only two weeks to go ...

Until Mother's Day! Take advantage of our free shipping offer until then ...

Visit the shop here.

Have a lovely Sunday!

baking :: lemony cream butter cake

I made the most delicious cake the other day ~ it's a lemon flavoured cake with a cream cheese layer on the top ~ truly divine! The (very easy) recipe is from here ~ which I gleefully found via Susie's pinterest page ~ thanks Susie!

Make it this weekend and let me know how you like it!

making lumpy letters

The other day I had an OK idea about making a little fabric sign for Yardage Design. So I traced the letters "y" and "d" in my favourite font on to some linen. 

Windows are great lightboxes ...

The idea was coming together. Now to the fun part ~ thread sketch the letters to give them definition. I don't know why I started with the "d" and not the "y" ...

In my enthusiasm, I launched into the thread sketchery with sewing abandon. Actually, in my haste I realised that I probably should have stiffened the back of the fabric with some interfacing or tear-away. I had neither of these things, so I just winged it and hoped for the best. This is what I got ...

There will be another attempt at a later date ... when I work out how to ask for tear-away in Spanish (everything is over the counter here so you have to know exactly what you want). 

The idea still works for me, but the lesson learned ~ none really. Just have a go and see what happens. You can nearly always have a do-over with sewing and it's good to learn through experience. That's how ideas evolve.

Have a creative week everyone!

plain basecloth fabrics now available!

Many of you have asked for plain basecoth fabrics to coordinate with handprinted Yardage Design fabrics, and I'm pleased to announce that we now stock some!

First up, the ever popular natural linen/cotton ...

Off-white organic cotton/hemp is also available ...

Both fabrics are medium weight (though the organic cotton/hemp fabric is slightly heavier than the linen), and perfect for dressmaking, soft furnishings, quilting and crafting ~ the possibilities are endless! These are the same fabrics we use to print our designs onto. Maybe you could try printing your own designs onto these lovely basecloths? We are selling these fabrics by the half metre as they are 140cm wide. There are more details about each fabric listed in their respective descriptions in the shop.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Incase you don't get our newsletter, there is FREE WORLWIDE SHIPPING in the Yardage Design online shop for all orders over $35 between now and Mother's Day ~ just enter the word MUM at the checkout.

lisbon, portugal

Happy Easter!
We have just returned from a few days in Lisbon, Portugal ... what a place! The lyric "beauty in the breakdown" has never been truer ~ this beautiful city is largely in decay, but in a captivating way. Great architecture, great food and wonderful people ~ we had an excellent time. I bought a new lens (17-50mm) for my camera especially for this trip, allowing me to take some wide angle and better streetscape shots. Here are a few of my favourite ...

I also took loads of pics on my phone and uploaded them to instagram (@yardagedesign) if you'd like to see more of what I saw. Have a brilliant week where-ever in the world you are!

** giveaway **

Have you ever read the lovely (free) online mag Tickle the Imagination? If you haven't, you're in for a treat. The current issue is out now and the theme is "Home Sweet Home" ~ full of beautiful ideas, designs and photography for your home. It seemed the perfect issue to host a Yardage Design giveaway ...

You can win a market bag and tea towel of your choice from my shop ~ which are your favourites?

Pop over here to enter ~ quick sticks! ~ entries close on 14 April at midnight (EST).

Happy reading!

salamanca, spain

Salamanca is a small city in the north western part of Spain ~ about 2 hours drive from Madrid. It was the first place we lived when we came here and holds a special place in our hearts. It is a magnificent, historic place, and if you're ever visiting Spain, don't miss it. We spent a couple of days there this past week, so I thought I'd share a few of the pics I took (macro lens) ...

I also took lots of pics on my phone and put them on instagram if you're interested in seeing more. You can find me on instagram via @yardagedesign.

Cheers!