A new sewing project.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I show dogs and I made myself an armband exhibitor number clip. Well I have been developing the concept of these armbands as I've had a fair amount of interest in them. So I set about buying some lovely 1" ribbon in a variety of colours, Ivory, Black, Dark Red, Gold and Silver. The ribbon I ordered arrived on Wednesday and I've been busy making ribbon roses to put on the armbands since then. I currently have orders for 4 armbands, so I need to get a move on, finalise the design and get them made.

I've been practising making the roses and experimenting with adding tails for a more refined and finished look. My roses are getting better day by day. The good thing about these ribbon roses is that if it goes wrong you just unravel them and try again. It's not easy making these roses when using two different ribbons to get a nice two-colour effect in the finished article. But the hassle of trying to keep the ribbons aligned as I am wrapping and rolling the rose is certainly worth it when you look at the final result.

I made a second prototype with a gold and black rose with medium trails earlier this week. I was going to wear this version at my next show. However a few days ago I got a cry for help from a dear friend, so I lend her my latest creation and she is trialing it for me at a dog show today.

I'm looking forward to hearing how she got on with her gorgeous Adele and what she thinks of the armband. Especially whether the tails work or not. I hope that they do as I think they give an added "WOW" factor to the whole design. I am intending to sell these in my online shop Pooches Pawadise once I have finalised the design and armband sizes.

It became clear from my conversation with my friend that making these armbands in different sizes is a good idea. She has skinny arms and the size I had chosen for my armband would work when she is wearing a thick jumper or jacket but not in the summer when she might only be wearing a blouse or T-shirt to show in. So I am looking to make 3 different sizes, small, medium and large. As you can see I still have a bit more refining to do.

You probably remember that I made voile curtains for our bed last spring. The final part of that project is to create a canopy to cover the "roof " of the bed. Well I made it to the fabric store the other day and I have now purchased a gorgeous white satin to use for the roof. The voile will be attached to this new fabric so that it will drape over the edge and flow down a couple of feet to create a frame around the top of the bed. Well that is my intention, whether my idea will work as well as I hope remains to be seen.  I will post some photos of the finished project once I have finished it.