A year of cats and knitting, frosty mornings and Summer strolls, handbaked bread and foraged fruits part two…….

July was really glorious this year, early sunshine filled my work room and many was morning where I found myself  waking around 5 and with a pot of tea would settle down on the back door step or at a table on teh patio and have a few quiet moments knitting…..

We’ve got a big laurel tree at the bottom of the garden and I can always hear when the wood pidgeons are in there, shufling about and sounding all the world like someone fussing with their umbrella….even though the house and neighbourhood is still sound asleep the garden seems a hive of activity in those early hours…… the rosemary gets the first of the sunshine and by 8 the garden is filled with a nose tingle of fragrant herbs, the air almost shimmers with it’s oily aroma…..I like to pick the delicate blue blossoms to scatter over goats cheese and salad…….

July was also the month of the Karise shawl…..I’d asked on ravely if anyone could suggest a nice easy shawl pattern that I could knit for my boyfriend’s mum and lots of people suggested looking at Karie Westerman’s patterns….I ended up choosing Karise and even though the lace work was charted which made me have a bit of a panic at first, within stitches I found the chart much easier to keep track of what I was doing…… I’ve ended up knitting 4 of these shawls now, 2 were knitted in the Tamar yarn from Blacker Yarns (I’d won one of the skeins a month or so earlier) and this yarn loved lace work so much……I still can’t really believe I made these…almost as soon as I cast off the gift shawl I started knitting a Karise for me, all pollen hued and sheep kissy….and the others were knitted using the yarn I’d un-ravelled in June….I found I did need to use stitch markers as I was a bit nervous in case I made a mistake and wouldn’t be able to correct it….I’d already made stitch markers in the Winter from some vintage glass beads but this time I made some more using beads which I’d been given by my friend who’d died in the Spring……I use the markers a lot and can’t see or touch them without thinking of happier times with her…..

And I also picked up some rather excellent vintage sewing and knitting books along with vintage haberdashery notions….zips, binding s and threads…., none of them cost very much and the quality is superb….

 

 

I finishd my third Karise shawl in August, this was using the yarn I’d ripped out, washed and re-skeined earlier in the Summer…..this was a gift for my sister Rachie and I think it was a nice surprise for her to receive in the post as the last time I’d sent her a hand knit it had been a dish cloth……and I also knitted my first Ishbel shawl…this was a really big deal for me as I’d bought a skein to knit this with 5 years before, back then it was just a “one day when I can knit” dream so actually being able to wear the finished shawl was more than a little special……

On nice days we try head out for walks over the marshes and while there had been some wet days for the most part the marshes and surrounding pastures are dry enough to walk from what seem like meadows of wild flowers….the Rosebay Willowherb and Purple Loosestrife grow shoulder height and higher,there are  smudges of vetch and swaithes of meadowsweet wherever you look…..this time of  year the colours are now fading though. Look close at any blossom and you’re bound to see bees tumbling around and getting covered in dusty pollen……the blackberries seem a bit small again this year but we’re able to pick enough for some jam and junkets…..

Another rather special knit was knitting a pair of socks for my friend Anne and also making her a needle wrap from an old coat that had belonged to her mum… I embroidered on the fabric and used some vintage thonging to keep the wrap closed……and decided to make some wraps for my Folksy shop…..

We also got to experience the naughtiness that is the cat next door…we soon find out that she is a knitting needle thief and will happily rip out and play with any knitting that gets put down even for 5 minutes……

September was a real Indian Summer, the days were still hot and full of sunshine, the hedgerows fair teeming with fruits but the nights soon felt they were drawing on in and on more than one occasion a huge hairy spider is spied scuttling across the living room carpet (you should see me move, legs up off the floor and tucked underneath me on the sofa)…… the huge copper jam pan is un-packed once more and seems to live on the stove as I simmer hedgerow fruits into panty jams and jellies…..the joys of a pan of bubbling blackberries fills every sense with pleasure….

Towards the end of the month I realise it’s now been about a year that I’ve been knitting, at first it’s just been wobbly practise stitches, knitting up tiny swatches and then slowly gaining in confidence…..

I had a lovely email from Blacker Yarns asking if I’d be interested in having a play with a couple of new yarns they had coming out, the answer is “yes please” and I’m in for such a treat….firstly it’s Cornish Tin II which is all full of bounce and plumpness, so stuffed full of goodness like a Christmas pudding…..and then I’m sent a wee skein of St Kilda laceweight, hand-dyed by Joy of The Knitting Goddess…the swatch card is as bright and vibrant as the can can dancers in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulon Rouge…..

And finally himself gets a day out on the bus to the vets for annual vacinations but this is when he finally gets the all clear with his cancer….I’m so thankful that my vet was suspicious about the lump and advised getting it removed before any further tests and what not, without her I don’t think we’d have our boy today…. (currently sitting alongside me having a right good wash)…so huge huge thank yous to Chantelle at Chapelfield Vets….we think you’re awesome.

Right at the start of October my boyfriend felt rather unwell and when he went to the doctors was told it was shingles….as he doesn’t have the best of health this was a bit of a worry and so the month passed rather quietly….I went out for a few marshy meanders and did some foraging but a lot of days were spent at home where I was able to potter in the kitchen making more syrups and jellies and apple falvoured vodka when the cat wasn’t napping in the jam pan……

Even though this is the second year the blackberries here haven’t come to much, the other wild fruits have been amazing, the leaves seem really slow to turn and the lane is beautifully lit with sunlight glowing through vivid green leaves, illuminating acorns like tiny lamps….

I finished another needlewrap for Anne again using the fabric from her mum’s coat and made a project/workshop bag to go with it…..

The yellow socks were actually knit during August and Spetmeber but it’s been so mild I just tucked them away…the pattern is called Hermione’s everyday socks but I don’t know what happened but the tension is rather different between the two and so one is a bit bigger than the other….it looks like Hermione’s been at the butterbeer….

I also knit two more Ishbel shawls but as my boyfriend is poorly it’ll be a good few weeks yet before I can get them properly photographed…..one is knit using the Cornish TIn II I’d had a sample of…the yarn is a bit greedy soon gets all gobbled up and only the kindness of Montymouse on ravelry means I have enough for my shawl….the other is knit with yarn that I’d previously crocheted into a scarf but hadn’t worn for ages…..

November was for me all about the knitting, all the wonders of wool, local yarn and celebrating all the people who create beautiful yarns for me to knit with…..

