Weekend Views

Hello Lovelies,

on Saturday morning I headed out on my bike, a scrap of my skirt fabric in my pocket, hoping to find some ric-rac in our local yarn store.......

The sun was in and out, with pretty scudding clouds and a fresh breeze...........

I stopped to gaze at the countryside through a gap in the hedge, and noticed all the little green buds ready to burst open..........

There was lots of activity at the allotments.........

It's a fairly level ride to the shops, but with a strong head wind it was quite an effort, I was out of breath when I got there. The florists shop looked lovely in the sunshine............

The LYS didn't have the sort of trim I was hoping for, so I just made a small purchase. I do appreciate having a source of yarn and haberdashery within cycling distance and try and support it when I can.

I was really enjoying being out and about on such a lovely spring day, noticing a favourite garden you can see from the footpath...........

And blossom looking gorgeous in the sunshine.........

This hedge is usually full of birds and there were plenty around on Saturday..........

There are 4 in in this photo

Such sweet, brave little things that don't all disappear the minute they see a person.

 They were hopping about and chirping away..............

I didn't know what this small brown bird was.........

So once home, I got out my trusty bird identification book...........

 There is a link HERE were you can listen to their noisy chatter.

A trip into  town that afternoon provided the giant ric-rac and some new clothes for eldest (those boys will keep growing!)

On Sunday morning the weather was again sunny and I felt inspired to start a new crochet project. Loving the yummy Stylecraft colours in my big yarn bag...........

Mid afternoon my lovely sister-in-law, neice, eldest any myself set off on a walk.  As we headed along a footpath I've never explored before the weather was still sunny, but the sky looked menacing.......

we came out on a quiet road and I liked the light flooding through this crumbling estate gateway......

It was still windy and the weather was changing by the minute. Here we were getting wet in sleety rain, but we could see sunshine on the distant hills...........

Soon the clouds blew over and the sun reappeared...........

It was so nice wandering along quiet lanes with pleasant company...........

Peeking through gateways and spying quaint old red brick buildings bathed in sunlight..........

My Niece spotted these tiny wild violets in the grass verge...........

The sky kept grabbing our attention.......... you could clearly see it raining in the distance.........

I wonder what this dilapidated old carriage has been used for in the past........now it just looked unused and unloved..........

Where as this old bench looked lovely with the addition of colourful lichen.........

We had been walking for a couple of hours by this time and this brooding sky, coupled with a meal needing to be cooked, prompted us to cheat a little....we called Mr BM for a lift home :0)

I've saved the best photo from this walk till last.

My niece was keen to see some lambs up close  and we lucked out with this friendly group :0)

 Awwwwwwwwwww

And I'll finish this post with a glimpse of the progress I've already made on my quirky crochet project. It's making me happy and I expect it will make you smile when you find out what it is ..........

Right, I'm off to carry on with this........ hopefully there will be a little ta-dah very soon :0)
Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my sewing posts.
Jacquie x

Sewing Again

Hello lovelies,
I didn't intend to start a another dressmaking project, but after  seeing THIS post by the talented Daisy I couldn't resist ordering the pattern she had shared and recommended..............

 I have to agree with Daisy about the uninspiring styling you get on pattern packets. I wouldn't have chosen this pattern based on these images................

But thankfully after seeing Daisy's versions I knew it was a goody. And it arrived in super quick time ( ordered via HERE on Monday evening , it arrived in  the post on Wednesday morning ).

On Thursday my car had to go into the garage for a service so I had the perfect excuse to stay home and do some sewing.

Having not had time to go and look for some fabric, I once more searched my stash. The only fabric I fancied using was barely big enough ( it was a meter that had already had a rectangle used from it. So I laid out the pattern pieces the only was I could get them to fit............well nearly fit!

 I know you are not supposed to have skirt panels facing in opposite directions, but I figured to would not matter with the fabric I was using.

I have to say how MUCH I enjoyed sewing this skirt.
I had spent a couple of hours in the morning doing some housework so I didn't have that annoying voice in my head saying "you really should be doing some jobs Jacquie"
I was working in a quiet house, in our light conservatory. In the winter it's freezing and in the summer it's too hot....but right now........ it's just right.
But I think the big difference was knowing the pattern came highly recommended so  could relax a bit, knowing it would hopefully turn out O.K.

As Daisy mentioned in her post , this pattern was used in Episode 1 of the first series of The Great British Sewing Bee. I've managed to find pictures of the skirts the contestants made HERE (scroll across )

I took my time and carefully followed the pattern instructions. There is no waistband on this skirt, but the waist facing is a little tricky. Here I'm tacking the facing ( with it's iron on interfacing ) onto the skirt........

Here I'm picking up my camera to capture a picture of our friendly garden squirrel with a mouth full of peanuts..........

And here's he or she burying them for later :0)

Sorry, back to the skirt.
Here I'm under-stitching the facing to prevent it showing on the finished garment........

And after a couple more stages I had a completed skirt. It took me about four and a half hours to do. That may be slow for this beginner make, but I was just very happy to be able to complete it in one session.

And here's my latest sewing project........ta-dah........

 This is the front

And this is the back.........

Did anybody notice a problem?  Turns out the fabric that I thought didn't have a right or a wrong way up actually does ....oooops, oh well I don't think anybody will notice :0)

It was an easy fabric to work with and I'm pleased with the standard of finish I managed to achieve on this skirt. The zip turned out well...........

And I'm happy to show you a close up of the finished facing.......

Daisy has some great sewing tips in THIS post.

My fabric was a little too small for the knee length version of this pattern , so I just made it as long as I could and turned up a smaller hem than the pattern suggested............

Here I'm wearing it with my top tucked in so you can see what a great fit the waistband is. The hips were just a bit too loose but it was easy to take them in a bit.
 Do check the size guide on the pattern .....I buy a size 10 in clothes, but this is a size 14 pattern.........

 Please excuse the pasty white legs.......they need some sun.

You may have noticed I also copied Daisy and added some big Ric-Rac trim close to the hem. I love cerise........



Here's how I will wear this skirt, with a T.shirt over the waist..........and I'm sure I will wear it lots. I'm thrilled with how it turned out and I was a joy to make............

 Can you see Teddy's mini cowl....I made that while doing the cowl tutorial for Simply Crochet :0)

I'm sorry about the poor quality of some of these photo's , the light wasn't brilliant. That did mean I took a photo of myself that was quiet flattering........that doesn't happen often these days!.........

 Hello Lovelies :0)

I hope you all have a super Sunday.

Jacquie x

Happy Spring Sights

Hello Lovelies,

this third week in March spring really seems to be here. The hedgerows are suddenly beginning to turn green and Hyacinths are blooming in my front garden.......

 These are bulbs that bloomed indoors in previous winters, but outside their colour is even more intense and beautiful.

All along the roadsides  Daffodils dance in the breeze.........

And pretty spring flowers add colour and joy ..........

The fields are full of Lambs, like this cute trio who gambled over when I approached this gateway......

They were so inquisitive........

investigating the world around them..........

Look at those cute faces and pink ears............

They seemed so unafraid and I managed to take quite a few photos.
I think this one is my favourite.......

And then, just as quickly as they had approached, they turned and scampered off........

Dashing across the field on those long legs ..........

Back to their mother ..........

Such a happy Spring sight.
Jacquie x