A quietly satisfying Sunday

Yesterday O and I went Christmas shopping and then on to meet Auntie Alison at the Diaghilev exhibition at the V&A, which was excellent.  I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in ballet, theatre or early 20th Century music and art.  O enjoyed it too, although it was a HUGE exhibition and she flagged towards the end.

The family calendar is looking rather full for the next few weeks too.  That'll be Christmas.  Between the four of us we have this ballet, this Christmas market, a school Christmas play, visits to grandparents and cousins, meeting up with friends, celebratory meals and this half-marathon all lined up before Christmas Eve.

So today seemed precious.  An ordinary, quiet Sunday with nothing planned beyond a few household chores and some relaxation.

This morning I raked up the last of the leaves from our poor, mangled, snow-sodden lawn, and I cleaned out the eglu.  As is always the way with garden chores, I put them off for far too long, thinking how cold and boring they will be, and then end up thrilled and energised after I've done them.

This morning as I pulled leaves out of the flower-bed I discovered vivid, green bulb shoots amongst the mess and mud, which were certainly worthy of a photo.

The tangle of bare branches, the wintry pale-blue sky, and my favourite yucca trees had me reaching for the camera too.  It feels so good to see blue sky again after the grey and white of the snow days last week.

Back indoors, there were the delights of a simple, warming stew and freshly baked bread. And then suitably warmed and filled, I could pore over a new, very exciting book.

This is such an achingly beautiful book, crammed full of projects I really want to make right now.  Over the last few years I've made several Clothkits dolls and their clothes for O, and the monsters for my nephew, but that's the limit of my toy-making.  Now I have this book I can see myself expanding my horizons.  The fact that all of these dolls only need small pieces of scrap fabric, and can be assembled so quickly is very appealing.  I love the boy doll on the cover best of all, and the little pink mermaid runs a close second.

And as the afternoon drew to a close, there was a sudden blaze of sunset-sunshine on my quilt, folded up on the back of the sofa.

I ran for my camera, and barely ten seconds after I'd taken the picture the sun dropped behind the houses at the end of the street and the sunshine disappeared for another day.

But there's still the sofa, and the Wee Wonderfuls book, and even a little bit of leftover stew.  So my quiet, satisfying Sunday is not quite over yet.

Two Clothkits skirts

I finished my week of wardrobe improvements by making two Clothkits skirts, which have been sitting on my shelves ready to make for an embarrasingly long time.

First was this kit for a skirt for me, which my sister gave me last year.  Shame on me.  I wish I hadn't waited so long to make it because it is beautiful, and I know I will wear it constantly this winter.

Yes, more grainy photos - because the light is not good this morning and I am teetering on a chair again.

The skirt is made from a very good quality babycord, in a rich shade of deep purple.  The babycord is lovely to sew with - and behaves so well after the slinkiness of jersey.  The skirt has babycord facings and a beautiful Liberty cotton poplin lining, and it fastens with a zip at the back. 

The best bit about it though is the fit.  I made my usual dress size without spending any time closely checking the exact measurements as I normally would when dressmaking.  And happily my casual enthusiasm did not backfire. 

It fits perfectly on the waist and hips and is exactly the right length.  I wanted it to come just above my knees and because I am very tall I was a little concerned that it may have come out too short.  Although they are easily shortened, there is no way with Clothkits skirts to make them longer, because the cutting lines are pre-printed on them and will show up if you make them longer than they are meant to be.  However, it was not a problem as I made it with the minimum hem possible and it came out exactly right.

Liberty poplin lining with the deep purple babycord - gorgeous

Next up was a skirt for O, who I think has inherited my height and is growing like a weed at the moment.  She loves skirts and is wearing them shorter and shorter as she grows out of everything in her cupboard.  Things were getting indecent, so rather than have any more conversations about what skirt length we agreed was suitable, I thought I should just make her something longer.

Crumpled after being stuffed higgledy-piggledy into her drawer

I made her this doves and cherries skirt, cutting out the age 10 size and adjusting the elastic at the waist to be a bit tighter and fit her properly - she's only just turned 8 and has a 10 year old's height with an 8 year old's waist.  It comes to just below her knees so looks fine now and will still look good (and not too indecent) for another year or two I hope.

The doves and cherries print is charming without being too girly, and again it is made from a very good quality babycord.  Since I bought the kit (last year again - ahem), Clothkits have brought out a purple version which I think I prefer to this blue-green one.  But no matter, because O approves, and it has just the right amount of twirliness to keep an 8 year old happy.

Waistband detail - "very well made in England"

We have a delightfully blank weekend stretching out in front of us, so I am continuing with the sewing (in between cooking up a feast from this fabulous book which O was given for her birthday). 

