Monday Moos
Posted by tialys in Garden and Wild Life, Life in General on September 18, 2023
We are in the midst of a dairy cow and sheep farming community and are used to the cows grazing in the field behind us, so close sometimes it seems they are almost in the house with us.
However, one of the farmers has diversified and runs some luxury lodges for people wanting to spend a bit of time in the countryside and enjoy watching the livestock as they relax in the hot tub (the guests that is, not the livestock).
He thought he’d get some of these beauties in to add to the other beasties – we are also in horse racing stables country – and I walked the dogs up the road to have a closer look today,
There’s something about Highland cattle that make them so endearing.
Aren’t they handsome?
He did talk about getting some zebras but he may have been joking about that – although I think llamas might be on the cards.
A Literary (Sewing) Diversion
Posted by tialys in Arts and Crafts, Miscellaneous Crafts on September 8, 2023
As you may remember from my last post where we were dressed in (vaguely) 1920s garb, we recently celebrated our daughter’s 30th birthday.
Thanks, I like to think, because of our endless buying of books, reading together when she was little and, later, our own reading habits and recommendations, she is an avid reader and, although she has a predilection for fantasy literature she is also a big Jane Austen fan.
So, when Cool Crafting came up with a special Jane Austen kit as part of their literary series, I pre-ordered it and, whilst waiting for it to be delivered, I made two mice for which I already had the pattern and hoped I’d get it all done in time for the big day.
The clothing designs Cool Crafting produce for their various animal patterns mean that you create rather good copies of full size garments and, even though I’m a fairly proficient dressmaker, I still found plenty to challenge me with the process and the fabrics provided. Straw patterned pleather anyone?
The outfits were really designed for Cool Crafting’s famous Luna Lapin which is a rabbit so the bonnet has space for rabbit ears but my mice only have mouse sized ears so I should have closed the hole up really but didn’t want to chance messing with the pattern as there was only so much special pleather available.
Anyway, one of the biggest challenges for me (apart from the pleather bonnet) was doing the French knots used in place of buttons on the breeches and waistcoat for Mr. Mouse as I am no embroiderer and had to follow a video tutorial on YouTube in order to achieve anything vaguely like a French knot.
I feel the empire line dress also deserves a little photo of its own before being covered with the short jacket that completes the outfit.
(completed also by the era appropriate undies)
I’m not sure about the French knickers being era appropriate but I put them on her anyway – she is a modest mouse.
At the moment, our daughter is living in a house share but has plans to move into a much larger space soon so I put the pair on stands, in a pretty covered box and said I understood if she keeps them like that until she has the room to display them.
The Happy Couple
Back to human sized clothes soon – in fact I already have some trousers to show you, it’s just getting round to doing the post.
We’re going to a craft fair this weekend where I’m hoping to buy an example of my most recent obsession, craft-wise, from the lady who taught the workshop I went to last weekend. News of which, hopefully, will be in a future post. Have a good weekend whatever you’re doing.
A Celebration and an Excuse to Dress Up
Posted by tialys in Life in General on August 18, 2023
I went to Bristol at the weekend, a very lively and buzzy city which also happened to be hosting the annual Bristol Balloon Fiesta so it was even livelier and buzzier than usual. However if you are interested you can see better photos than I could take if you follow the link. Instead, I took a photo (from the upper window of a museum) of this guy who set himself up with a manual typewriter and a chalkboard sign offering to type a poem for you after asking a few questions about your life. The man standing next to me said it reminded him of a similar thing he’d once experienced in India where people would pay somebody to write letters for them if they were unable to do so themselves. My attempts at poetry are rubbish (and therefore non-existent) but I didn’t indulge. Just found it fascinating. Would you have asked him to type a poem for you?
Anyway, I didn’t go to Bristol for the balloon fiesta. Our daughter turned 30 last weekend and she threw a party with a 1920s theme. The venue was in an old building with a 1920s décor so was the perfect choice. She invited us, her parents, or did I invite us I can’t quite remember. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a dog sitter for an overnight stay so Mr Tialys had to stay behind and I went with my sister-in-law who is the favourite aunty.
All the ‘youngsters’ wore very similar flapper dresses which looked great but, as mother of the birthday girl, I opted for a less glitzy (and less revealing) one – it still had sequins and beads but in the same colour as the dress – and my SIL had a long elegant dress with long black gloves, long cigarette holder and headband.
Me & the SIL
I hate having my photo taken and am totally useless at selfies so I surprised my daughter by making full use of the ‘photo booth’ she’d installed in a corner where you could go and pose as seriously or madly as you wished, sometimes aided by props. The more alcohol ingested the sillier the photos became – not that I over indulged as I find I am unable to cope with even the slightest hangover these days.
