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.

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 projects - a mask, a hat and a dress for a favourite doll

Under the guise of helping and supporting my sister-in-law, I have been indulging in what some in this house have described as  'more than my fair share' of baby-gazing, baby-cuddling and sniffing-of-baby-head over the past couple of weeks.  I drop the children at school, hop on the bus, and head over to Hackney to help out with my newest nephew.  The children are not impressed that I get to baby gaze while they have to do spelling tests.  Can't say I blame them really.  I mean just look what a poppet he is in those lovely Auntie-knitted booties!

He is very happy with the kicking bag and booties I made for him, but what he really needs is a matching hat.  And I need something to knit on the bus over to Hackney.  So a small beanie hat is now on the needles.

My last attempt at a beanie hat was too small even for O's smallest doll, so I found a different pattern and cast on more stitches than I was supposed to.  It's looking just about right so far.

Today I left my sister-in-law and nephew alone and got two small sewing projects done which have been at the back of my mind for a while.  O always appreciates more dolls' clothes, and when she asks me to make something for a particular doll, I don't even try to resist.

This is Molly Dolly.  Named by C when O was born.  C was adamant that his new sister should be called Molly, but we had already chosen a name (and anyway I wasn't about to let a three year old chose the name - look what happened when Fifi Geldof was allowed to name her younger sisters).  So we persuaded C that naming his sister's first doll, which she was given by my mother on the day she was born, was much more important.  Being three he fell for that, and so we have Molly Dolly.

Molly Dolly normally wears a slightly tired looking fleece top, and O thought she should have a dress.  Quite right - nobody should have to wear a tired-looking fleece top.  O picked the fabric, and three pink buttons (yet to be sewn on in the picture above) and I made a quick a-line dress (based roughly on the Clothkits Poppy dress).  And yes, the fabric is left over from making O's Christmas house trousers, so she matches her doll now!

The other thing I made today was a quilted eye mask. 

The pattern is from Amy Butler's In Stitches book.  Making the scarf two weeks ago reminded me of all the tempting patterns in the book, and this eye mask was another straightforward project, started and finished in just one morning.

The pattern calls for two lengths of ribbon to fasten the eye mask, but I can't imagine how having a ribbon tied in a bow at the back of your head is conducive to a good night's sleep, so I knew I would have to try something else. 

Tory from Funky & Delightful used elastic in a casing when she made this mask.  I love the way this adaptation looks; ruffled and yet neat.  But I was still worried it might be too tight or too loose, so I plumped for a long length of velcro instead, for ultimate adjustability.

The mask is quilted on the front and plain on the back and it is padded with a layer of quilt wadding.  The fabric is another house trouser remnant - this time the beautiful WIlliam Morris fabric I used for G's Christmas house trousers.  William Morris always looks good I think, and will add an air of gentle Victoriana to bedtimes.

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For those of you reading on Google Reader or similar, I have given the blog a small spring clean.  There is a new February banner, an updated cast list and an updated list of favourite blogs.

White plastic parcels all tied up with string

A package, from a favourite shop, so beautifully wrapped up. That's very exciting! What could be inside?

I'd better have a look...


Oooh! Could it possibly be a new sewing machine?


I have been dithering over whether to buy myself a new sewing machine for at least a year. I have been very attached to my old machine, which was a 21st birthday present and has served me very well for many years. But after a day frustratingly unpicking mangled seams alongside a zip and failing to get the old machine to sew through three layers of linen, I decided enough was enough. I got on the tube, went up to Oxford Street, and bought the machine I have been secretly coveting since I used it on a Make Lounge course last year.

And I love it. It does everything I want it to, and more. Even the air vent on the back is beautiful!

The first thing I have made with it is a small, fiddly bit of doll's clothing. A type of sewing which the old machine used to really struggle with. Fine lawn fabric and tiny seams? It used to end up in mangled fabric, ripped seams, much swearing and eventual hand sewing.

I've made a pinafore dress for this young lady:


This is Harriet. And she is one of two identical purple bears that O has loved since she was a baby. This is the oldest photo I have of O with one of them (like proper twins, only O can tell them apart). O is about 18 months old in this picture.


Harriet is getting really quite threadbare, and O is very worried that one day she will just disintegrate.

We talked about patching her, but that didn't seem quite right. She is threadbare mainly on her tummy, not on her paws, and tummies aren't easy to patch. I thought a little pinafore might be better. And a pinafore, being removable, wouldn't compromise the essential Harriet-ness of Harriet.

So with tiny scraps of fabric, thin seams and miniature bias tape, I used my new machine to make Harriet a pinafore. I shirred around the waist to make it look less sack-like and Harriet seems very pleased indeed with her new dress.

But now I can tell Harriet and her twin bear, Charlotte, apart. That seems all wrong. I think I am going to have to make a matching pinafore for Charlotte now as well. What do you think?

Easter Weekend

We've had a lovely mild Easter weekend - so different from last year.
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There was some welcome rain for the plants and grass seed in the garden.

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Some welcome chocolate for small people.

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We finished one cake.....and started another.

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And best of all - sewing was done. A pair of house trousers for G (I used the pattern from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing and can highly recommend it) and a new dress for O's doll.

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I love my daughter so much that I used up my last, precious remnant of Kaffe Fassett Paperweight in pink. There aren't many people I would do that for.

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....