Productive patch...

Things have been a little quiet on the blogging front recently, mainly because the school holidays are in full swing.  However, I seemed to have had a bit of a productive flurry with several projects finishing at once.

I've been meaning to make this tunic for some time now and decided to use this lovely spring green cotton ribbon yarn as I imagined the drape would be perfect and the stitches nicely defined.  I made it a couple of inches longer by working three whole extra pattern repeats on the lower portions before beginning the shaping.  It's safe to say that on the vast majority of patterns I do this to cater for my slightly longer body length.  I loved the way the bust pieces are worked and the clever construction makes for a well fitting tunic.










 Would I make it again?  Definitely...and I have the perfect lot of vintage Sirdar Shemara cotton in turqouise that has been languishing in my stash for the perfect project.

I've also been experimenting again with the Colette Sorbetto pattern again (get it here).  this time I made a slightly longer length tunic version with a self-drafted Peter Pan collar in a lovely, if a little bit sheer, denim blue slub polycotton.

 Successful?  I think so although I would just slim down the collar to fit the shoulder straps better.  I made a half collar to sit on front half of the tunic and attached it from the shoulder seams and the neck.  As the main fabric was far more sheer than I thought when I bought it from an ebay shop (the downside of internet shopping - isn't it disapponting sometimes?), I lined it with some navy polycotton and used interfacing for the collar. 

I love the way the collar (so on trend at the moment) smartens the whole look of the top, making it versatile - smart enough for work, cute with jeans, work it any which way you like.

And finally, after the rain came a little precious summer sunshine for the UK.  At last , some splashes of colour are making an appearance as flowers bloom and the bees are butterflies are braving the gardens.  Perfect for boosting the growth of my rather pathetic looking runner bean plants...so much so I have had several bumper crops!  From plant to plate in less than ten minutes...you can't get much fresher or tastier knowing it's from your own hardwork.

one happy customer...



Is there anything you are proud to have produced yourself - let me know as I would love to hear...