Sewchet

September 12, 2016
by sewchet 19 Comments

Sunday Sevens #100

Sunday Sevens is here again and guess what – I’ve kept it to seven photos for the first time in forever! Not that we haven’t done loads, just that I keep forgetting to take photos. No pub pics either this week; we had a lovely walk to the pub yesterday in the sunshine, but I forgot to take the mobile with me.

If you want to find out more and how you can join in, visit Nat at Threads & Bobbins.

1. This gorgeous, faded roses fabric was on sale at £5 per metre, down from £16. It is 2.5m wide, too, so I bought all of it – 3m for £15! It’s curtain weight fabric and is destined for the redecoration of the smallest bedroom, which hasn’t been decorated in ten years and needs a facelift.

2. As part of our ‘get the house ready for sale’ effort, we had a clear out of the wall-to-wall bookshelves in our lounge. I offered this lot to the school for their Christmas fair as it’s all in good condition, but they don’t seem to want it as no one has got back to me. Oh well – charity shop it is then.

3. I forgot to show you this book that I couldn’t resist buying last week. It’s just lovely – and there’s more space on the bookshelves now, so there was no reason not to buy it:)

4. Can you believe this? Spotted in a pub in Sherborne on 5th SEPTEMBER!

5. Hmm, not very picturesque perhaps, but an important part of our week. We had a heavy downpour and rain was pouring through the light fitting in the not yet finished sun room. A quick inspection of the single storey roof revealed two broken tiles. Easily fixed before any damage was done, thank goodness.

6. Progress so far on the quilt-as-you-go squares. Each square will be quilted the same, but the design doesn’t show up as clearly on the patterned fabrics as it does on this spotty one.

7. A sweet pic of the dogs to finish with. Wow, they do need a haircut. Time to get the scissors out again….

September 8, 2016
by sewchet 36 Comments

Knitted Lace Cardigan

Just after Christmas, after months of making things for other people, I had the urge to knit something for myself.

I love Artesano (and was gutted to find out recently that they have gone into receivership – another independant yarn shop gone) and I found this lace cardigan pattern on their website, for free, no less. Here’s the link – download it while you can as I assume the website will be offline soon: – free lace cardigan pattern

Cardigan

The suggested yarn was their Alpaca Silk Lace, so I went ahead and treated myself to four skeins of ‘French Rose’.

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The lace pattern is a simple repeating pattern and, although I lost concentration and made a few mistakes, the pattern is quite loose so they don’t show at all.

Fast forward to May and the goal was to take it to Spain as a light cover up in the evenings. Well, the knitting was finished in time….but not stitched together, so I took all four panels with me with the intention of finishing it on the first day or two of our holiday.

I blocked it.

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I even sewed it together.

Then it came back to England with me and I forgot all about it until the other day.

Re-discovered underneath several WIPs in my lovely sewing cabinet, I dragged it out and sat down, determined to make the flowers there and then.

Look, matching nails and dress, too:)

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Half an hour later, the flowers were completed and all that was left to do was the chain cord that would act as a buttonhole, joining the two flowers. making-cord-chain knitted-chain-cord

Finally…….Tadah!

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It’s quite special as cardigans go, so I thought I’d glam it up with a pair of designer mules for the photos.

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I love the scalloped edge at the bottom.

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It’s so easy to wear and not at all restrictive.

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The pattern calls for twelve knitted roses dotted about on various seams, but I left it at two, on the front opening edge.

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I slapped on a matching lippy and met hubby for a drink at lunchtime and he loved it. Or was it the heels…….?

Save

September 6, 2016
by sewchet 41 Comments

Sunday Sevens #99

This week’s Sunday Sevens is a couple of week’s worth as I haven’t had chance to get near a computer before now.

To find out more about Sunday Sevens, visit Nat at Threads & Bobbins.

1. The Boys were desperately in need of a haircut……

2. This was the ‘before’!

3. All No.3’s curls have gone! N0.3 wanted me to cut his hair ‘long’.

4. The Boys are eating the crackling, which I cut off the pork belly before cooking what is possibly the tastiest meal ever.