With the Birthday Girl
She got her boyfriend to fix it so that nobody (by which she mainly meant me) was able to fiddle with the results from the camera in order to delete anything they didn’t like.
He’s ‘in the business of IT’ so produced a really good video of a collection of photos with a 1920s style soundtrack which is a lot of fun and will make a nice record of her party to look back on. You can hire more complicated set ups but this one was literally an iPad mounted on a tripod with a ring light installed above it and whatever he had done to make it do the photo booth thing.
They had a more sophisticated setting at the wedding reception we attended recently but I didn’t know any of the other guests so didn’t use it. I would recommend it though, if you have a special event coming up, as it was certainly something that was well used, people had fun and I think the results were quite good.
I wanted to put some of the photos in a post so I know where to find them when I want to reminisce rather than plough through my really badly organised photo folders on my laptop.
Have you been to an event where they had a similar photo booth thingy going on? Did you use it or were you too shy? Would you consider having one at a future celebration? Not that I’m in the business of hiring out the equipment or anything – just interested.
An English Summer Party Dress
Posted by tialys in Arts and Crafts, Dressmaking Projects on August 8, 2023
We were invited to a wedding reception and I decided to make myself a dress to wear which would be suitable for a July evening by the quayside on the South coast,
After my recent spate of more challenging makes I decided on this pattern from Closet Core (formerly Closet Case) as I’ve used their patterns before and find them really good.
I know wrap dresses can sometimes be a pain, gaping at the bust and revealing too much leg but the reviews stressed that this pattern gives you a good overlap so I decided to go for the midi version (which is almost maxi on me- I’m 5’3″) .
I didn’t want to go floral as I have quite a few flowery dresses nor did I fancy geometric so I went for this ‘safari’ fabric which is a bit different and, from a distance, just gives an overall patterned effect on a subtle, vaguely pink background. It’s a linen/rayon blend so has a very good drape which I think you would need for this pattern.
Here you can see the fabric close up and also the ‘bust release’ gathers which really help with the comfortable wrapover.
This was a very enjoyable, fairly stress free make apart from the cutting out part. For the midi version with longer kimono type sleeves I think it took somewhere between 3.5 and 4m and the pattern had to be cut on a single layer of fabric which was unusual and a bit of a challenge finding the space to spread it all out. After that though all was plain sailing.
I added some satin bias binding on the facing inside the bodice.
Here is a headless shot so you can see the actual dress features…
…..and here a demonstration of the generous overlap of the wrap so you don’t have to worry about revealing anything untoward if the wind gets up
Just as well as the wind did indeed ‘get up’ accompanied by rain bucketing down and, as the venue was literally just across from the marina, it bucketed horizontally too. I told you it was an English Summer dress. Luckily we had booked a hotel just a few minutes walk away from the venue which was, thankfully, indoors and not in a marquee which will always be a gamble in England I have to say.
Still, I really like this dress and would like to make it again – my only regret is that I didn’t put pockets in the side seams. I thought about it and, surely this is a dress that cries out for side pockets (I don’t like the patch ones on the pattern illustration) but thought there might be some reason in the construction for why they hadn’t been added but, now I’ve made it, I don’t think there is so, if I do make it again, there will definitely be pockets.
This Saturday is my daughter’s 30th birthday and she’s having a 1920s themed party. I toyed with the idea of making a dress but thought about beaded and sequinned fabric and the trauma and dramas which sewing with it would inevitably involve and bought a ‘pre-loved’ one instead.
There are limits.
Challenging Myself No. 3 – A Topsy Turvy Tale of Pin Tucks
Posted by tialys in Arts and Crafts, Dressmaking Projects on July 27, 2023
As I put the finishing touches to my Quinn Trousers (pattern by Merchant & Mills) mentioned in a recent post, I realised I have shown you Challenge no. 1 (waxed cotton anorak) and Challenge no. 2 (tailored jacket) but forgot about No. 3 which was a pin tuck blouse. This forgetfulness may have been partly down to the imperfections and mistakes I made with it but, as I don’t like to spare you any gory details I should really blog about it before I move on to Challenge no. 4.
I saw the Byrdie button up pin tuck blouse/dress by Pattern Scout initially on Love Lucie’s blog and, should you be thinking of making this, Lucie does a very good job of talking you through the process whereas I, as usual, have left it so long to post about that I only remember the bad bits which, I must emphasise, are all down to me and not the pattern. Anyway, I thought it looked good and would make a suitable challenge for me as pin tucks are something I’ve never really tackled before.
