Diamond Jubilee

After a glorious spell of weather, the Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday looks set to see the return of our typical weather.  It does lift the spirits however with all the bunting, decorations and Union Jacks.  Its good to see people making an effort and there is plenty of patriotic pride.

We let our creative side run wild earlier in the week when we were making a Jubilee crown for the school parade.  


We also went a step further and made a replica of the Diamond Jubilee medal presented to serving members of the forces.

Spot the real one!

Faye was the only one with the medal and the only child with a dad who's get the real thing!  It was made even better as she took both the real medal and her dad into 'show and tell' in a special assembly.  Not sure who had more fun there but I'm bursting with pride for both of them.
















Also this week, I've finished this super cute cardigan, Sirdar 9554.  I love the construction of this and how quickly it came together - it needed to be to keep up with the growth spurts.   I think this will be the first of many...

With our recent glimpse of summer weather, I was spurred on to run up a small version of the Japanese knot bag.  I wanted to avoid wearing a cross the body bag on the journeys to school but where to put my essentials - key, mobile, drink and snack for ravenous child?  Using some fab striped calico and an off .cut of some flowery cotton, I love this little bag.

Its just the perfect size and the calico is of a decent thickness to give the bag a great shape and form.  I can see that this will tempt some friends and family - if you're interested and want one for yourself, contact me through my blog, Facebook page or email  fuzzyfingers@btinternet.com.


Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Re-use and recycle

Question : What do you do with a gorgeous stripy cardigan that has been sat in your wardrobe waiting for you to wear it?

Answer : Make it into a gorgeous stripy cushion cover!!

In my efforts to revamp our old but perfectly comfortable sofa, I have been making new cushion covers in an assortment of beiges, chocolates, and even a bit of duck egg blue to tie in with the sofa colours.  I love colour and stripes so what better excuse plus it livens it all up a lot.

As I like to keep it simple, I basically bought a  20 inch square duck feather cushion pad (thankyou Dunelm) and cut out a 21 inch square from the cardigan.  I cut through both front and back of cardigan to keep stripe alignment and also made use of what existing seams were left - I did say I like simple!  After turning it wrong side out,  I sewed seams along top and bottom and two short sections on the sides where the cardigan shape tapered out and I lost the existing seams.  

The added beauty of using a cardigan is that I didn't even need to go to the lengths of creating an envelope back as I used the button bands, buttons from the original.  And voila!

I plan on making a couple of round afghan- block style covers using a hexagonal motif - this is also great as I can just sit and hook a motif up in the car on the school run.  Let me know if you've done any great upcycling as I'd love to know..

Only in the UK...

After returning from a lovely family holiday in Dorset, it struck me when I was unpacking that we had taken (and used!) a vast assortment of items.  From hats and hand warmers, sunglasses, suncream, shorts, skirts to leggings, long boots, fleeces and wellies - almost four seasons in one week.  After the terrible bout of wet weather the UK has experienced in the last month, only 2 wet days out of 7 was marvellous!!

Years of UK holidays when growing up has made me resilient and resourceful and I am reaping the rewards now.  I remember building dams in the drizzle and rain in a Snowdonian stream behind our home for the week - in fact, this was the same holiday where we experienced earth tremors from an earthquake in nearby Porthmadog.  I even remember galloping Miranda- like everywhere when all I could think about was horses and looking forward to going riding on holiday.  It never did me any harm and did wonders for the imagination - this might not be true for kids now as they rely on gadgets, games and gizmos far too much.

Ship ahoy!

and another one!
I seem to have hit a bit of a hiatus on the craft front.  I'm in between crochet projects and have both too many ideas and projects ready to go - I'm not sure what to start first but may opt for an easy project that requires a low level of concentration.

On the sewing side of things, I have just made the brave (code for foolish) decision to embark on a dress that has to be ready for a fast approaching deadline - this was early June but now moved to July.  When you can't find the style or colours you like on the high street, plus not having the budget to blow either, I am going to have to take matters into my own hands.

