Some of my favourite flowers

 My favourite flowers are not the double blooms with showy flowers but the tradition cottage garden ones. I think the bees prefer them too. I also like to bring some indoors, especially the ones with scent as well as beauty. 

I have just made a felt with my favourite combination. Old fashioned Calendula always look bright and cheerful and I have some deep purple sweet peas which are almost black and have the most amazing perfume which you can smell as soon as you enter the room. The variety is called Winston Churchill if anyone would like to try them .Lime green  Ladies mantle makes a zingy addition and Ami major, which are a sort of domesticated cow parsley, add structure. Here is the felt.

I have added lots of french knots to help describe the ladies mantle and free machine stitch makes the calendula pop.

                                                 A use for my eco printing!

 Last time I posted I had been experimenting with eco print and made some samplers. It is quite an addictive pass time as you don't actually know what you will get until the bundle is unwrapped. Naturally, I wanted an excuse to continue but fabric (especially silk noil) is expensive.

I made myself a bag and purse with some of the fabric and had so many comments on it I decided to make more for my shop. Hooray! A use for my fabric and a possible income to buy more. Some of the bags and purses are silk and some are cotton.

Here are a few of them. More can be found in my etsy shop.

Each time I dye only enough for one bag and one purse so there is usually a matching set and all are completely unique. The green, cotton bag and purse were first dyed with a dye I made from nettles and then steamed with leaves from the hedge row. They are made from cotton so are vegan friendly. 

Next time I dye a batch of fabric I will try to remember to take photos so you can see how it's done.