Sewchet

Sewing, crochet, crafts, accessories, baking, tutorials,

Monthly Archives: July 2018


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Sunday Sevens #167

This week’s Sunday Sevens is the culmination of three weeks again – teaming up with Natalie from Threads & Bobbins.

1. My daughter came around for the day to enjoy the continuing hot weather as our garden is more private than hers….and she gets breakfast, lunch and dinner cooked for her.

2. The paddling pool has never seen as much use……

3……and we have actual olives on our olive trees!

4. Cock has learned how to climb the blackberry bush to get to the ripest berries and even throws them down for The Girls.

5. Then he comes in and finishes up the dog food, if he can get away with it. Tess is NOT happy about that.

6. No.2 Son finished school a week earlier than his brother, so we spent some nice time together, just the two of us.

7. The school does all his washing so I had no idea how small his trousers had got until he tried them on for me. He’s been wearing them like this for months and kept ripping the arse out of them – no wonder! His little brother is wearing the other pair and shows how they used to fit just eight months ago!

8. Growing up fast, he might be, but he’s still not too old to come down dressed up like this and scare the living daylights out of me.

9. We managed to sneak in a nice pub lunch with hubby, where my tan matched the colour of the table.

10. Another day, another venue, this time just drinks at a local café.

The pink dress is getting a lot of wear.

11. Craftwise, it’s been slow, but I did manage to complete the border on The Wedding Blanket and just have to block it now before sending it off.

12. Most of my time has been spent doing horrible things like cleaning behind the fridge and painting.

13. We finally got everything done though, and the house is officially up for sale. Here’s the link if you fancy a nose: –

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66638677.html

14. No.3 Son is a goalkeeper for the Yeovil’s Junior Premier League and they got to play a mini tournament on the pitch at halftime during a Yeovil Town football match.

15. He was thrilled to bits to have his photograph taken with their goalkeeper afterwards.

16. We had a fun messy day making costumes and painting backdrops for my mother’s 70th birthday party, As it was Art themed, no shower was necessary and No.2 Son went covered in paint.

17. Just in case there is any doubt, that’s me on the far left, dressed up Lichtenstein -style.

18. At about midnight, The Boys collapsed on the straw bales, oblivious to all the music still blaring out around them. Oh, to be able to do that.

19. The Boys made their Gran this crocheted cushion and a knitted scarf, (which I neglected to photograph) on the back of which, No.2 Son gained a commission to make an identical one for an admiring guest.

19. We booked a table for a lovely little pub about twenty minutes away from us, followed the Sat Nav and found that it was an entirely different place to the one we thought we were going to. Such a nice way to discover a new great place to eat!

20. The National Trust said “Yes”! Next step is putting the lease to their legal team for change of use so we can run it as a B+B.

21. Reading through the terms of the I-don’t-know-how-many-pages lease deserved a pint at the end of it.

22. And then I left hubby to deal with the B+B guests while I hopped on a train “oop North”. The first leg of the journey up to Bristol was great and I managed an hour’s uninterrupted sock knitting…..

23. ……a further five hours of standing on two trains without air conditioning, and Ali (akathimberlina) had a very frazzled house guest to collect from the station. #sewdowndewsbury here we come!

Then followed a fab day in the fabric shops with loads of other lovely bloggers…..but that’s a whole different blog post:)


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New Cloakroom – Finished At Last!!

As I have mentioned in my recent Sunday Sevens posts, we are getting the house ready for sale.

I know that doesn’t sound like it’s anything major, but I’m a stickler for detail and have delayed putting it on the market until I’m happy that all the little things have been finished.

Things like painting the inside of the cloakroom door, for example. In theory, no potential buyer would even see the back of the door as they’ll only poke their head in for a quick glance.

As I said, I’m a stickler for detail.

Last year (and indeed, for the previous ten years) this was a Cloakroom-in-waiting, (not so) dressed up as a cupboard/dumping ground, measuring an extremely modest 3ft x 5ft.

before

Now, as it’s the room in the house in which you spend just a few minutes a day, I had visions of going crazy with the décor. I seriously considered going this bonkers!

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Thankfully, my sensible head kicked in just in the nick of time, as my finger was hovering over the ‘Add to basket’ button. Not the best choice for a house you’re hoping to sell in the near future.

Searching the ‘net for viable options, I came across this image and thought “Wow!”

The space was almost identical to ours and it had the unexpected ‘in your face’ kind of reaction when you opened the door.

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Decision made, I ordered two rolls of wallpaper in the charcoal and gold colourway (there are five different options). At the regal cost of £146, you’d like to think that the fish are real gold leaf!!

I held up the wallpaper against the Farrow and Ball paint chart and was pleased to find that “Charleston Grey” was a pretty good match, so ordered a 5l tin of water-based eggshell for the woodwork.

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Hubby installed the tongue and groove panelling and it took three coats of paint to get a good coverage – all to be done overnight before the plumbers came back the next day to fit the suite!

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We have a fair division of labour – he does all the construction stuff and I do all the painting and decorating.

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Decorating complete, it was time to gild the old mirror I picked up in a vintage shop.

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Mirror up and then……..that was it for a year.

Last month I finally persuaded Mr H-L that it really was time to box-in the pipework and add skirting boards. I think it was the phrase “So you’ll have somewhere to put your coffee mug” was what clinched it!

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No sooner up than painted.

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Drum roll please, for the big reveal…..

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A closer look at the details: –

The Oriental style Koi Carp wallpaper.

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Mr H-L did a bloomin’ good job of installing floorboards that match the ones in the hallway that he did ten years earlier.