I love this Simplicity pattern 2927 for either a dress or tunic.  The beauty of the Project Runway patterns is that you can really put your mark on a garment as there are plenty of design tips and almost limitless possibilities.  I even drew up a croquis for this pattern and also for Simplicity 2588 as I was torn between the styles.














I've done much scouring of the shops and internet alike for smart frocks and I was staggered when looking in a local boutique at the prices being charged for the simplest of styles.  On closer inspection, I really find it hard to justify the price when the quality of finishing and sometimes the fabric does not fit the exorbitant price tag.  Anybody would think I was an expert seamstress but I like to think that I have quite exacting standards.

Polished cotton in a sophisticated  black and creamy beige

I've found a gorgeous classic fabric with a paisley design in my local fabric shop and am going to get cracking and cut the pieces out over the next week.  I have to make sure I have plenty of time to pin it and cut it out in the one session - with a little person and three cats on the prowl I have to make it an evening job.  Oh how I would love a hobby room but that's just a distant dream...

I will keep you posted on the progress of this and hopefully will get my crafty mojo back up and running.  If I could only decide whether to make myself a cardigan, finish a hexagonal block cushion or ... I think I may be tempted into making a cardigan for my rapidly growing daughter as this has the added benefit of being smaller therefore quicker gratification.  Oh decisions, decisions ...

Japanese Knot Bag

I have been meaning to make one of these for months, when I first got the January 2012 issue of 'Making' magazine.  

I have even had the pattern pieces for the shoulder size bag cut out for over a fortnight to give me the added kick up the bum to make it as I think it may be a fairly quick make.  The atrocious UK weather has made me get my act together and what better rainy day project than this?  Especially when I plan on using it on our upcoming holiday to Dorset.  I am just hoping that our 'drought' stricken country will be having some better weather soon...

an action shot...

I have used some camouflage butterfly print cotton for the outside with an oddment of bright turquoise burnout fabric for the lining.  This bag is reversible though which makes is even more of a versatile fun project.  You can have one side slightly more plain and have one side really wild and funky for when   you need to put a smile on your face.


This is a really quick make and probably took me a (leisurely) hour and a half - by which I mean that included drinking a cup of tea and eating a Kit Kat.  I like to enjoy myself totally when sewing!...

And here it is,  the finished article.  Perfect bag for chucking in any bits and bobs, odds and sods, and the way the long handle passes through the short one is genius as it stops any things dropping out.  However,  I would use interfacing on at least one side of the bag to help retain the shape and integrity of the bag.

book, phone, crochet hook, yarn, etc...

Unfortunately, I have discovered to my cost that this is the perfect size for a cross body version for a nearly 5 year old!  It is just the right size for a couple of princesses, a teddy bear, a note book and pen and a tube of Smarties...


When I make this bag again, I think I may make the actual body of the bag slightly larger just to accommodate all the extra odds and sods.  I know the best solution would be not to carry so much crap round but its amazing what you find you need and/or get asked to out in your bag. 


I have imminent plans to make an evening version of the hand bag sized one  - I think a nice black velvet or similarly posh bit of fabric with something a bit wild for the lining.  I can also see the use of sparkly bits on it too and I may also want to slim the handles down a little depending on the fabric choice.  


Right, now for the next item on my sewing to do list....

Elephants and humans

I just had to run up another Sorbetto top in this quirky elephant print fabric.  In a neutral beige colourway, I thought this could be worn with similar neutrals, my uniform de rigeur - jeans - and layered with a cardi of any colour.

I had a steep learning curve and now fully understand why more fabric is needed for one-directional prints!!  Sometimes its the only way to learn...As I splashed out and bought one whole metre of the fabric, I had to get inventive to avoid having either the front or the back of my top with upside down elephants.  I decided to to sew an additional strip at either side of the fabric before folding to create the necessary extra width.  As these are next to the side seams, they are somewhat hidden.  Not too bad a job...

