Thursday 17 March 2011

Japanese "Town Blouse" part 2 and a non-tip


As Mr OH was away this weekend, I took the opportunity to stay up later than usual and make a sneaky headstart on my Japanese blouse. I've never taken part in a sew-along before and I have to confess that I've been a bit naughty and skipped ahead to tracing out my pattern which is really a part 3 event. I did follow Kate's advice about sizing though, and as she suggested was likely, I seem to be inbetween sizes - I was more pleased than I should probably admit that I'm a cross between a medium and a large rather than the "LL" that I was certain my no-waist torso would land me in.

Anyway, the plan was that I'd be ever so clever and show off my cunning tip about weighting down the pattern paper with old washers. This is a tip I read about once and it seemed like a very good idea and the kind of thing every dedicated sewer should know. I even smuggled some washers from Mr OH's stash specially for the purpose. Look - here is the picture I took to prove it...


However, the washers I smuggled are far too light, and easy to push aside by accident - leading to much frustration and the reliance on my usual tried and tested method of grabbing whatever is heavy and to hand - mugs of tea, mobile phones, tape dispensers, Freya's shoes. Itoyed with the idea of taking a picture of my shameful ways, but was distracted when the tea got knocked over.

So there, take from that what you will - perhaps the true moral of the story is to drink the tea first and then use the mug. Or get fatter washers. Or use proper weights for the purpose.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Work in progress: a leather adventure!

Before you get too excited, I'm afraid my adventure with leather has been an altogether wholesome one..but, pretty exciting nonetheless. I've had an idea for this new bag style for ages - it's based on a vintage bag I saw in a junk shop once - and I knew I wanted to try combining reclaimed leather with vintage fabrics, but have just been too scared to take the plunge. Well, I'm so glad I finally have - here's a sneaky peak of my prototype and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.


The leather bit was easy-peasy with the right needle. I've only got 3 pairs of these handles, so am making up a small batch first, but am so pleased with how they've turned out that I'm definitely going to make up more.

Friday 11 March 2011

UK Handmade Craft Profile Post: Screenprinting


Totally forgot to mention that I was dipping into the world of screenprinting last week for my UKHandmade craft profile post series. I had a great time browsing through all the gorgeous prints from these great UK based artists - and kept having to remind myself I was doing research not shopping!


Featured artists: Summersville Dee Beale Mengsel Kate McClelland
Peris and Corr Bonbi Forest

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Spring is here

Hurray - the sun has come out this week and we've got these happy little beauties in our garden...

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