Spectacles

Today, my sewing life has coincided with real life -  in the form of spectacles.

Spectacle embroidery WIP (inspired by latest Mollie Makes)

I went into town first thing this morning to collect my new specs. This made me happy on two counts - walking into town (pushing Charlotte in her pram) under my own steam, and, the specs were free. My loved ones have been wonderful to me during the back recovery period, and have saved my bacon by turning up day in day out and lifting Charlotte on my behalf while I couldn't. But it feels lovely to be independent again, and a relief to be pain free, too. And so, whilst the weather today has been a bit Jekyll and Hyde, and it was raining whilst I walked, who cares. I am on the mend, and I have nice new specs that have not dented my pocket (thanks to generous deal at Specsavers for contact lens customers). Hop, skip and a jump!

Charlotte did not earn her Perfect Baby badge today whilst we were out - she was awake when I decided to grab a tea (okay and a totally unnecessary chocolate twisty pastry to eat with it) before heading home. Gone is the convenient sleeping newborn for such occasions - hello wriggly baby with a newly acquired loud voice and lightening fast grabbing skills to go with it. That will be a paper cup for my tea please, then, so I can leave everyone in peace and drink the rest on the way home...

Never underestimate the pleasure of a cold can of Diet Coke (enjoyed in peace)

All was soon forgiven. She does have the cutest smile, after all. And (more importantly) fell asleep in time for me to enjoy a bit of time to myself before collecting her big sister from pre school.

And look what I am doing - plans afoot for making the front room all nice and homely. A pile of newly washed fabric that will become a sofa blanket (am hoping this will go down well with the man of the house who likes to keep heating bills as low as possible), with (hopefully) enough for Something Even More Exciting as well. And, some almost finished embroidery. Or, rather, bespoke one of a kind art for the wall above the sofa. Sounds much trendier to say the latter - a lot less like a little old lady's pursuit, I think. For, although I have resisted taking a Selfie of me wearing my new specs, they make me look and feel about ten years younger. Hurrah for spectacles that are miracle working (and free).

The littlest big girl's first sewing picture (ice cream) in a frame, ready to join the rest of the picture collection about to go up on the wall above the sofa

One final thing that made me happy today - after nervously holding off committing to anything until reaching the 6 week post surgery milestone, I published dates for restarting my courses yesterday. And some are already full - yippee! I cannot wait to get started on some lovely new projects with the people who come along to join me for some sewing.

Chevron Cushion

Chevron cushion from Issue 30 of Mollie Makes

Here is something I finished at the weekend.

I made the top back in the autumn while we were on holiday in Seahouses, so it will always evoke wonderful memories of seeing baby seals, and, sitting in the lovely family run cafe on Main Street doing some crochet.

I'd been waiting for Charlotte to grow out of the dress I wanted to use for the back!

I love it.

It has pride of place on my sofa (until the girls come along and destroy my careful cushion arrangement with whatever game requires them to throw all the cushions on the floor to be jumped on for that day).

The front room already had some nice purple stripy wallpaper up on either side of the fireplace when we moved in last May, and so I am going with that colour with the little bits and pieces I am gradually making for the room.

I used the same yarn as recommended in the pattern. Four balls of Rowan Handknit Cotton got me this cushion and that dolly for Charlotte. Not exactly cheap, but not bad either, for two items that will (hopefully) both be cherished for years to come. The dolly continues to be her favourite toy to chew, by the way. She particularly likes sucking the hair - which not only gives her pleasure, but has stopped the middle girl from wanting the dolly now.

If my home looked like the ones in the pages of Mollie Makes, I might have gone for the colours they suggested. But this is much more me, and I like it.

I have just made another fabric purchase for this room from Fabric Rehab. They have a sale on at the moment, which my friend Pamela alerted me to. Somehow though, a big pile of non sale fabric dropped into my cart. Oops. Still, thanks to the latest Mollie Makes, I did get 10% off the final cost (use the code MM1 if you want to be cheeky and do the same). And so now I am waiting for the postman to bring me a lovely parcel. That is definitely something that will cheer up a rainy January day when it arrives.

For now, I am counting myself flipping lucky to be having peaceful sofa time while baby sleeps, resting my back, drinking tea, Radio 4 and crochet.

Fortune Cookie Clutch

There is nothing quite like the thrill of making something for the first time to brighten up a damp November night.

