Exciting News!

Happy Thursday afternoon my lovelies.

I have some exciting news to share with you today, that I've known about for a while but have had to keep quiet about!  Well, today I can share it with you, as it's official.

I'm proud to say I'm one of the new group of bloggers to join the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network


What is the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network, I hear you ask?

Well, according to the lovely people at Minerva themselves it is "a collection of amazing bloggers from across the world".

So, what does being a member of this amazing collection mean?

Basically, for the next 3 months I've been lucky enough to get to choose a wish list of supplies from the 1,000's of items that Minerva stock which they put together in a kit.  I then make a project from the items and blog about it.  The best part is, if you like what I've made, you can buy a kit to make the same item yourself.

The blogger network has already been running for 3 months, and there are some fab bloggers taking part.  I feel very privileged to be joining them.

I'll leave you with a sneaky peak of my first project, this is all I can share right now.  You'll have to wait until 18th November to see it in all it's glory.

 
 That's all for now! 

Vintage Dress Shop picture

A few weeks ago I showed you a free motion embroidered picture I was working on, of a vintage dress shop.

Here it is in progress:



And here it is finished:



Close ups of each of the three sections:




I'm doing my first craft fair in 3 weeks time, so I've been getting together the items I've finished and trying to put together a display.   This is how it looks set out on my dining room table, but I need to have something at the back I can prop some larger frames up against and also get a nice cloth to cover the table with. 


Has anyone ever sold at a craft fair?  If so, do you have any tips for me?

Sew-jo Returns!

I'm pleased to report that my sew-jo appears to be returning!  My last post where I moaned that my sew-jo had deserted me obviously worked, because the very next day I cut out a top, then sewed it over that evening and the following one.

It's very simple, based on my self drafted jersey top pattern, using some cable patterned thick jersey from Minerva Crafts.  It's available here in 4 colours, I used the grey.





As you can see, it's a very simple shape, just a slightly fitted body with a scoop neck and long sleeves.   It came together really easily, and probably didn't take much more than an hour and a half from start to finish. 

Here's a close up which shows the cable pattern better.


I bought 3 metres of this fabric, and used just under one metre for this top, so I've got plenty left for a cosy dress.

Now, what will be next on my sewing table......?


Work in Progress: Cabernet Sauvignon wrap

There's still not much sewing (if any) going on around these parts, but I have been knitting quite a bit. 

I have one sleeve left to do on my Meridien cardigan I posted about a while ago, but the project I'm really enjoying at the moment is a shawl/wrap.   It's the Cabernet Sauvignon pattern by Monika Sirna .


I fell in love with this design as soon as I saw it on Ravelry, and someone very kindly gave me the pattern as a gift soon afterwards.  I've been hunting for the perfect yarn, and a couple of weeks ago I found it.

I'm not normally one for following the colour chosen by the designer, but in this case I had to go for something similar. 

Here's my progress shot.


As you can see, my choice is pretty similar.  I'm using Shibui Sock yarn in the Peony colourway.  It's slightly deeper in real life, a real deep peony pink.  My wrap won't be quite as big as the original, as I couldn't get quite enough of the yarn, but I think it should be large enough to wrap around my neck/shoulders cosily.   It should look gorgeous over the navy coat I'm planning on making once I get myself back into sewing mode again.

In the meantime, any advice on how to get my sewing mojo (sew-jo?) back?


Sneaky Peak

For some reason I can't get my head around sewing clothes at the moment (I think there are too many things I want to make and I can't decide where to start) so I've been working on some more free motion embroidered pictures.

I thought I'd give you a sneaky peak at one I've been working on this weekend. 



It will be mounted in a triple mount in a long rectangular frame, so hopefully it looks like a complete shop front. 

Here are close ups of each individual "window".

 
 

I've got a few more bits to add to the middle "door" section, then I'm ready to start the embroidery.

I've booked a stall at my very first craft fair for next month, so I better get on with making some more pictures!



Made by Me: Cosy Cowl

I was away on holiday last week and wanted (obviously) to take some knitting with me, but didn't want to drag anything too huge along.   So I took a small project that I'd cast on a week or so earlier and then for some reason had put aside.

It's a cosy cowl that I think will be great once it gets properly cold here.  The pattern is Seashore Cowl from Starling Knits and Crafts.

This photo is terrible - I do apologise!
I used 2 gorgeous yarns.  The lace sections are knitted in Coolree Silk Singles and the stocking stitch sections in Debbie Bliss Angel (which is very similar to Rowan's Kidsilk Haze, but seems a bit less itchy to me).

I altered the pattern a little, as I wanted a longer and narrower cowl than the pattern gives.    Mine is three repeats of the lace with 20 rows of stocking stitch in between each.

This is a more accurate representation of the colours.

I haven't blocked it yet, and don't know whether to.  I'm not sure the pure silk will hold a blocking very well and I don't think it will make much difference to the Angel. 

I used about 3/4 of a skein of silk (so around 300 metres) and one ball of the Debbie Bliss Angel.  I actually bought 3 balls of Angel, I'm tempted to get some more to make a plain sweater.