Crafting and Copycats

Busy busy and trying not to be busy…

Bump’s due any day now so my version of nesting involves hiring a cleaner to blitz the house and busying myself with sewing, knitting and crochet projects instead.

This is my Victory Jumper, an attempt to use 9 balls of Debbie Bliss Rialto 4ply in one pattern… Desperately hoping I don’t run out of yarn as this is supposed to be stash-busting rather than stash-swapping.

 

This is my last-ditch effort to challenge my husband’s tolerance and mental wellbeing. Needless to say, he is not impressed but I LOVE it! Lovely pattern from the Royal Sisters blog here.

 

Pretty top for post-baby tummy hiding, with fabric from the gorgeous Flo-Jo Boutique in Bristol and run up quickly one day from a now-discontinued McCalls pattern 5388.

Finally, a speedy sew-up job to duplicate the below Boden skirt in a denim ticking fabric I’ve had in my stash for years. Duplicated the pleats onto a facing and put in a metal side zipper. I won’t know if I look like a pitchable-tent until post-baby as this doesn’t come close to closing around my midriff at the moment.

I’ve also be dying yarn and playing with cable patterns on a pretty hat in the hope of getting my stash down even more before little man arrives. As it’s actually his due-date today, I’m not holding out lots of hope,but at least it’s keeping my hands busy while my abdomen remains resolutely inert.

Hey ho! Back to the craft room…

Autumn Sewing Patterns

The human condition has a wonderful inevitability to it… Feel hot and crave the cold… enjoy summer but crave winter woolies… tire of woolies and crave floating maxi-dresses…

And so it is that I come in from a languishingly gorgeous day in the heat of the barbeque-fuzz, thinking up autumn’s sewing projects and the range of ideas for those gorgeous yards of crepes, tweeds and boucles stashed in my basement…

Vogue 1367 – not the most straightforward pattern method to create this kind of look, but a very elegant result, nonethless. If you’re a newbie stitcher, Simplicity 2147 would create a similar effect with much less head-scratching…

Vogue 8937 shouts ‘Toast’ elegance at me… and would be a great wardrobe staple, particularly if you like snoods and don’t want a pesky collar interfering…

Vogue 8921 might just convince me to foray into knits…

Butterick 5916: Not convinced by the peplum on this one, but the gathered shoulder detail is just stunning…

And for the significant others in your life (not that my crew will get a look-in, mind, but may as well appear to be fair on the internet, at least…)

Vogue 8940 is a rare glimpse of beautiful menswear from Vogue…

And for children there are, as ever, a few gems in the books…

McCalls 6783

McCalls 6781

Butterick 5912

Introduction to Quilting Course photos

Lovely ladies, lovely quilts and four lovely weeks of patchworking, basting, quilting and binding to result in six completely different fabulous finished baby quilts!

Quilty weddings…

Scrappy blocked pinwheel as the wedding present for a gorgeous couple who got hitched this weekend… one of my oldest friends and the lucky man who got her hook line and sinker…

I think the pieced back may be my favourite bit but it’s all just so pretty and I’m more than a little gutted to be without it in my house… Will have to get stitching to make one for our sofa…

The hen party took place in a cottage in Shropshire and included beautiful food, pretty flowers and wine-fuelled stitchery…

The stitching was far better received than I thought it may be, with many of the hens working into the sunset on their squares, with two further additions received in the post later that week…

The hens each embroidered one or more calico squares which I then stitched into a quilt, interspersing the squares with Kaffe Fasset cotton prints.

Workshop pictures courtesy of a lovely friend.

If you fancy holding your own embroidery/quilt-making party with Homespun Living, bespoke workshops and a follow-up fee for the quilt construction start at £50 per head for 90 minutes and a minimum of 5 friends, including materials. See the website for more details and to enquire further…

Fresh Modern and Fabulously Made!

Having been brought up on a rounded diet of dressmaking and quilts, I have a healthy respect for the traditions and stories behind patterns and structures of patchwork. Living around the corner from Bird in Hand, and having a quilting teacher for a mum ensured I am well versed in the Bear’s Paws, Ohio Stars and Double Weddings Rings abundant in textiles history.