Recycling a dress to make a messenger bag for the three year old might be pleasing on one level, but last night's creative effort on my part was a purely selfish just for the heck of it make for me.

At the moment, I am teaching some lovely ladies how to make clutches. Everything about the process is a pleasure to me. Even if the beautiful fabrics they bring with them onto the course only serves to tempt me into more shopping.

But, fun as it is to introduce other people into the joy of making things, one reason I limit the amount of evening teaching I do is so that I can save enough time to enjoy the making process first hand. I know I am feeling less new born induced sleep deprived now, as I am increasingly getting the itch to make stuff again.

This clutch pattern was one I had logged on my mental list of things to make ages ago. The design is from Lisa Lam, and the instructions were included in a Mollie Makes magazine from a few months ago. A long term fan of her patterns - and shop - I'd bought a couple of the frames a while back, with the intention of having them ready to go when the urge to make something nice came to me.

The sparkly scarf pin on the front of the clutch came from a local shop in Bedford, called Rose Tinted Vintage. Another reason why my home town is worth a visit, should you be near enough to contemplate one, as there is always something to catch your eye in that shop, whatever your style. I had bought the scarf pin about a year ago, thinking it would finish off a silk bag of some sort. I am going to call the butterfly silk used for the lining vintage, on the grounds I have had it for ages and it was originally given to me by an elderly lady called Barbara, and she had no doubt had it festering in a cupboard for many years before that. The green silk was given to me by a nice lady called Anne, who came on a course last year and was generous enough to share after my gushing about it. Last night was the night that everything came together in my head and the little clutch you see here was born. I love it!

I was going to just sew the scarf pin straight onto the finished clutch, but it didn't look right - the oval shaped yo-yo seemed to provide just the right lift and I am really happy with the way it has all come together.

The instructions and pattern were quite easy to use. The only fiddly bit was squishing the purse into the metal frame without getting glue in all the wrong places. Squint and you'll notice some glue still on the frame, that I didn't get to before photographing the project. I plan to make another one of these clutches - but in a brightly printed cotton for a daytime look.

And I have my friend and fellow school mum Lisa to thank for the pictures - she was kind enough to indulge me by being my photographer as I posed whilst we were waiting for our daughters to come out from their classrooms at the end of the school day. We got some strange looks, as some probably wondered what on earth we were up to. The embarrassment I am willing to put myself (and others) through for a picture...

As to when I will use this little beauty - who knows! Anyone fancy coming to babysit for me so I can dust off some heels and go out and dance around it?!

Love Liberty

Pretty!

I have a confession to make.

My recent subscription to Mollie Makes may have been just a little bit influenced by the free gift of some Liberty fabrics that went with it.

Yes, I am a sucker for marketing. But can you blame me? This is lovely, isn't it? I had many grand plans for these prints. My favourite one is the one at the bottom left of the picture. If only those nice marketing people had sent me a bit more of it.

So there it stayed. Inside its original packaging, only to be removed, stroked, admired and then carefully refolded and returned, until I could think of a suitably worthy use for such pretty fabric.

And then, while the hubby had taken the girls out on a bike ride (hip hip hooray for Daddy being off work for a few days!), leaving me alone in the house for a couple of hours, inspiration struck.

Look away now if the prospect of Liberty fabric being used for baby sick cloths offends you. But here we have some of the prettiest shoulder protectors/mopping up cloths known to man. And, being backed with leftover Winceyette (from the baby quilt) they are soft. Oh so soft. With practical hanging loops, too. So. Pleasing.

They say there is a fine line between genius and insanity. Before you judge me too harshly, hear me out. 

The squares of prints were the right size for making something small like this. That meant no cutting or measuring was needed, apart from using them as templates to cut out the Winceyette backing. A very satisfyingly quick and simple make. And, the ribbon was also a freebie (from the front of last month's Mollie Makes), making this technically a free make.

Is it a waste to use such beautiful fabric for a purpose destined to be thrown up on by a baby who will be oblivious to the finer qualities of the print when something plain and functional would do? Maybe. If looking at it from a Dad Perspective. But, when looking at it from a Mum Perspective (and, in this case, a mummy who loves Liberty), no it is not. Oh no no no.

