rose hip

Mollie Makes Crochet book...

 

 

...is out and the publisher of this very yummy book, Collins & Brown, have offered me two copies to give away to you! And why am I so fortunate as to be hosting this lovely giveaway?! Well, about a year ago now, I was invited by the lovely people at Mollie Makes to contribute a crochet design to their latest in a series of Mollie Makes books solely devoted to crochet. Loving all that is "Mollie Makes", I quickly accepted and put together a few crochet edging patterns for a chenille-backed baby blanket. Here is a very lovely shot in the book of the blankets I made...

 

 

I have to say that my blanket edging designs are in amazing company as you can see below with lots of fabulous designs for the home, including something special from a real favourite crochet designer of mine, Emma Lamb. Aren't those little babushka dolls sweet? Take a look...

 

 And, isn't the styling gorgeous?! Look at this shot...

 


But, best of all, this book is not only for experienced crocheters, but also for beginners as it covers the basics of crochet with step-by-step illustrations; so if you've also wanted to learn how to crochet, what an inspiring little book to have handy!To enter this fabulous giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment to this post and I will pick two lucky winners from the comments I receive in exactly a week (you have until Oct. 6th, midnight, to enter the draw). So, please don't be shy and say Hello! Best of luck and thanks for popping by...

ditsy florals...

 

...how I love you! I know, here you are hoping for a giveaway as I promised in my last post, but all I'm giving you are ditsy florals! Sorry for being such a tease, but I can't help myself showing you some of my latest pillowcases made with these delicious tiny scale floral prints because they are making me smile...

Without a doubt, I'm so drawn to ditsy florals for very nostalgic reasons; they are my "comfort fabric" and bring me back memories of growing up in the 70's. We had one of those old Singer sewing machines (you know, with the big foot plate of cast iron which you have to rock back and forth to power the machine...) sitting very idly in the kitchen of our family's summer cottage; my grandmother had bought an electric machine and had no more room for this old one, so she passed it on to my mother. However, it just sat there since my mother was never really interested in sewing, having a mother who already did it so beautifully. (Have you not noticed that that often happens in families causing sewing skills to skip a generation?!) I, unlike my mother, was completely mesmerized by the old thing and begged my mother to show me how to use it; she showed me the basics (which she did know given that her mother was such an accomplished seamstress) and I remember so clearly thinking that sewing on that old machine was the best thing ever! Shortly after, I sewed my very first "real thing" with a "real pattern" on the old Singer: a wrap-around skirt in, of course, a red ditsy floral fabric... Oh, how I wish I still had this skirt!

Thanks for indulging me this walk down memory lane and I promise (cross my heart!...) that my next post (in 2 to 3 days) will be all about a very special giveaway draw. Please come and check it out because it just might put a smile on your face! In case you're also wondering, I will start filling my Etsy shop with some of the new pillowcases you see here by next week. 'So glad you popped by!...

 

 

September...

 

...is marching on and I am slowly finding my groove after the summer holidays... The first part of September, which is always very frenzied around here with school and other activities starting up for the children, is happily done with, and now I'm revisiting all the loose ends I left prior to the holidays. To tell you the truth, I was quite happy to escape working on all my projects in my house at the start of summer because our basement renos were taking over the entire house with clutter (you have to put all that basement junk somewhere!) and just general grunginess and grime; at that point, the renos were also stalling which felt very discouraging as all of you must know who have experienced house renos... In fact, I wasn't looking forward at all to coming back home from the lake at the end of the summer in big part because I was not excited about living in our chaotic house once again! Fortunately, the work in the basement has advanced a lot lately (the new floor and windows as well as the framing are all in and the electrical and plumbing work is nearly finished), so the light at the end of the tunnel is finally becoming visible which feels so encouraging. There still is a big piano in my basement workroom which makes it very hard to move around and access a bunch of fabric, but I feel so encouraged by the recent progress in the basement that it's not bothering me half as much as it used to!

