New Look Jacket and Top Combo

Happy new year everyone, I hope you all had a relaxing time over the Christmas period and are all ready and eager to take on the new year.  Thank you for reading and all your lovely comments I look forward to seeing what all of you make during the coming months.

Yesterday I made up the top from New Look pattern K6532, I shared a little about this last week when I cut it all out, it made up quickly and with just a little tweaking to make it more fitted I know it will be a favourite.  I wore it today and it is very comfy, just a couple of images to share as it is for a Minerva post.

I have also made the jacket from the pattern and I finished that today, I have to say they will not be worn together as it is a bit much but it was fun to try the jacket as it is completely different in shape to my usual style.

It is quite flared at the back. I think a plain top under it would be a better option. 

This morning when I got up I read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, I really wanted to love it probably because I bought it!  I usually get most of my books from the library but had this one on my list so I thought I would have a treat. Oh dear, it just felt like the same message all the way through, and it is a good message but it didn't need a whole book.  The basic idea behind the book is that ideas are out there ready for us to make them real, if you have an urge to make something then do it, don't wait for the right time or permission from anyone else. That is it but said over many pages and in lots of different ways with anecdotes to accompany the points made.  I am in awe of anyone who can write and publish a book and get it out there so well done to her.  I really enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love  but not this book but hey, great job getting her ideas out there!

I am also in the middle of The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and that is fascinating I would urge anyone to read it who is interested in the impact of diet on health or if you are not into a heavy read at least look up the China Study on YouTube and the man himself.  I am sure there is lots of information on there.

By way of sewing I have some practical projects to get on with for friends over the next few days, curtain pelmets and zips.  For myself I plan to make a new shoulder bag over the next month.  I have seen a bag on the Desigual website that is £99 pounds!  The design is lovely so  I am going to make something similar, not exactly the same but taking inspiration from it.  There are a couple of bits of bag furniture I need to order and some bits will be recycled from materials I already have, I am quite looking forward to that.  Other than that my sewing over the coming months will be spontaneous, how about all of you? Do you plan for the year ahead what you will make or do you wait and see what you fancy?


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December

Hi there, I have been a little blog absent I know this past couple of weeks but it has been a funny month.  Just about everyone I know has had this awful cough/cold bug which has not been helped at work by the heating not working for the whole month!  It did finally get fixed a couple of days before we broke up for Christmas. Prior to that I had the sick bug at the end of November on my day off!  We did manage to get to the theatre at the start of the month to see Rock of Ages and that was fab, I mentioned that in my last post but I thought it was at least a positive start to the month despite all the germs flying around.

I did manage to take this photograph of the big wheel in Sheffield as we were coming out of the theatre and I thought it looked lovely all lit up.

We don't go into the city centre all that often not unless we have a specific purpose, my mum on the other hand goes a couple of times a week.  That was something we always did when I was a child, Saturday we went into town. Ok there was some food shopping to be done as there were not supermarkets everywhere back then but even as a teenager I went with my friends, it was as if we had been indoctrinated into the shopping as a hobby mindset.  It is not something I have ever done since, so our occasional trips often provide me with something new to see as everything changes so quickly.

My friends and I also has a trip out for afternoon tea this month at Wortley Hall as our little Christmas meet up, seeing my friends was lovely but the afternoon tea for me was a disappointment,  now if you have no special dietary need then it is fab because my friends got a lovely selection of food. They appeared to have just thrown a few bits together for me though, despite the fact that I let them know when I booked two weeks before, then again on arrival to be sure.  When they did bring my plate out my friend took this photo for me...

I look happy here but this was not my food!

So far so good but when I looked the sandwiches had meat in and that pudding is milk based, I explained I had the wrong plate and then had to wait about 25 minutes.  When it came back I had a sandwich containing just tomato, one with just cucumber and one just pepper with onion, the tall pudding was gone of course but not replaced this pitiful bit of food still remained £13.99 no offer of a reduction but saying that no one ever came back to ask if everything was ok we ended up paying at the reception desk as we left. This was a real shame as we had been before and they did a brilliant job that time making me up a vegan plate, it must depend on the chef, not that making sandwiches requires chef training.

In complete contrast to that experience I had an amazing Christmas lunch in school.  The cook did an incredible job catering for all the different needs of the children and staff, the food was so good and all for the price of a school meal.  So it just goes to show it is possible if she can do it on that grand scale.

I did treat myself to a new cookbook this month Cook, Share, Eat Vegan by Aine Carlin.  I have tried three things out of it already and they have all been tasty.  I am marking each page with a post- it as I go with the aim to try just about everything, I have had cook books in the past where I haven't made very much from them but I have a few by this author and they are usually good and the food is well balanced.  The post-it idea is to remind me to keep trying new things, I am also making little comments on them about the dishes.

We have visited family and had family over for Christmas lunch but  other than that no other outings over the Christmas period, we don't generally go out for New year either as we never have.  |That is all fine by me as we certainly won't have to worry about any huge bills come January.  I am happy to relax, walk the dogs, read and get a bit of sewing done.  Speaking of which this is what I am currently working on...

I am doing a long sleeved version of the top and the jacket may stay the same if it suits me, if not I will modify it a bit.
 The fabric was sent by Minerva crafts, also be sure to have a peak at my post on Saturday 29th December as my butterfly dress will be on the Minerva Crafts Blog then.

I hope you are all having a lovely relaxing time and are ready for the new year ahead, best wishes to everyone and thank you for reading.


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Handmade Gift

I finished another little crochet project last week but I have to say parts of it were pulled apart and redone about three times as the sizes of parts didn't work out!  I got the pattern from a link on pinterest but first of all everything came out ludicrously small,  then ok but the wings were the wrong size, (it's a penguin by the way) so more unravelling.  Well I know it could be me that did it wrong but after checking and redoing I gave up on the pattern and made it up as I went. I winged it.  (ha really bad I know)  So I did get there in the end and I'm quite attached to the little guy now, he is part of a themed gift for my friend's baby boy.

I have also made a little hooded jacket that I have appliqued penguins to the front and back, with mismatched buttons in pale blue and turquoise.  I really enjoyed making this and can think of a whole range of wildlife themed children's clothes I want to make, but steady on let's see if that fits him first.  As it is a surprise I couldn't ask for clothing to check against so I just did his age but a bit bigger.  Finally I ordered a nice picture book off amazon to go with the items.

I think adults are often hard to buy gifts for but there are so many lovely little things you can do for children.  My boys are not little any more but I used to love making them dressing up outfits as that was something they loved to do.  I also made toys from felt to go with characters from favourite books a few times.  

Here a few more pictures, sorry bad lighting time of year again!

 Here is the back of the jacket, I had to do the penguin low so the hood didn't cover him.

I decided on buttons because I thought a zip might a bit scratchy near his face.

The eyes are just stitched from wool, the original instructions (that I threw away) said use sew on eyes but I thought that may be dangerous,  so best to sew the effect of eyes instead.  My friend has been told not to peek at the blog as she sometimes reads it.  I hope it is all ok for him.  What gifts have you all been making?  I always love to read your comments.

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