New fabric for my birthday

My birthday haul :)

So it was my birthday this week and I got to go and buy some lovely goodies including some bits and bobs I needed, pins and the like and some fabulous fabric.  I also got treated to a trip to the lovely Patisserie Valerie in York city centre where I had a well earned latte together with a delicious pecan and walnut tart.  Nom nom nom!

Needless to say I was itching to get crafting as soon as I got home but knowing the perils of sewing with cotton before laundering it, I duly popped it in my washing machine and hung it on the line (always a bonus when you live in Britain) and then lovingly ironed it.  It is time consuming, especially when you have bought the fabric with a project in mind, as opposed to just adding it to the stash.

The following evening was my actual birthday.  I got to go out for my dinner (with two very excited little boys) and had a lovely evening with my family.  After tucking my two little men in,  I actually got to the stage of laying out my pattern pieces and spent a good hour carefully making sure that I had placed everything properly and cutting out the pieces.  I had bought the lovely 'ballet shoes' fabric with a view to making the dress that I hadn't had enough fabric to do the other week so I wanted to make sure I got it exactly right this time.  It's going to be a gift for someone special so I want it to be right. Sadly(!), I missed the England match that night what with making sure it was all just so... I'm told that there have been better matches.

Over the next few evenings I joined the bodice at the shoulders, attached the skirt, as per the instructions, and then on Thursday evening I started to attach the neck facings and hit a stumbling block.  It just wouldn't go how I wanted it to and I was starting to get really cross. I actually had to step fully away from it as I got so frustrated and I hate to feel like that when I'm sewing.  My hubby came to have a look with me a little later and we worked out that the neck of the front bodice didn't match up properly with the back and so I would never win the battle as it was.  We discussed how to fix it without damaging the dress (I spent £20 on the material, I was NOT going to waste it) and left it for the night.

I have to admit, I ranted a little at work the next day (sorry guys!), but such was my frustration I had to get it out.  But, when I got home, I popped up to my sewing room (it's the spare room in my house, but I have claimed it as mine) and started to reconstruct the neckline to make it all fit.  I sent my friend, who also happens to be my fantastic boss, a picture of the amended neckline as I was so pleased to have succeeded.  

This weekend has seen a monumental amount of sewing and I have all but finished this dress (just awaiting a zipper now) and completely finished the original dress I was trying to make after altering the neckline and removing some of the pleats to give a more 'circle skirt' effect - total pattern hack but I'm loving the results, even if my eldest did comment that it looks like a school summer dress.  I've been told it's a compliment...

On top of the sewing I've been busy in the garden, catching up with the washing, (nothing like a good drying day for getting the laundry done) and headed out to the local castle as it was free entry to locals today.  I've lived here 11 years and never been and I have to say it was fantastic.  The tour guide we had was amazing and really made the history come alive.  Needless to say I'm shattered, but it's back to work tomorrow and even more importantly it's the Great British Sewing Bee final!!!!  I cannot wait.  Until next time, Mx

Tales of woe - football widow

Are we nearly there yet?  No, not the cries of my boys on a long journey, but me, sick of having my TV taken over.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mind football and until this week it hasn't really bothered me, but... I have a couple of big problems.

My pretty perfect pleats

First of all, I started to make a little dress at the weekend and after carefully cutting out and marking up the pieces, I realised that I had missed cutting out a piece of the skirt and in fact did not have enough material.  Nightmare!! So I've had to shelve that particular project for now until I can find some more fabric that will work as I'm happy with what I have for the bodice.  I'm also pretty ticked off as my pinning for the pleats on the front skirt was pretty darn perfect.



Secondly, I have finished the book I was reading and I haven't been able to pop to the library to pick up another one.  This is the first time in a looooooong time that I haven't had some sort of reading material to hand and I'm actually starting to panic about it.  My library closes early on Thursday so I won't be able to get one tomorrow either so I'm going to have to wait until Friday.  It used to be that I had loads of books at home, but I gave most of them to charity to make way for the paraphernalia that small children bring so I am completely and utterly lost.  Bless my little boys though, they offered to lend me one of their story books - sadly though I'm not that in to superhero stories...

So as you can see, my go to forms of entertainment are sadly lacking this week.  I have been reliably informed, however, that there is a break in the football coming so I am booking in to watch this weeks Great British Sewing Bee that I have recorded.  Happily I have avoided any spoilers so far :)  Sewing Bee to me is  slightly more important than Game of Thrones (and I have to admit I am a big fan!) but as I am massively behind in 'GOT' I have  come to terms with finding out what is happening in that one.

In other news, it's my birthday next week and I have just been promised a trip to a wonderful fabric shop and haberdashery that I know of this weekend.  I'm not so sure that the football crazy hubby is prepared for my wish list though ;)  To be fair, while it's long I've had the bigger items bought for me over the last few years, like my dress form that I got the year before last so it shouldn't be too expensive, maybe, if I'm good and don't get distracted by all the pretty bolts of fabrics and bright shiny buttons, and the lace and the... oh who am I kidding?  I'll be like the proverbial kid in a sweetie shop!

I'm so excited about getting some new treats and being able to get back into my sewing room to make some new things. Who wouldn't be? It's a great place to sit, sew and create.

