pre halloween shenanigans....

With the impending birth of the wee one I passed all the halloween prep to the boys of the household this year...so yesterday morning was spent messily hacking & scraping out pumpkins and cutting out some really cool designs esp for a certain Dad who claims not to have a drop of creativity at all! Hmmm I think I know who is going to be in charge of pumpkins in years to come.... 

 

 

So with pumpkins ready there was a desperation to adorn costumes for the afternoon party...far too early to get changed with 2hrs to go but there was no stopping them! As the party was really for the wee smalls Jake & Tom had offered their services to James & Rachel to help set up and guess what their favourite job was....cooking the pizzas! Suprise suprise food was involved....

 

But I guess helping out means you get the best spoils!!

 

and

 

how cute are these two....wee pumpkin Marley & skeleton Hector don't you just want to squish them up..

 

then for the entertainment....how cool to have 2 90's pop stars as your mates...the asbo kid featuring James Atkin of EMF fame & Justin Welch of Elastica....Jake & Tom Blondel future stars!! Thanks guys for being so patient with them.

 

Everyone had a great time although I got to enjoy it through the lengthy stories, photos & videos footage on their return seems a great time was had by all.

changing names

We have decided (rather I have decided) to rethink our name choice for the new edition. As soon as we found out we were going to have a girl we had decided on Lily-Rose but since then there have been a Lily-Anne welcomed to the world & a Lily in our small community which could mean 3 Lily's in a tiny school and everywhere I go there seems to be another Lily in the woodwork…It was never my first choice but it was name that we all liked so……we have now all agreed on my favourite VIOLET hoorah!

    

Hopefully the little one will arrive soon, she has definitely moved downwards as I can breathe again and eat more than one spoonful before feeling full and I had a mammoth cleaning session yesterday including the washing & ironing of all the difficult duvet covers! I didn't get the nesting vibe with Jake & Tom so maybe this is a sign.

 

Everything is ready and waiting, feel'in twitchy & want it done & dusted...so COME ON Violet

tweed lov'in

things I am liking right now.....

Liberty Freedom......punk rock yay

 

Can't afford £395 but can try & cut a mean pattern.....inspiration inspiration

 

another fab find Old Town clothing....

 

and another credit to the british design nation......Eloise Grey

 

I was particularly inspired by British Style Genius this week about Tailoring & we gotta glimpse of my favourite Tommy Nutter's womens suits....gotta feeling the tweed stash could be winging it's way out of the cupboard.

stitching it up.....

As promised pictures & review of this great jacket pattern. With a definate 50's vintage feel, a must try for the beginner & a great wardrobe builder. I used some medium weight black cord from my stash along with some liberty lawn for the lining.

  

 

Using view A I didn't need to make any adjustments to the pattern which is always a plus point &  I hemed the inner facing rather than overlocking as I wanted a neater finish. If it hadn't been for bump mobility issues I could of easily finished this jacket in a couple of hours.

   

Added one of my favourite liberty prints for the lining & a nice vintage button to finish it off. I highly recommend this pattern & am trying to decide what fabric to make another in. I have my eye on a nice tweed.

The other finished project was the snuggly cosy toes for the buggy...

 

A toastie warm baby on the walk to school.....31/2wks to go...unless she decides to be late or early!

pattern review.....newlook 6595

 

In the spirit of the last post I had just finished a skirt this morning so in a hope to inspire you into stitching thought I would give a brief run down here. It was actually a construction from bits of spare fabric left over after I had cut out my fabric for the post baby wardrobe so I especially pleased that I managed to get an extra skirt and if I get creative I'll get a couple more items so even more frugal.

 

I used view c but made it a bit longer as i prefer a slightly longer than knee length skirt. Its a very simple a line pattern and I think the waistband yoke makes it both a comfy wear with a flattering shape (esp for post preggers belly). I love the Boden style of bold applique and the green velvet was ideal.

The rest of the herringbone tweed is on its way to becoming trousers and the brown will be the underskirt to my lace avoca style skirt in the same pattern. I just need to find some cream velvet ribbon and raid my button tin for some embellishments.

I've also almost finished a really nice little jacket which has been a joy to sew and I feel a brilliant choice for those of you taking those first few steps into the world of stitching your own wardrobe, so  more of that in a couple of days

look what the postie delivered

my first copy of the long awaited 'sew hip' hoorah!

Great first mag and I esp liked this article

 

 

and then my other favourite bits....sewing jagon which can be a lifeline for beginners and old hands alike

and

 

i love these style pages as they always give you loads of ideas & inspiration.

So well done Manda great job and look forward to next edition.

artist of the week......

anji allen

 

There are many reasons that Anji's work calls out to me both as a collector & a fellow artist. For one her still life cups are one of my addictions, a cupboard + cellar full is proof of that! & her technique of is one that I have favoured for my own work, although I am one for layering & scraping back to reveal what once was.

 

I do believe that she produced a print for IKEA and I regret not buying one at the time as an orginal is out of my price range....

For more exampes of Anji's work take a look at her website and delight in a brush with a contemporary slice of afternoon tea.

coats & car seat makeover.....

Well as promised pics of my finished coat as mentioned here (hrmmmm only taken almost a year to complete) Really liked this pattern it is a good fit and I only slightly adapted it by missing out the buttons & pockets. Sadly its out of print but I did find it listed cheaply on US & Canadian ebay so its worth a look.

 

I was really peased at the contrast of the liberty lining and gives the coat a bit of a quirky edge in fact I've just cut out a green velvet version with a polkadot lining lets hope it doesn't take another year!!

 

I also aquired a carseat for Lily on Freecycle recently and decided to give it a makeover I am really pleased at how it turned out....Lily really will be a girl about town!

 

I think a snuggly warm cover will be in order but can't decide on stitch, crochet or knit. I think it wil definately be something I can do with my feet up as I'm really starting to flag now.

I've also nearly finished a quilted cosy toes for the little buggy I bought. Although I would like to baby carry as much as I can I have to be really careful of my back so when Keith isn't around I'll have an option + it is a matter of great debate between the boys and it definately looks like I'll be drawing up a Lily pushing rota!