Jumping on the bandwagon

Follow my blog with Bloglovin.

I'm still in denial about the end of Google Reader, and can't decide between Bloglovin and Feedly. Which means I'll end up signing up to both and seeing which one I use the most. In the meantime, I'm jumping on the Bloglovin bandwagon and staking a claim to my blog.

I'm also jumping on the Me-Made-May bandwagon, in an attempt to push myself into wearing the clothes I have made more often. Or at all. Baby steps though - I'm taking this first one easy.

'I, Helen of Josie and May, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear at least one item of me made clothing each week for the duration of May 2013, and finish making the Deer and Doe Chardon skirt.'

This isn't the full on one item per day pledge that a lot are signing up to, mostly because I just don't have enough finished items to do that (hence the pledge to finish the Chardon skirt)! But I will upload pics to the flickr group and blog about it, especially as I have at least two finished items that have yet to be shown to the world internet.

Just two more sleeps....

154 granny squares later...

Yes, I've finally finished it! 154 squares, 7 months (WHAT!!) and around 30 balls of yarn later, the sofa blanket is complete.

I used Rowan handknit cotton in 7 different shades: Ecru (shade 251), Linen (205), Brown (315), Slate (347), Celery (309), Delphinium (334) and Aubergine (348). I used around 4 balls of each colour, plus a few extra of the slate for the scalloped border. When I started, I wasn't sure how much yarn I'd need so I just bought a couple of each to begin with. I carried on buying in bits - this yarn's come from Liberty, the Make Lounge, Deramores, and (I think) John Lewis. And surprisingly I got away with the the different dye lots. Just. (I have a ball of linen that really didn't match the rest of it - it's currently sat in my stash waiting for another project.)

The squares themselves were pretty simple to crochet - just a standard granny square without any colour changes. Most were created on train journeys and visits to family over Christmas, and I could generally finish one within 20 minutes, but putting this together seemed epic! My tension was all over the place throughout this project: first it was too loose, then too tight. I got it right for most of it, but some definitely had to be pulled out and started again once I've finished them all and knew what size they should be. Once I'd arranged them in their crosses, the completed squares sat on my living room floor for what seemed like ages (probably about a week) while I slip stitched them together in strips. To be honest, I'm not entirely certain if this was right but I wanted (and almost achieved) invisible seams and didn't think the arrangement I wanted would work if I joined as I went along or crocheted them together.

I knew this blanket needed a border, so made it up (eek!). I did two rounds of double crochet, then (after *a lot* of internet research and a bit of a practice run) figured out how to do the scalloped bit (7 triples into one hole, in this case). It is mad skillz blind luck that the scallops meet perfectly!

I'm so pleased with this blanket. It wasn't as cheap as I'd hoped (to be honest, I started this because I felt the nice yarn from Purl Soho for the granny stripe blanket would cost too much but I think I'm pretty close to what that would have cost), but the blanket's perfect - I've already spent several nights snuggled up under it on the sofa.

What would Delia do?

When Claire at Miso Funky got in contact after I wrote about renegade craft fair, and asked if I'd like the 'What would Delia do' kit, I replied in the only way I know how. "Hell yeah!" (ok, technically that's not what I wrote in the email, but it was definitely the response in my head.)

These kits are the perfect introduction to cross stitching. They're small, so you're not overwhelmed by too much fabric, or too many stitches. The kits include everything everything you need - fabric, thread, chart and instructions. The only thing it doesn't include is a hoop (although the instructions say you don't need one, I used one and think it's better for it).

You get plenty of thread in the kit - this is what was left!

The instructions included in the kit are easy to follow. Which is good, because although I'd wanted to try cross stitch for a while I'd never bothered looking into how you do it - I think it's fair to say I was a complete novice! I did separate the thread into 2 strands as instructed, but I think next time I would try it with three or four strands.

I'm pretty proud of this little baby. It's going up on our kitchen wall, so next time I'm in the middle of a culinary meltdown, I can just look up and ask myself...

In the jar

Although I'm not really one for new years resolutions, I've signed up for Karen's In The Jar 2013 Sewlutions pledge.

