Weekending

We have had a wonderful weekend, I hope you did as well. We all drove to Norfolk on Saturday, as my husband had a meeting with a bride and groom, whose wedding he will be photographing next weekend. It is quite an exciting wedding, as it's not the traditional ceremony, that we all know. They are having a hand fastening, in the open air, in this lovely opening in a woodland, with arches made of branches, and lovely small marquees. There will be a harpist, a jester, to entertain, a kaleigh, and if the air is still Chinese lanterns! I will not be there, but I certainly look forward to viewing the photos.



On the way back, to make a day of it (the weather was a bit variable, sun, wind and rain) we saw one of those brown attraction road signs on route, that said World Horse Welfare. So we thought, why not. It's always a risk, as you can never be sure quite how many miles your detour will take to get you to your surprise venue. Luckily, the Horse farm was straight off the main road, in a beautiful setting. There is a visitor centre (which still had the heating on! heaven), a cafe, and an indoor training room for the horses. We were lucky enough to witness a horse being trained in how to walk, trot, cantor etc.

a very friendly horse

We also walked around the stables (all immaculate and clean) and the paddocks (again, in beautiful condition). They are a charity that rescues badly treated horses, and they rehabilitate them, and get them healthy again. They also loan out their horses, which is where I presume they make a lot of their money to run the charity with. All the horses in the stables had their stories and photos on a board, and some were found in absolutely horrific circumstances. The horses were now unrecognisable, as they looked so fit and healthy, with beautiful coats. They also help horses around the world, and train people in how to make saddles, and what is and is not suitable for a horse to wear, pull and do. We were all very impressed.



Then on Sunday, which was Father's Day, we all had a lazy morning. I made waffles for brunch, which everyone loves with maple syrup. I use a recipe from Rachel Allen's Bake book, which is a baking book that I would highly recommend. Everything that I have made from it has come out beautifully, and tastes great.



I took the children to the park twice. Once, after waffles but before lunch, and then again in the evening, when we all went, including their dad!

our eldest enjoying the best of the summer days

The rose garden is at its most magnificent this time of year. I find the roses stunning. I love the deep pink roses. The scent from the flowers is intoxicating. The parks have made a map of all the roses within the garden, so if one takes your fancy, you can find out what it is and purchase it from a nursery.

All in all it was a great weekend. My husband is working flat out at the moment, setting up his photography business, and with work as well.

I hope your weekend was a good as ours!

Photos by my dearest hubby.

Quilty Pleasures

Finally a brand new quilt shop in Brighton. The nearest one is in Lewes, so this is great news.

It is called, as you may have guessed, Quilty Pleasures, and is in walking distance from my house! Marvellous!

I'm determined to support it, with the little money I have, as what a great resource to have. I'm pleased to say that Liz, the owner, is really friendly and approachable. And has some lovely modern fabric in her shop. I'm sure over time her stock will increase. It can't be cheap setting up a shop. But she's knowledgeable and really lovely.

They are having an opening party:

Quilty Party
12th June 2010 All day!

So if you can go along!

3 down....

Over the Bank Holiday I was left alone, and I got down to some serious sewing!

My first job was to sew the quilt that had been on hold for a long while. I had cut up the fabric c6 months ago, and what with one thing and another it had sat in a cupboard, waiting patiently for me.

So the fabric used was left over (from what?!!?) Amy Butler Midwest Modern that I have had for 2-3 years, I think! Given the sizes and amounts that I had of each pattern I had to be creative with how I was using it.

The quilt needs some more fabric (plain) to bulk out the back and around the edge of the front. I'm making it to fit a single bed. But it's just a quilt for our house collection, not for a particular person or room. I'm just glad I'm using up my scraps .

*

My next project is part of a leaving present that I am putting together for a friend who is leaving the city, and country, and moving back to her home country of Canada. I have a few projects that I want to make for her. The first I one that I did was make her some coasters from the Last Minute Patchwork and Quilting book, by Joelle Hoverson, using some Brighton inspired fabric, with the pier and the pavilion on it. I was pleased with how these came out.

