Lots of happy things

It is so sunny here (think it may not last but it's wonderful for now - and I do hope you have it too) and I have managed to complete a few things in the last week or so. The combined effect is making me very happy - happy that I've managed to be a bit more productive and happy because I love the sun.

A new spring/summer coat for Islay::

                            

I've used Anna Maria Horner flannel - it is incredibly soft as well as pretty. I tried to buy it in the UK but couldn't find what I wanted (Courtney at Seamstar still has some but unfortunately not what I was looking for this time) so I ordered from Fabricworm. The buttons are glazed coconut shell and came from Raystitch. The pattern came from manimina on etsy and isn't meant to be reversible but I altered the closing system - by sewing the button through one layer of fabric only and attaching little ties (repeated on the other side). Islay loves it - isn't she a good daughter?!

A new cotton cardigan for Islay::

                      


Islay may be good (and actually she's probably rather better described as cheeky and quite naughty too) but she is also very lucky. My special mum knitted her this lovely cardigan (Debbie Bliss pattern and Debbie Bliss DK cotton yarn - the yarn equivalent of the AMH flannel above, it's so soft and has a texture I could cuddle quite happily for hours). It should have a zip closure but neither of us felt it did the cardigan justice and it really didn't lie well. So mum, just before rushing off to the airport back to South Africa, suggested a toggle and tie closure. I checked out my buttons to see if I had any toggles and spotted these buttons (from Raystitch again) which I thought would be perfect. I hope you like them too mum? I felt very nervous about doing this as I really didn't want to spoil her beautiful knitting. Again, Islay loves it.

Quilt As You Go (QAYG) blocks for Christchurch::

Some of you may know Cat who blogs at Catalina's Cottage. She is an incredibly lovely person who does very kind things and has been tireless in helping her fellow New Zealanders since their earthquakes.  She has already organised people from around the globe to make quilts to be handed out through local charities to people affected by the quakes.  Since the recent biggie she has asked for QAYG blocks as they are easier to bring together into a completed quilt.  These will be posted off to Fiona (footonthetreadle) who is co-ordinating things in the UK.  I do hope they help bring some warmth and joy to people in need.

Cushion for sofa::

I finished the final cushion for our sofa and I think it's my favourite.  It was fun to make.

Pretty flowers::

Not really something I have made but I do love flowers.  The lilies are a bit over the top and ever so dramatic.  The narcissi are rather more delicate and, I think, even prettier.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

My little monster

Angus decided on Tuesday night that he'd like to dress up as a monster for Comic Relief. We have a dinosaur and dragon outfit but, apparently, neither is suitable for what he had in mind. His request, actually demand, was for a gruffalo style monster.



So, yesterday I made a hasty trip to the local fabric shop (which I wouldn't buy normal sewing fabric from as their range is pretty appalling it is good for needles, thread etc though) and found some horribly synthetic brown furry stuff and some green and purple acrylic felt. If they had had wool felt I'd have bought it but really, thinking about it now, that would have been daft. What's the point in using lovely natural materials on furry stuff that should probably carry a health warning?.......while I was cutting and sewing it I did wonder if I should be wearing a mask as it shed so much fluff.



A couple of hours later (yes, I know, that's why I wouldn't suggest you look too closely at it and why it is rather shapeless) and I'd battled the fur into approximate submission. Now, the gruffalo has purple prickles all over his back and these just run in a line down his back and his poisonous wart should be on his nose rather than his tummy and he shouldn't really have spikes on his tail - but it met with Angus' approval and I think he'll go off to school tomorrow a happy little monster.



Islay has gone to pre-school today dressed in red from head to foot with a red cape, which I made for Finn a couple of years ago, as well for good measure.

Finn doesn't really 'get' dressing up but he has agreed to wear his werewolf outfit tomorrow....but I didn't make that one.





We, or rather John, cleared our loft at the weekend so it could be insulated at the beginning of the week. We had been dreading doing it for ages because of the generations of rubbish that has been left in there. Our stuff is fairly well organised in bags and boxes and took less that half an hour to empty but the 'historical' stuff took rather a lot longer. Sadly we didn't find any treasures. The only remotely interesting thing was an old high chair (anyone know how old?). It is in a pretty bad state and needs a fair bit of TLC but still works well and folds down into a little chair and table too. I can't quite decide what to do. I wouldn't like to take it to the tip along with the rest and I suspect a charity shop would just bin it. I'd quite like to sand it down but wouldn't know how to tackle recovering it - I guess oil cloth would be best to recover it but I'm not sure how I'd attach it. Any ideas?





It's raining here, again, today. We had a day of sun yesterday but otherwise it has been relentless rain for days. Here's to some sun and a lovely weekend for everyone.

At last

At last, some sewing! I have been working away at various bits and bobs recently but not really much fit for showing on here. However I do, finally, have some things completed.

A couple of Saturdays ago I treated myself to a trip to Leeds to join a Greycircles sewing workshop (run by Manda and Karen). As much as anything it was an excuse to spend a day sewing and have some time to myself (although by 9pm when I was getting off the train home my 5am wake-up was starting to tell!). I loved it. Despite both feeling under the weather Manda and Karen are great teachers and lots of fun. I got to meet Justine too - she and I started blogging at around the same time last year and have become good blogging buddies. Lovely and such a pleasure.



The aim of the workshop was to make a child sized dress or tunic top and reversible trousers. I made both for Islay (don't worry my boys couldn't care less!). I reduced the length of the dress to make it more of a tunic but perhaps was a bit overzealous so it ended up a bit shorter than I had intended. When I got home I unpicked the hemming and, instead, used a ribbon to enclose the bottom edge - which gives it a bit more length and finishes it prettily (tutorial here, it works really well and I have used it for hemming skirts for Islay quite a lot). I liked the effect of the ribbon on the bottom hem but didn't have enough for the sleeves. Instead I used a similarly coloured robot ribbon. I like the way the red in the ribbon helps bring out the red on the stripe of the sleeves.



Next up were the trousers. Couldn't be easier as long as you remember that linen doesn't have a 'right' and 'wrong' side so you need to keep track of which is which. As you can probably guess I didn't think about this first time round and when I came to sew the legs together I had fronts meeting backs - not a good look! Still, I'm much more likely to remember in future having stuffed up so annoyingly (alongside ironing unpicking is one of my least favourite activities. I'm good at avoiding ironing but less so with the unpicking.).



Islay loves both the trousers and the top so I can't really ask for more especially after such a fantastic day. I was also quite shocked at how much difference a really good quality sewing machine makes (I'm always wary of being a 'bad workman that blames their tools' and I manage fine with what I have....but I do now realise that life would be easier with an upgrade. Will just have to dream for now).



Next up are some new cushions for our sofa. I would have loved to have made some bright and breezy cushions but our walls are two kinds of blue wallpaper (both of which are shiny) and the carpet is a patterned green (unfortunately such good quality that it refuses to show any signs of wear)....one day we'll at least paint the walls but it is a huge room and the ceiling is high so we keep putting it off. So, cushion choice is rather restricted.




I used some wool I've had for a while for the cats and their bows are from the wool felt scraps I bought at the Country Living Christmas Fair (with cushions in mind). The remaining felt went into a strip on a bigger blue linen cushion (with one more, of slightly different design, still to make). And I felted a tank-top, which I loved but had lost it's shape, to make another two.





Snow white, and her grubby nose, likes them.



And finally, for no real reason beyond their prettiness and lovely scent (which I do realise will be lost on you), here's my very cheery hyacinths.