Odds and Sods - January 2015

I cannot believe we are at the end of January already.   It's been a very quiet month which is just how I like it after the revels and busyness of December and Christmas.   For me, it's a time of hibernation, a time to slow down and take stock, to write all those new year's resolutions!  

That's not to say I haven't done anything - I've had a few lovely jaunts to Holt, Aldeburgh and Snape Maltings; I've had a weekend down at Heathrow with Andy; been on some lovely walks; and caught up with family and friends.  I haven't managed to capture all of it on camera, but the following is a selection of snaps taken (with the new camera obviously!) that didn't quite merit a full post.

Trying out my new camera zoom!

Found this recipe in one of Mum's magazines - am planning on trying it out at our next Knitters with Attitude meeting.  I love having an on hand group of guineapigs!

Finn having a snooze in front of Mum and Dad's fire, after a lovely run all around the lanes near Worthing and Hoe.

Mum's new blanket all finished and beautiful on the bed.

Another walk around Hockering and Mattishall.

My boy joining me in hibernation mode.

Weather!   We didn't have enough snow (yet) to kill off my primroses - I do keep checking on them with fingers crossed that we get a bit of warmth soon.

Tada! "Bev's Buttons" Blouse

I absolutely love this blouse!   It's been a long time in the making - I originally cut it out and fitted it back in September/ October last year in my evening class. But with one thing and another - a two week holiday; a chest infection/ possible asthma diagnosis; and not to mention fireworks that terrified Finn every time I walked out of the door - by the time I finished my course at the beginning of December, all I'd managed to do was attach the interface to the fabric and sew my pin tucks.

This pattern was the Tilly and the Buttons Mathilde blouse - and I think I probably over estimated what I could achieve.   Luckily, I had my teacher on hand for the pintucks, but everything else I had to learn on my own - darts, french seams, gathering of sleeve top and bottom.  The french seams were the worst - they seemed to go against all sewing rules - you NEVER sew wrong sides together!   I googled them.  I you-tubed them.  I read sewing reference books.  I asked Mum.  (Poor Mum spent two hours in bed laying awake trying to remember how to do them and even got up in the middle of the night to try them out on a couple of teacloths!)   In the end, I just went with it - Tilly's patterns have photographs rather than line drawings, and there are also online tutorials - even though it felt so wrong.  However, the seams are beautiful!  (I have to admit cheating and only using french seams on the yoke and not the side seams as per the instructions - I understand that it's nice to have lovely finish on your seams inside your garment, but it's only me that sees the inside of my clothes and I'm not that fussed!)

This blouse is back to front - the buttons are on the back so, again, I cheated by not sewing buttonholes.   There's no way I could do my buttons up at the back so the top is always going to go on over my head.  So it was easier to just sew the backs together by the buttons - they were always just going to be for decoration, never for function.

Rather perfectly, I received some beautiful buttons from my friend Bev as part of my Christmas present and they are exactly the right colour for the blouse.

I love topstitching - it just neatens everything up beautifully and there was MILES of it in this blouse - lovely job.

This was me playing about trying it on before sewing the buttons on - complete with walking trousers and slippers.  So stylish!

I wore my blouse to work today for the first time and had so many lovely comments that I can't wait to start on the next one.   I love the shape of this blouse and I think it might become a staple in my wardrobe, just in lots of different fabrics.   I'm thinking geometrics.  I'm thinking plains with funky coloured topstitch and massive buttons.   I'm thinking maybe a plain with a lace yoke and sleeves.  The possibilities are endless!

Tada! "High Noon" Pyjama Pants and Nightie

In Mum and Dad's new house - which they've been in for just three months now but which feels like they've been there forever! - Dad's bedroom was previously used as a dining room and the previous owners had removed the door and built an arch into it.  So it would be quite tricky to put a door back on, without some building work.   Amanda came up with the idea of putting saloon doors on so Dad could make an entrance each morning when he got up - and from then onwards, it has become a bit of a family joke.   Needless to say, when we were working out what to get Dad for Christmas, stetsons, spurs and sheriff's badges were mentioned!  

So what's a fabric-obsessed person to do?  Once again, I spent ages checking out fabric websites to find the perfect material for Dad's Christmas jimjams.   And I found it!

I love that it says "Howdy Pardner" and "Giddy Up" all over them!

Perfect!   (No elastic in these either, just tape cut to size.)

And so it came to Mum's nightie - which is a wee bit on the short side, but I do have enough fabric to make some three quarter length pyjama bottoms for the sake of decency. Goodness knows when I'll get round to making those though - my "to make" pile is so tall that it's in danger of toppling over! I couldn't use cowboy fabric for Dad and not get cowgirl fabric for Mum, could I?

I love this!   It really makes me laugh!

This was quite a new departure for me - I hadn't made a top before with a round neck that pulls over the head - the nearest I'd made with a round neck was my "Sew Happy" dress but, of course, that had a zip in it. Mum doesn't like anything too high in the neck, so this was all new to me. 

