Tuesday 31 May 2011

stash watch

erin mcmorris

Erin McMorris fabric from her 'weekends' collection, flower cut-outs in lime, flower power in green & flower lollipops in grass, on sale from over here 

Monday 30 May 2011

bank holiday update

despite the rather damp weather we've had a good start to the half term holiday, a trip up to London for a picnic with long lost friends in telegraph hill park, 
sunday @ park
a new knitting project on the needles {maybe it's the colder weather but i'm preparing for the autumn already!}
holiday knitting

Wednesday 25 May 2011

mini granny stripes

i couldn't resist a little go at the granny stripe pattern & at the same time managed to use up just about every gram of the debbie bliss 'pure cotton' yarn

mini granny stripe

there was just about enough to make a small dolly sized blanket, i'm well & truly hooked, what a great pattern, i really will be making a big version of this once i get a few other projects finished first!

mini granny stripe

i also wanted to thank Margaret from paper pastries for sending over the lovely 'message in a bottle kit' i'd won over on 'the ardent sparrow's' giveway, it's ever so sweet, thank you

message in a bottle

Monday 23 May 2011

good'granny'ness

a granny a day - finished

what a week, i think after all my making & blogging during kcwc i needed a week off, we've also had a busy weekend of visiting & big birthday parties, all good fun but rather tiring, so it's great that this post will be photo heavy & word lite, the circle in a square granny blanket is finished {finally!} 

ta-da

a granny a day - finished

this little beauty was a long time in the making {16 months to be exact} but well worth the effort, i had a last minute change of plan with the layout & didn't go with making it square, this way it can either happily sit on the back of the sofa or it also fit's little O's bed rather well {i wish it was big enough for our bed, but then that would probably have taken five years to make!}

a granny a day - finished

i'm already thinking about what my next big project can be, i really want to make a granny stripe blanket as i've seen so many lovely one's on ravelry, 

a granny a day - finished

the details are over on my ravelry page, or on previous blog post here

a granny a day - finished


Sunday 15 May 2011

KCWC day seven - part two

the cardigan got finished last night & i managed to sew the last of the ends in this morning {as well as baking 24 cup cakes for the fete!} little O even helped me pick out the buttons she liked, shame there weren't more button holes as she picked out a whole heap of good ones, 

over the rainbow

i used the lilla koftan pattern again, a few changes but not many, i used up some of the left over yarn from my granny blanket {which is all finished, it just doesn't have the ends sewn in, so no 'tada' yet}it's a real shame this yarn is discontinued, as it's lovely to work with & is so very soft & makes a cute little summer cardigan, my ravelry notes can be found here

over the rainbow

over the rainbow

it's been a busy week for me, think i'll be off to bed now & hopefully be back next week with a little more to say

KCWC day seven - part one

i think i'm almost too tired to type, it's been a busy day, the rain stayed away, little O happily tottered off to join in all the fun of the revels, in a costume that can only {loosely} be described as a mermaid

mermaid-ish

mermaid-ish

she was happy {she had to add her own stamp though - looking pretty cool eh!}

mermaid-ish 

Saturday 14 May 2011

KCWC day six

another good sewing day, another dress made, i used the same pattern from the "homemade" book & up-cycled a skirt a friend had passed onto me, which had plenty of fabric to use,

going green

this one was even quicker than the last, as i knew what i was doing this time & i also made the most of the skirt by using the hemming & straps from it's previous life, very handy

going green

it's a very twirly dress, little O enjoyed twirling round the garden in it, now i'm eyeing up other clothes for re-fashioning

going green

i've also finished the body of the rainbow cardigan this afternoon, so still on track to get it finished tomorrow

going green

Friday 13 May 2011

KCWC day four & five

as yesterday was a work day i didn't get too much done, 
at the start of the week i also started a knitting project, which i've been working on whilst sat in-front of the telly in the evenings, as i don't tend to sew much at that time, i took the knitting along to work with me & got a few rows done at lunch, i'm feeling quite confident that i'll get it finished within the week {helped by the fact it's going to have short sleeves}here's a peek

rainbow knitting wip

today i've sewn a few sequins onto the fancy dress outfit {& also learned not to take a 2 year shopping for said sequins - she has very strong opinions about what she likes!}

better get back to the knitting

Wednesday 11 May 2011

KCWC day three

today i have moved out my comfort zone & to a place i really hadn't planned to go 'fancy dress' whilst i would have loved to spend some time today sewing another dress or maybe a skirt, a fancy dress outfit was what was needed for little O to wear to our village fete this weekend, so a fancy dress outfit is was i made, well started to make really, the main outfit is finished, i have to say it all went rather well {especially considering i made it up as i went along, as i always seem to do!} it's just in need of a little embellishment, so now a trip to the shops to buy some sequins is called for,

here is a sneek peek, i'll share the rest when it's finished!

