The Make It In May Skirt Challenge First Finishers

We're only a week into the month and there's already three finished skirts. Whoah that was speedy work!

I had grand plans yesterday, but then had a little detour, so fingers crossed for a start today.

Photo Courtesy

This lovely skirt (Simplicity 2226) is by Lisa from The Princess and The Monkey.  Pop on over to her blog for all of the pattern details. I've already added this to my pattern wishlist as I think it will really suit my shape too!

It has pockets (my obsession)...

Thankyou Lisa.

Photo Courtesy

Next up is this gorgeous Wrap Skirt (from Nikki's You Sew Girl Book) by Leonie from News Views Clues & Reviews.

Leonie is an artist and has added a screen printed panel of one of her own works to the front. Gorgeous!

Thankyou Leonie.

Photo Courtesy

Finally for today, this amazing skirt is a Jody Pearl Splice Skirt by Wanda from WandaWorks.

It's just beautiful!

Thankyou Wanda.



So, first post and three completely different skirts!

The wonderful thing about this challenge is that by the end of the month there's going to be a whole range of different skirts that will suit different shapes and sizes. So if you're looking for the perfect skirt pattern to suit your own body shape, I'm hoping that this will be a great resource.

You can still join in the challenge at any time during the month. Links to all of the completed skirts are on the sidebar.

Please join the Flickr Group and add photos of your finished creations during the month.

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Flickr Group

Featured Hottie Number 26

It's a triple treat morning today as I feature the three lovely hotties from Lisa, her Princess, and her Monkey....

I was fawning over the fabrics on the top two when they arrived, as they'd be divine for skirts! Why does my brain always automatically revert to skirts at the moment?

I adore the fact that they're all so different from each other. I don't know how Lisa managed to get them all made with a new bubba too.

Just gorgeous!

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group

An Update and a Thankyou

A huge thankyou to everyone who has supported Handmade Help.

With my shop sales from yesterday and today, I have raised over $100 to donate to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal so far.

I've also bought some lovely craft things, including one of these gorgeous Itti Pouches by Lisa from The Princess and the Monkey , from which the proceeds will also be donated....

...and of course I've been furiously bidding on all of the handmade loveliness from the Handmade Help Ebay Auctions. I wonder if I'll eventually win one!

Love Fridays......Love Mail

I love when the mail man delivers pretty packages to my door....

....like this beautiful Itty Pouch from Lisa at The Princess and The Monkey......

I was soooo excited about the pending arrival. It's just perfect to fit lots and lots of my business cards (no more cluttering up my purse), and it was wrapped up in a lovely piece of fabric too!

Lisa has an Etsy Shop and a Made It Shop where you can find these gorgeous Itty Pouches. They would be a perfect gift for someone special.

Just to make the day even better, I received an email last week from Peta.

Peta's grandmother Pearl had received these tea towels from a friend who went to Malta. Peta had no use for them so she offered to send them to me. How sweet is that?

A huge huge huge thankyou to Lisa and Peta for making my Love Friday

Mikes Week of Happy - Day 6

Todays happy is happy mail......

I was extremely lucky to win Lisa's The Princess & The Monkey Blogtoberfest Giveaway.....

Look at this amazing embroidered notebook cover (with notebook inside) and matching pen holder....

I'm always fascinated by gorgeous embroidery stitches as I just don't have the patience to do it myself.....

You can't actually see from the photos but I also love the way that the pen holder is elasticised at the back. This means that I can take it off the cover and put it around the entire notebook, and then throw it in my handbag without having to worry about it opening up...ingenious!

Thankyou so much Lisa, this one is heading for my handbag right away....