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

keeping out of mischief

As usual, I've been keeping myself out of mischief by doing some sewing. Here's what I've made recently.

First of all, some more stockings for the tartan bee.

I've just re-opened the tartan bee after closing it when lockdown started. I've trimmed my stock down to only Christmas stockings and a few project bags so we'll see how it goes. Last year I sold over 60 Christmas stockings. Even if I sold a third of that this year, I'd be more than pleased!

Next I made a couple of pinnies like this for Emily. I gave her one to wear in her house and kept this one here for when she visits her Grammie and Papa.

It was Debbie's 40th birthday last weekend - how did that happen?? - so all the girlies wore pretty dresses for our birthday party get-together at their house. This is mine.

It's this pattern - I made view D but lengthened it by 4½" - a much better length for me.

It's so comfortable. I added pockets into the side seams. A comfy dress with pockets - what more could you want? I am definitely going to be making more!

Next, Debbie gave me this to mend.

She was given it when she was a baby - so it's 40 years old too!! One of its eyes needed replacing and the other needed re-stuck. An easy job but, crumbs, I hope I never need an eye op! Or, if I do, I hope the surgeon doesn't use glue and pins on me! LOL

I made a fabric chain with some scraps and snaps for Emily and Isla to play with. So far they only drape it around themselves but they'll get the hang of the snaps eventually.

I might have to make some of these out of Christmas fabrics. Plenty time for that ... you'd think so, wouldn't you? I suspect it'll be here sooner than we think! 🎅🏻

I made a few more of the curved masks. I gave the owl ones to the girls and kept the sewing one for myself.

Lastly, I made myself another pair trousers.

I made them using the Jalie trousers pattern which I've made a few times previously - see here and here.

I had noted on the pattern when I made them for the first time in 2016 how much elastic I needed for the waistband. I was DEEEE-lighted to find that I needed a wee bit less this time around. Not much less but I'm counting a ¾" reduction as a win! Go me!

at last! 💕

I watched a video on youtube which fascinated me - see it here. I had to watch it more than once because it wasn't in English and I found it hard to watch and read subtitles at the same time! Anyway, I made an attempt at the block she made and was pleased with it but it could have been better. Here's the block:

It took me about 3 days to make it trying to decipher what the subtitles meant and also converting from metric measurements to inches. I know I could have just made it metric but I don't have any metric patchwork rulers and it was a fairly easy conversion anyway so I went with inches.

As I was quilting it, it dawned on me it could be made using half-square triangles. That's what us patchworkers call a square that's made up of 2 triangles. So the squared paper came out and a plan was drawn. I am delighted with this version.

The corners of the squares match much better. The red square in the centre matches better. All in all, it is a much neater version!

I made a couple of masks for Douglas using a different pattern.

This one is curved over the nose, not flat like the previous ones I made. Douglas is happy with them so that's all that matters.

Debbie asked me to quilt some Christmas panels for her. It really didn't take long.

She's delighted with them so that's good.

She also asked me to sort some Sindy clothes.

I did NOT enjoy this job. Far too fiddly and finicky and a general pain in the behind! But they're done so that's that! Let's hope she doesn't find any more for me to sort. I did find it interesting that all of these were bought clothes - ie none of them were made by me!

Another job for Debbie - is anybody else seeing a theme here?? - was to make some coasters from leftover fabrics I had previously made tablemats with for her. When I'd made them, there was still some fabric left so I made a couple of bigger mats which could be for a water jug or bunch of flowers or some such thing.

I made myself a new blouse with a new pattern. It's the Gilbert top by Helen's Closet patterns - here.

It fits me beautifully so I'll be using this pattern a lot, methinks!

So, why the "at last" as the title? Well, at last we are allowed to get together as a family. It's wonderful to be able to hug my girls and the wee girlies again. Isla - the baby - was a bit wary of us at first but is already getting used to us. When you think of it, she's spent nearly half her life in lockdown so the only people she knows is her own wee family. A strange thought, eh?

Here's Debbie with both her girlies.

They both loved playing with Auntie Jo but Tilly wasn't so sure why Joanna was lying down so she had to have a sniff to make sure she was okay! Emily and Isla thought that was really funny!

a few finishes

I finished the quilt I was making. I love it!

The back is a plain navy sheet. You can just see the quilting which I did in a yellow variegated thread.

I made a couple of embroideries for Joanna.

I made a couple of wee toys for Miss Emily on the embroidery machine. They're both made using the "in the hoop" method which means that everything is done in the embroidery hoop other than the stuffing and the sewing up of the last seam. This is Bailey Bear:

This is Olly Owl:

Bailey Bear is from here - and Olly Owl is from here. GGDesigns have no idea who I am - I'm just passing on the info in case someone else wants to make them.

When we visited last week, Miss Emily was given her first taste of mashed banana.

She wasn't too sure at first but soon got the hang of it. "Did you see me Grammie? I ate some banana!"

She's also nearly got the hang of sitting up on her own. Nearly but not quite there yet. I'm sure it won't be long!

On a final note - Happy Birthday, Debbie! 37 today! How can my first born be that old??

in the pink

We had a family get together yesterday. Just our wee family of 5 plus both dogs.

Joanna blew up some balloons.

She had also made some special things to eat. Dummies - although Jason insisted they were called pacifiers ... maybe where he comes from (Canada) but in Scotland, they're called dummies! :oD

Joanna had also made a very special cake! Love her sense of humour!

We're going to be a wee family of 6 in February! Yes, Debbie is expecting our first grandchild!

A baby girl! Wheeeeeeee!!!

a few more wedding photos

As promised, here are a few more photos of Debbie and Jason's wedding. I haven't seen all of Joanna's photos yet and none taken with Debbie's camera so there might be more - or there might not!

First of all, Debbie in all her finery. She made her bouquet using brooches which she borrowed or collected from friends and family here and in Canada. There was one on there that had been my mum's and she'd attached a trio of small pearl beads which she had found in the bottom of the garment bag which held Granny Lee's wedding dress. It was sweet to think that both Grannies were there with her.

Standing at the start of the ceremony. This was the view we had of them ...

... but the Canadian side of the family had a frontal view. This is how that was done - that's Jason's phone on the window ledge with the Facetime app going. They didn't have a perfect picture all the time but they heard the whole ceremony and it was lovely that they could see and hear most of what was going on.

If you look at their wrists in this photo, you'll see that they're tied together with tartan ribbon. It's called hand-fasting - a ribbon is tied around their wrists representing their union as a married couple. It was my job to tie the ribbon and, thankfully, I did it beautifully! :oD

This photo was taken by the Registrar who married Debbie and Jason. Don't we all look spiffy?

One of Debbie's neighbours made a wedding cake for them.

As I said on Tuesday, it was a lovely day. The thunder and lightning and heavy rain outside had no effect on the happiness of the day.