Days Out

We chose not to book a week away this summer holiday as we always fall unlucky with the weather. I know it has been glorious for weeks but oddly enough the week my husband booked off then cancelled, which was this past week, the weather has been raining in the lakes and that is where we were going to go!  He still retained a couple of days off and spread the rest out so we have had a couple of day trips out, I am wondering if this might always be a better idea as we travel about when we go away anyhow.  Not saying I never want to go away but you know good value to use your own home as a base rather than pay to stay in another home.  
 Thursday we went out on our bikes we have been doing this each week since I got mine four weeks ago.  We went on the cycle path from Wortley to Dunford bridge it is ten miles so a twenty mile round trip and I have to say my legs were a bit wobbly when I got back.  A nice day for this as it wasn't too hot and we managed to take a few pics along the way.

It is an old railway line as many of these paths are so you go through a tunnel which can be a welcome cool down.

Lots of lovely scenery along the way.

Some quirky things to see too!

These little fairy doors were everywhere, at least that's what I think they are and also sculptures here and there.

When you get to the car park at Dunford bridge there is this piece of art that was created to celebrate the Tour de Yorkshire.

Yesterday we chose to go to Bakewell for a walk around, it was much better than the last time we went as it was a weekday, weekends can be very busy there.   We parked at the top of a hill away from the main bit to get free parking we always do this when we go anywhere.  I don't understand why people pay a premium to park in the centre when they are able bodied.  If you are going to be walking around for the day anyway why not walk a bit further to your car?

We had some chips while watching the ducks.

These images are the walk down from the car, park in the centre and you miss this.

We also stopped and had a drink here...

In other news I am still getting bits from the greenhouse and garden, it's not a huge amount but it is good to know we grew it ourselves.

I also have a beetroot from my mother in-law's garden so I   will be making something with that later. I can't say it is something I have ever used much of but if she has a surplus of them I will be investigating ways to use them up. 

 

A New Take on an Old Pattern

This dress I am sharing today is from a pattern that I have had for years, I originally made for a work Christmas party about eleven years ago.  I remember this well as my youngest had started school and I was back working in the day out of the home (I worked form home for a few years before that) so a night out was a bit exciting.  I made it back then in red satin, which thinking about it now seems a bit over the top but oh well I was happy with it at the time.

I used more of my lucky dip fabric bag  fabric for this, this time a lightweight cotton but I chose to line the skirt and do the bodice double. I also added a twist by using a contrasting centre panel in a print. If you have read this blog before you will have seen this cherry fabric pop up in all  sorts of things, and it still keeps going, it is becoming a bit like 'where's Wally' lurking in every project!

I had to add a couple of darts to the front of the wrap pieces as well as little gathers, this style on me just does not stay put otherwise, I also pulled the straps quite snug also to save it gaping.

This is the pattern I used I wonder if anyone else has this pattern?

So yes I finished that yesterday and today it rained so it could be my fault, but we did need it after all.
Today I also bought two zips so I can continue making up the rest of the fabric but I also bought a remnant that was sitting on the counter just waiting for me.  The girl was just about to staple a price to it when I asked how much and how long it was, '£4 for two metres' so I came away with that too. Why not?

Another bit of good news today I manged to get my over locker blades in the correct position , they had not been cutting correctly since I changed them.  After watching a youtube video it is working perfectly  so I am  quite pleased about that, another job completed without having to pay someone else is always a bonus.

Striped Pencil Skirt

I've been getting on with more fabric from my Minerva Crafts lucky dip bag today, this time a blue and white stripe.  I knew what to do with this as soon as I saw it as I pictured it in my head. It was a combination of a pattern and one of my own as I know the fit of mine better.  People do like to see a pattern to work from though, I will link more on that for the Minerva post.

This feels like it will be a nice versatile skirt, and as it is relatively plain I'm hoping it will go with lots of tops.  The fabric is a bit stretchy but I still did a little walking split.

It is funny really as I probably would not have put this fabric in my basket but I love the result, as I've said before I get carried away with  colourful prints and neglect the wardrobe staples.

To make the pattern accurate I used some old wrapping paper that was in my cupboard and transferred my markings to that.  This kind of cheap paper is really good to use for that purpose as it has a little grid marked on the back of it, it is also a little sturdier than tissue paper.

After that was complete I had a dig around in what few patterns I have and found a nice summer dress for the black cotton.  It is going to have a twist as I'm putting a patterned piece in the middle of the dress (there I go again!) I hope to get that all done tomorrow so I can wear it for a night out with family.

We have just had a bit of rain here, it didn't last long but it has saved me one job. I also filled a little container with the golden cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse, very satisfying and  they didn't last long either.