Getting ready for Christmas

So I just spent a lovely hour making Christmas cards and gift tags - I am not sure who I am or what I have become but I really enjoyed it.

Here are some (fuzzy) pics of my efforts so far:

The Cloth House, Berwick Street

Oh my, oh my what a beautiful place. As I have mentioned I have recently began sewing a lot and am really enjoying it so last week after using my Liberty voucher (thank you lovely people at Liberty) to buy material (this, this & this) I went to Milk & Honey to meet the Lovely CP for drinks and saw The Cloth House on Berwick street. It was closed but I decided there and then that I would be going back.

So yesterday, I was in Fancy London and had the day to myself. After meeting the lovely InsomniacFrieze for tea & cake (well I had tea and a scone, she had coffee was very restrained by not finishing a slice of lemon drizzle cake) in Selfridges I went on a little shopping jolly and made my way to Berwick Street - an oh my.

I didn't have my camera with me so will have to rely on my limited descriptive skills but it was beautiful. It's a very bright and light shop with rows and rows of rolls of fantastic material. I was a little laden down with shopping bags so didn't go downstairs but went into the back to browse amongst the poplin, linens and other beautiful materials.

So I bought some lovely linen and some sublime ribbon which I will use to make Christmas gifts so can't show pictures. I can't wait to go back once I have planned some more projects or just to spend some more time looking through the lovely merchandise.

I'll be back lovely Cloth House, you may very well be one of my new favourite places.

Finding my inner domestic goddess

So I got a new sewing machine and decided to go for it I've been knitting again since the beginning of the year and wanted to do something else. I have never been what you could call creative being more of a practical sort but recently have wanted to create something.

So after knitting a few scarves (mothers day gifts and my first darn awful attempt for the lovely JD) I decided to sew a dress. I got the pattern from Ebay, it's an original 1950s one. Got my material from the only material shop in Leeds that I knew and set about making. You know what for the first dress I have ever made it's not too bad, I even sewed in a side zip:

It's purple linen, took about 6 hours total and whilst not perfect it fits and I felt pretty proud of myself.

So I decided to make another dress. This time a new pattern and in red linen:

I had to adapt the pattern slightly to fit but again it fits perfectly (both bust and hips) and makes me very happy. If I am honest I have a little bit of finishing to do on it, and with hindsight wish I had lined it (though I still could line it I suppose) but all in all a very good second project.

So what was next, well I went on a trip to John Lewis in Sheffield and treated myself to some lovely materials to make some gifts (yes friends you will be receiving some homemade Christmas gifts this year - apologies) and some suiting material to attempt to make a shift dress for work.

Then I decided I wanted to make a patchwork quilt. We were in Scarborough and nipped in to the lovely Bespoke Country on Bar Street and I picked up some fat quarters of homespun fabric; ordered a large piece and some wadding on line and made this:

So what do you think? Next I will be starting on the aforementioned gifts and my work dress...watch this space.

Tomatoes

So my parents came to visit in August and then I started work and my blogging has lapsed - whoops. So I am today planning to bring myself up to date (ish) starting with Tomatoes.

M&D came over and we had a lovely (if a little tense due to my mood swings) time. They brought with the a bottle of the fabulous gold medal winning Netto Corbierre that The Boy loved when we were there (€2, 50) and a few bottles of champagne and these:

The beans and courgettes are from my garden but all the various Toms are from their garden in France. They only arrived there at Easter so these are all new plants and only some of this years crop.

So we had plastic bread, lurpack and tomato sandwiches with a nice cup of tea and then they left and left me with a glut of lovely Toms. So I did what I do best and made a pasta sauce.

Finely chopped shallots fried in olive oil until transluscent; bucket loads of Toms (skins on) chopped, fried off with another glug of oliver oil, fresh basil from the garden and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic. Salt & Pepper and nom nom nom.

So then we had this:

Yummy.

Even better heated up in the microwave the next day (so The Boy) tells me.

From feminist to domestic goddess

So this weekend was interesting - I started with my bog questioning whether or not I was a feminist and ended by spending hours at my new sewing machine making a dress.

I got an original 1940s pattern from Ebay and some lovely purple linen from a shop in Leeds and set about it. Well it is by no means perfect (some of the seams are a bit dodgy thats for sure) and sewed my first ever zip (straight enough). To top it all it fits (blimey) and doesn't look too bad - not going to win any prizes but for the first thing I have sewn for more years than I care to remember I am really please. I will take and post some photo's at some point. Bought some more patterns on line today so will get some more material the next week or so and keep making - eventually I may make something I would be prepared to wear in public.

Today with the left over material I made a book bag - not sure it will take much weight but it looks great. I have also made a Chocolate Fudge Cake and started to knit a shrug-cum-poncho......I am not sure what has happened or who I am but my house smells lovely.

Might even have a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.