Twirly Skirt

Twirly Skirt

Although things appear to have been quiet here for a couple of months, there has in fact been significant activity behind the scenes in Thimble land. Most of these projects are TOP SECRET hence no posts.

The little imp girl who drew Bad Hair Day Lady is just the kind of girl who would make the most out of a twirly skirt. I am having fun with patches at the moment and wanted to make a little patch skirt.

The nicest/only patch skirt pattern I could find was on Etsy but due to a technical malfunction I ended up with this pattern instead:

Not being averse to a bit of pretty I have been collecting bits and bobs of charming fabric from Temporary Measure for some time. For those not already in the know the little rabbit and big bear on the fabric are the same little rabbit and big bear to feature in the very lovely books written by a wizard wordsmith I know.

This pattern gives options for making 'girly', 'preppy' or 'cool'. A little sleight of hand and I created 'patchy'. Add a rabbit T-shirt and I think we can call this an 'ensemble'. Not only that but a 'themed ensemble', something I feel was sadly missing from my youth. In fact you can probably see that Cathycoo (in turquoise ensemble) always did have more of an eye for colour-matching than me (left).

Rabbit and Bear ensemble

Thimble and CathyCoo

  

These days, as well as being unable to carry off yellow, green, blue and fuschia outfits with panache, I am a devil for the finishing touches; hence Liberty lining and finished seams, seam tape from seamstar, all so that the little lady need not feel ashamed when she does a roly poly.

As usual I was a bit nervous about the fit and Hedley was not going to be too much help, so this was my Macgyver moment: a melting middle fishcake 3 year old girl waistband form!

Bad Hair Day Lady

Hedley goes domestic

Spot the difference: Crotchety versus Squirelly

  

Although I try to leave out any personal identifiers in these ramblings, if Cathycoo is having a bad day you may well recognise her from this picture. Do not approach her when she looks like this as it probably means she is under duress and she is liable to shake her rolling pin at you. The 3 year old artist may well be responsible not only for the portrait, but also for the harried and turbulent state of mind of Bad Hair Day Lady. 

Fabric: More from the Maureen stash so probably from the 1970s

Machine embroidered with cotton from the Maureen stash (Woolworths!) so probably from the 1960s

The Great Escape

Handspun Herwick Slippers

Ah, Woolfest over for another year. This year I leaped out of bed with excitement at the prospect: in fact the last time I remember feeling that same little buzz of anticipation in the morning was my first holy communion which was a very long time ago and the buzz had more to do with getting to wear brand new white mary jane shoes than receiving the Holy Ghost. I am sure I must have other happy morning memories but maybe not so many because all I can remember is those white shoes.

I digress.

Woolfest, ah. It was marvellous. The best bits were the talented knitwear designers Susan Crawford and Kate Davies whose designs look even better in the flesh. In typical Thimble style I couldn't think of a single thing to say to them, overwhelmed as I was, so I bought a couple of patterns instead: Susan Crawford: Frances and Kate Davies: Blaithin. After the cape fiasco I really need to start concentrating if I want to do these patterns justice, so it might be a good long while before I tackle them.

Speaking of capes, would you believe I had my crochet hook out today and was back polishing my...cape? There is simply so much wool in the darned thing that it stretched and started slipping off my shoulders and weighing me down like a wet sack and it was either fix it or mop the floor with it. So I hitched everything up a bit and crocheted an extra row around the neck edge and it is now behaving itself and not revealing my bra to the world which I used to think was quite cool when I was 17 but now find vexing. I am thinking about scattering little crochet daisies on it to cover up any little mistakes but I haven't decided if that is a really good idea or a really bad idea.

Speaking of crocheted flowers, our little family of handspun herwick slippers has just expanded. These little fellas are fleece lined and SO WARM, perfect for an English summer: 

his and hairs

acting sheepish

crochet flowers: a touch of femininity

making the fleece lining from a cheap blanket

Capes and blunders

'Pilar' by thimble

Today I find myself wrapped up like an enchilada in metres of aqua Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. Perfect for a wet English summer day.

Hard to believe but this has been a beginners guide to knitting blunders from start to finish...and I refuse to entertain the notion that has anything to do with DVD box set distractions.

So this was the pattern that caught my eye in 'Debbie Bliss: Alpaca Silk':

'Pilar' by Debbie Bliss

 Looks easy doesn't it?

Well the first stumbling block was that no-one sells Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk any more.

No problem - I've read the books - so armed with a ball of Cashmerino Aran and aunty Maureen's bag of needles I made a tension square and chose my pins.

Garter stitch is easy peasy. In no time at all having flown down the left front and sleeve I was alarmed to discover I seemed to be knitting a 1980's style half-top or doll jumper. My pins were too small or I must have gotten tenser since the tension square. By now I was feeling pretty tense and having un-ravelled 2 months of jumper that was very nearly the last straw.

However not one to fall at the first hurdle, this time I made 4 tension squares and picked 6.5mm needles (the pattern called for 4.5mm). Feeling confident and with renewed fervor, clickety clack, off I shot.

4 months later and with the help of Hedley the moment of truth could not be avoided:

The more observant may notice a minor discrepancy in the sleeve lengths.

I have a feeling that I lost count on the first sleeve in series 1 of Whitechapel and during the denouement I added another 30 rows:

So out came the scissors...

...and chopped off about 10cm of sleeve.

At this point it was all going wrong. Unlike the picture in the book I was looking at holey borders and scruffy seams, plus the cloak/shawl/cape bit wasn't staying put.
So remembering the Mandala quilt - what is the best way of covering up bad workmanship?

EMBELLISHMENTS of course!

Out with the crochet hook for the edge, double row for good measure
a couple of little beads for the tie
and a beautiful handmade button to keep the shawl in place
it will have to do
I'm calling an official end to the year of the cape.

Guest crafts: Ribbons - deceptively simple

My friend CathyCoo spent a very long time sewing in straight lines to make these lovely ribbon cushions.

Whilst it goes without saying that the fronts are delightful, I really like the backs a lot.

That comment didn't go down too well with CathyCoo. I wasn't supposed to be admiring the backs.

But I do really like the backs a lot....such lovely crisp lines, neat buttonholes and buttons perfectly spaced.

It's all in the little details.

Liberty Belle

Home made baby corduroy Liberty print dress

Like most quilters I have a compulsion for buying small pieces of lovely fabric, but the problem is that if the fabric is too lovely I can't make myself cut it up. I have now found a painless method of tackling this: make small clothes....and the left over bits can be used for patches!

Luckily I know a couple of small people.

Simplicity 5284

This dress is made using Simplicity 5284. I had to make it a bit smaller by altering the pattern so was a bit nervous that it might not fit, especially after I put so much loving attention into the details:

Liberty lining!!

Flower button (from my spare button box) and fastener....

 

Mummy Bee...

Baby Bee (in pocket)...

Hand made with love...

...and the very best bit....

....it fits!

Capes for Beginners

Hedley: the novice cape

This pattern is so simple that even with beginners dressmaking skills I was able to knock it up in a couple of days.

I had pictured something a little Jane Eyre (the melancholy cape)...

Jane Eyre

maybe a dash Red Riding Hood (the sultry cape)....

...I think I added too much Margaret Rutherford (the no-frills cape)....

...but if you look closely you can see a delightful little detail...

Clasp detail: from The Textile Garden

...which makes me smile with satisfaction.

Now I just have to make a sophisticated wardrobe of Downtown Abbey style clothes to match.