5. I managed to get around to making a friend’s curtains which she has been waiting for for ages.

6. No.1 Son also wanted a haircut before we all went camping. I did the ‘Mad Woman Let Loose With A Pair Of Scissors’ impression.

7. I whipped up some simple bunting for the tents using some scraps out of my ‘less than 4″ square scrap bag’. Come on, I know I’m not the only one who can’t bear to throw away even the tiniest piece of fabric.

8. Talking of camping, No.1 Son went a day earlier and took both the tents as there wouldn’t be enough room in my little car (Mr H-L’s big car was in the garage). At the last minute, the garage rang to say they’d fixed the Merc. Bonus!

9. Camping with all three sons and N0.1’s girlfriend.

10. Everyone needs a bit of bunting on their tents. And homemade picnic rug and crocheted blankets.

11. Standard camping breakfast – sausages!

12. Family selfie at Hurlstone Point overlooking Porlock Bay.

Camping selfie

13. The Boys chose their own fabric for their sewing lesson projects.

14. Hanson’s fabric warehouse in Sturminster Newton was in the midst of putting up all manner of things outside their shop for Yarnbombing Day.

15. The nearby open spaces were also duly adorned with knitted and crocheted works of art. The Boys couldn’t resist touching everything.

16. I’m still working steadily on the knitted baby shawl. At this point I think I was two thirds of the way in with 60 hours under my belt and over 70,000 stitches to date.

17. The Boys went back to school, everyone went back to work and I went to the café all on my own for a bit of peace and quiet and well earned coffee and cake.

And…..relax!

August 22, 2016
by sewchet 34 Comments

The Hoodie That (Almost) Changed My Mind

It’s finished!

For those of you that would like to see how the dreaded Hoodie turned out, here’s a link to the full blog post: – The Hoodie That (Almost) Changed My Mind

August 21, 2016
by sewchet 29 Comments

Sunday Sevens #98

We’re down to one car at the moment – the Mercedes is in the garage and may be on it’s way to the scrapyard in the sky as it may not be economical to fix. Mr H-L has been using my car for work as I don’t need it in the holidays, but this means we don’t get out at all as there is very limited public transport.

What I’m trying to say, is that there are no pub photos in this week’s Sunday Sevens, and no Exmoor landscapes – just us at home, doing stuff.

Progress is slow but steady on the baby shawl I’m knitting. At this point I was one third of the way through and the statistics were; 35 hours, 560 rows and 40,324 stitches.

2. I held two full day workshops this week. Just look at the concentration on her face!

3. The students love choosing their own combination of fabrics to make their creations unique. It started with piles of neatly folded fabric but, within seconds of excited rummaging, descended into this chaotic heap!

4. I found time to design and make a school bag for No.2 Son. He declared that he was too old to use the standard school “babyish” book bags so chose the fabrics for a more grown up version.

I’ll write up a quick ‘how to’ when I get time.

5. Talking of school, we made a rare trip to town to buy new school shoes and The Boys spent the whole time going up and down the escalators. They’re not used to such exciting entertainment in the country!

6. WHY are school shoes so expensive? £100 for two pairs of shoes and a pair of daps – criminal.

7. While we were in Yeovil, we popped into the outdoor pursuits shop and managed to snap up another gas burner, gas cannisters and a new lamp, all at half price, ready for camping next week.

8. I treated myself to six tin plates, all copies of original royal china. Who said you can’t dine in style just because you’re camping?

9. Being at home all week meant more baking than usual was done. The Boys wore their self-made butcher’s aprons and had great fun making chocolate cornflake crunchies.

10. Licking the spoons is always the best bit, isn’t it?

11. Finally – HOW can sleeping like this be comfortable?!

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series showing glimpses of your life outside of the blog. To find out how you can join in, too, visit Nat at Threads & Bobbins.

August 15, 2016
by sewchet 27 Comments

Sunday Sevens #97

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series to give a glimpse of life outside the blog. To find out more, visit Nat at Threads & Bobbins.

1. Spotted this lovely filet crochet window dressing in a village local to us. I nearly got killed standing in the middle of the road determined to get close enough for a decent photo.

2. Remember this cushion that a student made with me?

3. She won ‘Best In Section’ at her village fete!

4. Love this photo of The Boys with their cousins at Stourton, Wiltshire.

5. A friend asked if I could lend her some vintage China – I didn’t realise I had so much and this isn’t all of it!

6. Another painting project – this is going to be transformed into a sink unit for our en suite.

7. We met up with some friends who were camping on Exmoor. It was 12 degrees at 1pm on 11th August so those crocheted blankets came in handy as we huddled around the fire!

8. The kids still went swimming in the freezing river though!

9. Glorious Exmoor. We will run a b+b there one day.

10. Our camping trip is coming up and my old hoodie has had it, so a new one is under construction. I loathe hoodies for their lack of any aesthetically appealing features, but they are a necessary evil if you want to stay warm when camping.

See what you think – I’ll blog about it later in the week.

11. I made a top for a little girls American Girl doll with the scraps, which led to a whole wardrobe of clothes being created. More photos to follow.

12. Gave hubby a much needed haircut.

That’s it for this week!

August 10, 2016
by sewchet 39 Comments

Sunday Sevens #96

Having been SO busy these last few weeks, I couldn’t possibly fit in everything we’ve done, so here’s a heavily edited version of events, albeit in rather more than seven photos again.

Linking up with Natalie at Threads & Bobbins for Sunday Sevens – a weekly blog series showing what you do outside the blog. Click on the link to find out more.

1. I went to my first ever Baby Shower, an event that has reached the UK from foreign climes apparently, and is gaining popularity with youngsters rapidly. My crocheted pram blanket was well received by the mother-to-be.

2. We went to Exmoor to view some more b+bs on the hottest day of the year. A really good Summer day in England is 23 degrees centigrade, so we were sweltering in the heat.

3. Mr H-L didn’t need much persuasion to stop for a nice cold pint in The Beggar’s Roost in North Devon.

4. The following day, Mr H-L and I had a day out locally and went to three pubs in one day – a record for us!

Breakfast was at the Roth Bar and Grill…..

5. Lunch was at At The Chapel…..

(This made us smile!)

7. ….and afternoon tea was taken at The Three Horseshoes Inn.

8. A group of students were filming down by the river, so we stayed and watched for a while.

9. Arty snap of The Boys playing Top Trumps.

10. The new girls were just settling in nicely (can you tell?) when this one strayed too far and was killed by a passing car:(

11. No.2 Son declared that he needed some short sleeved T-shirts for our imminent holiday in Cornwall. I cut up a couple of Mr H-L’s old ones that were destined for recyling and combined the good bits to make him a new one. A bit Frankenstein perhaps, but he’s pleased with it.

12. A lovely few days were spent in Cornwall with family in their holiday cottage near Newquay. As luck would have it, the tickets we bought for the Eden Project last year were valid for twelve months, so we snuck in again on Day 364 for free!

13. We even sniffed out the bar in the tropical dome!

14. Days were spent on the beach…..

15. …..evenings were spent on the beach.

16. A romantic one of us watching the sun go down as The Boys frollicked in the surf.

17. Ha ha!

18. Crisps and a pint in The Shipwrights Inn, Padstow.

19. Back home, family had arrived from France to stay for a few days and some friends popped in spontaneously, so I quickly rustled up an impromptu meal for thirteen!

20. Another day, another family visit, this time our granddaughter with her mum and dad. We took the kids for a walk and ended up in a playground where dogs aren’t allowed, so tied them up outside at the railings.

Just look at that sad puppy face!

21. Mum and daughter flat out later that afternoon. Must have been all that fresh air (and the ice cream!)

Well, that doesn’t cover half of it, but better to put a few photos up rather than miss another week, I thought.

I’ll try to find time to do a separate post covering all the sewing workshops for those of you who have been following the sewing school (www.thestitchacademy.com).

Hope you’re making the most of the Summer holidays, too!

HSave

August 5, 2016
by sewchet 66 Comments

Chalk Painted Dresser Makeover

A couple of months ago, I was lucky enough to buy this solid oak dresser on eBay for just £96.00.

