Zip Through Hoodie

 Hello, I hope you are all well and are getting out a bit more, we actually managed to get get away in our caravan last weekend so that was lovely and well worth the wait.   We went to a site just outside Scarborough and it was beautiful, on a farm and there were only two other caravans there so it was really lovely and quiet.  Open farmland in every direction so beautiful scenery and that is just the way we like it as we are not into club houses and busy campsites.  We have a few more of these small farm sites booked so I am looking forward to that, we also have a weekend booked for York but that is on a larger site as it was all that we could get. I think the whole country are booking up the camp sites this year!

I also finished another sweater before I went to take with me, this one has a zip and it was perfect to wear while we were away because although it was sunny it was still very cool, especially by the sea.

Look at that land, so pretty and that was the view from our caravan too. 

This fabric is really cosy and soft on the inside, I am actually wearing it right now too as I came in from work and it was a bit cold in the house.  I am trying to fill the gaps with a few practical garments for my wardrobe, you know the things you always reach for but I am generally drawn to making pretty dresses and having nowhere to wear them to.

Here are a few pictures from our break, we went into Scarborough one day and Whitby the next, they are just a short drive away from the site.

Whitby Abbey with a suitably gothic sky.

I had a look in a small book shop while  we were there and bought the book Pan's Labyrinth, I had seen the film so was interested to see how the book was.  I am enjoying it so far, it is very different. 

Well that is all for now, have a good week.  

April...ing

 Hello,  I haven't done an 'ing' post for a while so here goes...

Planting lots of seeds both inside and out, it is wonderful to see things starting to come up now and things are now doing well in the greenhouse.  I had a few false starts as something ate, dug up, destroyed my first lot of seedling in the greenhouse!  I don't know what as is is sealed in there, the base did used to be the base of our raised pond so it is unlikely anything was getting in there but the young shoots just looked like they had been snipped with scissors.  Well that seems to have stopped and the next lot have done well.  I have also been starting some on a sunny windowsill upstairs because it gets so much light all day long, all of those plants are looking good too.

Sewing lots of things but one of the main things this last week was my new hoodie, it is very warm I had it on to walk the dog on Friday and it will come in very handy.  The pattern is the Tilly Stella hoodie, from the sewing stretch book and the fabric is from minerva.

A bit of sunshine this week too, what a treat I am now onto the next hoodie but that one will be a zip up.

I also made a t-shirt and I have no images of me in that yet so I will share that later this week.

Challenging myself to make and list an item for my shop each day of April, the main reason I chose this month for this was I knew I had a holiday for two weeks of it.  So far so good but I am back at work this week and it is getting harder as we go, I am also trying to reuse and scrap bust as much as possible with this so as you can imagine as the month goes on my bigger pieces are all but gone.  I did allow myself to buy a couple of fat quarters this week as I had a few sales last week.

So I will not bore you with every single item but as you can see I have been busy and with making photographing and listing it will be more tricky when I have been in work all day.  I will stick at it though as it is my aim for the month. 

Reading not as much as I would have liked and that is mainly because I have got stuck on a book I just don't like and have not had the inspiration to start anything else.  I was reading Where the Crawdads Sing because it was recommended to me by two people, plus all the hype everywhere.   The lady in the library even said to me when I collected it 'oh this had had so much attention' well I don't know why?  I must apologize to anybody who has enjoyed it but for me it has been one of those books where I pick it up get bored only read a little, repeat then eventually it has just sat beside my bed and I look at it and think I can't be bothered with that!  Now books are very personal so pleased don't be offended if you loved it but sometimes you just get one that you can't get into to and for me it was this one.   I have ordered  The Element by Ken Robinson and I am looking forward to that arriving, maybe I need a bit of a run of non fiction for a while.  I was saddened to read he had died last year, I was only watching one of his talks for the second time last week when I noticed a comment someone had left.

Watching Gasmaman on Prime I think it was, it is a Swedish drama and there are three series. It is worth a look though I have to say as it got to series three I was losing all sympathy for the main character.  She did rather appear to be bringing on all her own misfortune, get out of that life I was saying, you know getting all over involved!

