Come down happy!

I have 'real' work today but my thoughts are still with my two crochet groups from yesterday whilst chanting this mantra.

I loved it all so very much. Thank you for your supportive comments they mean the world to me. Jo xx

Such Joy

I have to blog my feelings of such utter joy. I have had a venture up my sleeve for a while now, I have wanted to teach crochet classes. Today I met my first four victims enthusiasts. They were all charming and we learnt to chain and hold the hook.

Three were knitters and one was a yarn novice all keen to learn something new. The course lasts for five weeks, one hour every Tuesday morning. I stocked up on thick yarn and a load of hooks. There was chat, tea and carrot cake.

 

We learnt to chain and get the hold right which was harder than I thought. You don't realise that crochet becomes a hand action you can just do. One lady moved onto making a flower with chains and the others made big long strings which they were very proud of. I loved it - the meeting people and seeing their faces change as they made progress, it was so heart warming.

 

I live in a three story house and my dining room and hall come off the front door so people came into my dining room all set up for a creative hour. Guess what? I have four more this evening so the table has been reset for the some more lovely people. Tuesday is crochet day.

PS: Still doing my dress, mum is coming for the final finish on Wednesday morning - very excited about life in general!

Jo xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Holiday fun

The girls had some holiday fun fabric painting onto cotton squares. It was the last day of their Easter holidays today.

 

We decided what to do with them after they were dry. Ideas included Wendy House curtains, cushions or a play pocket.

 

The play pocket seemed a good idea so it was time to try out the machine a bit more, play with the tension, needle, fabric thickness, bobbins etc. I think I am getting better if I take more time.

This is the play pocket in situ in the Wendy house. Little M has already filled hers with farm animals and has requested I put sweets in the pockets for them to find (good try!) Big Sis is sorting out her pencils as we speak so that she can fill her pockets with drawing things. They loved it and it lured them outside for an hour this afternoon. They changed into flip flops which is surely a measure of how much they are gunning to play outside in nice weather.

 

Another little item that is giving everyone in our house pleasure.

 

I have put the lining in my dress skirt and had a little try on today with mum putting pins in the back for a good zip fit so more of that later this week. It has been a very popular post and thanks for all your lovely comments about it, it has really spurred me on. Stay tuned.

 

Jo xx

Crafting for girls

I came across a lovely blog called Ladybird diaries where she mentioned a magazine called Ruby Loves.

I knew that straight away Big Sis would love it but seeing as my budget doesn't quite stretch to a magazine subscription for myself, I was a bit wary of a full years worth but you can have a 12 week subscription which I thought was a good compromise. Can't wait to see her face when this drops on the hall floor. Maybe I can convince both girls to share the magazine and goodies- I'll let you know how that goes.

Jo xx

The skirt

A little bit more... slowly, slowly...

Want to see a bit more?

The skirt lining is next, which should give the skirt a bit more oomph! Does it need more oomph?

Happy Sunday xx

Injury in action

I am a bit lost at the moment as I have hurt my right shoulder. It has been niggling me since I did that mammoth craft room tidy and painting session see here.

So I have not been able to knit or crochet because it hurts too much, then again everything hurts and I have found it hard to do nothing. It has made me realise how much I pack into my days. I am particularly annoyed as I have received my wool order for some projects I have had in my head for a while.

 

 

I have turned to the sewing machine for solace because of all the craft things I do, that one is the least painful. I bought this fabric about 15 years ago and found it under the spare room bed.

It is a shot silk with embroidered flowers and I was going to make an evening dress with it and never got round to it (jeez and that was when I was on my own, what did I do with my time back then??) So I am making the dress now for a ball we are going to in October. Here is the pattern.

I am making the blue one as I felt this was the style that had dated the least in my 15 year ownership of this pattern.

It is going really well and I am making it slowly and carefully. I have learnt a lot about my machine during this make which has made sewing a little easier. Firstly, you need the right stuff for the job. I had to buy good quality Gutermann thread and a silk needle for starters and I am convinced that the hard going effort required to manoeuvre my pinking shears has contributed to my bad shoulder so I treated myself to a new pair using a gift card I was saving from my birthday in January.

My good friend said rather alarmingly, "Are you making the whole thing with the flowery material?" and I replied " Yes, people will think that's great, it's just Jo in a big flowery 1950's party dress" and she relented and said " Yeah! you can get away with that because it is you!" So I hope I can continue that confidence through to the actual evening...

I am going to do a bit more this afternoon while the children play outside and Bloke is into some heavy garden building. Have a lovely weekend whatever you are up to. Jo x

Zippy #2

Here is another batch of my Zippy booches in the latest colours found in charity shops. The colours are quite Spring like don't you think?

 

Chat soon. Jo xx