Ch ch ch changes...

This post has been swirling around in my head for the last week or two. I've not been focussing on the creative side of life so much recently and there's been a few reasons for that. One prosaic one is that it's been the school holidays and I've been a DIY widow for most of it whilst my husband and his brother fitted a new kitchen in their mum's house.

As my children get older and theoretically more able to entertain themselves I find that they often seem to want more of my attention when we are together. Riding bikes is more fun if a parent is there to see how proficient you've become, even better if they're happy to get on their own bike and ride alongside. I think we're all aware that we're moving out of the baby/toddler/preschool stage, as Youngest will be starting at full time school in September. I watch my fiercely independent daughter as she masters such tricky things as putting on her own socks, and tackling the fiddly zip on her coat. She's so proud of her achievements, but also needs the reassurance that she is still little enough to be looked after when she needs it. "I want to stay with you forever Mummy" is a fairly constant refrain.

The other thing that's been occupying my time is job hunting, and I'm pleased to say that this time it appears to have been successful. I've been offered a part-time admin job with a small local charity which should fit round school hours (bit of a holy grail post-children). It's my first step back into paid employment after nearly four and a half years at home full time. I'm nervous but excited to make a start on something new.

I should probably insert a cliche about new beginnings/springtime here... (but I'm sure you can provide your own).

The picure about shows the one creative project that I have on the go at the moment. It was a bit of an experiment with a couple of cheap rolls of fabric strips. It's pretty much done, I just have to finish sewing the binding around the edges. It's not huge, but should keep toes warm whilst curling up on the sofa of an evening (as it's still pretty nippy around here).

When I started this blog two years ago, one of the things I wanted it to be was a creative scrapbook of projects I've worked on.  I think I've managed to achieve that, and it's satisfying to have a record.  I'm not sure how much time I'll have for sewing and blogging over the next couple of months, but I'll check in when I can.

Thanks for reading :)

Hush a bye dolly

So as I posted recently, I've forbidden myself to buy any new craft supplies in January and to instead concentrate on projects that use what I already have. And so I give you... the Dolly Bed. It's for my youngest, who has just turned four. She has two dolls, one called Florence (pictured) and one called Nip Nip. Don't ask...

My daughter is funny and independent and quirky and all those wonderful things, but also at the moment we're going through what I like to call the Farking Horrible Fours. Like the Terrible Twos but more decibels and the fact that distraction no longer works. The paddies are few and far between, but when they do come they are legendary. Last night there was a difference of opinion over walking up stairs to bed and it didn't end well. Well, actually after a considerable amount of screaming, the poor girl admitted between sobs that she didn't know why she was crying and demanded a cuddle and a song, which is quite a sweet ending. Many choruses of You are My Sunshine later she finally agreed to put her pyjamas on and was suddenly back to her sunny self as if she hadn't been screaming and kicking with rage for the previous twenty minutes.

However, she has been very interested in the making process for this project, and has been making flattering noises, so I s'pose she's forgiven.

The bed itself is made from an old shoebox. I cut down the sides a little as when I first popped the doll in, it looked a little (a lot) like a doll in a coffin - not really the look I was aiming for. The header is made from half of the shoebox lid.

The mattress is made from a scrap of old sheet with a few layers of wadding left over from last year's rainbow quilt. Then I moved on to a mini quilt as a cover, which uses fabric I had left over from H's wedding bunting. I settled on a simple patchwork of squares which I machine sewed. I used a scrap of an old fleece blanket in the middle of the 'sandwich' as the wadding I had was too thick.

A fat quarter of mint green from the stash provided a backing.I really enjoyed hand-quilting this project, very satisfying and quite soothing. The edges are bound with some white woven tape, again left over from bunting production.

Somehow it's suddenly 3pm again, so I'm off to retrieve my offspring and maybe run through a few show tunes, we'll see how things pan out.

p.s. this project has just given me the itch to to a proper massive big quilt <plots> Watch this space...

Patchwork Cushion

Just a quick post today as the sun is shining and it's too nice a day to be hunched over a laptop. This patchwork cushion has been on my ufo list for a while, and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out (and just to have finished something at last!).

