Vintage Fair and Strictly Night

 We went to The Drill Hall to the Lincoln Does Vintage Fair yesterday and enjoyed having a look round.

This was one little corner of the Hall. There were lots of stalls and we had a great time wandering round.

 There wasn't much material, sadly, but I did find this piece which is probably 1960s and in a shiny, slippery material.  No, I don't know what I'm going to do with it!

 On the same stall, I spied these Pyrex bowls. I just loved the colour and was very tempted.  However, after a lot of thinking, I decided to go away from them and look round again and have another think. Of course, you can guess what happened - I just HAD to buy them. (Chris rolled his eyes heavenwards).

We headed upstairs for tea and cake and spied two more stalls in the tea room.  I had a look and spied, yes, a smaller Pyrex bowl in exactly the same pattern - well, of course, I had to add that one to the collection too!  I have since found out that it is the Gooseberry pattern and the bowls are called 'Cinderella bowls' for some reason (more research needed on that one, I think).  I just love everything about these - the colour, the pattern, the shape...just gorgeous!

 We enjoyed a lovely tea with proper china cups (most important!).

In the evening, my friend Rachael and I settled down to watch Strictly and entered into it with gusto.  We had paddles for marking and kept a note of the judges' scores, added ours and Simon was top of our leader board, followed by Pixie and Trent, Caroline and Pasha.  It was great fun (aided by some wine, of course!) and we have decided to repeat 'Strictly Night' for the next three weeks.  (We predicted that Sunetra would go, and were right.) Here's to Vintage Fairs and Strictly!

Sewing Lesson 4 - Tunic dress Ta Dah!

 I somehow wasn't sure I could do it, but look, I have made my first tunic dress, using the lovely Kate Pattern from Sew Me Something.  I am absolutely delighted that I have made something which I can wear!  This material was from a vintage fair and I got it at a really good price, so that is an extra bonus.

There are no fastenings with this pattern and so it is generous in size.  I could probably have gone to one size smaller on the top, as the shoulders are quite wide and my sewing teacher, Sue, told me I had narrow shoulders.  We did alter the pattern a bit as we went along.

 Here I am modelling - I don't actually like having my photo taken, hence the 'from the  shoulders down' look!

 The back (I did take it in a bit down the centre back seam).

 A side view, with my new black ankle boots (I bought them on a bit of a whim, decided I had nothing I could wear them with and couldn't find any tunic tops/dresses I liked in the shops, so the idea of making a tunic dress was born).

Demonstrating the pockets -  a pocket is always useful, I find!
Now, I have gone on and on about the dress, so will have to pluck up the courage to actually wear it to work next week.  It is very different from what I usually wear (trousers, t-shirt and cardigan) but I am going to challenge myself.  I have already started the next tunic dress and have three others to make as I have bought and washed the material already.  At my next sewing lesson, I am (at long last) going to start the A line denim skirt!

Sewing Lesson 3 - Pockets

 Although there isn't that much to see yet, I have started my first tunic dress!  I spent the majority of the lesson last week pinning and cutting out the pattern, which took ages, but I wanted to take my time and cut it as accurately as I could.

I then started sewing the pockets (having discovered that tacking bias binding is a very worthwhile exercise).  Initially, I had some trouble as I had pressed the bias binding so that it wasn't quite equal on both sides, so when I tried to sew it, my stitches just fell off one side of the binding. Once it was tacked, I got on much better.  You can see that I am using the 'rather loud' (Chris' words) material I bought at one of the vintage fairs back in September and I think it will look great.  So, I have some sewing homework to do before my next lesson - shoulder seams, side seams and back seam and then attach the bias binding to the sleeve ends...(Sue, my tutor, said she though we could probably get the tunic dress nearly finished next lesson, with perhaps just the hem to do at home. I'll give it my best shot, anyway!)

Project complete

Amazingly, I have managed to finally complete a project.  I bought this vintage flowery material a few weeks ago, washed it and that is as far as it got.  I decided I wanted to make a pillowcase, so today, was determined to finally get on with it.  Here it is.  It is backed with calico and is too big for my pillow, but I used an existing pillowcase as the pattern.  The stitching and execution would not bear close inspection but I am pleased with it and it gives the material a new use.  However, having completed the project, there are a few things I have learnt for next time.

Notes to self:
1. Remember that when you wash fabric, any fabric, but especially vintage fabric, it may change in texture.  When I bought it, it was a stiff-ish cotton fabric which I thought would be great for soft furnishings.  After washing it, it became very slippery and was extremely difficult to sew, even when I pinned and tacked it. 
2. Try to think about the pattern and get the pieces the right way round, which will save time and temper.  I sewed it all up then realised I had sewed the flap of the pillowcase the wrong way round. Grrr!  Elementary mistake, but I really should have avoided that.
3. Tidy up as you go along.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am messy.  This morning, there were threads everywhere, sewing paraphernalia everywhere and a general pickle which now needs to be tidied up before I have lunch.  Tidying as I go will perhaps never be a target I meet, but I can try harder.
4.  Choose a suitable material for your project (even if you love the fabric you have just bought and are determined to use it, no matter what).  The vintage material was a nightmare to sew.  If I had used a nice simple cotton material, things would have been much easier.

Do you think I'll remember any of these very sensible notes next time I embark on a project?  No, nor do I.

More cheerful things

 Sun at last! Blue sky and fluffy clouds, which is so uplifting after all the rainy days.

 A sugar almond pink hydrangea (Endless Summer Pink), flowering away despite being attacked by vine weevil (for which I have purchased some evil chemicals - I don't like using chemicals at all, but against this pest, it is war, as they have already killed off several of my plants in pots).  Still, there is the lovely pink to cheer me up.

 A lovely combination of roses (New Dawn and Cottage Rose), Clematis Perle D'Azur, and peeping out behind the roses at the top, Jasmine 'Clotted Cream' (mm... clotted cream, scones and raspberry jam...).

 My latest purchase of material - vintage in this case.  The shop assistant told me that the owner has bought some bolts of material from a draper's shop which closed down in the 1960s.  These bolts then sat at the owner's house, wrapped in the original paper until recently, when she decided to have a look at them.  There were some fabulous chintzy flower patterns and some cowboy prints too, but it was this one that caught my eye.  It would have been lovely to have had enough money to buy enough to make a huge 1950s skirt with loads of petticoats, but sadly my budget could only stretch to one metre.  However, having been inspired by a blog I follow, mrs thomasina tittlemouse , who has been making the most lovely rosy pillowcases, I decided I could use my material to do the same.  As my pillow is one that you don't turn over as it is specially shaped for my neck (I have had a few problems in the past and this Putnam pillow has really helped), I thought I'd use the material for the top and  calico for the bottom.  So far, I have washed the material and it is drying on the line.  I'll keep you posted on my (probably a bit slow) progress.

Finally, a rather blurry bee visiting the Jasmine 'Clotted Cream'.  I expect she/he is happy to be able to get out and about after all the rain.  She/He certainly seemed to be making the most of it - and so am I!