On my needles... Feb 2016

Whilst I haven't been able to get my teeth into any sewing projects for a while, I have been enjoying rediscovering knitting. I've always loved the idea of being able to knit my own clothes; I mostly envision vintage style cardigans.

I started knitting my first garment last summer, which I blogged about in a post on my progress in June 2015. I had decided as a beginner that I would start with the Simple Round Neck Sweater from Learn to Knit, Love to Knit by Anna Wilkinson. However, after finishing the back and getting started on the front, the project stalled.

Since I have not been feeling up to any sewing I picked up the project again but wasn't feeling inspired. I think the reason for this stems from the fact that the jumper is just not my style. I rarely wear jumpers and far prefer cardigans. I also found the pattern incredibly boring to knit ... rows and rows of stocking stitch.

I have always wanted to try Andi Sutherland's patterns and already had her free Miette pattern downloaded for my next knit. So I decided to just go for it, using the yarn from my jumper!

The tension is not what is recommended in the pattern, but in a fit of impulsiveness I just made a start one Sunday afternoon. I have enough yarn left over to complete the cardigan without having to unpick the previous jumper.

It's been great to get back into knitting. I'm currently half way down the bodice. My technique has definitely improved and I find this pattern much more challenging than the previous jumper.

I also have a second knitting project on the go ... socks! I was given a ball of stripy sock yarn for christmas by my parents in law, which came with a free pattern. I wasn't sold initially ... I would never have picked knitting socks as a project as they seem so fiddly and a little pointless!

I decided to take the yarn and some double pointed needles with me on holiday to Spain last week. It was an ideal small project which I could carry with me in my hand luggage. To my surprise I really enjoyed this project! I've completed 3/4 of the first sock and it was wonderful to watch the stripes appear in the knitting. Again, I have found this project challenged my skill level, as I have never knitted in the round before which I think has kept my interest.

So two knitting projects on the go at the moment - I just have to decided which one to prioritise!

Bunting and pressies!

I've made no secret about it - I love a bit of bunting. I've made quite a lot of bunting in the last few years but this is definitely my best to date. This was another present, this time for my mum, who hosted a birthday afternoon tea for me last year. She mentioned that some bunting would be nice so I made this as a surprise! 

The fabric was from my favourite website ohsewcrafty.co.uk and is in a range of creams and blues to complement my Mum's dining room. I wanted to include different prints and patterns, so there are polka dots, stripes, gingham and lots of florals! Each triangle is double sided and had to be turned and ironed. For the tape, I used white 2" bias tape which I ironed in half.

It looked great at the party and my Mum loved it so much she kept it up for the next few days. I'm really proud of the professional finish and just had to share!

I also wanted to (belatedly) blog about some christmas and birthday pressies I have made recently. The first are two glasses cases, one for my Uncle for Christmas and one for my Mum in Law for her birthday.

I used a pattern from Sew! Cath Kidston, which I used previously to make these specs cases for my Mum and Dad. It was much easier the second time around ... in fact I actually made 5 glasses cases at the same time for various family members. One each for my Nanny and Grandad for christmas, which I stupidly forgot to photograph. These two and another which was destined for my Father in Law, which failed miserably - the piping really didn't work!

What I love about these glasses cases is the fact that they are quick to make and are a great stash buster! It has allowed me to get creative with different fabric combinations and I even tried using lace instead of piping which worked well. They have been well received and it's nice to gift people a personal, homemade but practical present.

And finally, my Aunt is great at crochet and I decided to make her a crochet roll for Christmas. I used an online freeby from Today we made. I picked this tutorial because it didn't require any pattern pieces as it is constructed from rectangles of fabric. The step-by-step instructions also included photographs which made it very easy to follow. 

I used left over fabric from my Mum's bunting, with the only purchase being a fat quarter of blue floral fabric for the lining. Instead of ribbon I used a length of left over bias tape which I ironed in half and topstitched along the edge. I deviated slightly from the pattern by using fusible wadding instead of the recommended medium-weight interfacing. I also added a cute piece of lace to the needle pocket for detail! 

It was amazingly easy to make and I completed it within an hour. I'm so please with the neat finish and my Aunt really liked it too!

I always thought that I preferred sewing for myself but to my surprise I've discovered I quite like making presents for other people. I'd quite like to have a try at bag making next!

Some very pink presents!

I've realised that since I've been pregnant and have stopped sewing clothes, I have solely been making gifts for other people. 

These cute pink handbags are birthday presents I made for my twin 4 year old nieces for their birthdays back in November. They are very girly girls and I thought it would be nice to have a handbag each!

