Things are not perfect. However, I am now able to gather enough focus and energy to write this post. Last time I wrote about obsessively making things in order to avoid negative thoughts. I’m not quite comfortable having photos taken, that will have to wait for later posts.
This is the first time I ever worked with viscose. My advice. Start simple. Although this top is not complex there are a few fiddly bits, such as the collar and pocket, which were a nightmare with the slippery fabric. It didn’t help that I decided to add cotton to the collar. although it added stability, it was difficult to piece the cotton and viscose together.
I made sleep shorts next, using a pattern from one of the Crafty Sew & So Workshops. I managed to complete the shorts in less than four hours. Essentially, I copied a pair of Pj bottoms I brought from gap a few years ago. The little tab and button create a nice cuff.
I was on a roll. Having a bit of viscose left over I made the shorts from Tilly and the Buttons Fifi set. they came together in no time, so I added a tiny pompom trim.The band was so thin, apply the trim probably took more time than making the shorts.
My next project is the Alder Dress from Grainline. I’m really looking forward to using the ditsy flower print. Just to add a bit of interest, and because I’m falling in love with viscose, I will make the yoke out of a dark navy viscose.
I’m exhausted now. Time to crawl under a blanket and ignore the world.
Yesterday I ran a charity day for Wrap Pyjama Fairies. Together with managed to make eight pairs of pyjamas for kids who are having treatment in hospital. It was fantastic but absolutely manic! The heat did not help!
Here we all are after a very busy, fun, day! If you want to find out more check out Crafty Sew & So’s blog.
Today I made the free gift from Mollie Makes and paired it with a white cotton tank top I made a couple of days ago.
I only had a metre of fabric and using the tiny pocket tank pattern from Grainline needs a bit over a metre. I decided to experiment. I couldn’t fit the back piece on the fold so cut two individual pieces. To add the inch or so to the back, I used one of my husband’s old shirts. I cut a straight strip and attached the raw edges before doing anything else.
Today Freya Sarah and I went to a wonderful bloggers meet up at Sew Essential. We had a wonder about the store and marvelled over lots of lovely fabric. I picked myself up a mini pom pom maker.
I had great fun doing a little bit of embroidery. Mine’s the one with the bikes.
Very tired but happy
I’m looking forward to doing another meet up soon 🙂
I’ve fallen out with my jersey tank top. it’s a very fiddly material. I was full of confidence after my first attempt and then flippantly began the next one. So flippant was I, that I didn’t think I needed jersey needles for this new tricky material. I then, in my impatience, began sewing the neckline with brown thread because I ran out of black. It doesn’t look great.
I have now brought some jersey needles and black thread. However I feel somewhat soured toward the project. I want to have the top but am not inspired to unpick the neckline. There is another top of the same pattern that I need to make as a sample for the shop, but as that is a beautiful satin material, it is going to be more difficult than the jersey one.
My next unfinished object, I don’t feel too bad about, as it’s not been too long since I started. I booked a workshop for me and my mum at Crafty Sew & Soto make an adorable hand stitched doll.
Out of habit, I ended up using back stitching. I also chose the doll with fantastic hair, which meant it had the largest outline. I took forever stitching around the doll. She is waiting to be finished in a bag full of wadding. I’ll pop a photo of my doll on here when I’m done.
The final thing I have yet to make is probably the main reason I haven’t finished any of the previous projects. I recently ordered the Dottie Angel Dress pattern as I saw it advertised in Mollie Makes. I wanted to get started on it straight away.
I couldn’t decide what fabric I wanted to make it out of so I picked up a lot of lovely fabrics from Crafty.
Lanni was very helpful up until she started chewing on the pattern.
I used the two spotty cottons, green for the main part and navy for the base. I was going to use a white cotton with deer print for the pockets, but on a whim, I decided to do some satin top stitching along the join. I didn’t want to hide the embroidery so I am not going to add pockets for this dress. I’ve already cut the pockets out so will make another dress or tunic for them to go on.
I love these tucks
I am working on trying to get back into a routine. I can feel that I am throwing myself into this project. Last night, after getting back from crafty, I worked until half ten making the dress. By the time I got to bed I was exhausted and found my head spinning. This morning I have spent a long time resting and writing. This is not my routine. By now I should be up dressed and feeling ready to face the world. Instead I am hiding in my room, not wanting to start the day again. I wrote a post yesterday on disrupted routines, after going to Wales last weekend it’s been really difficult getting back into my routine.
Routine is a tricky thing. I know it helps, but at the same time putting pressure to keep to a routine is counter intuitive. essentially I just need to give myself a break. It is difficult doing new things. The trip to Wales was incredibly tiring. I deal far better with small groups. As it was Easter there were a lot of family gatherings and meals out.
