Great British Sewing Bee day trip out

 

Back at the end of April, E and I visited a very special shop opening. Lauren from the Great British Sewing Bee was opening her very own (along with her husband Ayaz) haberdashery shop. It's about an hour and a half's drive from my house but it was well worth the journey. We turned up about an hour after the official opening time but we still had to queue for ten minutes outside. The shop was heaving, so many people, it was amazing to see. And of course it was so lovely to meet some of the contestants from the show - Lauren, Ann and Tilly were there, as you can see in the above photo, and I had a little chat with Stuart who was an absolute delight. There are lots of photos on Tilly and Lauren's blog, some of which appear to have me in the background! Don't quite know how that happened, I wasn't posing honest!!

 

Of course we had to spend some pennies having travelled so far to visit and I'm always keen to support independent businesses. E and I decided to buy some fabric to make a bag each to take with us on holiday. I think I will make a tote bag as per the tutorial on Lauren's blog. The fabric I chose is the brown floral one, E surprised me by choosing a pale pink floral after hating pink for the past 5 years. We also got some pom pom makers (great fun), a cute apple tape measure for E, a seam ripper for me (this unfortunately gets a fair amount of use when I'm sewing) and some fabric squares. I also bought a Colette Hazel dress pattern. Everyone on t'internet seems to be raving about Colette patterns so I thought I would give one a go. 

 

We had such a fab day, including a delicious lunch at a local Italian restaurant. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit any of the numerous charity shops we passed on the way home. There seemed to be one every other shop at one point. I was desperately trying to stop myself from shouting "Stop the Car!" at my husband.

Not too sure what I will make with these but I may use one or two when making the bags. I really wanted to buy the GBSB book but they had run out at the shop so I ordered a couple of copies from Amazon - one for me and one for my Mum. Lots of patterns in there that I would like to make but I decided on the dress that Stuart made in the first episode. If you watched the show, you may remember it was made in the green and navy Chinese lantern fabric above but I dug out some fabric I bought from the charity shop a few weeks ago. Three metres of grey floral fabric for £3.75, not bad at all and it meant I wouldn't feel too bad if I messed up.

I only took one photo whilst making this. Here is the lined bodice on Deirdre my dressmaker's dummy.

 

And here is a photo of the nearly finished dress. I tried to fit a lapped side zip and managed to break the sewing machine needle when I hit one of the zip teeth, consequently breaking the zip as well. I have unpicked and bought a replacement zip and put off fitting it for the last two weeks. In the meantime I have made three other dresses, one is just a wearable muslin though.  After the zip disaster I picked up a dress pattern which doesn't need a zip or buttonholes. It's a New Look Easy 2 hour pattern hence the reason I have made 3 in the past couple of weeks! I really must face my zip phobia though.

 

I've cut out the pattern pieces for the Hazel dress and will make a muslin of the bodice to check for fit before cutting into the actual fabric. So many plans, so little time. Don't worry, I have still found time in the evenings to crochet in front of the telly. Have got some photos of stuff I have made over the past couple of months.

 

 

It was a fantastic day trip out and I'd definitely go again. Lauren's shop also has an online shop so do check it out and see what gorgeous fabrics etc. she has available.

 

Finally, just a little reminder about the Bloggy Blanket that I added some crochet squares to. I still have it carefully packed away under my coffee table. If you would like to add some squares to this blanket, please either contact me or leave a comment here so we can get the blanket moving and growing again. It's all for a very good cause. Thanks.   

Charity shops rule!

More charity shop finds. I bought this lovely little Kokeshi doll from the local charity shop a couple of months ago. She is very heavy and was only £1.50. I love her because the paint colours are so delicate - I don't know whether she was supposed to look so faded or whether that's just what has happened over time. E thinks she is freaky and keeps trying to hide her (!) but not long after I got her, I decided she needed a little mat to sit on.

So I crocheted this little doily. It's a made up pattern which I was going to do a tutorial for, but who am I trying to kid?! In the run up to Christmas I have far too much else to keep me far too busy. There are a gazillion other free crochet coaster patterns out there for you all to choose from anyway. :)

This is how she looks. So cute.

