Busy Inbetween Days

 I hope you are all enjoying the break, it can feel a little like limbo land that bit between Christmas an New year and you tend to forget what day it is or I do any way.  I have had a very productive few days and one of my intentions is to keep working through new recipes and all my cook books.  There is a beautiful one that one of my sons bought me for Christmas last year and I have used it a fair bit, todayI made two recipes from it and I will share those below.  I also have in mind a better way in future to document all my sewing makes especially as quite a few of them will be going back to Minerva for in house videos.  I do like to keep track and this year I have been using the papers that come with Minerva fabric for project planning but this means I have a stack of those knocking about.  What I am thinking is a scrap book with images, fabric swatch and an actual photo in it, yes this does sound like even more work but it will be lovely to look back on and remind me how much I get done.  Sometimes I can be hard on myself even though I know I complete multiple tasks, garments, etc a week so it will be a nice record.  There is a scrapbook in my possesion that has been waiting for just this job I feel. 

I will share one of my Christmas gift makes here and it is my husbands Hoody.  I made him one a little while ago from Burda magazine and he loves it so I made him another in a different colourway.  It was right to the wire as I was busy making it on Christmas eve.  This time I went for the colours in the original magazine image of navy and orange, well the orange I chose is more of a bright rust colour but it is lovely together.  He loves it, here is a picture of him in it but I think he has splashed it here with water as I cornered him in the kitchen for a pic.  

                                      It has been on since he opened it, and now needs a wash.

Todays sewing  was my brand ambassador make for Minerva and as I had made a lovely sweater with a Simplicity pattern that has been worn quite a lot, it felt suitable to remake it but this time in the dress length.  It is a lovely comfy french terry so hopefully this will be another much reached for garment.  I will share an image of it on the mannequinn but need to do full write up for minerva so please catch up with me over there for the full post on that. (it is not on yet as this is only just finished!)

My reading is going well and The Magpie Murders is keeping me turning the pages, this is a good thing as my husband bought me four books by the same author in the same genre!  There have been a few duff reads over the past months so glad  I am to get my reading head back on.

We are keen to get out and meet some family for a dog walk but so far those palns have been rained off, lets hope that the next few days will bring some dry weather so we can get out in the fresh air.

There was a lucky find by my husband in the ASDA  yetserday in the form of discounted LOR advent calenders, the coffee.  They had been priced at 25 pounds and are now down to three pounds so he brought home two.  He said it was quite funny as a couple were looking at them at the same time as him and the man was saying we should get these to his partner  and she said but we haven't even got a coffee machine.  I am intrigued to know if they could be used without?  I mean it seems to me that all the machine does it perforate the pod and slowy pour hot water through it, I could be wrong so let me know your thoughts on this.  Youngest son is a big coffee drinker so he was super pleased with this find.

From one of my cook books today I made a butternut squash soup...

I also made a fabulous fruit cake that has so many ingredients in it and luckily I had them all bar one which I subbed.  It is a vegan cake so all suitable for me and I added my gf flour mix too.

This is the book my son bought for me.

Here is the cake cooling, there is a fair amount gone already!  Sneaky gin in the background that a friend gifted me, it is rather depleted. 

So there we are a bit of an inbetween catch up, I thought I would blog while I have the time as I have not been as consistent with this for the last year and I aim to to better.  So two in a row but if I don't do things while they are on my mind I blink and a week has passed.  

Thank you for stopping by.

December...ing

 Hello, I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas and have managed to do the whole thing stress free.  I never really understand why people get themselves all whipped up into a frenzy at Christmas time as there really is no need. I can understand people feeling lonely or missing loved ones but not the need for a perfect meal, gift or experience.  It is after all what we make it, so if other people do not appreciate your efforts then  that is their problem so let's just all be happy with what we have and what we can do.  That said we had a lovely christmas day, my oldest son came over and my mum. So with me, husband and youngest son that was the five of us, we cooked a chicken for the meat eaters and I did a Veg Wellington that was fabulous details below.  Here we go...

