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

Overheating!

Hello Everyone, I do hope you are all fit, well and happy.  It has been amazingly hot here in the UK this week - apologies to everyone outside the UK if you are not enjoying glorious weather!  I am not a sun person lovely people, much prefer the cool breeze and the autumn tints but I hate to spoil it for all the sun worshippers out there who just love the heat.  I had every intention to posting you some news this week but the days (and evenings) have slipped away in a haze of jobs and chores.  I have been getting to bed at unearthly hours since I spoke to you last due to the pressures of my day job and sorting things out here at home.

 

I must admit that zips have been on my mind this week and if you remember, last week I had cut out a VW and overstitched it but, when I had finished it I realised that the whole thing had slipped on the fabric as I had not bonded it, only used pins.  I was so disappointed lovely readers but was determined to make something out of it.  This is what the finished piece looked like - not very straight at all!

I decided to ask the help of my lovely husband who is such a whizz at maths and getting angles straight, technical stuff which by passes my brain folks.  He soon straightened the whole piece up and I decided to make a bag to hold some of my sewing stuff or a bag to give as a gift, depending on the outcome.  I lined the inside and forced - yes forced - myself to put in a zip, a red one.  It didn't come out too bad and I was congratulating myself on my progress - my attention slipped for a moment and drat, a mistake!  I was getting too tired to take it all out so decided to try and camouflage  it in some way - have a look at the photographs lovely Readers.  It looks quite reasonable here, not quite Sewing Bee just yet but good for me anyway.  I was gaining in confidence, but.........................................

 

 

You can see the slip here - so it wasn't going to be a gift after all, as I couldn't bear to give someone something I had made which wasn't up to the standard I expected of myself.  What about you lovely Readers, what do you think?  Maybe others wouldn't notice the little errors made or possibly they would view them as something unique to that piece of sewing...........would love to hear your views on it Folks.

 



 

 

I had an idea - what about a button or a bead on the outside to hide the misshapen stitching.  As usual I reverted to my old red colour and my stash of blood red sparkly hearts - that would certainly do the trick for me!  So here it is.

 



 

 

 

Actually I quite like it, in fact it is growing on me daily.  When the other sewers saw it at my Sewing Group they all commented on it saying that they would have bought it had it been for sale.

 

On Saturday I attended a  class at Liberty Bell in Chester.  I have mentioned Sue before - she is such a wonderful tutor and always has fantastic workshops on offer.  Some of these are quilts which I am not quite ready for yet!  It is always quite a small class so everyone gets Sue's attention, including me.  The only thing I find stressful lovely Readers is that we have to cut out our own fabric using rotary cutters.  I told Sue that I have a congenital disorder which prevents me from cutting anything straight! Sue reads out the measurements and off everyone goes to happily cut out their pieces.  I usually slink after them and attach myself to a kindly soul who offers to help me - it is not good Folks but I have to face up to my deficiencies in life.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



The project last Saturday was a really wonderful beach bag which I knew my lovely daughter-in-law would just love (hopefully).  The fabrics were just yummy and I quickly set to work as I needed to get as much done before the 4.30 deadline when the class finished.  The majority of the class were quite proficient and whizzed along at a rate of knots.  It was an extremely hot day but I did stay on focus and must admit I was really tired at the end.  I managed to finish the bag apart from the bunting and the few bits at the end.  I also decided to add the names of my grandchildren to each of the three beach huts.  I was going to try to embroider them but was running out of time so used little beads with letters on them - I hope they look ok and my lovely daughter-in-law likes her bag.  I have posted it to her this week in time for their holiday.



 

 

 



However, I couldn't leave my two little granddaughters out so am in the process of making two bags for them - I need to get my skates on as they are going at the end of next week and I have to post them to them!  I had bought some quite heavy duty fabric in a thrift shop for £1 - there were loads of it and I thought it would be ideal for 2 small shoppers for them.  I spent ages thinking about the designs and decided to use the VW logo on one side and put a beach hut with their initial on the other side - I am going to use the bunting theme again as I really enjoyed doing this and thought it was cute.  I got the two bags ready and took them to my sewing group on Wednesday planning to overstitch them as I had done before.  What a night though, for some reason the machine did not like the fabric at all and I really tried hard to get it done but it kept snagging and the thread kept breaking.  The lovely Rachel tried hard to see if she could rectify it and we tried other combinations of fabrics and came to the conclusion that the initial thrift fabric was just too coarse/thick for the machine and with all the applique added it wasn't a happy bunny and neither was I!