Why? Well, for a start I'm far more likely to stick to any craft based resolution/aim/objective than I am to eat less chocolate. But also because it's just the kick up the backside I need.

I did make quite a lot in 2012, although you probably wouldn't believe it reading this blog. Some of the finished items have yet to make it past draft blogpost form, but some are also still in WIP status. (Granny square blanket, I'm looking at you.)

However, I didn't make any clothes last year. Despite picking up a few patterns and having good intentions, I am yet to make the Peony dress, Kasia skirt, or Pendrell blouse. Or the second coffee date dress or V1179. (And we'll not even mention Deer & Doe now that Tilly has pointed out the patterns are now available in English. Mon Dieu!)

Not this year. I have pledged to make at least one wearable item this year. I hope to make more than that, but sometimes life just gets in the way and I don't want to beat myself up over not making a specific number of items of clothing. What I will beat myself up over is not finishing the seams properly so I have to hand wash it. Oh no. That baby has to go in the washing machine. Which also means pre-washing my fabric (my kryptonite - I do it, but probably not enough. I'm sure I've read somewhere that you should pre wash fabrics more than once - do you guys do this?).

So there you have it. Karen's going to check back at the end of the year to see how we all did - I have a feeling 2013's going to be a very productive year for us crafters!

A present for you, but also for me

After the great christmas jumper escapade of last year (and no, he didn't get the arms this year), this was the only cCristmas present I made this year.

My mum had mentioned that she wanted a knitting bag and as soon as she said it I was sure I'd make it myself.  I've seen a few in the shops, and have a Cath Kidston one myself, but none overwhelmed me so I thought I'd be able to knock one up fairly easily.

But then whilst researching spending hours on Pinterest, I found this pattern from The Sometimes Crafter. I was sold. $9 later and I had the PDF pattern on my hands.

A quick trip to Ikea to pick up some Aida linen (on Flossie Teacakes advice) and a shop at M is for Make later and I was all set.

This pattern is a lovely make. It went together really easily, even the zipped pocket. This was my first time inserting a zip like this, and the instructions were extremely easy to follow. And Christina's thought of everything - you can even add a bit of ribbon in the pocket to tie in your scissors so you don't lose them. Perfect!

And I love the pockets. When I first saw the picture of the bag, I couldn't work out how they were put together, but again it's very straightforward. There's also a huge amount of space inside for yarn and WIPs (for me, this is where my Cath Kidston one falls down - it's one or the other).

One note of caution with fabric choices - it's probably best not to use directional or large prints with this. In fact, I realised a little too late that it would be perfect with Liberty print if budget allows.

I loved this so much I made two of these in two days, and instantly regretted not buying enough fabric for a third for me. The second was supposed to be for a friends 50th birthday, but she requested donations to a charity she previously worked with (she's a better woman than me) so that one's staying with me. I felt a little guilty that I felt so happy she didn't want her present (in the nicest way possible!), but at least I know my time wasn't wasted!

Deck the halls

Apart from one present, I've limited my crafting this Christmas to decorations (especially after the big faff last year with the brother in law's rudolph jumper).

I have a whole board of Christmas decoration ideas over on Pinterest, and here are a few that actually made it into reality.

Excuse the frog tape - we've just decorated!

I loved this idea for a thanksgiving banner, but adapted it slightly - using the words Merry Christmas instead, and keeping the felt colour to just one - red. I bought the felt from Raystitch, and although I bought two lots of the felt I might have been able to squeeze it all into one, so it doesn't cost a huge amount to put together.

I fell in love with this wreath as soon as I saw it, but really didn't like the idea of cutting out loads of felt circles. I may have been time and cash poor this Christmas, but I was more time poor than cash so I bit the bullet and ordered some already cut out from Etsy. I was going to make it in white felt, as I thought the version pinned on Pinterest was so lovely, but quickly remembered that it would be hanging on a white door, so went for red again. It was really simple to put together, and only took me a couple of hours spread over three evenings. (The wreath form was from Craftmill, where I also bought some papier mache cardboard cones for something else that I haven't quite got round to making yet - next year!)

