Leap day

I knew there would be an extra day this month but it wasn't until this morning that it dawned on me it's TODAY!I thought I should take the opportunity to at least say hello - I won't get to post on February 29th again for quite a while!

The little dresses I made last week are now washed and ironed and I've just cut out the pockets.  I don't have time to finish them before I leave for work though, so they'll probably have to wait until the weekend.

Apologies for the lighting and that they're not ironed yet! I've got some nice soft cotton sheeting to use as the lining, and will add some contrast bias binding to the top edge. At some point I want to make some "smiley's" to go in the pocket too.

Better go - the motorway awaits me and it looks like it's going to be a sunny drive. Bye for now - and "happy leap day"!

That's so cute!

Well, I've made 4 dresses so far this week, all using the peasant dress pattern which is free to download from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom. Thankyou!!
(NB The downloadable pattern only has the pattern pieces - you'll need to go back to the blog page for the instructions. Be warned though, there are loads of adverts, which I suppose is payback for the free pattern. In the end, I took a "screenshot" of the instructions as the page took forever to scroll through as the ads were constantly loading and changing...)

I started with the fabric I showed you last time and made a size 7-8 dress. (I haven't managed to get a photo in decent light yet.) I'd forgotten just how fast this pattern works up! Not including the pocket,  it's done in under an hour.
(I am slightly concerned about the width at the hem... I made it as wide as the fabric would allow but next time I make a larger size, I'll buy more fabric and lay it out differently.)

Next, I dug out the green rose print fabric I bought nearly a year ago intending to make myself a dress for a family wedding. I changed my mind and the fabric got tucked away. There's 3.5m of it! It was from the same range of rose print fabric that I bought last autumn, so I used some of that (in pink) for the sleeves. I decided to go for the smallest size on the pattern - 12-18 mths.
When you measure the skirt length, you're told to measure X inches down,plus X inches across. But this will add all the extra width at the side,rather than across the full width.  So I did my usual trick and changed the pattern... as you can see in the photo below, the right hand edge of the pattern piece has been "swivelled" a bit. This gives about an extra inch in the centre at the hem. At the side edge I simply followed the angle of the pattern and the two together gave the width the pattern called for.

To get the right curve on the hem, I folded the side edge in to meet the centre fold.

Then flip the fabric over and you'll see that little "lip" that's stuck out at bottom right. Do you see it there? Cut it off.

There you go!

Now, when you lay the front and back out flat, you can see the hem has a slight upward curve at the side edges. Perfect! 

After that, I followed the peasant dress pattern exactly. And then did it again! And here are the finished dresses, although I've not done the pockets yet  -

Aren't they CUTE?! Not a word I use often, and I've written it in capitals!

I quickly followed them with another in the gorgeous animal print I got in the sale last year. There wasn't really enough, so I had to make it a bit shorter and used bias binding on the hem edge rather than a turned hem. But that made it look SUPER CUTE!

Admit it - you want to give it a try yourself now don't you?!

Recharging the batteries

I'm taking a few days off work this week to try and recharge the batteries, so to speak. I thought some time well spent with friends, a walk or two and a little sewing was in order.
I still have ample fabric to make some more girls dresses and noticed on Facebook that the organisers were particularly requesting the peasant style dresses, rather than pillow case style. They also mentioned that the US site has stopped accepting pillow case dresses as people keep making them from their old worn out thin ones,rather than nice new ones. Can you believe it? Why would anyone do that?
But I have nice new fabric I'll be using. Naturally I needed to buy a little something extra though!

I bought this patterned fabric (on the right) in a sale last summer but never got round to making a dress from it. Now that I'm planning on doing a dress with cap sleeves, I needed something to make the sleeves with as there wouldn't be enough of the main fabric. I popped to my local fabric shop and looked at lots of pretty coloured fabrics that picked up on the flowers and leaves but they all had so much contrast that all you'd see with the finished dress would be the sleeves. So I decided to go for the simple tartan pattern on the left that almost matches the background colour of the main fabric. I may get it cut out today but probably won't have time to sew until Tuesday but I'll try and post some photos when it's finished.

I was considering taking lots of pics along the way so you can see just how easy they are to make but I think rather than do that, it would be simpler to give you all the links to the websites with the free patterns and tell you which are my favourites. I've also set up a separate tab, which you'll see at the top of the page, where I'll put pics of the dresses I've made and links etc, so everything useful is in one place.

I also came across a very moving prayer/poem which I have posted in full rather than just a link. Go and read it. NOW. Then make one dress and post it off.
Back again soon...

What not to do when crafting...

Take my advice - when you're happily crafting away and decide the best fabric/notion to use is an everyday item that you just happen to have to hand but only need half of it - don't put the other half back where you found it. No, instead, put it with your craft supplies. Or, like me, you may find yourself in this situation...

I had two functions to go to. A dinner with friends at a nice restaurant. And the next day, a wedding. I needed a pair of skin tone tights for each event. I checked the box beforehand and yes, there were 2 new  pairs, so no need to buy more (I rarely wear tights as I live and die in trousers).

I wear pair number one for the dinner. No problem. Next day I get the box out again and grab pair number two. And found this -

Two things dawned on me then. Firstly, that when I got the first pair out of the box the night before I remember thinking that pair 2 didn't take up as much room as it should. And secondly, that the last time I was making Sheep Paperweights, I needed something to make the bean bag that goes inside it to stop the pearl barley filling escaping through the knitted body. Normally I use a pop sock/knee high but didn't have any left at the time, so cut a leg off a pair of tights. Then put them back in the box!!!!!!!!! DOH!!!

So take my advice, when utilising everyday items for your crafting. Don't put them back in the box....

A whole year on-line !!