Cooking The Veg Wellington, recipe from the Happy Pear guys on youtube.  If you have not looked at their videos beofre please do check them out especially if you are thinking of eating more plant based recipes in the new year. It is such a good one and formed part of their two euro dinner ( that is per person not two euros for the whole thing).  Now I know with inflated costs it would cost more than that now but it was still really good value, we had enough left to have it for lunch again today.  I did not get an  image as I was busy enjoying the day and I did have rather a lot of cooking to do so got sidetracked but I will make it again in future so I promise to take a pic next time.   I also did their spicy cabbage recipe, again so tasty! I will only cook cabbage that way in future, it has chilli, ginger, sesame oil and a little maple syrup.  That dish even got my younger veg adverse son eating it as it is so good. 

For desert I made Christmas pin wheel pastries with mincemeat in (the sweet kind) again no image due to Christmas day busyness. 

I also made cranberry cookies with walnuts and almonds twice this last week, green and blacks chocolate drizzled over the top.  My food photography is somewhat lacking but here is a peak...

I know the decoration also leaves something to be desired but they taste lovely so who cares, I find it very tricky to drizzle with a spoon. 

Dressmaking Of course there is always plenty of this, the latest makes were both dresses and one is the style arc Patricia Rose dress.  I was sent the larger pattern so I have sized it way down with tracing paper, origami and lots of faffing.  It worked but the dress is a loose fitting dress with no closures and now it is complete I have also added darts at the back as I do like a more structured look.  Here it was just after it was finished.

I also made a vogue dress in a blue soft washed chambray...

Sewing more hexies on my ongoing piece of handstitching, my thing with this now is that I have come to the realisation that I do not want a full sized bed quilt in all these colours, much as I love colour.  I feel that I would rather have a more definite pattern and carefully selected fabrics for such a large piece.  The main reason I am thinking about this is that I made a quilt some years ago called lone star and spent a lot of hours on it. The fabric were manily offcuts from the market near where I worked and part way through I knew they were  a bit dark and I didn't love them, still I carried on and completed it, quilted it etc.  A lot of hours and I had it a while, I was pleased to have finished but never really loved it.  That said I don't want to be in that situation again, so I am thinking maybe a large cushion cover to be used out on my bench in the summer and also continueing with the colourful hexies for scrap busting but using them in my handbags?   Here is the  piece so far...

Let me know your thoughts, but I have seen so many pretty designs for quilts and there are such a lot of hours that go into these that maybe it would be best to invest my time in one that I will treasure.

Eating out, with my mum.  As a christmas treat I drove my mum to Wentworth for breakfast and we had a little look around, youngest son came too as he was off work using up hoilday days.  She did take a bit of convincing as she gets stuck in aroutine but she really enjoyed it once she was out and said she would like to do it again so that was nice.

Watching a new series called Yellowstone with Kevin Costner.  I am quite enjoying it although my husband has just informed me there are another four series to go.  I will let you know if I still like it after all that.

Reading The Magpie Murders, now I have only just started this but I am a good way in and I have to say it feels a bit like Father Brown to me, I like Father Brown so that is not a bad thing.  My husband bought me a set of books for my birthday and I had said that I wanted to try something a little different.

Promising myself that I will do more art in the new year, I don't always do resolutions more intentions so this is my first. A promise to myself that I will set aside some time each week to do some art and also learn a little more about it, a new technique or style to try, anything as long as I sit down and create something with pencils or paint.  I love to sew and I am really enjoying working at it as my day job again but I think this year I have let a few of my others hobbies slide.

Enjoying the lights, decorations and cosiness that is Christmas, I will be sad to see them all come down as I am every year.  So I will be looking for new ways to cosy up the house for January, any suggestions welcome.

That is all for today, enjoy yourselves wherever you are. 

