Sew Over 50 :-)

It's been a while since I last posted and I've been undergoing a bit of an overhaul personally ....  I seem to have a bit of spare time now (unusual for me!) and I can look back over the changes and document them.

I finally decided to go short with my hair ...  I've been hovering between lengths for ages and am so glad I made this decision.  It feels so light and airy and my new style is really easy to look after too.  I wish now that I'd gone short at the start of summer.  I think that at a certain age, short definitely does look better.

I've also joined #sewover50 on Instagram.  This is a new initiative for older sewists like me.  I've been wondering for a while now where I fit in in the sewing world as I seem to have crossed the divide between the younger sewists and those like me.  Maybe that's why I haven't made much lately ...  It feels good to be part of a crowd again but I'll have to see if I can keep up with all the various challenges ....  Anyway, I'm old enough to know it doesn't really matter and it's all about the fun of taking part when I can.

Autumn is on its way - my favourite time of year and I am thinking about knits and cover ups.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted!

Seaglass ...

Just over a year ago, when I was on my honeymoon in Overstrand on the Norfolk coast, we were located right next to the beach.  We often walked along the beach into neighbouring Cromer and it was lovely to beachcomb along the way ...  I found an aqua coloured piece of seaglass one morning and have kept it ever since.  I recently found a jeweller who made pendants, earrings and bracelets from seaglass.  I asked if she could make a pendant from my piece and she willingly did!  Here's the beautiful result ....

I now have a lovely reminder of my honeymoon week that I can wear.

You can see more exquisite creations here, all at a very reasonable price:


https://www.facebook.com/seawavejewellery/

Minerva Product Testing - Zandra Rhodes Vogue Jacket

You can read all about how I made this Vogue Zandra Rhodes Designer Jacket here on the Minerva Crafts blog:

https://www.minervacrafts.com/blog/product-reviews/zandra-rhodes-vogue-jacket-by-diane

It has to be one of the most technically demanding garments I have ever made ....  worth it though.

Minerva Product Testing - Clover Tablet Templates

You can see my latest product test over on the Minerva blog here.  I made a sewing wallet using templates designed for making both paper and electronic tablet covers, which I customized.  The product is from the Nancy Zieman range for Clover, who sadly passed away this week.  I didn't know anything about Nancy beforehand but have since found out that she was a huge sewing celebrity in the US.  I was sorry to hear the sad news.

https://www.minervacrafts.com/blog/product-reviews/clover-e-tablet--paper-tablet-keepers-by-nancy-zieman-review

Sarah Campbell Fabric Painting Day

A grey start to the day....  I was unfortunately going to be a bit late for my class at The Fashion and Textile Museum and had already made my apologies in advance but there was a further delay at Moorgate tube and I had to walk down to London Bridge. Not a bad walk but I was then lost at Monument and Pudding Lane … I then realised I was also on the wrong side of The Thames!

Doubling back on myself, I found a stairway to the top of a bridge and was able to head towards The Shard at Bermondsey where I knew the Museum was located. 

I made my apologies at reception and was then able to join Sarah Campbell’s class who were just about to have a lunch break.  I took the opportunity to photograph everything and anything I could in the Josef Frank exhibition.  What impressed me was a riot of colour and blooms on lengths of fabric suspended from the ceiling.  

There was also a beautiful room set up with painted furniture, prints and glassware, where you could see the fabric in context.  

The Museum shop had Sarah Campbell scarves and cushions printed in mouthwatering colours ...  

Some from the past and newer designs such as this hand painted birds and nest.

I enjoyed browsing through the books and cards, particularly a Zandra Rhodes cut out and colour paper doll complete with outfits!  

I also came away with a Fashionary book – like a dictionary of fashion styles and faint templates of figures for drawing over.

It was a pleasure to meet Sarah Campbell, who I’ve blogged about before: Start to Finish - The Collier Campbell/Sarah Campbell Story UPDATED , when I saw her exhibition in 2014, again at The Fashion and Textile Museum.  

Although I was late, she made me feel at ease and I went straight into painting on calico.  I was inspired by the sunflowers I’d seen in the Frank exhibition.  I learned about auto-fade pens and lightly sketched out my pattern on the fabric. 