I got this stainless steel necklace a couple of months ago too and have been wearing it most days ever since. It was a pound. I seem to remember my Mum had a necklace similar to this back in the 70s.

We hung the 1960s painting a couple of weeks ago. I love it, it just fits in nicely on this wall. Such a good find.

Here is a dreadful photo of the Franco Albini table I got for £7 in the summer. Unfortunately it is being moved into the garage over the festive season.

F loves all things dragon and dinosaur related. I spotted this teak dinosaur whilst looking for 1950s teak animals on ebay. He was a bargain and F was delighted when he turned up in the post - I hadn't told her that I'd won him, in fact I hadn't even told her I had bid for him. Here he is sat on her new Ikea picture ledge in her bedroom with a lovely dragon print that I bought from etsy.

Recent charity shop trips have been dedicated to buying vintage Christmas decorations. I have managed to buy quite a few this year so my dream of having a 100% vintage Christmas tree are becoming more of a reality. I think by next year I will hopefully have achieved it. Will post some photos once the tree is up and decorated. x

Day trip out

We (my friend Alison and I) had the most amazing trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace last week. This was our third year of visiting and as the stalls are all in roughly the same place every year, it makes it so much easier to find what you are looking for. This meant we could make a bee line for all the things we wanted to look at/needed to buy. And boy, did we have fun shopping.

The beginning of our journey there was a bit of a palaver as our train was cancelled after sitting still and going nowhere for 20 minutes at the station. Alison very kindly (and bravely) offered to drive us there and I quickly rang M to get directions - he told me about a very clever little sat nav app on my new (his old) iphone which took a bit of setting up but it directed us to a little leafy road next door to the Ally Pally which had free parking and was a short hop and skip away from the entrance. We even arrived at about the same time we usually would have. We would normally have driven to the station, got a train, the underground and then the laid on coach to the venue. Needless to say, we will not be getting the train next year as it was so much easier and quicker to go by car, even with the rush hour traffic in the rain on the way home.

I had a shopping list this year, I have not been so organised in previous years and just bought what I considered to be a bargain and gorgeous. Not this year, I had serious plans, lots of stuff written down, crochet patterns chosen for this year's haul. Unfortunately my top of the list yarn to make a blanket for our bed was not available at the show so I am having to order it online. Never mind, at least I didn't have to carry it around with me all day. I did get some supersoft Sublime baby cashmere merino silk dk in a beautiful indigo colour. And I got some ergonomic crochet hooks (4 for £10 bargain) and some pearl headed pins (2 for £1 - I love a bargain!). But the best buy of the day was this most incredible petrol coloured malabrigo yarn.

Having brought it home and admired it, I seem to remember seeing it at the show last year and wanting to buy it then but declined due to the price. This stuff is expensive but is totally worth it in my opinion. My sister gave me some birthday money and I said I would spend it at the show. And I did...and I treated myself. This yarn is so so gorgeous, I can't stop looking at it. I have wound one skein into a ball but can't bring myself to wind the other skein up just yet.

Anyway - details - it's a Kettle dyed pure superwash merino wool, sock yarn weight, 100g per skein. It was just over £14 per skein but at just over £7 per 50g, I don't think that's the most expensive yarn I've ever seen. I am going to crochet some kind of scarf/shawl with it but have not yet chosen a pattern, this being an impulse buy. I think it's going to take a long time to search out the perfect pattern for the perfect yarn and I think it's going to take a very small crochet hook. The label is mentioning a 2.25mm needle size. Yikes.

I also bought some stuff for my sister. She asked for an ergonomic hook, a clover thread cutter (here) to use on the plane and also some string to make more coasters. Sorry, no photos. I'm wishing I had bought the linen yarn that I saw too as it was kind of like very thin softer hessian string and it would have been perfect for coasters. Maybe next year.

Alison treated herself to some super duper Rooster yarn to make a blanket and she chose some fantastic colours. Can't wait to see what style of blanket she decides to make with it. We saw some people at the show from our local crochet/knitting group and just had a thoroughly great time. So exhausted when I got home though. Must be getting old. :O

Just to catch up on recent charity shop finds, here is one of two identical wooden bins that I bought the other week for £5 each.