The pattern comes from a book called Sew Sunny Homestyle by Finnanger Tone. What I particularly liked about the pattern is that the front of the handbag is made up of strips of scrap fabric sewn together. I decided on a pink theme, as I know my twin nieces love the colour and I had quite a lot of pink scraps left over from other projects. I added to this some pink gingham, for lining and the main body of the handbags and a small bit of pink heart ribbon from my local fabric shop. 

Both bags were made the same (to prevent any arguing!) and came together quickly. There was only one pattern piece for the front, back and lining and the handle is made from a rectangle so cutting out was simple, if a bit laborious. The front and back is lined with iron on wadding.

The construction was straight forward and quick as I was able to sew both bags at the same time. I am pleased with their professional finish. I'm glad I spent the extra time top stitching the fabric joins on the front of the bags, even though it meant switching cotton quite a bit. The only thing I change I made was to make the width of the bag slightly smaller. 

The girls really like their bags, which which I filled with hair clips and elastic bracelets. Perfect presents for 4 years old girls!

I'm currently on holiday in Spain, visiting relatives as it's half term week. I've bought some knitting with me so at some point soon, I will update you all with the details of my project and it's progress- turns out it's quite tricky to write a blog post on an iPad.

Tom Baker Dr Who Scarf

My 7 year old Nephew is a massive fan of Dr Who. In his spare time, he likes to dress up as the Doctor, complete with bow tie, suspenders, jacket, fez and sonic screwdriver. It's very cute.

One Christmas, he was intrigued by me knitting and one afternoon we were looking through a book on all the Dr Who's, he spotted Tom Baker as Dr Who in his extremely long stripy scarf. He put two and two together and I ended up promising to knit him a 'Tom Baker Dr Who Sca rf'.

So for his birthday last October, there was no question that I would knit him his scarf as a gift. I've had the photos of this completed project ready to go for ages, but only just got round to sharing now! The pattern I used is the Kid's Size Dr Who Scarf by Tara Wheeler, which I found on Ravelry via a Google search.

I didn't choose the recommended Vanna's Choice Yarn as it was pricey for what is essentially a children's dressing up item. I instead used Stylecraft Special Aran, which was much more reasonably priced, which almost gave the recommended gauge. The colours I used were: Parchment 1218, Khaki 1027, Graphite 1063, Copper 1029, Camel 1402, Burgundy 1035 and Gold 1709. 

I didn't worry too much about getting gauge, I used the recommended 5mm needles but sized up to a set of 6mm needles and I cast on 25 stitches instead of 22. I just estimated it, to be honest, which is easy to do when knitting a simple scarf. 

It was a very, very easy knit and although this didn't take me many hours, due to my procrastinating I had to force myself to focus and get this knitted up. In the end I had to do some speed knitting in order to get it finished by the deadline of my nephews birthday. 

The tassels are made using 10 inch strands of all 7 colours, as I wanted them to be quite chunky. The only part of this knit that was a pain was sewing in all the ends of the stripes. However, the side effect of this is that I am now much better at sewing in the ends of my knitting! 

I was really happy with how well this turned out and I know my nephew loves it - he showed me it during a Skype call and has reported that it is very long! This is definitely one of my more successful knitting projects!

What's on your needles? 

Christmas and Preparations

Hello everyone! A belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It's been around three months since I've last blogged. For many reasons I've been keeping very busy but have just not got round to posting anything. Firstly, my laptop cable died which made accessing my photos tricky. Christmas and New Year seemed to fly by and to be honest ... I've been spending a lot of my time resting or organising for the arrival of our baby. 

Preparations for the baby are well under way. I'm currently 27 weeks, so still got a way to go! We've done a lot of sorting through stuff and buying baby items. I'm very organised and naturally a lot of lists have been made. It's a whole new world becoming a parent and deciding on what we need and what is best to buy has been quite stressful. Big purchases have now been made and I think we're 75% there. 

Anyway ... it's February ... why the Christmas photos?  

Despite being together for over 10 years, this was the first year my Husband and I have actually decorated our home for Christmas. We went for a red and white Scandinavian theme, with lots of prints and soft hanging ornaments. I loved it and was quite sad when we had to take it down and pack it away for next year. I had planned to handmake some fabric decorations but it just didn't happen. It turns out that pregnancy is very tiring and things that I would have had the energy to do before, I now find take twice as long.

However,  I did manage to make some Christmas bunting! 20 metres in fact! The fabric was purchased online from ohsewcrafty.co.uk who have a great range of Christmas fabric. My Husband helped me out with the cutting of around 60 triangles and then I sewed them together over a day and a half. They were finished the day before Christmas eve but it did make the place feel nice and christmassy.