 

This week's Sewing

 Hello everyone I thought I would share a bit of sewing this week, none of it is seasonal because it is work sewing but sharing here in case you are planning next years summer holiday wardrobe in advance.  I know people do that don't they, book the sunny holidays and look ahead during the cold dark months.  We will be looking for campsites for the new year soon, but as we are in the UK for our holidays  and we always take the dogs, it will be about April before we get off anywhere.  I want the  weather to have warmed up a bit first!

This is the Style ARC Teddy top made up in a size 18, now this was made up in this size but I could not resist trying on and have now decided I like it so much I am going to do a lot of grading and make it my size.

The colour is a really nice red although it looks more coral on this photo and the fabric is a ramie linen.

Next up we have a summer dress, and this one has a cross over front.  Personally I don't always seem to do very well wearing a crossover as they do seem to gape on me, even with adjustments.  This one though comes higher up in the style so I do like the fit of this pattern.

Many of my days start off filming in the daylight and end up in the dark, I have three lights going while I sew late afternoon.  Trying not to think too much about the energy this uses, we are doing our best to keep the heating to a low level but  what with this weeks freeezing temperatures and snow, I feel we have not kept to that resolve either.   

I made  and filmed another dress yesterday but have not put the photographs on here yet just the film clips, I will share another day.  More frills on that one and a full wrap style.

Today we have been out for a long walk with family, the sun is shining so that looked really pretty with the snow.  It is really sticking around the snow at the moment when normally it melts after a few days, where we live the road is just ice.  After weeks of listening to the weather forecast telling us how mild it is, is this payback?  How dare we have such a mild Autumn.

Did I mention I have a new sewing book?  I thought I would treat myself to this one as there has been a lot of people raving about it.  It wasn't cheap but it is a reference book and I used my birthday money so that is ok.  It is The Palmer / Pletsch Complete Guide to Fitting, now I have been fitting clothes for years and mainly I have  to say doing it my own way, but it is full of interesting tips, advice and bits of history.  I am enjoying it so far.  Let me know below if you have this book and how you find it.  One of the most eye opening things for me has been the information about measuring for bust size and then choosing your pattern size using your high bust measurement.  On standard dress patterns I am sure there are people the world over who have been using their full bust measurement, I did!

Yesterday my son rescued three small coffee tables that were going in a skip at work that his boss was throwing out.  He contacted me as he knows I love to recycle furniture  they are now here so I will be sanding and painting those in the new year.  The smallest one is going at the side of younger son's bed and the other two? who knows, but I could not see them just thrown in the rubbish and they are wood too.

Right,  I am off  to try out some almond and cranberry biscuits,  I have a  basis of a recipe but it is not gluten free and I will change it a bit as I always do.  This time I will try to remember to take some photos before eating them all.

Keep warm everyone and have a relaxing weekend. 

Festive Dog coats

 Hello everyone and first of all can I say thank you for all your kind comments on my last post, it is so nice to know people are still reading and blogging is still a form that people want. To be more structured in the new year I was thinking of using 'the morning pages' from The Artists Way book. I did not finish the course last time, just read through in the end! 

 Now when I did part of that course earlier this year I did find the morning pages really hard going and I did not continue with it.  This was mainly because you were not to have a purpose for them but just to a brain emptying session every morning and also not read back through it.  I found that very time consuming and also rather pointless at times, three whole pages even if it means writing down I can't think what to write.  However I am now thinking if I adapt it to suit my needs better it could be useful, I will read through, sort ideas and plan from them.  Not what Julia had in mind but better for me I think, so hopefully this will help contibute towards blog posts, projects and plans for things I want to make and do.

On the subject of making I have whizzed off three festive dog coats this afternoon using more of that ever dwindling Christmas fabric.  I really do use all of my fabric and there are only small amounts left of the original bits now.  This did mean sewing strips together down the middle to make pieces big enough for the coats and I did want all three dogs matching but there was just not enough.  So as it is Bonnie and Clyde match and Little Marvin has his own design.  I am very happy with them, there is a waterproof layer (shopping bag) between the festive fabric and sweater fabric  so if it does rain they will not have wet backs at least.  They are not big on rain anyway so we usually wait for it to stop but we sometimes get caught in it.   Here they are and they would not stand still!...