*

The other project that I made, successfully, was an A-Line skirt from a Burda pattern, that I bought. I used a Heather Bailey Zig Zag fabric, that I bought 1-2 years ago!

*

*

Apologies for the picture below, taken in a total rush, with not much light! I just wanted to prove that I had finished it!

*

I also made toiles of a few dresses from Sew U Dresses and Chic and Simple Sewing, I'm glad I did as they definitely need adjustments, I'm not sure if I can be bothered to do that!

*

So, hopefully, I'll finish off the quilt over the next few weeks. I'll use what material I have in my stash to make a few more presents for my friend. I am all about stash busting at the moment!

*

It was a very sewing intensive weekend, which was nice. It's quite rare I can do something like that! I also plan on finishing off some skirts that I started in 2009!! I know I know! Everything takes its time!

Built by Wendy Dresses - Review

So you know how it is? When you say you won't buy anymore sewing books, due to the mixed results from too many of them? Well I saw this, it teased me on pre order for months, then I read the reviews, and Wendy's reputation is pretty rock solid, so I had to buy it. And for what you get it's a bargain.


So what is inside? Well 3 pattern pieces to make the above 3 dresses, a sheath, a shift and a dirndle!

Then what you get is a breakdown of each style of dress into how to alter the pattern into a variety of other dresses! Below is a selction:

From the Sheath dress.

Sheath dress.

Sheath dress.


Shift Dresses


Shift

Shift dress

Dirndle dresses

Dirndle Dress

dirndle dresses

dirndle dress

alterations example

pattern layout example

sewing up example

I just wanted to show how in depth this book is. It is not for a novice, but if you have done a bit of clothes sewing before, this would be suitable for an advanced beginner/ intermediate sewer. There are no seam allowances on the patterns, which is no big deal, as you copy them anyway.

The first step is to make a muslin, then alter that as necessary to fit correctly, instructions are in the book. Then once you have your own base pattern, you can use the other patterns and create a wealth of dresses! I'm making my 1st muslin, for the sheath dress, so I will see how that goes. But it is an exciting book, and offers great value for money (when most patterns cost £8+) I will post again on my successes/ failures!

spring 2010

Just some things to remember Spring by.

From the top; Easter bunnies, at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, jelly from my husband's 40th, parrot tulips for our bedroom balcony, seeds we have sewn that will give us food to eat through the summer. Some is on our balcony, and some will go into the communal veg plot!

Happy days!

The Upside of a Downer

Well the upside of a downer, is that you start thinking about alternate ways to bring in more money into the house. We are both doing that, and we're both thinking creatively, which is great.

So we're remaining upbeat and positive, of where our future will take us.

I have designed my very first pattern for a girl's pinafore dress. If anyone would like to test my pattern and instructions for me I'd be very grateful. It's to fit an age 3 child. I have yet to grade the thing, another new skill to learn! The dress is really cool as it's one pattern piece and ties with 2 buttons, or press studs. Anyway, let me know if you can! I'll have to post you the pattern, as I have no idea how I get that onto a computer!

PS. Vote if you haven't already (in the UK!)

downer

I don't usually write about my private life on here. I have kept it separate. But yesterday we received dreadful news. My husband is being made redundant. This is his 3rd job loss in 6 years. The first 2 job losses were when both businesses he worked for closed down, so everyone lost their jobs. This time people have been picked out using criteria. To my husband it feels like a stitch up. But I won't go into that. As you may know I only work part time, on a relatively low salary, so I can look after the children, after school. So this is really awful, as my husband earns 4/5s of the income.

I'm not sure where our future will take us, as in the past we have lived in London, Dundee (Scotland), Leeds and now Brighton. I love Brighton, and we've made roots here in the 3.5 years we've lived here. Neither of us want to move away, again. Also our eldest is at school here, he's made loads of friends, and sure he can always make new friends, it would be such a shame.

Life at times, deals out too many rotten cards.