loulouthi llama

If you've been reading here for a while you'll know that John and I met in Peru.  He worked there for a few years, and several other fairly exciting countries, and although he abandoned it all to come and join me in rural Aberdeenshire he still has a deep love for all things Peru.  So when I saw Laurie Wisbrun's Llook Llama Pillow (aka cushion!) Panel I knew it would be perfect for John's birthday.

My little side-kick was a great help with this photo shoot!

Rather less perfectly I didn't manage to make it into a cushion in time and he had to use his imagination regarding the piece of fabric's end use.  Oops.  But, for someone who asks me how my knitting is getting on (and actually my knitting is going, temporarily, very well as I have just successfully finished a little top for Katie....very unusual for me!), when he means sewing, he was, as I'd hoped, delighted with the present and very able to imagine what it would be like at some point in the future.

Can you see the soggy corner on the linen cushion?  Why would it be soggy?!

Roll on an embarrassing number of weeks and he now has a soft squashy feather stuffed cushion which he loves.  Whenever I make a cushion normally I'm met with disbelief and disgust and 'what is that for?'.  John claimss that cushions are a waste of space.......but this one, apparently, isn't and he really does love it.  I am so chuffed!

I teamed it with Anna Maria Horner (yet again) Loulouthi flannel.  It is leftover from the quilt for our sitting room which I WILL one day finish.  I think I have cut out all that I need for it so therefore what is left should be spare....I only hope I am right otherwise I'm completely stuffed when it comes to the day I get my act together and start working on it again.  Fingers crossed.

So - loulouthi llama - complete success.  Yay!

She has her uses

I decided it was about time I put Katie to work.  I've been drafting up dribble bandanas (what a terrible name - is there a better one?) and bibs and she has been working very hard testing them out for me. 

The conclusion?  The bandanas need to be longer so there's more room for growth around the neck (not that all babies are as chubby as Katie of course!) but the bib shape seems pretty good.

But that's where I start to get unsure - just because I like nice wide rounded bibs doesn't mean other people will......I guess the only way I can find out is to make some up and see what happens.

One other detail has been making me rather undecided.  What to fasten them with?  I've gone for velcro in these test ones as I, personally, find it easier with a squirmy baby and am happier to feel that they'll come undone if pressure is applied - I think velcro does come apart more easily than poppers.  I know it's unlikely to be a problem but I prefer to be on the safe side.  I think they can be more adjustable too if there's a reasonable length of velcro.  Then there's the question of the velcro itself, the stuff I have found so far is quite stiff and potentially scratchy.  Well, only one side is and if that's put onto the right side of the bib and the softer bit sewn onto the wrong side the stiffer side won't come into contact with the baby (makes sense to me if not to you!) - and I've found that if I cut the edges round rather than square that helps too and it creates a neater stitch line on the reverse.

 I'd love to know your thoughts, if you have any that is, on the pros and cons of bib fastening mechanisms!

I plan to back them in the unbleached cotton flannel that I use on some of my baby quilts - it is lovely and soft and hard wearing too.  The bibs that Katie is modelling have been washed a few times now, to test them out, and I'm really pleased that they will be tough and easy to look after.  The question of what to make them out of is also tricky.  And it is ever so tempting to buy more fabric.  But I'm determined not to do that and think I'll make just a whole variety from the fabric I already have - some bright and some more muted.  That way I'll also get more of a feel for what people may and may not like.

Now all I need to do is make enough to sell (along with lots of other things, but I'm working on a deadline towards the end of the year so don't need to panic yet).  

I do however have a deadline for other sewing projects.  By mid-March I need to have finished the following (I'll give fabric and pattern details for each once they are finished and ready for showing off)::

1.  Dress, bloomers and bonnet for Katie (for my fabby cousin's wedding - which I'm very exited about, but possibly not as much as bridesmaid Islay!)

The bloomers are actually part made (along with three others in the hope that we have a nice warm summer) - I have been delayed by a lack of waist elastic but bought some from my local sewing shop yesterday.

 2. A dress for me to wear to the same wedding.  I think I have decided on the fabric to use.  But it is expensive especially since I think I'll make the full length version of this dress  - mind you, I hope it should give me many years of wear.  And I will make a muslin first to check the fit - can I get away with just making the bodice and attaching a short length of skirt?  Can anyone who knows what they are doing (unlike me) advise me on this? *There's a very good reason for choosing this pattern, as well as liking it of course, which I'll explain below.

 3. Make the quilt for our sofa - I'm already behind since most people in the quilt along seem to have cut and started piecing already.  Oh well.

4. Make some baby clothes for a friend's baby - thankfully it isn't born yet.

5. Ask Nat if she'd like me to make her something as a wedding present.  She's the big sister of my lovely cousin Al, who was married almost two years ago, and who I made a picnic blanket for.

6. I'd really like to make Islay this Sunki tunic but it can wait until everything else is finished.

 So, I wonder whether I'll manage?  I remember having a list a bit like this for Al's wedding and managed it all (well, their present was a little late but I reckoned it was more important that I turned up in a completed dress).

Anyone who has been up in the night feeding a baby will appreciate the irony of the situation I found myself in last night.  Katie has been sleeping pretty badly and although I am only feeding her twice through the night (she is 4 1/2 months and definitely not malnourished....she could live on her cheeks alone for a week or two!) she has been waking up several more times - she goes back to sleep fairly well but it all takes time and effort and cuts in to my very precious sleep time.  Anyway, last night I woke up just before 1am, by which time most nights recently she would have been awake 2 or 3 times and I'd usually have fed her some time between 12 midnight and 1am, but she was sound asleep.  Yay.....except that I had far too much milk and couldn't get back to sleep.  I lay there, very sore, for another hour or so until she woke up.  So, the one night for weeks that she slept really well and I lay there wide awake and unable to sleep.  I can't begin to describe how annoying it was!  But I'm very hopeful that it is a sign she is going to improve a bit from now on (it is too soul destroying to think anything else!).

* Why does this pattern appeal to me?  It has straps that tie at the back so I should be able to feed Katie fairly easily by loosening the straps (may need to make a shawl too).  And why do I think this is important?  Because when Angus was a baby I went to another cousin's little boy's christening in a lovely dress.  And only realised, as his feed time approached, that I had no way of feeding him without removing the dress.  Luckily for me, and everyone else, the hotel where we had the post-service meal was quite smart and had lovely clean toilets.  There was even a chair in the corner that I could sit on.  It is quite bizarre to chat to your female relatives while sitting in your bra and pants in a hotel loo!  I remember having a dilemma whether it would be better to leave my shoes on or not and can't now remember what I decided was best.  So, there you go, I have learnt my lesson.

Long week with some very good bits

Last week was a tough one and so this week I've been playing catch up.  Last Monday I started getting achy and shivery and went to bed with a jumper, socks and hot water bottle.......only to shed them, and the bed-covers, a few hours later as I hit a hot spell.  The rest of the week followed suit and became quite a struggle just to keep things ticking over.  I was still feeling dreadful on Friday and went to the doctor in the hope that I had something bacterial and be able to have some antibiotics - but no, the doctor reckoned I had flu and told me to go to bed (and that I should have been all week - easy for her to say!).  Anyhow John came home a short while later and was brilliant all weekend giving me as much time as possible to rest and sleep.  

Birthday fabric

It feels like a dreadful waste to have done so little all weekend but it does mean that I'm feeling loads better now.  Sunday was my birthday (next year will be quite a big no. - 40!).  It was rather an odd one but lovely nonetheless.  I was given some great presents and lots of cuddles and checks from the children who were very anxious that I had a good day.  They kept asking if I was having fun which was very sweet!  And Finn was concerned about the lack of a birthday cake for me.  I just said I didn't want one this year - rather than explaining to him that cake baking was the last thing I felt like doing.

The fabric above is from my brothers (AMH flannel from M is for Make and solids from Backstitch).  I have wanted to make a quilt for our sitting room for ages but haven't felt I could justify the expense so I'm very excited to have this delicious stack to cut into.  I've just joined the Made in Cherry Quilt Along (hosted by Pins and Bobbins).  This will be a little different from my usual squares and rectangles and the pattern and finished effect really appeals to me - while I admire the quilts that other people make, and especially the skill involved, they are often too intricate or fussy for my personal taste but this one is very exciting.  I doubt I'll be able to keep up with the quilt along properly but I don't suppose that really matters.

Sarah Fielke's Made in Cherry from the Lecien Website

I was also given some lovely books.  They will be thoroughly enjoyed.  I love books - pretty much any, and John is the same so we have masses of books with very varying subject matter.  The Colette Sewing Handbook has been, subtly, sitting in my Amazon wish list for quite a while now.  I'd love to learn more about garment sewing and, from the reviews I have read, this seems like an ideal place to start - I don't imagine I'll ever be able to completely design my own clothes.  I'd just like to be able to master the main clothes sewing skills and techniques properly and to be able to make pattern adjustments if the fit isn't good.  It is likely that I will only refer to things like sleeve setting and making proper gathers for the next year or two and then advance onto the more technical stuff once I have a little more time.

Birthday books

 I treated myself to three little post of Muscari and I'm enjoying watching them come out.

 Lily is a great help when taking photos.

One of my favourite presents was a copy of a photo book my dad made for my Grannie's Christmas.  She's 92 now and, as I have mentioned a few times I think, has dementia but she still loves looking at photos.  I think, also, that dad wanted to get the best ones permanently stored and the main details of her life recorded. It is so good to have a copy - she has led such an interesting and eventful, sometimes stressful, life.

Her dad had a saddler's shop in Boston (UK, not USA!) and she had 8 big sisters, she was the baby of the family.  She is the only one left alive now.

She was in the RAF during WWII and served in India and Burma, meeting my Grandad on the troop ship out there.  They got engaged after 9 days and were married in Calcutta while on leave.

I think that had better be all for now as I really should be getting back to cooking some food and Katie will be hungry soon. ..............I've just run downstairs because I heard a crash..........Lily has knocked off a hand-blown glass bowl, from Australia, that we were given as a wedding present....it's broken and I'm feeling rather cross.....oh well.