Little flowers circle skirt

I like my circle skirt so much that I decided to make another one when I came back from holiday - just to get me back into the way of things before I started into the patterns that I bought in Florida.

I made a bit of an impulse fabric buy just before I went on holiday - I was in Fabricland and found this lovely silky fabric (although I'd imagine it's polyester or something like that) and it was such a warm day I could just imagine it perfectly as a skirt.  Here it is...

Little flowers circle skirt

As far as fabrics go, this was definitely one of the most challenging I've worked with so far - so slippery to work with.  All the books / blogs etc had me well warned, but even so, I hadn't realised how much of a challenge cutting it would be, let alone getting it all pinned and ready to sew!  That does mean that length-wise it's slightly uneven, but I'm still really pleased with it.

Here's another photo below - looking a bit breezy!  As it's a different type of fabric it lays quite differently to the other circle skirt I made, and it's really interesting to see how the different fabric affects the shape of the skirt.  I really like it - another one that's perfect for the last few days of summer!

Holiday crocheting

Our holiday this year involved a lot of travelling!  A day of driving and a ferry journey to Northern Ireland (and the same back!), 6 flights and lots of driving provided plenty of opportunities for snoozing, reading, eating...and most importantly, crocheting!

I had my lovely New Lanark Aran wool, so for our car journey from Bristol to Belfast I worked on this pattern for a snood.  The pattern was really easy to follow - there were a few little bits that I didn't get first time around, but practice makes perfect.  Unfortunately the wool wasn't really thick enough to achieve the width I was really hoping for - so it's quite narrow - but I can wrap it around a couple of times and the wool is really cosy.

I had some extra wool left, so on the plane I crocheted a matching beanie.  It was quite funny to be heading out to the 30oC weather and crocheting winter accessories!

I took another attempt out in Orlando - lesson learnt from the previous attempt, and I bought some Serenity chunky yarn.  Success...this was the snood I was hoping for...!  It's so cosy - definitely not ideal to be wearing in this weather, but it'll be perfect for nearer Christmas.

I wasn't the only one in the family that spent lots of travel time crafting...

My mum was very busy crocheting blankets - two blankets completed by the end of the holiday, plus another one which was half finished by the time we made it back to Northern Ireland!  They'll be off to the babies in Africa soon!

Esther doesn't crochet, but she's knitting - when we left for America she was finishing the front of her first ever jumper, and by the end of our trip, she'd finished the back of it.  I love the colour and the texture, it's so nice.  All she needs now is the arms!  Esther's knitting is punctuated with the occasional wail of "Muuuummm" when there's a potential dropped stitch!

Fabric and yarn shopping in Orlando

These days, one of my first thoughts about a new place is whether there are any nearby fabric shops!  I've seen lots of mentions of JoAnn on various American blogs, and I did the obligatory Google search and found out there were a few stores near our villa in Orlando.  I even downloaded the app so that I could use the coupons!  We made it on the first weekend in Orlando - I was soooo excited.  It was so great that we made another trip the next weekend - and I bought even more!

I basically ran around like a kid in a sweet shop.  Check out my amazing fabric purchases...

3 cosy flannel fabrics

These are for pyjamas for my hubby, my brother and me.  They were 70% off - how could I possibly say no!? 

The striped fabric is cord - I know it's a bit 'out there'...but I love it.  I'm going to make a skirt from it - hopefully brighten up the dull winter days!  The floral fabric has come out a funny colour in the picture - it's actually a rich purple colour, so I've no idea why it looks pink in the photo.  I'm hoping it'll be able to use it to make my first ever dress, so watch this space!

I also bought three Simplicity patters - one dress and two skirts.  They were on a brilliant offer - reduced to $1.99 each.  I'm looking forward to getting started on them - I reckon this weekend when the hubby is away, I'll get some sewing done.

I got a couple of great yarns too - the ones below, and a couple more, but I don't want to bore you with a million pictures of balls of yarn!

Unfortunately work is absolutely bedlam, and we're getting a new bathroom fitted, so I've had to reign my enthusiasm to jump straight into the fun just a little, but plenty to come in the next few weeks!

LOVE cushion

In case you've been wondering where I've got to...I've been on holiday with my hubby and my folks in the USA :-) !  We had such an amazing time - absolutely loved it!  The three weeks flew by - it's hard to believe we're back to reality already - but I'm happy to be here updating my little blog!

My friend and her boyfriend got engaged back in Northern Ireland at Easter time, and I was pondering what to get them as an engagement present.  A bit mortified because it had taken me so long to get something sorted, I decided that it would be nice to make them something, rather than just buy a gift - that, as well as the few hundred miles of distance between us, might excuse the lateness...!

So may I present my first ever cushion...

LOVE cushion

I went down to Fabric Land here in Bristol to buy fabric, and got a gorgeous cream crepe - I asked the girl serving whether she thought it would be good for cushion, and her only comment was 'Well...it's cream"!  So that was a yes, and I'm trusting that the colour of the fabric isn't too challenging for them!  I also had some of the fabric left from which I made my bunting back in May - I thought it would be ideal for my letters.

There were a few great challenges for me with my first cushion

1. Letters 

This was something a wee bit different - cutting out letters from fabric and then sewing them onto the cushion.  I used a zigzag stitch on my machine to go round the edge of each letter, and this worked really well - it was a cute little effect, and also stopped the edges from fraying.

Template letters

Cut out letters

"L" with a zig-zag stitch around the edges

2. Putting in a zipper

Zippers continue to be a challenge!  

Please, please, please, when you're making a cushion, don't do what I did.  I got so carried away with all my cutting out of letters and all sorts that before I even thought about it, I'd sewn up the other sides of the cushion, and left the zipper til last!  Disaster - as all good sewists know, you should put your zipper in as early as possible.  This understandably led to a bit of complexity!

Ideally I would have used a 14" zip, but because I had already sewn everything together, I ended up using a 12", as there just wasn't enough space to fit the longer length in at the corners of my material.  One of these days I will definitely install the zip at the right time - I continue to live in hope!  However, in the end it looked fine - more coincidence than my skills, I can assure you!

Popped my little label on the back of the cushion - at least this shows that it's handmade, so hopefully that adds charm to the little flaw underneath, haha!  The little lip around the zip hides the zip nicely, which I think is a nice little effect as well.

For a first attempt at a cushion, I'm really pleased - and the bride-to-be was as well, which is really the most important thing!  What a relief!