Completed in January

In the spirit of my word of the year 'Complete', I thought I would list things that I have completed here on my blog:

I knitted a tea cosy!  I am not a good knitter, but had been given a lovely tea pot for Christmas, and decided to knit my own tea cosy.  I used some left over chunky wool from a shawl I had crocheted, and here it is.  I am quite pleased with it.  I have almost completely used up the wool!

I sewed this lovely fabric into a tunic top.  I had bought this fabric for another top pattern, but decided to use this one from which I have already made 2 summer tops.  This one has long sleeves and looks great over black polo neck and jeans or black trousers.  I can see me wearing this one a lot.

I started sewing this little bag a couple of months before Christmas and then left it while I sewed Christmas items.  It is really sweet!  It has a zip across the top and the front and back are made from patchwork panels.  It is from a pattern by The Birdhouse Patchwork Designs, an Australian company.

I did have 1 failure!  Hence my bemused look in this photo!  This green top started out way too big, and I ruined it by trying to take it in.  See how it pulls across the front shoulder?  It doesn't look too bad in this picture, but it is practically unwearable!  I have left this photo uncropped despite the vacuum cleaner in the side because Barney looks so cute photo-bombing!

Remember I made quilt tops last year?  Here's one of them all finished with batting, backing and quilted ready to parcel up for one of my daughter's friends who has just had a baby girl.  I am intending on working through them all over the next few months.

I like to make a scrapbook of each year, and I finished up the 2019 album in January.  I like to use some pocket pages (Project Life) and some 12 x 12 pages.  Here are a couple of examples.

I also finished some pyjama trousers that I had made for Maurice for his birthday back in July!!  All they needed was the elastic in the waist!  I made a black t-shirt top to go with these, but he has been wearing them with a long sleeve top recently as it is so cold.

There is one thing that I forgot to photograph, and that's a little bag I made for my craft friend Burnice for her birthday early in January.  She had been given a vintage sewing/knitting basket for Christmas so I filled a little bag with vintage sewing notions for her.  She was really pleased!  We celebrated by going for afternoon tea.

It's been a good month for completing things!  I love to be able to tick things off my list, but I am trying to slow down a little, and take more care, especially with sewing projects.  I am also trying to keep going with each item through to completion, rather than 'making progress' with several projects.   

5 Things - October

In the hope that I might write some more blog posts, I am starting a monthly meme - 5 things.  So here's 5 things that I have photographed this month of October 2019.

First is a 'Tilly and the Buttons' Cleo pinafore dress I made in blue denim.  You can see that I had my little helper/photobomber Barney the springer spaniel with me!   I have included one of the outtakes too.  I topstitched the denim with orange thread and put orange buttons on to secure the straps.  I can see that I will wear this dress a lot, including with long sleeved t-shirt and tights.  In fact, I have just bought a pair of ochre opaques.  I am so looking forward to trying them out!

2 Autumn is really here now!  Some lovely red hawthorn berries spotted one sunny morning on my dog walk, and the grass sparkling with dew.   I like to imagine that the dew drops are tiny diamonds sparkling away!

3 I have been hand sewing little bits of my scrap fabric together in the evenings while watching tv.  Here's what they look  like so far.  I have put them away for now as I want to concentrate on sewing for Christmas (I love making little felt ornaments for the tree).  I am imagining this as a bed size quilt in a sort of rainbow colour pattern.

The other quilt I am making but have put away for now, is this one, called the X-factor quilt.  I am using up lots of autumnal colours for this one.  The pattern was in one of my (very) old quilting magazines.

4 Autumn in my garden.  I put my phone right down in the grass to take photos of these little tiny fairy mushrooms.  Or are they toadstools?  I don't know what the difference is.  But I think it is quite a good year for all types of fungi.

I love the colour that this vine goes in the autumn!  And look at the colourful purple berries on the Callicarpa bush!

5 Finally, our son turned 30 last December, and his sister bought him a supercar drive around Goodwood race track.  He finally did it last weekend.   Here's Maurice, Nicholas and his girlfriend Natalie.  He absolutely loved driving the Ferrari and Aston Martin and then was driven at high speed around the track by a professional driver.  Great fun!

Cool Summer Tops

This summer has been hot!  Well, that is until the schools broke up at the end of July.  August has been windy, wet and quite a bit cooler.   Is it me, or is it that the weather is much more humid these days?  Maybe it's my age, but as soon as I start to do anything I feel hot and sticky.  Not a nice feeling.  So time to make some cool summer tops:

First up is the Super Basic Tank Top from Halfmoon Atelier.  This is a free pattern if you subscribe to her emails.  As the cost of patterns is quite significant I do love a freebie!  I made this in the pink and white stripe jersey and I have made an orange one, and have a red one ready to sew.  It has a similar scoop at the back which I really like.  I love having bare shoulders and arms on a hot day although these days I tend to wear  tank tops only in the garden.  I do like to get a tan while I am gardening.