 



 

I decided to cut my losses and have chosen two lovely fabrics in pink - pink stripes and pink spots (any clue about their favourite colour????).  The pattern I am using is from a new book I have just bought which has such lovely photos in it, they are just gorgeous and with proper patterns included which I love.  The design is so sweet, I just adore the gathering piece on the top so at the moment I am busy working on these two designs.  I will post more photographs later today or tomorrow to show you how I am going with these.

 

Lovely Readers I am getting quite stressed at the moment as I know that I am working full pelt and have a couple of knitted/crochet projects which I must finish on the go at the same time.  I am very conscious that I seem to be mainly concentrating on my sewing but I am really keen to upgrade my skills and am really enjoying it.  I wonder if any of you lovely Readers out there have similar difficulties - am sure you do.  Modern life is so fast and pressurised, work doesn't seem to lessen and I do get tired.  Mind you I am my own worst enemy as I am up early around 5.30 but hate going to bed so it is well after midnight, usually around 1am I finally fall asleep - absolute nonsense but I have always been like this so it is the norm for me.  My husband says that I obviously don't do my basic maths - early rising + late bed = one tired person!  Would love to hear your views on this. 

 

I have tons to tell you and want to do another post again in a day or two.  My original plan was to post every 2 days but as you can see this has fallen away due to time constraints and everything I have talked about.  I love blogging and adore reading all the wonderful posts which so many talented people create - you all inspire and encourage me lovely Folks and I thank you all.  I will stop now as I have a thousand and one things to do - the sun is shining, the house needs cleaning and my sewing/knitting/crochet is calling.  Have a wonderful day everyone wherever you are - thank you for visiting, I love you being here with me and hope you will leave a little comments.  Speak very soon.  Lots of love as always, Dorothy :-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday at last!

Hi Everyone I hope you are all fit and well.  Here in the UK we are hoping to experience a unique event, a large red/orange ball has appeared in the sky and it is making everything very hot - any ideas what it could be?  Well hopefully, summer has arrived this weekend and I hope those of you in the UK will be making the most of it.  I think our non-UK friends must find our preoccupation with the weather somewhat amusing - I hope that, wherever you are in the world you are enjoying life and finding some time for yourself.  Come on in, you are all so welcome.

It has been a busy week at work - I repeat myself all the time here as it is always busy in work as I am sure all of you are too.  However, I have tried to keep my hand in with my sewing although at the back of my mind I am fretting about the unfinished projects which need to be completed to give as gifts.  I am really interested in what gifts you are all making for Christmas, I am still thinking about it but any thoughts would be so welcome.

When I was going through my cupboards and sorting out the sewing room I had unearthed many kits as you have seen.  This little kit I am going to show you was bought from Ebay ages ago for a couple of pounds.  I don't know about you but I just love Volkswagon vans and have dreams of having a couple of weeks in one by the sea, roaming from place to place!  The pack came with a cut out pattern and some fabric to make it all up.

The Seller is called Sewintocrafts and she is a really good seller in terms of delivery and the finished product.  I just hadn't got around to sewing it all up.  As you can see from the photograph below it is a pretty little van with a lot of Cath Kidston fabrics which all come with it.  It was very easy to cut out and I couldn't wait to start putting it together - my usual impatient self I am sorry to say!



 

I thought I had some paper which you ironed on to the fabric and when you removed it the fabric would stick to another piece of material.  However, after I had ironed it on and cut out all the shapes I realised that it was only a form of backing material.   I decided that I just had to go with it as all the fabric pieces had been used..........what did I tell you about being impatient folks. I have joined a little group of sewers in the next town who meet every week and there is a really lovely lady who is there to help people like myself!  She explained the different types of backing so I need to make sure that I use it for applique as it is useful for making sure the pieces are all in the correct places.  As it was I had to pin them all down which was ok but the end product was not as it should be - will show you in a little while Folks.

 

 



 

I had decided once I had put all the pieces together that, in fact, I didn't like the combination very much and wanted to use my own fabrics.  It was too late by now so I decided to carry on and do a dry run with this one.  The fabrics are lovely but I didn't feel that the contrast was good enough - what do you think Folks, would love to hear your views.

 

I hadn't used the zig zag stitch very much before so I was a little nervous about it when I arrived at the class.  Rachel, the lovely tutor was nonchalant though and told me not to worry!  She explained how to switch over to zig zag and the difference in the various lengths and widths of the stitches, all very technical to me.  I went very slowly and carefully but it wasn't an easy as it looked and I tended to be a little on the wonky side - hope you know what I mean.

