Month: February 2009

I can see again!

I hadn’t realised quite how badly my eyesight had deteriorated until I picked up my new glasses this morning. Suddenly I can see again!

The top pair are my “everyday” glasses, and the bottom pair have been fitted with dark grey lenses so I can wear them as sunglasses.

Currently I have a pain in my left eye and a strange feeling of seasickness, but I’m assured that this will wear off in a few days. So far, the excitement of being able to read things more than six feet away from my face is more than making up for some slight discomfort!

And now my hands smell of chocolate.

SOlid body lotion

These are a little batch of miniature bars of solid body lotion.

Before I send them off for my testing volunteers to try out, I just need to put together a feedback form so that everyone can let me know what they think.

They were nice and easy to make, but I’m going to need some more accurate scales if I want to make these in any quantity.

The ingredients are apricot kernel oil, beeswax, cocoa butter and shea butter. They’re unfragranced, but they smell lovely. The cocoa butter makes them slightly chocolatey, and the apricot makes them sweet. I almost don’t want to make a fragranced batch, they smell so nice as they are!

Springtime in Paris…

Melanie's Eiffel Tower skirt

This skirt’s been a long time coming – I think it’s two years since I bought this fabric!

It will shortly be on its way to Melanie, who has an enduring love affair with Paris, Versailles, and all things Marie Antoinette.

The skirt is different from my usual elasticated skirts – instead of just a front and a back, it’s made in eight panels. This was the best way to keep all of the Eiffel Towers the right way up! It also enabled me to make a skirt which was nice and full at the hem, but quite closely fitted over the hips.

The waistband is made from deep frilled elastic, the hem is trimmed with bias tape, and the fabric is by Michael Miller.

Finished Angora Leaf Scarf

Angora Leaf Scarf

I cast off the Angora Leaf Scarf last night, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. I wasn’t convinced that I’d have enough yarn to get me all the way to the point of the final leaf, but I was thrilled to find that I’d made it!

Thankfully, I’d decided to weigh the first leaf. That way I knew how much yarn I needed to have left after the straight part of the scarf, in order to get me all the way to the end.

Unfortunately, cutting things so fine meant that I didn’t have enough yarn left over to embroider the stem stitch detail on all three of the leaves, so I just added it to the top one.

The pattern calls for a transparent snap fastener to hold the top leaf in place, but the Colinette Parisienne is so fine that it would have been visible, and ugly. Instead I remembered a great big plastic ring that I had stashed away in my jewellery box. The delicate scarf pulled through the ring with no problems at all, and the leaves stop it from slipping around. 

The perfect finishing touch!

Angora Leaf Scarf Angora Leaf Scarf

Pretty in Pink

Rhona's pink tartan skirt

This is what I’ve been working on today – a pink tartan skirt for Rhona.

I drafted the pattern this morning, and made the skirt this afternoon. I had originally bought a Burda pattern to use, but the proportions were so wrong that it seemed easier to start from scratch than to make a lot of alterations.

Spring has sprung!

Spring photo challenge

Paul and I went out for a walk with the cameras today, and it was the first time in months that we haven’t been swathed in layers of hats and scarves and gloves.

We’d set ourselves the challenge of finding evidence of spring, and although we’re a few weeks too early for most of the flowers, we did find a couple of little patches of snowdrops.

I had a little play with Paul’s new lens, a 75-300mm zoom. It was great for catching a few shots of a very shy cormorant – although I just missed him surfacing with a fish!

Spring photo challenge

You can see all of today’s pictures over on Flickr.

Are you sitting comfortably?

I think I may have fallen a little bit in love with a chair.

This is the SKRUVSTA, from IKEA.
(Also available in plain black and plain white, for anybody reeling at the sight of this print version!)

You may have spotted the castors and gas lift mechanism which reveal that this is in fact an office chair. My computer desk is at a peculiarly low height, and I’m currently sitting on a vintage dining chair which was rescued from my Great Uncle Frank’s house a very long time ago. It’s a lovely chair, but it’s not at all the correct height for my desk, so I thought it was about time that I looked around for something new.

This is the first adjustable chair I’ve seen that isn’t dull and corporate-looking.

I think it might be exactly what I need!

Blackbird Button

Blackbird button

I bought this handsome little fellow in Harrogate, at Duttons for Buttons.

I haven’t quite thought of the perfect use for a single ceramic button in the shape of a blackbird, but he’s so pretty I’m sure I’ll come up with something.

My Little Pony dress…

My Little Pony dress

No, not a dress for a My Little Pony, a dress with My Little Ponies on it!

I’ve made various incarnations of a simple raglan tunic over the past couple of years. I’ve added a matching belt to this one, and a pleating detail at the shoulders and centre front.

Look out for more of the same coming soon…

Sugar and Spice

Sugar & Spice

 

I made this little dress from a pair of curtains that Lisa (Off With Her Head) found in a charity shop!

The fabric is 100% cotton from John Lewis, and the print is called “Sugar and Spice”.
The background is a trellis with flowers weaving all over it, and there are little girls in aprons and caps.

Adorable!