More sewing and crochet - it's been a busy week.

Curtain fabric remnant

The past week has been busy - first, I managed to wash and iron a couple of pieces of fabric I found in the remnants section of Shufflebotham's in Macclesfield. This first piece will eventually become a jacket. Not sure yet whether it will be a blazer or a more fitted and lined jacket. At the moment I plan to make the latter. I do have a lovely pattern, but will need to find it first.

Remnant of silk

This delightful piece of fabric just had to come home with me from the same remnants section. It is a sheer blouse weight, so will need to be fully lined. It just asked to come home with me.............

If you do get the chance to visit Macclesfield, then this shop is well worth a visit. One of those wonderful shops which are getting rather rare these days. It is full of gorgeous fabrics, has an amazing remnants section and has really helpful staff.

An old curtain makes a useful zipped bag

I found myself making a zipped bag for some blinds. A very quick job. The old curtain was in my stash. It was a find from a charity shop many months ago and had been destined for shopping bags. This will be so much more useful. The original container for these blinds was a rather nasty battered plastic bag.

Completed oven gloves

I started these last week and managed to get them finished a couple of days ago. Two squares of Insul-bright quilted inside some quilting cotton, edged with tape. There is a gap for my hand to fit inside the "sandwich". It will be interesting to see how well this works. There are two which is why I think of them as oven gloves rather than pot holders.

Reverse side

Lastly, the reason I ventured into Shufflebotham's in the first place. My new piano stool. This was a very lucky find in an auction when we were in Tring some weeks back. Constructed in the 1930's it was rather a mess when we first saw it. My husband has stripped it down completely and rebuilt it. I just added the finishing touch, the upholstered top.

Piano stool

There is a lot of polyester filling and some old polyester wadding which I really didn't want to use for a quilt - it was rather nasty, but perfect for this task.

Fabric and detail of the wood

So comfy now and just the right height. It is nice not to have to use one of the diningroom chairs. I always had to add a couple of cushions to be able to sit at the right height. Now I must stop looking at my new seat, and start using it.

Cushion cover in progress

I posted a photo of this project a little while ago. There are now 24 different designs of the hexagons. I have made two of each and so have a total of 48 completed. Just another 14 pairs to crochet.

Some of the completed hexagons

Works in progress and those completed.

Firstly, those completed objects. I finally got all the hand-stitching completed on my Serger Quilt. This is the bright side.



Now, the reverse side - you can see the hand-stitched binding. Just to avoid misundertanding, the binding was attached by machine, and then hand-stitched to the reverse side to finish off. You can also see the FME on the border too.

My husband's reaction when I passed it to him after finishing it on Friday evening?
"Who is it for?"
I couldn't answer since I really hadn't made it for anyone. It now resides in the livingroom for snuggling into.
Oh, after asking the question, he snuggled up into it and promptly fell asleep............ The quilt is appreciated, even if the reasons for making it aren't fully understood.



I also finished a quick project. These bench cushions were made last week for our new garden bench. The covers are made from some cream vinyl we have had in the loft for over twenty years. Still in excellent condition, the vinyl had been bought to make some bunk mattresses for a boat we owned years ago. We had been lucky enough to find a roll of the vinyl being sold cheaply and made four bunk mattresses with it. After making these two bench cushions we still have plenty left...................

Oh yes, I shall be finishing a couple of quilted scatter cushions to add to the bench. The cream seems a bit startling a colour to my eyes, so some colourful cushions should help it all blend in.



One project just about to be stared is this blouse. I have some delightful pale blue viscose covered with black polka dots.

Why start dressmaking again? Well, I have my daughter's wedding dress to make later this summer. It seemed only sensible to get some practice in first.............