THE stair basket

Making is slow going at the moment, I have a bad shoulder so I can only do about four rows of knitting or crochet before my arm aches so I am amusing you with other delights.

I often do a fun post on the contents of our stairs basket, a humorous look at our family detritus. Living in a three story house requires a great deal of re homing of objects and the basket serves as a holding bay for things that don't quite warrant a full trip up both sets of stairs.

As the children have gone back to school today now seems a perfect time to get some exercise and put some things away.

Bangles, flower corsages, sunglasses, pens, bits of childrens sewing, nail varnish, bug catcher, door stop, hole punch, hair clips, a water pistol, ball, holiday tickets to scrapbook, Meg's watch before it had a new strap, one walkie talkie, paintbrush, bath sharks, hair donut and all the little bits in between.

I bet you have a drawer, bowl or place full of your families bits and pieces. Maybe today is the day to give it a sort out.

Jo xxx

Red #ginghamalong

Hoorah! another red school cardigan under my belt. I like to make the girls at least one each every year. I have posted about them before here. It has taken a while because I have had to do it in small stages with a niggly knitting shoulder.

My girls never lose their school cardigans because they don't look like anyone else's, other children don't pick them up by mistake and I always add one of my labels for good measure.

This one is from Sirdar Seaside Babes. I made it with one ball of 400g WI Aran soft and smooth acrylic which was £10 but I have have some left over. I thought it was DK so it has knit up really nicely on 4mm needles. This is new yarn for me which was a delight to knit with so I am hoping it stands up to weekly washing. Hopefully no more shrinking like the beautiful sublime one I did! 

It is not the turn of Little M to have a new cardigan so I used some red gingham left from a school skirt I made for Big Sis last year to make a batch of scrunchies and a more comfortable watch strap for her with elastic. I love this tutorial which I have used many times. I am also joining in with Karen at 'did you make that' in the #ginghamalong

I have been making lots of things for other people of late so I think it is time to cast on my new GREEN jumper next.

Jo xxxx

It's been fun

We are nearing the end of our six week summer holidays but I know in the UK it varies. I also love that some blogs I follow are looking forward to their warm spells and I like following what is happening seasonally around the world. Our last little holiday projects have been foodie ones. Chopping, slicing, jamming, preserving, wine making, crumbling and freezing our allotment gluts.

One day I asked the girls if they knew what tie dye was. I had just made beetroot chutney and had the boiling water left from the initial boil of beets... There was a blank response so we set about having a go.

The summer holidays have been good this year: making, chatting, seeing friends and dear family, a bit of bickering (we are human!) baking and seeing the girls play together. We have been on a hot holiday to Portugal, visited the safari park, been on a River Severn boat trip, slept over at the cabin, loved the Steam Rally and called in at our favourite national trust places. I tell you what, it's been fun!

Jo x

Slim Hoodie

I have made another hoodie for Big Sis on request, recently photographed but made six weeks ago. The last one, now too short in the arms and the body, has been put away for her sister. Heidi just seems to be growing arms and legs at a rate of knots my sewing can barely keep up with.

The fabric is from myfabrics.co.uk,in my opinion the best place online to buy interesting stretch fabrics of all kinds. This is a single cotton sweatshirt fabric. The cuffs were in a bargain bucket at my local haberdashery for 50p. I cut them in half so I have the same again for another item.

I have made a slightly better job of the zip placket on this one but it is no mean feat to sew a line of top stitching in jersey cut on the bias whilst catching a zip and attaching it altogether to the sweatshirt at the same time.

I didn't line the hood this time. My overlocker stitch is neat enough and the hood can pull back on your neck if it is too heavy.

The pattern is from Ottobre magazine Autumn 2015. A magazine I can say I have used so much the pages are falling out. This sweatshirt is a winner in her eyes. She has been reaching for it first time when she needs to keep the chill off in the evenings.

