A star is born

Well two more stars actually to add to my total of five. I am happily hand sewing, paper peicing and adding machined borders...  How come my scraps box seems to have got full again so quickly??

Busy today, out dancing, see you again soon. Jo x

Bettine:Don't judge a book...

There are two surprises in this project. 

Firstly, the pattern. The Bettine dress by Tilly and the Buttons. I liked it but I always find Tilly's marketing a bit frustrating as the models are always absolutely teeny. I am never sure if it is for me or not? Anyway I went for the Bettine dress thinking if I made it in jersey it would flow and drape over my bottom rather than stick out at the sleeves and hips.

The pattern turned out well, it was so easy to do. I didn't do the pockets and I removed the cuffs after they didn't quite sit well, flopping down in the drapey fabric. But I was surprised how well it looked cut in a 12. It would definitely look fab in larger sizes made with jersey too I think - Tilly should show more of a range of different sized models.

The second surprise, the fabric. This fabric is my sponsored fabric from Minerva but when I opened the bag my heart dropped. I loved the pattren and colourway online but it had a real nylon feel to it therefore I was disappointed, that is the downside of online fabric shopping BUT when I made the dress it was superb. It has it's advantages...

The whole dress fits in my hand. It won't need ironing and I can dry it on a coat hanger in the airing cupboard. The fall of the fabric stopped the pattern from sticking out at my hips and sleeves so I was definitely convinced.

I really like it, it will be a firm work favourite I think. Might make another one. I have some fabric in mind from my cupboard.

So two surprises. Fabric and pattern. I am glad I took the plunge. I have found another pattern in which this fabric would work for but more on that later.

Have you bought this pattern? Have teeny weeny models put you off buying a Tilly and the Buttons pattern?

Leave me a link to yours if you have made one.

Jo xxxx

Birthday time!

We celebrated Little M's sixth birthday this weekend with a bake off party and some light crafting.

The children made cakes, decorated them and made a wooden spoon dolly. A bigger hit than I thought it would be. They loved doing them.

Mmm, yes she could melt her own butter with that smile. Don't be deceived, she is a feisty little character full of guts and determination.

I let them loose with the decorations and piping bags.

On Sunday we went on the train to Birmingham Museum and Art gallery for a day out. It was good, the children liked different bits of the day but on the whole I liked taking them to the big city. 

Such great experiences for two country mice. 

We saw: people with different accents, people with different coloured skin, people without a home, street entertainers, people playing music, food going round on a conveyor, women holding hands, busy places, quiet places, friendly faces and so much more. We must do it more really, I think it is important for them.

I am not sure they totally got my synopsis of the Pre-Raphaelite art movement but there you are! A good day out all round.

Thanks for popping by. Have a good week. Jo xxxx

Winter Project link party

I am joining in with Jennifer over at Thistlebear like many others to share my winter crochet project.

My cabin blanket has been going really well. I have only been making squares when I am there so it has been on the go since April 2014. That is fine but I ran out of wool up there two weeks ago so I brought it home for a bit of a re-think.

I have made 38 lacy squares but no plan - as usual!

I ordered some more Stylecraft DK this week to mix in with the colours and have enough for a border. I love this soft blue and was really pleased with the colour. The colours were inspired by the nature and blue/grey skies up at our farm hang out.

It is still going to take a while. All those ends, blocking the squares, choosing where to put them and then of course making a sturdy border. The blanket is quite lacy so it needs something to hold it altogether.

There are some lovely blankets on the links, not least Jennifer's hensfoot blanket which looks so cosy. Go and take a look.

Here's to some progress on this project. 

Jo x

Starting at square one

You have to start somewhere, right? I cut out my entire box of scraps in the summer holidays into patchwork pieces with absolutely no plan whatsoever. That's me.

I have made my first block. Hand sewn with paper piecing in the centre and machine sewn around the solid colour border. I think I will re-evaluate this when I have made about 20. I think I will probably have to re cut the borders with my rotary cutter for joining accuracy but I need not worry about that right now.

I have managed two more since I first started writing this post.

A purple one using my blouse scraps.

and another red and blue one using the rest of my owl apron fabric.

This project is a slow burner but mighty satisfying.
Jo xx

Sew Jersey

My sewing class have been trying to get to grips with sewing Jersey on their machines. It has 'stretched' them to understand all the dials on their machines - stitch length, stitch width and stitch choice.

I made a slouchy T from the October edition of Prima magazine

If you have this free pattern, be warned, it is mighty wide. This is a size 10. I usually cut a 12. I still took a curved chunk off the sides as you can see in the photo.

 

But it is slouchy and comfortable, a real home T-shirt for doing my Mundane Monday jobs. My class also learnt, often the hard way, that the neck binding on a T-shirt elevates the garment from pyjama top to daywear! They tried really hard on scraps first learning about the stretch ways of jersey. If you can master a jersey neck binding - the world is your oyster. 

Here are some useful links:

Kitschycoo's grumpy persons guide to knit bindings

mad mim.com shows all kinds of finishes

Happy sewing - I am off to have an hour on my jersey Bettine dress before I do the school run.

Jo x

Sleepover diary

It's nice. My girls seem popular at school. But the birthday parties are something else. The invitations come thick and fast. I don't think they really realise, it is me that gets the cards and the presents. Luckily I can make both which saves me a heap of money but can obviously be time consuming. Tonight Big Sis has been invited to her first sleepover. 

I cut out a little pair of pyjamas from scraps and appliqued them onto a rectangle of fabric

The two pieces of cotton from fat quarters were stiffened with interfacing then sewn together. I top stitched mine at the end remembering to sew the ribbons into the seam.

Then I folded some paper to make the pages, printing out a little title page on the computer. I added a bit of doodling too. Look away if you love your sewing machine, but I sewed through the whole lot on the machine. I guess it won't do the needle much good but it whizzed through well.

It turned out just fine. I have a paperback book to add to the gift too, my fallback birthday present is always a story book. Big Sis already has one of these little diaries which is where I got the idea from. Now they can both giggle, write and share stories.

I think I will knock up a few more of these and put them in my present basket. In a weird kind of way I am not worried about the sleepover as by a freak coincidence it is a new girl in her class who bought my dad's house in May. She knows the big house, the bathrooms, the huge garden and my nephew who lives next door. 
Weird hey!

Thanks for looking. Jo x