 





 

 

 

I really enjoyed doing it Folks but understood what Rachel meant when she suggested that I stick the fabric down first although the instructions didn't mention this so I guess it is open to personal taste.  It took me around an hour and a half or perhaps a little more but I did complete it.  I was so pleased with it although the VW does look as it is a little on the drunk side - the backing will take care of this next time.

 



 

 

Well there is it Everyone the finished piece.  I originally set out to make a cushion and then changed my mind and decided to make a couple of holiday shoppers for my little granddaughters, what do you think?  I am going to embroider their names on the little plate in the front - I also have to embroider the VW logo on the circle under the windows.  I ran out of time at the last minute so need to finish it this weekend.  I have made a firm decision, nothing left unfinished from now on............have to be strong.  I would love to hear your views about colours, fabrics and overall style of the bags - need to do two distinct colours as the girls are very strict about this.  They go on holiday in a couple of weeks so I need to get a move on.  Any suggestions warmly welcomed.

 

I had a couple of hours off this afternoon from work so took myself off to a little town not far from where it live.  It was such a lovely sunny day and I had a wander around the charity shops to see if I could find any goodies - and I did.

 



 

 

Some lovely pieces of Liberty fabric for 50p a piece, absolutely gorgeous, shame there were only three of them.

 



 

A wonderful little set of glass - a dish and a milk jug, I think it may be 1940s/1950s and I just loved it and couldn't believe it was only 50p for the both of them together.  I thought I could put buttons in the dish and have the jug for flowers.

 

As I was leaving the shop I spied this little brooch in the cabinet by the door.  It is by a firm called Ainsley China and these brooches were very popular in the 1950s/1960s.  Lovely Readers I have had a love of brooches all my life and have usually worn them on a daily basis because I just adore them.

 

For a long time it was quite old fashioned to be seen wearing a brooch but I never minded as I wore them because I enjoyed them.  Nowadays it is quite in vogue so I am a bit hip now!!  I love having a little old ones, being chipped really doesn't matter to me at all because they have all belonged to someone and been worn and enjoyed. 

 

This little one was a little chipped on two of the leaves and the shop assistant was quite put out at the price and reduced it to £1.50 but I insisted on the paying the full amount as it was a charity shop - the original price was only £2.50 so I was over the moon.  I have a very large collection of brooches, none of them are worth much but I love every one of them.  My little granddaughter is also starting to want to wear them so hopefully she will develop a love for them.  I will show you my collection if you wish, if you leave a comment and let me know I can show a few pictures from time to time. 



 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, my last find - I had to nip over to IKEA after work during the week for some boxes and spotted these fab tea towels.  You all know by now that I do love tea towels so much and I had to buy these and can't wait to make something with them.  I am not going to make another bag as I am collecting these as if they are going out of fashion but I thought about maybe covering some books for Christmas presents or linen bags or maybe covering some coat hangers with them.  Any ideas Folks would be warmly welcome.  Hope you like them as much as I do.

 

Over the weekend I am off to another class - in Chester there is a wonderful shop called Liberty Bell which sells wonderful fabrics and gifts.  I have been going to Sue's classes for a number of years and made some really sweet things but I have never ever had the confidence to go home and make things on my own.  Sue is so so patient and a wonderful teacher, a real natural.  Her classes are only small but so friendly  and she is running a class making a summer holiday bag which I am going to make for my lovely daughter-in-law who loves summer things.  I will show you the process as I go along.  I am excited about going as it was a last minute decision and someone dropped out yesterday so a space was left for me. 

 

Well everyone that is it for tonight.  I have so enjoyed having you drop by, you are always so welcome.  Please leave a comment if you wish it is so good to hear your views and ideas.  I learn such a lot from all of you and do appreciate you reading my little blog, it makes it all worthwhile.  Have a super duper Saturday and Sunday and speak to you all very soon.  Lots of love, Dorothy :-)xxxxxx



Finishing Projects

Hi everyone, I do hope you are all fit, well and happy.  Another busy week since we last spoke, I am in awe of all the other lovely bloggers who seem to manage their lives much better than I do!  It has been exceptionally busy at work plus we have done a bit of baby sitting for our beloved grandchildren, which is never an issue.  I am sure all you grandparents out there will agree when I say that grandchildren have to be one of the biggest pluses as you are getting a little older and wiser.