Last year I’d not been knitting for all that long when I found out about Wovember, but reading all those woolly, sheep praising  posts was what made me really fall in love with what was on my needles…. Anyone who has been a reader of my blog knows I love using vintage haberdasheries, vintage fabrcs that friends and family have passed on to me, fabric that has a bt of a story to it, needles that came from a friend’s mum’s workbox…. over the years I’ve really struggled to find that same connection with my knitting but thinking about the different breeds the yarn comes from, who’s spun it, where the sheep live, how local to me they might be has fare captured my heart and swept me good and proper right off my feet…I love story, I love a good yarn (whether it’s a yarn on my needle or a right good chatty catch up) but hadn’t ever thought that that might be the way I would fall in love with what a pair of pointy sticks could do……

This past year I’ve knit with yarn that comes from sheep 15 or so miles away, I’ve bought beautiful handspun yarn from a sheep called Delilah…..I’ve been sent hand spun yarn from a complete stranger, I’ve knit with yarn from sheep that graze on seaweed, and fallen in love with yarn that feels like old worn velvet……most precious is the yarn I’ve bought because someone believed in her dad, and felt his sheeps fleece should be valued……

 

The best part of December was that my boyfriend was finally feeling a bit better, we took a couple of leisurely ambles across squishy meadows and marshes, and were even able to take some pictures of my two Ishbel shawls I’d finished back in October…(and yarn has already been tucked abway for Ishbel 4 but that will be a 2017 knit now)…..the shawls are rather chalk and cheese, one is small and rather plump and the other is like a waterfall of soft stitches…..both equally beautiful.

Another smiles and heart warming knit was knitting a pair of socks for my boyfriend’s dad’s birthday….wish so much I’d have been knittingn while my own dad was alive but Phil is lovely and very knitworthy so it was a pleasure to make these, and seeing him wiggle his toes as soon as he tried them on felt more than a bit special……

I’ve got a bit of chocolate and cheese head confusion as I clear forgot to mention that one of my wee little stockings was featured in the December issue of Country Living magazine and felt proud as punch at seeing my work in such a high quality publication….

The needle wraps I’ve made have been selling well, and I love that by knitting and finding out about interchangable needles that I’ve thought to make these wraps…..and I’m hoping to make some project bags that compliment them in the coming months….

It’s been lovely to look back and review my year….I hadn’t realized there’d been quite so much knitting, sadly not so much sewing this year which I hope to ammend rather in 2017 as I have bolts of fabric for new frocks, and a stack of resting patchworks that really need to get made up into quilts,many thank yous to people who’ve bought from my shop or requested commisions, and lastly thank you to you for reading my blog this past year…..but for now lets raise a toast, whether it’s a glass of something cheering, or a cup of tea, and wish each other health and happiness, peace and kindness for 2017…..

 

A very special bespoke and woolly wrap……

 

 

Over the Summer I was able to combine my new found love of knitting alongside my older love of sewing….previously when I’d attempted to do any knitting it had been on 12 inch or even 14 inch straight knitting needles, but since trying out the wonders that are interchangable circular needles my heart has been rather taken with them however it did seem that tips and cables were soon scattered about in almost everyroom…. over the Summer I started making needle wraps where I could store all my interchangeable needles together ..I’m rather a fabric horder so I had plenty of materials with which to tinker …..I made a couple and sold some to very kind friends and found I really enjoyed working to their specifications….I also made some wraps for double pointed knitting needles too as  I had a rather large collection of those as well (many thank yous to lovely Isla at Brit Yarn who sent me no end of beautiful wooden ones she wasn’t using)…..

Something I’d not initially thought about was the different tip length for needles, mostly I like a short needle tip but other friends have said they like longer ones or more often…half and half….. but none of the cases or wraps I’d seen were made where you could store both types of tips so a bit more tinkering was in order…..what I had wanted to sew though was a wrap that you could store all your needle tips, cables and a couple of other pieces like a needle guage and some short stubby needles for when you’re knitting softly flowing cables……

Most of the fabric I have in my stash is more often than not special in someway to me…perhaps it’s the same floral print I had in my bedroom curtains when I was little, a cushion or chair cover from an elderly friend or relative or it’s a fabric I’ve found in the bottom of a box at a car boot or flea market, one that makes my heart all skippy ….and while these all make me happy I’m aware other people have equally special fabrics themselves……while I’m happy to hoard fabric or notions, I really love being able to make it into something that I will use, so I see that cloth and get all those memories every day with every touch…..

Last year my lovely friend Anne gave me an old wool coat that had been her mums, sadly it had a really bad tear so would have been a bit difficult to repair however she thought the fabric might be useful for me…..so I used it to make her a series of needle wraps and a big knitting bag to keep them all in…….the fabric was nice but not very interesting so I embroidered small wild flowers over it in vintage crewel yarn……when she opened her gift she straight away recgonized the fabric, and said “it’s mum’s old coat”, pressed it to her face and sighed “ooh, it still smells of her”….to which we then had to blow our noses because we got a bit teary.

So while not really a comission that was such a meaningful make because that fabric meant such a lot to one of my friends……she’s pretty sure it would have been her mum taught her to knit so seeing and using that wrap everyday holds a whole lot of memories…..

A more recent commission has been for my friend eva, one wrap very sensibly is for her (fixed circulars this time so it was made with deeper pockets) and then 2 long wraps were made for a couple of her friends which were designed for interchangables…eva didn’t want the space made for a needle gauge but instead wanted them filled with spaces for lots of tips and while similar in construction ended up looking quite different because of the fabric used…..

Last year when I started knitting I began listening to a couple of podcasts (KnitSonik and Knit British) and started reading all the wonderfully woolly and sheepy articles on Wovember…..both podcasts and woolly articles really lit such a fire in my heart, on days when my knitting was mis-behaving I was able to put it aside for a little while I’d listen or read…and then return back to my yarn and pointy sticks a little bit more relaxed……

Anyway, I’m very grateful to Felicity (Felix) Ford  and Louise Scollay who both do so much hard work preparing for all that is Wovember and I wanted to show my  appreciation in some way so I emailed Louise and offered a bespoke wool wrap as a prize for one of their competitions…..so I’m very excited to say I will be making a special, custom made, all wool fabric, needle wrap for the winner of the Wovember Instagram competion…..the winner will be announced today over on the Wovember site….(if you look for #wovember or #wovember2016 you’ll see some beautiful knits, wonderful sheep, and some amazing woolly goodness going on…a real celebration of such an incredible fibre) ….

I’ve bought some beautiful hand woven donegal tweed especially for this and have some very fine weight wool cloth for the lining…..over the holidays I’ll be working on this special bespoke wrap to suit the winners needle specifications and will be posting progress here and on Instagram (yes, I’ve finallly bought a phone that has a camera)…..thank you so much Team wovember for your wonderful enthusiasm for wool and for all the interesting essays and features on the Wovember site….if you’d like to help support Wovember there is a little donate button at the bottom of the Wovember site page.