I was also brave when sewing the bias binding at the neckline.  As it was 1 inch wide instead of the 1/2 inch suggested, I thought I would definitely be able to catch both front and back in one sweep.  Ta da...success!


I also added two lengths of cream lace to each side of the central pleat and sewed this through both the edge of the pleat and the front.  This has the added bonus of securing the pleat and making ironing that much easier.  Marvellous!!

On another note, I am losing my faith in human kindness/courtesy, call it what you will.  Is it so very hard for people to make eye contact, smile, hold doors open, register other road users??  Are these people happy?  Is everyone so full of their own self-importance that they can't spare the seconds/minutes for these small acts of civility?  My hopes were raised this morning when a dog walker greeted me with a smile and a cheery 'morning' on my return from the school walk - only to be dashed later on by a lady driver who seemed to forget the rules of the road and someone who let a shop door close right in front of me .  Do you find this problem or are people happier in your part of the world?  OK, enough, rant over.


On a positive note, Mr B is currently enjoying the luxury of a French carp fishing holiday courtesy of an Australian businessman.  Largely thanks to my writing an excellent recommendation, I nominated him as a deserving member of HM Armed Forces and guess what?!... he was picked!!  And  now I am a fishing widow again... although strictly speaking its my own fault.


We are both astounded and overwhelmed that a previously unknown individual would wish to make such a massive appreciative and generous gesture and I must say, it does restore my faith in (some people's) human kindness.

Prioritising my must make pile

I really must stop looking at patterns as I keep finding more to inspire me to spend more time at my sewing machine.

Because of the success of my top using the free Collette Sorbetto top, I have made the couple of modifications to the pattern pieces that I felt would perfect the fit for my shape, blogged about here.

This gorgeous elephant on beige cotton fabric has inspired me to test the new and improved version.  I love this top by Great Plains but apart from the price tag, I was put off by the flimsy quality of the fabric - I mean, really, its hard to justify!!  I am toying with the idea of either a bow or ruffle detail at the neckline as I love this Simplicity pattern, that I first noticed on Little Betty's blog.

This striped fabric is just fab and so my colours and may also get the Sorbetto treatment.  The fabric reminds me of a FatFace top that I have and I may try to style the details similar to it.  I will keep you posted as work progresses...

This beautiful weighty marocain fabric in a mosaic pebble print is crying out to be made into a dress.  As I skimped a bit on the amount I bought, I have limited my pattern options.  I do have a great vintage pattern in mind though...

I fell in love with this beige paisley print last year at the Knitting and Stitching Show at the NEC, Birmingham.  The colours are great and any one of them can be picked out and highlighted by wearing with, say, a turquoise cardigan or shrug.  I see me wearing this with skinny jeans or leggings...

Now, please, can someone seriously invent some extra hours in the day...and also the other slight problem is my little mini me wants me to make her something in the same fabric.  Will have to put my thinking cap on and plan wardrobes so we don't co-ordinate.


As they say, imitation is the greatest form of flattery..and at least I have one keen fan...

Something for me...

Having spent the last few months and my precious crochet time making items for sale, I've finally got round to starting something for me.  I have a number of projects lined up, right down to the yarn and buttons but in the anticipation of some spring weather, I've bumped this cardigan to the top of the list.

This looks like a perfect cardigan to slip on over a simple t-shirt or vest top, and by using this gorgeous organic cotton yarn by Ice in a neutral khaki colour, I hope to get plenty of wear out of it.

And I plan on finishing it with these two absolutely gorgeous painted wooden buttons.  Bit pricey but think they will look fabulous.

All I need to do now is to work out some sort of order to what I'll make next.  Mind you, the way my daughter keeps growing, I will have to get my priorities right and make a much needed cardigan for her for the spring weather.   I can see that as usual I will have more than one project on the go - at least it helps to relieve any issues with getting tired of the pattern.


What about you?  Are you someone who focuses solely on one project or do you have a variety to suit your mood?  I do tend to have something a little more challenging and a "hey I can watch this film and still crochet" item.   Oh and probably a sitting in the car waiting on the school run piece.....