If you want to get ahead, you gotta get a hat!

You may have noticed, my website is crying out for new bears, so this week, I'm back to work on a new big bear for the website. It's not going too well so far, because I made the stupid mistake of only cutting out one side of his back and then running out of fabric. Yep, twelve years in the business and I still make daft mistakes! Once I realised what I'd done, I quickly ordered some more fabric (thank heavens for internet shopping) from my UK supplier, so I don't think I'll be too delayed in finishing him. The fabric is absolutely beautiful, a real treat to work with ... dense Schulte straight pile 'zotty', a fabulous soft taupe mohair with soft frosting, oh yum! It's definitely one of my all time favourite fabrics.

Yesterday I tucked myself away in my sewing room to plan my design, cut out my lovely fabric (with the exception of one half of the back of course ... grrrr!) I trimmed the edges of each piece to give a professional finish to the seams, pinned and machined and today I will sew in the footpads, finish the machining and set to work creating the head, which is my favourite part of the process. With luck, this bear should be ready for the website in the next few days!


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Stuart had a wonderful day at the races when he went to Royal Ascot on Tuesday, by the way. His group was in the Royal Enclosure, very posh! There is a very strict dress code for this event, top hat and tails for the men and beautiful dresses, complete with hats (no strapless dresses please!) for the ladies. I'll include a couple of pics for you ... by the way, if you look really closely, you can just make out Her Majesty, the Queen, in the fuschia pink dress and hat in the centre of the top photograph. You'll probably need a magnifying glass to see, but I promise, that really is her!