missed because the bobbin thread is not grabbed. Infinitely annoying.

We have attempted the following resolutions:

1. Seriously upgrading the quality of the thread, from cheap-brand polyblend to expensive-brand cotton. The problems got worse.
2. Adjusting the tension of the sewing machine. This made no difference.

We are appealing for public assistance in this matter. Should you have any details that could help with the investigation, please contact us using the form below. All tips leading to a solving of the dilemma will receive ridiculously grateful emails.


PAYING IT FORWARD...
Due to her role as the manager of the Shivershop, Coco was unfortunately unavailable to pick the three people who won gifts as a part of Pay It Forward. Instead, I was blindfolded, handed a list of people who had left comments and a red pen, and told to draw three circles on the list. This was the result:


So, congratulations to:

- The gorgeous Harley Dee of Koala Fuzz;
- The lovely Kit of Diva Quilts;

And, by proximity to The Dotty One, who should never have been on the list due to the fact that Pay It Forward came from her...

- The wonderful Emmy from Number Seventy Five!

Congratulations, ladies! Make sure you email me your addresses and I'll pop your gifts in the post.


PSST... CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?
If you promise not to tell a soul, I might just show you a sneak peek of one of the delightful items making an appearance at this Saturday's Market Stall...

Ok, are you ready?

Presenting... Lined Snap Purses!


Now, they may only look like simple (if stunning!) little wallets, but they are in fact some of the complex pieces of sewing genius that you shall ever see. Or do I just feel that way because I'm a total beginner? :-)

Because you're such good secret-keepers, I'll also show you my very first Pepperberry & Co. iron-on labels:


Aren't they simply charming? I'm excited!

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A Sewing Dilemma, A Giveaway Winner & A Sneak Peek!

Well, after all the excitement of yesterday, I'm having a bit of a downer day today. I have endless crafty and business ideas dancing in my head, but just can't seem to get motivated enough to do them. I've tried sewing, I've tried designing, and I've tried making jewellery, but nothing seems to stick. I've also got dozens of the loveliest emails coming through from across the globe, yet still I wallow.

I shall call my new disease Craflu- the Crafter's Flu.

I am sure I am not the only one to suffer from this infection, and so it is with this in mind that I ask- what to do when you suffer from Craflu to keep your spirits high?

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Pepperberry and the Craflu

As a sewing newbie, I'm still gathering all of those nifty little gadgets that make life easier when creating things. One of the items I needed desperately was a pincushion- and of course, what better project to take on as a beginner? They seem relatively simple- two pieces of fabric, some stuffing, and a little decoration. What could go wrong?

Well, obviously I had to make it more complicated than it needed to be. Inspired by these stunning pincushions over at Carina's Craftblog, I decided to step outside of a few 'beginner' guidelines- my pincushion would be round instead of square, would have a vintage feel due to a lace trimming, and would be stuffed with Malamute hair. What's that, I hear you ask? That, my friends, is hair from my gorgeous puppy, Manhattan:



She is a wild, shedding, howling beast of an Alaskan Malamute who is more than delighted to share her monstrous fluff with me. I brushed her, washed her hair, dried it and ended up with a gorgeous batch of soft, fluffy puppy stuffing. So far, so good.

Next, I sewed my pincushion together, and quickly figured out that circles are a pain in the butt to sew- especially in a first project! Once I'd learned to tame my slightly-out-of-control foot, I became friends with the pedal and figured out how to slow down my machine. This definitely helped the process.

It came time to stuff the cushion, so in went Manhattan. Then came the interesting part... sewing the pincushion shut. I inspected other stuffed items that I had lying around, and could not for the life of me figure out how they were sewn closed. A google search didn't help, either. I was on my own! I went ahead with a tiny stitch very close to the edge, which, due to my (obsessively) perfectionist nature, took as long to do as the rest of the project- but at least it was closed! Soon after, I learnt about the invisible/ladder stitch, but that's another story.

Finally, I got creative with my lace and added a lace bobble to the top of the cushion. Ta-da! Done. But... hang on a moment... what's the strange pointy thing sticking out of the top? And the side? And the bottom? And the other side... uh-oh. That's Manhattan. To be more exact, that's Manhattan's fur, and it's escaping from it's new home with the fervour of an Alcatraz inmate. It turns out that unfelted puppy filling is not the way to go!

The pincushion, however, is finished; it now sits proudly on my desk, malting alongside the cats that insist on sitting on my stunning (and expensive!) fabric collection. Together, we all live in our happy, fluffy crafting wonderland.


...

Houston, we have... a Malting Pincushion!