A Glorious Sunday

Hi Everyone how are you all doing - for those of you in the UK I hope you are enjoying the sun but keeping cool and happy.  Thank you for dropping by today, it is so nice to see you all.  I had written a post yesterday but wanted to do more.

 

It was so hot on Saturday that we decided to go out for a little drive to the coast.  It is a place we go often and I have posted photographs of it in earlier posts.  Even though it was hot and a Saturday it was quite quiet at the beach which is so nice when everywhere else there are loads of people.



  I really wanted to do some walking - I try to walk at least 10,000 steps each day minimum - prefer it to be between 16,000 - 20,000 if possible.  I find that if I don't do some form of exercise I don't feel that good so it is important to me.  I am not a gym person at all so walking is the best for me.  I managed to walk from Llanfairfechan half way to Caernarvon which is around 4 miles. Although it was hot there was a lovely breeze coming in from the sea.  I also spotted a RAF helicopter which landed in a field near the beach - they were there for quite a while so were obviously testing out equipment - for a moment I wondered if they had Prince William aboard on his way to London for the delivery!







On the side of the pond there the swan was busy with all her babies which are really growing.  I noticed that parents were warning their children not to go and pet them as swans are fierce mothers. 

 



 

I must admit that I was quite tired when I got home and tried to get into bed before 12!

I was up really early this morning and it was so nice - cool and sunny, so I went for my walk then rather than wait for later when it was going to be hot - and hot it is lovely Readers.  My lovely husband had sent for a rather nice book for me which came yesterday so I spent last night reading it.  It is called The Best of Girl from 1951 - 1964.  Now I never read Girl - Bunty and Princess were my favourite comics and I loved these.

 

 



 

 

 



However, in my new book I found loads of interesting things to share with you lovely Readers.  I was amazed to find how similar the fashions were - if you look in our shops you will see many of the styles featured in the book.





 



I loved the competition to find Miss Sally Pigtails 1958 - the prizes are amazing - money and dresses.  As you can see the lovely Miss Pigtails 1958 received £25.00 plus a wardrobe of clothes - I can remember around that time I had to save any birthday or Christmas money I received to put towards my winter coat and hat.



I had to save £2.00 which took all year as we didn't get pocket money of any sort - so any money gifts put straight into my savings book.  In the January sales I would have to cash in the £2.00 and give it to my Mum and we would go to Liverpool for my new coat and hat.  I would have been over the moon to receive the first prize of £25.00 plus clothes.  I would love to know what she actually received and what she is doing now.

 

 



  If you are out there Miss Sally Pigtails we would just love to hear from you.  I was also really interested in the knitting competitions for girls under and over 14 years of age.  What struck me was that they expected the child to go out and find a pattern plus yarn and then knit it up, I presume that you were expected to send off the whole garment to them although it didn't mention this in my book.  I would love to see what the girls knitted - you notice it is for girls and not boys!





Here are the examples given of some of the garments which might be attempted for the competition - all quite daunting I think, what about your Folks, what do you think?



I wanted to get on with the first bag today for one of my granddaughters -  I have two to make for them before they go on holiday next week.........panic, panic!  I must tell you all lovely readers that this is my own self imposed panic as my lovely daughter-in-law never puts any pressure on me, it is me who wants to do these things.  I am sure you are all the same as I am - would love to hear about your self-imposed pressures.  I had treated myself to a lovely book called Girl's World by Jennifer Paganelli - similar to many other books of this sort the photographs are divine and I had picked out this little frilly bag to have a go at.





I wanted to put the Volkswagen applique on one side and a beach hut with an initial on the other side.  I had managed to salvage one of the VWs from the disaster last week so only needed to sort out the beach hut.  I love the preparation part but I have to agree with my husband that I do go over the top with all the little bits here and there, always finding something else to add which all takes time and energy.  The book is lovely in that it has the full size patterns so this was fine - I followed it to the letter and took my time and have just finished the first bag.

 





This is my gorgeous pin cushion which I bought ages ago from the Lovely Hen, I adore it and have a needle case to match - it is very 1940s and is my favourite colour.  You can find Hen's shop on Etsy - shop is called HenHouse and she is one of my most favourite bloggers.





As you can see there is a ocean of pink, pink and even more pink - sorry Folks but it is there most favourite colour at this moment in time - those of you with girls in the family will sympathise with me I am sure.

 

I was ok with everything until I got to the frill which I guessed might be tricky as I had not attempted one of these before in sewing - they are very easy in knitting!   I had ordered a new foot from Amazon for my machine which is a gathering tool but I must be doing something wrong as it didn't work very well - am going to take it to sewing class on Tuesday and ask Rachel about it - this will mean that the second bag will hopefully progress a little faster!  I got the foot from a company called 60 degrees for 3.60 plus postage so it was a bargain.  It came with really good instructions, however I am not technically minded as you have probably gathered so I struggled a little with it.







The frill went on ok but isn't completely straight and in some parts you can see my stitching but I am trying to be relaxed about it lovely Readers and not feel that it has to be perfect straight away.  I think I am making progress slowly and hopefully things will get better with regards the finishing off.  I was going to try to put in a zip but felt that this might push me over the edge Folks so decided to play safe and add a zingy ribbon to close the bag up.  Would welcome your thoughts on it.   I hope the girls like them once they receive them.





 

You may notice that I have included a label inside the bag - I have these printed every years with my name and date on so that when I knit something I can put one of these inside.



A lot of people have commented that it is nice to have the date on - maybe in a hundred years from now one of my creations might end up on the Antique Roadshow!

Overall I am pleased with the bag - there is always room for improvement so I am being relaxed about it.  Well lovely Readers I do hope you have a most glorious evening wherever you are - I know that Folks from all over the world have a look at my posts and I find this amazing and really wonderful.  Thank  you so much for making a special visit - lot of love to you all, have a great Monday with lots of fun, love and laughter.  Speak very soon. Dorothy :-)xxxxxxxxxxxx