Fun with a staple gun...

Last week a friend-of-a-friend rang and asked if I would make some things for her children's bedrooms. One of the things that she was hoping for was some French memo boards...I'd never made these before, so was both apprehensive and delighted to be given a new challenge. By the time I'd bought plywood, 9 metres of ribbon in each colour (!), inch-thick wadding, upholstery tacks, front and backing fabric, interfacing, hanging brackets, and staples they became more costly items to make than I'd first anticipated, but I was so pleased with the result that I may end up making some for Zebra-girl and Dinosaur-boy's rooms. I sawed the corners off (in a fit of faire du bricolage fabulousness...I even clamped it into some sort of table vice to stop it wackering!) as I was worried about the children catching themselves on them...but I needn't have worried as I was able to sand them so that the points are slightly rounded and the wadding makes them fairly crash-proof.

I have also tested just how firmly one can whack in upholstery pins....making anything for other people's children always sends me into a flurry of panic imagining ingested haberdashery....I may have to write on the back that it contains SMALL PARTS that could be dangerous to SMALL CHILDREN so that I may continue to sleep at night.

Below is the boy's version. When pondering fabrics my friend told me I'd be safe if I drew on Boden and The White Company for colour-palette inspiration....I'm hoping that the pink memo board fulfils the Boden feel, while the blue is a nod to White Company minimalism.

I've also made this doorstop for her little boy who likes dogs....

I could spot Anna Maria Horner's Puppy Love silhouette anywhere...she has captured the puppy's playfulness so perfectly, which is so clever for it is all in the angle of the tail, the lifted paw and the slightly raised head...so as soon as dogs were mentioned my mind went straight to thinking about using the silhouette as an applique and later adding in a ball for him to play with.

On the other side of the doorstop is a kennel, with 'dog' embroidered onto a bone over the doorway and a small flag flying from the roof. Every time I return to applique I am thrilled anew by how much I enjoy doing it...few things are more scrumptious to me or feel more like playing.

And oh, how I enjoy sewing these little criss-cross squares onto the handles...now why is that so satisfying?

....but I am more than a little nervous about her seeing the finished items...it's always so hard to know whether you have managed to create something approximating what the person might have been envisaging...and then more nervous again about whether her children like them - I so hope that they do.

Oh, and a little research question...if buying new would you go for a computerised or mechanical sewing machine? What do you think are the pros & cons of both? I would love your opinions. x