Magpies..........

Things been very hectic lately which is marvelous.
Ive done so much sewing lately that literally my fingers are sore typing this blog.
But I'm pleased with progress and wouldn't have it any other way.
Have gone back and reworked a few patterns,making things easier as the more you sew the more of the 'little shortcuts' that you pick up.Next time Ill do it like this or that.
Ive also got a new machine which is an old semi industrial one i think its from the 50's.
I love her and wish I had got something similar a long time ago,but again its all a learning curve. With the new machine I can sew far heavier layers and use heavier stiffeners etc,and for this reason i revisited my magpie pattern.With new ways of stiffening fabrics and linking pieces together which really started being used with the moths I wanted to apply a few things Id learnt.
So the new magpies have more alert bodies and taller and again more alert tails,its this that I found hard to capture but now feel like i have hit a formula.
I tried doing all sorts with them,adding little jewels,sequins,bow ties,lace and all of the little frilly things. Nothing really worked for other than having them as plain as possible and having Strong blacks and velvets and block bright whites.

Today like most lately wasn't the best day for photography and its hard to get the lighting right otherwise they look like black blobs.
Hopefully you can see them clearly enough.
Ive used white stitching on the black bodies as I love the effect. It gives them more of a home/handmade feel.
I never seem to match up stitching,Little flashes of contrasting colours can look really great.
Fluorescent green stitching on old traditional tweed looks brilliant i know that sounds awful but once finished and everything is pulled tight and you have a neat line the fluorescent just looks like a bright green.
Never be afraid of using odd threads.
The magpies are life size so they are quite large and in all I'm going to make 9 for a display.
I'm very fond of them but the good thing is I can always make a few for myself.
I think its nice if you make things all the time for other to make yourself something
The pugs head pincushion I made for myself recently has become a real favourite and I use him daily.
So today make your self a little something,Something to go on your desk,wall or a little keyring.
We've all got lots of scraps! Or print of some fab pictures for inspiration.
I came across this unique and incredibley simple way of using up jars and random images/photos.

Brilliant isn't it!
I honestly cant remember where I got this image from but if you know let me know and ill put a link up to it.
Ive got some images of magpies in a few on my desk and they look great.
Wishing you all a relaxing Sunday,I am supposed to be sewing today but its not happening so far,so ill give myself the day off and maybe wash some more glass jars.