What I have been doing in lockdown

Lockdown here in the Uk has been in force since March 23rd.  We are only to go go out for food shopping, collect medicines, care for someone or once a day exercise.  We are now half way through our 5th week now, so what have I been doing to pass the time?

Exercise:
I have changed my dog walking routine, and now take Barney out about 4pm, instead of first thing in the morning.  I love how this is working out!  The weather has been wonderful, warm and sunny for the most part.  Here's a picture of the Ilex trees in the afternoon sunshine.

As well as my daily walk, I have been doing an online exercise class each day.  Throughout March I tried to do some yoga each day, which has stood me in good stead to carry on through April.  I have found 2 You Tube sites I like:  Yoga with Adrienne, and Fabulous50s.   I am alternating them each morning.  Here's a terrible photo of me attempting to do a 'tree' pose!   I have also done a few classes from my regular yoga teacher on Zoom. I have found that I really like exercising on my own in my bedroom.

Sewing:

My major hobby at the moment!  I bought several lots of fabric just before the lockdown, and have challenged myself to be more patient and take more care and be more perfectionist!  Here I am modelling my maxi dress, hat and rucksack all made by me in the last few weeks:

The hat is unfortunately a little small - especially with my 'lockdown' hair, which is much bigger than normal!

I had a little experiment making a couple of facemasks from some pretty fabric.  I am not sure whether we will have to wear them in the UK, but I am ready if we need them!

And of course, lots of gardening with the weather being so lovely!  After a really wet winter, we have had a prolonged dry spell, so I was happy to see some rain yesterday and today!  I love to see the ferns unfolding - such a promise of things to come in the garden.

Tunic top - New Look 5430

I have made this top twice now.  It is a very popular pattern in my Tuesday morning sewing group, 3 of us have made it now! 

I  made the leopard print one just before Christmas, and in fact wore it at Christmas as it is so easy to put on and lounge about in!  No need for ironing as this gorgeous jersey fabric doesn't crease, and being animal print is bang on trend!  I made the purple and grey one with some  fabric I had in my stash.  I bought this at a show a few years ago.  Glad to make use of it!  It has a lovely velvety look to it, but it is lighter than the leopard print.  The only difference is that the leopard print has a V neck, and the purple/grey one has a round neck.

 I can see more of these in my wardrobe!  They are so easy to make, and so comfortable to wear.

Feeling all grown-up!

My most recent sewing is this shirtdress Simplicity 8014.

A shirtdress always looks crisp and smart don't you think?  So much so that I feel all grown-up when I wear this one!  I have wanted to make one for some time.   I did make the Collette Hawthorn a few years ago, but it is sadly too small now.

This one has a loose fitting bodice, pleated into the waistband.  I added the gathers at the yoke by cutting the back wider.  I cut a size 16 for my narrow shoulders, tapering out to a size 20 (eugh!) at the waist.  I did make the dress quite a bit shorter than the pattern, as I ran out of fabric!  The fabric is from Ditto Fabrics in Brighton, bought several years ago, when I decided that I ought to have a 'stash' of fabric.  That wasn't the best idea I ever had, as I don't love all the fabrics in my 'stash' now.  In fact, I was a bit dubious about this ditzy print, as I am hankering after the big blowsy prints now.  But all is well now as I love this dress!  I am looking forward to trying it with boots and a cardigan in the cooler weather.

I am not sure if you see the buttons agains the busy print, but I decided to use the wong side of some pearly buttons.  It adds to the vintage vibe of the dress.

Cold Shoulders!

During the hot weather a few weeks ago, I decided to try out the popular 'cold shoulder' look.  I had not done so previously because being type 1 diabetic, I have a blood sugar sensor stuck to my arm, and I am rather self conscious of it, not wanting it to be on show.  I actually bought a couple of tops in the sale at H&M and realised that in actual fact, the lower sleeve hid the sensor quite well. 

I had this top pattern in my stash.  It came free with a sewing magazine last year.  I don't buy the sewing magazines very often nowadays as I find there is very little in there to read!  So I only buy if I really like the free pattern. 

So, this pattern was sitting in my stash, and then Laura at More Sewing got this fabric in - blue and white stripes with flamingos!  Perfect for my top!  This fabric is sold out now, but have a look here, at her other lovely jersey fabrics.

I had to go out and buy white trousers specially, but managed to find some in the sale at Peacocks.  I rather like the little bow at the ankle. 

I love the top!  But I hadn't realised how difficult 'cold shoulder' tops are to wear.  The 'sleeves' ride up all the time, and the front edge kind of strangles me, so I am always pulling it down.  Consequently, I am not sure how much wear I will get it out of it, but it is nice to wear out on summer evenings.  Shame the hot weather has left us now!

What I made in January

All I want to do in January is hibernate.  It has been a cold, dreary month here.  Perfect weather for staying indoors and making!  So I thought I would write a blog post to show you what I made this month.  I am hoping to continue this as a series throughout the year.  Let's see if I can keep it up!

I made these jogging bottoms/lounge pants (I much prefer to call them lounge pants, there's not too much jogging goes on here!).   The fabric is a grey marl, which is so soft and comfortable,bought from Fabricland.  I will be definitely wearing these around the house lots.  I am calling this a stash buster, because although I bought this fabric with this pattern in mind, I have had it a while.

I crocheted the 'weekend bag' from Attic24 in the hot colourway.  I just love the colours!  I have lots of wool leftover too, so I might make some leg wamers seen on Jo's blog here.

And finally, here is a quilt I finished this month.  This is my Calendar Quilt.  It was a project that I did with my craft cabin friends Tash and Burnice.  (We meet once a month in Burnice's craft cabin in her garden).  We decided to do a 12 block quilt, each block representing a month of the year.  We tried to do as many 'techniques' as we could, eg, English paper piecing, applique, drunkards path, dresden plate etc.  My blocks are all inspired by blocks I have seen on Pinterest and in a magazine called 'Quiltmakers, 100 Blocks' .  I should probably do another blog post with details of each block.  Suffice to say, I spent quite a few long January evenings hand quilting these blocks.