New Year's Resolutions

1. Blog some more and maybe even rescue Captain Sew from the depths of the attic, where he is hiding from the dust:

2. Exercise some more whilst enjoying the beautiful countryside in Gloucestershire:

3. Do enough of the house to host NYE at our house next year and hope it's as good as this year:

4. Stop nagging Dave. Or he might actually run away and live on a remote island:

5. Don't sweat the small stuff. Life's too short. Instead spend it appreciating the little things, like the sky this morning:

Here's to a happy and healthy 2013.

Lucy x

Big Little Girls' Reversible Bags

This month the little twin girls I used to look after as a nanny suddenly became not so little when they turned 5. I made them little reversible bags to keep all of those 5 year old's essentials in...

I found that making them reversible was more of a challenge than I thought... Any advice on how to stop the 'spilling out' of the inner fabric (see left hand bag in photo below) would be most welcome:

Despite the setback, it was still fun and I loved getting to use 'little girl' fabric. I haven't done any sewing in a while and Captain Sew has been gathering a bit of dust, so here's to getting back on track and trying some more ambitious projects!

Thanksgiving

As a nod to Dave's American heritage I have been doing some thanksgiving-themed cooking and craft!

We had our lovely friend Sean round for a big roast this weekend, and I made a rather tasty 'thanksgiving soup' with the leftover roasted veg and potatoes:

I then got out one of my favourite books- The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (a gift from Dave's lovely American sister indeed) and made these very cute pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing:

I also had fun crafting some house moving cards for some friends who are moving in together, and for Dave's Mum, who moves house this weekend. Captain Sew was quite cooperative with the card, even if it was a bit tricky using rather stretchy (and prone to curled edges) t-shirt fabric:

This one was made using scraps of wrapping paper on card cut from a folder divider (good thrip!), very simple design but I like the colours:

Happy crafting and Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Costume

Are you in need of a last minute (and slightly ridiculous) Hallowe'en costume? Well you have come to the right place! This year, I decided I wanted to be a giant pumpkin and was going to inflict the same fate on my lovely friend Sarah, who had asked me to make her a costume. I headed to the Guildhall Market in Bath to pick up some bright orange dress lining fabric from the sewing stall there, which was a bargain at £3.98 for 2 metres. I then grabbed a ball of string and off I went.

1. Cut the fabric in half lengthways to make 2 'pumpkins' (if necessary).

2. Tuck a piece of string of equal length to the fabric into a pinned hem (about 3cm) at the top. Note- do not cut the string off of the ball yet, as you will not need a whole metre of string, but it makes it much easier to sew if it's of equal length to the fabric:

3. Holding the fabric taut with the string right at the top, stitch along to form a hem. Make sure you leave plenty of string poking out the end as below:

4. You can now decide how much string you need at the top by modelling your pumpkin. Place the pumpkin as desired (I had mine under my arms to leave them free, but you could just as well have it over the top of your arms and cut arm holes) and then gather up the pumpkin until it forms a full circle around you. Snip the string, leaving enough to tie the strings in a bow/knot to secure your pumpkin:

5. Knot the ends of the string and add a few stitches (Captain Sew didn't want to do this, so I quickly hand sewed mine) to stop the string getting lost inside the gathered fabric:

6. Repeat steps 2-5 for the bottom of the pumpkin.

7. You are now ready to join the sides of the pumpkin as you please- I tucked mine it to form a simple hem:

8. Try on your pumpkin, preferably with a green top and bottom half. Then stuff as necessary- you are now ready for any Hallowe'en party that may come your way!

This only took me 30 minutes per pumpkin, including some technical Captain Sew difficulties, as none of the sewing needs to be particularly neat. I was rather pleased with the result:

On another pumpkin-based note, we also made productive use of our extra hour today and carved a pumpkin just in time for Hallowe'en:

Happy Hallowe'en everyone!

Old Jeans + Captain Sew = New Denim Shorts!

Today I hacked up a pair of jeans that had a couple of big holes in and I now have a pair of way-too-short-for-my-chunky-thighs denim shorts! They still need some work, as Captain Sew couldn't quite handle the seams, or perhaps that was just the person in control... But I now have that warm and fuzzy feeling of making something new out of something old, plus not throwing out my favourite pair of jeans. Behold my first 'reconfiguration':

The hole

Still getting the hang of this...

Done! (Almost)

The seams aren't brilliant, but I think this quote (from  Lovely Things to Make for Girls of Slender Means, by Eithne Farry, a most beautiful book which I am currently reading) is apt:

‘If they are close enough to see your seams, it’s not your seams they’re looking at!’

Cloth Bags

I cleaned and oiled Captain Sew (as was pointed out to me, this may have been the first time in 80 years he has been cleaned!) in preparation for his first more adventurous* project:

I used the manual that was kindly provided with my machine, which was slightly confusing as it was written in 1963 and therefore has nothing to do with my machine. It was, however, hilarious, reminding me that my sewing machine offered 'wonderful possibilities' for 'the girl interested in household economics'... Luckily, the Singer website also has a manual for my sewing machine, or something similar, the '50k'.

I located a pattern from Daisy Janie's amazing blog (http://daisyjanie.typepad.com/daisyjanie/2010/12/how-to-fabric-produce-bag-free-pdf-pattern.html) which is full of beautiful fabric and patterns so clearly explained that even I can follow them. Here is the finished product, which has now been given to a good friend who had the misfortune to have a Birthday that coincided with my learning to sew:

I also have a more colourful one lined up- watch out family and friends come Christmas!

* Adventurous for a novice like me!

Project Singer

I am now all moved in, finally have the Internet and am ready for my first project- Project Singer.

Meet Captain Sew:

I was lucky enough to get my hands on this 1920s Singer sewing machine, which has been converted for electric foot pedal use, from a very kind lady on Freegle*. My grandmother used to make dresses and made my mother's wedding dress skirt and I would love to learn to sew like her. For now though, I'm sticking to simple projects, like table mats:

I am hoping that with some practice I might be able to handmake some Christmas presents, maybe cloth bags or pin cushions for my fellow sewers.

* Freegle and Freecycle are two of the biggest (and best) websites which enable you to find others in your local area who can give a home to the things you no longer use (anything from wardrobes to craft pipe cleaners) or to find gems like Captain Sew for yourself