M x

TGI Friday!

Wow, what a crazily busy week.  What with working late, appointments, guitar lessons and school discos I feel like I simply haven't stopped.  Worst of all the most I've done crafting wise is sewing badges onto my eldest's Beaver jumper.  Something I am certainly planning on rectifying this weekend although what I'm going to make I have no idea yet.

Ignore the muck - he's been making memories :)

I've got some 'to be finished' projects in the pile that I really should get on with, but I need something to get my teeth into.  I'm in the very fortunate position of finishing work for the summer in three and a half weeks and even though I know that my boys will keep me on my toes, I'm going to be in need of something to keep my mind and crafting fingers occupied. Suggestions/requests on a postcard please...

For now, it's going to be feet up and chill for the evening.  I think I've earned it after a busy week.

M x

Making and Mending

A busy weekend on the sewing machine for me, making and mending.

The smallest member of the household had a birthday party to go to at a local farm this weekend.  Stepney Hill Farm  Incidently, an awesome place for a kid's birthday party if you're local - they even got to feed 2 lambs!

As the oldest child was off on an adventure with the local Beaver group and the hubby was at work, the youngest and myself went shopping to see what goodies we could find for his little friend.  I was disappointed to say the least at what was on offer.  I'm sure that the birthday boy would have loved one of the toys or arts and crafts sets that we saw, but I felt that nothing was really saying 'buy me'.

So, after a brief discussion with my youngest, I decided to make a superhero cape.

Just what every self-respecting 5 year old boy needs, his very own, personalised hero cape!  Added bonus is that it's reversible too.  I have to admit I'm pretty pleased with it and I'm happy to say both Peter and his mum were chuffed with it too.  Of course, my youngest was very excited to tell them both that I'd made it ;)

So that's the making part of the weekend, along with a couple of things I made out of my scrap fabric stash ably assisted by my two little boys.  Nothing like trying to explain the magic of how to thread a sewing machine to a 7 year old who just wants to crack on and sew his 'Flash' pillow...

So the mending - I made a quilt for my bed as an extra layer for the winter months and to look pretty in the summer, but as it was my first attempt at something this size, it wasn't perfect and some of the material hasn't held as well as it should have (first and last attempt to save a few pennies, lesson well and truly learnt!).

Not the best photo in the world, but you get the idea. I think I took this late afternoon in winter just after I finished the top and before I created the quilt sandwich.  So today, after the fun of a bouncy castle party (and a jolly nice cheese, red onion and tomato chutney sandwich) I sat and made a start on mending the small issues that have occurred due to poor material choice.  I haven't finished by any stretch, but I know from now on I'll be more of as a 'quilt as you go' girl and will most certainly make sure I use better materials.  It's crazy, but whenever I make something for me I tend to just make do with what I can find, when it's for someone else, I go mad and splurge on top quality fabrics and materials.  

It's back to the day job in the morning and then I'll be planning the various products that I'm hoping to be able to sell at some point while the hubby is watching the footie tomorrow night. 

M x

Time to start blogging

Well I thought it was probably time to bite the bullet and start blogging.  I've been toying with the idea for a while now (along with starting my own crafting business) and realised that the only thing that was stopping me was me so here I am - HELLO!!

So who am I?

I'm a wife, mum, sister, daughter, employee, friend, tutor.  I'm a lot of things to a lot of people I suppose but for me, when I think about who I am, I'm a crafter.  I like to knit, crochet and sew and I have been doing it now for years, making various items for myself, my family and friends as well as the odd thing for a co-worker.

I loved this 'old vintage' blanket I made for my husband's colleague - such beautiful lace edging.

Like a lot of people, I got into crafting through my Nanna.  She was a very skilled craftswoman and my first memories of her are of her sitting at her sewing machine - a machine that has since been passed on to me.  I would sit and avidly watch her as she sat and created or repaired her various projects and beg to be allowed in the cupboard next to her chair where all her 'treasure' was stored.  Her buttons, yarn, embroidery silks, ribbons, feathers, beads and yards of fabric - a veritable haberdashery!  I remember summers spent sorting buttons into piles according to colour, size and shape and winding ribbons up that had become tangled; halcyon days indeed.

Despite doing little crafting in my teenage years - I mean, who does anything except hang out with friends and spend time on the phone - my love of fabric and yarn and all things crafty never dissipated.  After getting married and falling pregnant with my first child, the bug hit with force.  I wanted my child to have things that were created with love, but my sewing skills were incredibly rusty, my knitting was a little patchy and sadly my Nanna was no longer with us to help and guide me.  Needless to say, the advent of Youtube, along with some very useful books and craft magazines got me going again. When I sew, I often think of my Nanna, and I hope that she would be proud of me and the projects I am working on.

Now I'm mum to two very energetic little boys (and two crazy cats).  My youngest started school last September and time seems to be running away from me.  So it's time to bite the bullet.  Time to put my best foot forward and put those years of practice to the test.  Time to acknowledge that sometimes when people are commenting on how good something I have made is they are not being biased, they are telling the truth and it's me and my insecurity that is telling me the opposite.  Time to start blogging and crafting in earnest.

I hope you'll join me on my journey,

M x