Lily Blouse

This blouse has taken rather longer than it should, sometimes I decide to do something different and then don't know where I am going with it, I don't know if anyone else has that too.  I started this last week then it sort of hung around for a while quite literally because I couldn't decide on the sleeve shape.  I have also really shrunk down what would have been larger pleats front and back to little tucks as I thought it looked too much.  Here is the finished blouse then I will go through the process.

I was going to do short raglan sleeves then went for  capped raglan and to be honest I don't really feel the top gains anything from the different style of sleeve I probably could have just cut the top as a front and back piece with the sleeves included but you have to try these  things to see don't you.

So I began by pinning my fabric to the mannequin to see how it would look, then I added some pleats which then turned to small tucks.  I also cut the shape of the neckline using paper then cut this out from the fabric, lining fabric for stiffness and interfacing.

I then had a play around with different shapes for the sleeves, I finally settled on a  capped raglan which was going to have pleats at the shoulder but it looked too fussy. (old fashioned)

I hand stitched the pleats in place once I had pinned them so that they didn't move about when I removed it from the mannequin.  The sleeves were trimmed to fit and notched at the centre shoulder.

When I had joined my neck pieces together I pinned the front and back pieces to them so I could get an idea how it would look, this was to save on unpicking later but because of this fabric shifting and fraying there was lots of that anyway.

I added a band around each sleeve for a neater finish and because it was a bit flimsy without.  There are belt loop each side, in the photos it is a ribbon tie belt but I have also tried it with a slim patent belt.

I like it now it is finished but there has been a bit of cursing going on under my breath mainly due to the amount of fray!  

The rest of the day has been quite a lazy one as I did not want to miss any of the sunshine, we get a little crazy her in the UK don't we at the first sign of sunshine because who knows how long it will last.  A bank holiday weekend with sun is particularly unusual we opted not to go anywhere as the traffic would have been mad so I just nipped to the shop for beer, to drink in the sun of course. I hope everyone else has been enjoying the weather too. 

Projects, Books and What's Growing

A bit of a catch up post today rounding up some of what has been happening over the last few weeks.  I am loving the greenhouse, even on a rainy day like today I can pop in and check on everything and it's nice and cosy.  It is amazing how much things have grown in the two weeks since we put them in, we went straight out when the greenhouse was finished and bought some small veg plants to starts us off then I bought some seeds.  I wish I had measured everything now as they have grown such a lot, especially the swiss chard which was tiny...

I put it in that pot as it had lots of room, it may need moving soon!

Tomatoes and courgettes.

The strawberries always get ravaged by the birds outside so we thought we try those inside but one is flowering already, will this force them on too soon?  Advice welcome.

I thought I'd killed these Kale when I put them in as they were tiny and looked very unhappy at first but now they are growing .  I also planted seeds of purple kale which are now  just coming up...

This is quite exciting!

Basil coming up there in the middle, chives and parsley either side (when they show) my friend bought me this little set as a gift about a year ago. 

There are other things in there as well but I am sure you will get bored with looking at pictures of my plants, you may not find it as exciting as I do but I will update as things develop so you have been warned.  

I have finished two books this last couple of weeks Eleanor Marx A life by Rachel Holmes, this was fascinating but heavy, literally. It was quite intense to read and a big thick hardback so also hard going to hold up while reading.  I started it before my holiday and finished it last week, what an interesting life, I may not have agreed with all her ways of thinking but wow! Definitely worth a look, I actually read this because of the Essex Serpent it was listed at the back as a subject of research and I'm so glad I followed it up.

I then started a novel called In a Cottage in a Wood by Cass Green, when I first started this I was very nearly put off by the first few pages. It begins with a scene in a grotty hotel room after a one night stand and after the beautiful language of Jane Eyre a few weeks ago it felt a bit jarring.  I am glad I stuck with it as I really enjoyed it, there are a few twists and just enough suspense.

On the sewing front I have two projects to attend to, one is for Minerva and has just been cut out.  I couldn't go any further until I had been and bought the lining fabric which I have done today. The thing is I didn't want to take all the pattern pieces off until I had the lining and I could see everything was there.  I am using a pattern this time, my favourite jacket one...

An unusual choice for a jacket I know, but we will see what it is alike when it is all made up.

While I was there I also spotted this lovely black fabric which will become a top tomorrow, I just need to decide on my neckline I have an idea to do something a bit different but not sure if it will work.  Pattern free again for this top so just a case of working it out.

I may have been influenced by the growing theme here. 😊

Handmade Greenhouse Reveal

My husband starting building me a greenhouse late last Autumn using the hand made base he constructed for what used to be our raised fish pond, he has made me wait until it is completely finished before I show the pictures so here it is and I think he has done an amazing job.  Everything was made from scratch, using wood we had, sale wood and new wood at full price from  builders merchants.  He just made the frame as he went along tweaking things where necessary.

I thought I'd start with the finished item then work back.

It has two opening windows, one on the end and one at the side and the benches for planting are all built in.  We left the back wall without benched as grow bags will go there, we also opted to panel that wall as it just backs onto the garden fence anyway.

This was how it began, my husband drained the pond and cleared it out.

He cut a doorway at the side.

The beginning of the frame.

The bit of mesh you can see just inside the opening was to block the doorway when he wasn't working on it as the dogs wanted to go in there and use it like a toilet.

This next part took a bit of time, he was very thorough.

Starting the roof.

Making the benches.

Gravel on the floor.

A lick of paint.

Panelling on the back wall.

So on the roof he used dual wall polycarbonate and for the windows clear acrylic as it was supposed to be more efficient and safer than glass.   He has also added a mini guttering and a small water butt. In total for everything he had to buy it has cost roughly £400, I think this is amazing given the quality of what he has built and the price of flimsy greenhouses in the shops, I would say this is more of a garden building. Of course there were many man hours put into this project but he has enjoyed the process.