Oh-too-short trousers

We have been having dreamy summer holidays with gentle stay at home times and some fun days out. At the beginning of the holidays Patch made a list of the things he would like to do this summer which has been added to through the weeks


We are doing well!

And so this is just the right oh-so-quick make I have time for. Not sure I can really call this a make...


Hmmm, no, I did not make the trousers - that would most certainly be a proper make. These trousers could still fit more than one of our little weed Patch at the waist but were looking a little Dexy's Midnight Runners in length (did Dexy's Midnight Runners really wear too short trousers or were their oh-so-stylish dungarees rolled up? It may be that I have actually created more of a Dexy look). Oh well, some tabs and buttons have meant that P can continue to wear his trousers this summer


Can you see the print on the tabs - little paper folded boats. So sweet. Taken from the pile of fabrics bought to make P a patchwork quilt, and still sitting in a pile. And sorry Jo - Eddie will get these trousers one day! I'm now going to rummage through the bag of clothes to pass on to Eddie to see if there are more trousers ready for tabs...





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Yet more knitted toys...

This time from the amusing knitted wild animals by Sarah Keen. They were a fun request from Linda and Ems for Ems' newly arrived niece and older brother and were perhaps the more conservative animals in the book. Warthog? Moose? Good fun though


I made a start on the lion first as the giraffe slightly scared me with the word intarsia. I really did mean to follow the pattern and the fact that the lower parts of his legs are in stocking stitch rather than garter stitch can only be the fault of whatever I was watching on television at the time. However I did intend to knit the snout in one colour... And oh that mane. I spent far too long trying to work out the pattern given for loop stitch in the book before deciding to follow one of the many tutorials on youtube. Such a fun stitch as it reminds me of vintage baby matinee jackets. I fear there may be a photograph of me in a delightful pink one. Acrylic of course.


Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino was used for both - the main colour for the lion was 062 which I think is called gold, with colour 063 apricot for the paws, black for the features and chocolate (011) for the mane.

I was sadly feeling a little unsure of the lion once made up and stuffed, so he was happily abandoned as I awaited the arrival of the black wool in the post to embroider his features, so started the giraffe. The same colours were used with the addition of colour 101 fresh cream for the giraffe's hooves, muzzle and horns. Following advice on Ravelry I made an i-cord tail which seems to suit the giraffe more but other than that he is as the pattern


Oh so pleased to discover that the lion looked sweet once features embroidered! Decidingly fiddly patterns but with sweet results. Of course Patch would like one of each of the animals so I will still get the chance to knit the warthog!

Happy cuddles baby Polly and big brother Miles! And thank you for the book, dear Linda and Ems...


Photographs also courtesy of the lovely Linda
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A quickly knitted Mike to take along to see Monster's University...

Not sure why Patch needed a Mike to take along, but need he did. Not much notice was given so a search on Ravelry came up with this from the learning dabbler


As it was a sunny Sunday afternoon and no wool shops open I had to rummage in the wool basket. The only Mike-like colour was this rather lovely Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran which is maybe slightly luxurious for a toy but it did mean the knitting could start right now. I followed the pattern with a few additions - the grey horn like bits (are they horns?) and a forth finger as it seemed so very important to me that I got the number of fingers right. Oh, and I used felt for features rather than the intarsia used in the original pattern. Hmmm... if I had planned this make a bit more I do think I would crochet it rather than knit as the finished toy would be more sturdy. And really, why didn't I just crochet a green ball with limbs? The finished shape would have been more Mike-like but I felt I needed the security of a pattern to follow. And oh Patch was happy to take his Mike along to the cinema!


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Birthday catch-up...

Patch had rather a lot of parties to attend throughout the last few weeks of school... two in one weekend was done with excitement but the two in one day resulted in a slightly tired and grumpy P. Garden parties, dance parties, disco, bowling parties, high-wire parties (terrifying... and that was the parents watching. Have never been to a party where quite so many children have ended in tears. Patch managed to get a few feet off the ground on the climbing wall before declaring no more. Sensible boy! He had as much fun though rolling down a great grassy slope, so the party was still a success) and a pirate party.

And here, all bundled together, are the makes...