DSC_0041

DSC_0035

Tuesday 10 May 2011

KCWC day two

after yesterdays poor start, i have more than made up for it today, as i had cut out the fabric for this pattern last night, the actual sewing took very little time & if it hadn't have been for the stopping & starting {due to small child requiring attention} i think i could have finished this within a couple of hours

the 'lollipop dress'

the lollipop dress

the pattern came from a book called 'homemade' which is a lovely book my sister gave me last year, the biggest problem was enlarging the pattern to the correct size {which i must have done as the fit of the dress is not way off}the instructions in the most were clear & easy to follow, the dress came together really well,

the lollipop dress

i'm very pleased with the finished dress, i think it also helps that i love this fabric {just picked up from a local C&H fabrics, sorry no idea what it is}it looks like lots of little lollipops to me

the lollipop dress

the straps & bodice lining is some heather bailey 'nicey jane' i picked up on sale from 'prints to polka dots' which worked really well with the other print, it looks ever so cute on too - i'll have to get a snap of little O wearing it

the lollipop dress

i would really love to make another one of these tomorrow {& trust me i'm sure there will be more} but i think i'm going to have to make a start on a mermaids tail!

the lollipop dress

Monday 9 May 2011

KCWC day one

i've been at work today, so haven't got much done on day one, i did pick up some fabrics a few weeks back & managed to cut out a dress pattern around cooking the kids their tea, so plan on cutting out the fabric tonight & get sewing tomorrow - we'll see, i did have some plans for other things, but have luckily remembered i need to come up with a fancy dress outfit for little O to wear to the village fete on sunday, so it's likely that will be my other project for the week, if i can come up with an idea that is!  {main theme is the 'four seasons' our pre-school is just sticking to summer/seaside, she'd like to be a 'crab', i'm thinking more along the lines of a mermaid!}


new fabrics for summer

{the little golfers fabric is going to be made into something for me i think}

Friday 6 May 2011

been sewing

it's safe to say little O is over the worst of the pox, she's back to her usual chirpy self {i'm just wishing i could tie her hands together to stop her picking the darn scabs off!}only joking of-course!


a few days ago i took the opportunity to get at the sewing machine during probably the 10th viewing of 'Dora the explorer' for that day, having sorted a stash of fabrics i wanted to make some more zippy wallets with, i changed my plan & made a mat for my sewing machine instead,

runner for the sewing machine

since we moved i now have space to keep my machine out all the time, i share a long desk with my darling dearest, he has his computer up one end & my machine is up the other, it works well, he has a wireless keyboard & mouse, so they can get hidden in his draw whilst i'm sewing, then when he wants the desk, my machine just gets pushed up against the wall, so it really needed a mat you see {to stop it scratching up the desk each time of-course} not so sure it needed to be quite so flowery, but i was working with the scraps i had!


runner for the sewing machine

runner for the sewing machine

you might notice this was made with the scraps from the pin wheel quilt {which has still yet to be quilted} i just made it up as i went along, it's slightly wonky & clearly not the neatest sewing i've done, but it's perfect for what it's intended for

runner for the sewing machine

{little O had given up on Dora by now & was trying to get in on the act, by informing me that i had in fact just made this so she could keep her legs warm before swiftly whisking it off to her bedroom}

Wednesday 4 May 2011

another go!

trying out another way to post a photo {thanks Rachel} this is the other zippy wallet i made {i've been picking out fabrics to make some more today!}

zippy wallet

zippy wallet

a zippy wallet

zippy wallet by Handmade at home
zippy wallet, a photo by Handmade at home on Flickr.
found myself looking for a quick project i could make up as a little birthday present! this was perfect, in fact i liked it so much i made two! tutorial over at noodlehead

{i'm having a few issues with the quality of photos when i upload them through blogger - they are much better coming via flickr but i can only seem to post one at a time! any ideas or help would be much appreciated}

Tuesday 3 May 2011

a stroll round the park

the pox has taken hold, little O is covered, being house bound with Dora the explorer on re-play, i think i was going a little stir crazy {that may have also been due to the sleep deprivation!} not wanting to let this spoil our bank holiday weekend we {bundled little O in her buggy } & headed for a stroll round Petworth Park to feel the wind in our hair






& boy was it windy! it did the job though, now i've just got to get through the rest of this week!

Sunday 1 May 2011

a great excuse for a party










extra long bank holiday weekend, royal wedding, what more do you need, a big group of us hired out the village cricket pavilion for a get-together, it couldn't have worked out better, the children played together, we drank fizz, ate great food, chatted, sat in the sun, watched the children run around the rec & play at the park {okay so it was mostly the dads that supervised the park playing but they then did nip off to the pub when they'd had enough}aside from what your view of the royal family is, it was so lovely that everyone came together, all pitched in, & made great memories for the small folk

however the rest of the weekend is likely to be quieter as little O has come out in chicken pox

{the mugs do belong to us, well the children really - our parish council presented them to all the children at school & pre-school, i have quite mixed feelings on this but am trying not to get too cynical !}