Knitting bag pattern - the eagle has landed!

Whoop whoop! I am delighted to annouce that the latest Made by Loulabelle pattern is now available in my folksy shop and believe me, it's a good 'un!

Wouldn't you love your own delicious knitting bag to make you feel all organized and clever? Somewhere for your needles to feel at home and safe with their friends instead of stuffed at the bottom of a tote, or stuck in a waste paper basket (okay, so that last one might sound a bit random, but surely I'm not the only one who's been using a  bin for knitting storage... come on, don't leave me hanging!).

So, moving swiftly on.... Here it is, your chance to make your very own knitting bag. I have checked, and double checked and it definitely has more pockets than your hands have fingers. (So, more than 10). Yep, there's pockets for needles, yarn and patterns. It's got loads of room for everything in fact  - probably even the bin you were keeping your knitting in.

Oh, and if you don't feel up to tackling that (admittedly slightly pesky) craft weight interfacing, then you can make a squidgy padded version with eyelets and tape handles instead. Lovely!

When good projects go bad... and then good again

Browsing through old photos I came across a couple from last year which reminded me how frustrating it is when a project you are looking forward to goes horribly wrong.  With the exception of the baby bloomers fiasco, I tend only to post about successes. But believe me, there are some pretty epic fails as well!

So, in the interests of disclosure, I shall now share a disaster story... but, one with a happy ending!

Imagine the scenario: after months of making nothing but baby & toddler clothes and bags, it was time to treat myself to a post-bump skirt. Flicking through my list of saved projects, I came across this fab 'paper bag skirt' tutorial from the wonderful  Very Purple Person. Here my friends, is what the skirt should look like:

Paper bag skirt from A Very Purple Person

Pretty cool, right? And even better, it's super simple to make. So, off I go to the fabric shop, tra la la to choose my fabric. But here, is the moment it all goes wrong.... enboldened by sunshine and the prospect of non-maternity wear, I become inexplicably drawn to a very loud, very large, floral print on a heavy cotton twill. 'Perfect' the misguided voice in my baby-addled head says. Oh dear, oh very very dear. 

Here is the not so cool result... 

I suppose technically it worked - the tutorial is great, and yes, it did result in a functioning skirt. But, the picture doesn't quite convey the amazing power that this skirt-beast had to suck all the air out of the room and focus the attention on nothing other than itself!  Some months later, it's amazingly obvious where it all went wrong: 

• Firstly, the fabric was way to heavy for the project which meant it felt bulky and on the verge of falling down - even with the belt. 'Unwieldly' is not an ideal property of skirtage.  
• Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, I momentarily forgot that, unlike the lovely Novita (aka Very Purple Person), I am not a petite Indonesian style-goddess. Novita uses the width of the fabric as the length of the skirt, but on me, this ended up slightly higher than mid-thigh length, which was a bit awkward when combined with the fullness of this skirt - I felt in constant danger of accidentally exposing derriere. Also, all that bulkiness at the waist made my not so hourglass shape look even more tree-trunk like.

I would still love to make this skirt again, but in a lightweight cotton or silk, with more muted tones and more length (and maybe matching 'saftety' bloomers for extra security!).

So now for the happy ending.... turn a bad skirt upside down, trim a bit off the width,  use it to create a pinafore bib and straps, and hey presto, you have a very full and twirly pinafore dress - perfect for a twirl-loving 3 year old. 

I am pleased to say that dress and owner are now living happily ever after. 

Things that made me smile this month

Ever find that you've entered a new taste phase without quite noticing? As an antidote to chilly noses and icy fingers, I thought I'd share a little post about things that have been making me feel warm and cosy inside.

Looking at what has drawn my eye this month, it seems I've entered a new era of kitsch! Not my usual style, but there's clearly nothing for it but to embrace the cute woodland creature within. (It's a chipmunk.) 

Happy Easter everyone!

Vintage greetings card - complete with awesome pun and happy puppies!

