A Stitch In Time

Lucky Dip

I started thinking about making this apron way back at the beginning of May. It's been through quite a few changes since then and I took a long time getting to this version. But it's finally finished and I am happy!

I made it for the May/June Tie-One-On challenge which was to make an apron with a pocket. I had visions of a folk art inspired apron with bird shaped pockets amidst 70's style foliage and flowers, in bright colours on a white ground. But I found that the simple silhouette shapes worked better in a printed fabric and to be perfectly honest, my applique skills weren't quite up to the job, so my design changed drastically.  I'm still practicing the techniques I learned from the 'invisible machine applique' book but I feel I'm really getting there now, and I've finally found a way around the point dilemma. Unfortunately I reached it after I did the bird's beak, hmmmmm.

I used the reversible apron pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's book which is a really modern, stylish shape. It looked better on David's sister's tall, elegant form than my full-on curvy figure though, so she kindly agreed to model it for me (and what a beautiful job she did- thank you Paula!).
It was a good pattern to work from but I did get a little lost on the pleats where the straps attach. I'm no stranger to dressmaking but I couldn't work out how to make two pleats from three notches? More diagrams/detailed instructions would be good. I love that there's still lots to learn though, I found out how to turn something narrow but long the right way out from the book, which I've struggled with for years.

Now, as you may be aware I made some birdy loveliness for myself along the way, and I also made myself an apron in February. So I don't need this one, love it yes, but don't actually need it!
But maybe one of you fellow bloggers would like to have it? I'd like to give it away to say thank you for your supportive, inspiring presence. And also because I'm starting to feel a little self-satisfying by just posting things for you to ooh and ah over every week. It's definitely time for a give-away!
So, if you would like this pinny, leave a comment between now and next Thursday's post and I'll get Annie or Eliza to draw a name out of a hat.

Until next Thursday, happy crafting!

Shop til you drop, then pick yourself up and shop some more!

We went to Liberty (thanks to Rirral and Ali):

Which was just beautiful: Not just the haberdashery and fabric departments, but the whole shop. It's filled with beautiful, gorgeous, unique lovelies. (Not the staff though, the ones I encountered were haughty and aloof).

Then we took a cab to VV Rouleaux (following  Ali's advice again), stopping on the way when we spotted an unexpected treasure: The Button Queen

We leapt out and bought some little gems before heading on up the street to this trimming palace:

Which is just so, so gorgeous. I can't describe how lovely it is, you have to just trust me and resolve to go if you ever get the chance. (And the staff here were just lovely; enviably young and stylish but also friendly and enthusiastic).

Thank you so much to you all for the lovely birthday wishes and ideas for places to go in London. (Raspberry made an almost identical trip a couple of months ago which I discovered after I got back- spooky!) I followed bits of everyone's advice, except Small Fox's that is, as I'm not so excited about the idea of seeing "Harry Potter's wang" as she is!!! 

Although David made a sterling effort and gave the best impression I've ever seen of someone who lives for fabric, buttons and trim, we didn't just shop!

We also went to The White Cube gallery to see this:

Which was both dazzling and breath-taking. There's been a lot of criticism in the media of this piece of work with particular focus on the issue of plagiarism. I have nothing enlightening to add to this and I don't feel I know enough about all the facts to be able to offer an opinion, but I would advise anyone who has the chance to go and see this work to do so because it's a unique experience, regardless of whose idea it was first.

We also fitted in a visit to the Natural History Museum to look at dinosaur skeletons and found time to eat in Covent Garden.

David and I had such an excellent day, so thank you again bloggy friends for all the excellent ideas and advice.

I'll be back next week with my finished bird-pocketed apron featuring some of my London booty... watch this space!

Procrastinating

Remember this post? The one where I resolved to blog once a week  for the benefit of my family and home?  If you do, you're probably thinking, hmmmm, two posts in one week, what's going on here???

Well, we finally moved the contents of David's house here this week and so I am surrounded by furniture looking for a home, boxes, boxes and more boxes, a mountain of ironing, a weeks worth of washing up and an incredibly minging home.

I don't want to tackle any of those jobs, so I am using blogging as an avoidance technique. It's very effective.

I bought this pattern and fabric from u-hanbag.com this week, to give me something more interesting to do than house-work.

And I got these vintage handkerchiefs from Ebay. I'm thinking of using them to make a blind for my ugly bathroom window, or maybe just to blow my hay-fever-cursed nose on


On Saturday we're going to London for the day. As it's an outing to celebrate my birthday, I get to choose where we go. David's even fully prepared to spend a few hours looking in fabric shops (although he may not be so keen when he sees what I've managed not to do today!).

The thing is though, I have no idea where to go. So this is a plea for help... If you know of any good fabric, yarn, button or textile magasine shops in central London, or of any unmissable shows/exhibitions that are on or great places for lunch/dinner, please let me know!

OK, so I really have to go and do something now, I'm picking Eliza up in an hour so I could make a dent in the ironing pile in that time, or maybe unpack... or I could have a coffee and browse a few blogs, or cut out my skirt...

