Friday Round-up: sewing, sewing, spinning

This week has disappeared in a spiral of sewing and spinning – I’m so surprised it is already Friday! (I actually don’t think I know what day it really is? Monday?!)Anyway, with instant gratification something that I’ve been needing, as well as a craft fair in Kent to prepare for, I have been busy.

I didn’t post last Friday because I was at iKnit Fandango. Find out more about that in the Plutonium Muffins podcast, here.

Birthday

It was my lovely Wonder-Mum’s birthday on Tuesday, and I sent her some blank canvases. I couldn’t think of anything else – until I figured that as a painter she would probably appreciate materials, in the same way that I love receiving yarn. She was tickled pink, and I can’t wait to see what comes from it.

Happy Birthday Mum

Sewing for me

Since leaving my job last year for medical reasons, I have spent much of the past eight months lounging around at home in my pyjamas or my dungarees. Following on from a previous Friday Round-Up in which I talked about how I’m trying to take myself more seriously, I realised I need some new clothes. With a huge stash of fabric, a small stash of money, and a subscription to Simply Sewing*, a new magazine, I decided to take this into my own hands.

I have a large bust and good child-bearing hips(!), with a slim waist. And I’m short, I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about that? 5’3″ or 161.5 cm, to be exact. So normal sewing patterns don’t really fit. As a result, I’ve been making muslins to try tailoring some garments to my shape. The normal thing to do would be concentrate on one garment at a time, right?

Cleaning my iron before I could use it.
Cleaning my iron before I could use it.
African and Indian fabrics to sew into clothes for me. If I think I can deal with the colours and designs!
African and Indian fabrics to sew into clothes for me. If I think I can deal with the colours and designs!

That’s not how I roll. I have three fabrics, three patterns and three muslins in various stages of completeness lying around the lounge, which looks like a fabric bomb hit it. I anticipate getting some of this done this weekend, and hopefully next week I’ll be in some new handmade clothes!

Tonks getting involved in the sewing.
Tonks getting involved in the sewing.
Simply Sewing Magazine.
Simply Sewing Magazine.

Sewing for you

I’m selling at a craft fair in Kent on the 30th of May. As well as aprons, sock monsters and sarongs, I will be selling my cards, a new range of baby accessories and other sewed goods that I have been busy creating in my fabric-bombed workspace. I will also have a donation bucket full of ‘failed’ projects. Read: projects that had something go wrong with them and I don’t think I can sell. These will be up for free, although I will be accepting donations to Mind if anybody takes anything and wants to give some dollar to a good cause.

Sewing bomb hits the lounge.
Sewing bomb hits the lounge.
Bibs for babies.
Bibs for babies.

Spinning

I’ve finished plying the first half of Follow Me Down Cousin Jack! I have just 80g of alpaca fibre left, and will be finishing that this week. I’ve been spinning like a fiend, and loving it. I do need to think about my posture, which is currently terrible. My back is rather sore because of the strain this is putting on it. Need to sort that out! But loving the spinning.

Follow Me Down Cousin Jack - half done!
Follow Me Down Cousin Jack – half done!

Needle Felting

I’ve been playing with needle felting again. I’ve been making sheep and a little seal! I donated one of the sheep to Tonks, who can not keep her paws off them. I think she loves the wool! Anyway, her behaviour has been so instinctive and raw, which has been really interesting to see. I couldn’t help myself, I had to give it to her. There’s something strange about seeing around 8 hours of work get shredded by your over-zealous feline…the sheep was going to go to the donation bucket as I wasn’t happy with it, and that felt a bit liberating. She has me wrapped around her little finger.

A needle-felted seal!
A needle-felted seal!
Tonks with her new toy sheep.
Tonks with her new toy sheep.

Because I’m spending so much time on the sewing machine and making cards, I haven’t really had time to blog as much as normal. The problem is, if you don’t make, you have nothing to blog about! My knitting projects are all proceeding apace, and I’m loving my hap at the moment. I’ll give you an update next week!

Much love,

Corrie xx


* Eagle-eyed Twitter followers will have noticed I had a rant about this the other day. I said some terrible things. I will explain next week, but for now I will say that I’m on the fence about my subscription and am wondering whether or not I should continue with it.


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9 Responses to Friday Round-up: sewing, sewing, spinning

  1. Five really great things! I love the needle felted seal best of all!!! He is too cute!!! I hope that you can work out all of the sewing things and make something lovely with those beautiful fabrics. Thank you so much as always for joining in! I hope that you have a great weekend! xx

  2. Love those beautiful fabrics, hope you manage to make something wonderful to wear with it. Wishing you every success at the craft fair.

  3. Bronwyn says:

    Hi. Love those baby bibs. Very cute. When my kids were little I never had time to make cute things like that. I had 3 babies in 4 years and barely had time to shower. :) Now I like making pretty things like this for other people’s babies now that mine are older. I hope you are able to get some of your “self- sewing” done this weekend. Enjoy!
    http://www.queenbcreativeme.blogspot.com

  4. Beth says:

    I haven’t tried needle felting yet– I bought a tool a while ago with the intention of giving it a trial, but just haven’t done it. Your seal is the cutest! Thanks for sharing.

  5. I love your seal, what a cutie! Happy belated birthday to your mum! Good luck at the craft fair x

  6. Andria says:

    Oh my goodness you are multi-talented. Great projects you are working on!

  7. Amy Putkonen says:

    So curious to see how your clothes turn out! I am new to your blog but willl follow you on BlogLovin. Looks like you have a lot of interesting things going on.

  8. CathieJ says:

    Your mom has the same birthday as mine! Wish her Happy Birthday! You have some really great projects in the works. Keep it up.

  9. isla says:

    Those bibs are so cute!!! I’m think adult sized ones for messy adults…….

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