They are Swedish and in near perfect condition considering their age. I have had to tell the other members of our household to be careful what they place in these bins to prevent any damage. Yes really. They can't put just any old rubbish in my nice new bins!

I also got this lacquered tray when out with my Mum the other week. It's got a nice Japanese style feel to it and I've just noticed that it goes remarkably well with my new table. I bought this table quite a while ago now. I was wanting a table to go with my wicker garden furniture and kept seeing this on ebay but it was way out of my price range. I got it from my favourite charity shop for £7. I have had a move around of furniture to fit it in as it isn't intended for the house but that's where it will stay for the time being. So pleased I found it and it's in great condition. Will try to remember to get another photo of it in all its glory.

Right, back to the real world and the joys of ironing. Speak soon. x

More charity shop finds

I bought this picture yesterday - it is a copy of a painting called Boats in blues and greens by Rutledge and it was apparently painted in 1966. It was £5 and I was quick to grab it and pay, before wandering around the shops carrying it with my Mum and sister. I was also asked a couple of times to see the painting and there was high praise indeed for it. I love it and am still wondering where abouts it will be hung up. Great colours, I feel another crochet blanket coming on...

These placemats were bought a while ago - 11 for £2. I think they are an old M&S design and my Mum still has the matching chopping board, which she keeps as a board for the kids to lean on when they want to do some drawing.

This fabric was from ebay - it's a vintage Sanderson design and I have about 3 metres of it. May make some cushions for the bedroom from it or maybe some bags.

I saw this Caroline's Home dollshouse at the charity shop at the beginning of the summer holidays. It was £10 including all the original furniture but I didn't buy it as I though my kids wouldn't like it (they don't normally like old stuff). I mentioned it to E and said that it was a 1970s style house and she asked to go round and see it. She absolutely loved it and bought it with her own money. The furniture has been rearranged many times and it is now looking for a permanent home for display in our house. E has suggested behind the sofa so I am now tracking down a long narrow coffee table for it to perch on.

Oh who left the loo lid up?

Dad's got his feet up watching tv again!

And we didn't get him or the water pistol from the charity shop but I had to show you this photo of Gerard fast asleep, obviously dreaming about having a water pistol fight with the neighbouring cats. Gotta love him!

Recent charity shop finds

Some things I have bought from the charity shop over the past 3 months.

First up, a Krenit bowl bought for £3.50. I saw it, picked it up (not believing that it could possibly be a Krenit) turned it over and saw the Krenit sticker on the bottom and quickly paid for it and rushed out of the shop before anyone realised what it was. Why is it that the shop assistant always says "ooh, this is lovely" and starts looking at it when you know it is the biggest bargain and just want to get out of there and skip down the street?! Love my Krenit bowl.

I bought this planter last week from the local charity shop around the corner. I thought it looked nice but decided I didn't need any more planters. I just had to pick it up and turn it over, only to find that it is an Arabia Finland planter so I thought it was well worth spending £2.50 for it. Love the colour too.

This was my only Welsh charity shop find, another £2.50 bargain, there's about 3 metres of fabric there. Will be making some bags out of this.

These barkcloth fabrics were bought at a charity table top sale in a local church hall for 50p each. Yes, you read that right. Everything on the table was 50p and there were so many fabrics to choose from but I just chose the ones I loved the most. I also got this bird print fabric which I might make some cushions from. It's not my usual style but I love it just the same.

I got the following scarf from the local charity shop for £1. I love the colours, not sure I will ever wear it though.

These were labelled as placemats. Not sure why anyone would want some woolly placemats - maybe to soak up soup dribbles?! I thought they looked very welsh and made up for me not finding a welsh blanket whilst on holiday. These will going into my crafting supplies, might be useful for making purses or small bags.

I'd been looking for a clothes valet for ages and finally found one for less than a fiver at the local charity shop so easy to carry home. My husband is using it and I am looking for another one for me so I can relocate my wicker chair which is a dumping ground for clothes. It will free up some space in the bedroom so that we can admire our still going strong purple shagpile carpet. Bleurghhh!