Finally, 3d paper snowflakes! I've been wanting to make these for years, but never quite got round to it. This year, however, the office (well, my team anyway) went a little mad with the decorations and I made a few to hang over my desk. After getting some admiring comments from colleagues, I spent my last afternoon at work last week teaching seven others how to make them. You have never seen a more attentive bunch! So here's the results...

I also made a paper version of the Merry Christmas banner, and some of the pictures around my desk got in on the act too.

 

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas x

(Secret) santa's little helper

Now it's December, I think we can officially start to talk about Christmas. Most years I do the majority of my shopping on Amazon, but this year me and the boy are boycotting the company. I know technically they're not doing anything illegal, but just as they make the choice to structure their business in a way so as minimise the tax they pay, I also have the choice to take my money elsewhere*.

So we're having 'indiecember'. Where possible, we are sourcing presents from smaller companies, or larger ones we know pay (a respectable amount of) corporation tax. People keep asking me if it's hard. It really isn't. It takes a little longer (after all, there's more than one checkout process), but I'm yet to find something that can only be bought on Amazon (admittedly, I don't have a Kindle).

For me, the hardest thing to buy for Christmas is the secret Santa gift. Finding something that isn't tat and comes within budget can be nigh on impossible. I've been extremely lucky the past two years with my names out of the hat, and they've been relatively easy to buy for as they've been colleagues I know relatively well. My secret this year? Etsy.

I was already on there buying some other gifts, and thought I'd see if I could find anything suitable. So I played with the location and price filters, and there were so many beautiful things that I thought I'd share some of them with you guys...

(My location filter was set to UK and budget to £5, although I've also added a few up to £10 in case yours is bigger. Try changing the location and budget filters to suit you)

1. Make Tea Not War mug from Second Heart Crafts, £3.50
2. Deja Brew mug from Second Heart Crafts, £3.50
3. Bloomsbury bone chine mug from Summersville, £6
4. Star Wars personalised mug from Gelert Design, £7
5. Whale from Wales print from Hello Dodo, £4
6. Batman tote bag from Hello Dodo, £10
7. Hand dyed bamboo tape yarn from Dye Spin Knit UK, £4
8. T shirt yarn from Fireside Yarns, £7.50
9. Handpainted bamboo crochet hook from Logii, £3
10. Pencils for every occasion from Dusty Trinkitten, £4.50
11. Letterpress ruler labels from Present and Correct, £4.47
12. OMG engraved pencils from Vivid Please, £3.50 
13. Polyhedra Jotter from Present and Correct, £4.15
14. The Big Book of Ideas from oh NO rachio, £10
15. Blue Library Cards from Knot and Bow, $4.25 (This one slipped through the location filter, but it's such a lovely thing for people like me that dreamt of being a librarian when they were 8 that I thought it was worth keeping it in!)
16. Polka dot washi tape from Little Grey Clouds, £2.95
17. Classiky Little Garden washi tape in yellow from Joe and Flo, £2.70
18. Washi tape in Liberty Art Fabric from Big Birds Boutique, £2.50
19. Pale green long stripe washi tape from BeryluneUK, £2.40
20. 2013 desk calendar from misterrrob, £4.95

Apologies for the consumerist nature of this post - I promise there will be handmade posts soon, but this does come under the spirit of a handmade Christmas.

* This is my decision, but I realise this isn't for everyone. Christmas can be hard enough without making it harder. And yes, I am also boycotting Starbucks, and my over reliance on google, not least using blogger, worries and annoys me.

You will always find me in the kitchen at apronalong parties.

Am I *too* late, or just fashionably late to this party?

I hadn't originally planned on taking part in Karen's apronalong. My own apron was one of the first things I made when I got my sewing machine (it's the Amy Butler domestic goddess apron).

But then I remembered my friends birthday, and she's got a new house and an even newer kitchen. And she does bake a mean cake. So I knew what I had to do.

I picked up some gorgeous fabric (Moda's Mama Said Sew) - 1m of each during Raystitch's sale. The pattern (another Amy Butler, this time from In Stitches) only calls for 3/4 yard, but I wanted the zig zags to run horizontally. (Plus it was a 1m minimum to get the discount. What can I say, I'm a good friend but I like a bargain.) The red's pretty bold, but I know she has bits of red in her kitchen.

