Netflix and crochet

For years I have tried to get a grip on crochet.  I can do stitches no problem, then when it comes to putting them together in some fashion it just makes no sense to me. While we were in Great Yarmouth we found Woolcraft cakes in a craft shop, 200g of aran weight yarn. Decided to buy 2 and try again.  already had a crochet hook in my project bag I have for my knitting etc.

I have had this idea I wanted to do a corner to corner blanket/throw for the sofa. Someone suggested looking up Bella Coco on YouTube and it all made sense for once, I have watched this before though, so I spent a few hours getting this far while watching Netflix.

And it kept going pretty well.  This colour scheme isn't my usual kind of taste but the colours made me think of summer holidays so went with it.

After I got home I realised that the 2 balls alone were not going to make this big enough so ordered another 2 balls. Where I am now is one more row short of starting to decrease so halfway. 

I laid my work down to take a photo so of course I caught a cats attention.  I wonder if Bobbie thinks this is for her?

I tried to move her but i just got meowed at. So here you have a 14 month old kitty for size reference. It's not perfect by any means but I am loving the process and how it looks.

For now I will keep at this while I watch Netflix and will share again when I am finished.

Take care

Jules 

Large tote bag tutorial by Sewspire

On my trip around youtube last week I saw a lovely tutorial for a large project tote bag.  On the Sewspire channel I thought at the time oo I have the perfect fabric to make one of these with the most adorable accent fabric.  Then I decided to take beds apart and start rearranging bedrooms and moving craft tools and fabrics around.  In short I put a lot of stuff where it wasn't available and made a mess.  OK No worries I then realised I had what I call my deck chair fabric that I bought from IKEA earlier in the year. So colourful and cheerful I thought.  

Andrea over on sewspire on YouTube is on a mission to teach 10,000 people how to sew I think the number was.  Yes I know i 'can' sew but strangely I still don't always know some of the basics and some of the little touches or standard ways of doing things are not how I would do them.  Andrea has a knack of making things very clear and seem very easy to achieve.  

This project bag didn't take me long.  I didn't think about doing step by step photos sorry I just wanted to get the tote bag sewn so I had a summer holiday bright beach themed deck chair tote bag. 

The above photo has the accent stripe down one side.  It is sewn on so over time the edges will fray and give it an extra design element.

To take these photos I had to stuff the bag with a large cushion as I had no one else to help me model it.

The fully lined tote features a different set of coloured stripes 

Not a fantastic photo below of my box corners, but I think these are the most even effective box corners I have ever sewn.

And then I started more hand sewing.  I won't tell you what this stag head is for but it is not for Christmas even if it could well be used for Christmas.  I am not to impressed about how uneven my blanket stitches are looking but I am getting there slowly and almost finished sewing the stag head down.  I might even get to start on the actual project tomorrow. 

Happy start to November I think, hope it is all good with you and you are recovering from Halloween fun.

Take care 

Jules 

tents and a skirt for a sewalong

Whoo, it's been busy and hot lately.  This summer holidays with the kids has certainly kept me busy and amused.  Which unfortunately means away from here and most of my social media to. On the plus side it's all been good fun up until I got a summer cold/cough yesterday. I will live though don't worry.

We have been very lucky having the granddaughters over a few times a week while my daughter works, not quite sure who is having more fun us or them? On Monday I decided a wigwam type tent was needed for them to play in.  So, off I went to the corner of the garden to retrieve some bamboo sticks that had been hidden in a tangle of honeysuckle.  Bit of string to tie them together in a square triangle, and a duvet cover and pegs and the girls were very impressed with their little hideaway. 

We have also been out to find 'magic' sticks and so far we have been decorating them with small gold and silver stickers.  Next week I think we are going to cut out some felt stars and maybe make them padded and add to the end with some ribbons. What little princess doesn't need a magic wand?

Just right for eating lunch in and finishing off a tube type yogurt out of the sun.

Katie at Inside number 23 both on YouTube and ravelry. Is hosting a sewalong using the Hollyburn skirt by sewaholic. Looks pretty simple and a lovely skirt so I thought I would give it a whirl.  Took me until tonight to cut out my fabric.  A light weight black, floral denim with sparkles? I am hoping you can see them in this photo?

Ruler for reference there for size idea

And this pocket is just genius, first of all I thought there was a pocket piece missing, but no, this piece folds in half to form the complete pocket.  Which means it's less complicated than the last few pockets I have attempted

1 am is just the right time to blog, enough quiet to concentrate and it's slightly cooler in the house.  Not much though.  I have to say I am not complaining about the weather at all.  It's lovely to have such nice weather for so long.  Saying that I a now looking at patterns to make a winter coat.  I figure if I start thinking about it now and start organising things I might actually end up with a new coat by the time the cold weather starts up again.  Just one problem is all I have, what colour to make a coat in?