The only resulting glitch is anxiety about stepping far from that well trod path and playing with the artform…

This lovely little number is in its final stages to be finished in time for a good friend’s 31st birthday, in lieu of an appropriately grand 30th present! I’m going to claim that the pressie is an embodiment of our relationship: eclectic, slightly wonky and made even more colourful with a glass of wine or three!

 

Others, however, seldom create such ‘organic’ stitches… either by time, by skills, or by design:

 

 Owl by Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle

White and Stripes by Patchwork Notes

Square Lawn by Sew Much To Do

Grey with Rick Rack by TwistedSister#5

And then a few ‘in progress’ ideas too…

Circles on Linen Baby quilt by Blooming Poppies

Trying out layouts by Stefanie Dean

On reflection, maybe these designs aren’t all that modern and unusual after all… Maybe it’s just a brightness to the prints… But then, if my textiles history knowledge is anything to go by, the Victorian quilts were just as vibrant (or garish, depending on your point of view) with the influx of new dyes. It’s just that those very same dyes are wont to fade. Quickly. And leave things looking old and dull.

Dutch Quilt Cat’s fabulous double-sided family quilt from 1610 – nearly 400 years old… Extraordinary.

And who said traditional would necessarily be dull anyway…?

s.o.t.a.k. handmade

Just a fabulous children’s room… Such great colours – bright and fun without being garish and over-stimulating. How gorgeous.

Introduction to Dressmaking – Sample Skirt!

Following on from the mass listing of workshops for the autumn, I thought I had better get on with making the sample items for each workshop… Though I am currently temporarily distracted by my Ravellenic Games projects (2 down, 2 underway, 2 more to start before the games finishes – more on those to follow…) I have managed to get my skirt finished that will be the project of the Introduction to Dressmaking course which starts in mid-September.

This lovely pattern (Butterick 4686 – View C) is flattering to a variety of figures and is also very sympathetic for new sewers… Though it it designed to fit just below the waist, the wide curved peplum waistband enables it to sit at a number of points on your hips depending on your current cake consumption (!) and the accuracy of your seams! The skirt is beautifully full and twirly but not overly girly, depending on your fabric choice. The smooth skirt shape is flattering for curves and provides shape to boyish figures… All in all, a great go-to pattern.

The sewing skills you will learn by making this skirt include:

• seams and finishing
• zip insertion
• hook and eye fastening
• facing, interfacing and understitching
• slip stitching and hemming

not to mention the commercial pattern usage, trimming and sizing elements too.

I used a simple craft cotton called Heirloom Rose by Joel Dewbury, but there are many and various weights and styles that could be used with the pattern. Guidance and suggestions for types and sources of fabrics will be given when you sign up to the course, which requires you have a PAT-tested and fully functioning sewing machine at your disposal to take part.

Book your place now, or put it in your ‘to do’ list for the new year: January evening classes will be listed shortly so sign up to our mailing list to be notified of updates.

Crafting with unofficial materials Part Two

Part One here

My surfing and meandering through the long and expansive halls of the internet has unearthed this lovely range of little wonders: all available online and through the joys of Ravelry, with the exception of two books which are particularly floating my boat this week:

Uncommon Crochet and

Knitting Green: Conversations and Plant-friendly Projects

Suffice to say, they are now on my wishlist and have inspired all manner of pretty things on my needles (the imaginary ones in my head, of course. I’ve already got about 8 WIPs going already)…

And so, without further ado… the patterns… Will be sharing my progress on one or other of these in the near future… Let the string hooky commence…

Helen Limbrick’s Twine basket

Alice Merlino’s Starling Bag

Erika Knight’s Knitted Baskets

Kim Hamlin’s On the Go Bike Basket Purse from the lovely looking Knitting Green: Conversations and Planet Friendly Projects

Flower Burst bag pattern by Yasmin Gamal

Abigail Bailey’s Summery Jute Bag