My 2018 in photos: January to June

January 5, 2019

Today I’m sharing some of my favourite posts of the year, well just the first half of the year - and at times it was hard to stick to just two from a month so there’s a couple extra thrown in along the way - enjoy!

JANUARY: ADDING FLEXIBILITY - AND STOOLS - TO OUR DINING TABLE

FEBRUARY: ENJOYING THE COLOURS IN THE ALPINE HOUSE

APRIL: THOSE POM POMS IN THE BOTANICAL BEDROOM (AND UNUSUAL ARTWORK)

Looking back like this has prompted many memories, and that’s only half of the year - I’ll post the second part of my year in photos next week.

A just in time handmade gift

January 4, 2019

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…

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.

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.

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!

Park here - a simple instruction - on MOH's bike mats

How were your handmade gifts received?

Advent Craft Swap

December 18, 2018

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.

It's arrived - my craft swap for december 12

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 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!