Aside from making a lot of bunting and a few christmas pressies (soon to be blogged!), I've not got around to making any actual garments. I can't really justify making maternity clothes which I will only wear for a short time and baby clothes seem a waste of time to me when they grow out of them in only a few weeks or months. I've really missed being crafty so hope to get some knitting and sewing projects started soon, especially with Srpring coming.

What have you been up to over the winter?

A Very Happy Birthday Announcement

I had a very special birthday yesterday.

Yes, I've now entered into the realm of my thirties, but I can't say I'm all that bothered by the thought of getting a little older. I had a lovely family party at the weekend, with afternoon tea and cakes and have been thoroughly spoilt with lots of presents.

I even received some lovely Liberty of London sewing notions from my lovely Aunt: a heart shaped patch, mini-sewing kit, tape measure, apple pin cushion and a box of buttons. My Hubby brought me a book on Overlockers- I had a moment of you shock, but he did not in fact buy me an overlocker. Aside from a massive storage issue in our current home, he had no idea what model to choose. I can safely say that an overlocker is definitely in my future!

The best part of my birthday, however, is an experience that will stay with me forever. I had a successful 12 week ultrasound scan, so I can now announce to the bloggersphere ....

I'm pregnant!

I'm 13 weeks and although there is a long way yet to go, I'm feeling really confident that everything with my baby is going to be okay. I have been very ill over the last 7-8 weeks and this has been the reason for my lack of posting, sewing has very much taken a back seat.

I still don't feel all that well and I am currently not making any extensive sewing plans. I have some bunting planned and a couple of small gifts to make as christmas presents but I cannot see myself sewing any garments since my weight will soon start fluctuating.

I do have some baby knitting projects that I would like to start soon, so I plan to use this time to improve my knitting!

Anyways, I thought I would update you all with my news and hopefully I will be able to post some more projects in the future.

Liebster Award

Hello, long time no post. I dare not look back to see when I last posted, but I know it's been a long time. At this point in time, I don't feel the need to share the reasons why I haven't posted for a while. I don't want to give a trite reason of being 'busy' or life getting in the way as I would only be lying, but I might share the real reason at some point in the future.     

A few weeks ago I was delighted to be nominated for the Liebster Award by Beth from Sewing Soothes the Soul. The Liebster Award is basically a way for bloggers to share their love for blogging and other bloggers and to discover new blogs. I never imagined that I would be nominated for an award and knew when I was able to get back to posting I would start off with a post dedicated to this nomination. 

I now need to share 11 random facts about myself, so here they are: 

1. I live in a small village in Kent, although I grew up in Sussex. I love living in Kent and would now not live anywhere else. 
2. I am a teacher. To be specific, I teach secondary Maths. It a job that I adore and despite all the negativity from the press, government and within the teaching profession I strongly believe in the value of teaching. 
3. I am also a doctor. Before I taught, I completed a PhD in Maths and worked as a researcher in a London university. I hated research with a passion and managed to complete my PhD before retraining as a teacher. It's a time in my life that I sadly try and forget, so I don't often admit to having a PhD. 
4. I am a massive Jane Austen fan. I love reading her novels and watching film adaptations. I am a big reader of most literature (chick-lit, romance, historical, sci fi, westerns!) and will not travel anywhere without my Kindle. 
5. I have tried my hand at writing. I'd love to be able to write a novel but my ideas are only half formed and I don't think that my writing is high quality enough to make a decent book.
6. My best friend is my Husband. We've been married for just over a year but have been together since we met a Uni 11 years ago.
7. My husband and I are building our own home. We have only built the garage so far, but next year we are starting the main house. This time next year I will be sitting in my own home!
8. I didn't fly in an aeroplane until I was 18. My first holiday abroad to Bilbao, Spain. Since then I have been to France, Ireland, Italy, Belgium, Holland, USA and lots of times to Spain. I have never had a massive bug to go travelling for long periods of time but love visiting cities. I really want to visit Berlin and Sicily and at some point explore Scandinavia.  
9. It took me 10 years (not consistently) to learn to drive. I passed on my third test but I only have an automatic license. I'm not a bad driver, but I massively lack confidence and it took me a long time to build up enough confidence in my skills to pass. I still hate driving this day and won't drive very far from home!
10. I've never broken a bone in my body. (Touch Wood!) Can you tell I'm running out of fan facts about Fiona?
11. It's my 30th birthday next Tuesday. I don't enjoy celebrating my birthday, as they were often a disaster growing up .... I'm looking forward this year to going to the cinema with the Husband and he's going to make me homemade pizza and lemon meringue pie. Heaven! 

Many thanks, to Beth for nominating me and I now am going to nominate: Shauni at The Magnificent Thread and Twinkle at Looks Like I Made It. 

I have got a few small projects on the go at the moment that I'm working on, so hopefully it won't be long until I post again but I'm not promising anything!

What are your sewing plans?