Oopsie!

Sorry I dropped the ball for getting this post up on time.  I've spent large portions of this week spring cleaning and I always lose track of time when I'm cleaning.

Anyhow - I made a quilt last week!  On my Singer!  And I quilted it properly as well, so I'm feeling quite pleased with it, in spite of the fact there are some seriously wonky patches...

It's also the smallest quilt I've made to date and it's just right to have as a lap quilt when I'm snuggled up on the sofa.

 The fabric is a set of Cath Kidston fat quarters I got in my stocking at Christmas.  I've got a few squares left over, so I'm debating a cushion cover to go with the quilt at some point.

I've used cotton batting and backed it with a pale blue cotton.  As you can see the binding is white.  I wanted a satin binding, but I couldn't find one large enough, then I remembered I had the white cotton in my stash so I though I'd be good and use that up.

Right - must dash, this weekends guests will be here any moment.  Have a great weekend!

Eylish Elder Kit

I got given an NPC role the other week, which thrilled me.  For several reasons - Anastasia is the mother of one of the main NPCs for the campaign, she's hardcore (oh so very hardcore), she's a class I'm interested in playing as a character at a future date and above all she was just...  Well just.  Me! 

I loved the concept and as usually happens this set my creativity whirring and I commenced the search for the perfect kit.  I do actually have some lovely leather armour that would have been great for her, but it was a chilly day and I worried about being cold.  Looks are important, but I'm always going to put personal comfort first.

So instead I dreamt up a jacket.  The original thought was to make the whole thing in fleece and not lined.  This would have been quick and easy and doable in the 2 hours I had set aside for it.  Sadly for me the fleece I was intending to use seems to have vanished from my stash.  So I was forced to come up with alternatives...

 

The body is made out of khaki drill (leftovers from the WITWs map) and the sleeves are made of olive green velvet (never made into anything, I messed up the cutting of this fabric a long while ago). The patches are fleece and felt and it needs many more, but I fell asleep stitching them on so gave up.

The jacket is lined in black fleece.  It has triangular panels in the sides and flares out over my hips.  It doesn't have any fastenings as I originally wore it with a scarf and belt.

The best bit about it, as far as I'm concerned is that it's reversible!  I didn't mean for that but it is and I'm really pleased as that makes it into a pretty good monster jacket.  Green side out for scouty types or shambling mounds etc, black side out for all other encounters!

 It's also very warm and snuggly.  Oh and I got a bonus point for it.  All in all, not bad for 4 hours work!

My main sewing machine has been in the shop this past week, so I've dragged out the trusty hand crank Singer and made a lap quilt.  I'll show you that on Thursday.  So long!

6 Weeks of Stuff!

I've spent the first 6 weeks of this year making stock.  It's been a pretty interesting experience.  I've learnt a lot about what I like to sew and what I dislike sewing.  I've also worked out how much sewing I can do in a day before I keel over and exactly why it's a bad idea to prioritise sewing over everything else.  Still, I shouldn't have that level of stress/panic again and hopefully it will all be great when we head of to trade in 6 weeks time!

So, what did I make?  Well, this time round accessories mostly.  Belt pouches, bunting, other little pouches and sewing rolls.  I also made some chemises and a few skirts.  Oh and chair covers and our banner!

I know I've used this pic before, but it's the only one I have of the banner!

I still think it's a pretty good copy of our logo and I did it all by pinning and stitching.  No bondaweb or drawing it out first!

Pocket rolls!

So far I've sold only one of these, but I'm not quite willing to give up on them yet!  Plus we've got ideas for bag variations, so watch this space...

 Reasonably certain I've shown you plenty of bunting before!  Some of these have rectangular flags instead of triangular, but that's pretty much it really!

I did enjoy making the chemises!

So sad I don't have any more of this trim

These were made to my usual pattern, but I shortened it a bit (I'm tall).  The only thing I'd change is making sure I have the right colour of over locking thread in future.  Over locking is so much easier than flat felling seams!

The skirts are simple elasticated waist knee length skirts.  I do like the trim on the brown one though!  I'm probably going to run up a few more skirts in different lengths I think...

Chair covers!

These got a fair amount of interest but no sales.  That said I still think I'm going to do some in different colours.  They're a quick sew and the theory is poly cotton might sell well.  So we'll see...
 

As you can see, I experimented and made a variety of pouches!  I like the drawstring ones best.

Normal service will resume on Monday when I'll show the one piece of larp kit I did make myself!

Back again!

Hullo again!  Did you miss me last week?  I'm sorry if you did, but fear not for I am back now and have a new batch of photos to share!  Which is lucky as the over locker is just back from the shop and the sewing machine is going in today...  I'm so lucky to have a good, reasonably priced, local machine repair shop!

So yes, this weekend we attended the Foreign Fields LARP Kit Fair.  It was scary and a little bit stressful.  I was really worried we wouldn't have enough stuff, that or things wouldn't be up to standard, that no-one would want to buy anything...  And whilst we may not have sold as much as I wanted I'm happy to say I was completely wrong with the other two fears! 

Today I'm going to show you the pictures of our stall I managed to take and on Thursday I'll show off some of my stock in a little more detail.

Far from not having enough stuff, we could have done with a bit more table space to display it all...

Everything is improved by bunting!

Kenda toys!

I'm really quite pleased with this banner!

On Thursday I'll share photos in more detail.  Have a good week until then!

Larp Waistcoat

This is why my friends should really learn to be careful what they idly wish for around me (and if this waistcoat doesn't do it, check back for the birthday present I have planned for him).

The waistcoat is a cotton print with skulls and roses on it.  One of his characters is dating one of my characters who is called Rose and ever since he first saw the fabric a while back he's joked about having something made out of it.

The back is made from black velvet corduroy and the pattern is Simplicity 2346.  The inside is lined in black lining fabric.

It doesn't actually fasten, the buttons are just there for decoration.  It's a little large, which is what happens when you guess measurements, but I still think it looks quite fun!
 

I don't think I'll be blogging next week, as I need my computer time to add things to the Stuff and Nonsense  website and to keep up the slew of emails we send to each other.  After next week I'll be back to let you know how it all went, with pics of the stall and a list of my upcoming projects and hopefully a new top to show off!