                                                            Trying to hide behind dad's leg.

My two Jack Russels are Thirteen now so they do feel the cold more, layering fabric in these coats is a good way to make use of all the odd bits too.

There is the argument that these will not look like this for long based on the state the dogs are in when we get home, but things wash  and at least all the fabric was what I had.  It is just velcro for the fasteners and the little collar parts are cord fabric leftovers.

Over the last few evenings we have been watching a  drama series called flesh and Bone (very raunchy) this will nbot be everyones cup of tea and did think of not continuing half way through but  stuck with it as I really enjoy the ballet side of it.  It was just a shame that there wasn't more of the dancing and less of the pointless nudity, not being a prude it was just a bit much.  A brilliant dance scene at the end though. 

We have had a very long cold walk earlier today, and tommorow I am out for brunch for my Christmas meet up with friends so I hope it isn't too frosty as I don't  like driving in those conditions.  Have a lovely time whatever you are up to.  Bye for now. 

A December Start

 Hello to anyone who is still dropping by, I have been pretty much tied to my laptop or sewing machine but still not managed to get on here to post although I have to say it doesn't look like there is much activity anyway recently!  Have people stopped reading blogs? Please let me know if this is the case, I am very old fashioned and still like to read them myself. 

I have made a fabric wreath using up lots of oddments of Christmas fabric, the base is card wrapped in packaging then covered with fabric and all the leaves, cones, bow etc are handmade.  I did buy the three little bells but the rest is all handstitched.  I really love it when you can make something you want from recycled bits and not have to buy any special crafty bits.  It can be expensive to buy all the specialist equipment like wreath hoops and things like that, I much prefer to have my Blue  Peter moments (for those of you that watched that).  The cones were  result of a bit of experimentation, I am happy with their shapes and it has inspired me to create more things like this.  I seem to remember seeing a book in Waterstones about paper flowers that was very gorgeous, I have birthday money so I am thinking a trip to the shop may be in order to purchase that book.  Fabric and paper flowers coming up!  Anyway enough of the waffling, here is my wreath...

There have been lots of images floating around of very full wreaths covered in all sorts and of course you can make them as full as you desire but I got to this point and thought any more would just spoil the effect so I stopped.  What do you think?

I have a few more ideas of Christmas things I want to make, don't you always find you get to this stage of the year and one minute it is the 1st of December and the next you are running out of time for all the things you wanted to make.  Well one thing is some festive dog coats and I think if I plan on the dogs getting to wear these planned coats I had better get a move on.

Card making too, I am usually pretty good at getting this done as I tend to set aside a couple of chunks of time and get them all done.  That is going to have to start this week as we are seeing out of town relatives this Thursday so I can hand some over then.

I have had another few bad books in the reading department, one that was quite good was 'The Maidens' a little bit over done in places but it kept me turning the pages.  I have just started 'The Women of Troy' so we will see about that one.  My husband has bought me four Anthony Horrowitz books as a gift so I hope they will be good reads, not my usual  style but I did request some as I am trying new genres.

We had a lovely walk around Lagsett reservoire  on Friday morning before people were all aound.  We got there for eight fifteen so it was lovely if somewhat foggy .

Well I hope you are all having a lovely start to the festive season, let me know if you are still out there by leaving a comment, I do love to read them.  Bye for now. 

Burda Hoodie - Sewing Men's wear

 Hello, just a quick one today.  I thought I would share this hoodie that I made for my husband from Burda magazine 12/2020. I have had my eye on it for a while and I was going to make it as a surprise but then I decided it would be best to let my husband choose his own colours.   It was also useful for trying it on him too, for things such as cuffs.  