 

 

Christmas stockings and a girl called Joyce……

When me and my sisters were growing up we had the excellent good fortune to know a lovely lady called Mrs Ellis….she’d turn up on her bike with the front basket so laden up with all sorts of vegetables and flowers from her garden, apples from where she’d go apple picking, mushrooms from the meadows…a glut of asparagus in the Spring….she was always cheerful and had a smile, you really couldn’t feel miserable or downhearted in her company.  As I got I older I moved away from the Suffolk village I grew up in and came to live in Norfolk but I’d often go see her and her husband, as soon as I walked down their path the back door would open and there they would stand, waving and beaming to see me, their kitchen was the cosiest place in the world….it was just like having an extra set of grandparents and really even I don’t have the words to express how wholly fond of them I was…

Sadly a few years ago,that hazy mist of dementia took hold of her and her mind become all muddled so she had to go into a home and before long she became Joyce, the girl she’d once been and very quickly quite clear forgot her adult life….she’d always been so delighted and impressed at seeing things I’d been sewing or crocheting and over the years I hand made many presents for her and her husband, it was always so lovely to go visit them and see my makes, some very old and sun faded in their kitchen or other rooms of their home….the pleasure of seeing handmade never left her though and even on days when she was very confused a lavender heart I made her was straight away stroked against her face, stitches inspected and lavender smelt…..

So the other year while she was in the care home I embroidered a stocking for one of my oldest friends, even though she no longer could remember my name she still had a smile for me when I’d go visit and would reach up and touch my cheek….

I filled the stocking with all the things I thought she might have had when she was little, some brightly foil wrapped sweets, a few chocolate coins, a couple of satsumas,tiny puzzle games….. she was entranced, she slowly traced the letters I’d embroidered with her fingertips and said “that’s my name” …and even though it broke my heart to see this incredible and so inspiring, capable woman all befuddled she made me smile at being happy and together we laughed trying to do the puzzle games……

If you are a long time reader of my blog then you know my dear friend passed away earlier this year and with thoughts of her I’d like to offer someone the chance of a personalised stocking…if you know someone who has been affected with dementia or any ill health, someone who needs a little cheering up then please just leave a comment below and I’ll do a draw on Friday evening around 8 pm.  Due to me leaving this rather a bit late I don’t think the stocking will reach you in time if you live overseas so this is for UK residents only.

ETA This giveaway is now finished……

Needle wraps and remembered fabric stories…….

One of the things I like so much about using re-purposed pieces of fabric left over from old clothes, family stashes when people used to dress make or odd/old curtains and cushion covers when an elderly relative moves house is all the memories and stories that are woven up and remembered each time you touch or see that cloth….having pieces of fabric all folded away means they can often get a bit neglected or just forgotten about…I love having a rummage through some of my scrap bags, pulling fabric down off shelves, and when I use them in my work I’m always reminded of the people who gifted me so much of my fabric hoard….remembering funny stories and loved ones whose faces I’m not going to see again are part and parcel of all the thoughts and time that go in to my patchworks and quilts and that is really special for me….those sentiments are something that I try to put into other pieces I make, whether it’s hot water bottles that are lined with soft and warm brushed cotton (like our nighties used to be made from when I was small) or tiny Christmas Stockings that are all full of dreams and anticipation even when they look empty……

This year while I’ve been knitting, I’ve been listening to a lot of knitting podcasts, time and time again when people talk about learning how they’ve knitted, more often than not it’s been their mum, grandma or nanny or an elderly aunt that has been there for those first wobbly steps…listening to a lot of knitting interviews made me think about my own knitting journey and my bag of scraps and handed down fabrics…..

I’d already been making wraps and cases for my own sewing clutter and knitting needles and thought this was a nice way to use fabric that owns our hearts with it’s memories, remembering the people that teach/taught us our craft who aren’t always still with us to thank… ( I hope that makes sense…soemtimes what is so clear in my head and heart comes out as a very rum jumble)

I’ve mentioned my friend Anne on here a few times before, she’s an awesome knitter and a wonderful friend, for the past some years now she’s been gifting me with beautiful hand knitted socks and from time to time she turns up with a bundle of fabric and goodness knows what else for me to re-purpose and sew with…. last year she bought over a lovely wool coat though sadly rather badly torn, it had been her mum’s and she wondered if it would be of any use to me…. the fabric was nice and sturdy but it wasn’t very soft so I didn’t think it would be suitable for hot water bottles …but I tucked it away until this Summer when I made her a series of needle wraps to keep all her knitting needles in and  a big project bag to store everything together….

I used some vintage crewel wool to embroider a series of flowers over the fabric to add a little interest to what was otherwise a rather sobre coloured cloth…

Anne is a wee bit older than me and has been knititng for all her life, she can’t really remember learning to knit but is pretty sure it must have been her mum who taught her….. anyway when she un-wrapped the present she knew straight away what the fabric was, and held the wraps to her face, breathing in the scent of mum which still lingered on the wool cloth….  it can get me quite throat lumpy and chest achey when I use fabric that holds all those memories and happy thoughts…..

I’ve also had a couple of commissions for wraps this Summer, working with two awesome knitters so the wraps would cover everything they required…..this one went up to Scotland to lovely Claire who is an awesome knitter of beautiful shawls and cardigans….along the front row are spaces for needle tips and some are sewn short so she can store both short and long tips.  The fabric was mine and is some that my friend Sasha the toy maker gave me…..

And this wrap was made for Eva in Italy, (she lives near Trieste so hope that it’s not too cold there already)……Eva likes her dpns and said she had a rather large collection of them in all sorts of sizes, so the wrap is made up of 3 layers of pockets…..the front row can hold the shortest little old Brittany dpns and cable needles and the back pocket can fit anything up to ones 20 cm long….the tweed fabric wasn’t vintage but was a beautiful pale and watery blue.

Yarny temptress Isla at Brit Yarn is currently running a British Yarn sock kal on Ravelry and she’s got one of my wraps to gift as one of the prizes, I hope whoever gets that one likes it…..I’m really enjoying this kal, first up as it’s organized by Isla it’s all about using British yarn, it doesn’t have to be sheep woolly (it can be alpaca alpac-ery or rabbity angora) but the yarn does have to be British, personally I think it’s great seeing all the different woolly yarns that people are using, quite a few I’m already now familiar with (like Blacker Classic and WYS Signature) and there are ones I’ve heard of but not yet tried out (like The Knitting Goddess’s  Brit Sock or her Wensleydale/Shetland blend*) … all these are available from Brit Yarn where Isla has sourced a wide range of British yarns for everyone’s budget….but I’m also scribbling down new names that I’d not heard of before that are all woolly and sheepy…. and then the patterns….so many I’d not seen before though I think Claire’s Gotland socks using Blacker Yarns Tamar have been my favourite, closely followed by these…….best of all though is the incredible support knitters offer each other, and the advice and suggestions given to help each out.