This was a kit given to me by a friend, bought from the Sally Army shop for a quid. Now, I know what you're thinking, somebody mugged Laura Ashley circa 1983, but although the fabric isn't my usual kind of style, I still think there's a value in this kind of kit.

For a start, the kit had everything in it that I needed to complete the project (bar thread and a cushion pad). It also had full instructions, and I learnt some new techniques while doing it. The patchwork went together fairly quickly as it was all straight seams.

For the quilting I just followed the seams, making concentric squares. I started from the centre and worked out to keep things even.

The back is one piece of a rather surgical limb pink fabric. I hand stitched all the binding which goes round the edge of the cushion, which didn't take as long as I expected, and has given a lovely neat finish.

Now I can give myself permission to throw myself into some new projects. Currently on the go are some rainbow socks for my son and developing some new stock for Christmas craft fairs...

Christmas in August?

Judging by the amount of traffic to my Patchwork Stocking post, there's a hell of a lot of people already thinking about Christmas. Now this may seem like a crazy time to think about Christmas, especially as I write this at the end of a day that has earned the right to be called a 'summer' day. All ice-creams and long clinky drinks... <sigh>

But if you're planning to make stuff by hand, either for gifts or for sale, now is actually a pretty good time to start planning. In a couple of weeks it will be all 'back to school' shenanigans in this house, then time seems to gallop away as the nights draw in.

I'm hoping to have a stall at a craft fair or two in the run up to Christmas, so I need to come up with some fresh designs, buy more festive fabric and get stitching. I'd also like to knit a few presents, and I'm not a particularly speedy knitter, so starting in August doesn't seem so daft.

And if you fancy feeling all virtuous and store-cupboardy, you always could go ahead and make a Christmas Cake, as they're said to improve with age...

The Problem with Homemaking

I'm cracking on with hand-quilting my cushion cover, can't wait to have it finished so that I can show it off here. As I haven't any completed projects to write about, I've been musing about how some of the craft stuff that I do fits with this whole '50s housewife shtick, and how that sometimes makes me feel a little uneasy...

I like to sew and make things as it gives me a sense of satisfaction, a creative outlet, occasionally a little money if I sell something. I'm not in paid work at the moment as I'm at home looking after my children. I'm not particularly ideologically wedded to the vocation of housewife. So when I read this article I was pretty dumbfounded, and naybe just a little bit scared.

Basically it tells of how a woman is 'rescued' from the evil world of paid employment, so she can go home and be a 'keeper at home', she even lists her husband as her new employer on her exit questionnaire from work. Seriously odd.  I'm all for valuing childcare and all those things that need to be done to keep a household running smoothly, but I happen to think that these tasks should be valued regardless of the gender of the person undertaking them. Just because I have a vagina does not make me any better at hanging out washing or cooking spaghetti than my husband.

So to clarify - housework has to happen so that we don't live in a shit-tip, childrearing has to happen so that the blighters don't run feral through the streets, and sewing is just a bit of harmless fun. And all members of the household contribute to its smooth running, no one should be married to a house in 2012.

Glad we got that sorted out...

Back Home

We flew back into Heathrow on Sunday morning after two sunny weeks in Nova Scotia, spent a day recovering at my parents and then hotfooted it back to Bristol on Monday ready for The Boy's birthday yesterday. We had a small tea party with plenty of hula hoops and a swimming pool birthday cake. Phew!

Naturally I have come back from holiday full of good intentions to make the most of my leisure time and not just slump in front of whatever shit telly is to hand (all though I reserve a bit of slumping time for Olympics). More crafting less faffing!

While we were away I saw some amazing examples of quilting, pure textile art, and so I thought I'd get stuck in to something from my UFO pile (see here for my List of Shame). I managed to spend a happy hour in my work room with a genuine 1970s patchwork cushion kit - the photo is what I've done so far, but the later fabrics promise a serious world of brown style. This is sort of Log Cabin (I think...) and I love the effect it gives and would like to try this technique with some fabrics that are a bit more contemporary.

I'm trying to do it properly and follow the instructions and everything - wish me luck!