He opted for a shade of green (called old green) and also denim blue sweatshirting, the images in the magazine are navy and bright orange which I thought looked really good but I wasn't sure if he would wear it.  I think he needs to be a bit bolder with colours, anyway these colours look really nice together so it all worked out well.

I added a proper cuff to the pattern as the one in the magazine just had a binding around the bottom of the sleeve.  This is definitley a pattern I will make again and I am so pleased that he likes it as I really want to be able to make him more things in future.   

The old Burda magazines are all getting a good look through again too, there are so many options in there and even the ones you don't make first time around can look more interesting at a later date. It is good to use what we have so I am making the most of these issues, plus after a certain amount of time has passed it is like having a new magazine again (or is that just my age!). 

There has also been a bit of bag making as I haven't done any for a while...

I bought these books from the charity shop recently too, I can't quite remember if I shared these already. However after rereading The life changing magic of tidying up I decided once would have been enough and also this lady really loves throwing things away and while we have to declutter I would rather see things used and reused.  If you clear out your whole house in one go the chances are you will be tempted to just bin things you could have rehomed.  Ikigai- I listened to this with a voice over not of my liking on audio book and always felt i would have enjoyed it more if I had read the book so I am pleased with that find.  To kill a mocking bird is a gift.

Well that is all for today, take care. 

October...ing

 Hello everyone I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the Autumn.  I am really loving all the colours at the moment even though I would say I am very much a summer time person this season really does create some beautiful scenery. I thought I would close the month with an 'ing' post so here goes...

Travelling  to North Yorkshire for our last caravan trip of the year, we stay at a  little CL site called Spruce Gill farm and if you have a caravan I really recommend it.  Gorgeous scenery and it is a really well kept site.  It is also perfect for exploring the area and walking of course, we did have a really windy night one evening though and i thought we may end up finding the awning in the field opposite but it held up!

There were three caravans on the site while we were there now it does only aloow five anyway as it is a CL site but it really is gorgeous having so much space to ourselves.  It also means you can usually get in the toilet /shower block always a bonus. 😁

                              One of  our many and beautiful walks, it did rain a little but it soon blew over.

Dramatic grey skies, we saw a lot of people on this walk even though it was early and in term time.

Making lots of sweaters for work, I haven't got images of them all here as I have just chaged ny phone and they are not all on the laptop I nw realise.  Some I love some are being passed on, the latest one I made I think is my favourite and that is the one below...

Simplicity 8982 Brushwork Prints (Minerva)

This one is a really good shape, I did notice though that after having it on all day it made me a bit itchy at the front of the neck, I suppose that is the downside of having a high neck on a sweater knit.  Still love it though, I think maybe I had become a little warm.

                                         Simplicity 9385  Bubble Shoal sweater knit  (Minerva)

Simplicity 9450 Mimi G in Monstera street design (Minerva)

Simplicity 8177 Animal Glow (Minerva)

                                                    Rugged Trail sweater knit (Minerva)

So this last one has gone to my brother's girlfriend and the animal glow is going back to the office with a few other things.  I do find obviously I can't keep everything and in the spirit of not wanting to create waste I worry about this also I am sure a few other people will be with me on this.  No matter how much you love doing something you don't want to be responsible for added waste.  I would much rather things were used and loved. 

Reading  Priviledge by Guinevere Glasfurd, a really interesting story, historical fiction but with factual bits.  I always love a story about a period in history where the author has used real events it makes it much more fascinating and enjoyable.  I was pleased with this as I has a run of bad books before it.

Re-vamping my bathroom blind and also redecorating my bathroom, now the blind has gone through a number of transformations over the past fifteen years so you may have known me to do this before if you have been  around a while.  This time I used a thick oil cloth table cloth from Dunelm mill, as it was a nicer design than the fabrics they had on the roll.  It was a pretty quick job, just take out the old staples, remove the bottom bar or rod, sew a channel in the new fabric and restaple.

Framing some post cards tht I have had a year from Angelsey, they were just 30p each and the frames were £2 each from the charity shop.

