Category: Sewing

Hare brained

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Chatting, Crochet, Sewing

Usual run up to Christmas busyness. Most of the decorations are up, except for those with battery lights. Remembered to get some yesterday so just need to go through them and replace the old ones now. Am thinking of the winter solstice and having a bit of a feast and lights to celebrate the beginning of the new cycle of rebirth, the coming of the longer days.

Cake is marzipanned. Have got most of the Christmas dinner pre-prepared ready to heat up on the day. Am making stuffing balls from scratch today – a Mary Berry Biker Boots recipe (so named after mis-reading something about her) and will freeze them.

Finished my winter hare with her gift bag. She’s in place of a stocking for me. Absolutely loved making her.

Have modded the template slightly and made a smaller version:

Her little wooly jumper is crocheted from sequinned yarn.

Got two more ready to sew plus new clothes. I was lucky with a couple of charity shop trawls that found me some lovely dresses with sparkly sequinned tulles over ‘satin’ linings. The lining is great for making pantaloons and knickerbockers. One had a feather trim used for the feather hat above. Loads left. Of everything.

Also working out a crochet pattern to make a ballet wrap cardi (sadly using the last of my souki gold dust yarn – discontinued and can’t get old stock for love nor money) and a big flouncy tutu to set it all off.

Something I’ve not been able to get hold of are the wooden and hardboard boxes of easy peelers… they lend themselves to becoming a beautiful beds for winter hares with space around for small pretty packages. It’s become a bit of a mission to find then transform one.

Managed to finish off the baby blanket and hat for the local animal shelter charity shop. The pattern was fab. It was full of bobbles, shells and Biba windows (that’s my name for them cos they very loosely remind me of the Biba logo:

(bloody Foxtrot Oscar autocorrect… Biba to Boba twice now!)

When you’re crocheting biggish projects, a little variety in the stitches keeps it interesting and this pattern had that. The shop wants it after Christmas to put on their FB auction.

Even bought a gorgeous gift bag to sell it in; sets it off beautifully:

Who wouldn’t want to welcome a new baby with a ‘Guess How Much I Love You’ gift bag? Perfect.

My biggest happy moment recently was finding the Dr Marten brogues that Amazon cancelled the night before they were due to be delivered. Not from Amazon, obviously, but the DM shop itself. Not only were they in stock but cheaper and arriving on Monday. Marvellous. Really made up about that.

Challenging myself to make gingerbread and decorate with royal icing in time for the last wild and wooly meeting of the year. It’s just making the time to get down to it. I have the ingredients and adore the spicy smells in the kitchen while it’s being cooked. Delicious, warm and aromatic.

So, apart from the gingerbread, the Mary Berry Biker Boots stuffing and wrapping Monday’s brogues (can hardly wait to do that) pretty much everything that can be prepared early is done.

Looking forward to the solstice then Christmas Day.

Pin Up

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Sewing

Hairy Fairy or Hare’s Angel? She’s coming along nicely though I botched her bottom join up a bit. Made a sweet pair of bloomers to hide the untidiness. Her clothes are pinned on at the moment.

Bits to do: make her a necklace, maybe add some leg warmers (those tubes of finger bandages will work well, I think) stitch on some claws with embroidery silk, crochet a head band, stitch a button on to close the jacket, ditto for the tutu. More layers to the tutu needed, I think. The Ruffler Foot on the sewing machine made quick work of gathering the tulle together so not a big job. Waiting for some sheets of wool felt to make some wings, then attach and all done. Mark 1.

Since making her, I’ve cut out the templates in thin plastic, received more calico and tiny buttons from Amazon so am going to make another and finesse all the bits and bobs that could have been done better. Practise makes progress.

Apart from the calico, I have loads of trimmings and tulle, thanks to the sweet fairy frock in a charity shop costing just 7 euro. Took me a few hours to unpick the seams and get the pieces together.

There’s loads. It made for a smashing haul.

She’ll be ready for Christmas and will sit on the mantlepiece with a matching drawstring bag and be my ‘stocking’.

