Various Crafts and Cookery

For dinner tonight we are having spinach and feta filo pie.  I used the recipe from BBC GoodFood.  It looks very tasty, and to make it even scrummier, I added some chopped chorizo (a very nice way to make a mostly vegetarian [and therefore less expensive!] meal taste slightly meatier) as one of the reviews suggested and I can't wait to tuck in later.

On the sewing front, I have just completed a gift for a family member (who I'm almost 100% sure won't be checking the blog!), which was a travel sewing case from the book I love patchwork.  I'm mostly very pleased with the results, bar a couple of things.

I enjoyed making the patchwork bias binding to go around the edge, but looking at it later, it's not quite as straight as I'd like.  I also really struggle with sewing corners with bias binding.  Any tips for this one? I generally sew the binding on the proper way (i.e. opening it out, sewing on one side, and then slipstitching the other side) but the corners are always difficult, and never seem to go the way I have planned.

I just need to pop some pins, needles and threads in it now and it'll be ready to go.

Here's a sneaky peek of something I am working towards for Christmas...

I'm totally loving the lace knitting.  It feels lovely and methodical, though I hate it when on occasion, I lose concentration and then go wrong!

I end today's post with a picture of my two littlies.  Purely because they are gorgeous, and I enjoy posting pictures of them.  Her knitted outfit is a bonus!

Happy Wednesday, friends. I hope it's a good one for you...

C x

His and Hers.

Another of E's little friends has a birthday coming up.  I decided I wanted to make something again, and settled for some summer trousers from this book. It's such an easy little pattern, they didn't take much time at all.

I used a lovely blue and white striped cotton (a remnant from our local fabric shop), and then did the pockets and tie with a little of one of my lovely Cath Kidston fabrics.  Suitably girly I hope?

Upon seeing these, E decided he rather liked them, and so I thought I'd quickly sew him up a pair, as some holiday trousers.  I left the pockets off his ones, and, needless to say, did not use my pink Cath material for his! I love making something the second time from a pattern, as it takes so much less time.  They were done in about forty minutes.

I'd made his a little loose, so just needed to tighten the elastic and sew up the waistband.  He was delighted, and so was I!  I think they make a nice little pair!

That then got me thinking that I hadn't made anything for P for our little summer holiday, so, using a pattern for a smock top from the same book, I adapted it to make her a little dress.

Again, this was incredibly simple (I love my new sewing machine!) and I just waited for this morning to measure it against her before I hemmed it and added the straps.

Voilà! Two little summer outfits for the small ones.  I shall use our time away to catch up on my knitting, which I have been neglecting a bit of late.

Right. I must go and entertain my smallest one.  I always think I will get lots done when E has his morning with Grandma, but in reality, P misses him, and all the noise, and is much harder work!

Wishing you a lovely week.

C x

Nap-time upcycling and a photo shoot

I had a few minutes 'spare' whilst both children were napping today, and a little project beckoned to me.  I made an impulse buy in a sale up in a local town this morning (never a particularly wise idea, but not expensive!) and when I got home and tried it on (I was wearing a sleeping baby in the shop, so could not try on there) I was less than convinced...

To be honest, I was less than loving those frills... So. I decided to cut them off (to be used for something else when I get inspiration) and instead make a little binding out of a contrasting fabric (something I've been meaning to do for a while having seen lots of lovely on-line ideas) and stitch it on- much more simple, but hopefully nice!

I have a lovely Cath Kidston material that I have been eaking out due to it's general loveliness (and general expensiveness, let's be honest) and I used that.

It doesn't look bad at all now.  Certainly it's a bit more individual!

Early on in the year I knitted a lovely Debbie Bliss cabled cardi for the impending arrival (Poppy!).  Today I shot some pictures of her wearing it- I think both she and it look pretty good (to be utterly biased)...

Lastly I'd like to share with you one of my lovely birthday presents- a scarf! (A scarf in the summer? Yes, a scarf in the summer).  It's made from a beautifully cool (fair trade) jersey material and it is definitely summer colours...

Isn't it lovely?  I got one in two colours, and then ordered two more for presents.  I imagine it would be very warm in the winter, but it's also lovely for keeping you nice and toasty if sitting outside in the evening in the summer.  (On a practical note, it's also big enough to use as a snuggly blanket for a baby as I did with P when pushing her back from the park when it was a bit chillier the other day).

Enjoy your weekend.

C x

Bits and bobs

I have been doing a few bits and bobs lately.  Days seem to pass very quickly, and often there seems very little time for craft, beyond a row or two of knitting, or a stitch or two of sewing.  Still, a few little things I have been doing in the past week are....

Making a little gift for an upcoming birthday of a little friend of E's...

A little pinny for a pretty little lady

Making a sleeping bag for "Polly the Puffin"- E's favourite toy.

I  kind of made this up as I went along, but I have seen a lovely pattern for doing similar ones (but far more polished and pretty) on this beautiful blog.  Do pop along and have a peek.  E was absolutely delighted, and loves to pop Polly in her sleeping bag for nap and bed time.

I also found a fabulous recipe for raspberry and white chocolate muffins.

I had some lovely reading time...

And had a little go at free-embroidery...

That, and lots of trips to the park, nappy changes, laundry etc...

How's your week going?

C x

Cards, Cake and Knitting

Yesterday I made some cards again.  Using the papers I blogged about here and some inspiration from here, I stitched some cards...

It was fun doing them on the machine, and it made an interesting change from just sticking papers onto card!  I didn't have matching envelopes for every card- some in my stash were too large to go with anything, so I cut them down to size and them stitched them on my machine too, which made for a nice 'set'.