                               It was a dark day when I took these photos, but I think they look cute.

Watching Buddy Holly and the Crickets tribute band at Penistone Paramount, we have had this booked for a year and they were really good.  We were sat right at the front which seemed like a good idea but then I actually felt quite conspicuous especially when they had everyone get up to dance to the slow songs.  A fabulous night out though.

Loving my new coat that I have just made, a friend gifted me the fabric as she didn't want it and the lining has just arrived today so I will be lining it now.   I will share more on this in another post.

Planning a bit of an overhaul of my wardobe, in terms of looking at what I can remake into more wearable items.  I make a lot now for work but it is not all practical  day to day or even my style.  The thrifty part of me thinks I should be using and wearing all of it so it is not wasted ans also so I don't waste money when I make clothes all the time.  However does this mean that I don't make clothes I love or that I have chosen the fabric for anymore in the spirit of being thrifty, and also making myself wear clothes that are not me is not going to make me happy is it?   I am going to be quite ruthless and refashion what I can, save some as they are for filming of course keep my favourites and of course whe have the option to pass on for demonstration purposes.  Anyone else feeling the same who is doing this?

Looking  forward to the new month ahead.  Thank you for stopping by today and if you have the time please watch my latest youtube video, I would also love it if you could comment and subscribe it would be great to meet you there.  Have a lovely week. 

                                                                                  watch here

 

Autumn Musings

 Hello, there is a definite chill in the air now so I have been planning what I need to add to my wardrobe.  A lot of what I have made this year has been for the summer months mainly due to work that I have been doing.  Lots of gorgeous prints and so on but now is the time that I am looking for ways to extend the life of these clothes, or pack them away for next year. I do find that with lots of things I can add a cami underneath, a long sleeved t shirt and I am good to go, or maybe the base layer and a cardi over.  Some items though are just too summery to do that with so they have been rolled and placed in a lidded box, a sad sign to the end of summer!  

I have just planned another coat, my husband will say this is not required as my wardrobe is full but the fabric was gifted from a friend when she was destashing and the patterns I already have.  In a recent video that I made for youtube I gave a few options of what I might make with it, now it is just a case of making the fabric fit what I choose.

Another little crafty thing that I did recently was to upcyle an old picture frame into a mini notice board for my sewing room.  I wanted to keep some of my personalty to it so I didn't want to buy one same as everyone else and also I am always all for keeping costs down.  So I painted the gold frame white, removed the glass and also painted the board at the back of the picture white.  Now this his taked about four coats as the board just drinks up the paint, the paint I had already so no extra cost there.  When it was all dry I made mini bunting, added fabric samples, a tape measure, a little sewing image, a few threads and a holder for my current pattern.  I am really happy with how it turned out and I think it does the trick.  I had been requested to add some colour to my space and I am all for colour but for the last year I had been under the impression I had to keep things plain professional and white background.  It does look more inviting with some colour, I also have to watch for darkening the space too much as it is a small room and my phone is not an iphone so I do all I can to keep the light in there.  Here it is below...

For research purposes I have been looking at the background of others in the sewing community but a lot appear to be in a much bigger space than me so if I start adding shelves and lots of stuff to walls I may lose a lot of the light quality.  I have been looking at second hand iphones, after years of saying never, I did look at filming cameras but got a bit overwhelmed by it all. 

Do any of you follow Kate at The Last Homely House on you tube?  Well this week I watched a video of her taking down her granddaughters quilt from her board, it is English paper pieced and the colours are just out of this world.  If you are not familiar with her channel go and have a look as her quilting is so beautiful and really they are works of art.   It has me inspired to have a go, she has been making it for the last three years, this is inbetween all the other things she makes and in the last video she also made a couple of quilted cushions to go with it, this was to teach people how to finish the edges. 

Other news, I am currently enjoyng House of  the Dragon, the Game of Thrones spin off, I have also been watching Bad sisters.  I don't really watch an regular tv we just pick a series to watch together then watch one in the evening usually after nine. 

