Making Wales

Hello Everyone I do hope you are all happy and well.  I was going to try and post this message to you last night but must admit that I was rather tired after my full day of make whales.  Do come in and make yourself comfy - would you like a drink and some cake?

 

I had a day off work yesterday as I was booked in at Liberty Bell in Chester.  I have been going here for a few years now and Sue and her lovely sister Jill are two of the most delightful ladies you could ever wish to meet.  Sue runs the shop and the sewing classes whilst Jill also looks after customers all day.  I love going here as Sue only has a limited number of places and it is always homely and friendly.  She always offers a good range of things to make and I would like to attend more but obviously I have to work!

 

 

 

Apologies about the reflection in the window but it was such a sunny day.  Chester was very busy as it always is with the many tourists including Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Spanish and French to name but a few and that was only yesterday.  It was a Roman Fort and there are many old historic buildings to see in the town.

Chester was founded in the year 79 and has four main roads, Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate and Bridge which all follow routes laid out at this time – almost 2,000 years ago. One of the three main Roman army bases, Deva later became a major settlement and after the Romans left in the 5th century, the  city was fortified by the Saxons against the Danes and the name of Chester was born.

 

 

 

Chester was one of the last towns in England to fall to the Normans and William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. It has a number of medieval buildings, but some of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are actually restored by the Victorians.  However Chester is one of the best preserved walled cities in Great Britain.  It is a lively place to visit and I took a couple of photographs to give you a flavour of the city. 

 

 

 

 

The challenge of the day was to make three lovely whales which I know come from Tilda's latest book which I have loaned to a friend, apologies as I always like to give you a photograph from the actual book.  When I have it back I will post a picture.  Sue had already made one up for the workshop and here it is.  Aren't they just gorgeous!

 

 

I was the only person making the whales as the rest of the class were all on different projects so I was working solo with Sue's kind help of course.  Sue had made up a pack of the fabrics and buttons and I had to trace around the bodies of each of the whales and then sew around then leaving a little space on each one to turn them back on the right side.

 

 

Sue did remark on the fact that I seemed to be much more confident on the sewing machine and I was pleased to hear this.  In the past I have hand sewn projects in her class rather than use the machine as I have had some kind of mental block about it all.  The therapy of the blog is helping me overcome this lovely Readers and forcing me to use the machine much more.  Hopefully the patient is making good progress thank to all you lovely People out there.

 

Once each whale is stitched up come the task of stuffing them and adding definition to their tails and flippers - the big whale seemed to take forever.  The baby one was a little cutie.........

 

 

I ploughed on with the jobs in hand and worked through the whole day - we have a little break and I usually take 30 mins or so to have a walk around and do any quick shopping while I can.  The sewing on of the flippers was fiddly and having made one set I think I would do it differently next time so that it was easier to sew.  Sue is such a fabulous sewer and her work is perfect whilst mine can be slapdash and I tend to try and rush things to get them completed.  It is not as perfect as I would have wanted but is passable.  What do you think?

 

 

 

Sue had put some lovely sparkly glue on but I didn't have time so will be doing it today.  Here is the lovely unnamed Bunny making friends with our three little whales.  I am going to put my grandchildren's names on them - hope they like them and think they are fun.

 

I chanced upon a great find on Ebay recently and they arrived yesterday.  As you know I do love tea towels and these pair are from the year my older granddaughter was born so are perfect for her.  She wants another cushion so I have decided to make these up into one for her - the towels are in lovely condition so I hope she likes it when it is finished.  Hopefully it will be a unique gift for her to keep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Well lovely Folks it is nearly time for me to leave to go back to work.  I had come home as I had to pick up some papers so I had a little time to finish this post to you.  The post arrived as I came in and I have just opened a lovely parcel from a wonderful lady called Henhouse - she is one of my favourite bloggers and I have bought a few things from her in the past - if you look at the header you will see the delightful pincushion made by her and the sewing box which she reconditioned.

 

 

 

 

This gorgeous brooch is one of the new ones she is making and I just love it, in fact I am going back go work wearing it now.  I hope you like it, do pop across and see her blog she makes the most gorgeous things and has such an interesting and lively blog.  Thank you Hen, it is perfect, I love it.

 

Well Everyone I will have to leave you now to return to work.  I am going to a sewing class tonight and will hopefully be able to work in the cushion cover.  Hopefully I will speak to you all tomorrow, do take care and look after yourselves and thank you so much for dropping by, you all make blogging so worthwhile and fun.  If you are able to pleased leave a comment as I do love to hear from you - I will be posting details of the giveway either tomorrow or Friday and hopefully by next Friday our little bunny will have her two names - don't forget to take part.  See you all very soon, lots of love as always, Dorothy :-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx