A just in time handmade gift

In Monday’s post I mentioned the Christmas gift that almost wasn’t ready in time, and which only managed to be under the tree with some last minute sewing Christmas Eve evening. MOH was bemused my by last minute industriousness, even more so when he realised it was for him. I was keen to get it finished, so he stood a chance of working out what it was, and of course to get it finished and wrapped so it could be opened on Christmas Day.

It was a bit out of the norm you see, but I needn’t have worried as he got what they were for as soon as he opened them, phew.

They’re mats for the wheels of his bike, for when it’s wet and dark, and so the bike stays in our conservatory overnight. Up until now he’s been parking his bike on some newspaper, which while it serves a purpose and does a job, tends to hang about for a bit and so I thought something more aesthetically pleasing must exist. Then I realised it probably didn’t, but was something I could make.

The trouble was when I had time on my own in the house, usually his bike wasn’t there so what size? In the end I guessed and cut a leg of an old pair of jeans to be approximately 40cm x15cm - I knew I wanted something hardwearing, but I also wanted something softer for the newly varnished conservatory floor, so a leg of some old pyjamas were just the thing, and I had some batting somewhere I’m sure…

PYJAMAS AND JEANS REPURPOSED

But I also knew it’d need to be more than just two pads for MOH to know what it was for. With a flash of inspiration one night I hit on the idea of adding some lettering, but what: bike park, stay dry, clean floor, no mess, not newspaper and so on, but in the end I went with the simple instruction of “Park here.”

The original plan was to embroider both words, in script, and “here” looked to be the easier and more continuous to do, so I started with that using twine. I’d written the design onto the jeans (and you can still see it in both photos) and it wasn’t onerous to do, and there was lots of tracing where the flow of the letters should go with my fingers, I realised I wanted more of the pyjama fabric on show too.

TWINE EMBROIDERY

So a new plan was hatched for the “park” which involved using my die cutter to cut out the letters from fabric ironed onto interfacing, which I hoped would stop them fraying (we’ll have to see how that works out), then stitched onto the denim. I toyed with the placement and went with a more jaunty arrangement, as time wasn’t on my side, and I preferred to have them clearly not straight rather than trying to be straight and failing.

APPLIQUED LETTERING

I’m rather pleased with how they turned out, with more planning I think I’d have quilted them some more perhaps, and given them a wash to remove the red felt tip lettering, but there’s time for that.

What was more pleasing was that when he opened them, he knew what they were for and sweetly suggested I could make these and sell them, however as they often say on Dragon’s Den, I think this is solving a problem that not many people know they have, so I don’t expect there’s much demand for these. They were fun to make, and to give, and as well as their practical-ness they’ve also demonstrated to MOH that sometimes old fabric can be put to good use, and uses you might not have first thought of!

How were your handmade gifts received?

Advent Craft Swap

This year I’ve taken part in the Advent Craft Swap organised by Fionnuala over at Three Sons Later, and when my parcel arrived days ahead of my day to open it, I had to deploy the biggest amount of patience.  I don’t think I’ve ever received such a Christmassy-looking parcel.

But wait I did. And then with much excitement on the 12th dove in to discover an array of goodies from my swap partner, Dorothea:

I’m looking forward to trying the Winter Orange jam, and the key fob is just the thing for the keys to our new bifold doors, yes, I’ve still not sorted those out. And I don’t need to tell you how interested I am in the chocolate that has its own tiny box!

So a great parcel, and a great 12 December, thank you Dorothea.

Sending my swap

Clearly a swap is a two-way thing, but this swap is between all recipients so we didn’t have swap partners as such. My contribution to the process was this twinkly, crocheted snowflake garland, which I couldn’t help but take a snap of before I sent it on its way to Germany.

I’M TEMPTED TO MAKE ONE FOR MYSELF

I was relieved to track my parcel and learn that it got there the day before it was due - phew - and even more pleased when I received the loveliest of messages from Elizabeth, the recipient:

Today stars shimmering like snowflakes fell down from heaven to earth. I did not open my windows, nor my door to let them in but just open my package.

I am tempted to make one for myself, it’s on the list, if I have time!

A taste of Portugal in London

Ah, that post yesterday with the wooden wall tiles got me thinking about Portugal and our holidays there, and while I’m sure I’ve still got plenty of posts to share from our trips, not today. Instead it’s a taste of Portugal in London, and some from the decor - mostly from the loos, but not all from Bar Douro, and our pre-Christmas shopping visit last year.

Starting Christmas shopping with lunch is very civilised and makes actually going into shops much more bearable, although it’s dangerous too as there was a hint of rebellion when the shopping trip nearly didn’t happen, and dangerous too if it encourages a more laissez faire attitude to spending, or choosing gifts!

But anyway, the decor. Totally Portuguese, and totally lovely.

Our spot in the restaurant was under this light and looking out of its front window, which meant we could indulge in a spot of people watching, and quite legitimately so. There’s nothing better is there?

Actually this photo has reminded me that we can’t go back here just yet - as much as I want to - as it will no doubt prompt MOH to start (yet another) dining room light conversation. He’s keen to have a more modern light above our table, and I’m not against it, we just haven’t found the right one yet. We got close, and I was very tempted with a more industrial pipe light (not its technical name, my descriptive name) but i struggled with the idea of not having a light in the centre of the table for most of the time - and as the light was a straight line light (see brackets above) I thought it’d be quite noticeable, if you know what I mean. Well, I hope you followed that anyway…

We could go back and ogle the tiles though and try to avoid all new light conversations.

As well as the ‘to be expected’ Portuguese tiles in the loo, there was plenty of quirkiness. The mirrors and the lights for starters. Despite the look on my face I’m a fan of the almost there paint effect, whereas MOH would be itching to rub that down.

The lights, either side of the mirrors, were fantastically peculiar. I’m not sure how they gave out any light at all, especially in a dark walled loo, which I think could be a first in the Loo Series, and it clearly wasn’t the brightest of loos but it was perfectly acceptable lighting level wise.

The artwork featured the Algarve and Porto, the latter a good reminder of our trip to Porto and the Douro valley a few months before. I’ve not been to the Algarve, but we’ve been to the Alentejo region next door, which is where we fell in love with the country and has a relaxed and naturalistic vibe. I’m getting itchy feet to visit both again, and that’s before we’ve still made it to Lisbon.

Not making it to Lisbon has become a bit of a family in-joke, it’s somewhere that’s been on my list for a while but just hasn’t happened. Though it seems the rest of my family have managed at least one trip there themselves, and at one point my brother and my parents were both there almost at the same time, they said without planning it - but one day I’ll get there, I’m sure.

To console myself with the lack of Lisbon trips, I’ll end on a close up of that mirror frame, because let’s be honest, I’m more likely to get to Lisbon than persuade MOH to have something as rustic as this in our house. And if I did I’m sure I’d have to ban sandpaper!