I cut it out whilst catching up on Parenthood on Saturday (does anyone else watch this? I seem to be in a permanent state of sobbing this series. I blame it on a lack of Crosby and Jabbar) and made it up on Sunday. It went together reasonably easy, and the make felt smoother because of my better than usual cutting out - it was pretty straight (it would have been obvious if it wasn't with this print. )

It has some lovely touches, like the pocket and towel loop, and pleats on the ties.

So I'm a little sad to see this one go, but I know it's going to a good home. Here we are modelling our aprons at a murder mystery party last weekend (we were dressed as bakery/tea shop owners - don't ask!)

Happy birthday Kerry!

Spiderwoman

First up - an admission. Halloween's never really been my thing. I'd like to think it's because my parents wouldn't let us get involved with trick or treating, but my sister loves Halloween and regularly holds/goes to Halloween parties, so I guess that's not it.

Me? It's the one night I can be assured of a trip to the cinema to avoid said trick or treaters. And eggs and flour on the door.

This year however, colleagues were holding a fundraising party on Friday as part of their mission to climb 24 peaks in 24 hours in aid of Homeless International. (This is partly a team building exercise - beats the usual, but I'm equally glad I'm not in their team!). Fancy dress was entirely optional, but I spotted this and couldn't resist making it.

Source: elhadadepapel.blogspot.co.uk via Helen on Pinterest

The instructions are quite sparce, but there's enough there to get you to a finished product. You could probably do this with just a white wire coat hanger and white yarn, if you have a strong enough pair of pliers or wire cutters. I got myself down to Hobbycraft and picked up a thin silver alice band and some 1mm and 0.6mm silver jewellery wire (had tried to get white 1mm wire to then use yarn, but couldn't find any so improvised - I think it worked out ok). And a hot glue gun which I borrowed from the boy.

But a spiderweb is nothing without a spider, so knowing that my crafting skills weren't up to making that too I found some in a pound store, and hot glued one to the web. I had a couple spare, so hot glued them to brooch backs to pin on my clothes.

I'm willing to admit that I put far more thought into the spiderweb than I did into my clothes. In the end I opted for all black, and it was only on the bus into work on Friday morning that it all fell into place - I wasn't going as a woman who'd made a spiderweb fascinator. Oh no. I was going as a black widow.

Spot the liberal application of hot glue!

(It also reminded me of this song from A Star is Born. I love so much of this soundtrack, but Queen Bee in particular is a standout track for me.)

I got loads of comments about how great it looked, and even had colleagues coveting it for their own costumes at other parties that weekend. Best of all? It meant I could go to a Halloween party in fancy dress and still not look like an idiot on the night bus home. That really is priceless.

Handmade is made better

Today I met up with my former work colleague/now real life friend (don't you just love it when that happens) Anna in East London for what she called Craftaday.

Yep, definitely in East London!

First up we headed to Spitalfields market for the designers makers market.

Anna is starting up her own business designing fabric and making it into fab things like cushions (check out her blog to see some of her ace designs), so she was scoping out the market to see if it was something she might like to sell at in future.

I was in full on magpie mode - everything caught my eye! There were quite a few stalls selling vintage cups and saucers, so I know where to go in future when I finally get round to making teacup candles. I did buy some lace trim from Bits & Bobs though - two lots of normal lace trim which I think will be good for embellishing pockets, and two bits of elasticated lace, for when I learn how to make knickers!

Excuse the yellowness - complete lack of natural light
when I remembered to take this pic!

My favourite though were these wooden necklaces from Anna Wiscombe. I'll definitely be buying one of these soon.

Then we made our way towards Brick Lane for the Renegade craft fair. 

It was massive! Loads of stalls with a good mixture of things on sale. I bought a few things, but since some of them were christmas presents (organised, I know - I shocked myself!), all I'll share so far are these prints from the lovely Sean Mort.

I've wanted an illustrated/screenprinted band print for a while, but while prevalent in America there seems to be less of them around in the UK. It's been a long hard search I can tell you.

I also bought this print (which he designed especially for Renegade). It seemed rude not to!