I’ve also got wraps and rolls for sale in my Folksy shop….if you’d like to commission your own wrap or needle roll I’m more than happy to discuss your needle requirements, whether you’re a dpn lover or prefer a circular needle……

*a very exciting review will be shared soon thanks to the lovely Knitting Goddess Joy.

time softened and sun faded roly poly needle wraps

I love old fabric, all time softened and a bit sun faded, it always conjures up memories and stories when it’s hand me downed or even found in a dusty box in a charity shop or car boot when I then get to wondering who did this belong to, what did they do…..some of the most treasured fabric I own is pieces of a pink and white sheet that belonged to our Nanny C, and some fantastic red and white fabric that originally was a chair cover belonging to my dear Joyce’s mum……I’ve bought familiar looking curtains not quite being able to place them, to be told later by my mum they are the same as the ones that hung in my bedroom when I was little…..everytime I look at these fabrics I can’t but help remember moments and times spent with people I’ve loved…

Other special fabric has been gifted by friends old and new, and while I could keep this all stored away and kept for best or fancy, I much prefer to use it, to be able to see and handle it day to day when I’m sewing or knitting….looking up from a sewing a tricksy hem or sighing when I’m having to un-knit a row (or two or three) when I’ve not followed  a pattern properly, my eyes can rest on these familar fabrics and a little wave of reassurance and comfort helps to make me feel calm again.

A few years ago I made some knitting needle rolls for some beautiful wooden Brittany needles from my boyfriend’s mum and dad, the needles are really special and every time I use them I think of Kathy and Phil, and wanted the fabric in the roll to be equally dear to my heart.

Now I’m knitting with different styles of needle, double pointed ones which look like you could have someone’s eye out with if you’re not careful and ones where you can change the tip size to the length of cable,  I thought it was about time I made some rolls and wraps to keep all these new types of needle safe and in one place.

While I was making the rolls and wraps for myself I was thinking about some of the podcasts I’ve been listening to this year, namely the Shiny bees one…often when Jo aks the people that she interviews who it was taught them to knit they reply it was a granny, nanny, elderly relative or their mum and I began thinking how I love seeing the fabric that is special to me when I’m working….. while Nanny C could knit (she’d knit brightly coloured little squares that a neighbour would sew together into blankets for the local old people’s home….Nanny C was still doing this in her early eighties) I don’t remember her ever showing me how to, or if she did I was pretty bad at it….a great aunt did try to teach me but my hands were always hot and sticky, and the stitches would get tighter and tighter, painfully squeeking as they pulled over the needles and dear Joyce was always out in her garden to bother about knitting or sewing …..so while when I knit and am quiet I’m not quite remembering them teaching me to knit and purl and pass one over, the fabric wraps are familar prints and textures and helps recall the laughter and chat, cups of tea and tins of biscuuits I associate with them.

As well as making wraps for my own ever increasing collection of needles, I’ve also made a few for my Folksy shop….at the moment there are two styles….the first one is designed for those pointy and pokey double tipped needles….they have two rows of pockets inside and are long enough so they’ll fit needles up to 20 cm.  They also have a wide space in front where you can tuck in a needle gauge and the pockets at the other end are sewn shallower so you can store your cable needles in them and they won’t slip all the way down.  These will also fit skinny types of crochet hook such as the Brittany ones.

When you want to store your needle roll away, it rolls up like a jam roly poly and is kept secure with either a length of velvet ribbon or a piece of vintage leather thonging.

The other design is a longer needle wrap and these are made with a front pocket that has been divided into lots of sections where there is room to store your different needle tips as well as a needle gauge. The three far right spaces are a bit shallower and are designed to store your cable needles.  The wrap is deep enough that there is also room for short needles (for lace shawl edgings) or the odd crochet hook.

The two pocket lengths behind are divided into three so there is plenty of room to store loose cables.

The wraps fold over on themselves and keep all tucked up and secure with either a length of velvet ribbon or a piece of vintage leather thonging.

Both designs of wrap have long flaps inside that cover all the needles so stop anything from flying out or getting lost in your bag.

I’ve really enjoyed making the needle wraps as sewing is very much my first love and it’s been nice to incorporate my interest in knitting with fabric and thread.

As well as the ones listed in my Folksy shop I’m more than happy to work on bespoke wraps and rolls to fit your own particular needle requirements and with your own fabric if you have some that holds a special place in your heart.

In the past I’ve made memory quilts which were pretty special to sew and I guess these are a bit like that…..

I’m currently working on a few more styles which I hope will be ready to appear in the shop over the next week or so along with a couple of designs for project/workshop bags and pockets.

Vintage sewing reads from the charity shop……

After having both my head and heart proper turned over the past some months by the joys of knitting, the last few days have seen me pottering about in my work room, mostly it’s involved tidying up, sorting out, but there’s also been some sewing…..One area of tidying that needed to be taken in hand were my needlework books, they’d started to spread out around the house, a small pile here, another few there… so I tried to gather them up all into one place…there’s been a couple of new additions to the sewing reference library, they’re all oldies but goldies.

On Friday I saw 3 different editions in just one charity shop of this classic, it’s such a great book and was one of the very first sewing books I ever bought. There’s a few different printings but it’s pretty much the same information inside each time. It’s a really great book for beginners and it also has plenty of information for more confident sewers too.  As well as explaining how to draft (draw up and design) a pattern it then explains how the garment is put together, with chapters covering pockets, collars and a a very thorough easy to follow section on button-holes.

A little while back  I bought the More Dress Pattern Designing by Natalie Bray, I’d already bought the Dress Pattern Designing book by her years ago and had been on the look out for the sequel ever since but it’s one of those books that is hard to find or is really expensive…I must confess to a squeal of happy when I spotted it on the shelf of a local charity shop, an absolute bargain at £1.99…….it might seem a bit daunting to a beginner at first look but it’s certainly worth buying it if you see it cheap… all Natalie Bray’s books are so well written and as they were first written in the sixties there’s plenty of “vintage” lines/shapes to the pattern drafting.

Possibly a more easy to follow book for a beginner is Clothes by Margaret G Butler…(this is a 1975 copy) inside it’s full of helpful information about fabrics, threads, patterns, how to cut out, how to lay patterns on fabric….the chapter on zips and buttonholes is especially well written and has plenty of clearly drawn illustrations with easy to follow instructions….it’s handy to have if you’re working from a commercial pattern and aren’t really sure of some of the techniques…there is also a nice section at the back of the book about how to care for your clothes including laundering and repairs.  There’s no photos  so it doesn’t feel dated and the information inside is very sound.

Another two recent purchases (both bought for less than a posh coffee) was Mary Thomas’s Embroidery Book and Complete Needlecraft by Agnes M Miall.

The Mary Thomas book is such a wealth of embroidery know how, it dates from 1936.  The subject headings contain a bit of back ground information including some history and then the instructions on how to work the type of embroidery (it also includes quilting, patchwork and smocking) are very clear and easy to follow….there aren’t many photographs but it has lots of clean and well drawn illustrations.

