Yarn shopping

Worryingly for my bank balance, my new found love of crochet has swiftly translated into a new search for wool shops.  I've bought a few gorgeous yarns recently - here's a sneaky peak before they actually become something...!

This fab variegated yarn was in the reduced section of Hobbycraft in Newport, so it didn't hurt the bank balance at all!  This will probably become another beanie - unless something else takes my fancy beforehand!

While we were up in Scotland for my cousin's wedding, we happened upon a little craft shop in Aberfoyle.  They had all sorts of different handmade crafts - jewellery, beanies, soaps, even clocks - but they also had this lovely Aran wool.  It's made in the Lanarkshire mills, and I just couldn't resist this 'Blueberry' coloured wool.  I've got plans for this one - an infinity scarf that I pinned recently - so I bought two to ensure I have enough!

Just on the knitting theme, here's my lovely mummy knitting in her hotel room up in Scotland that same trip!  She's making a jumper for my brother - he's decided that he's quite into these hand made items.  I'm sure it's made a bit of progress since this picture was taken!

Yellow summer maxi skirt

I was so excited to return to my sewing machine when I got back from London so on Saturday morning I was straight into my latest project!  One of the main things I wanted for my holiday wardrobe was a nice light maxi skirt.  The yellow knit fabric that I bought in The Cloth House was perfect for what I wanted - bright and summery, and light enough to take on holiday.  The amazing weather this weekend meant I was definitely in the holiday mood - check out this gorgeous sunset...!

Beautiful sunset

I used this fantastic tutorial from the Winthrop Chronicles blog.  It was incredibly simple and easy to follow - the pictures were really simple and well laid out.

A few challenges (mainly self inflicted!):

1. I had only bought a metre of fabric, so I had to make some adjustments.  My skirt wasn't as wide around the hem as the tutorial suggested, as I didn't have quite enough width in my material, and the waist is only 6 inches long rather than 12 or 14, but it still folds well.  

Waistband fabric

Ready to stitch to the skirt

2. The fabric - this was quite a challenging fabric to use actually.  You can see in the picture above that it tended to roll up at the edges.  I wouldn't necessarily have hemmed this skirt, because the fabric didn't fray at the edges, but it was rolling too much so it was actually much neater to hem it.

Fortunately I've got short legs, so despite having to fiddle with the measurements, length wise it works just right!  We went up across to Clevedon on Saturday night, so I got the chance to wear my new skirt right away.

Wearing my new skirt by the sea at Clevedon

One other exciting thing - I got myself some labels!  Now I have personalised labels to sew inside my projects.  This skirt got the first one!

I'll definitely be making more of these skirts - and next time I'll remember to get a bit more fabric!

A little bit more fabric shopping in London

We got a bonus early finish last Thursday, so I absolutely couldn't resist heading back to Berwick Street - I wanted another chance to have a look around the shops without feeling guilty about my poor husband hanging around suspiciously outside!

On Saturday I was in one of the 'Misan Fabrics' shops, but there's actually two - and one of them has a bargain basement.  As you can imagine, this was right up my street!  Some of the fabrics in there were still a bit out of my price range, but there were some ones that were really reasonably priced.  I got 2 metres of this pink and brown diamond pattern below - it's got a lovely silky feel, and I think it'll be perfect for a new top that's a bit more dressy.

I also went back to The Cloth House again - and explored No 47, which I'd not been in before.  It has the most gorgeous patterned fabrics - I completely fell in love with so many of them.  However, I already had something in mind, so I went down to No 98's basement, and got this lovely bright, stretchy fabric for a summer maxi-skirt.

Now that I'm finished in London, and back home for a week, I can't wait to get sewing again.  We're off to Florida (via Northern Ireland!) next Saturday, so I'm getting my summer wardrobe ready!

Crochet slouchy beanie in pastel wool

One of the things I really wanted to make with my new crochet skills was a slouchy beanie - I have one in green at home, which I love, but as I don't wear much in green, I thought it would be great to make a few others in different colours.  I found this fabulous crochet pattern on the Jenn Likes Yarn blog, and used some really cute Paton's yarn in a few pastel colours.

Modelling slouchy beanie

Although the pattern called for 28 double crochet rows, and 5 single crochet rows, I only had a 50g ball of wool, and half way through I realised that I was probably going to run out of wool - oops!  In the end I did 23 double crochet rows and 4 single crochet rows, so a bit shorter than the pattern.  I think it's the perfect length for me though, as I wear my beanies quite far back on my head.

