Lovely things from lovely peeps

Oh, sweep away the cobwebs from this blog. I didn't intend to stay away from this place for so long.  Real life just got in the way, various minor illnesses and too many other events.  I kept wondering if I will lose all my readers by being so neglectful. Maybe?  I hope not.  This post has been languishing half written for at last a month.  So I pulled myself together, left the dirty dishes in the sink and got typing.

I was very lucky and won some great sewing goodies.  Firstly this pattern, Butterick 5612 from Philippa.  She didn't tell me in advance so it was a lovely surprise when it dropped through the letterbox.  I have already sewn up view A and still have to blog about it.  

Then I received a handknitted cardigan from Jessica that she had offered as part of
Spring Cleaning Swap Meet.  I still have to photograph the cardigan.  She was generous enough to include some fabrics.  There is a black knit fabric, some stripey jersey and this cute cotton.  Hmmmm......my mind is whirring with ideas.  There is enough of the black for a pair of jersey trousers - and I have several pattern choices.  I just have to choose either a drapey flowey (is that  a real word?) pair or a more fitted style.  The stripes I have earmarked for a top if I can figure out cutting and pattern placement.  I was thinking of using the japanese doll cotton for a skirt for Little I.

Next I won the "white bundle" in Alessa's giveaway.  There is a large piece of the grey/pink floral striped cotton.  It is a really nice light weight and I was thinking of a dress.
The other pieces are smaller and I am planning to use them for my little girls.

This black and white cotton was also in Alessa's bundle and I have used it already.  Do you want a peek of what I made?  Well, here it is...

...it is  the Butterick top from Philippa's pattern.  I will witter on write a constructive review soon about it.  I have doubts as to whether it suits me greatly but I have worn it lots anyway as it is so light and ideal for summer days when I don't want to have arms out.  Oh and please feel free to laugh at my unfortunate bad haircut. Happily it is now grown out a bit.  It was cheap and sometimes you gets what you pays for.  A lesson learnt. I have to say a big thank you to Jessica, Alessa and Philippa.  

So a big thank y

Lovely lovely parcel

Last saturday I had the best surprise - a parcel from the lovely Jessica of Ayenforcraft.  I had forgotten that she ws sending me something for taking part in her project ridiculous challenge of last summer.  It was a fantastic box of goodies.  It cheered me enormously as I am currently in the midst of summer school holiday madness.  This is the part of the blog where perhaps I am supposed to be a "cupcake blog" and tell you how heartwarming it is to have the summer holidays, add in some beautifully photographed childrens' activities and wax lyrical about how wonderful my life is.  Um...to be honest summer holidays are HARD WORK!  We are having fun, but also we are having some humdinger brother/sister arguments, some almighty unphotogenic messes, plenty of olympic watching, lots of conversations where both children talk at me at the same time about different subjects,  and not much sleep for me.   So, I was feeling a bit worn out, and Jessica's parcel came along and cheered me up mightily. Shall I stop wittering and show you the contents?

Pretty floral cotton - not sure yet what to use it for...

Stripey cotton - I am thinking baby trousers?



This is much darker blue then camera shows, linen-y fabric, with gingham binding and three gingham buttons.  I am thinking possibly a pair of trousers with piping details. 



A pair of handknitted socks - they didn't fit Jessica but happily fit me!





Oooh, it got even better....a Colette Crepe pattern, and a sneaky baby hand trying to grab it.  My first Colette dress pattern... I am thinking and planning what to sew it in.  I showed this to several people saying breathlessly  "it's a Colette pattern" but they just didn't get it. Blank looks all round.  This is why I like to share here cos I know sewing bloggers out there will get it! Won't you???





This gorgeous Anna Maria Horner fabric.  I had been admiring this for ages on the AMH blog.  Once again, I say breathlessly to my friends, "It's Anna Maria Horner voile".  They look blank.



Some more cotton fabrics



RG trying to get in on the actionA

A huge thank you to Jessica and I am putting together a return parcel for her!