Revisiting the Ripple

I'm not a fan of acrylic yarn. You could call that an understatement. It repels me. I hate the feel of it and I don't like it next to my skin. It baffles me, then, as to how I've managed to accrue so MUCH of it over the time I've been a yarn addict. It just doesn't end. It goes on and on.

To finally rid the house of all abominable acrylic I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone - work up yet another blanket to satiate my mad, blanket obsessed mama hen subconscious, and finally use up all leftover acrylic from every last vestige I could find.

And what better way to do so than with a bit of ripple.







I only hope I can make a blanket big enough without having to buy yet MORE horrid yarn to finish it off with, which would then thus leave me with yet more leftover icky yarn to get rid of. This could be a vicious circle...

Handmade Bunting

I can't believe I haven't shared this with you before now. This little string of happy was made under the tutelage of Ms. Fenland Textile herself, Angela Daymond in one of her Cake and Make workshops.



It was a pleasant, straight-forward make using pretty floral fabric, vintage thread and buttons with cake on hand to keep the sugar levels up (always a good thing).

It is in situ at the moment in our kitchen/diner/study looking very bashful and understated. Kind of granny chic meets shabby chic meets Orla. I like it.

Sneak Peeks

Even though I've been working on a few pieces for a shop update I still feel as though I haven't really found my groove with my making for the past year. I'm feeling a little confined by the space issue again. I regularly can't be bothered with the effort of relocating everything I own to get to the sewing machine, only to then reverse the effort once I'm done. I do dream of a room of my own. And the rest.

But hopefully a few little things might find their way out of my work niche soon...maybe, you know, kinda. I hope so anyway. I do enjoy making, I'm not so hot at the branding and selling thing. I just love making things.









I hope you like the things I make as much as I like making them! More on that if ever these little bits and pieces get finished.

Vintagalia Shop Update

I feel the need to get stitchy. Some ideas brewing for a shop update to include things of a granny chic nature, some bags, wall hangings and what-have-you.

It's been a long time since I added to the shop. It's been a long time since I made anything. The thought of rearranging my work space to get to my workspace is daunting. But I'm twitchy.... I think it's time...

Wall Hangings

I've been having fun with fabric again, fiddling about with vintage cast-offs, trim, floss and what-have-you's and making another little wall hanging to convey a message in a granny chic manner.







Just a little love-letter to these muppets to remind them (and me) that, even though I yap and quack and snap and brandish rolling pins over my head in a threatening manner when it's all too much, that despite all my verbal angst-ridden steam-letting-off venom, I do love them very much.





And it compliments this other little wall hanging quite nicely too, I think. I'm getting quite a collection up now, aren't I? I wonder what message will be next? Perhaps, 'sit down, shut up'? Or, 'close your mouth when you chew'? Maybe, 'If mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy'?... best to keep them upbeat I think ...I'll work on it and let you know.


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The Mod Podge Diaries.... 1

Organisation is something I like doing. It feels like I'm achieving something tangible. Folded, tidied, put away, everything with a little home of its own, perhaps even a folder, or wallet, or box. Yes, that's me. I like everything to have a home.

What I do *not* like is spending money on other peoples' ideas of how to get organised - gosh there are some ugly creations out there - plastic tubs stacked on another (I have my fair share of these before you say anything), drawers for paper which take up too much room, filing systems that are expensive. My idea of organisation has to square perfectly with being a) compact and put-away-able and b) dirt cheap bordering on free. And yes, if we're honest, c) homemade.






And d) 'beautiful'. Recently I needed a place to put all the worksheets and work the boys get through - filing systems, under the bed, in a bag, left near the printer - all these options had been tried and tested, and I couldn't ignore the mass of work any longer. These free cardboard boxes suited me - they are the right size, strong and stackable. Alas, they lacked the quality of 'beauty'.

Enter Mod Podge to the rescue. Again.

With just a little piece of Penguin Classic wrapping paper from our department store I pasted the sides of the boxes with this faux bookshelf, and ta-da! instant granny chic camoflage for an ugly box!















I can place these on a shelf out of the way and they instantly blend in with the aesthetic of the decor. Granny Chic camoflage for sure. I like it. I may be doing it again. I may even attempt to cover the children in it. Watch this space.



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There's No Place Like it....

Being greatly inspired by Ms. D. Angel and having turned my little work space into a most productive niche the past few days, I took the time to make a little something for our home that has been rolling around my noggin sporadically for a good few months.

Using a lovely vintage tray linen as my frame I happily spent a good while in front of Inspector Morse and DI Jack Frost first picking out lovely vintage fabrics, then ironing the bondaweb interfacing and finally sewing and hand stitching the words "Lord, Bless this HOME, sweet HOME". Which Granny never had a 'bless this home' thing going on somewhere in her hallway? A philistine Granny, that's who. Honouring the granny and giving it a modern twist, this linen fabric whatnot garland has a sentiment that means a lot to me. Having a peaceful and God-conscious home, and having HOME at the centre of everything.









Moving on.

Still giddy with the success of my bondaweb prowess on the table linen, I spied, at the very, very bottom of my fabric shelves a sad little piece of forlorn fabric that once shone as a beautiful woollen shawl that kept me warm when I were a lass at Cambridge. Many a winter morn spent scurrying over Parker's Piece past Reality Checkpoint was made bearable by swaddling myself in this woollen shawl - wrapping me up and keeping the bitterest winds at bay.

Sadly, we had a little accident with the washing machine, and for years her crumpled, discarded body lay retired and forgotten, waiting for an idea to grab me so that I could repurpose her into a new career of usefulness.

And this weekend it so happened that an idea of unbearable brilliance, probably instigated by hours in front of Pinterest, hit me. Cutting up vintage (of course) scraps of fabric I made my own bias, cut the shawl into a rectangle and sewed the bias on. Ta da! Instant blanket. Yes. Another one.

But it was missing something.... it needed a little va-va-voom. And that is where the idea of HOME made its second appearance - a few more minutes with bondaweb and some lovely modern fabric, a little bit of stitchery what-have-you and I present you with a useful throw to keep the babes warm...



















Heart warming chintzy schmultz. No place like it...


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Granny Granny

There seems to be an increase in granny related crochet around these parts. I'm finding the craft speedy and pretty as I search for warmth now that winter has decided it really will fall this year.

I admit it; these relatively warm weeks have lulled me into a laziness and a false belief that we have enough blankets, mittens, scarves, cosies etc etc BUT WE DO NOT - we never will. Never will the need to make blankets leave my mind until I have a house bundled to the rafters with them like those mad women who collect newspapers and when they die firefighters have to force their way into the building and hack a tunnel through the amassed paper to retrieve the body (imagination running away with me ... chocolate rush, I apologise) before they discover that she died from a column of newspaper falling on her crushing her to death. That will be my fate. Except with blankets - I will suffocate on quilts and blankets and my life will be held up as a moral - not as a shining example, but as a terrible warning.

Unless global warming lulls me into a false sense of security by making winter so warm that I am too busy making fly swats to make slippers. Like this year. Winter just crept up so sneakily, and now I am playing catch up - knitting much too slow - we are sewing and crocheting our way to cosiness.

I don't think crochet will ever replace my love for knitting, but it's coming pretty damn close...

Now must make blankets, and covers and mittens, oh my!



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