a leave of absence

After a while away from the blog I'm back.  I have been sewing, nothing fancy or new but I'm still plodding away.  I did my first market in March - Suitcase Rummage - which was a great experience. The idea of selling out of a suitcase kept it simple (for me), I made zip purses, oilcloth toiletry bags and covered coat hangers.  Surprisingly, I even made some money so have booked another market in June!

This week I've been watching the Great British Sewing Bee, I'm hooked.  It's like My Kitchen Rules for sewers.  It's the inspiration I need to start sewing properly again.  But, it will have to wait as I'm going to the US and Canada for all of May - I will be sewing-less but plan to stock up on fabric and ideas while travelling.  Can't wait.

not such a productive weekend

I have picked 178 tomatoes at my allotment since 12 January.  I've eaten them, given them away and yesterday decided to make some chutney.  I love chutney and am usually kept in stores by two Aunts.  I've never made chutney before and I won't bother again, I spent hours preparing and it looked so pretty in the saucepan.  Pity it tasted like poison.

So I rang one of said Aunts for her recipe and tried it this morning.  A more involved recipe than the first and two more kilos of tomatoes were used.  Not quite as poisonous but still bad.  I never want to see a tomato again.

Moving on, I sewed up an apron I cut out at Christmas, it's just not quite right. 

finished

After a few months of slow crocheting I've finished my enormous granny square blanket.

It seemed to take forever as this is the biggest blanket I've made but I'm really pleased with the result.  As this one wasn't a gift I didn't have a deadline so I left it on the couch and every time I sat down I did a row. 

I swore I'd never make another one but today is a new day and I'm thinking of using some more of my gifted wool to make another blanket.  I saw a photo yesterday online but can't remember where of a quilted knitted blanket, I think I'll do the same thing but with crocheted squares and rectangles of different sizes.  Then I'll have to learn how to sew them neatly together.

more purses

I've never sewn oilcloth so gave it a go today and made myself a new toiletry bag following a tutorial on Sew Delicious.  I made a couple of changes and it still turned out and fits everything that needs to go in it, apologies for yet another terrible photo.

I also finished another Nicole Mallalieu clasp purse for a gift, it is more Tokyo fabric and looks like a scene from Central Park, New York.  It's lined with some obligatory polka dot fabric.

Finally, I got as far as cutting out some fabric for another bag gift, I won't take a photo of the final as I've made a couple before.  It's a Nicole Mallalieu hobo bag.

new harvest

This morning I harvested my first crop of tomatoes and potatoes.  There must be about 100 more tomatoes to turn red and I'm beginning to think about what to make with them.  The tomatoes are a bit blotchy so I'll have to read up about why that's happening.  I fear I'll have loads of potatoes too so will be distributing them.

I also recently bought a great book/journal called My Garden : A Five-Year Journal by Mimi Luebbermann.  It's a handy way to record how the garden is growing, successes or failures, visiting insects, sketch garden plans etc.

dinosaur party

It's my nephews fifth birthday today and he is having a dinosaur party.  I've been tasked with making dinosaur biscuits.

It's a great Nigella recipe called 'rainy day biscuits' - it's anything but rainy today and I'm sure the icing will melt off the biscuits at the outside party but they taste nice.

happy new year

After a break from technology over Christmas I'm back.  My focus of late has been the veggie garden and harvesting produce with every visit, I can't keep up with the zucchini, cucumber, snow peas, beans and rhubarb.  All delicious.

I made a two more gingerbread houses a couple of days before Christmas (nothing like a last minute production) and some bunting to make the garden more festive.

Today I made something I've been wanting for ages, a tea cosie/cozy/cosy.  Another Nanna crafty item I love.  I followed a tutorial on The Purl Bee which was very simple, the bits in the tutorial I decided to skip are obvious in the final product.  Best to follow the instructions more closely next time.  I used some more of my Tokyo fabric and lined it with polka dot fabric (of course).

In the pipeline for the next week are two more Nicole Mallalieu bags and I have to seriously think about branching out sewing wise.