Fabric Baby Book

After having a bit of a sort out of my stash I came across a bundle of fat quarters that I bought from Fabric Rehab ages ago. I think I had grand plans of making a baby quilt for a friend, but as with so many projects it stayed as a daydream.

I decided I needed something a bit quicker, something I could finish off in an evening, that would show off the cute fabric. I decided I wanted to make a little fabric baby book after flicking through an amazing book in Foyles called How to Make Books. It was lovely but I couldn't justify buying another craft book just now, so I've put it on my wishlist.

As I didn't have the book in front of me, I had to make it up a little, but it's a pretty simple idea. I started by laying out the different fabrics and working out what I wanted to have on my 'pages'. Some of the prints were fairly illustrative, with lots going on, so I tried to pick out some nice 'pictures' - on the first page I have a cat looking at a bird in a tree, that's a story right there... For the front cover I found a plain beige fabric with a pale blue pinstripe, backed with a plain sky blue cotton.

Once I'd decided which fabrics looked best together, I set about cutting squares with my rotary cutter. I was using a quilting ruler which is marked in imperial, so ended up cutting 5 inch squares with a quarter inch seam allowance, it just seemed about right. I had three 'pages' inside my book, so used six squares of contrasting patterns. I paired up fabrics right side together and sewed around top, right hand side and bottom, leaving the an open edge on the side that would eventually be in the spine of the book. Then I turned it inside out and pressed it. I repeated this for the other pages.


For the cover I cut rectangles from the beige and blue fabrics which measured 5.5 in x 11.5 in. I sewed them along all edges (right sides together) leaving a small gap so that I could turn it right side out. I then slip-stitched the gap closed.


Then it was simply a matter of slipping the pages into the cover and sewing through all the layers of fabric about a quarter inch in from the spine. I back-stitched at beginning and end of the seam to make it stronger. This was a bit of a bugger going through the sewing machine, but I got there in the end!


I quickly sorted out the loose ends and ta-da! If I was doing it again I might personalise it by embroidering or appliquéing an initial or name on the front. Hope you like it... 


Update - I linked up this post with Faith Hope & Charity Shopping's Ta-Dah Tuesday, lots of interesting posts to check out.

Cutting Edge

Just a quick post to show off my new purchases... My very generous mother-in-law gave me some John Lewis vouchers for my birthday, and the lure of the haberdashery department was strong, so today the three-year-old and I set off on the mammoth bus trip to the windswept out of town mall that is Cribbs Causeway.

The wall of yarn was tempting, but I plumped for a rotary cutter and self-healing mat, as I'd like to do more patchwork and quilting, and these tools make things a whole lot easier (and more precise). Rotary cutters are notoriously sharp, so I'll have to be a bit careful with my fingers as I'm not the most co-ordinated person in the world.

I was a little saddened by the JL haberdashery department, as it did seem to be a shadow of its former self. As a child I remember gorging my eyes on all the reels of trim and fabric as I waited for my mum to choose the right buttons to finish off a hand-knitted cardigan. They still sell sewing machines, but the expert woman who used to advise customers was made redundant a few years ago. Now you're just handed a photocopied leaflet from the manufacturer with a list of bullet points on it.

I also picked up a couple of packets of machine needles, as it's important to change needles regularly and I've been going through them at quite a rate recently.

The Finished Item

It feels like I've been away from the blog for ages, as I haven't posted for over two weeks. However, it's nice to see that it is quite happy ticking over without me, people seem to be finding their way here through Google, with mostly sewing/craft related search terms. I apologise to anybody who was hoping for something a little more racy with the "Tamsin stockings" search...

So what have I been doing instead? Well, I have managed to finish my daughter's quilt. The photos are not the best, but I wanted to show the quilt in situ, and if I waited for a lovely sunlit day to photograph it, I think I'd be waiting for some time! And the good news is that my three year old loves it. She especially likes the colours, and has been sleeping under it since I finished it off on Friday. Her older brother is now in a bit of a grump so another quilt may be on the cards.

