Busy crafts... Terrible photos

As per usual, I’ve been stitching away and neglecting the blog of late…

However, it’s been fun to get some good crafting hours under my belt/machine/needles, so I’m not too apologetic, really, I’m afraid!

Top left is a the most basic skirt I’ve ever made and I LOVE it! The fabric is a border-print of snowdrops that was found by Tilly’s Great Grandmother in her ‘leftover fabrics from curtains made in the 60s’ cupboard which I seamed into a rectangle, hemmed and then threaded elastic through. Tilly loves it and the subdued pallete goes with a lot of her more shall-we-say ‘vivacious’ tops…

Top right is the Fisherman’s Top from the May issue of Making magazine, designed by the lovely Suzanne Rowland. I got in touch with her to decide sizing as there was no indication in the magazine as to what measurements the S, M and L equated to… I chose the Large and I was concerned about positive ease etc, as it was supposedly Small 34″ bust, Medium 38″ and Large 42″but in the end, took an inch off each side seam (though not arm seam – as these were ungraded, they fit just fine off the pattern)… The fabric is a vibrant-yet-muddy green. Not my usual colour shade, but with a Liberty Tana Lawn trim, it goes with a load of brightly coloured jeans and I’ve already worn it three times. It works just perfectly with this in-betweeny-not-quite-summer weather we’ve been having…

Tilly is sporting a simple top-down raglan made from a bag of ball-ends of Rowan linen-silk yarn. It was a case of ball of cotton for the bodice, join under the arms and knit in the round until the yarn runs out. The Owlet on the right is for a bump-in-the-oven and I’m hoping to find (or make) a pastel-based tartan skirt to go with it now that I know the bump is to be of the pink variety.

Finally, some present-stashing. The left Old Shale Cowl is for Tilly’s preschool teacher out of some thrifted yarn I found for £1 and the right is a Camp Out fingerless mitts pattern made for an international swap… The fact that the person who was picked to swap with me lives twenty minutes away in the neighbouring town is rather amusing, but at least we get to meet next week for a coffee and a swap-in-person…

In other news, I’ve managed to complete Jumper Number 5 of my International Sweater a Month Dodecathalon – more details when I’ve had a chance to model a few pictures… And you never know, I may just get the decent camera out and do it properly for you….

Stitching with Cath

Cath Kidson's St Albans store has begun a monthly craft night. With cupcakes. And Cath fabrics to play with. With lovely people. In their store. 

What's not to like?!

Two hours later and even I was surprised at my productivity. Turns out the promise of using the materials in front of you for one night only doesn't half speed up your stitching rate!

Two needle cases with a hand stitched charm about them... Will now be production lining these for the present stash...  And maybe even for a giveaway or two... Watch this space...

A lovely birthday party!

Happy stitching.

Happy printing.

Happy drawing and sewing and beading and threading.

And most of all, lots of cake!

 

And a lovely little write-up of the event here too…

 

Thanks to the gorgeous people at the Courtyard Cafe for hosting and the gorgeous Georgie for taking the photos too. Over £100 raised in two hours for a wonderful charity.

The best kind of feedback…

… is the repeat business of satisfied customers… I’m delighted by the number of happy stitchers and crafters who have returned to work with Homespun Living again and again.

I contacted one of my most frequent repeat customers for a feedback quote for an article to be published in a local paper shortly, and was bowled over by her words… With her permission, I share with you her thoughts…

I signed up for Helen's 'Learn to Knit' class on a bit of a whim after seeing a poster in a local cafe. I thoroughly enjoyed the sessions, which taught me all I needed to know to get started. I soon decided to move on to some more complicated patterns so I booked a few one-on-ones with Helen to further my skills. Since my first class last June I haven't stopped knitting, my favourite creations being a rainbow-coloured jumper for myself and two tiny Easter bunnies for my daughters.

Learning to knit has given me a much-needed creative outlet that I can fit around a very busy life as a Mum of two young children. I knit anywhere and everywhere, including on trains, in pubs, in bed, in traffic jams and once even at a pantomime (that was a bad idea - it turns out that knitting in the dark is asking for trouble). I find knitting relaxing, satisfying and exciting (it's basically a whole new wardrobe waiting to happen!) and I am hugely grateful to Helen for giving me the skills and confidence to get me started.

How lovely!

Homespun Living’s Birthday Party is this Saturday 20 April at the Courtyard Cafe in St Albans from 10-12pm. Be there or be square!

Stitching and Wishing for Spring…

Along with the rest of the UK, I’m waiting in vain for a glimpse of warm weather… I’m dressing far too spring-like and spend most days in a permanent shiver, showing off my spring wardrobe in spite of the wind, the frost and the SNOW outside. Tantrums abound.

I have enjoyed stitching for spring, though, even if it’s been far too cold to actually wear the items in question.

At least this one is not intended for wear until the autumn: an overly eager sailor cardigan for a baby not due until September – can you tell I’ve been waiting for this family to have a bump for a LONG TIME!?

The epitome of Easter summed up in one dress for Tilly – albeit far too cold to wear for more than three minutes at a time… Vintage pattern, stripey fabric and cotton pique collar… With obligatory pockets on the bias to negate the need to match the pattern…

 

And my latest homage to Toast in the form of John Kaldor viscose t-shirt with button placket back… paired with my denim trousers from Colette’s fabulous Juniper pattern… The outfit, I think, is elegant, classy, possibly a little too loose fitting and thus verging on unflattering… But still LOVING the look, despite my attempts at ‘wistful model-esque facial expressions….’

The stitchers from Homespun Living's latest dressmaking course have also completed their first adult shift dress pattern – much to their delight! 

What are you making at the moment?

One a Penny, Two a Penny

A lovely Easter Thursday squirreling away in the kitchen… Moussaka for dinner and homemade hotcross buns with custard for pudding! I managed to leave the dried fruit in the scales rather than kneading them into the dough… (DOH! being the operative word) but they were yummy nonetheless…

The recipe is from a very functional cookbook that I looked on with boredom and a bit of ‘meh’ when I was first given it three years ago. However, it’s a godsend: very straightforward and choc-full of every standard baking recipe you need to lay your hands on – the cake equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Cookbook…

As Paola has been complaining that she’s struggling to find a decent hot cross bun recipe stateside, I promised I’d share it with you – and lo and behold – the ‘look inside’ functionality at Amazon allows you to see the whole recipe in its entirety – simply search for Hot Cross Buns and it’s all there on p366…! Happy Easter and let me know how your baking goes!

It’s Official!

Birthday party preparations are well and truly underway… From 10-12noon, on Saturday 20 April, I will be here…

 

Come join us!

The joys of crochet

I’ve been getting around a bit recently, and thought you might like to see the chat!

Hotcourses Study Guide…

And having a lovely time getting prepared for the next few classes too with some patchwork preparation amongst other things…