A wonderful Day Out

Hello lovely reader, have nice to see you again today.  Yesterday I had a really wonderful day in the sweet little market town of Leek in the Staffordshire Moorlands, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. This was my first visit to Leek and although it was a really cold day I received a very warm welcome from everyone I met there.  The town were all out commemorating the anniversary of the Dambusters Raid so there was a brass band playing tunes from the 1940s, lots of very old cars being displayed in the Market Square as well as stalls selling bric a brac.  A lot of the townspeople were dressed up in 1940s costumes so it was an interesting day to visit Leek.

The reason I was there was that I had managed, last minute, to book myself on to two courses - one in the morning (making a make up bag) and one later in the afternoon (free motion embroidery), so it was a full day for me.  Both courses were held at a lovely shop called Bibelot right in the centre of Leek. Now lovely readers, I am confess that I spent a bit of time before booking actually looking for a town called Bibelot!  It took a while for the penny to drop and for me to realise that it was actually a shop........... I could have spent a fortune there as they had so many really fabulous things in the shop.  It was arranged over two floors and we were on the second floor with contained all the yarns, fabrics, buttons, books, kits........am I making you drool.........I was intrigued by the name of the shop so looked up the word and found it means a small object of curiosity, beauty or rarity and this really sums it up in a nutshell.  The two lovely sisters, Liz and Sophie have both worked hard to develop a fantastic array of tempting things for everyone, but especially for crafters.  What was really nice to see during my day there was the amount of children (both girls and boys) who came in with their families looking for yarn, fabric and kits of all manner of description so Bibelot is obviously a great place for them to visit.

Lots of tempting things to buy

Sewing Bee Fever

Both courses were run by a fabulous Tutor called Lorna Knight, a softly spoken Scottish lady who is so talented and friendly.  She, along with Liz and Sophie and all the ladies on both courses made it a day to remember.  Lorna is a highly qualified and very experienced sewer but she really had the knack of making every feel at ease and encouraged us all every step of the way.  What was really nice was that the workshop sizes are kept small and cosy, which is so reassuring when you are a new sewer as I am.  Lorna runs her own academy and offers such a wide range of courses but check out her webpage if you are interested.  I am certainly signing up for more of her courses as they are such value for money.

I arrived with minutes to spare for the morning session.  I had set off in very good time but, unfortunately, got stuck behind not one, two but three separate tractors on my way there.  However, I was warmly welcomed with a nice cup of tea and introductions to everyone.  There were only four of us on the morning session and this was comforting, plus all of us were new sewers, great!  Lorna was saying that, in the past, many people would have been taught by their mothers/grandmothers but that doesn't always happen now so people are keen to learn these skills they have missed out on.  We spoke about how fantastic Youtube can be in teaching skills and I know this only too well, as this is how I learned to do my granny squares.  Anyway, back to the main story!  It was hard for me to focus at first as the workshop was crammed with fabulous delights......



The Sewing Corner

Lorna asked us all to pick a fabric for our make up bags, what a choice, what a decision!  As usual I was drawn to pink or red, can't seem to help myself lovely readers, are you the same?  I tell myself - go for something different this time, but no I always choose these colours.  Lorna had made hers in a really up to the minute fabric with Russian dolls on it - it looked really fab.  Sorry everyone this is not a good photograph of it and I should have taken a better one but I was soo busy..............One thing I have learned from yesterday is that I will have to take more time with my photographs as I took a lot of them but they were unsuitable and I was disappointed with them.  It is time consuming when you are on a course and I try not to be a nuisance taking photos all the time as it can distract people.  Any advice on this would be warmly welcomed.  I did ask permission to take the photos and I could see some people were a little alarmed until I reassured them that I would only be taking photos of my own work and not of them.  I can understand this as I don't like getting my photo taken any time.

Sew Sew Many Choices

My chosen fabric

I thought that my fabric had a look of an old fashioned nightie, I just loved the faded feel of it.  Couldn't wait to get started.  Lorna got us all to measure the fabric out carefully and then to choose a lining.  I chose a lovely cream silky one which enhanced my pink flowers perfectly.  Of course I had to include something red in there too so chose a red zip, which went really well I thought.  I must admit lovely readers that putting a zip in fills me with dread so I was glad that I was trying out a very small one to start with. Lorna did explain about the different foot which you have to use when inserting a zip and how important it was to position the zip very carefully before sewing up on the machine.  She showed us how to place the zip in position and then to tack it all together, always checking that everything was were it should be before actually sewing it up properly.  This is really good advice for someone like me who tends to rush into things willy nilly only to find that I have missed out a step or two or three.................

Lovely readers you can just see my Aneela Hoey journal which I took along with the expectations that I would be filling in all the details of the day............... I am afraid I didn't do any such thing as I didn't have the time!  However, it was nice to have it with me and drew some admirers I can tell you.