 I was planning to finish the edges with ribbon, but decided in the end that I preferred a white edging. I cut the backing fabric larger than the quilt top and simply folded this over to bind the edges. Don't look too closely at the corners as these were the bodgiest element of the project, and I'm sure didn't follow any approved method. I'll definitely look this up and do it properly next time.

Other stuff I've been up to: I am now a member of not one but two (count 'em) craft groups, as well as my book group and I've even been to the cinema (saw The Artist, a fantastic film, would definitely recommend). On the less positive side my other half has a fairly punishing work schedule at the moment, including a few overnight stays and plenty of not being home in time for bedtime. We usually share a lot of the household chores and childcare but as he's not physically been here it's been down to me to do more. It just means that by the time I've put the kids to bed I don't want to do anything more creative than quaffing gin in front of Call the Midwife.

But onwards and upwards, I've had a post-project tidy in my workroom, and have a few ideas bubbling away. If I can just shake off my winter blues I'll be unstoppable...

Wonky Patchwork

Accuracy is pretty important when you're doing patchwork, both in cutting fabric and sewing the seams. Not really my strong point, but after a bit of jiggery pokery (Mr Seam-Ripper was much in evidence) and quite a lot of huffing and puffing over the past few days I managed to get the rainbow panels for my daughter's quilt finished.

Initially I planned to have six panels all orientated the same way, but when I'd finished the first four and laid them out I liked the starburst pattern that they made. So with the remaining two panels I decided to split them in half to make the quilt more balanced.

I have an old white cotton sheet that has gone thin in the middle that I'm planning to use for borders between the panels and around the edges. The panels will probably be a little wider spaced than in this photo.

I'm writing this post with an extremely full belly after Sunday lunch. I may get chance to do a little bit of sewing this afternoon, but that depends on how co-operative my threenager is being. Now that her afternoon nap appears to be consigned to history I either do stuff in the evenings or try and get things done while she plays in the sewing room. Currently Muck and Scoop from Bob the Builder are shovelling the contents of my button jar. Sometimes this works OK, but things can get a little fraught when pins, sharp scissors and hot irons are involved...

Rainbow Quilt

New year, new projects... Today I have been fiddling with my fat quarters (oo-er) and have decided to make a small patchwork quilt, hopefully to go on my daughter's bed. I'm planning to have six panels in rainbow square patchwork, intersected with borders of plain fabric so that it doesn't seem too busy.

So far I've cut all my strips - quite tedious and probably would have gone faster with a rotary cutter, but I don't have one. I've started pinning and sewing the strips as you can see.

I'm hoping to get the bulk of it done before my husband goes back to work on Tuesday, as it's easier for me to sneak off to my sewing room when he's around...

What are your new year projects?

Fabric Stash

Look what I got for Christmas! (thanks mum...) Some lovely fat quarters to add to the stash and a handy ruler specially for patchwork. What to make with it though... I have a few ideas.

I am really pleased with all my presents this year, some of the consumables have already been consumed - can't leave chocolate around for long (oops), but have a few nice bottles of wine, plus my brother gave me The Help which I have been flying through. Best of all my husband gave me the gift of warm feet, some sheepskin slippers - bliss. But of course he'll get the benefit of my not plastering my icy cold feet on him...

What was your favourite present?

Patchwork Christmas Stocking

This is a prototype patchwork Christmas stocking that I made last night. I had some bits of festive fabric left over from making bunting last year and just did up a simple patchwork with squares. I made myself a stocking shape template out of stiff card so that I can make more of these.

The stocking is lined with an unbleached calico - I thought that I could embroider a name on the strip at the top to personalise it. The back of the stocking is more of the tartan fabric as I had a larger piece of this one.

The patchwork is a little wonky in places, but this just adds to the handmade charm (keep saying it enough and it might be true!).

I went down to the really inappropriately named Nylon Shop today - they sell loads of fabric, it's a complete Aladdin's cave type place, cluttered but lovely. And it's within 15 minutes walk of my house.  Much of what they sell is not nylon, so why the name I don't know... I found some more of the red/green tartan plus a small green/gold holly print and a red cotton with snowflakes and baubles.  I am however very much coveting the one of the Scandi-style Christmas bundles from Fabric Rehab.