It took so long....Simplicity 2599

This top has taken me almost two months to sew - not because it is esepcially tricky but because it was so hard to find the time. I made it as a birthday gift for my friend and so worked to a higher standard of finish than I probably would have done if it was for me!
I bought the Amy Butler fabric at the Quilts UK expo at the NEC in August. All I can say now is."Phew..."

Next challenge is to post it before the postal strike. This is more of a challenge as my daughter currently refuses her pram and insists on walking to the local post office. She also refuses hand holding. Problem is we have a major building site at the end of our road and a burgeoning tesco store with heavy traffic. I have to bribe her into the pram with food. She can (and does) climb out once strapped in - when the food runs out!

The surrounding dragonflies were made by the kids at Apple Day(http://greenwoodcentre.org.uk/). More on that later.

A bad pic of a good cushion

I made this initial cushion for my friend's daughter's 2nd birthday. I used Bondaweb and zig-zagged the cushion onto a blue cotton. Very simple to do. I am planning on some more for Christmas presents... but have been very busy making two tunic tops recently and must finish them before anything else is started. I haven't blogged recently with the return to school. My son has started at a new school and I now have to drive down country lanes, avoiding tractors. I am finding it very tiring, especially as my two year old keeps starting the day at 4 or 5am.

papermaking

I tried papermaking with T and I. Here is T mixing up the pulp. His little sister aged 2 helped too. They both formed sheets. We all ended up soaked! But we have made some nice sheets of paper to use in collages.

Interesting to find that a two years and 4 month old can make paper sheets just fine - her main issue was taking turns with the frame. We used dyed bamboo based pulp from Papershed and mixed it with some white linters. We piled the wet sheets onto wet cloths lying in a large baking tray. When finished I took the pile of wet cloths and placed them between two sheets of hardboard in the garden and stood on it to squeeze out excess water. I did this bit without kids! We were able to then peg the couching cloths up on a clothes rack and the paper dried overnight.

house plans

I initially planned this blog to be about rebuilding our house and living in the country BUT the plans are still with the planning commmittee so nothing has happened. We seem to be constantly saying "When we move.." or "when we are in the new house..." Nothing much happens in August so we are still in our old house with a major building site at the end of the road. The building site has provided much entertainment as we walk down and check out the progress of the diggers and bulldozers. They have knocked down the old shops and are making the pile of rubble into a new road. They also knocked down some offices where I worked for about a year and a half when T was a baby. Strange to see a place where I used to sit and work just gone. bUt we still have no building site of our own...I am having trouble at th emoment believing it will ever happen.

Anyway the next pic here is of T'S Seascape. We went to the fabulous Spacex gallery (http://www.spacex.org.uk/) in Exeter and went to one of their children's DIY workshops. Cleverly these start at 8am and we were the only ones there (does no one elses kids get up at 6am?) There was coffee for me and lots of project s for T to choose from. He enjoyed himself - he think he would have stayed all day if possible. He took some more projects with him. This seascape was from a project that told you to Collect a series of objects, then take them from one place to another, rearrange them and record them however you want. We went to the beach and he collected these objects - then spent a long time rearranging them back at Grandma's house. Grandma was not so impressed with the small creatures that crept out of the collectiona nd across her kitchen table. We then packed the collection up and have brought it home with us. Not sure what to do with it now. He was so engaged with this process - it was lovely to watch.

charity shop #2

Here is the second pattern. Great dungarees.... I don't think I will get my son to wear these anymore, but maybe would suit my 2 year old.

Charity shop finds #1

I found two patterns in our local charity shop and hope to try them out...they are so old that they are vintage! Just need to find the right fabric.

Amy Butler Anna Tunic

Hurray! I have finished my Amy Butler Anna Tunic. It has taken ages - mainly as I can only do a tiny bit of sewing at a time while children sleep and I keep getting sidetracked by other projects. I really like this tunic - it is very comfortable to wear and covers a multitude of cake eating. I am not sure if I look like a demented 1960s housewife in it though. I want to make it again but have a hankering to make it in white or a tiny weeny stripe.

I feel proud because I learnt several new skills using this pattern - making and fitting button loops, and gathering the fabric to fit the yoke. I am now in the middle of making applique cushion covers for presents..but thinking about sewing clothes!