Making for Baby Needles

Hello there.

I have been busy making things for Baby Needles.  Firstly a dress.  I found this really cute fabric when I went into Stroud the other week.  

It's Rose and Hubble and really soft.   I seem to like all Rose and Hubble prints, this sheep and lambs being no exception.

I found a pattern on Pinterest which went up to a year so I scaled it up a bit for Baby Needles.

My black Featherweight, Eveline was out so that's what I used to make it.

It all went well, although I did get my modern machine out for the buttonholes on the shoulders.  I do have a vintage buttonholer attachment but I have not yet got it working fully.  With this piece of kit you drop or cover the feed dogs and the attachment moves the fabric, rather than the needle moving.  Nifty.

As always, there were a lot of things that I could have done differently, the waist gathering is a bit non-existent at the edges because I didn't run my gathering stitches long enough and the bodice is a bit wonky too.  But, the front of the bodice is 'stitched in the ditch' and you can barely see it, so that's a plus.

I scrabbled around in my button box and eventually found two buttons that matched, not the green I was hoping for, but pale pink.

I kept the skirt quite short as Baby Needles is in the half crawl half walk stage and I didn't want it to be getting in the way.

Miss Clicky has gone back to work after her maternity leave and furlough so Baby Needles is spending two days with a childminder and day each with me and the other granny.  It has been lovely having her for a day all to myself and fun to see the world through a baby's eyes again.  This week she fell asleep sitting on my lap and lying back on my hands while I sang two renditions of "My Ship Sails to China' and was out like light for 1 1/2 hours.  Miss Clicky complained that 'She won't do that for me!'  I told her she doesn't have the granny touch!

When she is at the Childminder Miss Clicky needs a wet bag for changes of clothes and washable nappies.  I whipped one up the other afternoon.

I needed a waterproof fabric for the inside, so I hopped into the attic and found some orange woven nylon that I had stashed.  A white shower curtain would probably have been better but I didn't have one at short notice.  I found a pattern here.

This involved another zip, which didn't go in too badly this time,

the outer fabric is a ladybird print fabric from Minerva Fabrics.

The orange doesn't show too much from the outside, you just get a shock when you open it!  It also has a tag on so you can tug on the zip to shut.

This bag is quite big, 52cm x 35cm and I am going to make another big and some smaller bags too.  All good for that zip putting in practise!

Well that's me for now, looks like we are in for a rainy few days, I hope it's better where you are.

Bye for now.....................Clicky Needles

Making and Finishing

Hello Folks.

Firstly I need to say a big thank you to all the comments on my Scavenger Hunt post.  I am definitely carrying on with The Hunt and I love seeing other's pictures.

How are you doing?  I'm a bit meh!  Mr Clicky was going to return home a few weeks back to renew his work permit which runs out soon, but as President Trump declared a suspension of Aliens and Visas we decided it will be safer for him to stay in the US (if he came to the UK could he get back to US?) and apply there.  We changed his flight just 3 days before he was due home.  We have no idea if he will be able to remain working in the US, even though our Visa still has 2 years to run, and as a family we don't know when we will see him again either.

I've been making and finishing things off; keeping busy.  I got my Featherweight out to finish off a bag that I made for Miss Clicky when I was in Illinois with Mr Clicky last summer.

I was inspired by the wonderful Jenny Doan from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I used her Tote Charm Bag.  I love her tutorials, she has a lovely relaxed way of teaching.  I had hoped to visit Hamilton Missouri and it's 12 quilt stores this year, as it's a doable 7 hour drive from our apartment but that might not happen.

Anyway, this is the bag I made using a charm pack which I bought in Hobby Lobby.  It has cute forest animals, foxes, birds, rabbits etc.  When I saw it I knew that Miss Clicky would love it.

The bag was really quick and easy to make using Jenny's instructions.  I added three pockets inside using some contrasting fat quarters, also from Hobby Lobby.

I thought Miss Clicky could use it as a smaller changing bag for Baby Needles rather than the huge one she has, but when I gave it to her I realised that it needed a zip.  I do not like putting in zips, however hard I try they usually end up wonky.  I wasn't sure that I could retro fit one and it has taken nearly a year for me to get round to doing this.  Luckily I bought a small piece of the lining fabric back with me so used this to bind the ends of the zip and bodged the sewing, not the neatest job but it does the job.

Another bit of finishing I have is a Ravello jumper by Isabel Kraemer, that I started in March 2016.  It's a top down, fingering/sport weight raglan.   When I made this I faffed a lot, tried it on, made it bigger, finished one sleeve but not the other and shoved it a cupboard where it has remained for 4 years.  A few weeks ago I pulled it out and looked at it again.

Because it's been neglected in the back of the cupboard it has a moth hole in the front which I darned up.  Can you see it?  Sure you can, but it's ok.

Of course, it only took me a few evenings to complete.  For the remaining sleeve I used magic loop rather than 5 needles and it was much easier.

I really like the rib, 2 knit, 1 purl.  

So what do I think of this?  Well, it is too baggy and I'm not sure about where the stripes stop; my fault because I made it bigger, the sleeves are too short, also my fault.   This will be a jumper to wear around the house.  Has this put me off the pattern?  Well, no.  I have cast on another! 

This time I am making the next size up, and just knitting!  I haven't tried it on, I'm just going for it.  I'm using the lovely Drops Nord for this, a sport weight Alpaca/Wool mix.  Soft, light and warm.

This jumper is looking much better.

