sewing in Canada

You'd think, when I was on holiday, I'd get a rest from sewing. Nothing could be further from the truth! I did a ton of mending for Debbie which I didn't take photos of.

The biggest thing I mended was Emily's old rocking horse - Mayo-neighs. You would think by looking at this photo, that he looked perfectly healthy but his frame (inside) was broken and unfixable so we decided the best thing to do was to "just" take him apart and sew him up like a toy.

We had to cut his feet off to get him off the frame and we couldn't undo the fixings so had to think of how to deal with that.

We got his feet off the frame as best we could but he needed new soles so I used some blue fleece that Debbie had in her stash to make those.

I covered the holes where the handles had been with some felt.

Debbie, Emily and Isla stuffed him and I sewed him back together. I said that in 4 words but it took me a whole morning to do!

Here he is all fixed and admiring the girls' Lego boxes!

He looks fabulous now. The girls have been told he is not to be sat upon as he's not strong enough for that but he is strong enough for lots of hugs!

On my last day in Canada, I made nighties for the girls teddies - Howard and Albert.

We had a lovely holiday in Canada spending lots of fun time with Debbie and Emily and Isla. I was sad to leave them but I was also ready to come home. We flew back overnight and I didn't sleep for long on the plane - 2 hours if that! So, by the time Jo picked us up at the airport, we were fuzzy-brained and exhausted. It took a couple of days to get into our old routine again. No doubt the sewing will start up again soon - after all, I brought back a TON of fabric! LOL

purse, pinafore, blouses and others

I've not just been a quilt-making machine this year. I've also made a few (!) other things. Let me show you.

First, Joanna asked me to make her a coin purse so I dug out my bits of leather and made this one for her. It's the same pattern as I used for my own one back in May last year (who knew it was so long ago!!). This time I made it from one piece of leather so no seam to contend with. I like it. She likes it. That's all that counts!

Next I made a cover for a notebook which I intend to use as a sort of journal for the things I make. This is the outside cover. It's not as big as it looks - this is it flat!

It has pockets for pens on the inside cover.

And this is it tied shut with the ribbons. By the end of the year, I suspect the ribbons will do a good job since the pages will get fatter as I paste the pics of my makes and maybe even samples of fabrics inside.

I made myself a pinafore dress. The pattern is the Mildred pinafore from SewgirlintheUK. I sewed it up very quickly and there's only been a couple of days in the 2 weeks since I made it that I haven't worn it. I LOVE it! I got Douglas to take a photo of me trying it on before I'd even sewn up the hem! You might be able to see the pins! You can see the back of it in the mirror out in the hall!

Then I made a couple of Archer shirts. I have made a LOT of these shirts since I got the pattern back in 2014. I have definitely had my money's worth! (The link shows the pattern costing $18. I can't imagine I paid that much - too mean/thrifty/canny! Actually, I just went and checked my emails and I only paid $12 for it. Wow! a 50% increase??) Anyway, the shirts are very comfy under my new pinafore!

This one is made from a duvet cover that I bought in Asda's. OMG I LOVE this!

When Joanna saw the stripey one, she asked me if I'd make her one too. The duvet cover for it is washed and pressed and ready to be cut out!

Lastly, in my bid to get on with the double wedding ring quilt, I made another block. It looks like it could do with a good press!

February's makes and stuff

Not many makes this month - or not as many as *I* would usually make. This is for a couple of reasons - firstly the kitchen re-do is still ongoing. We're not bothered by how long it's taking - we're not as young as we used to be and everything needs to be discussed (ad nauseam) so we don't have to do things twice. If only that worked! There's a tall cupboard that I've filled, unfilled and refilled 3 times - maybe 4! - because things weren't quite right. Now we think we might have to do the unfilling and filling again to see if we can get said tall unit closer to the wall. That could mean cutting the bottom of the back of the unit or trimming the skirting board neither of which sound good! Oh well.

The other reason is I had to go and get a steroid injection into one of the knuckles of my right hand. Boy, that was painful! My right hand was pretty useless for about 3 days. Ask me how easy it is to spread butter with my left hand - not as easy as I thought it would be!! After a few days, I was at least able to do some sewing but I had to be careful not to overdo. It's now been a week since I got that jag and my finger is much better. Fingers crossed it keeps improving - well, not literally as I don't think that would be a good idea!

Anyway, here's what I did do.

First of all, I had a pair of comfy trousers which were far too big for me. So big that, if I didn't tie the annoying cords around the waist, they'd fall down! This is sadly not due to losing lots of weight but due to the fact that I bought the wrong size! Anyway, I cut off the waistband that was there, managed to get the elastic out of that waistband - why it was overlocked and sewn into the seams is a puzzle to me - and then did a simple zigzag stitch to attach the elastic to the cut edge. As nobody ever sees the waistband, it doesn't matter how ugly it is. They fit me and that's all that counts!

My next makes were more masks for Douglas and myself. We have quite a decent supply of masks but it's surprising how many times Douglas had to ask me what jacket he had on the last time he went out as his mask would be in the pocket of that jacket. It's a bit like me and hankies - I have at least one in every pocket of every jacket. Now Douglas has enough masks to have one in every jacket and still have some in the basket in the hall where the masks are kept!

The next two are made from some of the first masks I made which I found I never wore as I prefer the shaped versions. It was an easy job to unpick them and remake them into the shaped version.

Next I made a pinafore dress for Emily's 5th birthday next week. How on earth is she 5 already??

This is the front:

And this is the back:

The pattern is the Bloomy pinafore from Puperita here. I then made both Emily and Isla wee tops.

