Warped! What a load of old sheets...

Anyone visiting Halfpenny Home notices pretty quickly that we love bright colours - the handyed yarns from Colinette, the ostrich feathers in vibrant shades of turquoise and hot pink and the brightly coloured handpainted knitting needles! We are also big fans of pattern - big blousy florals, stripes and ginghams are often paired up with paisley, floral and gingham bias binding!
Which is why people are so often surprised to learn that we also love cool, plain linens - particularly old linen, cotton or metis (linen and cotton woven together) sheets from France. We even used a particularly lovely one (adorned with old mother of pearl buttons...) as the background for the Halfpenny Home online shop!
If you are really lucky you may come across your very own initials on a hand-monogrammed sheet like this one which graces my bed!

They are sometimes almost too nice to be kept just for sleeping between and a few of my windows at home are dressed in old sheets!

It's the hand-sewn seams and the uneven weave that gives the fabric it's unique look and charm.

Yum!

Sometimes there are small red monogrammes...

and sometimes there are bigger ones - hmmm, HH? Couldn't leave this sheet behind!

We were especially excited to see the linen egg project in the very first issue of Mollie Makes as it's so pretty and a lovely way to use up all those little scraps of fabric that you cannot bear to throw away! We've put together bundles of linen pieces that would be perfect for making these little eggs...look at the daisies!

These are so much fun to make and I can't stop just yet...
Nic x

Buttons!

Here at Halfpenny Home we don't even try to hide the fact that our heads are frequently turned by some rather special buttons!
We sell a lot of different colours, shapes and sizes from the absolutely gorgeous old mother of pearl buttons above all uneven and really heavy to the e.classic wooden toggle...

We get excited when some new ones arrive that are so unusual like these woody ones...

And even though there are an awful lot of them we know where they all are and can usually find them pretty quickly!

I say usually because we had some rather lovely ones arrive the other week and after oohing and ahhhing over them for what is probably a lot longer than the average person I (Nic) lost them!
I looked everywhere!
I dreaded people asking me if I'd found them yet...!
I knew that they were with these rather lovely ribbons below and they are safe and sound!

But yesterday I found them! Almost two whole weeks of being missing finally they are here for everyone to see - I think that you can see why I was so upset?!
Aren't they fab?

They are similiar to the lady face buttons we've had for a while but a whole lot bigger!
Phew! We can put them on the website now...

That's all, Nic x

Art and Craft (and cake!)

The good wives of Sew and Crow don't usually need much of an excuse to plonk a cake on a cakestand! We did, however have a very valid reason indeed - Lisa Museum's Birthday! Sam made her a wonderful cheesecake ala Nigel Slater and as Lisa is a stitcher and crochet queen we all partook in a little embroidery for the evening.
So armed with hoops, linen, silks and disappearing marker pens we were ready for what proved to be a very, tranquil evening.

Jeanetta approached this make-along with a little trepidation but inspired by the Made in France book by Agnes Delage-Calvet and Annie Sohier-Fournel and Doodles by Aimee Ray she was soon well and truly hooked! Last seen hotfooting from Halfpenny HQ clutching some embroidery hoops...

Miss Pat tackled these pretty intials for her daughter.

Lisa stitched these lovely little birds!

Michelle tackled this mother bird feeding a worm to her chick, and all the way through Wellington, Sam's cat snoozed gently...

Back at Halfpenny Home the following morning I was met by the postman bearing a parcel from the USA, it was from Amy at Knit Collage and contained yarns from her new collection!

They are fab, Amy had sent them over for one of our online customers.

Amy had suggested the yarn Rolling Stone in the colourway Shooting Star as a substitute for Stardust Garland which is sadly out of stock at the moment. Knit Collage produce handspun yarns with trimmings added during the spinning process, they are so special it's no wonder they were so popular at the recent TNNA trade show in the US.

This is Candy Cane in Cotton Candy (above) and Blueberry Marshmallow (below) YUM!

All wrapped up and ready to go off to the lucky recipient...

Meanwhile, I had been given a job to do - some moss for Jane Southgate's art exhibit Rural Collusions.

We've been getting some of HH's enthusiastic knitters to make musrooms and we have gathered together quite a herd which will accompany the ones that Jane has made herself - each one has been lovingly made and returned to HH HQ and a slip of paper with the craftsperson's name written on has been placed inside.

