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…

Beginner Sewing Tutorial Roundups

There are so many beautiful and inspiring ideas for what to make once you’ve mastered the basics of sewing… A number of the students of my Learn to Love Your Sewing Machine class ask what to do next… here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing…

How about a simple drawstring bag? I spent a while thinking these were utterly useless beyond that annoying ‘first Home Ec project’ until I had Tils…. and her toys… So many little pieces… And so few come with their own long term storage solution… These are great for puzzles, games, goody bags, craft project bags or for wrapping awkward items… Made in a pretty lightweight cotton they also work as laundry bags for holidays or children’s rooms… As Cath Kidston can testify…

Storage baskets are another simple and useful make that will make your life easier… and more pretty… and maybe more organised…

In the Learn to Love Your Sewing Machine class we make a simple pillow… There are a few ‘frills’ you can add to the basics that we taught to send it into the realm of utterly fabulous… Tooth fairy pillow? Buttons? Letters? Pretty trims… The options are endless and easily findable… Ultimately, there are lots of lovely ideas out there to explore. Pinterest, blogs, company websites like Good Housekeeping, Channel4 and Hobbycraft all offer a range of ideas and lessons.

Happy stitching and crafting!

Holl

Pretty jumper all finished from Jamieson & Smith Shetland Aran.

 

Although I love it, it was really just too big, and so I’ve sadly decided to frog it. The sizing stipulates that, with the batwing, it ‘functions as a traditional bust size x’…. I didn’t, however, take into account that my bust is large in relation to my waist, and should have probably gone for a bust size smaller than usual… My fault entirely…

 

Luckily I’ve got a lovely mum who is willing to re-knit it and prevent the depressing horridness of going back to square one… I love oversized, but this image taken by a friend at a hen do this weekend guaranteed that it just had to go….

 

 

Hey ho.

 

Live & learn!

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…

 

How to choose a Sewing Machine…

I often get asked by interested crafters advice on which sewing machine to buy, or what features to look out for. So here goes…

I usually begin my advice by comparing sewing machines to cars: I'd be keen not to suggest one and only one model or even brand being the 'best' as there are so many factors to consider... There are many different styles or features that certain sewers prefer, or have got used to during their sewing life. So… my personal experiences have lead me to suggest the below – but please bear in mind this is very much my opinion…

I suggest that moderately heavy is usually better - you want the machine to stay in place on the table while the (possibly heavy curtain or large dress fabric?) project goes through the machine rather than drag the machine across the table. The 'lightweight' claim that a few make doesn't actually necessarily translate into a pleasureable sewing experience in my opinion, though it does potentially make storage marginally easier…

Also - you only really need a few functions. As long as the needle can go left and right (ie it can zig zag-and is also therefore able to insert zips) and it can maybe do a buttonhole or two, you will have plenty on there. Basic ‘feet’ options that you may find useful would be a zipper foot and a clear general sewing foot (so you can see where you’re going) as well as a button hole foot are good for starters. Extra options that you can purchase as they become of interest to your craft could include: overlocking, hemming, freeform embroidery and a walking quilting foot …You are unlikely to need computerised models that can embroider Shakespeare, so don't be readily convinced that you *may* need that in the future... It's unlikely and you will end up spending £100+ more than you need to!

Brands to look out for that I rate highly would be Janome, Brother and Toyota (the make that I have). Sewingmachinediscount.co.uk is based in Borehamwood and are very helpful on the phone and/or their website is very slick. I would suggest not choosing a non-branded machine – ie a cheap and cheerful own-brand model – as services and replacement or supplementary parts will be more tricky to come by and will not necessarily translate into a long term value-for-money price. The machine that I have now, I have owned for 10 years and is still going strong. Services can cost about £50, so be prepared to spend about £150-£200 initially in the understanding that, with maintenance and regular service, you should hopefully have a machine that works happily for 25+ years. 

Here at Homespun Living, one of our most popular classes is 'Learn to Love Your Sewing Machine' and I have them available for booking once a month for the forseeable future… I’m keen for people to learn how to use a sewing machine on their own model. They generally work on the same basic principles, but to new stitchers, the details that each model use are easier to comprehend (and replicate at home without a tutor) on your own machine. The course is 3 hours long at the Courtyard Cafe in St Albans with classes limited to 5 people. We cover threading the machine and the bobbin, as well as tension, stitching and trouble-shooting your machine, finally working towards making an appliquéd cushion.

 

Do get in touch to chat about your thoughts, but the best advice, really, is to get your hands on a few models and brands and see what you prefer. Don’t be afraid of your machine – once you’ve parted with your pennies… Get stitching and you will happily get used to working together with your sewing machine to make and amend many and various projects in the future!

Happy stitching!

Work in progress

My interpretation of this dress.

Source: hautelook.com via Helen on Pinterest

Captured by my three year old wielding an iPhone.

Colette Juniper Trouser Pattern

A few little ta-da's to do around these parts… All my classes have rather got me back on the saddle as it were and I’ve been enjoying foraying into knitting, crochet, sewing and patchwork, inspired by the enthusiasm I’ve had from the Homespun sessions.