Walking around Dam Flask first thing in the morning when there was hardly a soul there, it was lovely.  I really don't understand all these people so keen to get in large crowds outside pubs and events, give me a deserted bit of countryside any day.  I don't need crowds of people to have a good time.

Feeling excited about a new venture, I won't say too much now as I am still feeling like it might not happen so we will just have to wait and see.

Looking forward to getting away in the caravan soon, my husband gave it all a clean so not too long and maybe the weather will be warm enough.

That is all for now, stay safe and have a lovely week. 

 

Free Dress Pattern From V&A Museum

 Today I am sharing this dress that I made for frugal frocks on instagram, I have had this fabric for quite some time and I don't usually do that but I wasn't sure what to do with it but it just stuck around.  Anyway this challenge was to use up an existing piece and pair it with a free pattern.  We all love a free pattern, and how super is it to make a dress for free using only fabric you already have in your stash.

I found my  free pattern on the V&A website and it is for the Mary Quant Georgie dress,  The original dress is made from a stiffer fabric and has stripes but mine is very sheer and floral so a different take on this.  I found the pattern printed off nice and clear and also was colour coded for sizing which I thought was a nice touch.

As this dress is so sheer I have had to wear a slip underneath, the slip is actually orange so with the sun shining on it you can see it a little.  I may have to do another in white but for the purpose of this I just wore the one I had.

I do like the frill and I wasn't sure if I would, as ever I did not follow the instructions as that is one of my things that I never do with sewing so I cant really let you know if they were clear or not.  However I can say the sizing is accurate, I did have to jig around with the wrap over bit but then I always have to do that with a wrap.  I think it is because maybe I don't have enough to hold it out in front!

In all I think this fabric worked well with the dress, it certainly suits the style with the frills and when we have the right kind of weather I will be wearing this.

I had not used patterns from the V&A website before and there a re a few on there so if you are not familiar with it why not go and have a look.

Mostly this week I have been making purses and bags I was setting myself the challenge to list something on Etsy every day this month but when it hardly makes any difference to the very few views it is quite demoralising.  I will keep it up for the month as planned and if all else fails that is Christmas presents for some time sorted.   It is currently more an exercise in self discipline, but it would be lovely to just be home and sew.  I think a few of us feel like that right now.

This was leftover from the coat fabric from the last post, so I have been quite busy sewing and will happily do that with the music blasting away.

What have you all been up to?  I did manage to get out for a walk with friends today and that was lovely.  Seeing people in person what a treat!   Take care everyone. 

  

Coat Making

 Today I thought I would share a bit of the mystery sewing, I have made an anorak.  Now it is not water proof fabric although I do have a spray for that I have just not got around to spraying the jacket yet.  I think I will do a test piece first.  I have used the spray before on a proper outdoor coat so we will see how effective it is.  This is meant to be a spring / summer coat so hopefully not getting too wet (that is an optimist British comment!)  I did enjoy making this coat after a few initial blunders, one of them was I left the middle bit out of the hood and had it all topstitched with cord in and all, so that came out.

   The sleeves were also a bad fit in the arm hole so I unpicked those about three times and cut and faffed until I had a good fitting sleeve.   I do appreciate things like sleeves are not always going to fit first time so I will let the pattern off with that.   The pattern is again from Burda magazine this time the March issue and is style 109.

The fabric is art gallery fabrics from minerva and is a  poplin, I ordered a dusky pink lining but this hot pink one arrived.  I used it just the same and I think it works well.  

You spend so much time tracing off the patterns from the magazine I now feel I need to make another coat like this one to justify the time spent, although I don't really need one.  Anyway here are a few pictures, if you follow me on minerva.com you will have already seen it.  I am Sewing Green Lady on minerva if you want to follow me there.  You can also read more about the process there.

