Big Announcment.

Domestic Kat Designs is having a huge sale!

To celebrate my 25th birthday this past Saturday, I am offering a massive 25% off EVERYTHING in the Domestic Kat Designs Folksy shop.

This offer will run for one week only beginning now and ending at 11.59 on Thursday the 10th of September. If there is something you have been ogling for a while now but have put it off now is the time to get it at a bargainous price.

All items in the Folksy shop are set at the regular price. Once you have paid, I will refund 25% of the price to you. There is also a notice in the shop to state this to protect your rights to this offer.

Go look now!

Once again I have to apologise to you my lovely blog readers. I have not updated in over 10 days. Shocking behaviour I know.

It has been a hectic time in the life of Kat at the moment. You will probably be bored by the details but Ill tell you anyway. My American Football team got into the BAFL division 2 playoffs and our first match was on Sunday the 30th August. Not only was I preparing everything I needed for this match as it included as trip to Stoke but it was also my birthday on the night before. On the day of my birthday I also had a fair to prepare for so needless to say I was bit up to high-do.

My team won their game in Stoke so this now means we have a trip to Leicester looming this coming Sunday. Hopefully we can get past them too.

At the moment I am working on something very special which will be announced to you either later tonight or early tomorrow morning.

Some clues:

1) its HUGE
2) it is connected to my birthday.

Happy guessing folks.

Alternative ABC 's with Unicorns!

I have just finished the second of my Alternative ABC quilts. This time instead of the white Chenille backing I used a really gorgeous soft but heavy and hardwearing green fabric. This is the same fabric that I got from Standfast and Barracks, the factory fabric shop at my sisters.





Ill be honest this is the reason I bought the fabric. Since when does a unicorn appear as as standard option in an animal ABC. Other notable alternative animals were the Narwhal and the Yak. Love it!



#35

Handbag

I had some of this fabric leftover from the clutch bags I posted about a few days ago. I really didnt want this fabric to go to waste nor did I want it to sit in my stash for ages without having a purpose.

I decided to make it into this style of swish, everyday handbag as I had made two of these before in another fabric and were an absolute hit.



The handles are one continuous peice of fabric fed through two channels at either side of the bag.



#34

Alternative ABC

For my Christmas I got £50 worth of HobbyCraft vouchers. I spent some a while back and was left with £12 worth. I was determined that I was going to use these on a rotary cutter as I really need one. However, when we got to HobbyCraft their cutters were like £20! I was horrified as the one I wanted from Dunelm Mill was £13. So instead I thought, for once Ill treat myself to some nice fabric. So I had a little look and almost straight away came across this lovely ABC panel fabric.

Again, straight away my little brain automatically thought that it would make a nice blanket, especially since that day at a fair someone had remarked that I didn't have any unisex blankets for people to buy someone who doesnt yet know the sex of their baby. I matched it with an oxford pillowcase that I had picked up for 50p and some orange gingham fabric I had. I then backed it with a lush white chenille like fabric.







#33

Luscious Clutch Bag

When I picked up this fabric from Dunlem Mill I knew it could only be used for something really special. I think it is perfect for this type of clutch bag. It is such an elegant evening bag.



I put in a magnetic snap closure on this bag. I think it really adds to it and makes it look more professional.



I actually made 2 of these bags and used one on a recent night out and I loved it. Also people were completely surprised when they realised Id made it

#32

Curious George is Monkeying around

This Curious George fabric was another from A Fabric Queen on etsy. I must remember to send her an email showing her these as she did say she would like to see what I made from the fabrics I was buying.

I cut this fabric carefully so as to get the words in one piece and as much of the monkey in each piece too. This was orignally intended to be a Cosy Toes (more on this in a future post) but my sister said it was too big and she thought it would be a waste to cut it to fit so I made it into a blanket instead. I used the same lime green fabric on the back as is on the squares. I also put some interlining in between the layers to give it a wee bit of warmth without being too heavy.




#31

Tiger Paw Bracelets

A little while back I ventured into the realm of jewellery making. Well the very basics of it. When we found out my team, Glasgow Tigers, were in the playoffs I knew we needed to raise some money to fund it. So I bought the supplies to make some tiger themed bracelets.

These are currently listed in the Tigers shop on Folksy so we would appreciate if you take a look. There are also other items in there that I donated so maybe theres something there you've been wanting. Nows the time to get it as 25% of the proceeds are going to Yorkhill Hospital.

First up is this bracelet made with Tiger eye beads and ivory faux pearls. I made 3 of these. They come together so quickly.





This bracelet is my particular favourite as it is our team colours. Plus the orange beads are cracked glass and are oh my gooodness sooo gorgeous. I want to make everything from cracked glass beads. THe black beads are agate.





I also bought these Tiger Head Charms so that anyone who doesn't like the paws can request to have them changed.



#29, #30

Strawberry fields are yummy...

As you will all know I always like to seek out a bargain. I, quite honestly RARELY pay full price for a fabric. I will wait until a peice of it shows up in a remnant bag or I will trawl the net to source it cheaper. I also belong to a community on Liverjournal called ThriftstoreUK. Very occassionally someone will post up some fabric for sale and it will tend to be fairly cheap. This is where I got the main fabric for this blanket. It is probably important to note that almost a metre of this fabric from this community cost me a pound or two. Absolute bargain.




Ive also mentioned before that I absolutely HATE waste. I had cut all of this fabric into the size of square necessary so I had two squares of it left over and I had made up way too many of the terracota/yellow squares. So I decided to put these two leftovers together to make a matching cushion cover.