First up, a pair of trousers that were finished just before Christmas and have had plenty of wear already. I have plans for a heavy denim/smart jeans pair for the spring, as well as maybe a linen pair or five too…

I’ve never really had a particularly satisfying relationship with trouser sewing, to be honest, and as Tilly & The Buttons found out when she did her statistical analysis last year, most home sewers agree with me. I find there are just too many factors to get just right, and too many margins for fitting errors to lend themselves well to make-it-yourself with all the time, money and effort that that entails. I’ve tried, goodness knows I’ve tried. As a 5’11” lady, I’ve tried plenty of times, but the length has always been a faff, the fittings are usually dodgy around the *ahem* crotch area and the waist-line has rarely sat where I’d like it too – the slightly dropped-waist-but-not-bumster level…

Anyway… Onto this project…

As with most of my inspiration, I saw a fabulous pair of wide-legged thick corduroy trousers in Toast and fell in love. I was not able or willing to pay the £179 price tag and initially, warded off by years of disastrous encounters between sewing machine and thighs, I hit the high street. What a failure! Will to pay up to £80, I could find NOTHING that wasn’t skinny in cut, flimsy in fabric or worst – high waisted, boot cut and too short in the leg! I attempted, for 24hours, to channel a bit of Chanel and wear a pair of men’s Joules cords, but the fit (shockingly!) just didn’t accommodate my hips and they had to go back.

And then Colette released their autumn patterns… And the Juniper Trouser pattern caught my eye…

And I just had to see if all the hype was worth it…

The pattern itself is a thing of beauty. Having been brought up on a diet of McCalls, Style, Simplicity and Butterick, with the odd Vogue thrown in on sale, I was happily and beautifully bowled over…

Gone are the architectural-drawing-scale instructions with their acres of uninspiring drawings and strange and wonderful suggestions for pattern piece construction of the major companies.

Gone are the almightily terrible illustrations and ugly fabrics of the major companies

Gone are the tissue-paper thin pattern pieces with unhelpful fits, measurements and sizings that bear no relation to my posterior…

If you forgive the happily-worn-for-two-days bagginess at the knees, I like to think that the trousers speak for themselves…

 

I was also inspired by a growing inheritance of seam binding and Laura Mae’s utterly gorgeous internal finishes, to bind all my seams in red, to coordinate to the Liberty print pockets. The red stitching of the waist-band hook and bar has been less successful and I’m going to try a bound buttonhole next time, but that’s a minor gripe.

The fit is just fabulous. The slightly dropped waist with rounded waistband is comfortable and modern without gaping. I took in about an inch at the centre back due to my hollow spine, but that’s always an issue for me so nothing wrong with the pattern at all! The fly front is beautifully instructed, but I would probably put an internal placket to prevent zipping in my knickers in the next pair. (I’ve learned on these ones to ‘suck in’ when doing up the fly!). The pockets are simple but shapely and a decent enough size to be useful. I had no issues with the length at all and had sufficient in the pattern pieces to make a generous hem and not end up with clamdiggers!

I can’t recommend Colette patterns enough. I’ve been dressmaking for over 15 years but still learned a few tips and tricks from the pattern instructions, while believing them to be detailed enough to be tackled by a confident beginner. The detail is helpful without being patronising and the images for the construction are clear and well illustrated.

I will without doubt be returning to their catalogue for my next few makes, not least of all as I’ve just bought their fabulous book and have my eye on the dress, top and skirt patterns contained within!

Top worn with the trousers above is my completed Jan Sweater which I’ll be blogging shortly too!

The Teacosy Pattern

As detailed here, an Oh-So-Simple Teacosy for beginners in the art of knitting. This would be a great ‘next steps’ project to get you from your garter stitch scarf to put a couple more stitches into your repertoire without over-complicating yourself too early on. Any terms that you’re not sure of can be looked up on knittinghelp.com. The pale green edge was a simple crochet round around the bottom edge to coordinate the rose in, but this was purely decorative and wasn’t required to make the cosy function!

Teacosy: Make two in DK yarn on 4mm needles

The cosy is made up of two rectangles which are sewn together with gaps for handle and spout. The top is then gathered using a piece of ribbon, either narrow ribbon through the stitches themselves or wider ribbon through a row made of ‘Yarn Over Eyelets’ to create the rounded cosy shape.

Cast on 52 stitches.

Knit all rows (this creates the ‘garter stitch’ bumps) until piece measures about 7” from the needle to the cast on edge.

[Optional row at 6” – Knit 1, YO, K2tog until one stitch remains, Knit 1, then continue knitting all rows until piece measures 7”]

Cast off all stitches and repeat for other side of cosy.

Seam sides, leaving room for spout and handle.

Weave length of ribbon approx 1” from upper edge (or through eyelet row) to gather top together. Tie into bow.

Flower adornment: Optional!

Cast on 40 stitches. 

Row 1: Knit across (40 stitches).

Row 2: KFB (knit through the front and back loop) across (80 stitches).

Row 3: Knit across (80 stitches).

Cast off, leaving a long tail to stitch to cosy.

Encourage the twirl and wind the rose up on itself into a loose spiral to create a flower. Secure with stitches using the leftover yarn and attach to teacosy at the side weaving in the cast on tail too in the same manner. Use buttons or beads, if desired to complete the fabulousness!

Put the kettle on and smile smugly!

Garter stitch tea cosy

I've been enjoying putting together my summer programme for Homespun Living and also for Lavender Green, a homeware shop that's branching out into craft workshops.

Working out what's possible in the timeframe of a workshop is a tricky business. Too much to do and the student goes away feeling overwhelmed or worse, disappointed at not being able to achieve the class objectives. Too little to do, and the student may feel bored or that they have not had value for money. Also, as the classes are supposed to be fun, there is a fine line to tread in not filling up the class so much that there is no time for tea, cake, chat and laughter.

With all this in mind, I have abandoned my thoughts of producing a teacosy in an introduction to knitting workshop lasting three hours. The project is great for many reasons but perhaps not in a 3 hour session. It is perfect for consolidating garter stitch as well as learning seaming, yarn over eyelet rows and also the rose adornment includes knit front and backs too.

 

And so... I have decided to share this oh so basic pattern on here, in part so I can pass the link on to workshop participants and also to enable new stitches to have another idea of things to do with garter stitch squares

Watch this space for an uploaded pattern shortly… :-)