I must also add that I received the outer fabric as a Minerva Brand Ambassador so if you read my post on there please leave a comment I would like that.  I am not as good with the photos as many of the other makers on there, a lot of people seem to have exotic locations so thank you for bearing with me with my back garden and local park images ;)  When we can get away there may be some variation!

It is the 31st tomorrow so I will share my other make after that, did anyone else make anything for frugalfrocks?  If so let me know in the comments.

I'm off to cook the dinner now so I'll be back soon, enjoy the week. 

Mystery Sewing

 Hello I hope you are having a good week and enjoying the occasional bit of sunshine.  I got out in the greenhouse at the weekend and put a load more seeds in of various kinds, I also have some on the sunny windowsill upstairs but I am choosing not to leave them there too long as they will just get a nasty shock when they go outside!  I let them pop up and then off to the greenhouse with bubble wrap ove r, just until it warms a bit more.

I have made a decision and said if it means we can have a weekend away soon I will tolerate the porty loo in the caravan;0  up to now I said no I want the facilities open but do you know what if they say you can camp with your own facilities then we are off.

Last week I was working on a dress and i really like how it has turned out, I can't share yet though as it is going on instagram for the frugal frocks on the 31st.  I heard about this and thought what a nice idea so you all use fabric you have already no buying new for this, and then source a free print off pattern.  You all share your makes on the 31st of the month along with your source of pattern.  That way I suppose everybody gets a whole list of ideas for free pattern and some inspiration too. You have to tag in the yorkshire sew girl and frugalisama.

Here is a peek at a bit of my dress, I will share the rest after the 31st.

Ha Ha that is all I am sharing of that for now, it is really sheer material so I am wearing a slip that I already own under it, the slip is orange but there is a bit of orange in the daisy.

In bag making this week I made another retro style one...

The flower design on this bag I keep thinking is a wine glass or is that because I haven't had a glass of wine for over a month??

There are lots of flowers about in my house at the moment they are very cheery and it reminds me to have some about the place more often. 

The lovely tulips were from my friend but they have since dropped their petals.  Everything else is gradually going but I keep moving the bits that are still alive to another pot so the arrangements keep changing.

Below is a bit of card making for my husband, it is quite a big card and I drew the birds over a few days then stuck them to the tree that I made.  They are birds that we have been seeing in our garden, the 50 is cut from silver card too.  

                                  I like to draw and they are not perfect but it is at least personal.

These are the extras for my current project, I will share that soon too.  I have had the main fabric a few weeks but I have been waiting  for these bits to get on with it.  Any guesses what it will be  based on the extras??

Yes I know big cord small holes, I may need to rethink some parts of it.

Well that is all for today enjoy the rest of the week and take care.

Burda Dress 123

 Last weekend I made up this lovely fabric with hummingbirds on it into a dress from the March burda issue.  The image in the magazine  has the model wearing a fussy blouse underneath a plain black dress, my fabric is already a print so there will be no need for that and it has turned out to be a really good fit this one.

This dress has a frill at the bottom and this is not  something I would usually go for but I am trying to make different things this year rather than always going for the same styles. I do like it now that it is made up which just goes to show that we can surprise ourselves.  This fabric is a ponte roma and was so good to work with, everything just fell together with this dress, sometimes you make a garment and it is such a relaxing make and others you tear out your hair.  Funny that!

The colours on this fabric are just my thing so I know it will be getting some wear, it also feels very comfy so if you have this magazine I  would suggest giving this particular pattern a go as it is a good fit and a nice one to work through. 

Here is the image from the magazine.

I think my dress is longer because she is taller than me!

I also made a little bag, a slightly different shape to some of my others I am playing around with different variations at the moment but keeping them not too far away from the same size.  Anything too  big and I will  not be making any profit. 

 

We have had all the children back in school this week so it is nice to have  full class again, it makes life feel more normal.  I am looking forward to when we can get away for a little break and have a change of scenery.

I had a go at hand drawing a couple of cards this week, they all feature birds I have just realised I only took a picture of one of them and the others are upstairs in a box, I may get a few more images another

 day.

The leaves and flowers are cut from paper.