Auto fade pens are like felt pens but the outline disappears after a short length of time and doesn't spoil a painted design.  It’s been a while since I handled paint but I took to it again immediately and loved the way the fabric paints blended and bled on the cloth.  

I only had a couple of hours to do anything in and made the most of it while I could.  

The end of the class came round too quickly and I felt I should head off home in good time considering the journey I had in.  Delays on the way home too!  I didn’t arrive home until 9 in the evening which meant for an exhausting day.  Enjoyable though and of course, I met a heroine of mine  ....  A grey day ended up full of colour ...

I've since bought a set of fabric paints of my own and I'm now looking forward to finishing my design.  So glad to be back painting again! 

Happy Holidays

I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas and New Year break.  Kev and I have a whole week off work, enjoying some time to ourselves to get refreshed and organised, ready for the New Year.  It's been a very busy 2016, the biggest event being our wedding and wonderful as it was, it's nice to have that done and dusted now.  Looking forward to 2017 now - hope you all have a good one.

Stitchy Giveaway - It's yours Charlotte!

I'm so glad to give this to Charlotte - we've been friends since Sew Weekly in 2012 when I first attempted online sewing and started this blog as a result.  Charlotte also suggested the first ever Sew Weekly meet up in London.  We've met up since for fabric shopping and she also guest posted for me in a Virtual Meet Up a couple of years ago when she modelled this lovely cord jacket she made.  We are still in touch on Facebook - thanks for sticking around Charlotte!

New Designers 2016

Amongst the wedding preparations, I did find time to go to this show last Friday.  I've been meaning to see what it's all about for the past few years now and finally I had the chance.  It's held every year at the end of June in The Business Design Centre, Islington and has been going for 30 years now.

The main angle is for the various UK (and one from Sweden I noticed ...) Art Schools to bring their final textile shows to London.  There is a lot to see and take in.  However, it is possible to identify various strands and themes running through the work.  I noticed some designs reminding me very much of Memphis from the 80's.  Most of the work though seemed to take its influences from Natural History and Botanical Prints.  Insects, butterflies and moths were a recurring theme throughout the show.  I was also surprised at how much hand painted work there was, in that there is a noticeable shift at the moment to digital printing.  There was even a demonstration of digital fabric printing:

The students were very eager to chat and talk and I enjoyed finding out more behind the work I was seeing.  They all had their own business cards and some had printed flyers and booklets.  Now the show is over, it's possible to look at their websites and find out more.  I don't want to post close-up photographs of their work here for copyright reasons.

These are some of my favourite business cards to give you a flavour of what was there:

Make It In Design also had a stand at the show and I was able to meet and talk to the ladies who organise everything, as well as take away a goodie bag.  It gave me inspiration to finish the last two exercises I have to do from my course, Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design.

I've signed up for the Summer School which begins in August.  I have a week off work then so should be able to make a fair job of it.  Looking forward to then!

How to Wear a Kitten ...

Meet the latest addition to my family ...  here's Oscar.  He's 12 weeks old at the moment and very cute.  He loves nothing more than to sit as close to me as possible, so no doubt he'll be making a lot of future appearances on this blog!  As well as bringing up Oscar, I've also just bought my wedding dress pattern which I need to have finished for October.  So although it seems as if things are quiet here, they certainly aren't.  Anyway, I'll keep posting!

 

Holiday Medley

Just a few images of the Holiday Season.  I was so looking forward to the break and now it's nearly gone! So busy ...  but in a different way to the norm and it's good to get out of the usual groove and daily grind.  Hope you all had a great time too  - Happy New Year!

Relaxing ...

Eating, man at work and a night out!

Made Up

My Aster Sewalong has turned into something else ... The weather has been so glorious here that I've been out and about (see below photo!) and I've missed the deadline ... But all is not lost as I've been reading about the Made Up Sewalong on various blogs, for which I have 10 September as a deadline.  Funnily enough, one of the prizes is an Aster Pattern!  So I hope I don't win that ...

It's for a good cause too - the promotion of literacy.  I've copied the following from Karen Ball's blog, Did You Make That?

