Catching up on life - part 2

As promised, following my last post, I moved on to my hemming jobs and the remaining summer clothes have now finally been stored away until the better weather arrives.  But before I progress to something more adventurous, I came across some more darning jobs - yuck!

Hemmed trousers, repaired/
altered pj's and peg bag

While I was at it, I decided to repair a pair of pyjama bottoms and alter another that was a bit loose.  And hidden amongst the repair pile was a peg bag that I'd embroidered years ago, but still haven't got around to making up.  So this was the chance.  All I need now is to find a suitable wooden hanger to finish it off.  It is a shame that it is rather small, as my parents need a new one (the one I made for them donkey's years ago is literally coming apart at the seams) but there is no way all their pegs will fit in this one.  Instead I'll use this one and their current one as a pattern - one for size, the other for design and I have plenty of the pink sprig fabric left over too.

Feeling quite pleased with myself for finishing off these long awaited odd jobs, I gave myself a treat and made some Christmas decorations a la Kirsty Alsopp's Crafty Christmas.  I know it is way too early, but I was glad to have a use for the polystyrene balls I'd had hanging around for ages and something slightly different to what I'd used them for in the past.  I'll leave them to dry overnight then spray them with hairspray to fix all the glitter in place before embellishing them with ribbons for hanging.

My glitter balls as they dry

Skirting the issue

With our various home improvement schemes this year, it was inevitable that we'd have to go to Ikea at some point.  As we no longer have a car, I have three options for this.

1. take a long, winding bus journey there and back
2. wait until we need a hire car for other 'jobs' and combine the lot
3. go with my parents when I visit the Land of Song

The cons of the above are:

1. I'll spend more time on the bus than in Ikea and carrying bulky/heavy stuff back isn't ideal on public transport
2. It may be a long wait until we can combine jobs that need transport
3. I have to carry the stuff I buy back from LoS to London on public transport (see 1 above!)

However, needs must, so on a visit earlier this year, along with jars for food storage, hooks for tidying the cellar, etc, I also bought a couple of fleece blankets for crafting purposes.  I know it is easy enough to buy fleece fabric at a haberdashers, but they are so reasonable at Ikea you can't really go wrong.

The intention was to make Christmas tree skirts out of them.  So, I have 3 red ones, 2 white/cream ones, 1 green one and some off-cuts of pale blue and grey fleece.  Obviously, red, white and green are the colours of the LoS and conveniently also traditional Christmas colours, but blue, not so much.  However, the idea I had was to make a snowflake-themed one using the white and blue ones, with a bit of added silver sparkle in the form of silver thread, silver organza and/or some sequins/beads.  At some future date I may make a poinsettia one out of the red and white ones and/or make a Christmas bauble one on a green background using the off-cuts of the others and other vibrant fabrics.

I know, I know - how many tree skirts does a girl need?!?!  Well, I'm not intending to make them ALL for me - just two or three! ;-)  Naturally, I hope some are going to be Christmas presents!   However, plans didn't quite come to fruition for this Christmas.  With poorly parents I've only managed to make one 'prototype' skirt, but I am quite please with how it has turned out.  Here is my method:

Off-cuts ready for stitching/cutting
into snowflakes

Cutting out
Fold both the red and white fleeces in half, then in half again (so into four).  Using a make-shift compass out of some string and a dress-making pencil (or similar), fix one end of the string to the fold corner and the pencil to the other - then draw as big an arc (or quarter of a circle) as possible.  Cut out to create a large circle.  So, out of two fleeces I now have two circles large enough to be tree skirts.  The off-cuts will be used later.

Repeat the above method to draw a much smaller circle to make the hole for the tree trunk (or you could use a jar/mug/bottle as a template).  Cut out this smaller circle from the centre.

Using one of the folds as a guide, cut a straight line from the outer edge to the inner circle (this will be the opening).  If you wish (this may depend on the fabric you use), hem one of the straight edges - this will be the upper closing edge.

Next, the snowflakes:

1. I tried three methods for the snowflakes, with varying success.  The first method was to trace the snowflake template directly onto the fleece and then sew the 'arms' with sparkly silver thread (I used Gutterman Sulky) along those lines by machine (quite easy - straight stitch in straight lines). And then trim around the stitching to get the 'classic' snowflake shape.  This method was fine, although not all the snowflakes were useable as the fleece stretched with sewing.
2. The second method was to trace the templates onto some Wondaweb and iron them onto the off-cuts before stitching on the machine and trimming (as above).  This method was quite good for keeping the shape and for giving a clear shape to follow for cutting out.  But once it comes to removing the backing paper from the Wondaweb it all gets a bit fiddly to remove as the stitching keeps it in place rather well.



Method 2 snowflake before cutting out

3. The final method was to cut the snowflake out before stitching.  This way I was able to follow the traced lines to trim away the waste fabric and then peel away the backing paper with ease before ironing the snowflake into place, ready for the silver stitching.  

To be honest, if I were to make this again, I'd probably use this final method, although the second was fine and makes the snowflakes a little more sparkly as I stitched them twice.

There were two patterns of snowflake and the template offered three sizes.  I only used the two larger sizes for this project.


Lay out:
After making approximately 20-25 snowflakes I started laying them out to get the right 'look'.  Then I removed the backing paper and ironed them into place.  I'd never used Wondaweb before and I underestimated the 'ironing time' at this stage and quite a few snowflakes fell off before I stitched them into place (so the layout probably isn't as even as it could have been).  They were then stitched onto the red skirt.