Complete Needlecraft covers a much wider range of needlecrafts (including dressmaking, repairs, knitting and crochet) and has quite a lot of photographs (including a rather scary looking crochet bra) but no drawn illustrations. The copyright is 1945 and has a Book Production War Economy Standard brand inside, however it doesn’t read as make do and mend book in the slightest as there are suggestions for some rather swishy items inside.

 

Okay, I know this isn’t a sewing book but it’s another classic by Mary Thomas…..I nearly did a little dance of joy when I found this beautiful 1948 edition of Mary Tomas’s Book of Knitting Patterns…it’s very nicely written, pretty clear and reasonably easy to follow, but I must confess it was the charming illustrations that made me smile so much all the way up to the till with my money….my favourite and there are so many inside I love…( the stocking stitch /garter stitch illustration, the puppy with the un-ravelled knitting, the squirrels popping nuts into a stocking hanging onto a tree,the college professors having a quarrel over their knitting……) has to be this young girl winding her yarn off from the antlers of a reindeer…in real life it probably wouldn’t work but makes for such a sweet image…I’ve seen more modern day printings of the book for sale online but I don’t know if they have the illustrations in or not….

The knitting patterns are written out as well as having a little chart so if the instructions seem a bit complicated then the chart might make things a bit clearer….there’s also a very helpful texture index at the back which suggests some stitches which suit particular garments or knits..

One of my favourite past-times is having a nose around and poke about in odd corners and dusty boxes in charity shops or bric a brac shops, sometimes I come away all empty handed and that’s fine but other times I manage to pick up a gem, often for very little money and which becomes a much valued addition to my library or hoard of haberdasheries.  The above items were all sourced for very little money and generally I find the quality of older pieces to be a lot better than what I can  afford to buy new.

The zips were a real bargain, although I only bought one at first as I wanted to check for rust (because the zips were all in their original packaging it wasn’t possible to check without  undoing and tearing the cellophane) but it was all fine so the next week I went back and bought a few more….the zips are metal and the teeth are nice and strong.  They also run nice and smooth (which I was a bit concerned about at first)…the colours of the fabric are very nice…peacock, glen green, sage green are just some of the ones I ended up buying.

I prefer to do a lot of my sewing by hand and mostly use vintage Sylko Dewhurst thread as it’s such good quality, it’s brilliant for both hand sewing and machine sewing, the thread slips through the eye of a needle so easily.  While the above threads aren’t that brand, they are all still nice to use, and I’ll often use a finer cotton to use as a tacking thread….I also prefer using vintage needles as I find they are a bit stronger and seem to be finer, and sharper….

I love little packets of vintage bias binding, sometimes it comes with thread in a matching colour (not something companies tend to do nowadays)…depending what I’m sewing I might carefully wash and then press the binding before using it as sometimes it shrinks and then will make the seam it’s sewn to pucker up a bit…if what I’m making isn’t going to be washed then I don’t worry….

As well as having umpteen charity shops nearby I’m also lucky enough to have a wide circle of friends and family who’ll gift me bags of buttons, threads and sewing what nots…even my accountant has given me small bags of leather thonging and embroidery silks, bindings and lace trimmings…..I’d like to say everything is tidied away and is in it’s place…hmmm, for the most part that’s probably true but there are still little tins and and suitcases that hold an assortment of haberdasheries from all over….From time to time I like to empty a box of notions and doo dahs out onto my work table, more often than not I’ll find something I’ve forgotten all about and which can get me thinking about who these little treasures used to belong to…inspiring me with thoughts of a new dress or skirt….

 

 

 

My quilting essentials……

Last May I wrote a rather lengthy piece about what I’ve found to be really essential when I make my patchworks…I hate that a lot of people seem to think you need to have a lot of money to make a quilt.

For the most part, I’ve bought any special pieces I use slowly, in dribs and drabs…some fancy shmancy pieces of equipment (like gridded rulers and fabric shears) were bought for me for my birthday or Christmas (which makes using them extra special), but most of my quilts were made without a lot of flashy stuff.

I had a message the other day from a friend regarding my quilts, and well, you know what I’m like, there’s never a short answer with me (I see it as being thorough)….but it reminded me of my original post and thought it was time for a follow up.

This is a break down of what I use to make my quilts once I have a patchwork top ready to work with…first up I’m a hand quilter and while I have made one quilt using a machine, I really do prefer to use my hands..(but if you like making them on a machine  then that’s great, I’m just saying it just wasn’t for me).  I also tend to quilt quite small stitches but I think stitch size is very much a matter of personal choice.

I don’t live in a particularly big house so there isn’t the space to store more than a couple of quilts.  If a quilt takes me a couple of years to make by hand then that’s okay, I’m fine with that….obviously the ones I make for commissions don’t take as long as that but there’s still a lot of hours in all those stitches…the real pleasure for me is in the handling of the fabric, finding an inner quiet time in those tiny stitches….the rhythm and motion of the needle passing through the fabric, joining pieces of patchwork into a whole and then later embellishing with quilting…… 

But this is just what I like, what I find to be my essentials… What another quilter thinks will probably be quite different depending on the type and style of quilting they do.

As I say, funds for quilts that are made for our home are quite limited…the biggest expense tends to be the wadding becasue I like to use a pure wool one, I’ve found that buying wadding in bulk (I buy a kingsize pack of wadding and then cut it down into smaller pieces) works out more economical but it is still pricey……next comes fabric for the backing, then thread and needles and a quilting hoop, something to mark your pattern out with and something to draw around like a template….anything extra is just that…extra.

I try to keep all my quilting/patchwork tools and equipment together though there are bits and bobs that cross over from one sewing box to another…but while you’re making your patchwork top you might like to keep an eye open for the items you’ll need later to make your quilt…it’s surprising how often I’ve seen a quilting hoop in a charity shop or beautiful vintage needles at a flea market….  I think a mistake people can often make is to feel that you need to buy everything all at once or everything has to be bought new.

I think it’s much better to buy slowly, repurpose where you can and if you’re lucky enough to have friends that quilt they’ll probably be happy to lend you things so you can try them out first.

Marking your quilt

You can buy special silver pencils or chalk pencils from quilt shops to mark up your quilting design.  Both of these wash out really easily.  I don’t get on so well with the silver pencils myself and prefer a white chalk pencil.   HB pencil isn’t generally suggested to use as the graphite rubs off against your hand which then brushes against the fabric making the quilt become rather grubby, however I use them although I only press very lightly,  but I do wash all my quilts as soon as they are finished (this also helps the fabric scrunch up and look a bit “time softened” rather than something I’ve just made as well as sprucing it up) Not that long ago I read in a recently published book to mark up your quilt using tailor’s chalk…personally I wouldn’t suggest this as tailor’s chalk is waxy and it doesn’t always wash out properly.  I’d also suggest getting a top quality pencil sharpener from an art supplies store to keep the pencil tips sharp (cheap ones always seem to chew up the “silver lead”/chalk  inside).