So, I bought some very similar linen blend fabric to the one that Lucie had used – because it’s not possible to have too many white shirts or blouses is it? -and got to work on version B which has ‘tuxedo shirt-style tucks across the bust, bishop-style sleeves, and a simple band collar’.
The first disaster was my bobbin thread was looping and I didn’t notice it until several of the tucks had been sewn. “It will be on the side of the tuck that’s pressed downwards” I assured myself, fixed the problem (can’t remember what it was now but it was bound to have been the sewing machine’s fault) and carried on. Suffice it to say there is the option to put a pin tuck or a pleat at the back below the collar. You will not need me to tell you which option I went for but I took a photo so I’ll show you anyway.
OK, I’ll tell you as well – It’s a pleat.
The second disaster was that, as I admired the neat pin tucks I’d created, I realised I’d put them on the wrong side of the bodice pieces, the fabric not having a right and wrong side. I had a minor hissy fit – well, O.K., I went all dramatic about it – thinking how awful it would be to undo all those neat little tucks. I even tried to convince myself that the reverse side of the tucks would look good as a feature on the front of the shirt although what that inversion would have felt like next to the skin I can’t imagine.
When I calmed down I realised that, if I switched the bodice pieces round and put the buttons where the buttonholes should be – and vice versa – I would have a blouse that buttoned up the ‘male’ way but at least the pin tucks (imperfect as they are) would be on the front as Pattern Scout intended.
The third disaster is that I’ve yet to wear it and not sure I ever will. The fabric feels fairly stiff and formal and I’m not sure that an already generous bust is enhanced by having pleats all over it.
However, it is definitely wearable and, when the cooler weather comes round, I might wear it open over a t-shirt or style it somehow so that it looks OK.
So, pin tucks…. Been there, done that and never going to do it again.
Now to finish those challenging trousers and write about them while I can still remember where I put the photos and what was good and bad about the process and, of course, as I’m involved there will definitely be some bad (Spoiler Alert – buttonholes).
Talking of spoilers, I’m not going to give away anything but, talking here mostly to the U.K readers, what about that winning garment on last night’s Great British Sewing Bee final? Absolutely amazing, ingenious and beautiful and all within a time limit. It takes me that long sometimes to put a zip in.
Eleventh Hour Scraphappy Day- July 2023
Posted by tialys in Arts and Crafts on July 15, 2023
Having told Kate (one of the organisers of Scraphappy) that I wouldn’t be participating this month because I don’t seem to be making anything lately that produces the sort of scraps I like to use to make new things with, if you get my drift, I got a hold of myself, remembered that I used to be a more organised person (well, ish) and have a parts department with cotton fabric cut into squares and triangles and sometimes even circles. (A possible entry there for the longest sentence of the month).
Anyway, I am waiting for the arrival of buttons so that I can get on with my Merchant & Mills Quinn Trousers I told you about in my last post. Why is it, I wonder, that I have jars, tins, boxes and cards of buttons yet never have a) the right colour b) the right style or c) the right size or if I have any of those three, never in the right quantity. It makes me want to get rid of all those buttons – think of the space I’d have – to the excess button recycling centre which every town and village must certainly have and just buy the ones I want when I want them.
Eventual positions of elusive buttons. Always nice to slip some Liberty lining into a project even though nobody will know it’s there but you.
So, two years ago, in the midst of the pandemic, I did a Scraphappy post where I’d made some reusable cleansing pads made out of a ‘pre-loved’ flannel baby sheet and some of the squares from my parts department. They have been in use every day since so I thought it might be time to make some more.
This time I used a ‘pre-loved’ hand towel for the backing because I thought towelling would work better when I use my facial soap, whereas the flannel fabric seems to work better with cleansing milk or micellar water.
So easy to make and so quick. Just cut pairs of squares in whatever size you fancy, one out of flannel or terry towelling, and one of fabric. With right sides facing, sew around the edge leaving an inch or so open for turning. Trim the corners then turn right side out. Stitch around the square close to the edge so that you catch the opening and, there you go.
Some might say ‘why don’t you just use a face cloth and be done’ but that wouldn’t be any fun would it? (Plus. you wouldn’t have an entry for Scraphappy Day.)
Also I make nice little lined waterproof pouches to put them in so you can keep the clean pads in the outer pocket and zip the used ones up inside, then pop the whole lot in the washing machine.
My daughter took the one I made her on her New Zealand trip and it was universally admired and coveted.
Well, that’s sort of what she said.
Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn. Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.
Contact Kate or Gun (first names on the list) if you want to join in.
Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy,
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Debbierose, Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,
Amo, Alissa, Lynn (me), Tierney and Hannah
Next Sewing Challenge Coming Up
Posted by tialys in Uncategorized on July 7, 2023
I’ve been showing you sewing projects that I chose because I felt they challenged me and, every now and again, it’s time to slow right down and really aim for perfection in a project even if you don’t fully achieve it.
I’ve showed you my anorak made from waxed cotton and my tailored blazer but I haven’t, so far, shown you my pin tuck blouse which I found challenging because I’d never done pin tucks before but, mostly, because I made some daft mistakes early on. Anyway, I will post about that in a future post.
I thought I’d show you a photo of a Merchant & Mills pattern called The Quinn trousers which I am going to tackle next. I haven’t made anything from this company so far as, normally, I find their designs a little bit ‘worthy’ for my taste but I really like the look of these wide legged sailor type trousers.
The challenging part of these, for me at least, will partly be those slant hip pockets and the button side closures but, mostly it will be getting a good fit which, with trousers is of the utmost importance otherwise, to coin an English phrase, they will look pants. I always look at the reviews for dressmaking patterns for tricks and tips but can’t find anybody online who has made these, which is weird, so I’ll have to be a trailblazer.
I’ve bought some forest green cotton twill for these and I’m going to start cutting out tomorrow although I might be distracted because look what I found at the library today.
(🤣🤣 Reading through this post after I’d published, they’d inserted an advertisement featuring a poor woman who had undergone some sort of facial surgery gone wrong so please scroll past this if it appears and down to what I really did find in the library).
For those non-sewists amongst you Esme is one half of the popular presenting team of the Great British Sewing Bee. I think she has probably had a very interesting life and am really looking forward to reading it and looking at the photos.
Have you got anything in particular you’re looking forward to this weekend?
What Sort of Person?
Posted by tialys in Life in General on June 29, 2023
I might have mentioned tangentially that I am volunteering in a charity shop a couple of afternoons a week.
We get a lot of donations, mostly clothes but often household items and bric-a-brac, usually when somebody has decided to have a ‘clear out’ and very grateful we are too. However, sometimes it really looks as if the stuff hasn’t been sorted but just shoved in the sacks directly from wardrobes and drawers and (in some cases) directly from the laundry bin.
We have had unravelling knitted items, greying bras, tops and dresses with sweat stains under the arms or make up marks around the neck, clothes with holes, glassware and ceramics with chips and cracks, books with torn covers and yellowed pages and I don’t understand how people expect us to be able to re-sell such things. We have a steamer which freshens up some clothes but we don’t have the space or time to have a washing machine or repair service so anything we know won’t sell because of stains, dirt, tears or other signs of excess wear, goes in the rag bin which we can at least sell on (very cheaply) to be recycled.
Our shop is clean and tidy. All clothes are thoroughly checked by us (mostly volunteers) and displayed in size order and our windows, clothes rails and other stock display looks as professional as many ordinary retail shops.
So, my question is what sort of person would imagine that a charity shop is something that can be used as their own personal rubbish bin?
Yesterday I had the honour – bestowed upon me by the manager – of being officially appointed to the first level of membership of Shocked and Stunned Charity Shop Workers of the World after the first item I pulled out of a donated carrier bag of clothes was a pair of soiled men’s underpants.
Apparently, once I find a sex toy, I can move on to the second level. I can hardly wait.
You will, I hope, be thankful that I have included no photos in this post.
Stretched Out Birthday Sunday
Posted by tialys in Life in General on June 18, 2023
When your daughter just ‘gets’ you.
Love this birthday card so much – worth waiting three days for!!
Fanks Luv, xx
Scraphappy Day June 2023
Posted by tialys in Miscellaneous Crafts on June 15, 2023
The 15th of the month and Scraphappy Day has whizzed round really fast again and, not having managed to produce anything for last month, I grabbed the scraps left over from the circular tablecloth I made for the garden table and made some matching coasters.
Sorry it’s boring and I have to ask the question ‘do we really need coasters for an outside table?’ but I was determined to produce something this time and, in my defence, I had just finished writing a long project post and needed to get on with life so couldn’t spend too much time on this one.
Also – lunchtime drink?? Well, it also happens to be my birthday so a good excuse for a glass of something and will probably have a couple more later when we go out for a celebratory dinner.
Cheers 🍷
I will try harder next month and, in the meantime, please have a look at these almost definitely far more interesting efforts.
Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn. Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.
Contact Kate or Gun (first names on the list) if you want to join in.
Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy,
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Debbierose, Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,
Amo, Alissa, Lynn (me), Tierney and Hannah
Tialys