The jacket is done! yayy!!

LOTS of apologies for the terrible photographs! I can't believe I'm actually going to publish them! (I must get myself better organised and actually BUY a dress form if only for the purposes of taking a decent picture!!).

At last I completed my jacket today! the fabric is a lovely dark navy pinstripe with a light blue and beige stripe, I bought this piece of fabric about 5yrs ago when I optimistically thought I might make an "interview suit" about the time I was planning to go back into proper work! its sat in my sewing room all this time and I finally decided to make it up!

I had just enough (barely!) to make a jacket and two skirts, had I realised I'd forgotten to cut the facings, however, I'd have been stuck skirt-wise, at least! I used some of my infamous grey for the lining (groans from Debs!) its been SUCH a useful purchase and has to be my all time best EVER investment - 27ms for under a tenner - back in the days when you could get a real bargain!

The grey fabric has seen both my son's through middle school and is now seeing me through "work" as I have 4 jackets and two skirts in it and LOADS left over, it ought to see me off never mind through work!


BACK to the jacket! as you can see its hanging unattractively on a hanger looking rather wrinkled, but its better in real life! I had to adapt the collar into two parts for both the upper and under, which didn't seem to matter at the time of cutting but, since then, I've had all my hair chopped off! I'll have to try and hope for a bit of summer-regrowth at the back!!

Never mind, its a nice jacket and has a lovely quality lining in mid-grey, its fully interlined and stabilised with shoulderpads and fleece wraps at the arm all per the speed tailoring course I attended years ago!
Goodness only knows what happened with the skirt pictures! the top is another one of my "usual" New Look A-line good old standard pattern, the number of which escapes me at the moment but I've blogged it before!

The 2nd skirt is from the same pattern as the jacket and is a new one for me, I'm reasonably pleased with the fit and shape of it, its not really quite as twisted as it appears, thats just because its gripped at the waist by a skirt hanger dangling in my doorway!


The pattern used for jacket and 2nd skirt is Simplicity Threads number 3962 and features a shawl collar which I think is just the hardest shaped collar to manage!
I've done two other jackets using this same pattern and have decided this is absolutely the last time I'll make this up as its too much fuss and faffing about trying to frighten it with the iron into rolling satisfactorily!

Yarn Bargains

oh dear .. and I SEW was not going to do this again! buy up yummy yarn BARGAINS!

Never mind, I managed to resist for a whole week the temptation to visit the shop with the Rowan bargains despite the hysterical screechings of various knitty-pals who stopped by clutching bags and wafting loveliness at us ..
Even though I had, originally, planned to buy some Rowan Cocoon to make up one of the garments in 42 but resisted due to cost I STILL stuck to my resolve in NOT rushing down to grab a bag.
All this hysterical loveliness and screeching got to me in the end, and this week I rushed down myself to grab a couple of bargains :

A bag of 10 Cocoon in shade Shale down from £69.50 to £20.00
A bag of 5 Kidsilk Spray shade 572 for just £1 a ball! (usually £7.50 a ball!)

Now to get back to knitting! with all these bargains filling up my stash basket I ought to make an effort to finish my ongoing projects?

Creative Textiles: nearing the end

As we reach the end of our course and holidays start to loom we're very short on numbers now that are regularly attending - we're a small but select group! but, still, we're eager to continue exploring and this week our tutor had set us all the challenge of creating a textile piece inspired from some images against the design element that we are now concentrating on.

We spent two hours messing about with threads, beads and buttons (and some with wooden blocks, bits of string and paint! to create effects on fabric! that was pretty cool!).

Our work has been checked and as a group we're deemed good enough to have collectively "passed" - which is good! However some mutterings within the group about lack of feedback on ALL of our work and, specifically, on those of us newbies/level I's work from on high-up! (which is a bit of a laugh as on high-up is ACTUALLY sitting in the office next door - you'd sort of think she could do a bit of extra marking in between checking the car parking and kitchen/washing up standards?).
While this came as a surprise to some of the newbies, it didn't, particularly, to me!
My most irritating experience of this came about 5yrs ago while attending an IT course (heavily subsidised, of course, which is what "they" say is the point behind it all but I've never been able to discover quite WHAT this point actually IS as my logic suggests if all that money is being chucked into the course, then surely they'd want to thoroughly examine and cross question everyone's work including their attendance?).
Anyway, no point getting riled up again about it, suffice it to say that I was most annoyed to discover that during our "exam" (and at my age, remembering proper exams I find this use of the term "exam" a bit of a joke but there I go again - getting riled up!) one of our fellow students managed to remember to turn up for the exam however as she'd not actually turned up to half of the course, was unable to do the exam without the assistance of the two sat next to her! One of them happened to feel this wasn't appropriate and ignored her, the other appeared to be just as clueless himself and we had this (laughable NOW, 5yrs on but NOT at the time on the day!) situation where first a fellow student ACROSS the room came over to "assist" - now you're probably wondering about the TUTOR? .. well the TUTOR came over NEXT!
At THIS point, two of us decided to make a stand and suggest this was not only inappropriate but possibly unfair! and we ended up (this is true, I promise you!) with a slanging match across the room as half were agreed this shouldn't be happening, and a few thought it perfectly reasonable and a few just apparently enjoyed the prospect of a break from the tedium of the "exam" and were clearly hoping it'd end up as a scrap!
The tutor spoke with 4 of us at the end, to "reassure us" that it wouldn't "matter" about assisting this particular lady as she'd not be applying for any jobs due to the fact that she was leaving the country the following week - he was obviously used to this and didn't seem all that concerned beyond the need to get as many "passes" as he could and since half hadn't actually bothered to turn up for the exam this lady was needed for the numbers!
Was I upset for myself? not especially. I was upset for my children! who are coming up in the system and who one day very soon will NEED these sort of quals in order to validate their job applications and improve their prospects of gaining employment! when certificates are just handed out like this, is it any wonder employers don't value them?