Depending on your quilting design you can also use strips of masking tape, ( I tend to buy big reels of it from a local Ironmongers as it’s cheap as chips from there)….you just stick this to the patchwork and quilt either side of the line and then it just whips right off, you should be able to use it a couple of times before all the sticky has gone….it’s quite handy for quilting squares or diamond shapes in the middle of feathered circles….and you can stick it diagonally across the quilt, and quilt along like that, though you’ll need a sturdy ruler to guide you so the line is kept super straight (or spread your quilt out flat, and tie and pin across a piece of thread across the corners, then run the tape along the thread line.)

I’ve also got a couple of hera markers which are made from plastic which you score on the fabric against a ruler. They look a bit like a butter knife (which you can also use though be careful there isn’t any chips or rough bits on the blade) and I used to have a lovely hera made from bone but managed to lose it. You can also get wooden ones and I’ve also used wooden tools that are used in clay work, again pressing the ‘blade’ against a ruler to score a line on the fabric. 

You may prefer to get fancy and want to quilt cables around the edges of your quilt, if so then you can buy plastic sheets that are A4 and 3 sized but you can also use plastic from yoghurt containers and certain packagings…. you can also use this to make  a bar for baptist fan quilting.

Wadding or Batting

When I have the money I prefer to use a pure wool wadding by Hobbs…it’s expensive but it hand quilts beautifully, and when washed carefully gives the most wonderful drape and lightness to your finished quilt.   I’m happy to save up the extra money this wadding costs as it is such a delight to work with.  Wool wadding is warm in Winter but it is also light for Summer as it actually weighs less than cotton.  It only needs washing if it gets dirty, and then I bundle my quilt up in the washing machine, put it on a gentle wool cycle and allow it to dry outside draped over a rotary line.

I also use cotton and cotton/bamboo blend wadding.  Though I tend to use it more on smaller projects like wall hangings, book covers, project bags rather than lap quilts or big bed quilts but if you want to make a quilt and were on a bit of a budget then it is a good second choice.  Most quilt shops sell this on a big roll so I don’t know a brand name, however I’ve bought cotton wadding from 3 different places and it has all been about the same so I think it’s quite generic.

I save all my pieces of wadding and regularly sew them together to make a larger piece…when you make your quilt you get left with strips from the side, rather than throw these away I just save them until I’ve got a few and then just slightly overlap the pieces and then sew them together with a slanted tacking stitch. You can use these in smaller projects but I have also used them in a larger quilt. So basically you get to use every last bit of it and it doesn’t get wasted.

However if you don’t want to buy new wadding/batting you could always use an old wool blanket that’s worn thin for the wadding which will give you a lovely warm Winter quilt. This is also really good for pot holders and oven gloves. You won’t be able to make the smallest quilt stitches as the wool in a blanket is denser than that used in wadding so you might find yourself needing to use thicker thread like Sashiko or top stitch thread and a thicker needle (darning ones are good if you can’t find the Sashiko ones).  You can also use brushed cotton fleece like what is used for  sweatshirts or you could stitch together old sweatshirts and jogging bottoms that have seen better days, or old fleece sheets that have bobbled a bit to make a batting for lightweight Summer quilts that you can take to the beach or fling over the sofa.  Large wool cloth scarves/shawls from charity shops stitched together also make a good batting.

Generally I find synthetic waddings seem to resist the needle, and it’s harder to make my stitches.  If you’re constantly fighting with your needle then it becomes a chore not a pleasure to sit and hand quilt the stitches so I’d rather look for natural fibre alternatives at a car boot or charity shop than buy a new synthetic wadding from a shop.  But when my funds have been limited and I needed to use what was to hand then I’ve quilted with old duvets (between 1-4.5 tog), and used pieces of polar fleece fabric as wadding though I had to go up a few needle sizes when I quilted them.

Different battings/waddings will give different effects, some will plump up and be nice and lofty, some will drape and be nice and squishy, but never feel that you are doing something wrong just because you are using different materials to those you might see in books/blogs/quilt shows/social media etc.

I think it’s a good reminder to sometimes tell yourself that it’s up to you what you want to quilt with, no one is going to come round and stop you.  In the past, the majority of quilts were made with what was at hand and quilt shops that sell all the fancy stuff are relatively recent where as quilts have been being made for hundreds of years.

 

 

American muslin/quilting calico

For the most part this is what I’ve used to back several of the quilts I’ve made…it’s available in really generous widths so you could buy a couple of metres to back a quilt with it without having to join the fabric….it tends to come in two colours, bleached and un-bleached..so white or natural.  It’s not the prettiest fabric in the world and I know most quilts in more modern quilting books seem to use printed fabrics for their undersides (this is what I’ve done in the above picture) but I like how quilting stitches show up really clearly on a plain background… American muslin holds dye incredibly well so you could also dye some if you’d rather it a different colour

Generally I wash all my fabric for quilting before I begin sewing with it, and I make sure to wash the muslin/calico to soften it before sewing. There isn’t a particular brand of calico I favour, I just ask for American Muslin at my local quilt shop, however don’t ask for English Muslin as that’s cheesecloth and isn’t suitable to back your quilt.  American Muslin is also softer than dressmakers calico so I find it’s best to buy it from an actual quilting shop.

If you wanted to make a wholecloth quilt (a quilt which doesn’t have a patchwork top but instead is a single piece of fabric which is then beautifully quilted) then this is the fabric you’d want to use as the plainness of the fabric would really highlight and show off the pattern of your quilting.

You can also use old bed linens for the quilt back, the only downside to these is they are woven quite tight so they aren’t always as easy to quilt as the American muslin but it depends a lot on how small you want your quilting stitches to be. Charity shops and carboots are great for sourcing pretty vintage sheets and tablecloths for not much money.

But you can just as easily make the back from fabrics that have been pieced together in a patchwork effect. Having it made from bigger pieces will make it a bit easier to quilt than if you are making it from lots of very small pieces as the seams of the fabrics add an extra thickness that has to be sewn through.

 

Quilting threads

I really like using Star brand hand quilting cotton, it’s incredibly well priced and makes for very nice quilting.  It’s a bit thicker than regular quilting cotton so is a bit hard to thread really tiny needles. It’s quite hard to source in the UK and I’ve only seen it available in a few colours (although mostly I prefer to quilt in an ecru shade or grey) but I’m told it’s widely available in the US and Canada.

However, I also like Gutterman hand quilting cotton.  It’s finer than the Star brand so it’s easier to thread your needles, but is a bit more expensive.  It’s available in a really wide range of colours.  I always use proper hand quilting cotton and don’t touch the synthetic threads.