Charity shop find: 'The Happy Forest' 1968 story book with music by Eric Winstone (band leader, composer, journalist, television and radio personality), illustrated by Susan Aspey

Popcorn box, from Tuesday's visit to the circus - hurrah!

 Vintage style baby deer decoration

The 'strike a pose' dress

This has never happened before: I asked Freya to let me take a photo in the new frock I made, and instead of carrying about her normal 3 and a half year old business while I merrily snapped away, she started striking poses. Some were dramatic - a few power punches, a couple of Tree Foo Tom moments - some gymnastic  - arabesque, headstand - and some alarmingly fashion forward - she has the 'London Look' to a T. All highly amusing, but detracting somewhat from the dress!

Anyway, after much coaxing of the temperamental model, here are the tamer shots of my latest creation:

The shape is based on a mexican folk dress that she'd grown out of. The style is very basic but I like it's boxy smock-ness - perfect for a knock-about dress. I used a charity shop doilly for the neck trim and some broiderie anglaise and ribbon for the hem decoration. The main fabric is a 30s revival print and the yoke is a tangerine orange.

I roughly increased the size of the original dress by adding 5mm to the width on each side of the yoke and increasing the length. Overall I'm pretty pleased - it's not the most 'finessed' of garments, but I think it's got rustic charm! I was however, marked down a few points by my model for a lack of "twirliness". I must remember that twirls are very important these days - maybe that would have got me less of the "London look" and more "happy pre-schooler"!

Work in progress

Question: What has more pockets than a person has fingers...

a fancy-smancy zip...

and a curve or two....?

Answer: My protoype for the Made by Loulabelle knitting bag pattern!

It's not quite ready for the full on reveal yet, but keep 'em peeled!

ps.. yes, this is the same fabric as the baby sleeping bag! Those bedspreads go a long way you know!

Baby's got a brand new bag

Little E was looking somewhat squished in her sleeping bag last week. It occured to me it might have something to do with the 0-6 month old label- baaad mummy!

Once the guilt subsided, I was quite glad for the excuse to make a new one, as all the shop bought bags we have are creamy, beigy blah blah colour or adorned with irritating smug bunnies. So, out came a 70s bed spread, a flannel sheet and a bit of bias binding.

I used this great pattern from Small Dream Factory as my template and then worked out how to fit it all together as I went along.

Esther is now snug as a bug which-is-cosy-but-has-lots-of-room in its cocoon, and  wakes up to look at her purple and pink toes with glee. Gooood mummy!

When Santa came to town...

Okay, so Christmas is now just a fuzzy memory pushed to the back of our brains by snow, January detox diets and the whiff of spring.  But the Santa's elves who looked after our house have finally been discharged from their Christmas re-hab centre and want to show you some of the things they made for the Loulabelle little ones this year...

First they went to town with the Princess and the pea project  from the very clever Manda Gregory of Treefall Design, as published in Mollie Makes Issue 15.

15 quilts, a pillow, 3 fimo peas and a crown later, they decided at 1am one December night that they must also make a bag to keep everything in - oh, and of course, the peas needed their own little pea-sack....

The next "it'll only take an evening" project, was the mice family of 3 - also from Mollie Makes (issue 11). Santa's elves went a bit cross-eyed with this one and will NOT be sewing mouse clothes again, EVER, but were quite pleased with the outcome - even if it did take a week and not 3 hours.

The last thing that the elves wish to share with you for now are these textured bean sacks and their special pom pom  festooned home. The elfs got a little giddy with festive spirit, red wine and dark chocolate, and what was supposed to be 3 little bags for one little baby, became 10 sacks and a draw-string bag to keep them in. Each bag has a different filling - rice, lentils, dried peas. The outsides are made from textured fabrics - fake leather, cord, barkcloth - and there are ribbon tags and pom poms thrown in for good measure! This project was one of my (sorry, the elves) own, so I thought I might share a how-to in the next couple of weeks - as long as the elves give me permission of course.