I have a custom order to make for the shop (very exciting - my first custom order, all the way from Florida!) and more jersey t-shirts to go with both these skirts.  Stay tuned for more outfits next week!

My Milly-Molly-Mandy top

I am so pleased that I bought plenty of this Milly-Molly-Mandy striped jersey at Fabrics Galore on Monday.  I am quite happy to have several things made from it in my wardrobe.

 Yesterday I made this long sleeved t-shirt, using the Ottobre Creative Workshop 303 pattern (which you can buy direct from Ottobre here).  This is a pattern for nine different versions of a basic women's t-shirts in UK sizes 8 to 26.  It has a wealth of information about sewing with knits and adjusting sizes.  I love its simplicity and usefulness - I just know I will be making tops from this pattern for years to come.

The pattern makes a close fitting t-shirt, perfect for layering or wearing under a cardigan, and mine turned out pretty much how I wanted.  I added 2cm onto the length as I know I have a long body, and many t-shirts I buy come up too short - and I'm pleased with how that turned out.

I didn't add anything to the sleeve length, but next time I would add 2cm there as well.  The sleeves are fine if I keep my arms down, as in the photo below, but if I am waving them around the sleeves creep up a tiny bit, and I'd like them just a touch longer.

The neckline was the fiddliest part of construction.  Purely because the fabric is rather slippery and I didn't pin it adequately.  It is bound - just like a quilt - and I like the way I got the stripes on the binding going the other way to the stripes on the top (purely accidental - I have a feeling if I tried to, I wouldn't be able to do it like this again next time!).  The binding gives a very neat, flat finish to the neckline.

The Ottobre pattern gives a few different suggestions for hemming, but I didn't follow any of them in the end.  Instead I followed the Oliver + S instructions (which you can get here) for making a lettuce hem on a regular sewing machine (no serger required). 

The hems (on the cuffs and the bottom) have ended up being my favourite part of the whole top.  I adore the simple, ruffled effect that you end up with.  And as I always sew hems on skirts and shirts by hand, to make them properly invisible, I love the speed of hemming on the machine!

Both the Ottobre pattern and the Oliver + S website are reassuringly adamant that you can make beautiful jersey clothes on a regular sewing machine, and I would wholeheartedly agree with this.  I'm sure if I had a serger I would use it and love it, but I don't feel any need to get one at all - my Janome machine does everything I need.

I have learnt a few jersey-sewing tips over the past few days, however:

• Do use a ballpoint needle. A regular needle just chewed up the fabric.
• Buy LOADS of reels of thread for your project, and wind several bobbins before you start.  The stitches you need to sew jersey fabrics are all very heavy on thread.
• You really need to pin before you stitch.  I very rarely pin when I sew - preferring to carefully hold the fabric together - but jersey slips about too much for me to be this cavalier with it!
• Don't be afraid of jersey fabrics - just have a go.  Now I'm wearing my top, I can't believe I've been dithering for so long.

I'm moving onto babycord today - there are two Clothkits skirts (one for me, and one for O) cut out and ready to sew - but I'll be back onto the jersey tomorrow, and am hoping to have several more t-shirts in my wardrobe by the end of the week.

10 things

There is a great deal happening around here at the moment.

• I finally finished the remaining clothes for O's boy Clothkits doll (renamed Bob, by O.  Love it!).  He now has this wonderful hat, a man-bag and a very natty pair of bright red, owl-festooned pyjamas to go with his jeans, check shirt and waistcoat.
• Thank you all so much for the good wishes for Cam's and Graham's races last weekend.  They read all your kind comments and were delighted.  They're planning to do another parkrun this Saturday.
• I made a lightweight summer outfit for Livvy (hoping for some seriously hot weather in France and Switzerland this summer) using two favourite Simplicity patterns.

The top is made from Simplicity 2986, using a really luscious (and precious) metre of Amy Butler Belle fabric, and the cropped trousers are based on Simplicity 3669 (modified quite extensively), using linen from IKEA.  Both the top and trousers are hemmed with thick velvet ribbon that my Grandmother gave me.  I fully expect these to get worn and worn all summer long.

• I'm finally reading The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters - she is one of my most favourite writers.  I love it, and am racing through it far too fast.  Up next will be this one, or maybe this one.
• I have really enjoyed considering all your suggestions for small, portable sewing projects.  Currently on the go are small bits of embroidery, sewing suffolk puffs, and little felty projects,  How could I have forgotten about felt?  And my favourite felt book?  Great fun.
• I've been baking biscuits, using a delicious recipe in Rachel Allen's Bake.  I have written about this book before, but it really is excellent, and I keep going back to it.  The recipe I used was the Basic Cookie recipe, with added orange zest.  A lemon version is on the cards for this weekend.
• I got Debbie Bliss's book Simply Baby out of the library last week, and I am knitting the two tone baby socks, which are just too sweet for words.

