That folksy photoshoot in full

No, not in full, actually, you’ll be relieved to hear, as I took roughly eight million pictures in order to get three decent ones that could be used on folksy and – if I ever get it together – on etsy.  It’s the three-needle knot bag, although this one only broke one needle…

I’m relatively pleased with the picture and very pleased with the bag.  But I’ll not do the sales pitch here!  Anyways, pic above is the cropped and close version.  Then I  thought it might be useful to have a record of the wider scene…

Good grief.  I think it’s time to investigate the light box option again.

Look what I found!

 

Can you believe my neighbours a few doors up were going to chuck this beauty out?  Okay, so when I rescued it, there was a little bit of bird poo and quite a lot of cobwebs on it.  But after an hour or so hard work with cream cleanser and iplayer repeats of Just  A Minute and Gardeners’ Question Time  (hello middle age!  I’m over here! come on in) and here it is in all its glory.  (Just ignore all the junk lying around the edges, ok?)  The shelf is enamel and slides out, which I imagine makes it fab for pastry, and there are lots of shelves and cubby nooks.  And it’s a perfect match for our kitchen!

As yet it’s empty but I can’t imagine it staying that way for long.  Meanwhile, Miss Small plays ovens with it, hence the birthday cake on the shelf.  Careful!  Hot!

Where I fall off the wagon

Ah yes, now what was I saying about fabric…?

 

I had a few hours to myself yesterday and spent it happily wandering around Ikea.  It was so nice to be able to actually stop and look at stuff without having to corral small children, keep them within reach, prevent shop destruction and total meltdown.  So, of course, fabric was top of the list.

And amazingly I’ve sewn with it!  Usually I’ll buy fabric and put it away because it’s too nice to sew, maybe stroke it occasionally, take it out and look at it, plan what I’ll sew – eventually – before noticing the time and packing up again.  I defy anyone to say this isn’t normal!

May I present…the fully reversible three-needle knot bag!

Why three-needle?

 

Here are the three needles I broke while sewing it.  Gah.   I must go and buy some proper heavy-weight upholstery needles for this sort of stuff.  (*sigh* . . . and again I miss the local fabric and craft shop which shut down a couple of weeks ago . . . ) It’s just such a drag going all the way into town for just needles but I cannot, repeat, cannot buy any more fabric.

Because I don’t have enough fabric…

Wow! Have you seen the latest Clothkits designs?   I love their use of print and colour – even as a child, I think I rather liked it, and coveted my friend Ann’s groovy gear.  But, I remember my mum was quite sniffy about Clothkits, saying it wasn’t proper sewing, kind of like using MaMade instead of preparing your own oranges for marmalade.  Yes, we were quite hardcore.  Oh, also, seeings as we’re ankle-deep in snow, I remember there also being an audible sniff when people used plastic snowshifters, as our own was a slab of wood nailed onto a broomstick.  Much tougher, but also weighed an absolute ton.  I saw a plastic snowshifter yesterday and passed it by, intending to make one myself (as I have done for the past three years) out of wood and a broomstick.  But two minutes down the road I was regretting that decision, borne of old thinking.  I may break with family tradition and just get the plastic one later on today.

Anyway, back to Clothkits.  I love the designers they’ve brought in – Rob Ryan and People will always need plates to name but two – and it really makes me wish I could draw/design/screenprint.  Cos I do kind of think £46 is quite a lot of cash for a skirt you have to sew yourself, and which doesn’t appear to have  much fitting or detailing on it other than the fabric.    But I really, really like these!  And am trying very hard not to give in to temptation…

Has anyone made one of these?  Any feedback?  And how does it look if you’re not quite built like the model on the website…?

Gee, I dunno

Maybe the internet is not such a great thing after all…

Or maybe it’s just me but I find myself simultaneously inspired and depressed by all the wondrous creativity that’s out there. I see things and think ‘ooh that’s a great idea, I could do something like that…’ immediately followed by ‘oh, no, I can’t because it’s someone else’s idea and how on earth am I going to think of something as fab that no-one else in the whole online world has thought of first?’ Maybe I need some time away from it all, to sew and write and draw and think…to be more sure of my own creative vision without the distraction of everyone else’s.

It’s not vintage, it’s just not new

I’m starting to really dislike the word vintage. It just seems a tad overused – and I fully admit, I’m as much to blame as anyone else for this. There just doesn’t seem to be another good word for old, second-hand stuff that’s quite cool. But it’s starting to be devalued because it’s so bloody ubiquitous. A quick search on etsy with the keyword ‘vintage’ brings up 201,954 items! Over two hundred thousand vintage items? Really? Aren’t some of these just, well, old? Or not-new? Or new, but with 50s reproduction graphics? How do we sift through these gazillion vintage items?

A dictionary hunt brings up three definitions of vintage as an adjective; one, pertaining to wine, one “characterised by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic” and representing the high quality of a past time” and the third meaning old and out-dated. I’m just not sure vintage is the right word.

So I put my hands up here and admit that most of my Ladybird stuff is described as vintage. I’ve tried other wordings but nothing quite fits…old has negative connotations, second-hand is accurate but not necessarily appealing. I’m stumped. And still using the word vintage far more than is really, strictly necessary.

Quick and easy felt brooch

There are some gorgeous felt artists around at the moment – I love Lupin‘s birds and cute embroidered badges, and Fibrespace‘s adorable hand-felted flowers. I’m not quite in their league, but as it was my friend’s birthday on Sunday, I thought I’d have a go at making her a simple felt brooch as part of my “buy less, make more” approach. Maybe you’d like to know how I did it?

First of all I measured the button I wanted for the middle of the brooch, then drew a wiggly circle around it. I didn’t want the circles to be too neat because chances are I’d not be able to cut them perfectly neatly and then it’d look a bit odd. But if it’s meant to be a bit wonky then it’s ok… ahem, where was I? Oh, yes, draw some wiggly sort-of concentric circles and cut them out from some sugar paper that miss small had been practising using scissors with.

Then I cut round these on the felt. I sewed the bottom two layers together in a small circle which would be covered by the next layer, but would provide some extra stability. Then sandwiched the next two layers and sewed the stack together. Then I blanket-stitched around the edges with embroidery thread and the help of this tutorial. If I’d been really ahead of the game I’d have done this before sewing the stack together, but hey, this is a learning process, right? A Hattifatteners mug of tea is also a useful aid at this point.

Finished it off with the button and a brooch pin ripped off an old knackered brooch from the supplies tin.

Ta-da! My friend either liked it a lot or is a very good actress. I’m choosing the former…