(Updated to say that Star brand has possibly stopped being made, but YLI quilting thread is very nice as is the hand quilting thread from Empress MIlls)

If you’re quilting a patchwork top made with brushed cotton then you could also try using coloured button thread or top stitch thread by  Gutterman, it’s thicker but the brushed cotton isn’t woven so tightly as regular quilting fabric so it doesn’t damage the weave.  This is what I used on a very early quilt I made (actually it was a pair of quilts for two of my nieces, just large squares of brushed cotton hand sewn together and then I quilted rows of heart/star motifs on them…)  it’s also what I use when I’ve made quilts for the cats…(which were made from an old pair of pyjamas and some plaid shirts)

I know a lot of people also like to use Sashiko thread for quilting and this is available nowadays pretty much everywhere.

selection of vintage quilting needles

Quilting Needles

Traditional quilting needles are often called “quilters between” but sometimes it just says “quilting” on the packet.  The needles are short, and slightly stubby.  They need to be nice and strong to go through all the layers.  (unlike the straights or applique needles you use for the patchwork, those are super skinny and a bit longer.)

Depending on what I’m quilting I go on and off different brands of needles, mostly I prefer the tiniest little needles imaginable, the sort you’d expect the mice in The Tailor of Gloucester to have used on those buttonholes…but I appreciate these aren’t for everyone. Some brands sell little packets with a selection of quilting needles in them, and while you may not end up getting on with all the different sizes, it gives you the chance to try out and find what feels comfortable for you ….also, don’t expect to find the teeniest needle comfy the first time you quilt…like most things, it takes a bit of practise and when I started quilting I preferred a longer needle to what I like to use now.

If you are using a thicker thread like the button hole/top stitch/Sashiko then you will need to use a larger needle.

Millward and John James are both good basic brands, you get about 20 needles for around £2.00, you really want to store them in-between sewing in a needle case as the quilting needles are so short they’ll soon disappear to be forever lost if you push them into a pin cushion.

I’ve also used Clover Black Gold which are very very tiny and skinny, they probably aren’t so great for a beginner and they are very pricey, the last ones I bought were £4.50 for 6 needles, but they are super sharp. (their applique needles in this range though are excellent but again, expensive)…from time to time in brickety brac/flea markets I’ve been able to pick up Blue Dorcas vintage quilting needles, these are my all time favourite and never cost me much.  Always check for rust though if you look to buy vintage needles for your sewing (I like using them as I find they are stronger and sharper than modern needles)

Quilting hoop

In an ideal world I would live somewhere where i could have a big old wooden quilting frame but I don’t so…. but I manage fine without.

If I’m quilting something small, anything less than a foot square I’m not likely to use a quilting hoop, I still like to baste it the layers with thread but find I can handle the fabric better without a hoop, but when I’m working larger than that I find using a hoop makes things a lot easier…and there’s much less chance of you quilting yourself to your work (it’s incredibly easy to catch a dress or skirt fabric on to your quilt when you don’t use a hoop…I speak from experience)…a quilting hoop is bigger than an embroidery hoop, it’s also fatter, generally about an inch thick.

A hoop will help give the right amount of tension to your work as you quilt it…some people like their work to be held super taut like a drum, I prefer a bit more slack, but there isn’t a right way or wrong way, it’s what feels right for you.

I know a lot of people baste with safety pins and quilt their layers without a hoop so while I find I need one for my quilting, you may find otherwise. It does depend a bit on the type of quilting stitches you want to make.

I’ve got 2 different sized hoops, a couple that are 14 inches wide which I tend to use for most of my quilting, and a bigger one that is 18 inches wide and which I don’t use quite so often, even though I’ve got what I think must be freakishly long arms (cardigans and coats never seem quite long enough to my liking and cuffs often sit well above my wrist bone) I find the 18 inch hoop quite hard to manoeuvre when it’s in my lap….I imagine it would be perfect for quilting feathers and cabling when you need lots of space to manoeuver and perhaps I’ll do some fancier quilting like that again when I quilt up “dear ethel”.

Some years ago when I made a huge sampler quilt that my mum now has, each of the blocks in the centre was quilted with a different pattern, cabling ran along the sashing and a double or triple cable ran over the flying geese border.  Using the hoop helped me focus on each block as I quilted it without being distracted by what was happening in other parts of the patchwork.  It’s nice to do fancy things like that for other people but I rarely bother for myself.

Suggested reading…

My favourite hand quilting book is The Essential Quilter by Barbara Chainey….it was recommended to me by the lady who taught me to quilt and I’ve not found better for the basics….it’s very clearly written and easy to follow.  The only downside is that the quilts in it are a bit dated and fuddy duddy looking in my opinion but the workmanship is amazing. In the back of the book are some simple shapes which you can trace or photocopy to make templates to quilt around.

And as I mentioned in my patchwork essentials piece, I’ve also got a book which was like 25p or something from a car boot simply called Patchwork.  It’s part of the traditional needle arts collection and is written by Diana Lodge……it covers a nice range of patchwork designs and although some of the colours and fabric choices aren’t really my cup of tea, the information inside is very sound.

I wrote some more about my favourite patchwork/quilting books just here…

And to be honest that’s it, little extras like fabric grips have only come much later in my quilt making.  I do use a thimble and mostly just use a regular metal one from nannys workbox that is a bit of a loose fit, I wrap a bit of  scrap cotton fabric around my finger tip to protect my finger nail and it also helps with the thimble sweating (I find the thimble gets warm which I don’t like the feel of)… My dad made me a couple of little leather ones which were really comfy but I managed to lose those in a house move. I’ve also gotten on well with shop bought ones, preferring the all leather ones to any with bits of metal in them, but they are a bit pricey.

I also have a little velvet strawberry needle sharpener that was from the Royal School of Needlework, this was bought with birthday money from my dear friend Joyce so now she’s no longer with us it’s become very dear…but a cheaper one filled with emery will work fine to keep your needle tips sharp. (note, if you do buy the Clover Black Gold then don’t sharpen them, the emery removes their black coating)….for me a quilt is all about time, slow stitches rather than a fat purse in which to go wild at a local fabric store with. 

If you ever get the chance there is a fantastic collection of quilts at The American Museum just outside of Bath…the collection regularly rotates what’s on display.  There are some really breathtaking quilts on show and may of them incorporate scraps and would have been made with what was to hand.

Other posts you may find useful…

My patchwork essentials…

Making a quilt sandwich

How to baste a quilt not a turkey….

Baptist fan quilting

A slow wave of wobbbling hand stitches

 

Most important though, please don’t think you need to have a lot of money to make a quilt, at the end of the day all a quilt is is layers of fabric stitched together. It shouldn’t be something that only people with big purses and endless pockets are able to make.  I remember that I found it very daunting when I first started quilting, like I was the poor relation and felt ashamed that I wasn’t able to buy metres and metres of fabric brand new, but then I got to wondering why was I thinking like this and began to think of the possibilities and opportunities in using fabric and  fibres sourced from other places.

