Wednesday 27 April 2016

Needles and pins


Needle case
This little needle case was another quick project that jumped the queue.
I am planning a sewing box for a present and this is the start,
 along with a box of shiny pins and some 3" squares.

sewing kit- the start
 
I am thinking scissors, thread, felt squares and some more 3" cotton ones, buttons and a popper or two. What else is there that would be essential for an 8 year old do you think?

chives

The garden is really coming to life now despite the recent spell of cold weather here.
We rarely get proper snow down here in Cornwall but there have been a few sharp frosts and it is definitely not time to take your tights off yet!!
The seeds are all planted and were mostly successful with Runner,
French and Broad beans already in. Courgettes and squash are up, as are the tomatoes.


Antirrhinum seedlings

These little antirrhinums are on the kitchen windowsill for some extra warmth and attention.


Friday 22 April 2016

A Quick Fix..

Untitled
 
Sometimes when there is lots going on, nothing works better than a quick fix.
 
I am still working on the crochet blanket and also have three bits of clothing cut out as well as four cushions to cover for the seats in our camper.
 They all seem like quite big projects for the scraps of time available for sewing at the moment so instead I decided to make a completely non-essential mat!!
 
Mat detail

The gentle ease of sewing some straight seams between some 3" squares is something that I hope I will always find relaxing.

Little patchwork mat

If there can be a bit of recycling of fabric, in this case old jeans, then all the better.
 

Untitled

 
And a smattering of hand quilting always does the trick.


Untitled

To top it off,
the sun needs to peep through so I can go out in the garden and take a few unnecessary pictures!
 
Happy sewing.

Wednesday 13 April 2016

One skirt and two linings..

skirt
 
I am trying out a very old idea!
 Instead of lining every skirt, I have made the latest one lining free and have made two separate linings or sort of petticoats.
 
skirt and linings
 
The pattern was the same as for the skirt , New Look 6053 (used many times before), but for the linings I left off the facing and just put a binding on the top edge, a small opening in the back and a button to fasten it.  
 
skirt and linings
 
I realise this is not a new idea, in fact it's going back to how my Nan did it.
It may all go horribly wrong but I will let you know!!

 
The flowery blanket is coming on too and it is time to start joining it up and making some borders.
 I like this bit..
 
WIP flowery blanket
 
well that is after I have played with them and rearranged them a million times first!

Wednesday 6 April 2016

Just a bit more crochet...

but I will be sewing soon as I have had a trip to Truro fabrics.
Spring is definitely here and I am feeling the need for some dressmaking.

Any way before I get on to that, a bit more catch up from a week away on an estuary.
 
crochet hat
 
This is a hat that I made initially using a pattern (found on pinterest) but then heavily adapted as the original was a slouch hat that just looked silly on me- well even more silly.
The wool was given to me by Mum (thanks Mum) as leftovers from another project so I am afraid that I don't know the name of it either so I am not being very helpful here!
 
 
 
The bit that I did learn which was really useful was the ribbing which used fpdc and bpdc which were new ones on me. I looked them up and found that they were fairly straight forward and produced this lovely edge to the hat.
 

Yarn and sunshine and views of the water
 
There is something special about the light by the water and it was the perfect spot to sit and do some more squares for my blanket while watching the tide come in..
 
WIP granny squares
 
 
 
 

Sunday 3 April 2016

More Hooky

Sorry for the delay, I had planned to be back sooner but never mind.

I have been wondering about a poncho since seeing the ones by Lucy at Attic 24 but had trouble deciding on which pattern to use. So then I chose some wool on a whim- Patons merino extrafine Aran and started crocheting what I thought would just be a simple pattern. Oh my word how wrong can you get it!!!
So then after unravelling the thing I started again this time using a very simple free pattern found on Ravelry called Groovy Granny Poncho !

Poncho
This is the result.
 I added the tassel and flowers from Lucy's  Home Poncho here. The border is also "off pattern" just some double and single crochet to make it slightly firmer than the triples.  

Poncho
I really love it to sit under on cold evenings and the wool is beauuuutifully soft.
The children have however banned me from wearing it out of the house!!