Now, anyone of you who are thinking to going to Bibelot for a course, have a look at this.  The lovely Marlyn, who is the girls' Mum, bakes the most scrumptious cakes and we were all given a HUGE slice.  Feast your eyes on this..................Marlyn could certainly give Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood a run for their money everyone and remember, I was there for two courses so got TWO huge portions!!!  Thank you Marlyn.  Along with the gorgeous cake we all had tea served in real china cups and saucers which was so refined and civilised.  

I must admit it was a little difficult to concentrate on anything else after eating our cake but Lorna gently guided us through inserting the zip into the bag and wonder of wonders, mine fitted in and looked just fine (well to me it did but I doubt that anyone from the Sewing Bee team would agree!).  We had to get to grips with our lining as time was running out - mine was very slippy so was difficult to work with but, with Lorna's expert hand, we all managed it, thank goodness.  The last thing I wanted was not the complete the bag as once home it sometimes can be tricky to find the time to do this.  Does anyone else out there find this?

The morning just flew by and the heat was on to finish all our bags on time - well everyone we all made it!  I was really pleased with mine and haven't decided what I am going to use it for yet.  I don't want to put any make up in it in case it smudges the lovely lining so any ideas lovely readers?  It will have to be something connected with craft as I want to be able to use it on a regular basis and not just shove it in the cupboard.  Well would you like to see it?  I particularly like the cute ribbon and button.

I am sorry everyone as you must think this post is never going to end...........I quickly had a dash around the town to see what was going on and to burn off some of the calories from Marlyn's beautiful cake.  After lunch another set of ladies had arrived so again there were just four of us.  Lorna had brought some of the designs she had made herself and gave us all a demonstration on the machine.  Her designs were lovely and she said that we were free to copy any of these for the workshop.  We were all given all the materials needed plus a hoop in which to put our finished picture in.

What has happened here?

Lorna made it all seem so so easy until I had a go myself.  My fingers were not co-ordinated in any way and even though I tried to 'draw' a little flower and add my name, well it was a disaster!  Lorna did explain that this technique needed a lot of practise and would come in time so I felt a little better.  We had to choose a design and cut out some fabric that we would be using as our picture if we didn't want to just use the machine to embroider.  I chose to copy a sweet little design that Lorna had done - I didn't want to be too ambitious and fail.  I think it is really cute.

I chose some pink fabric (surprise surprise!) from the scraps which Lorna had bought with her and cut out the petals and then put these on to the fabric using bondaweb.  I was very apprehensive at the thought of trying to follow the pattern and went a bit astray with the sewing machine - felt as if it was a car out of control................I told myself to stay steady, take my time and not panic but as you can see lovely readers, this wasn't what happened, but it was only my second go.  I decided not to worry too much and just go with the flow and see what came out at the end.  It all came out ok in the end readers as I decided that what I would do would be to embellish my flower with some tiny beads and a glam button in the centre of the flower.  I do love knitting with beads and found it such a relaxing thing to sew with the hoop.  It is a new experience for me as I have never used an embroidery hoop but I can really recommend it to you all if you haven't had a go at it. 

Well would you all like to see the finished product?  All I have to do now is to take it out of the hoop, lightly press it and then put it back in the hoop so that the canvas sticks out.  The back has to be sewn tightly together to stop it slackening off in the hoop and a back put on to cover all those stitches.  Lorna kindly made each one of us a back so that we could finish off at home.  I just loved sewing the beads on and found it so relaxing and just finished on the stroke of 5pm!  I also forgot to say that I had another piece of cake...........delicious.

It is not a work of art by any means and, when I am a little better at this I will probably be horrified at this attempt but for now I am pleased with the result.  It is something I will be having a go at - haven't you heard all this before readers.......................................

Well the day finally came to a close and I had to start the long journey back - however, Liz and Sophie stayed open for us all.  It was sad to leave everyone as I had made some lovely friends in the morning and evening group and enjoyed all their company.  Liz, Sophie and Lorna were all fabulous and hopefully I will see them all soon again.

Well everyone, I fear you have all fallen asleep by now with my ramblings, I had such a lot to share with you today about my time in Leek.  I had a wonderful time as you can probably tell and if you are ever in that lovely part of the country don't forget to pop in and see everyone, you will be given a warm welcome.  It was so nice to see you all again, do leave a comment if you have time and call again, I love to see you all.  Dorothy :-) xxxxx  However I couldn't leave without buying a few goodies to take home could I?  Here we go...............

Beautiful Beads

A little pack for my granddaughter to make up

A fab  new book





Trying to get organised!

