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In the build up to our annual Halloween party, we've spent the last couple of days enjoying the gorgeous Autumn weather, with walks in the woods...
Learning knew important skills...like how to make a wand out of willow..
Preparing food and making decorations...
Preparing yet more food...
And watching Harry Potter...
And this evening Jim and I have been decorating and preparing for the big party tomorrow. It's my favourite party of the year.
...until the Christmas party!
I'm very tempted to keep this snood. The lambs wool is super soft and so, so warm. And the colour? That moss/olivey green is just beautiful.
And it wraps around twice in a cowl/scarf sort of way. Which makes it adaptable as well as comfortable and beautiful!
And then, you can also wear it as a full grown snood!
As well as the snood, I also made a pair of arm warmers. Which may seem like fashion victim styling, but in reality they are the most practical thing ever!
These are perfect worn under coats, over jumpers, with 3/4 length sleeves or even with short sleeves. They're comfy and cool yet warm at the same time. And I now couldn't survive a winter without them!
This set is in my shop at the moment.
In the run up to Christmas (sorry) I've been making some new Stroller Quilts to put in the shop as well as to be included in a couple of museum exhibitions that I have coming up in the next month.
After making the quilt and bib set earlier in the month as a gift, I realised how much I enjoy making them and have spent some time in the last week putting some new sets together, in some new colour combinations that I'm really liking.
This set though is part of my original colourway and is already winging it's way to it's new owner.
I've just sent this doll off to my neice as her (belated) birthday present.
Every time I make one of these I get new ideas for how I want the next one to be. And I wanted to keep this one nice and simple.
So I started off by deciding to make her head and arms out of natural linen rather than the bleached, white linen that I've used in the past. And I much prefer the way it looks and the way it feels. It's so much softer than the bleached linen.
For the hair I used a cotton yarn that I bought on sale a couple of years ago. As soon as I saw it I knew that it would be perfect for dolls hair and it's all I use for the bigger dolls now (I use pure tapestry wool for the small Princess and the Pea dolls). It's easy to sew with and has more body than normal yarn.
Of course, she's not just a normal doll, she's a topsy-turvey doll and her other half is wide awake and much more brightly dressed.
I'm not sure why I tend to only make topsy-turvey dolls, but they just appeal to me more than normal dolls. I love choosing the fabrics for the two different sides of the doll's dress and deciding how to make the hairstyles slightly different and of course, the fact that you're getting a twofer!
I also love the fact that I've been reliably informed that my niece took her new doll to bed with her tonight.
A new t shirt and a new pair of tights called for a new skirt this weekend.
As soon as Bella said that she wanted to wear the orange t shirt and the blue tights together I thought of this Anna Maria Horner print and knew that it would make the perfect autumnal skirt for her.
This skirt is so quick and easy to make that I put it together literally half an hour before the girls headed out the door for a short stay with my parents (Jim and I went out! On a Saturday night! To a bar!).
It's not made to a pattern as such and I've talked about it many times, but just in case, you've missed it before, it's based on the Lazy Days skirt by Oliver & S and is the quickest way to make a skirt in the entire world!
The Lazy Days skirt is simply cut selvedge to selvedge in width, and then the drop is whatever the right length for your child is. And because you're using the selvedge you are only hemming the bottom (the original pattern doesn't even call for that) and then creating a channel along the top edge for the elastic. It really does only take half an hour (probably less if you don't have two children saying "is it for me?" "why not?" "you're always making skirts for her", blah blah blah).
Once Bella had her new skirt, she finished off the outfit with a cardigan and a new hat.
I love this whole outfit! If I was younger I would wear it myself. it's just so beautiful and autumnal whilst still being wholly practical and comfortable.
I just wish Bella wasn't looking so grown up. She's really growing up too fast!
I'm a pretty big fan of Halloween and am a sucker for books and magazines that have anything to do with it. So I was looking forward to having a read of Witch Craft by Margaret McGuire and Alicia Kachmar.
With it's cool, retro illustrations it promises to be a little more edgy than most of the Halloween crafting books available. And with 25 different spooky projects to sink your teeth in to, it seems to offer something for everyone.
The book itself is a compilation of projects from crafters/bloggers around the world and ranges from crocheted bones to tangerine Jack-o-Lanterns, all of which are presented in a fun, vintage inspired hardback.
I have to say that in general I like the look of this book. The projects are all good fun and presented nicely, with hand drawn illustrations and little bonus bit's of info. And with plenty of different types of crafts covered, it really should have something that you want to make.
The problem for me though is that whilst everything looks great, there just aren't quite enough projects that I actually would want to make.
Admittedly it's aimed at the whole family, and everyone that I showed it to thought it was really cute, but for me it's a little bit of a case of all style and not quite enough content. Whilst I can't help loving the Freaky Finger Food and the Marshmallow Skulls, projects like the Cross-Stitch Earrings and the Catnapping Mask just don't appeal to me at all. In fact unusually for me, almost all the projects that I do like are food based.
That said, it is a lovely looking little book and it's aim of producing simple projects that suit all the family has been been ably met. I know that Bella in particular loves the Plushie Poison Apples and the little Bottled Potions (she wants to make the potions now) and if I could crochet I would definitely have a go at the crochet bones.
So overall, it's good fun and if you're looking for a book with varied, simple projects that will suit any skill level then I recommend this one, especially if you have kids that will love making the Fuzzy Bats or the Trick-or-Treat Garland. And the great illustrations really do make it even more fun to read.
Witch Craft is published by Quirk Books and is £9.99.
I have a copy of Witch Craft up for grabs but because it's Halloween at the end of the week, I'm just going to leave comments open until Wednesday. So if you would like a chance to win it, leave a comment between now and then.
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Thanks for all your comments - the winner of the book is Claire of Make & Do!
I'll get the book in the post to you asap Claire!
Woven tea towels by Milka-loom
1950's Necklace by Bake.
Embedded by Lizzy House.
Batman by Spinthread.
Baby trousers. Reversible, linen and flannel. The linen is from Fabric.com and the flannel is by the wonderful Cloud 9 Fabrics.
A little tip - I always wash and tumble dry all my linen to pre shrink it. Even if it says not to. I find that it not only softens the linen, but it also means that there is far less shrinkage once the item is worn and washed again.
On a more exciting note, we're having some visitors tomorrow. I'm very excited to meet them all!
These wools have been calling to me. And who can ever resist conkers and horse chestnut leaves?
I have promised myself that I will find the time in the next week to make some new cushions. So I'll say it again... wool and horse chestnut leaves. Very much on the agenda.
I'm not sorry to say goodbye to this week. It's been too busy and too fraught and all 4 of us have been too quick to lose our tempers. It has not led to a peaceful or fun household.
Onwards and upwards though...
I made this quilt and bib set for a friends Christening this weekend. It's the stroller quilt design that I've been making for a couple of years now, in the gender neutral colourway - although because this was specifically for a boy, I added in the cars print.
I love this combination of green, orange and brown, especially for baby quilts. Although I do always worry a little when I give a gift that doesn't stick to the expected gender colourways of blue and pink. This combination feels lovely and warm to me though - and of course, very Autumnal, so I'm hoping that that makes up for the lack of traditional colours.
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Thank you to everyone for all your advice about my decision to attend counselling. My first session was an assessment, so now I have to wait to find out when I can have some regular sessions. I still don't know if it can really help, but I do know that it's worth trying.
Also I just wanted to say that it would appear that the new Martha Stewart Living UK is on hold. Information it thin on the ground, but if I hear anymore I'll keep you posted.