And last but not least, a Sylvanian Families Department Store, not complete but well worth the £8 I spent on it. This stuff goes for a fortune on ebay and the kids have played with it happily since I got it at the weekend, and will do for a few more months, I'm sure. It's a win-win situation.

What have you found at the charity shop/thrift store recently? Have fun thrifting! xxx

Paving the way

Apologies for my absence, been busy in the garden and E has been very poorly, off school for 7 days with some kind of virus. Hopefully she will get some much needed rest over the half term holidays and will feel better soon.

Anyway, last weekend we decided to tackle the paving that we had planned to the side of the decking, making this area a weed free zone and much easier to keep tidy. Whilst my husband was levelling the area, I weeded under the pyracantha and started pruning off lots of dead branches. You can really notice a difference between these two photos, the photo below was taken at the end of February this year. It's lovely to be able to see the shape of the trunk/branches and the kids have already said that they would love to have a hanging chair here!

Gerard also got in on the action, he loves a roll in the sunshine, always wandering into the house covered in bits!

You may remember that we were given some paving slabs about 18 months ago by a relative who was working on a gardening job. The owners didn't want the slabs so they were lifted (and had only been down for two years so still in excellent condition) and promptly brought round to our house. These are really good quality slabs and extremely heavy.

Some of them had been cut to fit for their previous location so we had to make do with what we had been given and make it work for the space we have.

It was a hot day when M was laying these slabs, truly back breaking work. The slabs were far too heavy for me to lift so I felt like a spare part, only being needed to bring yet more squash and to fill up the watering can. I also have this really annoying habit of just sitting and watching someone work if I am unable to help. M only complained once (that I could hear anyway!).

 

We were extremely lucky to find these half price pots at a local garden centre. At first we only found one so dismissed it as we knew we needed a few to plant some bamboo to give us extra privacy along the fence. Just before we left the garden centre, we found some more pots on offer and another four were lurking at the back. Perfect for our requirements and I think they look very simple and understated.

We have paved behind the tortoise enclosure too as I sometimes need access to this side of the enclosure and trudging over mud on a rainy day in my slippers is not pleasant.  This is where we had to use some of the pre-cut slabs so we did some nifty filling in with mortar and slate paddlestones. We have a few slabs left so will be paving down the side of the enclosure that meets the lawn. We had laid some new turf down here last year but it is constantly in the shade so it never took so I think some paving will be the best solution for this area.

I think it looks great, so tidy and I can't wait to plant up the pots. Just need to find the right type of bamboo at a reasonable price. I used the rest of the slate paddlestones in the tortoise enclosure as a basking area for them. At first they were curious and crawled all over them but I haven't seen them on there since. Apparently tortoises don't like change so we'll see how it goes over the next few days.

We also finally found a parasol which fitted our requirements for this area (believe me, we are very picky) and that arrived yesterday, just in time for the bad weather we are due to have over the Jubilee weekend. Typical. Maybe we could shelter under it whilst toasting the Queen?  What are your plans this weekend? We are meeting up with all our neighbours for a BBQ on Sunday and there are lots of other things planned in our village to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. We are also hoping to lay the rest of the decking tiles along the long concrete path to the side of the house, and to pop out at some point to have some brunch at a lovely little tea house nearby. Can't wait. Have fun whatever you are doing this weekend. x

Garden update

I certainly made the most of the amazing weather over the weekend, weeding the front garden and along the side of the decking. This kept me busy for a few hours and renewed my love of our garden. I am truly hoping that we get this garden into a beautiful state - well as beautiful as two non gardeners can do! (My lovely husband mowed the lawn on Friday after work, even though he was feeling unwell. By Saturday morning, he was confined to bed with aching muscles and flu like symptoms. He only went back to work today and has been feeling rotten over the last few days. Unfortunately F and I both woke up with sore throats and feeling bunged up so I am hoping we will not get the full blown version.)

 The above photo is of a rhododendron (I think) in the back garden, near the side of the garage and on the end of my new fruit border. This long straight border gets full sunshine pretty much all day and was once covered with ivy and shaded by a large and completely overgrown laurel bush. You may remember that it got chopped down last year on the spur of the moment by my husband whilst I was out! That sure was a surprise when I got home, I can tell you, but it looks so much better without the laurel.