 

 

At the end of last week I picked up my most loved magazine from the wonderful world of crochet.  It is my most favourite mag at the moment even though some of the patterns are a little beyond my reach at present.  I love to get home when I take possession of my magazines, make myself a latte (skinny of course) and settle down and read, read, read. 

 

 

 

I particularly liked this little crochet roll from Nicki Trench, so cute isn't it.  Nicki Trench has a special offer on over at her website offering discount if you book 2 courses.  I would love to go to her classes but sadly they are too far away from me and work has so many demands on my time.  If you live in the south, have a look and you may be able to snap up a real bargain.  Let's know how you get on.  I do fret that sometimes I struggle with classes due to the distance and the time they are being run.  Just wish there were more hours in the day.

 

The other little goodie I spied was the multi coloured crochet hooks which look fantastic.  How about these Folks, aren't they just adorable - I would love the pink one, what about you and they are not too expensive either, each one being handmade, can't be bad.

 

 



 

 

Another page showed some fabulous yarn from Susan Crawford who is one of my favourite designers as she is very much into vintage in a big way, the colours are just scrumptious!

 



 



 

I met her at the Woolfest last year and found her very nice to talk to.  I have a couple of her books and have tried knitting a few little gifts over the years which have been a success.  She is about to launch an e-book of Stitch in Time, volume 1 which might tempt you.  She also has a kit for the wartime farm pullover which would make a really super present for someone this Christmas.  The nice thing about this is that is fits many sizes so you can choose who might be the lucky recipient.  I am thinking of my eldest Son who has asked me a few times to knit him one of these so I might take the plunge and have a go. 

 

A few years ago I was lucky enough to spend three whole weeks in the Shetland Isles and a wonderful lady in Jamieson and Smith spent a lot of time with me showing me how to knit fairisle - the knitting needles were huge and I had to be careful as I kept stabbing my lovely husband as I was busy knitting away.  I managed to knit up a tiny little sweater for a baby - although there were no babies at the time in our family.  I made many mistakes but you couldn't see them once it had been completed.  It was called the Annie Jumper and you can actually see it knitted up on their Jamieson and Smith website.  I finished the sweater whilst on holiday and put it away at home.  Low and behold the following year a little boy was born into the family and he was able to wear it so I was obviously meant to knit it up. 

 

You will be pleased to know that I finally finished the crochet cushion which I started last month, feels like last year.  It came out well even though I had to burn the midnight oil again to finish it as my lovely daughter-in-law was visiting and I wanted to have it done and dusted for her, she has been so patient.

 

 

 

 

My confidence is growing a little with my crochet and I have my eye on a wonderful bag with pink straps which I might crochet for myself - or give it as a gift.  But, before I start that I must, must, must finish all the other jobs I have started.

 

Although it has been an incredibly busy week I did manage to finish one other project lovely Readers so haven't been entirely remiss with my work.  Last time we met I had started the little green Clothkits dress and was struggling with the buttonholes if you remember.  Now, in the past, I would have been completely disheartened and would have put it in the cupboard and forgotten all about it.  However, such is the power of the blogs I knew that I had to keep going.  I did have some encouragement from other people who urged me to take out the buttonhole I had made a mess of and try again.  So I did!  I took my time and completed it and then went on to take up the hem.  Now it wouldn't pass the Sewing Bee challenge in a million trillion years but it looked ok to me.

 

I didn't think it would fit my gorgeous granddaughter but when she came over at the weekend I just slipped it on quickly and low and behold it fitted - it won't last her long as children grow so quickly but I was so pleased.  When I spoke to her lovely Mum and showed her dress, what do you think Folks, she loved the colour and said she would have chosen that one..........it just goes to show that there is something out there for everyone.  Would you like to see it?  I didn't take any pictures of it on her but can show you what I have taken.

 



 

 

 

 



 



 



 

 

 

 

I was really proud of it and couldn't stop looking at it and touching - couldn't believe that I had actually finished it by myself with encouragement from you of course.

 

Well Folks I have to finish this evening as work beckons - sadly not the work I want but my professional work.  I hate leaving gaps between the posts but I am hopefully that I have now broken the back of work for a little while and will have time to devote more of my attention to all you of who have been so so patient.  Please leave a comment if you have time as I do love to hear from you all, it makes it all so worthwhile when you leave something for me to read and I do really appreciate.  I hope you all look after yourself and enjoy the days ahead filling them with love and laughter.  I will be back very soon for a chat and hope you will drop by.  Thanks for coming in today.  Lots of love, Dorothy :-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx