Month: June 2015

Sunday Sevens Week 42 (me 17)

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Hi Everyone! We’ve finally had a weekend of warmer weather and I’m working. But never mind, I’m off tomorrow and hopefully it’ll be a scorcher! Friday was my first shift back after being off at the start of the week. I woke up at 5am when my alarm went off and the first thing I thought was “oh shit no! I forgot to do my Sunday Sevens last night!!😳”.   After all it was Monday morning for me. It wasn’t until I was dressed that I realised i’d still another 3 days left of the week!! So now it’s your Sunday and I’ve got the Friday feeling! Confused??!!  Me too! Read on! 1. I don’t think this needs an explaining but it’s the highlight of my week, already has had it’s own post but still needs another mention!! My GBSB day with Heather Jacks! 2. We have a beautiful pond on the 11th hole at the golf club.  It’s wasn’t as beautiful this week as my ball went in it! Noticed this poppy though which I’d not seen …

GBSB Capri Pants – converted to an easy elasticated waist

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I need more pants!  No not knickers, I mean trousers! Cropped ones for summer.  I’m living in my jeans and when we have the occasional warm day I’m stuck at just what to wear.  So I decided to make the Capri Pants which are in this years series of the GBSB book. The pattern looked straight forward.  Side invisible zip and facings instead of a waistband. I chose a denim with some lycra content.  Not sure how much, but they had a definite stretch rather than had ‘give’.  I sewed them up without the darts (i marked them but waited to add them) and basted the left side seam – but sewed all the others with a normal stitch length and overlocked all the edges..  I also stay stitched the waist band. I tried them on and apart from taking in the centre front seam I thought they’d be ok. I made 2 new rows of stitching for the centre front seem before I was happy with the fit. After adding the darts I then found …

My First Sewing Lesson – Doing it in style! 

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After 25 years of intermittent sewing (including making my bridesmaids dresses, umpteen pairs of curtains and a whole year worth of clothes as I took part in Goodbye Valentino’s 2014 RTW fast) I finally got round to having my first sewing lesson. Back in February when I was looking for a new sewing machine I stumbled across sewing lessons being advertised on the Janome UK website. Being a fan of the GBSB I was immediately drawn to their Celebrity Sewing Bee Week.  I booked onto Heather Jacks course – successful sewing with silk – as I thought I’d learn more from her class than the others. The others seemed aimed more at beginners.  Though I’d tackled all sorts of fabrics I do have 2 pieces of silk in my stash but I’ve never dared cut into them! So the day finally came and I headed over the Peninnes on the M62.  The M62 is notorious for accidents on this particular stretch so I set off in plenty of time. I was so glad I did …

Ideas for homemade gifts – a sewing set for none sewers!

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I recently put made a case for a few sewing bits and bobs for a ‘none-sewing’ friend.  By none sewing I mean she doesn’t make frocks, but she does do the odd bit of mending and replaces lost buttons etc. I wasn’t going to share this (don’t know why??!!), but she was so chuffed with it I changed my mind in case anyone was looking for ideas for pressies. For the outer layer I used left over cotton from my Lekala dress muslin, the inside is leftover denim from a skirt, and the inbetween layer is a small piece of wadding. .  It closes with a loop of ribbon and a button – both from my stash. I made a pocket using the ribbing from an old jumper which holds a few buttons and a small box of pins. Some elastic holds some spools of thread and a scrap of felt keeps needles secure. The tape measure doesn’t have a home but is held in place when closed.  Next time I’ll make a space for this.  And you can just …

Lucy’s Lace – who’d have thought my old Janome could do this!

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A few weeks ago my niece Lucy asked if she could borrow my machine to make some lace for her a project for college.  She knew I had a free motion embroidery foot for my new machine.  Little did she know that I also had one for my 16 year old Janome, which had never been used.  Well, not properly.  I think I fastened it on once but never got any further than that! So she set about moving the hoop around – she had some wash away film fitted to a regular embroidery hoop – and in no time at all made this!!  She used embroidery thread and kept adding tiny scraps of fabric as she went. How clever!   Once finished the piece was soaked and the film dissolved away. I think it would benefit from a few days between a couple of heavy books, but I was amazing at how easy it was, and you don’t need a fancy machine to do it.  Just one where you can drop the feed dogs …

Sunday Sevens Weeks 41 (me 16)

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Hi Everyone!  Here we are again at Natalie’s Sunday Sevens!  Gosh, how the weeks fly.  My weeks consisted of watching 2 crickets matches, playing 1 round of golf and working 4 12 hour shifts!  Hence not much time for sewing, though I have started on the Capri Pants from the latest GBSB book.  They’re all sewn up, just need to tweak the fit and add a zip and the facings on the waist. Enough rambling on, here’s 7 photos from in and amongst my busy week: 1.  We have a farm less than a 5 minute walk away that sells eggs.  There’s an honesty box and it’s open 24/7. 2. Blonds have more fun!  Not sure if yellow counts! 3.  Intermittent drizzle and a bit breezy watching cricket, so after i had walked 18 laps (each lap is 1/4 mile) I settled down with a my crochet under the brolly. 4.  Another cricket match.  Couldn’t keep up with Clare (in the blue frock), Sarah stood on the step was poised to join us for more …

Refashioning……….. Furniture

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Some would call it upcycling, but I’m not really changing it in to anything new,  I’m making it modern and on trend with what’s on sale in the shops at the moment, so I’m calling my latest venture Refashioning Furniture! This is a picture heavy post, so will be easy on the eye if you’re reading this with your feet up and a glass of wine. I’m currently typing as quick as I can hoping to finish this post before my break finishes! Here’s what the living room looked like after a lick of paint.  Walls are Elephants Breath and the woodwork is Satin Slipper from Farrow & Ball: The largest new sofa will be going against the chimney breast covering the small alcove, but I wanted to keep the small cupboard as its where I store my photo albums. I don’t like them hidden away in the loft! This was the first thing that got a new lease of life.  I used Rustoleum chalk paint in Coco, just one coat, and then gave it one coat of …

Guess where I’m going next week! 

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Ages ago i spotted this on the Janome UK website. I think it was February time.     It’s less than an hours drive so I thought it’d be daft not to book onto one. I’ve never had a sewing lesson in my life, so I thought if I’m going to have one I may as well do it in style!  I chose the successful sewing with silk class by Heather Jacks – last years GBSB winner. It was the  class I thought I’d benefit most from. I would love to meet Tilly, but I’ve already made several Cocos.  It seems to have come round really quickly! Can’t wait – will hopefully take some photos so I can share what we got up to! 

Sunday Sevens Weeks 40 (me 15)

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Apologies for a slightly late Sunday Sevens.  After such a hectic, sewingless but productive week I ran out of time and couldn’t post until today! So for those new to my blog, or to Sunday Sevens, it’s all down to a brain wave from Natalie of Threads and Bobbins. Head over to her blog to find out more! 1. My mum called into the market whilst in Leeds and came home with 1 1/2 metres of this fabric for me.  It’s a crepe see through fabric. She likes to come home with random unusual pieces for Thimberlina to work her magic with! Any suggestions?? 2. Back to Bradfield for another cricket match.  After the first innings the wicket is prepared for the other team to bat. 3. H’s turned 13!  Gosh can’t believe it!  The cake was a joint effort.  My mum baked it, my dad iced it, and I added the grass and the wicket! 4. Out for Tea to a local Indian Restaurant (I wore my jumpsuit!!).  H and little Charlie decided to …