I think it’s going to take me sometime to work out how to adapt patterns before I construct a garment.  At the moment I still slavishly follow the pattern, reach the end and then have to figure out how to tweak it to make it fit.  This dress is a perfect example.

It gaped in various places and I didn’t enjoy wearing it.  Then I took it home to Yorkshire with me to get some advice from my mum and my granny. We spent a fun morning pulling and prodding and poking me/my dress, deciding where I could add in extra darts/tucks etc. It was great having three generations together, talking about sewing and I learnt a lot from both my mum and my granny that day.  I went back down south with a plan and tweaked the dress so that now it fits better and I enjoy wearing it.  It’s comfy, warm and gives a pleasing silhouette.

I didn’t know it at the time but that day is very special to me now. It was the last time I saw my granny.  She was a wonderfully independent and interested woman.  I know that she was proud that my sister and I enjoy crafts.   Her quilts were my introduction to patchwork and I owe some of my love of fabric to her.  I think it amused her that I enjoy embroidery.  When I was 8 and declared that I wanted to learn to play the harp she was a key instigator in obtaining lessons for me.  When I was in high school she joked that she followed my school terms and holidays by the colour of my hair.  Not that I remember her complaining when I visited her with pink or black or red hair.  However, when my mum remarried she did request that my sister and I didn’t turn up in our Doc Martin boots.  I think I wore platforms instead.  I miss granny.

I’m on holiday for two whole weeks!  To start off the holiday R and I went to Kew gardens today to stroll in the sunshine.

The magnolia blossoms were spectacular.

I love daffodils, they’re so cheerful.

Obviously whilst in Kew I had to pop into Tikki patchwork to browse (and *cough* pick up a little fabric).

In other news, the person who I made one of my swap bot projects for has said some very kind things on her blog and I’m very glad she liked the pincushion.

Eeek, I’ve so many posts to make, now that I have finally got my act together to start a blog, I don’t know what to start with. To be honest, it was my fabulous sister Katie, of Oxford Kitchen Yarns, who created this space for me. I’m now curled up on Katie’s sofa, drinking coffee and sorting through projects, trying to come up with some sort of order. My plan is to use this space to post about my sewing, embroidery and needlepoint projects.

I slowly started crafting again over the last year or so. Some of my projects have been successful, Yay! Some have been rather disastrous. I think, this year in particular, I’ve stretched myself too far on occasions and tried to run before I could walk; my ideas often exceed my skills. I’ll probably post about my disasters too because often, once I’ve calmed down, they make me giggle.