the pesky bombolino

Dressmaking part 3: Success at Last!

Finally I've made something I can be proud of!

When I saw this needle-cord with it's sweet little floral faces in a local fabric shop, I had to snap some up right away! I used a New Look pattern (number 6022), which I've had kicking around unused for 6 years! It was good although I used the experience I gained from the Amy Butler pattern and finished off the internal seams.

These are what Eliza calls 'trick buttons' because they hide a whopping great popper underneath. I've justified my avoidance of buttonholes with the excuse that it'll make it easier on her when she goes to school in September and has to get changed after PE... ahem...

I didn't consult her over the leafy ribbon trim because I was too afraid she'd reject it. Luckily, she approves and loves the whole thing. I may dwell in this comfort zone for a little while, so you can expect less bungled skirts and more little dresses!

Dressmaking part 2: Disaster!

When I made this skirt I saw it as a trial run for using this fabric. I didn't want to dive in head first with an un-tested pattern and end up wasting my treasure. I was relatively happy with the bird skirt and I've worn it lots of times with enough compliments to keep my ego bouyant, so I happily made up my beautiful Swiss fabric into this skirt:

Looks good eh?
How about from the back?

Yup, that's as far up as I can fasten the zip... not a great look!
David bought me the gorgeous dress form for my birthday so hopefully it's a mistake I can avoid in the future!

Swiss Honeymoon

Thank you so much to everyone for your lovely comments on the wedding post, we both were really touched by all your well-wishes and congratulations. And thank you to everyone who played along and put a wedding related post on their blog. If you send me your addresses (sarahbcooper@mac.com) I'll pop some party favours in the post to you all x

I uploaded my favourite honeymoon photos to flickr, this link will take you there!

Next week I'll put all this lurve stuff behind me and get back to more serious business of crafty blogging!

Tying the virtual knot

So the happy day is here at last!
The sun is shining, so let's put some slap on...

and our glad rags...

...and head off to the registry office!

Waiting outside I spy some beautiful bride's maids:

 

...and a dashing groom:

 

Let's gather here until the room is ready for us: we can enjoy this song while we wait!

I am so nervous and emotional that I'm wondering if I can hold it together! We've chosen the following reading which doesn't help my wobbly state:

If you can be always as close and happy as today,
Yet be secure enough to grow and change along the way;
If you can keep for you alone your love as man and wife,
Yet find the time to share your joy with others in your life;
If you can be as one and walk through marriage hand in hand,
Yet still support the goals and dreams that each of you has planned;
If you can dare to always go your separate ways together;
Then all the wonder of today will stay with you for ever.

Once I've stopped crying we can exchange vows and rings We sign the register whilst listening to our song:

That's it, the deed is done! I'm sorry Mr Bond, you're too late!
Bryan Ferry sings us out with the most euphorically perfect song.

Grab a handful of confetti and look up when the photographer counts to three!

We'll pose for some photos,

but not too many as Eliza is getting bored!

Let's head back to the house for a garden party- don't worry we have a marquee in case it rains (but as it's our virtual wedding we can control the weather!)

Have a glass of Pimms and meet some family and friends:

We have our first virtual guest- hooray! Welcome Betsy, it's lovely to see you and the beautiful card you've made, thank you for coming x

Ash and Katy have just arrived. Ash it's good to meet you, Katy go get your hat, we  all want to see it!

Hello Jessi and Sonya! Sonya, you look fabulous, as always, and I'm loking forward to talking sergers with Jessi!

I'm so pleased to see Ruth (it's been a while!) who's brought the sunshine with her and a fabulous gift. And Hazel looks splendid with her hand-made corsage. Thank you for coming ladies x

Good evening Foxy, it's good to see you! And here's Charlie with a fun greeting on flickr from some of her feathered friends!

