How to buy yourself a couple of hours peace and tranquility.

It is (as some of you will know) nearing the end of the long, lazy summer holidays, I must admit I have worked whilst dh has done the lions share of ferrying to zoos and whatnot and when I've been here, we've mostly crafted together (with dd of course, the TEEN mostly does his own thing).

Dd has wanted to paint her own t shirts for a while so yesterday she did, this, dear reader is the results. I am especially taken with the flowers, so taken in fact I might pass her one of my t shirts to daube them on, as I can't draw funky flowers to save my life, she obviously gets it from dh's side of the family!!

The crocheted block at the bottom is the back of my cropped jacket, which will hopefully adorn my frame at some point this winter, it's crocheted in half trebles and I am half way through half of the front (not shown here), it's taken from a pattern in the fabulously naff CrochetWorld, although because I just can't behave myself I've not really followed the pattern to the letter and just used the idea and merrily gone my own way! Que Sera Sera.

A pyschedelic shopper fit for the 70s and THAT doll swap!

In between working overtime and prepping fabric for my skirt, I have been indulging in a little light crocheting, this lime green and lurid pink beauty was knocked up during a few commutes into work and a couple of evenings slobbing in front of the telly. The inspiration for the colours came from browsing the Purplelinda
website and happening upon the dayglo cotton yarn that I ordered from there to make it with (Anchor Style CREATIVA, in case you were wondering). I love it for its Austin Powers style retro look and I will carry it with pride, obviously ignoring the sniggers of the more staid bastions of my small community, if I were a braver woman then I would of course wear it with a knitted all in one shorts suit.


My swap partner received my doll last week, so I am now posting it here in all it's glory, unfortunately whilst trying to photograph it, the camera kept shutting off, then dd kept rearranging the feather boa and repositioning her, so the photos are not good. However I thought she turned out really well, I added the boa for a quirky 1920s touch (feather yarn does have its uses) but the original pattern belongs to the uber talented Miaou
crafting diva of the highlands, who owns the rights to the pattern, so if you want to make one yourself, contact her, I think she is selling the pattern. I will definitely be making another as dd wants one to go with the wildlife and fauna that festoons her bed.

Bags and flowers.

Well now I've dispatched my doll swap (only 6 months late!! The Shame!), I can now throw myself into a bit of dressmaking. As the old adage goes, have cash, will shop, so I have!

First stop was Betsy Ross
to buy the beautiful charmed dress pattern and the raglan top. I bought the A line skirt pattern about a year ago and made a charming skirt out of a pair of my nans old curtains but, as I tried trimming the hem with a pair of 8" shears, I managed to snip a hole in it!! Still I've kept the skirt because a) it was my nans old curtains(and they remind me of her and b) it was my first attempt at a skirt. I've made a few since but I found this gorgeous summery fabric in a shop in Walthamstow for the princely sum of a quid a metre, so I bagged a couple of metres along with some lining and I am planning to make another glorious skirt with it, minus the mistakes this time.

Speaking of old curtains, I needed another stash bag so I knocked this one up (out of, appropriately) old curtains. For some reason, the photo doesn't really do it justice (tis much nicer in the flesh), although I misjudged the firmness of the curtains and should have interfaced the whole thing, not just the top. But it will do nicely for stashing my work uniform in, when I want to indulge in a little light morning retail therapy and I'll still have plenty of space for a yarn project and some purchases.

This gorgeous blue floral fabric was hidden in my stash, much to my excitement, think I got it from Hitchin market and is going to become the main body of the Betsy Ross raglan top. There is only a metre of it, so I've carefully measured it up and worked out there is enough for the main body and the facings, I will do the sleeves in a plain material for a bit of contrast, am undecided as to whether the contrast should be blue, white or cream, so I will have to do some side by side comparisons to see which looks best. Although I think plain cornflower blue cotton would work a treat. Must remember....TRIM WITH EMBROIDERY SCISSORS ONLY!!