Thank Crunchie It’s Friday

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Chatting, Sewing

Repurposed a wooden frame by painting it with gold acrylic. Looks very honeycomb toned. Lustrous and warm. The cross-stitched ‘K’ is complemented very nicely. Ooh, you’re nice! Wrong spelling but fun to play with words. Came across a new word today. As Deprecate is to depreciate, so appreciate is to apprecate. Apprecate! Saw it in the Blossom word list. Chambers dictionary doesn’t recognise it. But neither does it accept reposelessnesses… If you play, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Just waiting for Amazon to deliver some picture framing tape to finish it off.

Anyway, fingers crossed K likes it.

Well, it’s Friday and the weekend is nearly here so can start to chill now that this little project is out of the way. Few things on the go to finish before Christmas but no urgency. Easy Osey, God-send-Sunday.

Life goes on

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Chatting, Crochet, Sewing

And all is good.

Christmas is looming and still gives me thrills. So, am loving all things Christmas related. There are two Christmas cakes (fruity fruity!) being given a weekly dose of brandy feed in the traditional poke-it-with-a-knitting-needle-and-pour-a-good-capful-of-brandy-all-over-the-top kind of way. The plan is to keep one for Easter but we’ll see how that goes.

Also making a Tilda hare Christmas angel. Tilda hares are my favourite Tilda make. Made a few some year’s back so am giving one a makeover and making a new one.

Gathering shiny trimmings is glorious. Amazon delivered a spool of white Tulle; plan is to make a tutu gathered around the tulle rose trim in the pic. Amazon also delivered a spool of really shiny gold metallic twine. Thinking about potential with the sewing machine cording foot on the wings.

Stuffed and ready for stitching together.

Using haemostats to grip and push the stuffing into the little spaces makes the tedious job of stuffing a little less laborious and boring.

Last Christmas I got a box of wool felt pieces, perfect to cut some wings from. Tried out a few ideas… metallic thread with inbuilt decorative stitches (hard to follow a path as the stitches are somewhat unpredictable (as in the needle moves forward, forward, back, side, middle, other side, middle, forward, forward or some other variation). Tried the cording foot with some gold thread. Tried Angelina Fibre. Not hugely happy with the results:

Have some other ideas to have a go at… and more felt… so will maybe have a play later today.

Have been busy with other things that have gone much better. Made this little fella for the local Shoebox Appeal:

Sweet little fella! Hope some little one somewhere loves him to bits when he gets shipped off for Christmas.

A lady at the Wild and Woolies crochet group is organising the appeal locally. Not that Wild and Woolies is our crochet group’s official name – It’s what I call it.

Another lady there makes hats and blankets for the neonatal unit in Crumlin hospital. I’m just working on a baby blanket to donate. The hat is already finished:

The blanket is about three-quarters done.

Delighted with myself for spotting what I think is a beeaauuttiful pottery teapot in a charity shop. It was twenty euro so not a cheapy-cheap find but worth every cent.

I did a Google Reverse Image on it; apparently it’s a Mucros pottery from Killarney. Why would anybody give this away??!! Am now looking at a Honey and Blue teaset from the pottery shop… The shipping would be expensive but so would the cost of fuel, tolls and, no doubt, parking if I went there by car … hmmm

Beautiful but a bit bonkers is the new lightbulb in the lounge lamp:

It’s Colour-Me-Happy and I love it.

Finally, must finish a vintage cross-stitch embroidery initial:

It’s to be framed and is a present for somebody I’m visiting next weekend. Nearly done.

It is done. Unpicked yhe blue flower and the scrappy leafy things and restitched them.

It needs a press, I didn’t hoop, you see. I didn’t want to. Then sort a frame out. I have a wooden one that is perfect. Needs a colour wash and maybe a dry brush of gold acrylic to lightly szuzh it up.

That’s a job for later on.

Love my life! Me and my fab shoes are off out later, DMs if it’s wet, (new and gorgeous) shoes if it manages to stay dry!

Be happy and smile from the heart.

Charlie and the cushion

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Baking, Chatting, Sewing
Inspired by CreationsCeeCee YouTube tutorial about being stuck creatively

I started painting for the first time in ages this morning. I’d stumbled upon CreationsCeeCee on YouTube and was inspired to get my paints out and dabble (as above).

Cats and the vet

Jess has had some problems recently and was having a follow-up exam. Turns out she has diabetes and is now on insulin. Apparently, cats can go into diabetic remission so fingers crossed that this won’t be a long-term, chronic condition.

