Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

I love making little stitched items which are useful but have a touch of whimsy about them....  I don't make them often but I have released this one for sale in my Etsy shop.  The beautiful spring garden colours of this floral print make this little pouch a perfect gift for someone special. The pouch is small but surprisingly roomy - enough space to hold a few keys, money, secrets, or those special little treasures or it can hang as a decorative item on a wall or dressing table . The pouch and lining are made from quality cotton fabric, with a double drawstring and hand stitched fabric beads. The feature of pouch is the folded fabric flower and suffolk puff embellishment, enhanced by the fabric covered button, hand painted face. Size height 10cm/4 ins; Width when closed 5cm/2ins when open 13cm/5ins Contents of pouch pictured  are not included. Free shipping within Australia. 

To celebrate February - the month of Valentine's Day, the Down Under Street Team (DUST) has a theme of "Roses are red, violets are blue" for its Etsy sale. I didn't really have anything in my shop which fitted this theme, so last night I created this little violet petal pouch just for the sale. I  searched my fabric stash for fabric with roses, but found this violet fabric which I forgot I had. I also adapted the pattern from one of inspirational books, Omiyage - Handmade Gifts from Fabric in the Japanese Tradition by Kumiko Sudo. I rediscovered this book on my shelf recently. It was a Christmas gift from my mother in 2003. I made little pouches like this previously and used a polymer clay face, but on this one, I covered a shank button with fabric and drew and coloured a little face. I was trying for " sweet and pretty" so I think I almost got it! The kiss curls were an afterthought. I have always thought fabric "beads" were a bit special, but t...