June...ing

Well I have been a little blog absent this last few weeks but sometimes you have to have a little  break especially at the moment. Last week I had intended to post here but I had pulled my back and couldn't think of anything else for days, no sleep, couldn't sit for any period and generally feeling a bit useless at hurting my back!  Therefor I did not complete the sewing planned for the weekend, it is all cut and ready to go...

Planning a jumpsuit, well tracing off and cutting out then leaving on the table all week! That is what happened but that can't be helped but the weekend is nearly here and I will finish it off then.  It is the Burda jumpsuit that I shared from the magazine and the third make form the May issue.

Here is my cut fabric, when will I wear this? Well hopefully soon and lots I like to make things that I can wear every day but my days are looking very different at work so we will have to see.

Adapting to my work... small classes mean I am often surplus, so cleaning sorting etc, it can be dull at times. I love the busy ordered day where we have so much to do and lots of children to work with with.  The difference is quite drastic and as we all do I long for normality.

Reading  some of the books I have bought, I have read a little book on Frida Kahlo it wasn't very long but I like the way it was styled.  You could say it was more of a gift book really with just a few art pictures, quotes and details of her life.  I enjoyed it but it was a very quick read as the pages were meant to look pretty rather then be fact filled.  I am still enjoying Things in Jars by Jess Kidd, reading at a slower pace and in no hurry  but loving it none the less.  Next on my list will be Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik I have enjoyed her other novels  so I thought I would give this one a try.

Now this is rare for me as I am a lover of the library and charity shops for my books but we do  not have that option at the moment so I have bought new.  I am ok with that as it is out of necessity and they will be treasured.

Loving  all the plants starting to flower in the garden, there is still a lot that will be a while yet but the ones that are are starting to bloom are looking lovely.

 We have three water butts and we are getting through a lot plus there are the courgettes and tomatoes which tend to be very thirsty.  I love watching things grow however and I am perhaps too over excited at at a new bloom.

Watching Sinner and we are are on series three I believe, my uncertainty is due to the male habit of always having the remote so I know what we watch but I often struggle to tell you if it is on Netflix, Now or whatever!  It may even be sky... anyhow we are binge watching that this week, well does one episode a night equal binge watching?? I think the young people would probably watch the whole series in one sitting, but that is not my thing.

Browsing  my new copy of Burda magazine but I am not as taken with this copy, I would say I don't need a pattern for all of the items in it so why would I trace them?  There is maybe one dress that I will make but it is not great I feel for July.  Everything is way too basic, it could be the time of year and the styles or just because I haver made similar before.

That is all for now, I hope to be sewing productive this weekend so I will hopefully have something to share next time, take care.

Sewing for Boys

I hope you are all having a good weekend,  I have spent the last two afternoons making two jackets for my friend's boys.  They are my latest make from the burda  June issue, the sizing didn't go down small enough for the baby one so I have had to create my own pattern from a little jacket my friend dropped off.  I made the bigger jacket first then worried it was a tad too short so I have added a cuff to the bottom to give it extra length and it also now has four buttons not three.

I chose to line the jackets but they are not lined in the magazine, I also faced them my own way as the pattern just shows it as continuous piping.  Always I have to go off on my own way, I think you just find your own preference for doing things after time.

Oops I forgot to take another picture of the larger one with the amended hem, it just has a cuff like you have on a bomber jacket but in cotton.  That is the only difference a bit more a big boys jacket.

It has been some time since I have made things for my boys, also they always used to want dressing up clothes making of whatever the favourite character of the moment was.

If anyone has a good idea about the sizings relate to UK ages it would be helpful, I know all children are different but I find the height info an odd way of doing it.

The fabric for the jumpsuit has arrived so that is next, I just need to trace those pieces off, I did find that I ordered a coral button to go with the coral fabric and the colours are nothing like each other, possibly coral can cover a range of colour shades.

This evening I have been watching Goodbye Christopher Robin, it makes no sense to me how the upper class could be so far removed from their children.  You would think if they had missed out on time and attention from their parents they would be more determined to change things but no it appears it just passed through the generations.

Well that is all for now, take care everyone.

Retro Sewing on a Rainy Day

A little bit of bag making today and I just loved this fabric as soon as I saw it when it arrived in my gift bag from Jo.  The colours are very 1970s I think and I decided to do a little bow design to keep it in that sort of same style, it was really fun to make with a bit of playing around with the bow to get it just the right size in the right spot.

I have used a number of fabrics on this one with three layers in the body, one of them being a waterproof piece as the outer body is not, there was only just a small amount of the black faux leather left so this has just been used as detail at the edges, underneath and on the strap.  Although I would have to say do we ever let our handbags get completely soaked, I think not but the extra layer gives a bit of protection from the damp.

I am happy with how this turned out and I may do other variations of this design, experimenting with where the bow can go and so on.

While I was making this I listened to a couple of videos about etsy, I say listened as it was just people talking so I didn't really need to look.  There were a few interesting tips but I am always left feeling very behind with the whole techy thing whenever I listen to this sort of stuff.  Everyone making these videos always seems so young and they have grown up  with IT as a first language while all us older people are still frantically peddling to catch up.  Or is that just me?

I also made a few more face masks for my friend and I will give those to her tomorrow at work, I really do not relish the idea of having to wear these things for any length of time. It can get very hot behind a mask.

People are making lots of these but I do find them rather boring to make, is because they are now a necessity and things like that are never as much fun?  I went to visit my mum earlier and she has an appointment next month so she will be needing some and my brother asked for some for his girlfriend so obviously I am not done yet.  I had better source some more elastic.

There are some lovely courgette flowers growing in the greenhouse and lots of buds on various plants, it would be nice to see the sun again although I do appreciate the gardens were in need of a good drink.  It is much more fun gardening when the sun is shining and you are not getting blown about, a few of the taller plants are starting to lean due to all the wind and just as they were getting stronger!  Lets hope this cool snap doesn't last long.

I have strarted a new book 'Things in Jars' by Jess Kidd it is nice to be reading something other than War and Peace after all these weeks and a nice change of pace.   I'm not fully into it yet as I have only just started it, I'll let you know if it is any good as the reviews were very mixed as they often are. 

That is all for now, take care.