What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #299

There hasn’t been any crafting going on around here lately. This is my kitchen table shot from last week, which didn’t get posted.

I was playing around with a new set of stamps that layer up to make….

….this Lotus Blossom. I’ve used three different coloured inks for the flower head here. It works well with just one ink pad too, stamping off on scrap paper first to get lighter shades of the same colour. I did that for the stem on this example. Well, I meant to. I forgot when I stamped the finished card. You can see the effect it gives on the scrap paper to the right.

That’s me for today. I’m going to make a cup of tea (I’ve made and drunk an ocean of it, this last week, I think) and have a quiet half hour of visiting desks. 

Me on Monday

Today you’ll find me trying to adjust to a new world order. We lost my Father-in-law on Wednesday. I can’t even begin to tell you how much he’ll be missed by us all.

My boy, The Mechanic and Pappy. Three generations. Taken at a family party last Summer. I wasn’t happy with my effort at the time. So grateful I didn’t delete it.

Pairs ~ Hot & Cold

Helena has been running photography memes over at her Creative Maven blog for a couple of years now. I think “Pairs” is the third incarnation, following on from “Up and Down” and “Zoom In, Zoom Out”. I’ve always enjoyed seeing the photos on other friend’s blogs, but I’ve never got round to joining in…..until today.

Hot.….

…..and very welcome after a chilly walk.

Cold…..

…..but oh so pretty on the bonnet of my car.

Now, why exactly did that take me so long?

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #297

Another week has flown by and my workspace, this afternoon, is the ironing board.

I’m cutting interfacing for my skirt. Rather than using the pattern pieces I’m just going to cut roughly around the fabric facings. When I used iron on interfacing, for the waistband of the Lonsdale dress, it seemed to shrink it a bit. Is that a thing that happens? I’m also trying a different type of interfacing this time. I wasn’t keen on the cardboardy feel that I ended up with, when I made a bunch of zipper pouches. This seems much floppier and has a bit of stretch crosswise.

No class this week and really I should be planning for the next one and not sewing at all. Here’s one of the offerings from the last session. The Dictionary stamp is so useful for making your own text paper, in whatever colour you fancy. Polaroid frames have been around for a while now and I know that you can get a special die to cut them, but I thought, how hard can it be? I cut a rectangle, with my trimmer and cut a square out using a framelit die. Not hard at all, as it turns out. I think they’d make good embellishments for a scrapbook page or to use in a Project Life pocket page. The bonus being, you can adjust your measurements to suit your project.

That’s it from me. I want to get that waist facing together, before the children get home from school. I’ll be linking up with Julia and all the other deskers first though.

PS If you’re a fan of sewing, you might be interested in the free pdf pattern downloads that Love Sewing magazine are giving away each week, during the run of the Great British Sewing Bee. This week it’s the Lottie blouse. Be quick, as it’s only available until tomorrow (Thursday 12th) when the next one will be announced.

One Photo & Twenty Words

Abi had the idea to share a photo and tell its story in twenty words. Here’s mine.

Doing the school run. A rarity these days. The temperature had risen a degree, by the time I got home.

Winter finally came to Dorset last week.

Me on Monday

Today is the day we wave to Sian at From High in the Sky. Showing ourselves at the beginning of the week and looking back at our weekends.

This is how you’d find me right now: editing photos for future blog posts and breathing a deep sigh of relief. My girl had a telephone interview at 5pm, for a place at her top choice of Art College. She hates the phone and would much rather have had a face to face experience, where she hoped her portfolio would speak for itself. All was well and, after 15 minutes of questions, they offered her a place. The acceptance letter should be in the post this week. I’m relieved and excited for her.

It was a rugby watching, home team cheering, steak and chips cooking, vegetable roasting, soup making, banana mashing, muffin baking kind of Saturday.

A roast lunch (that I didn’t have to cook) eating….the best kind, Christmas present delivering….the poppy (complete with a little mud and rust) finally arrived and my Mum is delighted with it, homework writing, artist researching, Our Guy in India watching….the traffic sounds took me right back….distraction finding sort of Sunday.

How was your weekend?

My Six Pattern Skirt Plan

Back in January I talked about my dressmaking intentions for this year. It’s easy to get distracted by all the pretty things being made by sewing bloggers and there are so many lovely new patterns being released, we’re spoilt for choice. What I need in my wardrobe are some basic skirts and I also need to build up my skills. With that in mind, I looked around and found some patterns that would fulfil both criteria.

1. McCalls 3341 ~ Simple A line skirt with centred zip

2. Colette Ginger ~ A line skirt with waistband & invisible zip

 

3. Maria Denmark ~ A line skirt with yoke & pockets

4. Simplicity 2451 ~ Tulip skirt with front yoke, pleats & pockets

5. Grainline Moss ~ Skirt with back yoke, pockets, fly front & button hole

6. Vogue 1247 ~ A line skirt with inseam pockets & Hong Kong finish

I’ve got the fabric cut out for skirts one and three and I’ve assembled the pdf pattern for the Ginger skirt. The opportunity to get the sewing machine out has not yet arisen, but I’m hopeful that it will next week.

While we’re on the subject of dressmaking, did you watch the Sewing Bee yesterday? I think the series got off to a great start. The trousers were not really my style, but the upcycling challenge produced some really inventive projects. It was the dresses I was really interested in. I loved the fabric that Deborah used for hers and that was definitely my favourite dress. I actually have the pattern that Amanda used. You see, easily distracted by all the pretty things. If you want to find out more about the series, my friend Fiona has put loads of information about last night’s show on her website, The Sewing Directory. Well worth checking out.

Have a lovely weekend.

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #296

And just like that, it’s Wednesday again. The contents of the kitchen table, before class yesterday morning and it was pretty much the same scene in the afternoon.

Some of the above selection went into making…..

…..this butterfly card and matching gift box. Yep, it’s those rose leaves again. I love the way they looked stamped on vellum.

That’s it from me. I’m off to link up at Julia’s place and see what you’ve been up to.