Lone soldier

A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO I WAS WALKING THROUGH ELLINGTON PARK on my way to work and I found this gentleman standing near the main gate.  As there was still sawdust on the ground this wonderful carving can only just have been done.
The Friends of Ellington Park have been putting a lot of effort into making the park great again - with new flower beds being planted and events being held.
http://www.friendsofellingtonpark.org.uk/

I had to take pictures from all angles because I was so impressed with the workmanship of this woodcarving to commemerate the start of the Great War.

 

 I liked the dead tree that he had been carved from but this is even better.

Acquisition of a fleece and what happened next

Recently I was told by an acquaintance about their sheep giving birth and ever the opportunist I wondered if they had a use for the fleece.  The end result is I am now the very pleased owner of a beautiful fleece (with a nice long staple) and they did not have to throw away a perfectly  good fleece.

Having got my fleece I had to get it clean enough to use - it was a little messy with some wood shavings and straw caught up in it as well as a few dried sheep droppings, but it was free so no real complaints.  As I want to use it for felting I thought it should be alright to wash it.  When I got my first fleece I was told that for DROP SPINNING the fleece should be unwashed but for spinning on a WHEEL it should be washed.

I washed my fleece in the bath with cold water and soap flakes being very careful not to over agitate it. I gave it about three washes and then thoroughly rinsed it and placed it flat on a clothes dryer across the bath to drip dry.  It took about three days to dry completely.

While my fleece was drying I had time to look for my carders.  This ended up taking two evenings.  The first evening was spent searching through many boxes and cupboards and led to discovery of all sorts of treasures some of which I had forgotten I had. The second evening took me up into the loft and I found them in a bag with parts of my inkle loom.  Thinking about it they were in a very sensible place for something I haven't used for a good many years.

http://www.woolery.com/store/pc/Carders-Combs-c7.htm 

I then spent a happy hour in the garden carding my fleece, hard work but fun and rewarding as I filled my garden trug with carded wool  There is a long way to go before the whole fleece is ready to use but that just means there is time to think about and plan projects to make.



                                                                                                                    

OUR SEWING CLUB

The second meeting of our new sewing club went well, even though there was a little less sewing this time.  My niece wanted to make a special card for her friend and I had to make a card as well. 
The navy polka dot dress is coming on nicely - it is ready for the skirt to be attached to the bodice so the fit can be checked. A very careful check was made to ensure that the right sides of the fabric were matched, the difference is very slight but get it wrong and it would show.

My dress (from the eighties judging from the size) that we are making over for my niece is also ready to be fitted. I pinned the skirt back onto the bodice with mini safety pins so no one gets jabbed.  It has been very hard to part with this dress but my niece has promised to wear it and to give it back.
My sister carried on with a lovely waistcoat she is making for her husband.  It is now turned right side out and pressed.
This sewing club has been very good for me - instead of spending far to much time on Pinterest (and other sites) I have been being creative.  

This week I have been finishing a bag to go onto my Etsy shop 
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/194691445/handcrafted-one-of-a-kind-floral-purse?               
Last night because the cat needed to sit on me I did some sketching.  This is a talent I didn't know I had and need to practise.  It is a great joy to be able to draw and paint especially as for most of my life I did not believe I could.

SEWING FOR PLEASURE

A few weeks ago my niece asked if I had any cross stitch books that she could borrow as she didn't like many of the designs she had found in the magazines. I mentioned that my sister and I were planning to learn stump work embroidery and this lead (of course) to our own little sewing club.  Four of us met at my house on the seventh of June and did a lot of talking and a little sewing.  I have never sewed in a group like this and it was a lot of fun.  
It was a bit of a mixture - my niece worked on a piece of applique she is making for a friend. My sister unpicked the bodice of a dress we are making over for my niece and I helped my nieces friend with her first piece of machine sewing, a hair tie to match the dress she will be making in the next few weeks.

I had quite a few plans for what I would do and although I didn't get any of them done I was inspired to carry on after everyone had gone home. 

 
To begin with I mended my favourite Tee shirt - ok its about ten years old and I could get a new one but I love it so.

http://www.tamstreasuresonline.co.uk/krink-fantasy-t-shirt-5407-p.asp 

I mended a tear near the hem of a very full skirt and then embroidered lazy daisy stitch and french knots over the mend. I am not that fond of mending so feel quite pleased I got it done.