It dawned on me recently that I've been writing my little blog for almost a year and maybe I should write a round-up post, like other bloggers. (And I must apologise that my blog writing has been somewhat disjointed and often jumps from subject to subject - I still haven't quite got the hang of it!)
Originally, I had intended my blog to be simply about crafting (Allsorts of crafting) but it hasn't quite turned out that way. But I think perhaps an anniversary round-up should concentrate on the crafting side of my life, as that is an area that has given me great pleasure throughout the year. And I may throw in some photos from Hillier Gardens and the like. I find a walk in pleasant surroundings always soothes the soul.

So, do I go for just for a timeline of photos of what I've made and what I've seen? Or a bit of text with some links so you can go and read about it?? Maybe a mix of the two?? Or make it up as I go along and hop from subject to subject?!

Let's start with Emma's blanket - that's the Stripey Crochet Blanket that I originally used for my header (although I have now changed it, albeit temporarily). You'll see a link in the sidebar to my Ravelry page for the blanket. I never wrote a pattern for it but there is some info about it and the links to the lady who wrote the pattern that inspired me.Watching the "view count" gradually going up has given me a lot of pleasure in the 3 years since I made it and you may have seen the screen dump I posted recently when it reached 11,111 views.

I had quite a shock last week when I was happily cruising around Pinterest (I loooove Pinterest in case you haven't realised) and by chance came across another of the Ravelry pics I'd posted and noticed it had been re-pinned 34.3k times. Yes, over THIRTY FOUR THOUSAND times!!! Woo Hoo!!

It seems strange to think that so many people liked it enough to re-pin the picture and clearly, quite a few of them followed the link to Ravelry and possibly from there to this blog. Fancy that!

Maybe one day I'll get round to writing a proper post about the other 2 blankets you'll find in the sidebar - the hexagon blanket and ripple blanket. They haven't been viewed anywhere near as often. But maybe one day...

Looking back through my blog, the next project I shared was a book cover. This was in response to something I had seen on Pinterest and I wanted to make my own version. I will add a link here to my Book Cover as that's my first try at a tutorial. You'll find links there to a better tutorial that I followed, along with the reasons why I was making it and who it was for. Those reasons still continued to echo through my life to this day.

Following hot on the heels of the book cover was Pocket Love, which if you are a regular reader you'll know I have returned to recently. The original idea came from HERE and is a simple, yet very sweet idea.
I think I'll keep returning to these little love hearts as they are a true pleasure to make.

My next project was a needle case. Oh what an absolute JOY it was to design and make! There have been few things I have enjoyed making as much as this sweet little needle case. It's one of the best things I've ever made and I love everything about it - and it's currently being used as my blog header. I do so hope Mara, the recipient, loves it too and is making use of it.

I enjoyed it so much, I took lots of photos along the way and used them to write a TUTORIAL which has it's own page. There are links there if you'd like to read more about who it was for - it's part of that echo I mentioned.

I made some other little bits to go with it and then put together a sewing kit with everything I could think of that might come in handy. I often wonder if Mara uses it. Or maybe her Mum does.

During the sewing kit's journey to the far side of the world, I came to hear about Dress a Girl Around the World. This is an international project that aims to give every girl at least one best dress. Or for the boys, shorts.
I realised this was something I could easily get involved with and having followed some links to find good free patterns, I proceeded to make quite a few dresses and shorts.

 

I tried to make/write a pattern for this little version of one of the dresses I made and a link to it was added to the "Dress a Girl" website, and lots of you have come via that link, for which I Thank You.
I plan to make some more dresses for this very worthwhile project soon.

The little smiley face was designed to go in the dress pocket, so the girl receiving it would have her own little toy to treasure.

Around the same time, I was also working on a Chicken Doorstop Tutorial. Something else I really enjoyed doing.

They were quickly joined by paperweight sized chicks.

We're six months into blogging by this time and August beckons. There were lots of garden visits and walks but I think I still managed to make a fair amount that month. The thing that sticks in my mind are the boys shorts as part of the Dress a Girl project.

Life started to get a bit strange for a while after that - for want of a better word. I was still making things but with the intention of trying to sell them to supplement my income. It turned out to be a complete waste of time as almost no-one wanted what I'd made. I won't talk about it further, just share a pic of my favourite make. I actually kept this zipped purse - it was the first one I made in this design and I used my favourite fabrics at the time (from Mara's needle case) and it's currently filled with all the bits I need to make the Pocket Love Hearts.

After that, work became so busy that for the next 3 months there wasn't much time for making things. I managed to make some crochet flowers which I shared amongst family and friends - which were sort of a contribution to Flowers for Memories. These were my favourites -

Then Christmas came and went and in January I started work on a crochet mandala cushion cover. It turned out somewhat gaudy I must admit, but the recipient didn't mind one bit. 

If you visit regularly, you will already have seen the Valentine Pocket Love pic. This was a January/February project I worked on as a fundraiser and every single one sold!

And that brings us up to date with the crafting really, other than to say, if you look up at the tool bar you'll see a Tea Cosie tab. I used to make them to sell for charity and thought it might be nice to share some, should you want to take a look. Every so often I go back and write a bit more as I come across photos.

Shall I pick some "garden" photos now? I take so many, it's probably best just to pick them fairly randomly - I'll be here all day trying to choose favourites! I'll try very hard not to pick too many! And in case you're wondering about the second photo - no, there's nothing wrong with your eyes or your screen, there really are 2 bulls-eyes mowed into the lawn!!

  

And that's it. A year in the life of, so to speak... 

For  a while I did consider winding up my blog but I think I'll keep going for now at least, although probably not as often. But I'll try and bring in more crafting if I can.

Thanks for reading - I really do appreciate it even if I don't say so. Bye for now,
Tinaspice xXx