Oddly, the very next day I received bags of clothes from two different friends jam packed with hoodies and sweatshirts from GAP, Boden and Joules, but there you are, that is just the way the cookie crumbles.

Thanks for looking. Jo xx

Green

I will hear none of this talk of summer being over, life here is still very green...

Lying in the park looking up at the trees.

Wild flowers on mass in a green park.

Picking green beans by the carrier bag.

Spinach ready for blanching, chopping and freezing ready for winter curries.

Runner beans are on the menu most nights as well as batches being blanched for the freezer.

The courgettes are prolific.

Bloke is still mowing the farm fields with his tractor.

The view from the cabin is still really green. Do you like the rail I put on the chair for Little M to hold the heavy binoculars steady?

A great August weekend visit to the Shrewsbury Vintage Steam Rally in the sunshine looking at the green nostalgia.

And just in case that non crafty gallery was not inspiring enough, I have chosen a knitting project to start when my shoulder is better - in green.

OK, so the styling includes a lot of brown... and twigs...and a rain hat but really? Autumn? pah!

Jo xxx

Ps. Thank you for all the lovely comments on my summer dress, I think that must be a comment record for me!

Cotton Lawn Vintage Casual Dress

I don't own a wrap dress. They are supposed to be the most flattering dress ever but for people short in the body like me I look strangely trussed up like a chicken. So when I saw a wrap dress in my new sewing book, Gertie Sews Vintage Casual, which looked a bit different I dived straight in.

I liked the shift dress style silhouette and used my Minerva fabric choice for this month to choose a vintage floral design unfortunately they have sold out of all four colours it was so popular! The fabric is cotton lawn and is very fine, slightly sheer in fact. I wanted this to be a dress to wear when it is so hot you don't really want to wear anything. 

I cut a size 12 but the photo in the book was a bit misleading in terms of the skirt. It had a gathered skirt at the back and sides which really did nothing for me! It stuck out at the hips and made my bum look huge in fact it just ended up looking too big all over.

The front gaped really badly so I knew I needed to shorten the bodice even more. I set about putting it right. I took out all the skirt gathers and added darts to match the ones on the front and back body. I also made these longer and deeper to take some of the gape out of the bust. In the end I added a side zip and sewed all the front parts down to my measurements. I can put it on like a shift dress so essentially it is a faux wrap dress now.

This project epitomises the reason I like to make my own clothes. I could never buy this and no one else will be wearing one, it is all mine and fits only my body.

Thanks Minerva for my August summer dress, might have to save this for next year now. Jo x

PS. I have cleaned the lens on my camera to find that it is all scratched Bah! I hate out of focus shots.

Outfitting with NEWLOOK K6127

I love it when you can make something to go with something else, especially if it uses up leftovers - I think we all know that about me by now!

I made a top and a skirt which went with my crochet necklace and my charity-shop-never-worn-Boden-sandals which I bought last week for 99p!!!!

The fabric was a remnant I bought for £5.00 from a Shropshire fabric shop called Textile Express. Good weight, superb quality, nice shop.

The pattern did not thrill me so much. I chose a Maria Denmark pattern which I paid for a while back because I wanted a skirt with a yoke but I hate printing, cutting and piecing a PDF especially when I have paid for it (I didn't read the purchase rules properly) and the instructions were vague along with unnumbered pages. Also it was not clear where to cut on the fold so my back facing was too small making my skirt a tad tight on the waist. All in all it wasn't my favourite purchase but now I have made it I know what to do to make it better.

The top however is from New Look K6217, a go to pattern for an easy skirt, t-shirt or capri trousers. It is meant for jersey but I used up the last piece of navy crepe (left over from my party jumpsuit last year) and made a back slit, loop and button to get it over my head.

This is a top that will keep on giving - easy to make, quick to dry, non iron, non crease, tummy skimming and navy which goes with everything. What more could you ask for? A useful 90 minutes worth of sewing I reckon. 

Jo xxxxxx