Magnolia Summer Dress

Posted on May 24, 2017 by craftycreeky

I do like pretty summer dresses, I know I need trousers and tops, but I just couldn’t resist making this one first.

I bought Vogue pattern 8997 pretty much as soon as I saw it, I love it’s simple, elegant design. My original plan was to make this in my red rose fabric, but I didn’t have anywhere near enough fabric, it’s a very fabric hungry pattern. I went into B&M Fabrics store in Leeds for some thread and fell for this magnolia print, it’s a quilt weight cotton, I just thought it was so pretty and at £6 a metre I could afford to get the 4.5m the pattern envelope called for.

What I didn’t realise is how much extra you would need with a one-way pattern. The eight skirt pieces are about 27″ wide and they should be cut with the grainline right down the centre, so they all had to be cut out individually on full width fabric. I was well over a metre short! I fiddled and fiddled, I tried to work out just how noticeable the pattern was, I even tried it sideways. I was tempted to do the front pieces one way and the back another…after about an hour of fiddling I decided to try laying it out again to see exactly how much short I was. I realised that by laying the pieces very slightly off grain, maybe just by an inch, I could place the pieces a lot closer together. I managed to cut it out with an inch to spare!!!

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Otley Show

Posted on May 23, 2017 by craftycreeky

A quick update on Otley show…

The weather was much better than forecast, it did rain, but not until mid afternoon, and I didn’t hear any thunder or see any hail!

It was a beautiful sunny morning when I took my entries down.

I went back in the afternoon to see how I’d done. I’d only entered four items this year. This is a huge drop for me as for the last two years I was trying to win the handicraft cup which is awarded to the person with the most points. I entered an average of twelve items each year, two per possible class, it worked!!

This year I didn’t want to win it, I was just entering for the fun.

I won first prize for my Crafty Creek Farm quilt in the variety class…

Anderson’s Farm

I won second prize for my Great Getaway bag…

and I won third prize for my padded coat-hangar.

I didn’t win anything for my Splendid Sampler quilt as I realised when I took it down there were a few threads needed trimming (you know I’m not very good at spotting them, there’s one on every photo!!!) and of course I didn’t have any scissors on me. I tried sticking the entry label on one lot, but unfortunately the judge spotted them too!

It was a close run thing as I worked out I was only one point behind the cup winner, she won three prizes too but they were worth one point more! I was glad I didn’t win it this year as I think if the same people win the prizes every time in these local shows, it puts a lot of people off entering. I’m hoping next year there might be a quilt class, as there were three quilts in the variety class. To my surprise there were only four entries in the cross-stitch, there’s usually lots in that class. We’ll see what happens next year…

 

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Me Made May 17

Posted on May 22, 2017 by craftycreeky

We’re three weeks into #MMMay17, I’ve pledged to wear something I’ve made every day. The problem I’ve had isn’t finding something to wear, it’s finding someone to take a photograph! So some of the photos are from when I made it, but I did wear it, honest!!

This sleeveless top from a couple of years ago works well with my navy straight skirt.

This was the second Gabriola skirt I made, I’m still not sure about the colours in the tie-dye, but I wear it quite a lot as an everyday skirt.

Another tie-dye, this time it’s a lovely soft cotton which makes the top really nice to wear. The skirt this time was my navy Fumeterre skirt, I still really like this pattern. I wore my sewing Archer’s shirt to Otley show.

Saturday night we had a dinner with a Great Gatsby / flappers theme, my attempt to make a flappers dress failed miserably (read about it here) so I ended up wearing a beaded dress I’d bought a couple of years ago. In my sewing drawers I found this…

…and the more I look at it, the more I’m convinced it’s the genuine article, as in a 1920’s headdress. It’s beautiful, all beads, sequins and velvet. We have a lady at Embroiderers Guild who is a bit of an expert on costume and textiles, so I’m thinking of taking it to show her. I needed some way of attaching it to my head and I decided Kate Chiconi’s suggestion of a short length of elastic was probably the safest, in that I could see if I was constantly adjusting hair grips, I would damage the ends. I was still concerned about the pressure put on by stitching elastic on, I remembered seeing some black powermesh, left over from when I made a bra. I gently tacked it onto the back and then stitched the elastic to the powerflex. It seemed to work as it was all in one piece when I got home.

Which is more than could be said for my feathers, I hadn’t even reached the venue when I realised they had flown off somewhere! I did have to laugh as a lot of ladies wore black feather boas and the floor looked like a few birds had come to sticky ends as there were feathers everywhere!

To complete the outfit I wore my midnight blue velvet cape. I made this nearly 30 years ago and I still remember the traumas I had trying to stitch a satin lining onto velvet!!! It’s locally known as my Scottish Widows cape after the lady in an advert many years ago.

Just over a week to go at #MMMay17, I’ll try and get a few more photos for next week 🙂

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Monday’s Meander Round the Garden

Posted on May 22, 2017 by craftycreeky

Well I got what I wished for last week, some nice, gentle rain. It’s made a big difference in the garden, the weeds have shot up (well they would, wouldn’t they!) but more importantly, the soil is a lot more manageable, I can actually get my fork in fairly easily! I managed to do a fair bit in the garden over the weekend.

I’m still clearing the AA garden, at times it feels like one step forward and two steps back, as no sooner do I clear the perenial weeds as much as I can, the annuals move in!! At least they are a bit easier to sort out. There are times when I walk up the garden and I see the AA garden from a lower level, I wish I didn’t have to redesign it…

…then I get up close! There are four raised beds waiting to be cleared here…mmm I can’t see the paths either, and it’s only May! Continue reading →

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Down the Rabbit Hole Quilt

Posted on May 21, 2017 by craftycreeky

I’ve just finished month two of the Down the Rabbit Hole BOM by Sarah Fielke, so to catch up I’ve two months work to do in two weeks! I’m making good progress though and I’m pleased how it is coming together. This was where I was at the end of month one (about two weeks ago!)…

There’s an awful lot of hand sewing to do at the moment as this part of the quilt is all applique. Fortunately it’s still at the portable stage, so I’ve been sewing on train journeys, hospital waiting rooms, break time at work…

The circles have come out pretty well for a first attempt, there’s a few flat bits and corners, but nothing I can’t live with. I do these Block of the Months to learn and improve, and hopefully that’s what will happen. Sarah is a great teacher, we get written instructions and a video demonstration and if we’re still stuck we can always put a post on her facebook page!

Around the centre circle is some homemade bias binding, I’m getting the hang of making it now. I love the hera marker for making the creases. We’ve to cut away the backing behind the flowers and the centre wheel. I made sure when I was stitching the inner circle of bias that I went through all the thicknesses, so I’ve two rows of stitching before I cut it, hopefully it will help to keep it stable.

Month three is all the leaves, about fifty of them!!! This time it’s proper needle-turn applique, I suppose by the time I get to number fifty I’ll hopefully have got the hang of it!

Month four is a gorgeous paper pieced border made up of rows of houses, I’m tempted to do some of these along side the leaves, just to give me a bit of a break from all the hand-sewing.

Anyway, before I get carried away thinking about the next two months installments, here’s my quilt at the end of month two. I love how the colour scheme is working out so far, it’s sort of gentle 🙂

I’m linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday, why not follow the link and see what everyone else has been stitching.

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Otley Show

Posted on May 20, 2017 by craftycreeky

The weather forecast for today is sunny spells, scattered showers with risk of hail and thunderstorms…so it must be Otley Show day, it’s a standing joke here that it always rains on show day! It’s the first in the show calendar around here and it’s also the oldest one day show in the country, it’s the 208th show today!

There’s quite a big handicraft tent with lots of competitions which I’ve entered pretty regularly for the last twenty years. Two years ago I was determined to win the cup for most points in the handicraft section, something that had always eluded me. I entered every class I thought I could rustle up an entry in (which really means everything except knitting!) and with a change of tactics I entered more than one item in each class. It worked, I won the cup. Last year I decided to try and defend it, again I entered two items per class and again I brought the cup home.

This year I’m going back to my usual number of entries, just what I happen to make over the year, the only entry I’ve made specially for the show is a padded coat-hangar. So if I win it this time, no one else is trying!!

I’ve entered my Great Getaway bag I made in January.

In the variety class I’ve entered my Splendid Sampler quilt...

…and my Anderson Farm quilt.

Anderson’s Farm

Last month I embroidered a lavender sachet from a pattern by Faby Reilly, it’s really pretty. I decided to make a padded coat-hanger to go with it. Of course I left it until last night to start!

I’ve made padded coat-hangars since I was an impoverished student nurse in London, they made pretty but inexpensive Christmas presents! Over the years I’ve made them using several different methods, but I think I’ve finally found a neat way of making them.