Nicolette's plane was delayed (although, I thought you could fly?!!), but she's here now and she's brought some appropriate music- thank you Nicolette x

(my sister and brothers)

It's a good job I didn't spot these dashing fellows before the ceremony or I may have had my head turned:

(my college friends)

and my Dad, who's the happiest Welsh man in England!

There's a cracker for each guest holding tricky surprises and lame jokes ('How do you stop your husband from reading your emails? Put them in a file marked 'instruction manual'!')!

Are you getting hungry? Come and tuck into our tasty buffet!

Make sure you leave room for pudding!

I'm afraid our musician has been deported (it's true!), so we can amuse ourselves making daisy chains...

...play on the dance mats...

... you could have your face painted...

...or how about a little bouncing?

Try not to be too shocked by the family gossip...

... and have a good giggle

If you're feeling really energetic you could play rounders...

Ah, that's where my husband's got to!

Come on David, it's time for speeches and the sentimental highlight of our day...
Annie's gathering her nerves so that she can read this poem which she and my Dad wrote together:

I love my Mum and Dad
When they're with me
I'm always glad

I love my Mum's kisses
I love her hugs as well
I love my Dad's tickles
And stories that he tells

Mum's the responsible parent
Dad's always fun
Both of them make a family
My poem's almost done

I think marriage is getting together
For a lifetime, for it to be,
I think marriage is staying together
For Eliza, you and me

I think marriage is getting together
As a family, for it to be,
I think family should be forever and ever
I hope very much, you can see
I hope you've enjoyed my poem,
So now, it's time for tea.

Let me dry my tears (again!) and let's have a cup of tea and some cake. This is fruit cake but if that's not your thing, Mirre has baked a fabulous alternative, hop over to KissKuss to sample a piece! Thank you Mirre x

There's just time to show off our rings...

 and say thank you to this guy...

Matt Chedge... surely the best wedding photographer in the world!

All that remains is to live happily ever after...

 I've been working on this heart for a while... man, it was fiddly! It's about an inch high (hence the fuzzy photo) and is my second attempt. There is a little flaw in it though, the right hand side is one stitch out. And I hate to be anal but it really bothers me!
I followed a pattern from this book which we bought while I was under the mesmerising influence of the Swiss Alps.
It has some things which I'm dying to try out like this lovely couple:



But I may practice with a few more of these hearts first:

Otherwise, one stitch out and the folks will look like their limbs are dislocated!

Virtual wedding tomorrow, looking forward to seeing you there x

Olly's Quilt

  
This is one of those projects which I thought would go on forever... but it's finally completed- hooray!
I managed to spur myself on with the thought of making this skirt once I was done.  
You can see more photos here, if rainbow coloured quilts are your thing.

Don't forget it's the virtual wedding on Wednesday... I'm getting a wee bit nervous- how crazy is that?!

Sorry for the shoddy appearance of this post...It appears that Typepad is going to let me have either the size or colour text I want, but not both at the same time. And I'm only allowed to change one sentence at a time. And don't even think about changing the typeface. That would be crazy. I hate to be a moaning minny, especially as I've always been a hugely devoted typepad fan, but it's driving me crazy.
Is anyone else having these problems or am I being a technological muppet? Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I have a macbook and use Firefox as a browser.
If this carries on I swear I'm going to jilt typepad at the altar and abscond with blogger instead!

Dressmaking part 1

While we were honeymooning in Switzerland I got a chance to go fabric shopping while David had an afternoon nap (I told you it was idyllic!).
This is a linen style fabric with a gorgeous embroidered border along the bottom.
I'm so in love with this fabric though, that I'm a little nervous of cutting into it.
So I whipped out some fabric and a pattern I bought last year to test out the sizing and shape.


The pattern is Amy Butler's Barcelona A-line skirt and was a peach to follow. What I really liked about it was the attention to little finishing details which make all the difference to a professional looking product. All the seams are zig-zagged, so there's no raw edges or hanging threads and I learned how to put in an invisible zipper.