Very happy with how it turned out however and hopefully Mum will get her pyjama bottoms before Christmas 2015! 

Tada! "No Elastic Fantastic" Pyjama Bottoms

These jimjams were an experiment.  Dad had expressed an interest in some pyjama bottoms but Mum advised that I couldn't put elastic in them.   What???   I had no idea how to get them to stay up, except possibly for a matching pair of braces!   The lovely helpful ladies at Sew Simple in Taverham came up with the solution - tape, which we could cut to the correct length and tie the pyjamas up with.  Genius.  

The fabric is the softest brushed cotton which I found in the bargain section at Knitwits fabric shop in Dereham.   I even bought some for myself in an orange and purple colourway, although I'm still not sure whether I want pyjamas or possibly even shorts for the summer.  I should imagine it's probably more suited to winter clothing - could be a bit too warm for shorts!

Tada! "Sunday Teatime" Wave Blanket

The colours for this blanket were originally supposed to be pinks and purples as I knew Katherine and Jessica both love those colours, but, unfortunately, Stylecraft don't do fifteen different shades of pink and purple.   So I supplemented them with some grey, some silver and a beautiful gold colour, which I was really not sure about.  (In the end, it was the cream colour I wasn't sure about - the gold worked beautifully!)

I started this blanket back at home in Norwich after returning from holiday, although I had taken all the wool with me just in case I got the seaside coloured one finished.  I really underestimated how much time these would take and, in fact, was intending to make another double bed sized blanket for Christmas too.  That has now been put on hold and will be a birthday present instead this year!

I was unsure about the stitch count for this.  It became apparent during the blue and green blanket that I had cast on way too many stitches and the rows weren't as deep as I'd anticipated.  However, if you turn the blanket sideways so the waves are vertical, it's exactly double bed size.   And because I loved the effect of the vertical waves, I decided to work to the same principle with this one too.

I love this blanket - I'm usually drawn to blues and greens, but this one really sung to me.   I was completely stumped for a name though - I just couldn't get it, until I saw the cover of the Lakeland Christmas brochure.

And then I got it!  These colours remind me of cakes, jellies, jam, trifles, fireside, pilchards on toast, Sunday teatime epitomised!

Tada! "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" Pyjama Pants

2014 was the year for making jimjams.   The majority of men in our family are particularly difficult to buy for, for birthdays and Christmas, but since I learned how to make pyjama bottoms, there has been no stopping me.  

For Rat's birthday pyjamas, I needed a very particular fabric, a musical something or other, but, despite spending HOURS on fabric websites, I couldn't see exactly what I wanted.  So annoying.   Luckily, Mum, Amanda and Shannon came to my aid - I received a really random 'phone call from them while they were holidaying in Yorkshire, to say they were in the market at York and would I like some fabric that had musical notes all over them?  Of course I would!

I have to say that I discovered that I really don't like working with black material - I just can't see the stitching.    I think that, if I ever sew anything in black again, I will need to move my sewing machine over to the french windows and do it in complete daylight.  Or even take it out into the garden!  

I'm really pleased with the way they turned out and Rat seemed so happy that he's even said that if I only ever give him jimjams for birthdays and Christmas from now on, he will be more than happy.   That's all sorted then!

These bottoms were actually sewn on my old machine - which was previously Amanda's - and it was so heavy that it wasn't very mobile so I set up my sewing area on the dressing table in my bedroom.  (My new machine is very lightweight so can be moved around the house - space and light permitting.)  I had to take this picture of Finn - who kept me company for every stitch on these, bless him!

Tada! "I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside" Wave Blanket

Every year, I try and make as many of my Christmas presents as I can, but even I can see that there have got to be some kids and parents out there who get fed up of my home made jumpers!   You can only have so many, can't you?   So for four of my recipients (and rather perfectly, two young men and two small ladies) I decided to try something a bit different - joint/ family presents.   And I have to say that these blankets are some of the most favourite things I've ever made, not least because I made them on holiday and so I have lovely holiday memories of them too.  This post is all about the boys' blanket and post to follow about the girls'.

The first was a seaside inspired colourway - I first wrote about this in a post back in September (Waves In Progress) when I started to make it.   The wool is a very hardwearing but incredibly soft acrylic yarn - Stylecraft - and I wanted something tough as it's for two very active little boys (and their Mum and Dad!) and I guessed it might get a bit of manhandling on picnics and campsites!

It was jolly useful making it on my October holiday too, as it kept me warm while in progress!

I do like a caravan for stretching your legs out!

And the more rows I did of this blanket, the more I loved it, so have resolved to make my own one day, in exactly the same colourway.  (I'm hoping to get my living room carpet taken up soon and laminate flooring put down and I thought that, if I used chunky wool, rather than double knitting, I could probably have The. Most. Beautiful. Rug. Ever.   It's on my list of things to make!)

Gorgeous!