Easter Sunday LunchBig Family Meet-upTom and Me at the Rabbit Hole with Tom’s Cousins, Leanne and Charlotte. Small gatherings are just better.
I finished this gorgeous cushion kit from The New Craft House. We’re now stocking them at Crafty Sew & So and I’m very impressed. The colours look lovely together. Lanni very much approved. She made her home there as I was about to finish it off by pressing.
She relinquished her bed eventually. I just really love the colour collection. It’s inspired me to make a navy and mustard dress for my next project.
This week I’ve been struggling somewhat with the precarious balancing act of recovery. I am slowly becoming an active and autonomous person in this world. That fact is absolutely terrifying. I am attempting to be part of the world but not letting it overwhelm me.
I now exercise…yes it’s true. I have been to two whole pilates classes and am attempting to start kick-boxing. though I pushed myself too hard on the cardio at the kick-boxing on Thursday and my chest is still aching from my asthma attack. Attack sounds dramatic but I’m not sure what to call it. Incident? Episode?
Either way it was rotten.
I’m pretty keen to keep this exercise routine put. The problem is exercise was one of my negative coping mechanisms when I was suffering severely from my eating disorder. My therapist says that classes are good because there is a set end time so I cannot exercise to excess. I was thrown entirely at pilates last week when Courage by Superchic came on the playlist, a song about living with an eating disorder.
The Internet is a major issue here. If we ignore all the horrible and depressing articles about we are still left with disgusting adverts encouraging to ‘loose weight with this one simple trick’.
Ok thats is my rant over with…for the time being anyway here are the things I;ve been up to this week
Monday
Scribbling though the first part of my novel and having lots of fun with pie charts . I’m ensuring I have all the elements of my novel stuck in my head before I go on to write the next part.
Tuesday
More pie charts! It only took two days of writing every minute detail of each page to make me feel a little bit like I might be loosing perspective. to see more strange ramblings check out my other blog Today I Wrote…
Wednesday
I left the house, read stories to the little ones at the library then went into Crafty Sew & So. It felt good to get out of my head for a day. Freya and I came up with a wonderful story all about two women who become superheroes after training in the art of kick-boxing. I had so much fun sketching a comic of the story when I got home. At some point I aim to refine the it and find someone who can actually draw to complete the work.
Thursday
I created a great little Bunny tutorial for Crafty Sew & So. It was a lovely day so I decided to take the pictures outside.
My cat, Theo, was delighted I’d gone outside with him and wasn’t ashamed to show it
I went over to see Freya in the evening for the aforementioned kick-boxing class. On the way I couldn’t resist taking a photo across from the old liberty building.
Despite the horrid asthma affair I did have lots of fun at Kick-boxing and will hopefully be back on Thursday, though I’ll probably be a little more cautious with the cardio.
Friday
I was feel exhausted still from asthma, but determined to have a good day. I got myself all prettied up in the morning, and googled how to wear a head scarf. At the shop I got started on gorgeous kit that has just come into Crafty from The New Craft House. The fabric is so easy to work with. I like sitting in front of the tv with a good cup of tea and hand sewing the hexies together. Hopefully it will be done soonish and I can show you all how it turns out.
Saturday
Manically crazy busy day at Crafty Sew & So, It seemed everybody wanted fabric, I tried to do a bit more of the cushion but I just ended up stopping and starting because of all the lovely customers. In the evening, however, when my husband was busy playing destiny I started trying to edit my novel. It didn’t particularly work as I ended up drawing a scene from one of the pages.
And finally…Sunday
Today I have been once again going through my novel, I managed to get through two chapters so far and hope to get at least another one done today. It was my plan to have finished by the end of the week. Above is the pie chart for characters mentioned and present in the first nine chapters.
I’ve made a lot of things this week. I’m really rather proud of the Fifi top I made out of this lovely swallow cotton.
It’s was new in at Crafty Sew & So and will be adoring the window for a few months before a squirrelling it away for my wardrobe. I made the Fifi Pj set from Tilly and the Buttons, a few months ago. It was a bit of a trauma because I got a bit muddled about which way round the panels went, and ended up doing and undoing French seams twice!
They turned out great in the end, I’m looking forward to the warmer months so I can actually wear them for bed. This time I didn’t bother with the French seams.
Novel
I’m also really proud of the fact I finished a revised edition of the first part of my novel. It’s printed out and I’ve managed to scribble my way through the first three chapters without too many embarrassing errors.
Cakes
Lovely lovely cakes, It’s been a little while since I’d baked and I really enjoyed making this lot for Crafty Sew & So.