Even though the pattern was the same the differences in yarns, needle size and the tension of the knitter means that they are all so different!

The Wednesday morning knitting group is currently held at The Rampant Horse Inn which is just over the yard from Halfpenny Home. Jane and Robert have made us feel very welcome and Robert brings us coffe, tea and cakes. Jane and I were particularly pleased to see Battenburg making an appearance this week.
Jane was showing off her latest non-fungi related knitting projects, the peaked cap and her socks which I'll do a post about with mine shortly!

I've been wearing my Colinette scarf almost non-stop since I made it as it's been so very cold and that means that I haven't had the chance to show off the button jewellery that Jane made me for Christmas!
But last night I was invited to have dinner with friends and took the opportunity to show it off!

I love it! Nic x

The textile artist Jane Southgate paid a visit to Halfpenny Home today - it's always great to see Jane as she always brings along plenty of cake and inspiration with her!
We helped Jane with a little natural dyeing in the Summer when we dyed some fleece, yarns and fabrics for her artwork.
To see more please do pay a visit to Jane's Blog where you will see some great photos of her work!

We were admiring one of the new Colinette Point Five yarns that Sam had test knitted up for us - Autum Leaves, it's so lovely with it's subtle browns and blues along with flashes of orange!
Just like the rest of us Jane is busy making a lot of the Christmas presents that she will be giving this year. She's made a fair few scarves of this ruffley yarn but not in this colour!

Jane had come along this morning to make some covered buttons with the button press in the studio, she'd done her prep during breakfast this morning - the circles of fabric needed for the die are exactly the same size as a plastic milk bottle cap!

Two cups of tea and a bit of cake later there's a whole load of buttons, a few knitting pattern problems solved and 42 buttons (+ the 3 that Jane did for me!) on the main HH work table.

What a great way to spend a chilly morning! Nic x

It's a First!

Here it is! Our first ever blog giveaway. We thought it was time we shared a little bit of Halfpenny Home with you, so we've carefully put together a little selection of goodies that we hope you'll like including pom pom trim, gingham bias binding, velvet ribbon, a selection of buttons and a fat quarter.

To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is leave us a comment on our blog between now and 31st July 2010. It's as simple as that! Good luck!

We can't quite believe it but next Saturday, 17th July, will see our second Vintage & Craft Fair take place at Halfpenny Home. It's on between 11am and 4pm. Amongst the stallholders, Scoffins will again have their yummy scones and muffins for sale and one of our regular Halfpenny Home visitors, Maria will also selling her lovely button jewellery - above is a picture of a pretty button ring that she has made, together with the beautiful cake box also made by Maria. Hope you can make it!

Jacquix

Made to make your mouth water!

We've been dreaming of this day since February when we ordered these gorgeous Italian buttons!

Aren't they just fab?

They do really make your mouth water.....


These buttons are one time only releases so once they're gone, they're gone!

So I am busy thinking up projects to incorporate them into as I blog!!

Enjoy!

Jacquix

I'm full of tea and cake and I'm knitting - it's lovely!

This was the answer I had from Tina last Wednesday morning when I asked her if she was ok. I've been thinking about it all week and it still makes me smile!
We love making stuff at Halfpenny Home and the rose bag with the bamboo handles is one of my favourite makes at the moment. This is how I get people to cut fabric and learn to thread up a machine. With frequent applications of tea and cake the end result is a lovely handcrafted item of which you can feel very very proud and smug. The next bag class is Saturday 5th June 1.30 pm - 4.30 pm.
Hand-knitted bed socks = luxury for feet! How lovely would it be to knit some socks for someone you love very much? This pair have been in the shop for a while, but I knitted them for my mum so that when she gets back to the UK she will have cosy toes. We are starting a sock class on Friday 4th June 1.30 pm and the following two weeks. We will be knitting a pair of these together and if you would like to join us then please do get in touch for details.
Finally a photo of Button, anyone who has popped in to see us at Halfpenny Home has been introduced to Button and captivated by her and her fluffiness. She is just so lovely and here is also a photo of her when she was just 10 days old and tiny. Isn't she gorgeous? Nicola x