All three of my new knitting projects are underway, and though I shan't reveal them all now, I shall mention one of them- the one I am using my lovely knitpicks yarn that I mentioned in my last post.  I am doing the beautiful "Charlotte Dress" by Nicole Montgomery.  I am enjoying working in the round on my circular needles, and at the moment, because the skirt of the pattern is pretty simple, it's easy to pick up and put down when I have a moment or two.

The only frustrating thing about knitting with this lovely yarn is that it comes wound up in a skein, which then is rather messy when you're working with it (see first pic above).  Does anyone have any tips for keeping this neat? Do any of you bother to wind it up into a ball as I am slightly tempted to do?

Lastly today, I have made a yummy chocolate cake for a craft evening tonight...

Mmm. Can I wait for tonight?!

How are you this week? 

C x

Our local craft shop

Our local craft shop is rather beautiful.  There are actually three of them linked to each other, all run by the same people. There's a card making, jewellery making and ribbon shop, a fabric and general haberdashery shop, and a yarn shop.

I am a particular fan of the latter two, and yesterday, a friend and I were both lucky enough to have two baby/toddler-free hours to go for a little mosy around the shops.  I didn't really need anything beside two zips, but I came away with several goodies!

I'm not going to show all of what I acquired here now, as I hope to make some pretty things and then show some results!  However, I did acquire an interesting magazine- "Cloth"- I'd heard about it in another fabric shop, and have been interested to peruse it.  It's got lots of practical little projects and tips and advice for those interested in crafting.  Check it out sometime!

In the afternoon I made a little drawstring bag to feature the embroidery (see last post) as I knew if I didn't do something with it soon, I'd lose it and never get round to doing anything with it.  A friend I saw a few days back had a handy little drawstring pouch for her wallet in her handbag, so I thought making something of that size would be useful!

Right.  Now on with a spot of knitting, before (making the most of evenings before there's a little newborn to feed) Al and I go out to the cinema!  I may possibly have now got two projects under way again... I can't seem to do just one thing at a time.  But, I was good and checked my gauge- again!

Anyway.  Happy Sunday evening- I hope you enter the new week well-rested!

C x

Yellow and Blue inspiration

Today has been such a lovely day.  The weather has been beautiful- blue skies, and really mild.  E is so much better now (thank goodness for prayer and antibiotics!), and there's something even more wonderful about a cheerful child after a few days of them being miserable.

Scrummy!

I had the morning off today! E went and had fun with his Grandma, and I took a leisurely bath, and then had a little jaunt into town.  Oxford is such a beautiful place to live- particularly on days like today!

One place I particularly wanted to visit was Oxford's new little haberdashery.  For a reasonable sized city, Oxford has had no haberdashery (apart from a wall in a department store) since the fabric shop closed about 18 months ago.  This little place is little, and full of charm, tucked away beside Christ Church College.

And, they do day workshops and endorse local craft groups, such as a Monday night sewing and knitting group that meets in a local pub- fantastic.  You can find more information here.  

I had to go in and have a little mosy round, and although I intended to buy nothing, this lovely little pack of fat-quarters caught my eye.

They just looked so spring-like, and they were just crying out to be made into a bag. I really like some of the lovely pleated bags I've seen around, and decided that they couldn't be that difficult to make, so this afternoon whilst the boy was sleeping I set about designing a pattern for my own.  Who knows how it'll turn out, but so far it's going well.

Although my only problem is deciding what colour to do the straps.  I have the floral fabric as the outside, the plain yellow as the lining, and the blue as a kind of 'band' on top.  What do you think would do well for some straps out of the following?

I'll be getting on with it next tomorrow, so if you have any inspiration or opinions, I'd love to hear from you!

In other news I bought myself two lovely new items of clothing today.  I was given some vouchers last summer, and I figured that pretty soon I'd have less time on my hands to go shopping at leisure, so I got myself...

This lovely shirt (which doesn't quite fit now, but will do after birth!) which is a) rather gorgeous, and a style I've wanted for a while and b) ideal for breastfeeding, which I shall be doing rather a lot of in a few weeks' time! And...

A new pair of PJs- again, I'm going to be very good and save them for after the big day, so I have something nice to wear.

So. All in all a Good Day. 

Right. Must dash. The bread needs taking out of the bread maker.  Granary this time.

Fancy a Cuppa?

I have now finished my "Cuppa Cushion", as featured in a previous blog post, and I have listed it on Folksy.  You can view (or buy!) it here.

I'm really pleased with the result, and had such fun choosing the different fabrics, and having a go at blanket stitch again to sew them all on.  I used bondaweb to stick them in position, and then a lovely electric blue yarn to actually stitch them in place.

Our kettle broke today.  It has served us well over the years, but now we are going to be using our lovely gas kettle.  I bought it a while back because I thought it was so lovely, and rather 'Country Living-esque', but we've not used it loads because it does take rather a long time to come to the boil.  However, now this shall become our main one, and we shall wait that little bit longer for our hot water!  It is so pretty though (and matches the red of several other things in our kitchen!)

I also rediscovered this beautiful cup and teapot set I was given years ago.  The saucer still seems AWOL, but isn't it lovely? (It fits in with today's theme very nicely).

Yesterday, after a misty start, there was glorious blue sky all day.  It was fabulous- tonic to the soul.  I was also given this beautiful Cyclamen, which is now brightening my kitchen windowsill.

Have a lovely day.