This blanket is a good size. I would probably say fit for a junior bed. It is probably about a foot to a foot and a half shorter than my single bed but wide enough.



#27,#28

My apologies!

OK its been a while since I last updated (wow feels like I am back in confession) but I have a good reason I promise!

The last week has been a bit crazy. My American Football team had a game on Sunday and one the previous Sunday which we had to travel to Inverness for. During all this we found out that for the first time in the whole time I've been there (4th season woohoo) we had made the playoffs. Yay! Although with the playoffs comes a lot of extra expense too so Ive been busting a gut trying to make Tiger related things to go into a Folksy shop to raise funds for the team. I will post later about the things I made for the shop.

Anyway enough with the excuses. I do actually have a bunch of stuff to show.



I got this beautiful fabric from a destash fabric store on Etsy (A Fabric Queen). I didnt realise at the time but it seems like it is an Alexander Henry print. I have to admit I just bought it because I know it would be perfect for making into a patchwork quilt. I joined this up with some pink and white and Lilac patches and I think it works really well.



The difference with this quilt is that I choose not to make it into a blanket. Insteaad I put two layers of thick wadding in between the patchwork and the backing and made it into a playmat. It is backed with hot pink fleece to make it hard wearing on the floor.



#26

Tote bags - hope you arent bored of them yet

I am from a family that doesnt believe in wastage. If I go to throw something out I hover over the bin before I drop it thinking "what would my mum think if she knew I was throwing this out" and "do I really need to throw this out or can I use it".

When at my sisters (most productive week of my life) I put together 4 patchwork blanket tops and for some of them I miscalulated what I needed to cut leaving me with a few squares left over so I utilised them by stitching them together with the idea that I would sew it on as a band onto a tote bag.

These will also give you a taster as to the blankets I made, which I backed yesterday so they are now all finished. Woohoo. I will blog about them later on in the week when I get some pictures of them.




And some Curious George:





#24, #25

New on Folksy

Hi all,

Just to let you know I have now listed the Time for Tea tote bags and the Kids Animals in Cars tote bag on Folksy.

Domestic Kat Designs on Folksy

Dont I just have the best nephews....

How cute are they? Very cute I hear you say and Id quite agree. You have already been party to the gorgeousness of my youngest nephew Kieran and my neice Emily Jane so now its time to showcase the other 3. THis is the reason Ive been quite quiet lately. I have been making kids size tshirts with one of the Glasgow Tigers logos. 15 of them I made!

I got some white tshirts from Tesco and my mum had this beautiful orange fabric that was just the right colour that she had cut for a pattern to make bermuda shorts. We have no idea who she cut the shorts for or when!

I took the logo from our helmet decal and scaled it up and down to make it proportional to each size of tee. I have made these in sizes 3/4, 5/6 (gone already), 6/7, 7/8, 10-11 and 12-13 and they will be going up in the Tigers Fundraising shop tomorrow.

And this is what happened when I said goodbye to my nephews...



#23

More Tote Bags

I made some more tote bags when at my sisters. This time I had about a metre of fabric with some cute animals in cars on them. Id had it for about 2 years and Id never used it because I felt the pattern was too big to make into a notebook cover or a quilt.

When I moved back into my mums house I went through all my fabric as I was putting it away so I would have a photographic memoir of what I had. I came across this fabric and straight away decided I was using it on tote bags.

These 3 all have the same image on the front as on the back:

Elephant:


Giraffe:


Cat:


Then there are 2 bags which have different images on each side:

Bear/rabbit:



Cat/ Giraffe:



These bags along with the other tote bags will be going up in my Folksy shop very shortly.

#21,#22 (only counting as two as two seperate designs)

My beads arrived!

OOOOOHHHHH the beads I ordered just arrived. Check back in about a week and a half to find out what these beauties are going to be made into.

Engagment Gift

As many of you will already know I am a member of an American Football team. I dont play but I am registered as a member of the team and I help out the guys on the sideline with anything they might need. We are two thirds of the way through my fourth season. Over this time guys have came and gone but you do have the core group of the team who have been here long before me and are still there.

One of those guys is Jamie. I refer to Jamie as the alpha male of the team as he organises pretty much everything (player related) and leads from the front. He also is a guy who makes me laugh my butt off whilst at the same time is a genuinely nice guy. For as long as I have been in the team Jamie has been seriously dating his beautiful girlfriend Laura. Laura is an absolute gem of a girl who, since the first time we met was chatty and friendly.

Well, a few months ago Jamie decided to take the plunge and ask Laura to marry him and she said yes! For integrity's sake here is a beautiful picture of the proposal:



So Saturday was the engagement party (the night before a game! the horror!). Now Jamie and Laura have been living together for almost 2 years I think so thinking of a present for them was going to be a challenge as they would have pretty much everything they need.

I decided to go with a twist on the His and Hers stereotypical gift. I got some beautiful combed cotton towels from Dunelm Mills which I decided I wanted to put a border of fabric on which I would then applique with their names. I have to admit I spent a good hour or so trawling through my fabric for just the right one and then ended up going with the very last one that I only found because it was in the box with the towels.






Here are Lauras which are pink. I made one towel appliqued and the other plain.





And here are Jamies:





The next day Jamie came and told me that he and Laura opened the presents after we left his flat and that they both absolutely loved them so Im very pleased with how they turned out.

Is it bad that I already know what I want to make for the wedding...

#19,#20