The Made Up Initiative is in support of the National Literacy Trust. Did you know that one person in six in the UK lives with poor literacy? Some children never have a parent read to or with them. Many households can’t afford books. Literacy can be a game of luck, and it’s a game with high stakes. It can make or break lives. With the help of my fellow creatives, I’d like to sway the odds.

I’ve set us a simple goal – to raise £1,000 in a month-long fundraiser, hosted at aJustgiving page. To give us some context, if less than half of my Bloglovin subscribers each donated £10, we’d raise over £40,000.  A person could easily spend £10 on a metre of fabric, that might go straight into a bulging stash cupboard, and probably end up donated to a fabric swap. Food for thought, eh?

So, let’s have fun! We have until 10 September to show the world what we can do.

Relaxing ...

I am still sewing Colette Patterns' Aster but also sneaked a holiday in!  I am learning to take my time these days and enjoy ...  both my life and the sewing I do around that ...

On the beach in sunny Hunstanton, Norfolk

New Hair!

After months of intense study, it's time for 'me' and first up is a new hair cut ...  My regular salon has closed down and I happened on a new hairdresser by chance - a lucky find!  Never had so many compliments in one day!  Well, I've not gone completely 'Zandra Rhodes' pink but the style is the same and I've given my photo a pinky glow to show how relieved and happy I am, both with the new hair and finishing my course!

Celebrations

Well I've come to the end of my knit course and I've a lot to post about but I deserve a little rest and some diversions!  I've never tried Japanese food before - this is at Japas in Cambridge ... very colourful, I always look at everything in a different way now I've done a Creative Studies course  ... more posts soon ...

And I got this ...

Ready for when I get to sew again!  Which will be very soon now ....  I love this book because as well as sewing know-how, it has projects in it, including the Pyramid Box that May Martin made on a Christmas edition of Sewing Bee last year (I wonder why they didn't do one this year?).  I looked for the pattern on the Bee website at the time but it wasn't there ... I can now see it was being saved for the book ...  Anyway, glad to come across it in my holiday reading.

Some great presents ...

I've been lucky this year - shoes, a vintage style bag and an unexpected gift, which I'll never use - a Zandra Rhodes washbag signed by the great lady herself!  As a thank you for loyalty and support!  I am honoured ...

Share in Style - Merry Christmas

I wanted to join in 'Share in Style - Christmas' and I dug this photo out from the end of my Sew Weekly days a couple of years ago.  It's where I first 'met' Rosy at SewingAdicta and also found out about the world of sewing blogging ...  and I'm still here!  I was quite fearless in those days and would launch myself into any project ... even sewing satin within the space of a week, as seen here! OK, I haven't sewn in a while but a new year is coming up and I'm nearing the end of my knit course. Actually, the break has been refreshing. Taking part in 'Sew Weekly' for a year was an achievement and by the end of it I was ready for a rest ... I feel ready to start anew, not constrained by the thought that I should produce something every week and now with a more creative edge!  I look forward to renewing old sewing friendships and  being part of that wonderful community again.  Happy Christmas everyone.

Zandra Rhodes Handbags - SALE TIME

There are some fabulous bargains to be had at zandrarhodeshandbags.co.uk  I've bought some Christmas presents there - purses (ie: pocketbooks, or something to put your money in for American readers!) and a handbag for me.  I chose this blue one with the iconic Zandra Rhodes squiggle on it.  It's super quality and I'm really pleased with it.  It comes in its own black storage bag stamped in gold writing.  I think I'm getting another bag from another quarter too ... but I won't know until Christmas!  Anyway, the website is well worth checking out if you're looking for some last minute bargains and regular postage and packing is free in the UK.

Design and Make For Haven's Sake

Slowly but surely, I am gradually picking up the threads of my usual life after recent events. I am sure my Aunt Margaret would approve of me taking part in this project. A while ago, I volunteered to make a hand-crafted bag for this children's charity. I'm in the final stages of completion of a faux ponyskin duffel and will post it next. It will be included in a Fashion Show running alongside London Fashion Week. If you're down in London, go see! There will be some very talented up and coming new designers taking part.

Sad news

A sudden family bereavement means I won't be able to post on a regular basis for the next couple of months.  Sending thanks to all my loyal followers.