I have a few drawing books I got around Christmas time I am hoping to make more time for this too but there is always so much I want to do that I struggle to fit it all in.  I do find drawing very relaxing though.

The Midnight Library was finished this week too, if you haven't read it I would recommend it.  It is not a  very long book but it is quite an interesting concept and I really enjoyed it.  

On my trip to do the weekly shop I bought another pot of tulips. I am adding to my little collection of plants each time I go shopping.  I will be putting  in all my seeds soon but there is all that time of waiting for them to take off at this time of year so I decided each food shopping trip I will just keep adding a bit of instant colour. They often have some nice pots outside of the supermarket and what I do is I save on something in my shopping budget and allow for a plant, we don't miss out as I just get creative with the food.

Well I hope you are all enjoying your week whatever you are up to, take care. 

Saturday Pottering

 Hello, I hope you have all managed to get out and enjoy at least a bit of the sunshine this weekend.  Yesterday morning it was such a wonderful sight to see it streaming through the window first thing that I got up no problem and started my day on a positive note.  What a big difference the sunshine makes and there were signs of life everywhere when we went out with the dogs, so many plants have popped up in just this last week it really is lovely to see.  My husband took a few pictures, he has bought us a new camera mainly because we kept trying to take pictures of birds and they were coming out all fuzzy.  He bought a reconditioned one so new to us and with a huge discount from what it would have been new.

I did a few a little not too exciting sewing jobs such as, a couple of my handmade tops were just a bit loose at the wrist now they have been washed a few times so I sorted those so that they don't bother me when I wear them.  There was also my little sewing kit that I keep in my handbag for emergencies that needed repair.  My dog decided to pull it out of my bag one day when I foolishly left it in the living room open, he ran under the sofa and chewed all the edge of it.  It must have looked like a good chew toy, it has a plastic coating on it!  So that looked a bit worse for wear and it also had a little mock handle like it was a mini handbag, well that just made it take up too much room so I removed that and recovered the outer bit.  It was so hard to sew through being a plastic coating I should have probably just started again and made a new one, oh well it is done now. 

I had to hand stitch this with it being plastic coated and as you can see some of the stitches are large, I had a job getting the needle through.  I think I will put a trim around on the inside to cover that it is only me that sees it but it will bother me otherwise.

The garden has had some much needed attention, I was out yesterday tidying up all the beds and cleaning out the greenhouse.  I put a few primroses in front next to the door so it will be interesting to see if they last but that is all for now as it is early, I may start a few things inside on windowsills.

I have one of these at either side of the door, I may change the paint colour at some point soon.

Our printer packed up a few days ago so that is the next thing to break this year, we have another in reserve that was passed on to us at least so my husband set that up.  I had a free pattern for a dress I was going to make for frugal frocks next month but it prints all wrong!   It really makes no sense with lots of blank pages in between so I will be looking for another option.    The challenge is you use fabric you have already and a pattern you have found for free online then we all share, I found it on youtube but it will take place on instagram.  I am trying to take part in more of these things this year to be more sewciable. (Yes I know I did intend to spell it like that!)

I have a dress picked out of my magazine that I want to start this week, I just need to check my baking paper supplies first as I may need more.  It is from this months Burda and the image in the magazine she has it in plain black with a very fussy blouse underneath.  Well I am trying to move away from buying so much black so I have gone for a print and I may do the sleeves a little longer.

We have gone from excited back to a bit disappointed again this week planning our trips in our caravan, as now they are saying they won't be able to open sites at first due to shared toilets and showers.  Yet pubs will have far more people using their shared toilets all day long than say a small farm campsite with only a few pitches, or service stations??

 Who knows because the logic has not really made any sense all along and I use shared toilets at work every day as do many other people.  The issue with the cleaning well you take it as a given that you will wipe it all down as you go in as well as when you come out, just in case the person before you forgot.  That way it is up to each of us to keep our selves safe but maybe that makes too much sense.   My husband is busy booking a few in now as he has noticed the free cancelation option just in case. 

I hope you have a good weekend, take care.