I also finished lenghtening the pockets in my parteners new jeans so there is room for his phone.  The original pockets were very shallow.  Finally I traced a blouse pattern from the BURDA magazine for me to make.

ACCIDENTLY VINTAGE

While getting the plates out for dinner last weekend - similar crockery can be seen in the Good's kitchen (The Good Life, a seventies sitcom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyZ--z8RpOI) - I realised that many of the things in every day use are distinctly old.  This has been an accidental occurrence, for the most part.  Apart from the odd item such as the glass jelly moulds I found last year most of my old/vintage treasures have family history. 

The plates we have been using for over twenty years, every so often I suggest getting a new dinner service but to be honest I do have a soft spot for our old plates.

A bit battered but it is 61 years old and still in everyday use

I am now the proud owner of the tea caddy from my childhood - this was one of the wedding presents my parents received  Once it was mine I read the Royal appointment for the first time, To his late majesty George VI.  

There is the cardboard box that contains cake cases, price one shilling.  Three tins originally sold for keeping cream crackers in which are full of cake cases - some of which date back to the 1970's and were my mothers.

There is also what I refer to as my 'mock crystal' which is genuine Woolworth's and I believe the same age as me.

 

 

One of my most cherished possessions is not accidental MY GRANDMOTHER'S tea set -this was one of her wedding presents in 1929 and although I would hesitate to use it I love to look at it and when planning my kitchen I made sure there was somewhere to display it.

Sock Loom and how I coped

I love all the types of weaving that I have tried.  Some I have taken to like a duck to water, some I have struggled with.  These latter types have been some of the newer looms. 

In my early teens I collected the GOLDEN HANDS ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CRAFTS and tried many of the techniques. I tried Kumihimo after buying a book by Jacqui Carey and although I had to make my own loom I managed very well.  Inkle weaving, tablet weaving - if I see a different type of weaving I like to try it.

http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/prym-knitting-loom-s-assorted/571072-1000 
So when I saw the sock looms at Christmas I thought I would give it a try.  Easy I thought, take it everywhere.  I struggled, from the beginning .... I am not certain if this was just my own stupidity or if the instructions were not very clear.  It took me about ten goes to stop dropping stitches and tangling the yarn, and then a similar problem turning the heel.  I think I spent more time unravelling my work than I did weaving.  But once I got the hang of it it became easier and it is a very portable form of weaving.  Now the problem is stopping, the temptation is to do just one more round.  
I am still not convinced this is something that will get much use.  I think that it could be rather limited in what can be done. 
Basicly it works in a similar way to french knitting.

Winding the yarn round the wire loops and then slidding the previous stich over forming a knitted tube.
It is very mobile (but then so is conventional knitting) as these pictures in the car show.  My main concern is the tool used to make the stitches seems very flimsey and bends easily.  I would be unsuprised if the tool snapped. 


 Having said that I have just purchased some lovely yarn to make a proper pair of socks - my trial run with one ball of yarn won't be enough for the correct  foot length although its close. Although I will have a pair of part socks.

BAGS with a dark side

I HAVE BEEN MAKING BAGS - for my shop https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/dreamtimemakes?ref=l2-shopheader-name  The first ones that I listed were inspired by some of the stunning tattoos that I have seen lately. https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/183566328/tattoo-skull-purseooak-gothpsychobilly?ref=shop_home_feat_1

My latest bag has a victoriana/Gothic feel to it.  I walked through the churchyard I used to play in as a child and there had been a lot of work done to tidy the graveyard.  Sadly there were a lot of damaged graves, some of which had small trees growing out of them and some that had been broken.  I took quite a few photos as I walked round.  
I used some of these photos for the design of this bag.  
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/190856763/hand-crafted-ooak-paper-mache-purse-goth?ref=listing-shop-header-0 

Altering the pictures I gave them an eerie feel, and a macabre quote intensified this.  FROM THIS SLUMBER THOU SHALT WAKE  The top of the bag with its ruffles and frills evokes an image of the bustles and picture hats of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras.  
I love this bag even though it felt as though it was fighting me each step of its creation.