I've already started on my second beanie - and I'm starting to find other fantastic patterns on Pinterest, so hopefully there'll be more crochet fun to follow!

A new skill - learning to crochet

I've been thinking for a while that I'd like to learn another new skill, and my trip to London seemed like a perfect opportunity to do so!  I knew I'd have some evenings in the flat here, not doing too much, so it seemed like the ideal opportunity to learn how to crochet.

My mum has been crocheting for as long as I remember (and longer, no doubt!), and I remember her trying to teach me to knit when I was really small.  I was quite a reluctant pupil, so it was a skill that unfortunately didn't stick with me.  But Pinterest has helped inspire me - as it does constantly - so I decided it was time to learn.  I was in Hobbycraft a few weeks ago, so I picked up some wool and a crochet hook.  Once I started looking at a various patterns, I realised I would need hooks in various sizes, so in the end I ordered a nice set of 12 hooks on ebay.

As you all know, YouTube is so great for learning a new skill.  I did a bit of cruising around videos, and tutorials, learning various stitches - these really handy basic crochet lessons, this simple double crochet, and this lesson in doing a magic loop were particularly handy.

As well as that, when I got out my new crochet hook and wool, my flatmate Dami revealed that she actually does lots of knitting and crocheting.  My own on-site tutor!  When I got confused, she was right on hand to give me a bit of guidance.  I can now chain stitch, do a single crochet and also a double crochet with confidence.

Now that I sort of know what I'm doing, here are the two of us are sitting in the living room of our flat, like two wee grannies with our knitting!  Dami has just finished knitting this amazing baby blanket - as you can see, I've got plenty to learn before I'm at her level.

Dami and me - both of us hard at work!

All being well, I'll have some new crochet projects up soon, as well as my usual sewing bits!

Fabric shopping in London

I've been in London for a week and a half now, and although I've been without my sewing machine, I have taken the opportunity to visit some fabric shops...!

Last Wednesday I went to Oxford Street, and sought out MacCulloch and Wallis - very near the Bond Street underground station.  This shop was just amazing - for a browse, anyway!  There was loads of fabric in the ground floor shop - the walls are piled high, as if you could be buried in a mound of material at any minute!  I did find it expensive though - I don't think that's unusual for London, but Bristol prices are a lot more reasonable.  I enjoyed a browse, and then headed up to the accessories on the first floor.

There just seemed to be everything you could possibly need up there - and more bias binding that you could shake a sewing machine at.  I fell in love with...well, everything really!  But I restricted myself, and just got the two lovely bits of binding below.  I'd love to do another Sorbetto top and use one of these, so I'll have to keep an eye out for suitable material!  I wasn't blown away by the service, but I certainly enjoyed a happy half hour in here.

On the weekend Pete came over to stay with me, and one of my key aims for the weekend wasn't fabric related at all - I really wanted to go to the Hummingbird Bakery.  Baking is my other hobby these days, and I've got the Hummingbird Bakery book, which I just love.  We went to the Soho shop - here I am outside, being a proper tourist and having my photo taken!  The red velvets are to die for!

Anyway, as we were wandering the streets - what did I see but a haberdashery...and then another, and another...!  As it turned out, we had somehow found our way (entirely by accident) onto Berwick Street - and many, many fabric shops.  My long-suffering hubby came in (and then waited patiently outside) various establishments as I excitedly browsed through them all!  Again, there were some fairly eye watering prices - so it was lovely to have a look and a feel for the fabrics, but I didn't buy anything!

As a non-native, I was reading what Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons had to say about London fabric shopping, and she recommended Walthamstow for some amazing fabric bargains.  I am slightly kicking myself, because we were on the Victoria line not far from Walthamstow on Saturday evening - but to be fair, I'm not sure Pete could have coped with much more of me drooling over fabrics, so it's maybe just as well!

I would love some light jersey fabric for a summer maxi skirt to take on holiday, but that will have to wait for another day.  I'm here for another week, but I'm also taking a trip to Scotland and a trip back to Bristol over that time (a rather tame sort of jet-setting lifestyle, I know!) - let's hope I get another chance to get out and about to explore some more fabric treasure troves.