Embroidered botanicals inspired by Summer…..

I’ve just updated my Folksy shop with some of my botanical embroideries…..these have all been inspired by my walks over the marshes and meadows that are just a 5 minute walk away from where I live……in the Summer the pastures are such a wealth of colour, full of wild flowers, dragonflies and the sound of bird song……bright yellows and pinks, patches of blue and sprinklings of  white stitch-wort which sparkle in the grass like tiny stars.

Embroidering these even on the most murky and dreary weathered day I’m reminded of morning walks in warm sunshine alongside the river…there are a few benches where you can sit under the dappled shade given by alder trees and in the past I’ve taken books there to read or have taken small pieces of patchwork to sit and sew…..since I’ve started knitting though I’ve been thinking of going there this year with needles and yarn….it’s beautiful and quiet there, from time to time there’s distant rumble of trains  but for the most part it’s a precious haven…..

These project  bags are made from soft European linen and are hand embroidered using vintage embroidery silks and threads…..they’re all fully lined using a selection of vintage fabrics.   I’ve sprinkled some Norfolk lavender between the linen fabric and lining, this should help keep moths at bay (and your knitting smelling nice)…..they’re perfect for keeping your special knitting or crochet wips safe and sound as well as looking pretty….but you could also use them to tuck things into if you’re off on holiday jaunts.

I’ve also listing some glasses cases, the two pictured above are made from a beautiful soft vintage wool tweed in a lovely warm apricot.  The fabric was some my friend Sylvia gave me and I’d hoped there might be enough for a dashing 1930’s cut waistcoat but sadly not…..  These are lined with a vintage brushed cotton with a floral print.  The embroidery is all by hand and is sewn using vintage tapestry and crewel wool.

This beautiful woollen cloth made me think so much of those no-nonsense tweed skirts worn by Miss Marple (especially The Margaret Rutherford version) and I wanted to incorporate a little bit of the English countryside (the embroidered flowers) with the practical-ness of keeping ones glasses safe…I always like making things can be used and appreciated rather than being put on a shelf and just looked at…there is something about touch and being handled, being used that gives hand made such a charm and uniqueness.

These are designed to fit a medium size pair of glasses, sadly they won’t really be big enough if you have what I think of as “Deirdre Barlow” style glasses…..

As well as sewing some using vintage tweed, I’ve also made some using authentic Harris tweed and some in a lovely modern green wool which is full of tiny flecks of sage, grass,mustard and gold.

I’ve also lowered the price of my embroidered peg bags, I’ve got two left and once those have gone that will be it as far as they are concerned……they’re both fully lined with vintage fabrics and are made from beautifully soft Witney wool blankets, then hand embroidered with a pattern of sprigs of lavender using vintage crewel and tapestry wool…it’s up to you if you use them as a laundry/peg bag (I won’t come round and tell you off if you chose to use them for something else).

 

 

 

A Spring fling fair and a flurry of making….

 

The past few days have been a right old hive of busy-ness, my first craft fair of the year is on Saturday over at Holt, it’s been organised by lovely Ruth of Glory Days and I’m travelling there with my friend Sasha (who makes those gorgeous cat dolls and cheery rainbow ribbon clouds)….everywhere here there are piles of makes in various stages, along with strands of embroidery thread and tapestry wools as I sort out what needs what to be worked on to be finished in time……

Over the years I’ve found it’s more time efficient to work on a few pieces at a time, that way I don’t need to keep getting out and putting away the bigger pieces of equipment, but when there’s a craft fair due I set up little stations around the house (my work room isn’t huge) so I can have my sewing machine out along side the ironing board, and then any handsewing and embroidery is all done upstairs.

My favourite part of making is the hand work, embroidering and embellishing, finishing off or just plain sewing patchwork, having the cloth soften as it’s handled, fingers brushing over the stitches and guiding the needle…there’s a connection there that I don’t feel when I’m using my electric sewing machine but I’d still be a bit lost without my Bernina, it’s not a flashy one, just a 1008, a proper work horse of a machine.  Without it I’d not be able to make half the things I do, fat layes of wool blanket slide along under it like a dream…

However things like my botanical embroidered lavender bags are all worked and sewn by hand, inspired by wild flowers from my walks and from hidden corners in my garden .  They aren’t a 5 minute make but are very satisfying to stitch, and the combination of curved edges and hand-sewn softness, the weight of the lavender, all feels very comforting when placed in the palm of your hand.

I’ll also be bringing along a selection of tiny flower posy brooches made from a variety of vintage and new wool.  These are some of my favourite things to make and each coat,jacket or cardigan I wear seems get adorned with one very quickly.

Each year I always try to have a bit of a re-think about what I’m making, not so much a change in style but questioning whether I still enjoy what I’m making, some pieces are very fiddly but give me pleasure to sew them, other pieces which weren’t time consuming but gave little enjoyment have fallen by the wayside.  If I don’t love it, or want it myself, then I don’t make it…

As well as bringing along new makes I’ll also have a small Sale section of pieces I don’t tend to make anymore, I need to create a bit of space where I store stock so there’ll be some proper bargains.  I’ve also got some little kits to make your own notebook cover as well as packs of pre cut squares and an instruction sheet to make your own hand sewn patchwork…. I’ve also made up some bags of fabric scraps which are ideal for said patchwork or other tiny projects.

As this is a Spring Fair just before Easter/Ostara I’m also making some special limited edition Spring themed items which would be perfect for Easter treats, any left over from Saturday’s fair will get popped into my Folksy shop on Sunday.

Probably one of my most popular makes has been my hot water bottle cosies….super thick and made from pure wool Witney vintage blankets they’ll keep your toes warm all through the night….as it’s still been a bit chilly here in the evenings I’ll be bringing a few of those along with me as well…. I know a couple of ladies who have told me how they use the cosies they’ve bought from me to keep their nighties in……

The cosies are all lined inside, no seams on show, the bird applique is all sewn by hand and uses pure wool felt.

I always enjoy doing fairs, I’m not able to attend as many as I’d like as I don’t drive and have to rely on public transport or the kindness of friends, but it’s always nice to get out and about, chatting to people who stop at my stall, seeing repeat customers and hearing about who got what at Christmas and which purchased as gift items were then kept for themselves (these confessions are always whispered then followed by a quick look around them and then much laughter)…..it’s also good to get feed back on new makes and if people miss things I no longer sew to sell

The fair is on from 10 until 4 and it’d be great if you’re able to pop down and say Hi.  If you read my blog then introduce yourself, say hello, don’t be a stranger…….Ruth has told me there’ll be plenty of home made cakes available so you won’t go away with a hungry tummy……