So, about those loose ends... Well, for one there is the little bedding collection I've been working on, on and off, since April which you can see bits of in the photos in this post. So far, as part of this bedding scheme, I've put together a lot of pillowcases, a woolly patchwork blanket, cushions that still need some fine-tuning and a special cushion/stuffie which is waiting for some finishing touches; I would still like to add a patchwork coverlet made from fabric and perhaps a crocheted cushion to complete the look. As soon as I finish adding the last touches to the cushions and the cushion/stuffie, I will definitely give you a first glimpse of this collection. While away this summer, it also occurred to me that it might be fun to put together some of these bedding items in a DIY kit format...

 

Before the summer, I also started working on a separate batch of pillowcases which I hope to show you photos of this coming week; the color scheme of these new pillowcases is very different from the one you see in the photos above, with many ditsy florals in blue and purple tones, perfect for this time of the year. It may seem like I am putting together a lot of pillowcases at once (which probably explains why I'm having such a hard time getting it all out!), but I couldn't resist all these pretty florals I've been spotting all over the place in the last while!

The last loose end I'm quite excited about is an instructions PDF on how to make crochet-trimmed pillowcases. I've been meaning to do this forever as you would not believe how many email requests I get for help on how to make the pillowcases; I started putting this together before going away on holidays and meant to keep working on it once back from our trip, but summer being summer, I didn't even look at it! I have to admit that I find pattern-writing painstaking work at times because it's so detail-oriented (especially if it's pictorial as well!)) and I applaud all of you, such as Annette with her recent Gypsy Blanket Pattern, who have done such good jobs putting great patterns out there... So, it's time for me to tie up this loose end by rolling up my sleeves and finish writing up these instructions!

Before taking leave of you, I have to tell you to pop by again in the coming week because I am planning a fabulous giveway for you and, no, it's not pillowcases this time (although I will have one of those coming up in the next little while as well!). This all has to do with a little secret of mine -- can't wait to tell you all about it!...

rewind...

 

 

...back to June, when school and all its related activities including my little crochet and sewing club were winding down... Well, at that point, the keen 5th graders who loyally attended the club's meeting throughout the school year were putting the finishing touches to the bags they started back at the beginning of the school year. (Of course, I meant to update you on their progress, but in my usual poor "follow-through" way, I never got around to it!) So, just to recap: the project was to make a shoulder bag by blanket-stitching the sides of two squares cut from felted sweaters, crocheting the shoulder strap, sewing the strap to the bag, crocheting daisies and decorating the bag by sewing the daisies onto it. Well, these girls (yes, all girls) did amazing well, don't you think?!

 

We did run out of school days to sew all the daisies onto the bag (I was coming to school almost every day of their last week because they so wanted to finish their bags!), so they left for their summer holidays with a bag full of daisies and instructions on how to sew them onto the bag. Now, I'm looking forward to seeing them again with their bags (as we thought they would work well as bags to carry all their crochet work and supplies) and figuring out what we will make this year; I'm thinking that it would be fun to introduce them to the world of granny squares because they could have so much fun playing with colours, as well as making all sorts of different things with them. We should be getting together in a few weeks (can't wait!) and, as soon as we agree on a new project, I will update you and keep sharing with you our little club's progress throughout the school year, hopefully a bit better than last year! Thanks for the visit and I should be back shortly with some "pillowcase talk"...

 

P.S. As you may have noticed, I've changed my blog banner -- still might be a bit of a wip...

 

 

 

itching...

 


...to pick up a crochet hook at the end of August at the lake lead to the cushion above. I didn't bring any pillowcase work with me when I went to the cottage in August, partly because I was too disorganized to get it all together to bring up, but also because I thought I would take a little break from pillowcase-making. However, midway through the month, my fingers were itching to grab a hook...

 

 

Luckily, I dug up a hook, found some bobs of yarn, and with more of the same fabric scraps I used to make my sunflower pouf, I decided on making a cushion cover to satisfy my crochet itch. (I immediately thought of covers because I had some icky solid beige cushions that were begging to be covered up!) I decided to have more fun with the whole thing by using a different fabric for the backing...