Finishing:
To finish the tree skirt off and to continue the snow theme, I added some large white pom-pom trim to the outer edge.  I sewed this onto the underside (using red thread so that it didn't show) so that only the pom-poms show.  This was followed by sewing jumbo white ric-rac braid to both the outer edge and the inner.  To close the skirt once it is around the tree, you could sew some velcro along the straight edge, add buttons (self-covered?) and loops or use large press-studs (my option).

What do you think?  Are they worth doing again for this year's Christmas presents?

Catching up on life - part 1

I've been a bit slow getting back into this blogging business since the summer.  Part of that was a lack of motivation to get on with projects and part of it was a serious illness in the family.  But I'm trying to get back into things gradually now and you will have seen that in November last year I made a coordinating shower curtain for our en-suite.

I'm also relieved that I've finally altered my kitchen blinds to fit the new windows.  I still have one to sew from scratch and I hope that the altering will have refreshed my memory of how Roman blinds are constructed.  It was nice to do some tidying up of the kitchen done over the New Year with DH and finally get pictures etc back up after redecorating last summer.

Well, I've moved on to repairing stuff.  Not my favourite aspect of needlework to be honest, but needs must sometimes and the pile was growing and in danger of smothering the sewing machine completely.

First in the pile was a quick darning job for DH - the second time I've had to repair the seam under the armpit on his sweater.  Then another darning job - I'd stupidly clipped my hair clip to my cardigan and left it there while I got on with other stuff without realising that it had made a couple of small holes in it :-(

But now it is time to get back to some sewing - making a new lining for the guest room curtain.  I made a new lining for one of them months and months ago and have been meaning to get around to making the 'pair' for equally long.  Once again, the New Year break came into its own and after altering the kitchen blinds I felt on a roll.

Next?  Well, re-hemming my summer trousers before it is time to wear them again.  What an exciting life I live!

Trying to get going again

Well, it is that time of year again when people set goals, resolutions, review achievements etc ...

Frankly, last year was tough and as a result my blogging suffered.  I really hope that I can summon up the energy to get going properly again soon.

In the meantime, I've reviewed my UFOs and list posts and updated accordingly.  I  hope to add some new material again soon, but bear with me until I'm back to full power. :-)

Happy New Year!

Showered with luxury

We've almost cleared all signs of the previous owners of the house now.  Sounds harsh I know, but they were a bit hippyish and did things 'on the cheap', for example, using bubble wrap and polystyrene sheets to 'insulate' beneather the floorboards!  Obviously, they weren't too worried about the fire hazard that it posed.

Old shower curtain

One small trace of them is the shower curtain in our en suite.  It is quite a nice one really, with blue sea shells printed all over it.  However, trying to get the stains out of the bottom of it is getting more and more difficult now.  Added to that, it doesn't match the colour scheme.  I was thrilled when I spotted a teal shower curtain in Ikea that went beautifully with our tiles and paintwork, but when I got it home it was too short.   I've since discovered that it is ludicrously difficult to get shower curtains longer than 180cm.
So, I decided that I'd have to make one instead.  Worst comes to the worst, I'd buy some plasticy material for a lining and choose some nice fabric for the outside and make both myself.  But on a recent visit to stay with DS I was browsing through her Next and La Redoute catalogues when I spotted a plain, white shower curtain in the La Redoute catalogue that was 200cm long!!!!!  RESULT!  And it was under a tenner.

New shower curtain

I've had samples of various teal fabrics from John Lewis and the first one to arrive was the one we both liked best.  It is a simple stripe - fairly wide stripes in white and teal with a slightly satin finish.  Perfetto!  Added to that, by the time I got around to buying the fabric, it was less than half price in the sale too.  :-)

And now that I'm a curtain expert (!), it wasn't too time consuming and fiddly to make the outer curtain myself.  I thought that it would be a good excuse to take any frustration or whatever out on bashing the eyelets into place, but I failed abysmally, so I had to ask DF for help!  So now we'll have to look particularly smart when we take a shower!!! ;-)

Commission update - church banner 2 - Party Time!

Our church's bicentenial celebrations are almost upon us and thankfully I was able to complete my part in the preparations in time - JUST.

Unfortunately I was rather jinxed after starting this project.  I was firstly hit by lack of motivation - we'd had rather a hectic first half to the year and despite all my good intentions, I think I just ran out of steam for a bit and needed to take a break.  Then I got back into the swing of things and it was going well.  The end was in sight, when my mother was suddenly taken seriously ill.  We rushed down to see her and I (dutifully) took my embroidery with me.  But I just didn't have the energy to concentrate on it with the worry of Mam's condition.  Thankfully, everyone at church was aware of the situation and understood that it wasn't high on my priority list.  I did actually do some whilst sitting at Mam's bedside a couple of times and I only had 5 letters left to embroider .... when I ran out of thread!  Dad and I traipsed around all the craft shops in town to get more, but not one had any in stock in the right colour.  So, we all had to wait whilst we waited for my online order to arrive, and when it did, it was all out to finish before my train back to London.

So here it is in all its glory and ready to party this weekend!

Lacking motivation

I've been feeling guilty.  Very guilty in fact.  Guilty for not posting more regularly, guilty for not getting through my embroidery/sewing etc tasks more efficiently, guilty that it has taken me so long to catch up on chores, guilty for enjoying the heat wave instead of getting on with stuff,.... guilty about EVERYTHING.

But, following a 'bit' of a crisis in the family, everything has been put in perspective and I think, maybe, hopefully, I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel again.  And with a bit of luck that will bring new-found energy and enthusiasm to get back on track (and get posting again!).

When asked how he coped with completing UFOs or difficult projects, Kaffe Fassett said he used the 'F-word' and the 'C-word' - I'm not sure what you're thinking, but he meant 'focus' and 'concentration'! Do they work for you?  How do you cope when you hit a slump, or feel overwhelmed by stuff?