Hello everyone, thank you so much for calling in.  It is, as always so nice to you again.  I have had a busy day doing the usual work things and looking forward to having some 'craft' time this evening only to find the time drip through my fingers like water.  I did mention to you yesterday about my special craftsy friend, Jo and how organised she was with her projects.  She put me to shame when I saw her craft room as it was organised whereas my organisation appears to be mainly on my floor as I have to tip things out of boxes to find what I am looking for.  Am I the only one who does?  It is difficult to know when you don't have that many friends who are into craft so I always assume, from reading the blogs, that others are far more organised and tidier than I am.  I try not to beat myself up as I am new to this game and have only recently acquired a space of my own so I guess it will take time, like everything.

My friend Jo has all her projects listed very nicely in a computer programme but I, sadly have limited skills with the computer other than those I actually need, like word processing.  I have, though, for ages been looking at a lovely journal on Aneela Hoey's website and decided to send off for it.  It is just gorgeous as it has some of her beautiful embriodery on the front.

Isn't it just gorgeous - I just love the little red cape, don't you?  It came with a sweet message from Aneela herself which I will use as a book mark.



Now the journal is just great inside as it has nice quality blank paper plus squared sheets at the back for diagrams.  I don't know what is it about journals, the expectation of writing in them is tremendous but somehow you don't want to make a mistake, want everything perfect..........sounds like the story of my life!  I am going to use this now to chart out what has to be done and what is in the pipeline plus information of where patterns, projects and pictures are dear readers, let's hope it works.  I shall endeavour to keep you up to date with this, you are a real help as now that I have told you all about it I have to keep it going.

I have made a start on finishing the crochet cushion tonight but the bit I find boring is sewing in the ends - because I am quite new to crochet I haven't quite mastered the art of weaving the threads in as I am going.  There is so much information out there and some wonderful blogs so it a trick I will get to grips with eventually.

I am determined to get the cushion finished and start the cafetiere and the satchel for the lovely Jo - who, by the way, I am going to encourage to start her own blog as she is such a wonderful sewer, so watch this space for details lovely readers.  By the way, those of you who are interested in crochet do check out annabooshouse blog as she has put on instructions for the most darling little crochet scottie dog - it is adorable and would look so cute on a summer dress or coat.  I love it and it is on my to do list readers.  Also, for you knitters, Tina from the quiethome has a gorgeous doll to make which would make such a special present for a child or adult - guess what folks, on my to do list!

Well everyone, it is a short blog tonight as I have other work to do for tomorrow - I love working full time but it does get in the way of other things I really want to do in my life now.  It would be great to hear from your all to see how you all fit things into your lives.  So much to do and so little time.............

I have managed to get myself on to a course on Saturday so am taking myself off to a little town in Staffordshire called Leek.  The day is split into two classes so they are both quite short so I hope that I will be able to make the most of them.  I find that I am a slow worker when it comes to sewing or anything new so I usually avoid shortish courses like this but they sound interesting.  One session is about making a make up bag with a zip which I really want to learn and the second one is about machine embroidery which I can't wait to have a go at.  I can see that you are all shaking your heads in agreement after seeing my attempt to embroider Florence's face yesterday!  The lovely Tina named her for me and I think it is such a suitable name so Florence she is.  Thank you Tina.

Well everyone, I hope tomorrow brings you sunshine and happiness in some form.  I hope you can drop by to see me and leave a message.  I will be back very soon hopefully, have a great Friday and see you all very soon.  Lots of love, Dorothyxxxx

Mollie Makes Doll

Hello Everyone, I do hope you are all well and happy. Last night we had so much rain here and it was soo cold, starting to think we have leap frogged into October.  Hope the weather has been a little kinder to you all.

I didn't have a good time with my last post and was unhappy with the layout.  I couldn't get the pink background back for some reason and consequently it remained white.  I had obviously done something to it but, not being a computer whizz I had to leave it as it was or delete it!  I have checked this post and it is pink again thank goodness.  I have made a commitment to my blog and really want to write new posts on a regular basis.

Last night I promised that I would give you details of the lovely lady who does the personalised patches for me.  She is called Suzanne and she has said it is ok to give out her email which is dragonworkshops@hotmail.co.uk.  Suzanne sells from EBay if you care to look.

I also thought about what I could make with my new craft pack and found a little project in the latest issue of Mollie Makes which is a particular favourite of mine - is anyone else out there addicted to magazines because I am - I think a therapy centre needs to be built.........The latest copy of Mollie Makes is as always full of great articles and things to make:




Mollie Makes Plus Buttons

Inside there was a particular little project I felt that I might manage in a short time in readiness for this post so I gathered my craft pack plus a few extras and made sure that I read everything twice over before forging ahead as I usually do.  The only fear I had was her face as I am not very good at embriodery - no I will rephrase that, I have no knowledge whatsoever of this craft much as I love it and it is on my 'to learn' list.  This list is growing by the day lovely readers - at this rate I will need another 100 years to learn everything I want to.