The shape was good but the sizing was a bit questionable. I have a large tummy and quite narrow hips so I diligently re-sized the pattern following the cutting lines for the large hips and extra large waist. But when I finished it dropped off! So I had to go back and tighten the waist a little (not the most de-moralising of tasks but it was tricky!).


I inserted an embroidered tape that I also got in Switzerland just to add a little ooh-la-la! I didn't expect to go fabric shopping on my honeymoon and didn't realise Switzerland would be such a fruitful place, but I've got lots of beauties up my sleeve to show you ;-)

 
That is if the people at Typepad can sort out the nightmare that composing a post has become. I haven't had the 'lost post' problems that some are experiencing (as I type this I know I'm being foolish!) but the whole editing the colour and size of the typeface has become ridiculously involved and time-consuming. Do any of you have any tips for over-coming these problems? I thought my children would be responsible for the loss of my honeymoon glow but I think Typepad are the number one culprits!

Virtual Wedding

(click on the invite to make it legible!)

Ok, so how does this virtual wedding malarkey work?!

...On Wednesdy the 4th June, around 10am-ish (GMT), I'll make my bridal entrance by posting a photo of me in all my wedding day glory(!), which will kick our event off! It'll go on all day and into the evening so you can join in at any point...

If you would like to come (and please do- lurkers will be welcomed with open arms!), you just need to post something wedding-related on your blog. For example: anything you might contribute to the party (flowers, music, food, decorations, poetry); a photo of you in your wedding outfit; or your favourite wedding story. If you're not too shy, it would be great if you posted a photo of yourself in your glad rags. Or, even better, you could post some of your own wedding photos...

Once you've posted please leave me a comment or send me an email: sarahbcooper@mac.com, I'll then add a link to your site in my post so other guests can easily mingle with you.

See you there!

PS This post and whole 'virtual party' idea is heavily inspired by a tea party held by muerto de risa a year or so ago. Thank you for the inspiration Risa, I hope you don't mind me hijacking your idea (and most of your instructions).

Well hello my lovelies. I am now, officially, Mrs Cooper!

I have been to the edge of wedding planning hell and back (the dress was a complete and utter f*** up and our musician got deported- so inconsiderate).

But we still managed to have just THE most fabulous day. The sun shone, the setting was so very pretty and filled with our bestest friends and family and I felt like a princess. And, of course, the groom was worth a second look.

We've also had a totally idyllic, child-free honeymoon in Switzerland, frolicking about like two people in luuurve!

Now I'm back to the usual routines surrounded a rose-tinted haze of loveliness. Just counting the days until my children bring me crashing from my number 9 cloud, back down to earth. It's half-term next week so I haven't got long left!

But I have the virtual wedding to look forward to. Don't forget to come- there will be copious amounts of wedding photos, cake and wedding favours for all who are kind enough to attend x

Last week I saw this pair of socks on Yarnstorm's blog, and was overcome with an irrepressible urge to make a pair of my own.
When the yarn came though (with a free sock pattern!) and I got my double-pointed needles out, I found I didn't have anywhere near the right size. Could I wait 'til the next day to pop out and get some? Of course not, I had to start something there and then! So I'm working on the butterfly moebius from 'The Knitter's Book of Yarn'.



I wanted something that I could knit without following a pattern too, and as I've never made a pair of socks before, they weren't really the thing. As I'm away for the weekend (on a girl-guide camp!) I wanted something to take with me that could easily be picked up and put down.



The yarn looks so different knitted in a seed stitch rather than stocking, it looses those smooth stripes and becomes altogether more gnarled and textural. I'm not sure if I'm going to like the finished article.
In fact, I don't know if it'll be wearable at all: I increased the number of stitches as I was pretty convinced that something with a circumference of 24" was not going to reach all the way around my rugby player's shoulders!
I'm really enjoying the process though because the yarn is just so rewarding to work with. To be honest, I don't mind if I end up un-ravelling it.
Can you re-use already knitted yarn without doing anything to it first?