I know that I will be shattered within days of this baby making an appearance. I think in moments of reaching for something clean to shield my shoulder from baby sick, I might be vaguely pleased if the thing I happen to reach for is something very lovely looking (rather than one of my now tired and grey looking muslins). If the big sisters haven't reassigned them as pretty dolly blankets first, that is.

I had a realisation this week. I have been enjoying the Lego building every bit as much as the girls. I couldn't really tell you what we've been doing with our holidays or what we have to show for it - but I know that there's been a lot of Lego building going on.

Here's my rainbow house - with added bouncy castle (made by middle girl) and `apple stall' (made by littlest girl). I am particularly pleased with the roof. I need to get out more!

 And, one final Mollie Makes related make (I am not on commission, I swear!).

A fun little key ring kit was on the front of the latest edition. And, it being my niece's birthday this week, I thought I'd personalise it and give it to her as a gift, along with our current favourite book.

Oh, and a little butterfly clip - which will make sense to other mums who have the same book, and just seem like a pretty clip to those not in the know. Made from teeny tiny scraps from a free kit, so quite pleasing to the scrimping bee in me.

Smug cake time. Oh bother. We are out of cake. Time to make some more me thinks.

Getting hooked

Tuesday evening saw the second episode of The Great British Sewing Bee. Have you been watching?

Chocolate Malt Cake, from The Hummingbird Bakery Home Sweet Home

As my hubby already had a night out planned, I used it as the perfect excuse to make an indulgent cake (for no reason other than to find out if it tasted as good as it looked in the picture of the book), get a couple of friends round to share some with, and, possibly (depending on how distracted we got with TV) do some sewing.

First things first. The cake. Oh my. All I can say is that my kitchen suffered for this cake. Just about every mixing bowl was used to make the different concoctions that went to putting this thing together -  topped off with an icing involving almost a kilo of icing sugar among other things, creating great clouds of dust that left no surface untouched as it settled. As the icing stage was a bit hurried by the fact the programme was about to start, this scene was still there and didn't go unnoticed by the man of the house at breakfast the following morning.

Was it worth it? Oh yes. Just look at that chocolate fudge sauce oozing out from each layer of the cake. Even my self-confessed chocoholic friend needed to take a tactical pause midway through eating what is possibly the mother of all chocolate cakes. And, judging by the return of fridge mice (this time, concentrating mainly on the Maltesers, rather than pastry crust), the hubby likes it enough to forgive the mess.

I enjoyed the second episode of The Great British Sewing Bee even more than the first. I think the judges are warming up a bit more now, and I really like the individuals who are competing. My favourite? Hard to choose - I was sad to see Tilly go out this week, as I've popped in on her blog a bit in the past and really admire her gorgeous hand made wardrobe. I still think she was possibly the most creative one of the bunch, but suffered from the pressures of making things under time pressure. And, let's face it, who wouldn't? I sat through the first episode thinking "I could do that", but really? Under time pressure, uh oh. I doubt it. And this week's trouser challenge was just that. Hats off to all the contestants. But if I had to pick a current favourite - I think Ann is a complete gem, and Sandra wins my vote too, as she quite reminds me of my own mum. The scenes of her fitting one of her daughters for a dress in the first episode took me straight back to my own childhood. That said, I loved Stuart's tulip skirt - and would have chosen it as my own favourite item from this week's show. I have no idea who will win!

We did a tiny bit of crafty stuff whilst watching. My friend Pamela was kind enough to teach me how to make these cute flowers I had spotted in Mollie Makes.

I last tried crocheting about two decades ago when my Nan showed me how to make granny squares. She used to make fantastic granny square blankets in the most clashing bright colours imaginable!

Having tried miserably to make the basic flower using YouTube (I watched it along with my friend Imogen, both of us needing to repeatedly stop and start the video more times than we could count and with no doubt amusing looks of concentration/bafflement on our faces), I can vouch that a real life teacher makes it much easier.

I managed to make a couple of flowers with Pamela at my side to help, and then kind of got hooked, and make several more the next couple of days. I have been using the scraps leftover from the baby blanket, and I'm planning to make them into a garland to hang up in the baby's room.
In fact, I'm booked to go on a beginner workshop with Sam of Betsy Makes in a couple of weeks. She holds her workshops in the evenings at Fancy (the gorgeous local cake shop I'm always going on about). An evening of learning something new and cake? I cannot wait!