By Request

Our son and his wife moved into a new flat recently, and on their first visit back home they had a couple of requests for their mum and her sewing machine!

First up, could I make one of those key holder things that I had made before for their brother?

Well, of course I could!

I upcycled some denim from an old pair of jeans (possibly belonging to the same son!) and some scraps of fabric. I quilted this with an Aurifil thread from a pack that I won in the December Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day.

I did think that the thread was a bit thicker than normal, but the variegation, no 4669 if you are interested, was perfect against the denim. Only later did I discover that 12wt Aurifil thread, which this was, is recommended for hand-sewing, oops! It still worked a treat though :)

The second request was more substantial. Apparently a draught of North wind proportions blows through their back door, so a draught excluder was called for.

Given the need, a quick make was also on the cards, so cutting into my cast-off denims again I came up with this for them.

The last draught excluder I made for our youngest son, when he was living in a draughty flat North of the Border, had embroidered fire-breathing dragons to ward away the cold. This time I decided to invoke a summer beach scene to chase away those cold North winds.

The beach huts are free-machine appliqued to the denim along with a yellow felt sun and, because we are in the North East of Britain, a couple of clouds for realism :)

Thankfully they are delighted with both of the makes and the draught excluder is doing sterling service already keeping their toes warm.

Isn't it nice when family have such faith in your abilities to deliver just what they need? If only all requests were so easily met :)

(Edited to add: you can find a tutorial for the draught excluder here )

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