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Downlights are much nicer than a central pendant.

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A towel radiator heats the tiny space in Winter.

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We even managed to find the tiniest of sinks complete with storage for the essentials. The sink measures just 16″ x 9″ and is the perfect solution.

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A single lever tap was the obvious choice for such a diminutive sink.

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A swivel plug is so much sleeker than the old fashioned chain that wrapped around the tap and dangled annoyingly.

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This ceramic light pull is better than the bare cord.

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Chrome loo roll holder and towel hook match the radiator.

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This is the view from the loo….

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….and when they’re bored of looking at that, I even put a few books in to entertain the men. Well, it IS only men that like to sit on the loo until their legs go numb, isn’t it?

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For those (like me) who love them, here’s a good old ‘before and after’ comparison:

Finally, I would just like to say that I have never slavishly followed any design inspiration before, but this was so perfect for the space that I shamelessly copied it almost identically, apart from the floor.

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Inspiration VS Reality

Yes, we could have played safe and done the usual beige thing of white ‘contrasting’ against magnolia……

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…..but why would you when you can have gold Koi Carp on the walls?!

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Who else has been bold with a downstairs loo?

I wanna see some of your photos, so put your link in the comments!


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New From Old : Linen Summer Dress

A couple of years ago I made this self-drafted linen dress and wore it quite a lot that year.  This year, however, I’ve always chosen something else ahead of it in the wardrobe so, when I decided to make a short, sleeveless Summer dress in an attempt to stay cool, I thought I’d cut it up and re-use the fabric as I still love the colour.

pink linen dress

I’ve used this New look pattern before when I adapted it to make a white triple-layered dress, also from linen, as in view B on the pattern envelope below.

This time, I chose view D.

new look

Most of the time was taken up unpicking the old dress, ironing the fabric and cutting out the new pieces, after which the simple shift dress came together quickly.

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I know it was supposed to be a simple shift dress, but it was a little too simple for my liking so I tried out this bit of sequinned trim around the neckline.

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Much better and still no too fancy for a day dress.

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I added a couple of long darts in the back through the waistline to give the dress a bit more of a shape.

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Although I initially hadn’t planned on re-using the pockets, I do like pockets and, as it’s a casual dress, decided to go ahead and stitch them on.

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I used French seams throughout and simply overlocked and turned the hem, armholes and neck edge.

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Bust darts stop it being too boxy, too.

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I had to join two short lengths of trim and there was just enough to do the front neckline only. Spot the join if you can!!

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Hubby’s away on business so I had to resort to mirror selfies again I’m afraid.

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So far this Summer it’s been hovering around 30°C for at least a few weeks which us poor Brits are simply not used to and, as such, the most I’ve worn is a pair of knickers whilst at home.

Luckily for the Postman, I now have a piece of clothing that I can bear to wear:)


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Sunday Sevens #166

Literally, a flying visit to post a few photos for Sunday Sevens.

Apologies to anyone who may have noticed my absence of late, both in lack of posts and  commenting on others – I have every intention of catching up when things die down a little in the real world.

  1. Hardly any rainfall for a few weeks now means the grass looks mostly like this, dry and brown.

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2. We haven’t seen a Summer like this in years!

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3. With everyone taking advantage of the good weather, my ‘first cousin once-removed’ held her 65th birthday party outside in her farmyard.

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4. Cock staying cool in the little bit of shade in our garden.

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5. A nice cooling pint in the beer garden of The White Lion Inn in nearby Bourton.

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6. Mr H-L took a picture of the loo roll holder in the pub’s toilet…..

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7. ….thought his daughter’s fiancé might make us something similar to go with the lamp he made us for Christmas!

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8. No.3 Son sang with his school in Wells Cathedral.

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9. The Husband had to go to Munich on business for a week.

Poor thing.

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10. It’s just been too hot to slave over a hot stove, so I took No.3 Son out for supper one night.

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11. Much too hot for a traditional English pudding, too, so our B+B guests had to make do with homemade chocolate mousse and biscotti.

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12. My Eldest invited us around for supper.

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13. No.3 Son loved having her pet mouse curled up on his shoulder.

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14. His sister swapped shorts with her brother, No.2 Son, who is twelve and they fitted her perfectly. She’s 27.

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15. My Auntie came over from Spain to stay with us and we all went out for a meal at The Stag’s Head in Yarlington.

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16. The next day was No.3 Son’s 11th birthday….but we had a wedding to go to, so he had to stay at his sister’s.

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17. The following day he had a birthday party to go to himself and had the time of his life go-karting.

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18. Meanwhile, I utilised time alone without the Mister to go over the hall, stairs and landing with a fresh lick of paint.

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19. The stairwell is tall and narrow with very little natural light so tends to be quite dark and more than a little boring compared to the rest of the house, as I was lacking inspiration as how best to add interest.

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20. Then I had a lightbulb moment and added a band of colour to match the front door and hung some pictures all the way up.

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21. The mother of the little girl who won the doll put these cute photos on Facebook.

22. I had to show you this photo of one of my students who is showing off the shorts she finished in class this week.

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23. Finally, despite starting The Wedding Blanket back in January or February, I still didn’t finish it in time for the big day last Friday. Luckily, the newlyweds are honeymooning for a week, so I can complete the border and send it to their house for them to open on their return.

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For all those asking about our planned move, negotiations are ongoing with the National Trust and the Listed Buildings officials, but are looking positive, if more than a little long-winded and stressful. It’s still not a ‘No’, so fingers crossed and watch this space!