I cover the hangar with polyester wadding, the thicker the better. The hook is covered with a rouleau loop, I’ve got a rouleau loop turner now and it does make life easier.

I make a tiny hole in the middle of the fabric and ease the hook through it. I can then slip stitch the fabric over the wadding with a smooth, neat seam underneath. I chose a quilting cotton for this one which has silver swirls on, it seemed to pick out the twinkle of the beads.

To neaten off the ends I turn them under and then gather them tightly. The little hole that is left can then be covered up with a pretty button.

I often just tie a ribbon around the hook but to link the sachet with the coat-hangar I decided to stitch some of the beads around the base and then added two of the flower beads. I can neatly tuck the sachet beads under the flowers to finish it off.

So that’s my entries this year, it was certainly a lot less stressful this year 🙂

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Finishing Touches

Posted on May 18, 2017 by craftycreeky

As I’ve mentioned once or twice, I’ve been decorating our house recently and I’ve tried, as I’ve done each room, to finish all the little touches that have been on my to-do list for ages. One of these was to recover the conservatory chairs.

I was given these chairs about fourteen years ago, they’re too comfortable to change but they were in need of a make-over. This is about the third or fourth time I’ve recovered them, I used the old cushions as the pattern, laying it on and cutting round.

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Isn’t the fabric gorgeous! We have a very nice curtain shop in Otley, they have fabulous window displays and sell beautiful fabrics, but they are well out of my price range. However I have found their sales are very good. They sell remnants, roll ends and display lengths very reasonably. This is a 3m length of Voyager fabric which had been in a window display, there isn’t any obvious sun damage and I just love the colours. There was actually about three or four lengths in this range and I could have quite happily bought them all! It usually sells at £30/m, I bought the 3m length for £30. It was an impulse buy and my original plan was to make some curtains for the little windows in my sewing room…only my windows weren’t quite so small as I imagined them!!

Having painted our conservatory a lovely shade of blue, I realised the Voyager fabric went beautifully. I had just enough…and I mean ‘just’, I nearly had to use short lengths to make up the gusset.

I’ve never put zips in these cushions, if I want to wash them it’s quick enough to undo the hand-stitched opening and then slip-stitch closed again afterwards. They went together really easily and fairly quickly.

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I just love the colours in these cushions, I just want to paint the cane now as it is looking somewhat shabby, I’ve bought a tin of soft grey chalk paint but I think I need one of those stiff stubby stencil brushes, if anyone has done this any tips would be  gratefully received!

The conservatory is almost finished now, I think my next job here is to reupholster a footstool. I’ve started putting my pictures back on the wall, which when you’ve got as many as I have, is a major undertaking! I like what I call a ‘gallery wall’. I’ve started a mini arrangement in the conservatory which I’m really pleased with.

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I started doing ‘gallery walls’ when the children were little. I bought a load of picture frames from charity shops and when they proudly brought their artwork home from school, their favourite ones could be framed and go on the wall. I covered the wall going up the stairs with their pictures. It really needs updating now as they are 20 and 22, not so keen on their childhood paintings being on display!

In the hall we have a long straight wall so I’ve hung all my embroideries there. It takes me ages to hang them as I like everything to be lined up with at least one other picture, I plan the layout on the floor and then it’s a tape measure and pencil job!

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The last picture gallery to rehang this month was in the dining room, which I’ve painted a light, soft shade of grey, I love it, it’s such a calm colour. We have all the family photos on display here. I decided to co-ordinate the frames a bit and bought black, white and grey frames. I’ve up-dated some of the photos too. The only frame I haven’t changed yet is our big wedding one. I’m really pleased with the effect.

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Accessorizing for the 1920’s

Posted on May 17, 2017 by craftycreeky

My outfit is finally coming together! After the disaster last night with the galleon in full sail dress I found my beaded dress. I did have a moment of panic that I might have sent it to the charity shop on the last purge…I was very relieved to see it. I bought this dress for about £20 from a seconds shop in Otley, we were going on our first cruise and I needed some evening wear. It actually weighs a ton due to all the beading, so it probably wasn’t ideal for my luggage weight limit! I only wore it the once and it’s hung in my wardrobe ever since.

…and now is it’s moment to shine!

I needed some accessories; I found some full length beaded gloves which I’ve probably had nearly 30 years!

I found a beaded bracelet and ring (for after the gloves come off!!) Not sure of the etiquette here!…or is this one bead too many!