It's all about me

I've been tagged a couple of times lately and have been a little slow to respond. It's not that I don't appreciate it because I do: I find it disproportionately flattering! I'm just busy/lazy/slow.

Small Fox tagged me for 7 random things:

1. My middle name is Bethan which is Welsh (as is my Dad) and roughly translates to Elizabeth which was my mother's name.
   

2. This is the car I drive and I love it as much as you can love an inanimate object, although you wouldn't believe this if you saw the ankle-deep carpet of crisp packets, drinks cartons and chocolate wrappers inside.
   

3. I had a breast reduction operation a year or so before Annie was born. Eight years and two children later they're pretty much back to what they were pre-op. But I don't mind so much now, thanks to programmes like What Not To  Wear and How To Look Good Naked.

   
(not mine but that's about the size of it!)

4. I am seriously scared of slugs. I mean really terrified, to the extent that I have had nightmares about them. I'll never be able to look at my own blog again if I post a picture here, but you have to go and look at this photo because it's so unbelievably vile it makes my insides contract.

5. I was such an uncool teenager my idol was Kaffe Fassett. I recorded him on Desert Island Discs and would listen to it over and over again. Yes, my adolescent heart throbbed to the click-click of a middle-aged knit-wear designer's needles.
   

6.I had to have the majority of my baby teeth pulled under anaesthetic  because they didn't fall out by themselves. I still have two baby molars.
   

7. If I was facing a firing squad and was asked what I wanted for my last meal it would be a big wedge of runny Brie and a bunch of fresh grapes.

   

So now you know me a little better in a bizarre kind of way. It's always good to be given fresh inspiration for posts, thank you Sarah for tagging me!

The exquisite Vanessa Valencia also tagged me as a thinking blog which makes me very happy. It's been lovely to find new blogs through the people who've visited here as a result, so I say a big thank you to her too.

But I'm not going to pass the tags on to specific bloggers for a couple of reasons.

One is that both of these have been going round for a while and I'm not sure who's done it or not.

The other is that whenever I've seen lists of tagged people on sites and my name isn't up there, I can't help but feel a little left out which I know is sad and pathetic and I try not to, but there you go. It's kind of like being picked last for games at school (yes, I'm familiar with that feeling!).

So on that basis, I'm just going to say that I feel every blog is a thinking blog: Let's be honest, this isn't exactly a mindless activity, it takes a lot of time, effort and thought. And if you have 7 random things you'd like to share about yourself, consider yourself tagged, I for one would be glad to read them!

Ornithological

Remember when I bought this book to help me with the bird apron and then promised to show some samples? Well, as a kind of trial run I made this bag using 'invisible machine applique' (and a slightly adapted version of my original design):

It worked really well, the book was incredibly easy to follow, so well written and the technique works beautifully. Preparing the pieces for applique is fairly time-consuming but actually applying them is a breeze. (Isn't that always the way with sewing?... It takes me  an hour to cut out and prepare pieces for dress-making and then thirty minutes to construct). I had some problems with clipping and tucking under the fine pointed tips of the leaves so they are a tiny bit frayed in places. But the book does offer an alternative method (or four) which I can use to combat that when I come to do leaves again.

   

I'm so glad I tested the technique before throwing myself into the apron (that's not how I usually do things!) because I've learned a lot and I'd have been gutted to have my finished piece spoilt by the little flaws in this. And I so highly recommend this book if you're at all interested in applique, machine or otherwise.

I'm most self-satisfied with this bag because I used fabrics I had already. I usually jump on any opportunity to buy new fabric, but I'm starting to feel a little extravagant. The deep brown and white fabric I used for the applique is from a thrifted apron which I ummed and ahhed over buying for a few days (and it was only £1.50: crazy huh?!). I dyed the green fabric myself a year or two ago with a big project in mind which never came to fruition and I slipped the purple from David's shop before he closed it. So now I feel a little more eco-friendly and am on my way to  justifying a new shopping trip!

Continuing the feathered-friend theme, Annie and I made a bird's nest this week while Eliza napped. We got the idea from a book called 'I'm Bored', which is just full of great ideas for things to do with your children, most of them free and all excellent fun. And while I haven't decided to turn this blog into a book promo site, it would be really handy to have around during the Summer holidays. (See this post and the great comments for more inspiring ideas also).

We constructed it by building up our nest from a hexagonal base, overlapping the twigs slightly at each corner. Then Annie lined it with moss and we decorated it with flowers, petals, leaves and pine cones.

It was an incredibly enjoyable, thoroughly therapeutic activity. I would still have loved it even if Annie wasn't there(!), but it was obviously all the more sweet because it was something we could do together.

In an ideal world...

Is this the most beautiful wedding venue ever?



I think so. After months of searching, I have found the perfect spot:



How many people fit into the wedding room? 18.



How many people on our provisional guest list? 42.



I either have to watch my dream wedding fade into the sunset, or upset a few people.... Hmmm, what to do?