Now, I know there’s nothing wrong with it and it is, indeed, a beautiful piece of furniture just as it is, but I had plans to paint it.

We have a large kitchen diner with a LOT of wood in it, so yet another ‘heavy’ piece was never going to look right. I spent months searching for the right dresser at the right price and the right size and eventually found this modern one, which was beautifully made and really solid.

Mr H-L drove for over an hour to go and collect it and wasn’t particularly happy about it being painted, but resigned himself to the fact that I was going to, anyway. What he DID object to, though, was that I wanted him to chop a section of the dresser out, in order to fit our coffee machine in.

I won that debate, too:)

Having used Annie Sloan and Rustoleum chalk paint successfully in the past (guest room makeover), I opted for ‘Bleu Clair’ by Autentico, purely because they had the exact shade of blue that I was looking for.

The main reason that I chose chalk paint in the first place is that there is no need for preparation on most surfaces – you just slap it on.

Two coats are usually needed for good coverage, especially when covering dark with light.

When the paint was totally dry, a coat of finishing wax was rubbed in and buffed to a sheen to protect the surfaces.

I’m told it takes a month to cure completely, so be careful until then. It’s been over a month now, and the finish is still blemish free.

With a bit of determination (for which, read ‘impatience’), I managed to get two coats of paint and a coat of wax on in just one day.

Then I left it for a month.

Or two.

And decided that the knobs had to go.

I dug out four wooden knobs leftover from the kitchen cabinet doors and painted them with two coats of ‘Walnut’ wood stain and a coat of Matt varnish.

Now they match the kitchen units.

So this is the finished article, brightening up the other end of the kitchen part of the room, and I have to say that I’m very pleased with it.

The coffee station works brilliantly with everything in one place – all I need now are some beautiful mugs to hang on the new hooks we installed.

Turn around 180 degrees and this is what greets you, so you can see that both the style and the colour work really well as a whole.

Before and after: –

I love it both ways, but it just sits in our kitchen better now it’s painted and if I ever change my mind, it should be easy to get dipped back to the plain oak.

What do YOU think – love, or loathe?

July 20, 2016
by sewchet 27 Comments

Funky Sleeping Bag (and Hoodie!)

This month’s blog post for Minerva Crafts is two-for-the-price-of-one.

I had just enough left over from making a sleeping bag to make a hoodie for one of The Boys as well.

Click on the link to read all about both makes: – Sleeping Bag & Hoodie

July 17, 2016
by sewchet 21 Comments

Sunday Sevens #95

All these photos are in the wrong order because WordPress is playing up on my iPad and the draft hasn’t saved so I can’t fiddle with it on the iMac. Or iPhone. So bear with me and you should make sense of it all in the end.

1. The last photo from last night comes from the Beer Fest at Weyhill, Andover. No.3 Son was pogo-ing away like a good ‘un with all the big boys. They loved it and included him in their ‘dancing’. They were a bit bemused, though, when he re-enacted Marty McFly’s guitar solo in Back To The Future where he rolls around the floor on his back…..

2. Selfie at aforementioned Beer Fest.

3. Mr H-L cleaning the pool in his pants…..

4. …..while The Boys indulge in a little Sunday morning knitting with their mother.

5. No.2 Son had archery on Friday morning at school. He loved it. It was hot but they had to wear long sleeves to protect their arms from the bow string.

The school held a barbecue in the afternoon…but I forgot to take any photos. Can I just say that we took wine and had a very enjoyable few hours.

6. The bouquet of flowers and card that I received from the ladies as a token of appreciation for the Margot pyjama workshop that they attended. Totally unnecessary – but so lovely!

7. Attaching the bright yellow bias binding to the funky sleeping bag that I made for July’s blog post for the Minerva Crafts Blogger’s Network.

8. The pyjamas made by my adult students in a beginners dressmaking class.

9. The sample pair I made a few days before the workshop to familiarise myself with the instructions.

10. We used a pattern from Love At First Stitch by Tilly Walnes. A free copy of the book was included for each student to encourage them to continue their dressmaking journey.