The second visit was with a stray cat who seems to have adopted us. His visits have become daily over the last 6 months (he has been coming around for over 18 months). The poor thing is always beaten up. Scratches, bites… and he’s dirty and hollow-legs-hungry. Yesterday, he was limping and dripping small drops of blood as he walked. We decided to take him to the vets and get him seen to.

We also decided if he wasn’t chipped, we’d have him spayed and take him in.

Checkpoint Charlie

He wasn’t chipped so we let the vet do a full check on him. He was screened for FIV, treated for worms and fleas, had a bite to his leg stitched up and his other scratches and wounds cleaned and treated. A shot of long-lasting antibiotics and he was done. We’ve called him Charlie.

Cushion

In between vet visits, I kept myself occupied with a couple of projects. The first was to run up a cushion and use the last of this lovely watercolour animal fabric. Charlie likes to stretch out on the cushion and have a good nap.

Cherry Bakewell cupcakes

And bake a batch of cherry bakewell cupcakes.

Bees, Buttonholes and Bullions

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Sewing

I finally got a shot of a red-bottomed bee.  These little red bums are very industrious and barely sit still. They’re triple F’s:  Fierce, Fit and Fabulous. Suits these little furry firebums perfectly.

Hover flies enjoy the Hebes, too.:

I’ve been practicing a couple of new embroidery stitches: Bullion and the Open Buttonhole stitch. One of my favourite places for inspiration and instruction is Sarah’s Hand Embroidery Tutorials. 

For some reason I always felt daunted by the Bullion Stitch and would never give it a go but always thought how pretty it was. You know what? It’s really easy. Simpler than the French Knot. If you don’t believe me, just try it. 🙂

The buttonhole stitch is a sort of Blanket Stitch and made pretty cartwheels, carousels and whirligigs:

The cartwheel of stitches might work against this dark grey-almost-black flecked tweed:

Octagonal Pincushion

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Sewing

I had a large stash of fabric so made a quick pincushion. The original pattern for the pincushion had a circular base and top but attaching the sides to circles was too frustrating to be bothered with.  

I made a quick octagonal template in Illustrator and fitted the sides to octagonal top and base. This makes it much easier to sew.

Here’s the template for the octagonal pincushion: Octagonal Flower Pincushion PDF

No instructions with the PDF but you can follow the steps below; it’s not complicated.

1. Sew the sides together along their lengths, press seams out then clip so that they curve easily.

2. Sew the petals right sides together two at a time leaving the straight edge open. Clip their curved edges and snip off the tip at the point of the petal.

3. Turn out and press.

4. Pin a petal to the top of each side panel, right side of petal to the right side of the panel, facing down.

5. Line up the seam allowances and stitch each side panel to each side of the octagon top.

6. Do the same with the base but leave an opening to turn the pin cushion right-side out.

7. Stuff then hand stitch (ladder stitch is great for tidy seams) together.

Am very happy with it.

Then I made a few other bits and bobs: a couple of hearts with some left over trim. The house is a sewing case inspired by Tilda.

A Tilda-inspired hedgehog just waiting for paws.

Tilda

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Sewing

There! Finished Tilda and her dungarees. There is another to follow. She’s looking a bit like Frankenstein’s disjectamenta but she’ll be okay when she’s fully stuffed and stitched together. Her dungarees are nearly ready – just the straps to do so just boring bits left, really. Except for her face – have realised it’s easier to French Knot here eyes before I’ve stitched her hair on so hair will be the last job on the doll.

The weekend was glorious. The sun shone down and gave Ireland a heat wave. Flowers are bursting out all over the garden including these gorgeous red poppies.

I keep the birdbath topped up so the birds can have a bath. I love watching them enjoy the water. My neighbour has an old church font in her back garden which she keeps filled with fresh water for the birds to drink but is probably far too deep for a bath.

The sun is shining down again today – it’s wonderful. My second load of washing is nearly done and will be on the line shortly. Oh the smell of washing dried outdoors on a sunny day. I love sticking my nose into a pile of washing off the line and having a big deep lungful of the scent (except for the time I nearly sniffed a spider up my nose so now I have a look before I have a sniff). I can hear the final spin so will get a bit of a wiggle on and get the washing out and do some tidying up then I can please myself for the rest of the day. Have a lovely day yourself.