Sean's prints are just stunning and simple, and really reasonably priced. I fear this may be the start of an expensive habit!

Some of my other favourite stalls: 

• Ham - I was *this* close to buying a rabbit on a trampoline tea towel
• Lovely pigeon - for jewellry and paper products (and free lolly whistles)
• Joy Nevada - for cute animal tee shirts for little one
• The always brilliant miso funky - I was incredibly tempted by the 'What would delia do' kit
• Birds in hats - name says it all really!
• Oh, hello friend - for all that lovely stationery, like a sewing machine shaped tape dispenser or washi tape, that you really really want but really really don't need. 

This poster (from Bob Motown, I think) really summed up the day for me. What I saw today might not be cheaper than the high street, but then again you probably wouldn't get these things on the high street. The creativity and enthusiasm shown by the designer/makers is infective, and frankly, knowing how much time I spend on things I make, I was more than prepared to pay the extra for their time and effort.

Like it says, ...

You may go to the ball

Bit late, I know, but I spent a lovely couple of hours in the company of complete strangers on Friday night.

Yes, it was the V&A Ballgowns meetup organised by Karen of Did you make that? fame. Given the chance to visit the exhibition on my own, or with a bunch of like minded sewing people I've never met before, the answer was obvious. (I was so immersed in the exhibition that I forgot to take any pictures at all, but Karen's got a full round up.)

One of my favourite moments of the night was when we turned the corner to the gallery and a wave of silence descended - we knew immediately that serious business was about to occur.

The exhibition shows a range of ballgowns made since 1950, but I have to admit it's the most recent ones in the mezzanine gallery that appealed to me the most.

My favourites?

Well there's this Erdem dress

It's got pockets people! What's not to love about a ballgown with pockets!

This Gareth Pugh dress had a fair few of us staring at intensely, unable to take our eyes off it. In this pic it looks almost like chain-mail, but it's made of loops of metallic leather and is just beautiful up close.

But the ultimate for me is this McQueen dress.

Remember the Alexander McQueen exhibition held at the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art a couple of years ago? Will it ever be held in the UK? Seriously, it needs to be. The man was a genius and I for one can't wait to see more of his creations in person.

If you have a chance to visit - do! I had a lovely time, and I'm only sorry I couldn't spend longer in the company of those lovely ladies (I managed to double book myself - not sure how, I'm never usually that busy!) and I can't wait for the next meet up.

WIPs, UFOs and OMG

Whilst it might seem that it's been a bit quiet in Josie and May towers this year, I have been busy beavering away on some quick, and some not so quick, projects.

I promise I'll post soon on some of the quicker makes soon, but thought I would share some of the half finished things I'm currently working on...

I've been toying with the idea of making a granny stripe blanket for my living room - this one, to be precise -

Source: flickr.com via Amy on Pinterest

 and then I stumbled across this on Pinterest.

Source: sfgirlbybay.com via Helen on Pinterest

After figuring out which seven shades of yarn looked best together I got cracking on the granny squares.


Still some way off the amount I need!

Crikey this crocheting malarkey is addictive! I've done a fair amount whilst watching the Olympics, and it's brilliant for on the train (much easier than knitting, where I fear I'm annoying train neighbours with my knitting needles and elbows).

But one WIP isn't enough - oh no! I'm also making a quilt for a christening present. I was going to finish this UFO quilt from my mid-year resolutions post. Really, I was!

But then I saw the Aneela Hoey 'a walk in the woods' charm pack in Raystitch, and couldn't not buy it.



Seriously, how cute are these fabrics?!



Source: etsy.com via Miranda on Pinterest

It's the first quilt I've made since, well, the first (albeit still unfinished!) quilt I made and it's my first time at hand quilting.

I've just got a little bit of hand sewing left before attaching the binding, so it should be ready in plenty of time before the christening!

I've also been acquiring and stockpiling grey and yellow fabrics for a quilt for our bed. Just a few more yellows to get (probably Cloud 9 simpatico) and then I can make a start.

But OMG I am paralysed by indecision on this one! I've no idea what kind of arrangement I want (although I have plenty of inspiration on my Pinterest board) or where to start once I've figured that out. Any suggestions?