 

 

And, well, I had so much fun altogether, that I could hardly just stop at one, could I?!...

 

 

Meanwhile, Eva and Nico (daughters # 3 and 4), made their own fun during our last few days at the lake, also with some fabric: without telling me what they were up to do, they asked if they could borrow some sheets (with the promise that they wouldn't give them back all cut up) and when I went to see what they were up to, this is what I found...

 

They could have set up the tent which we keep at the house but where would the fun be in that?! And, in case you're wondering: yes, they did sleep in it!  Ah, summertime, I will miss you... Thanks for popping by!

 

 

following the sun...

... just like these sunflowers that I couldn't get enough of during our trip to the Loire Valley this summer is what I wish I could be doing now instead of being in back-to-school mode! Summer and our children's summer holidays are simply too short in this wonderful northern country of ours (sigh!)... At this time of year, I am always so envious of  all of you living in the southern hemisphere who now have an entire summer to look forward to!

 

So while still at the cottage at the end of August, I decided to make this sunflower pouf, inspired by thoughts of the lovely summer which was sadly coming to an end and, especially, by the beautiful fields of sunflowers which I couldn't get enough of during our holiday in France this summer. Who knows?... Perhaps looking at the pouf just might perk me up as the weather turns for the worst and all seems very grey and dreary... (I have to confess that I am a person who is too easily affected by the weather as my mood often lightens up as soon as the sun shows its face after a cloudy spell!)

 

I can't take credit for the beautifully cross-stitched sunflower which I used as the focal point of the pouf as it was something I picked up at a thrift shop a while ago for the silly price of $4.99 (with it being so well done, I can only imagine how many hours of labour went into making it!). While it's been sitting in a pile of odds and ends for the longest time now, I knew that I would eventually use it in some form or another, it being such a pretty a piece of needlework! 

 

The idea to use it in a pouf came about because I had just finished making slipcovers for two old poufs we had lying around at the cottage; I guess I was in pouf-making mode! The sunflower canvas was originally rectangular as perhaps its creator was planning on framing it and never got around to it. With my idea to use it in the center of a circular pouf, I simply cut a circle out of the rectangular canvas.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, the beauty of sewing at the cottage, far away from all the fabric supplies you can easily find in the city, is that you simply make do with what's lying around; you fashion your project around your odds and ends just like, I suppose, patchwork quilts used to be made out of old remnants and not fabric newly-bought especially for a specific quilt in mind. For my part, I enjoy these cottage projects because I find the limited upfront planning often leads to unexpected final results which can absolutely charm you!

 

 

In case you're wondering how this pouf came together, here goes... To make the sides, I just cut up random-width strips of some of the scrap fabric pieces from my cottage stash which were either brought there at some point for specific sewing projects or had been picked up at the local charity shop. I then sewed all the strips together to make a very wide tube, gathered the top and bottom with some loose stitching, and cut a circle the same size as the top sunflower canvas circle out of the fabric I chose for this bottom piece. Finally, to assemble it all, I sewed the sunflower circle to the top of the gathered tube and the bottom circle to the bottom of the gathered tube, leaving an opening to stuff it all with polysterene pellets, then hand-sewed the opening and voilà... one sunflower pouf perfect for rainy day lounging and daydreaming about France's many rustic charms!

 

Before parting, I just wanted to thank you all for your very enthusiastic response to my embroidered vintage linen bathroom curtain described in my last post. Several of you wanted to know how I sewed crochet-trimmed pieces together as well as a crochet-trimmed piece to a plain piece of linen, so here's the answer: I simply zigzagged them together, edge to edge. I have to admit that I put it all together very much in a "fly by the seat of my pants" way; I sort of figured it out as I went along, in some case even making French seams to get a neat finish! A lot of you seem to be on the brink of making something similar... Well, I suggest you go for it because repurposing pretty vintage linens into something you will enjoy looking at is fun, fun, fun! Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for the visit!