Buttons, books and goodbyes

A lot has been happening over the past few weeks and I am behind on my blogging as a result, which is a shame because I have a rad (does anyone still say that?) dress post to write up. However the main reason for my absence is largely due to a chain of events that have been put in motion following my decision to take a new job *insert excited squeal here*! My departure from my current post is imminent and today I had cause to have a final meeting with two very close colleagues, M & K. I'm not going to lie, I did cry pretty much the whole way home and it really got me thinking about relationships and the things that make you click with some people more than others. 

There's few of us who can spend all our days pleasing ourselves, sewing, gardening, drinking cups of tea etc. Whilst that would be my idea of heaven, work is a necessity for most of us and we end up spending around a third of our waking hours each day working for 'da man'. As I get older, gulp, I realise I've been pretty fortunate in my time to work with some truly fabulous people. Some have come and gone over the years and we've drifted apart. Others have become permanent fixtures in my life who I couldn't imagine being without.

Saying goodbye to M & K today left me feeling quite empty in one way but I know have become a better colleague (I hope) and a better person for having worked with them. M bestowed on me a truly thoughtful gift which cheered me up immensely and will remind me always of the wonderful woman she is and how lucky I've been to know her. I was presented with a beautifully wrapped antique box adorned with two chickens (she knows me so well) and filled with gorgeous, old buttons!

The other gift was a 1946 edition of the Charles Boff book, How to Grow and Produce Your Own Food. This is truly fantastic and really relevant nearly 70 years later. I've chosen some of the coolest images to share below.

Cool inscription

Ties and moustaches are clearly standard gardening attire in the Forties

Full of handy tips on dispatching chooks and dealing with the tricky issue of being egg-bound

So as one door closes, another opens and if my new colleagues are even half as wonderful as the ones I've just farwelled I'll be incredibly lucky and happy.

Sewing in the Forties

Hey everyone,

I've just come across this short film by Simplicity from 1948. If you have a spare 20 minutes I heartily recommend getting yourself a cuppa and enjoying the sewing adventures of Betty. Some of the language is amazingly twee and outdated but the fashions are still current and being re-worked by designers the world over even now. I think this is a real gem and the sewing techniques and tips are current even now.
Happy viewing!

 

Simplicity wrap skirt

 Happy Sunday one and all,

I trust you've all had suitably fab and relaxing weekends. After drinking more tea that should be humanly possible this morning, whilst listening to my vinyl Vera Lynn album (my new theme song is It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow) and reading trashy home mags, I finally launched myself into the day.

After a slight delay I finished my Simplicity 7352 wrap skirt and I have to say I'm pretty darn happy with it. My variations to the pattern included:

• making the skirt reversible by adding a contrasting fabric but I kept the yokes the same on both sides
• I added several inches length to the ties since those suckers are always far too short for my liking
• I top stitched the whole thing 1/8 inch which took a while but was worth  it

 

The very cute sewing themed fabric

I also toyed with the idea of adding a pocket at the side seam which would have probably been ok but having tried it on I'm glad I didn't as I fear it might have messed with the nice A-line effect.

All in all this was a super simple and straightforward make. I highly recommend it because the cut is really flattering on 99.9% of the population and is a classic style. It's quite similar to a modern pattern called the Miette doing the rounds at the moment by the lovely and talented Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons but mine is 37 years old!

Some of you may be thinking 'I don't know if a wrap skirt is for me. Don't those leave you with countless opportunities for unintentional knicker exposure'? I confess I also had these worries but they have been banished after trying this baby on. The back panels are of a very generous width meaning there's plenty to 'wrap around' if you know what I mean. If you were feeling particularly nervous about it though one solution could be the placement of a discreet press stud on the inside of the flap and outside of the skirt. A word of warning though, this can affect the drape of your skirt so you may want to get the help of a friend to place it carefully. You'd also need to do this before sewing the two sides together if it's reversible.

So, that's the end of my sewing adventures for another week. I hope you all have a great week ahead!

What's on the sewing table?

Hello one and all!
After my hiatus I am back and ready for a season of cosy, fireside activities. I'm not going to lie, I had a freaking amazing holiday. It was beyond lovely to spend some quality time with my folks in a place that wasn't one of our respective homes. We were all forced to chill out and relax and, as it turned out for Mum anyway, buy a whole lot of shoes (don't ask).