A Folk Doll

 

There we are - isn't she just so cute?  I just love her, particularly her dress and her hair.  I searched my cupboards high and low but couldn't find anything suitable for her hair so will have to get some in stock.  In my craft pack there were two little crochet flowers so I thought I would use one as a small lace cap for her.  After all she does look like a bit of a grandmama don't you think so funky hair may not suit her all the time.  I had enough of everything needed except for a little more fabric which I soon found in my stash.  I am making a conscious effort not to keep running out and buying new stock as I really have too much now, it is an effort though as I just fall in love with all the yarns, fabrics and trimmings on offer now.  Anyway, I digress.  I set out everything and then sorted out the pattern for her dress and pressed it all.





As you can see I had copied out the pattern for the doll on to tracing paper and transferred it to cardboard as I really hate cutting into my magazines.  It also means that I can keep the template for other times.  I found this really useful when making the beach huts from Helen Philipps book.  I also decided to add some rick rack to my apron and not sew it inside the fabric but on top so that I could tie it at the back like a real apron.  I liked the combination of the fabrics and am thinking that I might make a couple more for my lovely granddaughters for their room using some of their old dresses.

The pattern suggests cutting out front and back separately but I decided to put them together and pin them.  I then drew the outline of the doll straight onto the fabrics and machined around the whole lot leaving a gap for the stuffing.  My sewing machines skills are not the best so I used it for the straight pieces but hand sewed the more tricky areas such as her neck and head.  Once I had sewn it all up I then trimmed off all the edges and turned it inside out and pressed it.  You can just about see the outline for the doll on the photograph below.  I am not sure if this is the best method but it seemed to work for me.  It will be great to have your advice and tips lovely readers on my sewing techniques, goodness knows I need them!

I did the same for the two arms which were a little more tricky being much smaller so I must admit that I hand sewed these completely.  I also added a little flower to her chest and tackled her face.  It wasn't that successful I am sorry to say although I did try and took my time.  She certainly isn't as pretty as the Mollie Makes Folk Doll but she is mine and I love her.  I would certainly make more of these as it was fun to do but I need to get some serious practise on embriodery.  I do have lots of books but have to make time to read and practise the techniques, not just flicking through them drooling over the gorgeous images.

Well lovely readers would you like to see her?  Here she is, I am looking for a name, any ideas?  Something to recognise her grand status in the family she comes from...............

Finally lovely people, a new friend of mine who is a very talented sewer and crafter has asked me to make her a new cover for her iPad.  I am so delighted to be asked to do this for her as she does not knit or crochet and has been so kind to me.  I had a look around for some patterns and remembered that there was a very unusual one in another of my magazines - told you I needed therapy!!

Now my lovely new friend is very organised with her magazines and has documented all the different projects she is interested in, something I have to get to grips with as I spend half the time looking for a pattern I know is somewhere........but where?  I like this magazine as it has projects for all levels and covers a wide range of crafts.  I liked this project immediately I spotted it as it is a satchel - I have loved these for as long as I can remember, although I didn't have one at school as they were much too expensive for us.  They have made a real comeback due to some enterprising ladies and are the current 'must have' for all the stars.  I asked my friend to have a look at it in her magazine (she is like me folks, an addict!) and she loved it.  Have a look and see what you think



Don't you think this is so cute - my friend thinks it will look cool in dusky pink and I agree. I am going to knit the main part in pink with navy and maybe some green, not sure yet.  Would really welcome your thoughts on this.  I love felting as it is such a great way of providing structure and form to what could be quite a floppy bag.  This is important I think when it is for something as precious as an iPad or Kindle.  My friend just wants the small handle on the top and not the long handle so that is fine.  I think if I was doing the long handle I would push the boat out and buy a leather strap for it as this really finishes off a bag so well.

There was also a pattern for a larger bag which was very nice too and I was thinking of my eldest granddaughter who is 20 this year.  However, I am always careful to check with older people as it is difficult to say to someone you don't like what they have made for you - if it is something shop bought then you can take it back - not so with hand made.  What do other people think about this?  I am aware that I give a lot of hand made objects away to friends and family but am having second thoughts about this as it is unfair to them.  That is why it is so lovely for me to asked to make something for someone who will really appreciate it and use the bag.  Anyway folks keep tuned in here as I will keep you posted about the development of the iPad case - along with everything else.

Well folks it was so nice to see you all again, would be rather lonely here without you.  Please leave a comment or have a chat with me.  I really do value you your views and opinions.  I have learned such a lot from my favourite bloggers and love to hear what you have to say and what you are doing.  Have a wonderful day tomorrow.  See you soon.   Dorothyxxxxxx