Last week I noticed on Facebook that a local farm was doing organic milk deliveries in our area.  I thought I would give it a go.  The farm is 13 miles away, the milk is pasteurised and bottled on the farm within 4 hours of leaving the cows.  Obviously it is more expensive than supermarket milk but I am happy to be supporting a local farm.

 

I made meringue nests and used the cream.  Yummy.

So that's me for now.  Covid restrictions are easing this weekend but I'm not rushing down the pub.  I have some sewing/knitting/stitching to do.  Stay safe my friends.

Bye for now.......................Clicky Needles.

June Scavenger Hunt

Hello there.  

Here are June's Scavenger Hunt pictures.  

My Garden

Part of my garden that used to a wood/pallet dumping ground.  If you walk down there now you are rewarded by an orange blossom by the woodshed.

Flowers

Verbena Bonariensis, coming out this week.

Insects

A bumble bee on my cirsium.

Sunset/sunrise

The sun hadn't quite risen when I took this early one morning, but it was on it's way.

Something Wild

My hair.  Roll on 10th July when I have a cut booked.

My Own Choice.

An impromptu acrobatic display from a local pilot above our house.  It brightened our day. 

I can't believe June is drawing to a close.

Check out other's pictures here.

A Bit of This and That.

Hello there.

I didn't really have much of a thought about where this post is going so I have gone through my cameras ~ Nikon SLR Bridge, Canon point and shoot and phone.  Oh the choices!  So here are my pictures from the last few weeks.

A 60th Birthday card I made for a friend of mine.  She is 60 going on 20, we have been to festivals, danced and shared a good old pint at Stroud Brewery many a day.  Sadly there was no party, so family and friends recorded messages for her.  

I sewed this card by hand, not free motion machine embroidery as I had hoped, not learnt yet!

Another card a few days later this time machined but not free motion, still not learnt, for my very own granddaughter, Baby Needles.  I cannot comprehend how a year has gone by since she was born.

We had a socially distanced party in Miss Clicky's garden.

She has been closely inspecting her card.

It was lovely to be able to spend some with with her.

A week or so ago whilst I was outside enjoying the sunshine I heard a small plane engine.   It was giving us a display.  It was rising and falling and I dashed inside to grab my camera.  It was incredibly fast and heart in mouth stuff.  

Master Clicky joined me to watch and I said that I thought it looked like a heart.  He regarded me in that way you humour your parents and told me it definitely was not.

We left it at that.  The pilot finished having his fun and flew back towards Cheltenham.

A few days later what should I see?  My friend Gill who lives 3 miles away was underneath the plane and confirmed it was a heart.  I very smugly showed Master Clicky.   Thanks Gill.

In the garden the Allium's flowers have fully opened up and it is stunning. 

A pink 

and white Astrantia.

This week's supermarket peonies.

Sigh.  I love them so much.  My white one hasn't flowered this year, I'm not sure why.

As Lockdown eases I venture out more.  Some shopping trips have been really easy with pleasant staff but our local diy store will not be seeing me for some time.  We'll leave it at that.  Our weekly zoom knitting meetings continue and they are keeping me just about sane.

That's me for now, keep safe.......Clicky Needles.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Hello Folks.

I decided to join in a Photo Scavenger Hunt this month.  I haven't done them for quite a few years, the group I was in had to find 10 things and sometimes that was a bit too much.  This one is being run by KJSutcliffe at I live, I love, I craft, I am me and is only a list of 5 things and a choice of our own.  I have fallen down at the first hurdle though, I missed the deadline date!  Anyway here are my pictures.

Circle.

Colin, my robot vacuum cleaner.  Life changer.

Triangle.

The triangles of my Patchwork Forest quilt top, which I finished in May.

Square

My quilting square, without which the above trees would have been more difficult to make.  (I thought quilting rulers were not really necessary, how wrong could I be?)

Star

The flowers of my Allium Christophii.

Splat

Pigeon Poo

My Own Choice

A Foxglove just starting to bloom.

Those are my pictures for May.  

I will watch the deadline for June!

Bye for now .................Clicky Needles.

Making

Hello Folks.

This week has wizzed past as they all seem to at the moment.

I have been keeping busy.

I laid my patchwork trees out on the floor and faffed around with them for a long time, took photos and swapped blocks around until I was happy.  The dog was not helpful as he kept walking over them and messing up the pattern.

I numbered the columns and used pointers so I sewed the right side.

Using Minty, my 1967 Singer Featherweight, I sewed the blocks into columns and pressed the seams to one side.  I was surprised how long pressing took.

I then sewed the rows, right to left and the next row left to right so it didn't distort too much.  I pinned the corner seams to get them lined up, I'm pleased with the result.  More seam pressing.  

 Here is the completed quilt top.

 I pronounce myself to be well pleased with it.  I am ready for the next step but........

.........I had completely forgotten about Miss Clicky's kitchen curtains, as I had tidied the fabric away in the craft room (out of sight, out of mind.)  You might remember that I offered to make curtains and blinds for Miss Clicky and her hubby's house (I must think of a name for him), I completed the blinds in February.  I'm back on the curtains and with the lockdown easing hopefully I will be able to deliver them when finished.

Mr Clicky's jumper continues on and is my tv knitting.  

I am absolutely loving this project.  The Jamieson and Smith's yarn real pleasure to use.  The yolk is taking some time with 400 odd stitches and the widest part and some rows have all three colours of yarn.  The plus side?  My continental knitting is having lots of practise.

It's a bank holiday tomorrow and would it normally be half term for schools, but no holidays as lockdown continues.  Strange times.

Hope you're keeping safe and busy.

Bye for now............Clicky Needles.