This, That and Loads of the Other

Just dropping in with a little soft toy make. This is a very small bear which used up the last of some fawn yarn and miniature ball of left overs from the sock knitting bag. As with all toy knitting, the face is a deal breaker. I am not sure I have the eyes right yet but the nose was a good one. 

I will pop this in the gift box with a long piece of bunting I completed last week from some leftover triangles my aunt gave me after she had completed some community bunting. Here's hoping for a new born boy over the next year or so.

This last week or two I have lost my way a little with crafting. By finishing my epic projects of the Loki sweater and my postage stamp quilt so early on in the year, I feel at a bit of a loss as to what to choose next. Last night I had a scroll through Ravelry and a peruse of my PomPom magazines for inspiration.

Maybe the situation isn't being helped with a dog developing eczema on his undercarriage, my big girl is being tested for Lymes disease and there is only one road in and out of our town due to the flooding in Ironbridge. Making amazing things is a bit low down on our list of priorities at the moment!

Anyway, I wound up a skein of yarn last night, my last unused purchase from Wonderwool last year, and decided to start a one skein shawl. The pattern got going and I feel I will enjoy this over the next month. It also has a touch of hopeful Spring about it.

There has been sewing too but nothing to shout about, a scrappy cherry stone heat pad to finish off the bag of cherry stones that keeps leaking all over the place in the cupboard.

A top that ended up being too small for me in the arm circumference  but will make a nice gift for someone I know. The last of some fabric I made my Big girl a summer jumpsuit from.

A shirt dress nearly complete apart from a waist tie, buttons and button holes.

There was a used up bag of half made Christmas gift tags which I polished off and packed away for December. It made about 20 in 20 mins!

Starting the Indigo dress/tunic by Tilly and the Buttons.

You see, lots of things for sure but nothing that has come to a finale, a flourish or a journeys end. 

The next big thing will be just around the corner. 

Thanks for dropping in though. Jo xx

Miniature Vintage Sew

What a find, a vintage 1960's Barbie doll pattern.

My big girl wanted to do some sewing and rooted this out of my Vintage pattern stash pile, I did actually buy it for her but it was a bit too difficult at the time of buying but I felt she would be ready now. 

The joy, or indeed curse, of these patterns is that they require all the dressmaking knowledge and skills you would need to make real clothes therefore they are by no means easy. I encouraged her to actually follow the pattern to absorb some of the sewing lingo.

She made darts and learnt to sew them from the outer edge of fabric to the tip. She learnt that you do not go forwards and back at the tip otherwise you will get a tough nipple; much 11 year old giggling ensued. Finally she learnt that you need to cut a hepburn collar on the bias so that it has stretch and can stand straight without a twisted edge.

The skirt that went with it actually had full pleats with dashed pleat lines to bring together on the pattern which was a skill too far for her today. It was a positive experience but quite intense so I happily watched her bodge together a stretch velvet skirt with no hem to go with it. 

Making dolls clothes brings back happy memories for me, I used to do it when I was about 10. Any happy memories for you? 

Jo xxx

Crochet Bunny

Here is a new creation: a crochet bunny. It used up some of the Drops Muskat cotton yarn left over from a baby blanket. I forgot how much counting was involved with toy making but I pressed on. Making two of something is not my forte. I go off piste all the time and then have to remember how to replicate what I have done for the other leg/arm/ear.

Anyway, it was fun to make and will make a lovely addition to the baby blanket gift.

Making the face for a toy is always a deal-breaker. This one is a better style than the one in the book but could be better; it is satisfactory even if he/she does look a little pensive.

The ears are really tactile, all soft and squidgy, due to the double layer of crochet and the addition of felt. 

I like his proportions and can imagine him being dangled from a toddlers small hand by either his arm or leg - but not his ear that would hurt him too much!

The pattern is from the DK book of bumper Crochet which was given to me in a bag of stuff the week I was trying to declutter but I couldn't resist keeping this versatile book of patterns and techniques - I have more ideas in the yarn bag.

Thanks for dropping by.

Jo xx

Walkley T-shirt

It is a strange thing to hear myself saying this but I don't have any T-shirts! I have got to the useful end of most of my shop bought T-shirts over the last eight years and when I went to pack for holidays in May I realised I had two - a grey one and a black one. meh!

From Minerva this month I chose an indie designer I had not tried before. MIY collection is small but interesting. On opening my parcel I was surprised to see the Walkley T-shirt pattern in a paper bag. It was useful because when it was all cut out, I popped everything in the bag for a sewing day.

This is a great pattern for anyone starting out with stretch knit fabrics. The shape is simple and the neckline and armholes do not require bindings. This is s good skill to have but if you want to make your first stretch item this is a fantastic pattern. It comes on one sheet and can be modified into a T-shirt dress very simply.