• I have such a large stash of Debbie Bliss's Baby Cashmerino yarn that I might have to buy this book and start up sock production for all the babies I know.
• This weekend I am planning on making my own bagels.  I've been meaning to do this for months and it is time to stop promising to do it and have a go.  Any tips?
• The other thing happening this weekend is a return trip to the quilt exhibition at the V&A with my sister.  Very exciting!

Small things

Making small things comes with a disproportionate amount of satisfaction. They are quick, they look cute, they’re simple and they use up those precious scraps of fabric or yarn that cannot be thrown away. What’s not to like?

I’ve been making a great many small things lately. It feels like what I need after all of November and December spent making C’s quilt.

I sneaked in these fabric covered moleskine cahiers in the last few days before Christmas. The instructions are in Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. I love them. They are fun to make and even nicer to give away as presents. Don’t they look pretty?


In the New Year, doing such long hours at work, I stuck to small things that could be tucked into a short sewing session. I decided to make these tiny, fabric bookmarks.


I’m always turning down the corners of catalogues, recipe books and sewing books, and I realised I could easily make some bookmarks with more oddments from my vast basket of scraps.
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My machine was not happy about sewing such thin fabric with a very small seam allowance, and I had a few sweary moments when I started. But a couple of hours later I had over thirty (yes! thirty!) bookmarks with which I am very pleased. And they’re perfect for marking the patterns I want to knit in my new book.


Doll’s clothes are usually a quick and satisfying project. And they’re met with charming excitement by small girls. I made this vintage Cloth Kitty for O for Christmas. She is an exact replica of the one I had at O’s age. I made the doll and her dress by Christmas, but there were other clothes that came in the kit which I didn’t have time to make. Last week I dug the kit out, and in a spare hour thought I’d make the sweet little frilly knickers in the kit.

Goodness me, frilly knickers in doll’s sizes are a complete nightmare. It took me HOURS. The shirring was stressful – I did it by hand in the end. But Hannah, the doll, is pleased with them and so is her owner.

Hannah is now looking through the Mini Boden catalogue dreaming of her summer wardrobe.

And I am moving on to bigger things. The quilt for O will need to be started soon....

Child of the 70s

When I was small enough to have my hair washed just once a week (and always on a Sunday night) the only good thing about having to endure my ears being singed by my mother's terrifying and antiquated hairdryer, was being able to read a catalogue while my hair was dried.

The catalogue I loved the most was the Clothkits catalogue. Many of my clothes came from Clothkits and so did those of my friends in the village where I grew up. Clothkits sold fabric to make clothes for children and adult in mad, bright 1970s colours and bold designs. The colours of the girls dresses were so weird that Clothkits also sold matching tights and knitwear because you'd never be able to find that exact shade of turquoise or burnt orange anywhere else. I would gaze at the catalogue for hours loving all the matching colours and funky patterns. I don't remember asking my mother to make me anything specific from the catalogue - I loved it all.

When I came back to sewing after my children were born I remembered Clothkits and tried to find out where I could buy their kits. I was so disappointed to find that they had gone out of business in the late 1980s.

And then...bored at work and randomly clicking through sewing blogs and flickr, I discovered that in February of this year, Clothkits was relaunched! Their new range is breathtakingly beautiful - the colours and simplicity are still true to its 1970s bohemian origins but with elements of modern design that are bang up to date.

At present their range is small - the children's clothes are only for girls up to age 6 and there are just two skirts for adults - but they are planning on bringing out more very soon. O already wears age 7 clothes so I haven't bought her a dress pattern, but I couldn't resist the Cloth Kitty doll pattern. I had at least one (possibly both?) of these original Cloth Kittys when I was small and I remember my friends having them too (and we used to dress our Sasha dolls in Clothkits dolls outfits too - remember Sasha dolls?)

Today the parcel from Clothkits arrived...



..and I was very, very excited because not only is the kit just how I remembered, but it is packaged so wonderfully as well - all wrapped in tissue paper and accompanied by a hand written note thanking me for my purchase. With customer service like that they deserve to be back in business!

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The other post I got today was pretty amazing too. This note from Anna in the Cath Kidston stationery I was drooling about in my last post. Incredibly, it's even nicer in real life than I had imagined - there is a sticker to fasten the envelope!

And O had a parcel from my mother with this beautiful cardie inside - knitted in the softest angora yarn and trimmed with ribbon. I didn't even know you could knit in ribbon