Here's a very blurry photo of the gooseberries. They are about half size at the moment and me and F are currently trying to get rid of all the saw fly caterpillars that stripped the bushes of leaves last year. I am plucking them off and F is stamping on them. Believe me, she is very enthusiastic about her new role in the garden and runs out whenever I tell her it's time to go stamping. I have to remember to tell her to take her shoes off straight away when she comes back in!  She has also been enjoying some time on her own on the swing, sometimes singing, sometimes making up new games, always with a smile on her face.

Another shot of the fruit border. Last year when I was starting to clear the old veg patch, I found a lone strawberry plant which I potted up and hoped that a few strawberries might grow. I bought another strawberry plant on a whim to keep it company. Over the winter I noticed that some runners had grown and made a mental note to dig them up and replant them in the fruit border where they would get plenty of sun. Well, I did this at the weekend and found six runners from the two original plants. I have no idea whether I will get any fruit from the runners this year (have just googled it and it looks like I have done everything wrong, never mind!) but apparently I have got to pick the flowers off the runners this year if they get any so the plants have a chance to establish themselves.

The tayberries are growing nicely after being hacked back (again, probably at completely the wrong time of year) so not sure what's going to happen. But considering they were hiding behind lots of weeds up until last year, I am sure they will survive.

So that's the current situation in the garden, still lots more weeding and tidying up to do but I am on a roll so hopefully with the good weather forecast for the rest of this week, I will be able to put a few more hours of gardening in. We are also trying to source a cantilever parasol that tilts and is within our budget. On the very few days of sunshine and warmth last Summer, we really struggled to stay shaded as our decking is in full sunshine pretty much all day. Hopefully we will find one that is perfect for our needs and that we will actually have some sunshine this year to make it worthwhile buying.

I went on a charity shop run yesterday to see if I could get some more Harry Potter books for F. She started reading the first one this week after having such a great time at the Harry Potter studio tour. She is over half way through the book already so I thought I had better start buying the rest. I didn't find any but did get some books for E and this cat basket for Gerard. He doesn't really need a cat basket as he usually sleeps on the sofa or F's bed but I thought it would be nice to have in the kitchen. He hasn't sat in it yet and keeps eyeing it suspiciously. I get the feeling I may have wasted my money. It still looks cute though and I am very tempted to make a round crochet blanket to go in it.

So that's all for today but I am really excited to show you photos of my new crochet project. I am loving making it and it has grown considerably over the last few days. I will be working on this new project alongside the hexagon blanket as I really don't want to shelve that blanket and then forget about it. Hope you are having a great week. Take care. x

Climb every mountain

I am trying my very best this year to only buy things that we actually need. The big clear out of 2012 is still continuing (we have so much stuff) and I am not wanting to add to the quantity we already have. My intention is that we only buy something if we absolutely need it or if something breaks and needs replacing.

The above photo is of the lamp on my coffee table next to where I sit in the lounge. Over Christmas, a certain little person (not mentioning any names) absentmindedly ran her finger along the edge of this shade whilst watching rather a lot of tv. I was obviously off cooking dinner or sorting out washing whilst all this was going on so I a) wasn't sat in my usual spot, and b) didn't notice until the damage was done. I had received some Christmas money so decided to look for a replacement shade rather attempt unsuccessfully to glue those little strands back on.

My first instinct was to go to Folly and Glee who sell wonderful lampshades made of vintage barkcloth (you know I like a bit of barkcloth) and I found this beauty, which seems to be just the right sort of lampshade to have during this cold and snowy weather. It is beautifully made and and is a lot prettier to look at rather than a boring brown shade. I am so tempted to buy another shade in a different style but alas we don't need one.  I would definitely recommend that you have a little look at their online shop - everything they sell is so so gorgeous.

I am doing very well with my buy less year so far, apart from the Matalan teapot in the previous post. We really didn't need another teapot but I'm not keen on my other one so it may be winging its way to the charity shop shortly. I have also had a look at my yarn stash and have just finished a blanket out of some leftover wool which has been hanging around for a long long time. Also, the Mollie Makes inspired blanket is finished - hoorah!! More posts to follow once I've taken some photos. xxx