Second I made a 'shell' top from this gorgeous 'countryside' border print.  I have had this short length of fabric in my stash  for ages, but have no idea where it came from!  I had just enough to squeeze this shell top made with Simplicity 8061.  The pattern has several different necklines and now I have nailed the fit, I will make some more!

Last but not least I made this loose shirt in a gorgeous yellow print slinky fabric from More Sewing.   This is really loose, and lovely to wear on those really hot days.  It is made from McCalls M7629.  I have some more 'slinky' fabric in a dusky pink print to make another.

Both pairs of shorts are from Lands End.  I ordered the dark blue pair when I received an offer, and liked them so much I ordered the brown ones, which by then were in the sale.  Bargains!  They are smart enough and long enough to wear outside the garden!

Jackets!

I have been wanting a casual jacket for ages.  Something a bit smarter than a cardigan, but easily thrown on and off, and won't get creased and dishevelled looking.  I found a likely contender in my vintage sewing pattern stash.  Vogue  1772, a DKNY Vogue American Designer pattern from 1996.  

I have made it before but in the fabric was too light and I didn't line it so it didn't really work.  I decided to use up some red ponte I had in my stash already.  

This time, I decided to line it as it would be easier to slip on and off without catching on clothes I would be wearing underneath. The jacket has some great details,  princess seams and some cute little darts at the waist.  Hard to see in these pictures. It looks really smart in the picture on the pattern, but that one is made from woven fabric, and I was making mine from fabric with a little stretch for a more casual look.    I decided to keep it even more casual by omitting the buttons.    For fitting, I graded the pattern out to the hips, and I had to narrow the shoulder seams.  

I am wearing it here with a t-shirt I made from some fabric left over from a dress.  (I had to use a red band to lengthen it as I didn't quite have enough fabric!)  The jeans are from a local charity shop.

It goes well with my latest dress make, another shirt dress, a combination I wore to my niece's wedding back in May:

Next I decided to make a hoodie from another vintage pattern.  I had some grey tracksuit fabric with a lovely soft fleece backing, which I thought would be perfect for this 1990s pattern, Style 1041.

And here it is:

I really love this jacket!  I put in a black zip and top stitched in black to match.  This really is a 'slip on and off ' jacket that I will get a lot of use out of this one, especially at this time of year when the weather is a bit dull and cool.  Hard to think that this time last year we were basking in Mediterranean temperatures!

Me Made May 2019

It is that time of year again!  Zoe from SoZo blog has been hosting MeMadeMay now for 10 years!  The idea is to wear Me Made clothes all month.  Lots of sewists join in posting on Instagram (#MeMadeMay2019) and blogs etc, making all sorts of pledges to wear more of their home made wardrobes.  I am linda.pierce.5623 on Instagram.

I have taken part a couple of times before, and have generally pledged to wear at least 1 item of Me Made clothing each day.  This year I wanted to change it up a bit and try to wear items that I don't wear very often, my skirts and dresses. 

Before I started sewing my own clothes again, I hardly ever bought a dress or skirt.  My measurements just don't coincide with RTW skirts and dresses - I am too pear-shaped!  This is one of the reasons I started to sew again, and the reason I go to classes each week.  But, even though my me made dresses and skirts fit Ok (most of the time!) I still don't wear them. I am happiest wearing jeans and a top.   I want to try and find out why that is.

I love this skirt and have worn it quite a bit in the autumn and winter.  The shape lends itself to boots and pleather jacket.  The pattern is Kwik Sew 3877, and I have made it several times and will definitely make it again - maybe in a plain colour.

Another Kwik Sew 3877.  I bought this fabric from Fabric Land, and tbh it is not very good quality.  I originally made it shorter but recently lengthened it.  I inadvertently scorched the fabric a bit with the iron so I think this skirt will go to the charity shop now.  The jumper is a bit small and has joined the skirt in the charity pile!

I love this pinafore dress!  I feel quite cool and trendy in this (LOL!).  The fabric is a printed baby cord, and has lots of colours I can pair it with.  In fact, I bought an orange-red top and a cream top today, both of which will look OK.  Here I am trying out a new look (to me), wearing my sneakers with a dress!  The pattern is the Cleo dress fro Tilly and the Buttons.

