Missoni ipad case

No pressure! I have only one piece each of these incredible Missoni fabric designs and I decide to make an ipad case for my friends birthday from one of them so better get it right first time Miranda!! And this is how it went.

It would not have been possible without finding Heidi's blog Sew.Craft.Create. and her ipad case tutorial. This is her design and for personal use only. Hats off to Heidi! I followed her instructions to the letter except for the lining for which I decided to use 1/8" thick foam instead of the binder card to give the whole thing a more tactile 'real' feel. I think it worked nicely. This was my first zip as well so pretty pleased with that! My friend works as a fashion photography agent for some of the most well know photographers in the business. I hope they appreciate her even more now with her Missoni ipad case - one of a kind just like her! I chose the grey version of the fabric with it's subtle mirror of the classic Missoni pattern to back the case and a plain grey to line it. On the back I appliqued a simple lower case 'd' for her initial (I'm new to applique so this as a little brave!!), but I think I just about got away with it ;) Happy to take requests if anyone feels they can't live without one of these lovely cases!

Louise Elliot Design Stuffed Animal Toys

A magical flea market find! On a random Sunday afternoon last Fall, I came across this collection of Louise Elliot Design 'Animals of the World' kits on a market stall in Woodstock, NY. Louise Elliot's designs have been around for 20-something years, a British lady who now lives in Australia, she has a range of self designed kits for making animals, dolls and characters with beautifully colourful printed fabric, ready for you to assemble yourself. They are very charming and have an old school fairytale appeal to their design. I was immediately drawn to them and bought all 6 of the rather faded, but unopened animal kit packets for a bargain $5! So far I've only had time to make the wonderful elephant, but I plan to sew the others to complete the little family one day. You can still buy these wonderful kits as well as her other designs on her webiste: Louise Elliot Design. Each one comes with hand illustrated instructions and an illustrated picture for a child to colour in. "Nandi the Elephant from India" as he is titled will one day sit happily next to "Fanni Nanny-goat from Switzerland", "Boris Bear from Russia", "Danilo Donkey from Portugal", "Ming Loong Dragon from China" and "Chandra Tiger from Bengal" - just as soon as I have time to stitch the world!