This fabric is super top quality - a little more expensive than single jersey but worth it. If I am making a T-shirt I want it to last and not go baggy. It is John Kaldor Cadiz stretch cotton jersey and comes in nine colours. It is easily a good enough grade to make the dress. I chose red because I wear a lot of navy and it is good to make solid colour garments from time to time. I learnt this during Me Made May 2016.

It goes with lots of things and I really like the shape. Such an easy sew. I already have a cream marl one cut out. 

Just a little aside and a snazzy tip, I use up all the thin off cuts of jersey that curl up by stretching them into tubes - so satisfying. What for I hear you cry?

They make great garden ties for tender plants, runner beans and roses. They flex as the plant moves in the wind and they do not cut into the stem. They are easy to untie instead of having a knot in a piece of string. I have used old T-shirts of Andy's in the past but I always use off cuts too. See. This is my new passion flower which is growing at a tremendous rate of knots.

Thanks Minerva for this top quality jersey knit. Jo xxxx

Emergency Hedgehog

On Friday night I had to make an emergency hedgehog! My girls received knitted Hedgehogs from Sue at Sweet pea family over two years ago and little M lost hers after taking it to school last week. 

She tried the detachment theory saying she didn't care about it anyway which she often does (sometimes about us!) but by bedtime she was really sad. She was crying quiet tears, avoiding her bedtime story which was called Lulu and the hedgehog unfortunately and wanted a hug. 

We went on Ravelry together and chose a pattern to try. And so it was I spent Friday night making a little hedgehog. She put out an egg box for me to put it in so that if she woke in the night she would see it. By 9:00am the next morning she had furnished it with bottle tops, a bedding area and food.

Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do! Jo x

Hooray! vintage dress 1968

My Minerva make this month has been my most successful vintage pattern make yet. It is a pattern that is size 16 for a 36" bust(please!). It was easy to fit by simply altering the back darts for my sway back and chopping the length because I am short. The rest was cut and sewn to the seam allowances so I will definitely be making this pattern again.

The fabric is a lightweight linen with a tulle ribbon sewn on. It is a stunning fabric before you even cut it. It's £6.99 a metre and I used two metres.

I seem to have a pattern placement there that mimics my intestines!

I used the fabric to my best advantage. I loved that ribbon but it looked a bit like it could be scratchy over time so I cut the sleeves using the wide un-ribboned-selvedge edge. It made the sleeve cuffs really smooth especially on my underarm. I did the same on the hem to stop it rubbing away at my tights. You don't know you are going to do these things until you see and feel the fabric but it is always good to have an open mind and be ready to adapt.

I think the Hepburn collar is such a stylish cut.

This is how the body shape is formed. There is a bust dart, and side front darts finished with faux pocket details. Circa 1968. Cool.

It is lined and is one of the most comfortable dresses I have made. I wore it to work and had lots of compliments including "Where did you get that dress from?" I swoon over that sort of comment, it means it doesn't look handmade and I must be improving.

Thanks Minerva.

Another make towards my Vintage Pledge 2015 with Stitching Odyssey

Yesterday I made...

Where has the week gone? this working malarkey doesn't half take up your time... anyway...
Yesterday I made a sparkling Barbie evening dress, just because I wanted to knit.

I cast on last night.

Did little bits here and there: before breakfast, when I got in from work, watching the girls playing in the garden while dinner cooked, in the bedtime chair while they went to sleep and then a bit more while I enjoyed a cuppa in the evening.

The pattern is free from here. There is a lot of choice and they are easy to make. One of my most favourite things to do is leave my handmade things at the end of my girls beds so that they can see them when they wake up.

Did I really need to make this? probably not but it was quick and easy and satisfying. It was much sought after this morning, suppose I will have to make another one now!

Ah! Happy Knitting Jo x

Oliver

Now, these are not scraps, these part balls are a kind gift from a lady who has just finished my crochet classes. She gave them to me after she had finished a baby blanket for her grandchild with a thank you card. It is the softest baby alpaca you can imagine.

What to do with such a quantity? I went to the library last week with the twirly girlies and spotted this book.

It is full of the most classic, gorgeous bear patterns.

I fell in love with Oliver, he is beautiful and luckily quite small so I cast on immediately. I have enjoyed making him over the week in little snippets of time in the sunshine.

After a little sit in the garden I had this little pile of limbs.

One evening I stuffed and sewed. I can make neater seams with the stocking stitch side showing so I went for that.

Now for the crucial and deal-breaking part of making any toy, an endearing face. (I'm sorry to report that Baboushka went out in the cull)

Here is Oliver all finished and happy. 

I am saving this toy for my present box for when a baby is born. I have made the limbs very secure and used thread for the face, no beads. I might also put him into our local show in the knitted toy category in the Autumn.

Do you make toys? 

It is hard to get just the right pattern don't you think? 

Jo xxxx