Off to my niece's hen party - dinner at a local Italian restaurant.  I decided to wear this red crepe fitted dress with the unusual jewel neckline.  Somehow the neck doesn't sit quite right , and I find it really difficult to pair with a cardigan.  I can't say I feel very comfortable in this - not really me!  But it was nice to wear to the hen party dinner.  Pattern is Simple Sew Loretta jewel neck dress.  Below is a selfie at the hen party with my Mum.

Back to my Cleo pinafore - can't you tell I prefer something more casual?  This time paired with light grey tights and brown ankle boots. In the past, I have worn this with black jumper, tights and boots, or with a t-shirt in the summer.  It is very versatile.

This is my latest make, a shirtdress in this gorgeous embroidered denim.  I have made the waisted version of this a couple of times and feel very grown up in them.  This one is a little more casual.  I don't usually wear blue, except for jeans!  I was a little apprehensive both because of the colour and the loose fit with a belt - would I look like a sack tied in the middle?  Looking at this phot, I am pleasantly surprised and am thinking that I will wear this alot, both layered and on it's own in the Summer.

Finally, this long autumn leaf print skirt.  I love the fabric, but hardly ever wear it!  I am wearing it now as I write, and have realised that there are several things I don't like about it:
*it is too long on me
*it is a bit small and sits too high on my waist
*hence I feel frumpy in it
*it crumples too easily and needs ironing all the time

By the way, the pictures were taken as selfies on my phone in my conservatory, in my garden, in the spare bedroom, and the last one in my bedroom.


One week in I already have some thoughts:
*I need to make some items out of plain fabric to go with the myriad of patterned items of clothing I have!
*It's been really cold this week, and I find tights and shoes a real problem!  It's OK if my boots go with my dress/skirt, but I just don't know what shoes I should wear.
*There is a certain length I feel comfortable with - it is just about knee length.  Some of my dresses and skirts are a bit short and some too long.

12 quilts in 2019

I have decided to set myself a challenge to use up some of  my copious stash of quilting fabric and make 12 quilt tops this year.  Then I intend to do a 'free-motion machine quilting' class and learn how to do it properly before I set about quilting them.

I used to go to quilt shows and fabric sales and buy lots of stuff!  The fabric has been languishing in my stash for up to 10 years, so it is definitely time to do something with it.  Some of my purchases have been kits to make a quilt, and some have been odd fat quarters that I have liked.  For example, here's a picture I took of some fat quarter bundles I bought at a quilt show in 2012.  I used the Christmas fat quarters for Christmas bunting as gits for my friends a few years ago, but I still had the blue, pink and white fabrics!

The blue and pink fabric have become baby quilt tops.  I love these 2 quilts!  I found the triangle pattern online and it was so easy, I completed it in an afternoon.  I love that the large triangles make it look so modern despite the prints being a little old-fashioned.  I bought the sashing fabric sometime later to go with this set of fat quarters.  I have enough to do the backing too.  The blue one is a windmill pattern, again found online (Pinterest has been my friend here!).  The dotty fabric used as sashing was bought separately.

 

This next quilt is the first one I made this year, and it was during sewing this that I decided to challenge myself to at least 1 quilt per month.  I bought this kit at a class I went to at a local quilt shop.  The owner held the classes in her own home, and it was a lovely atmosphere.  She has sadly closed down now.  I made this 'disappearing 9-patch' quilt in the class, and bought this fabric to make another one exactly the same.  (Not sure why I wanted another one exactly the same but heho!)    I have to say that I am not in love with this one.  I don't really like the orange 'background'.  The patterned fabric has little cartoony dogs on it, which was why I was attracted to it.  It is by Basic Grey, and I had a charm pack (precut 5 inch squares).  I still have enough of the border print to do the backing.

Another quilt that I had wanted to make for a few years is made with some of my vintage embroidered linens.  I collected some vintage embroidered tablecloths sourced from eBay and local charity shops.  I sold some of the perfect linens on my Etsy shop, but kept back anything with holes or stains.  I managed to cut out some pretty embroideries to use in my quilt.  A friend had answered an advert for some vintage cotton lawn scraps, which she shared with me, and I also used up a few ditsy prints of my own.  Originally I was going to sew the blocks together without sashing in between, but decided to use up the scraps of linen.  I am really pleased with the final quilt, it is so pretty!  I bought a green ditsy flowery duvet cover from a charity shop that I will use for the backing.  So pleased to have made this quilt almost entirely from second- hand fabrics.

I am now working on a 'wonky star' quilt using some gorgeous plaids.  This pattern comes from a really old quilting magazine, Popular Patchwork, February 2003.  Each block is hand sewn, but I expect that I will machine sew the blocks together.  I am about half way through making the blocks at the moment, but may make the quilt bigger.  I have loads of plaid fabric!