After a fab time in Hawaii I jetted over to LA (I love how that sounds) to see my best pal of all time and soul sister par excellence. I can't begin to describe how good for my soul it was being with someone who just gets me. After a few days together I felt like my old self again, that would be the best version of myself - great friends just bring that out in you don't they?

Anyway enough gushing. I'm now back in bonnie Scotland and there's been a definite Autumnal shift in the weather and the days are drawing in. This means two things. The first is that I need to get the garden 'put away' as my gardening guru Aunt would say. I am hoping to tackle the bulk of that work on Sunday. This also means factoring my interloping chook who not only has stayed on but who I am now trying to integrate with my two existing chookies. More to the point, Francois as I had named him, may in fact now be Francine. All the suspiciously cockerel-shaped tail feathers have disappeared and he is looking more and more like a she. Who knows but I feel responsible for the blighter now so we're all one big happy family from now on.

The second thing is the return big style of some crafts that are perfect for the fire side. I'm talking about crochet. In the spirit of the season I picked up Niki Trench's book Cute and Easy Crochet. I really like this book, it is full of projects I'm reasonably confident I can not only start, but finish (not always the case with craft books). I decided to tackle the chunky shell scarf but instead of using chunky wool I went for a teal 100% Shetland style wool and I'm pretty pleased with how it's coming along. It'll look better finished and pressed so I'll keep you posted. I'd forgotten how many odd looks crocheting in public can attract but it's a nice diversion on boring public transport journeys.

I've also been stitching a super sweet 1976 Simplicity wrap skirt pattern, with one or two hacks to make it more my style. I'll post a couple of pics of the finished article shortly. My skirt is the one with the ultra stylish pointed yoke (which required a moderate number of swear words to finish) and ties around the front. To say I found the greatest sewing-themed fabric ever to use on this project would be an understatement and pics will follow.

I also found myself lurking around eBay the other night when I happened on a couple of auctions for fab patterns finishing imminently. I bid and won both for the bargain price of £0.99 each! Result! Both are Simplicity patterns from 1967 and are from the Jiffy range, meaning they have only a few pieces and should be pretty speedy to whip up. I can't wait to get started!

So, I hope you have fulfilling projects to keep you distracted over the coming months. Apparently this winter coming is supposed to be a doozy and not in the good way so plenty of projects will be needed to see us all through.

A holiday sewing distraction

This weekend I am heading off to the States for a couple of weeks. I'm meeting my parents in Hawaii and then heading to LA to see my best girlfriend of all time who moved there a few years back. I'm super excited to see the three people I love most in the world all in the space of just a few weeks, and to sneak in a cheeky second summer.

 I promised myself I wouldn't leave packing until the last minute but of course that's been an epic fail. I'm sitting here with only one day to go and absolutely nothing is packed or organised. I keep telling myself that it''s not a big deal since everyone tells me the shopping in the States is amazing so a half empty case is probably a good thing.

So what have I been doing instead of packing? Sewing of course. Apart from the Sorbetto tops I made for my Mum, I also decided a new tote bag would be essential. My idea was to make something that scrunched up when it wasn't needed but would go with most of my limited wardrobe options. I didn't use a pattern so this just evolved as the evening wore on. It started off by making 18 different squares from my favourite retro fabrics.

Initially I thought I'd just stitch two sets of nine squares together and that would form the front and back of the bag - simple! After I made the two panels however it became clear that it would definitely not be big enough to hold all the junk I need to cart about on holiday. To fix this I decided to add a gusset in a lime wool mix fabric. What followed at this point was a whole lot of swear words and unpicking but eventually the gusset was in and the corners, although not perfect, were not too bad.

Front

Back

To finish the bag off I added a lining, made the same way as the outer with a gusset (cue more swearing), and included a two-compartment pocket. Lastly I made two handles from an obliging pillow case and around midnight it was finally finished.

 Now if only I could put this sort of effort into the packing! Bon voyage my friends, see you in a few weeks.

Wishing I could look this chic after a full day's travel.