This is the Liberty Style Blouse also from Puperita but it doesn't seem to be on her website at the moment. How odd!

I made Molly a leather bone like I had made for Tilly last month.

Those are all now in a box with other gifts heading on their way to Canada.

I next made myself some new cloths from some old towels. This has to be one of my favourite recycling jobs. 3 towels makes 18 cloths - not too shabby!

I haven't done much on my Supernova patchwork. I have made the top left quarter:

And made a start on the top right quarter.

I hope to get more of it done in March but we'll see how much the kitchen re-do and the finger allow.

2 finishes and a lion

I spent a l-o-n-g time last week finishing off the two quilts I was making with my scraps. I am sooooooooo happy with them both. I've decided I'm giving one to each of our girls and they're both delighted by the idea.

Here's the front of one of the quilts:

And the back:

The front of the other one:

And the back:

I used up most of the scraps I had - although they seem to be breeding again!! - and I used up oddments of bindings all joined together for the outside bindings. I didn't have enough of the navy blue sheet I used for the fronts so used up some jade and some jade/blue stripes on the backs. I didn't have quite enough of the stripey one to do all the rows so used a navy spot on one of them - on the 2nd and 4th rows - and a navy stripe on the other. All in all, a LOT of leftovers were used up in these quilts. Very chuffed about that!

So, the lion. When our girls were wee, I made them a big sit-on lion which we called Benny. Debbie asked me if I still had the pattern for him but I didn't so the internet searching started. Joanna did most of the work but didn't quite get there. She showed me a lion she'd found which was similar but wasn't a big sit-on one but it was by the same designer which meant I knew what to look for. I found the pattern on ebay and, within days, it was in my grubby paws. This is the picture that goes with the pattern.

Debbie assured me she'd make him herself but asked me if I could do the pattern for her - it's printed on a grid and you're meant to draw if copying it on to 5cm grid paper. I decided I'd rather see if I could get it to print out to size so I scanned a 4 wide by 5 high block from the pattern which is what would fit on a sheet of A4 paper, printed that out and WOW! it printed out with the grid measuring 5cm. I couldn't believe it had worked at the first attempt!

Anyway, I printed it all out, stuck it together and cut it all out and this is what we've got.

We've got all the fur fabric, the felt, the laces for his face and paws ready to go but he'll have to stay here until we're allowed out again. Hopefully in the not too distant future.

On that note, I have to say, the worst part of being on lockdown is the lack of family hugs. I am definitely a hugger and to not be able to hug my girls and my wee girlies is so hard. Like I said - hopefully in the not too distant future. Stay home. Stay safe. 💕

!!! 3 !!!

Our wee Emily is 3 today. Goodness me! How did that happen? I remember exactly where I was when Jason phoned me to tell me she had arrived ... at long last!

We all went to Emily's house on Sunday to have a birthday picnic/party with her. No way could we go outside but we were all quite happy inside! Before I show off the photos of her playing with her picnic basket and blanket, let me show you the finished quilt - the front:

The back and the embroidered label:

I made some mini napkins to go with it:

Then I had some fun making "food". First of all some sandwiches - ham and lettuce on the left and cheese on the right.

Some Oreos and jammie dodgers:

Some ginger nuts on the left and crackers with cheese on the right:

Some triangle cheese and some babybels:

And some egg sandwitches on white bread.

Honestly, I had way too much fun making the food and had to make myself stop! LOL

Here's Emily on Sunday emptying out her picnic basket with all the goodies inside. You'll notice she had put the quilt upside down - Pooh had to be upwards!

She had lots of fun sorting things out -

Then her mummy and Auntie Jo joined in the picnic fun pouring cups of tea and filling plates for anybody who wanted one!

Isla was very tired as she sat on her Grammie's knee wearing her bear ears hairband but she would not give in!

We all had a lovely time - it was a really fun day.

Happy birthday, Miss Emily. Have a lovely day! 🥰

showing off

So, that's Christmas is over for another year and now I can show off the things I wasn't able to show on here in the run up to the big day.

I made a bag for Joanna with an appliquéed Russian dolly (made on my embroidery machine) on the front.

2 Pairs of pyjama shorts for Joanna.

Also for Joanna, a onesie.

I thought it was enormous but Joanna tried it on on Christmas day and is delighted with it. Phew!

Next I made her usual diary cover. The front -

The back -

I had such a hard time with this one - this is the second attempt at getting it to fit - that I've told her that next year's diary cover will be made of brown paper with lots of stickers stuck on it!! :oD

I just checked on my revealing all post from last year and see that I had a hard time with the diary cover last year too. Maybe I really should do the brown paper thing next year!!

I made a pair of dungarees for Emily. They fit her. Yay!! This photo was taken before I'd put the hems up.

After all that Christmas present sewing, I had some time to relax before Christmas so I used up some leftovers to make myself a new pair of ovengloves.

Then Joanna and I dug out the Scrabble-type letters which I'd bought from eBay this time last year and used them to make some word art.

We went over to see Debbie, Jason, Emily & Molly on the 27th and had a lovely day with them all. This is my absolute favourite photo of that day - Emily and her Auntie Joanna. Isn't that lovely?

And finally, Debbie sent us this photo this morning. They'd had quite a lot of snow and so she took Emily out into the garden to let her see it. She was most intrigued!

That's me now until next year. I just have my "books read in 2017" post to do but I'll leave that until the last day in case I manage to get any more read between now and then. In the meantime, the graphic says it all!