I needed something for my hair. I went rummaging in my trims drawers and found a short length of black feather boa, just about 12″ I cut it in half, twisted some wire round it to give it some support and also added some wire which I had wrapped round a pencil to make a spiral, it’s a lovely deep purple colour.

I went rummaging a bit further and found this…

It’s beautiful, I know it came from the sewing box of a friends mother, looking at it it could almost be a 1920’s head dress. It’s heavily beaded with long flat beads down one side. It has a large button/ bead at each end with black beads dangling down. It’s gorgeous. It is shaped as if  to go round a head, I’ve just got to work out how to wear it as I haven’t got the ideal hair style for this type of head-dress, it just seems a shame not to wear it having found it! At the moment I’m thinking of folding the wide beads under so it’s just on my forehead, rather than half way up my head which just makes my hair stick out on top!! I need to get some hair grips and have a play before Saturday.

I’ll still have something on for me-made-May as I’ll travel in my velvet cape which I made about thirty years ago. I’ll let you know how it goes!

 

 

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A Galleon in Full Sail!

Posted on May 17, 2017 by craftycreeky

Well I tried!

On Saturday we’ve been invited to a 1920’s themed dinner dance, I have to confess I’m really not keen on ‘fancy dress’, I’d much rather just wear what I like, but I decided to try and make a 1920’s flapper dress.

I found a pattern on the internet from a company called Vintage Visage, they have some amazing patterns at very reasonable prices. These are reproduction patterns, so the instructions are how they were way back then! I chose the ‘Vintage 1920’s Easy Make Flapper Dress’.

It was a fascinating read…

‘A smart, up-to-the-minute dress cut out, completely made, all put together within an hour! You may receive a ‘phone call at one o’clock inviting you to a little impromptu gathering of friends at three, and you can go, if you wish, wearing a dainty new frock made in the time you would ordinarily spend wondering what to wear. Such is the delight you can find in making your own clothes now that it is easily possible to make an attractive, becoming dress in an hour’

There is one basic pattern with lots of variations, I decided to try and make this one, I thought it looked elegant for an evening do. I had some blue silk satin that someone had passed on to me which I didn’t think at first was as bright as it looked in the end!

You start by taking your measurements, just blouse length, skirt length, hip and armhole. The top is made from a single rectangle, it’s folded into four to cut the neck, measuring 1″ here and 4 1/2″ there, opened to a single fold to cut the armholes, it’s a very simple T shape. Neck edges are bound with bias.

The skirt is two rectangles 6-8″ wider each side of the top. There are no instructions to hem the skirt, the length is measured from the selvedge and that is left as the skirt edge (no wonder it only took an hour!!) The sides of the skirt are narrow hemmed, the view I’d chosen had a decorative stitch along the edges, I decided to stitch it with perle thread and a basic running stitch. This extra fabric at the side makes the waterfall effect from each hip.

The sides of the dress were stitched together as far as the lowered waist line, then the back flaps were tacked to the front, leaving the front flaps to waterfall.

At this point I decided to try it on, having just had it on Florence, my muse, before. I looked like a galleon in full sail, a bright blue sail at that!!! I tried putting a sash round the middle, but it still looked like a dogs dinner!! I decided it was unrescueable!! I’ll keep the fabric as it is in decent sized pieces if ever I try to make a dress from the rest of the length of silk (there must have been 5m there)

I couldn’t even bring myself to let my OH see it to take a photo of me wearing it, it was just too bad!! So here’s Florence…

Can I just say, this is not the fault of the pattern at all, I love the way it is written and it is actually pretty clear once you get your head round it, I just think I’m the wrong shape for a flapper dress!

Luckily whilst I was hand-stitching the edges down I had a quick browse on pinterest and saw all the long beaded dresses, I remembered a dress I bought ages ago for a cruise we went on, a long, black, beaded dress. I only wore it once, partly because it weighed a ton with all the beads. I tried it on and I think with some long black beads I can get away with it!

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Me-Made-May Monday

Posted on May 15, 2017 by craftycreeky

Two weeks into May and it has finally warmed up enough to get the summer clothes out. As part of MMMay17 I pledged to wear at least one item I’d made each day for the month of May, so I’m pleased to have a bit more choice!  I keep my out of season clothes in a wardrobe upstairs so I love that day in the year when I go up to get the summer clothes down, it reminds me of when I was little, all the summer dresses were put in a suitcase in the loft for the winter, it was great when we got them down and had a big trying on session to find out which still fitted and which ones I would get passed down from my sister! Luckily everything I’ve got out so far still fits!!

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