thornberry

I did manage to get a gift made for Mum for Mother’s Day.  A set of four placemats, and matching coasters.

The fabric is from Amy Butler’s Nigella line, once again.  Fantastic fabric!  I used a layer of fusible wadding in the centre of each placemat and each coaster.

Both the placemats and coasters are reversible.  Although Mum doesn’t have much blue in her decor, she says that they look terrific on their timber dining table (which was made by my dad).

And my Mother’s Day?  My parents came down from the country to celebrate the day with us.  I had to work in the morning, but got home at midday to a meal cooked by my Mum.  Clare made me some lovely cards at school, and bought a little gift at the school Mother’s Day stall.  She told me many times how much she loves me.  What a sweetheart!  Stella is now walking (gasp - she’s only just 11 months old) and had a lovely time with her grandparents.  I hope that she has as much fun at her first day of childcare tomorrow … and that I don’t cry.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!  This is my Mum.  There’s every chance that she’ll be horrified that this photo is now out there in the blogosphere!

Mum is/was a nurse - pretty obvious from the photo really.  This photo must be around fifty years old - now I’m giving away your age again Mum!  I love this photo, for many reasons.

Thanks again Mum for everything that you are to me and everything that you have done for me.  I wish that I was a little more eloquent so that I could truly express what a wonderful mother and person you are.  I love you very much.  Happy Mother’s Day.

By now some of you will realise that a couple of days ago I had a piece about Patterns … Demystified! published on the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog.  I was extremely flattered to be asked to contribute to Women’s Clothing Month, and really enjoyed the opportunity to be part of such an exciting sewing website.  So if you haven’t come across it yet, I’m going to blow my own trumpet, and suggest that you pop over and have a read  (I’m feeling rather proud of myself).  Thanks so much to the Sew, Mama, Sew! team for inviting me to take part, and to everyone who left such lovely comments on my article.  I’m glad to have been of help!

I’ve had very little sewing time lately, so because I don’t like to post without a photo, here is my sewing library (the books only - there are loads of magazines shelved elsewhere in my cupboards).

Most of these are recently published.  Now that I sit back and look at them, I realise that over the years most of my sewing knowledge came from my mother, from library books, and from trial and error, and is mostly to be found in my head rather than in my personal sewing library.  My memory can’t be quite as much of a sieve as I thought it had become after all!

This is necklace #1 because I can tell that I’m going to make many more of these!  It’s a quick project with instant gratification.  This is my first effort, so I’m sure that I’ll be able to refine things a little as I go along.

The pattern for the necklace is here, and the pattern for the flower here.  I used some Cleckheaton Bamboo that was left over from another project, with a bamboo hook.  I don’t think that I’ll use bamboo hooks with bamboo yarn in the future - it seemed to grab a little. 

The back has a very simple button closure.  Well, now I’m off to crochet some more of these (although I should be sewing up that top from a few posts ago - it’s finally cut out and ready to assemble).

Well, they’re not really the pair of shoes that I would sleep in - they’re not quite comfortable enough for that - but they are definitely one of my favourite pairs of shoes.

Great colour, gorgeous embroidery, cute heel, and actually quite comfortable!  I bought them about three years ago from a little shop in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy - unfortunately the name of the shop escapes me now.  I don’t wear them often, but love them whenever I do!  Thanks to Love and Afros for this week’s theme - I’ve really enjoyed checking out everyone’s shoes!

Angela asked us to post an extra “this is” for this week.  So here I am, pre-1985!

This is 1984, at the Year 11 school dinner dance.  Mum made the watermark taffeta dress.  I loved that dress!  I wore it a few times, then it was passed on to my cousin.  The dress had a dropped waist, gathered skirt, and a sash.  Tres chic!

Hello there all who have popped over from Sew Mama Sew!  Welcome!  I checked my stats quickly this morning and almost fell off my chair.  If you are looking for what I’ve been up to regarding sewing women’s clothing, have a look over there at the “Categories” list on the right hand side of my blog and find the “adult’s clothing”, and/or “sewing” category.  Hopefully I’ll get a little more sewing done for myself this month too and get it all blogged - I have loads of fabric and loads of patterns all waiting eagerly to be combined.

So welcome to everyone visiting for the fist time, and a special hello to those who visit regularly!

There are so many things that I want to sew at the moment, and I have no time in which to sew them!  I returned to part-time work two weeks ago, and inbetween that and the rest of life, I can barely keep up with household organisation, let alone get anything made.  I have this all ready to start:

I’m going to do the same version as the one in the pattern cover photo.  I really need lots of new winter clothes - the weather has very quickly become very wintery, and much of what I wore last winter needs to be thrown out.  But when, when, when will I find the time to sew!

I’m also about to frog my second attempt at crocheting the sleeves for Clare’s cardigan.  At least there is only one sleeve to pull out this time.  I’ve finally worked out what I need to do to make it fit the armhole properly and still be the right length.  So fingers crossed that the third go will be a success.

So I’d better get off the computer and on to my “to-do” list, which is never-ending.

Each week I await the announcement of the following Sunday’s “this is … ” with a little excitement and a little trepidation.  Will it be too hard for my overfull, addled brain?  And this week, we have “this is my favourite book”.  How on earth to decide?  I like most books, for all sorts of reasons!  Eventually I thought that I should let my first impulse rule the day.  This is my favourite book.

Why?  Firstly, it reminds me of my Gran.  She started me off on the “Anne of Green Gables” books when I was quite young, and I adored them.  I still do!  Secondly, it’s a great read; incredibly evocative in its descriptions.  Thirdly, the main character is fantastic.  Considering the time in which the novel was written, she’s a terrific female role model.  And the male lead isn’t half bad either!  Each time I read this book I appreciate it differently; I first read it in my early teens (maybe earlier), then again in my late teens, then as an adult.  It’s still a really lovely story.  Not terribly deep and/or meaningful I suppose, but there are some lessons to be learned about living each day as though it is your last, about facing your fears, and about being true to yourself.  So thanks Gran! 

It’s great when Nicole Mallalieu is designing new bag patterns - because generally I get to test them out!  Here is one that will be available in a week or so - the Beach bag.

The fabric is all from my stash.  No idea what it is made of or where I got it from.  The blue is fairly heavyweight; I used a light/medium weight interfacing on the body of the bag, but a light fusible wadding in the straps.  This is a fantastic, highly versatile pattern - there are photos of a few of the variations on the website.  I made this one with overlaid handles, but an alternative is a shoulder strap.

I chose to close this bag with a zippered gusset, but there are also instructions for magnetic catches, and the examples on the pattern cover have some other closure suggestions.

This pattern has loads of pocket options.  In the spirit of testing out the pattern instructions thoroughly, I used the three different options that were included.  Inside the bag I’ve used a patch pocket on one side and a zippered pocket on the other.  On the outside I’ve used compartment pockets, which became instantly divided when the overlaid handles were sewn on.

And I love the hard base!  It contains interfacing (two different weights) and template plastic, and has purse feet.  It wasn’t hard to do, and I think that I am addicted.  I’ll be using this type of base on most boxed corner bags that I make from now on.

I am giving this one to my friend Di for her birthday (and yes, it was a couple of weeks ago - you all know that I never actually get gifts finished on time).  But I’m looking forward to making another, with different design features.  Thanks again to Nikki for the way that her patterns encourage the user to be the designer.  Now I’m sounding like an advertisement … but I promise, I’m just the pattern tester!