For the rest of this month we have a few things planned, a night out for a curry for a family birthday, a long weekend away in the caravan to North yorkshire (Near Leyburn)  a  trip to the theatre to see a Buddy Holly tribute night and I paln to see a few friends for lunch one day.  So a few things going on, I don't usually have a very full month socially and that looks pretty full for me. 

I have been reading The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood and it is just plodding along, so it has taken me longer than usual I am almost done.  Also read  The Penelopiad by her also dull, maybe I need to give her books a miss now? Also started After Alice but this is not grabbing me either, every now and then I  have a run of bad books and it makes you think this is why some people don't like reading, if they tried to get into it then made a few bad choices it would put them off carrying on.  Maybe I need to start and just bring home a reall random armful from the library and then just put them down if they are dull, my trouble is I try to carry on as I hate leaving them unfinished.

Yesterday I checked out a Sewing magazine from the inline library and it reminded me why I don't buy them.  I must have flicked through it in no time, lots of ads, space fillers and just afew articles.  Good that you have this option online to look at magazines though.

Well that is my bit of a ramble for today I will link my latest youtube video below just in  case you want to watch,  Have a good week.

                                                                        Find the video here

Makes and Trips

 Hello everyone I thought I would do a catch up as September has just gone in a flash!  We have been away last weekend to Leek in our Caravan and then we have just one more weekend away in it booked for this year and then that will be it for the caravanning for this year until next spring.  I know people still use theirs in the winter months but I would rather be home when it is very cold to be honest, and go out from here, it is so much easier to get the dogs dry and warm if it is a wet miserable day. 

So we went to Leek and that was very lovely, while we were their we also had a really good walk at The Roaches, staffordshire to Ludds church, which is actually caves and quite a workout on the way back up. 

As you can see from my images we are already experiencing the darker days on our little trips out, I am in full Autumn mode here with the candles it every night and a fleecy blanket to  hand.  We have checked the heating still works today then promptly turned it back off again, we will not go cold but we are trying our best to hold off as long as we can.  They are not profiteering off me!  Bizarre as it sound having the candles lit does make it feel warmer, or am I just imagining that? Either way it's good. 

I have made quite a few things this past month so I will share a few below, all in viscose challis...

Simplicity 1107 in Pebble stone (minerva).  I really like the shape of this one but it has definitely had its season so will  be worn next year now.

Simplicity 1609 in Pop Cheetah  Loving these colours and think I may be able to get away with some wild tights and a long sleeved t shirt under this  to extend its across season wearablity.

     Simplicity 9133 view E in popcorn Jelly.  T-shirts always  handy, a sweater can over this one to keep me toasty.  Notice I have keeping warm on the brain.

                Simplicity 8921 in Urban Cheetah  view B, a balck top under this would work I think.

Simplicity 9122 in expressive butterflies, agian I can layer up!

That is just some of them and I have also had to repair my patchwork quilt that I have on my sofa and one of the dogs sits on it and sort of rubs it to get comfy.  Well he has managed to make holes here and there with his burrowing so I have has to add to the design I will get a photo one day when the lighting is better. 

I would like to do more patchwork as I have so many scraps and I do hate waste, I have not done as much bag making this year as I have had very few sales and storing them is the thing plus paying out fees all year ok  the listing fees aren't  massive (they make on you when you sell!) but they all add up. Quilting may be the way to go with them but I am not super accurate with all the shapes, I watch Kate at the last homely house on you tube as she works it all out and I think no, my work is a lot more haphazard than that when it comes to patchwork!

Just having a catch up now on all your blogs, I feel as though I have not  really had much time this month for just having a read through, lots of making and editing, also been a bit unwell and very low in energy.  Hoping to shake that off and start the Winter good and strong. 

Well I hope you are all keeping warm, saving the pennies, and enjoying lots of making.  I am off to read your blogs now so have a good weekend. Take care.