For leisurely pursuits, for ladies like us that are just wanting to enjoy the company of like minded folk, who just want to explore new techniques for the treat OF trying something new or different, its all a bit tiresome!

Well. I'm off now to un-rile myself with a spot of tailoring!
Got myself into a pickle last week when I discovered that yes I had been marvellously frugal in stretching a length of navy pinstripe into two skirts and a jacket - however when I came to sew the collar I discovered I'd not got any facings! blast! blast! BLAST! and nothing in my stash to co-ordinate and nothing in the shops as suiting is regarded as "winter". I could wait until Aug when it will be deemed "winter" however I need to wear the suit NOW.
All a bit annoying!
MORE annoying was the discovery that I'd apparently forgotten how to sew and had attached my in-seam pockets to the outside of my jacket. both times! more annoyingly still, I didn't realise until after I'd seamed both sides ..

Happily its now sorted, and I've just got to sew up the lining and attach it and voila! it will be done (subject to finding something not too hideous for the miserable facings).

New bag for work

This is a lovely pattern and very useful as it has LOTS of bags!! McCall's fashion accessories pattern no 9261, view B small size.


The photo isn't terribly brilliant but you can see just enough to know that its a super bag! we have to take clear bags into work and this is clear enough in my opinion to qualify! The main part of the bag is clear vinyl which I usually sew into a basic rectangular bag without a particular pattern (although you'll remember I used my cyber-pal- Carol's bag pattern last time?) the upper edge and lower band is some rather nice novelty quilty fabric that was sent to me ages ago by someone and I've been waiting for a suitable project to use it and this is it! it matches well with the white webbed handles!

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy to sew up! I used my roller foot for the vinyl but think I'd have done better with my walking foot, I wish I'd thought about it and sewed the straps down over the open seam allowances which would have made my bag much neater looking given I've got no lining and couldn't be pfaffed to bind raw edges! never mind, it only has my sandwiches, a brolley and my hair brush and container of de-caff tea bags in it!!

Nosey Neighbours!

We're not having a terribly great time with some of our neighbours at the moment, but when no.1.son discovered his cat, Bertie, sat atop our litle shed and "peeping" over at the next door neighbour as she sat reading her book in the sunshine he couldn't resist taking a quick shot of him from inside the house!

(he really IS a nosey cat and can't understand why it is that our neighbours have blocked up the hedge adjoining our gardens - that perhaps its because they don't want the cats coming in!!) Bertie, consequently, is fascinated with our neighbour and their garden and will pointedly peek over, ducking, occaisionally to dodge the water pistol!



Now WHY they particularly don't want the cats is because they like birds! and sew, too, does LILLY! unfortunately SHE likes to catch and eat them! I can understand this being annoying, when you've gone to the trouble to site bird-boxes and block up the hedge and THEN find "mummy bird" being dragged off over the garage roof by said cat! .. large stones were hurled over at her in our garden, but too late, I'm afraid to save the poor bird!

(well. thats cats. I'm afraid. they just DO that!)

Creative Textiles

This week we were very low on numbers - a rather select group of us left as we near the end of the course and generally the summer holidays start for some of us!

We handed in all our coursework and projects and made sure our paperwork is up to date in readiness for official marking end of this week! We're all assured that the standard has been very good this year, and I shouldn't think anyone has anything to worry about

For the next part of the coursework we're looking at Design Style - post-war British textiles, which should be interesting, although, of course, we're all getting a bit fed up of paperwork and writing and next week we're going to do something yummy with fabrics and threads instead!! (easily persuaded, our tutor! which is good!!).

Still to come, too, is a longer session than our usual 2hrs on water solubles with a visiting tutor/expert that Sarah has managed to engage which should be interesting!!

Air show - family day out

Yesterday we went to an air show at RAF Cosford and spent rather a looong time peering at noisy planes in the sky .. Our no.1.son is very interested in this sort of thing and we all generally went along with the idea but it was sort of nearly worth it for the expression on his face and to see him SMILING!! (I think he's perfected the teenaged scowl and general look of discontent and we're waiting now for him to return to a more sunny and friendly disposition, around 32yrs I'm told ..)

Anyway here you can see the rather marvellous and spectacular Red Arrows performing, and below that a shot of something else I forget WHAT exactly but I've got approximately 680 other shots that look rather similar and can easily upload a few more if requested ..



Although overcast, it wasn't wet and it was quite warm too, this is the first time we've been to an Airshow and we generally enjoyed it.

No.2.son wasn't terribly keen and mumbled quite a lot about why he couldn't have been left at home instead! Of course we've spent the best part of our evening relaxation time with HIM watching endless shows of Britain's Got Talent (not to mention the cost of voting each evening, although to be fair, since each of his selections managed to get through on each occasion including the winner, George Sampson, I suppose we can't grumble! well. until we get the BILL I suppose! (or find out later they've been fined for fudging the phone results!