Lemon Cupcakes with Butter IcingChocolate Traybake
As you can see I’ve been very busy, too busy in fact. My husband has started back writing thesis and some of my old anxieties have reared their nervous heads. I’ve been throwing myself into various activities and unable to relax when I do stop working. Isolation is one of my key warning signs of falling back into depressive behaviours. And if that wasn’t a big enough warning, on Friday morning I had a hideous migraine. I arrived at the shop and promptly threw up. After spending too much time in the comforting dark of the bathroom I called my husband to come and rescue me. When my head had recovered enough we had a chat and worked out a routine for days when he is working. I love lists and timetables, I feel way less anxious when I am organised and feel like I have a modicum of control over my life.
Because apparently I have the bug now, today I started working on another Grainline studio top, I’ve made one before and fancied one in a different pattern. It’s useful to give me a fair bit of practice on jersey materials. I actually made sure I stopped at five o’clock despite the fact I still needed to add the binding to the neck and arms. For a while I will have to stick rigidly to this routine. I can’t trust myself to know when I need to rest.
It’s been a tough week, with bad news from the dentist, my last ever appointment with my Doctor at the eating disorder clinic and thinking how on earth I’m going to cope when my comes to an end in April. I’ve been seeing my therapist for over two years and it’s absolutely terrifying thinking about stopping. It’s difficult to remind myself that the reason I’m ending is because I’m so much better than I was two years ago. The very Idea of being ‘better’ is frightening. I’m scared there will be more expectation placed on me and everything will go to hell again.
suffice to say I’ve been feeling somewhat overwhelmed. However I was cheered up no end last night by shouting down a couple of patriarchal idiots and helping out a girl who was being leered at. I wrote about it in a post yesterday.
It hasn’t been a massive making week but I have been enjoying myself with the latest Mollie Makes magazine free gift.
The embroidery was really relaxing to do, and I learnt a couple of new stitches. The idea is to make them for decorations but I think they would just end up gathering dust in my house. I’m going to embroider the animals onto a piece of fabric and then use that to make a lampshade. The lovely Helen Bunting of Sewphies has a fantastic drum lampshade kit. She has done a couple of workshops at Crafty Sew & So
I also made a handy carrier bag holder for the shop but I forgot to take a picture. I’m going to make one for my house soon. Today I am going to spend the morning with my in-laws and then a lovely afternoon tea with my mum.
So last weeks blog didn’t appear. I was absolutely exhausted come Sunday after my Great Auntie Pat’s Funeral and my Grandparents Diamond Wedding Anniversary. Here’s a picture of them sixty years ago.
It’s been a rather eventful week this week as well. I went for drinks a couple of times and even had a meal out. I’m pretty sleepy still and will only do a little post today. I’ve been doing a few bits of crafting at Crafty Sew & So.
Here’s some lovely owl doorstops made in a workshop. Mine is the middle one made from some of the ditsy floral print we’ve just got into store!
I also made this cushion with some new fabric, ric-rac and pom pom trim.
My guest room has been the latest room in the house to be beautified. I have settled on a woodland theme, a while ago I made a few cross stitch lovelies from Storyland Cross Stitch. My husband and I brought the gorgeous picture on the fireplace on our honeymoon in Switzerland.
Recently I stumbled upon Sew Charming in Lutterworth, although my first love is Crafty Sew & So I must admit I somewhat fell in love with the beautiful range of fabrics in store.
I scooped up this Sherwood collection along with a wonderfully soft Linea Linea fabric, and quickly got to work on my cushions, I basically raided Pinterest for different ideas. I used the same envelope cushion pattern as I did in my last blog. I decided to go for appliqué over patchwork because I’ve just brought myself a fancy new Brother sewing machine which has lots of lovely top stitching. For two of my cushions I used wonderful free downloads from Love Patchwork and Sewing, Issue Seventeen has a perfect fox appliqué, it’s all to size being printed out on A4 paper.
I stuffed his little tummy with wadding before sewing it up
The next one is a fantastic stag’s head pattern also from Love Patchwork and Quilting this time from issue thirteen
I also took triangle templates for my next cushion from issue thirteen.
My final cushion I used up some hexes that I’ve got laying around for a blanket which I’m not sure will ever get finished.
Here they are all together with a cushion I cross stitched along with the frames.
I think after Christmas I might hang up the wreath amongst the cross sticth the colours match perfectly.
If you want to see how I made this check out my other blog with Crafty Sew & So.
Also if you love the woodland theme check out Waterstones book of the year, The Fox and the Star. It is uniquely beautiful both in words and illustrations.