Simple skirts for Laura, Darcy and Maya. The denim is from the local haphazardly-piled-to-the-ceiling fabric and habadashers and is fairly lightweight so good for a skirt, but not so for the denim trousers I still want to make P. And the cheery green is here from the lovely fabric rehab. Other fabrics from the tottering pile.

Look similar?


This time for Tamzin. Both fabrics now almost finished! And all wrapped up with a copy of


which seemed appropriate!

And for Captain Jem's pirate party


So happy with the still sweet but not too cute Makower pirate fabric found here.

So a happy birthday to all Patch's little friends!

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Gentle sunny days...

Oh my, first week of summer holidays gone already. We have been having such a lovely time, not really doing much. Filling our time with picnics, ice creams on the beach, playing in the paddling pool, trips to cool down at the bouncy pillow where there is always a breeze... and I get to sit with an iced coffee and knit or crochet!


These were taken in to school on the last day of term... Patch choose some jolly boxes


and some cheery earrings for his lovely teacher...



Layla Amber has such sweet things - I have a dear teacup necklace and just love it! Patch looked at all on offer and decided that these were just the thing for Kelly. She loved them! We put them inside a sunny glasses case


Not sure why these photographs are so gloomy as we have been having such bright days. I think it was fairly early in the morn... The yum clasp is from Guthrie and Ghani... just look at all those delicious colours! The fabric is Chloe's Closet 30s playtime purchased from the lovely Seamstar

Off to have some more fun sunny days!


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A shopper bag for Kate

I do think the name given to this bag is rather misleading as I would imagine a shopper bag to be more spacious. And useful for shopping. This one is definitely a handbag. You could certainly take it shopping as a very stylish place to put your keys and purse but that would leave no space for half a pint of milk and a packet of choc biscuits.

This bag is from Cath Kidston's Sew, and I shouldn't have been too surprised at the dimensions as there is a photograph showing the bag with a bunch of keys for an idea of size, and also I did cut out the fabric pieces! I still had imagined a medium size handbag... but it is a lovely bag


I did just as the pattern asked, oh other than adding some inches to the webbing handle - this one can go over a shoulder. The main fabric is Makower's coastal houses... hmmm, cannot remember from where. Which is worrying as I purchased it fairly recently, particularly to make a bag for Kate. I thought it would remind Kate of her happy summer holidays in coastal towns. The lining is a heavier weight blue dotty fabric from my fabric pile, and the delightful webbing is from clothkits. This is all webbing should be - cotton, sturdy and colourful. Sadly clothkits only sell this one... does anyone know of any more colourful webbing stockists?

And why does that first photograph look oh so out of focus (which the original doesn't) but becomes in focus if you click on it to enlarge?

Do so hope you had a lovely birthday Kate!


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A birthday washbag

I saw this fabric a while ago and it has been patiently waiting in a drawer until Linda's birthday, when flicking through some books I decided that Linda needed a birthday washbag


Linda is a most talented photographer... in fact, any time you see a photograph here that is in focus and just looking fantastic, it will be the work of Linda.

The pattern is for the weekend-away travel bag from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing. A canvas weight fabric is recommended in the pattern, so I interfaced this much lighter weight fabric with some heavy duty stuff, and the contrast bits and lining are made from upholstery type fabric from the pile purchased an age ago to make some bunting for Reuben and Casper when they were still small. I didn't include the optional lining pockets as I could only imagine with some dread the groaning that would result from my poor sewing machine as it tried to sew through the already fairly chunky layers, but other than that the pattern was fine. I do wish I had thought to include some little zip tab thingies at each end though...

It was nice to be reminded of this book as I've only so far made Kai's shirt and Lucy's kimono. Hmmm, some more makes to add to the I-will-find-time-for-these list.

Makes have been a bit slow recently... there are a few to show but the weather has been so gloomy that all attempts at taking photographs of them are rather gloomy too. And in between the glum weather I have been trying oh so hard to tame the field that is our garden








The plants in the front garden have been there for about two years and are looking rather settled. Now the bleeding hearts, lungwort, spiraea, forget-me-nots and geums have stopped flowering it is all looking a bit green but hopefully in the next few weeks the colour will return!

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