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?

May you live in Pinteresting times

It's been a while since I last blogged. Partly because I've been busy, then full of cold. But it's mostly that whilst I've got lots of ideas for blog posts, the words just aren't coming out of me. They'll be set free soon enough though.

This one though, I only started thinking about this morning. About the time a link to this blog post 'How long before I lost Pinterest' arrived in my inbox at work (NEVER was my immediate answer! Full disclosure - I love Pinterest. I can, and do, spend hours on the site). What follows are my initial thoughts in response, and I apologise now for the text heavy, picture free nature of the post - oh the irony, given that Pinterest is the almost the exact opposite.

(By the way, has anyone else noticed Pinterest's been getting a lot more media coverage recently? I squeeled with glee when I spotted that Pete Cashmore from Mashable has written an article for CNN on 'Why Pinterest in 2012's hottest website' earlier this month.)

In my day job I manage a website, and have set up Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts for the organisation, so I like to think I know a fair bit about company and brand involvement in social media, but something in me recoiled in horror when I read it.

Now as a trade body, it's unlikely we're going to get involved in Pinterest. And when I first read the blog post I thought of how I would hate to see heavily branded pages like we see on Facebook pushing things for sale, or free items for repinning (maybe that's just me though).  And to be fair to the blog author, it is for a marketing website so it's to be expected that it has a marketing slant.

But when I thought about it and looked back at the people I follow, I realised there are already brands using Pinterest in a really unobtrusive, helpful way.

Boden have a nice balance of their clothing, behind the scenes at Boden, and pins that are nothing at all to do with their clothing but do fit in with their ethos. I really like their behind the scenes board. If I wanted to look at their clothing I would probably go straight to their website, but the behind the scenes pictures offer a little bit extra. Having said that, it tends to be the pins that have nothing at all to do with their clothing that I like the most and repin.

Quadrille Craft - when I look at the pins from those I'm following it always seems to me that Quadrille mostly pin their own products to their profile. Nothing wrong with that, but I wouldn't want to see companies doing that in isolation. But looking back at their profile on Pinterest today, it's not what they're doing. I like seeing the end products of the projects featured in their publications, so I can see what others have made of them, and they have that with their boards Your take on our makes and Everything Alice.

I was going to include Sarai's profile too, but thought that might be unfair as it is a personal profile rather than one for Colette Patterns. But having said that, do check it out as she has an amazing Pinterest profile.

Etsy pin items for sale on the site on their boards, but also links to useful information from other sources too (who needs to know how to tie a bow tie?). And maybe because Etsy aren't actually the seller the pins to the items for sale don't actually feel like they're trying to sell me something. It feels more like they're pointing out lovely things on their site, much like a treasury.

But I think that's the point. For me, Pinterest is at it's best when it's about sharing, not selling. I have bought items that I've found on Pinterest. I don't doubt that I will do it again in the future. But these are all things I have stumbled upon, either when looking for something in particular or just browsing particular categories.

I'd love to know what you think about this issue. Do you love or hate Pinterest? As I said before, I love it and use it as an online pinboard storing links to things I've stumbled across, acting as a repository for past and future projects. How do you use it?

Crafter's guilt

I've been making quite a lot over the past few months (particularly lots of baby stuff, but that's for another post). It's kept me quite busy, but very little of it has been for me.

I don't think I've actually managed to complete anything I set out to on my mid year resolutions post. And despite two years of saying I would make some oven gloves, the only reason we now have some is because we saw some nice ones that matched the kitchen colour scheme in the John Lewis sale.

Still, my tea towels are relieved.

Sorry tea towel.

I have two days off work next week, and I'm planning on completing some makes for me/the flat.

I made the Vogue V1197 months ago, and it's been such a hit that I plan on making another one. In fact, I was so sure that it would be a great dress, having seen Karen's and Eugenia's, that I actually bought the fabric for the second dress at the same time as the fabric for the first one.

I'm also planning on making some roman blinds for the flat. We only have 3 windows, but they are big (1.2 m x 2 m)! I bought some (relatively) cheap plain fabric from Fabrics Galore at the weekend and have ordered some kits. I'm planning on making one for the kitchen as a test run: it's the only room that doesn't currently have, or need, a blind so I don't have to worry too much if it all goes horribly wrong.

So there we have it. Two projects in two days may be incredibly ambitious. But I'm not going to beat myself up about it if I don't finish them both. After all, two days of sewing for myself - it's hard to feel guilty about that.

Oh lately it's so quiet...

It's all been a bit quiet on here recently, hasn't it. Well, this jumper is the reason...

It's been a hard slog knitting this baby in time to give to my brother in law for Christmas, leaving very little time for blogging. It went right down to the wire, and yes, it might be missing some sleeves, but personally I think he rocks it as a tank top.

I was also kept busy by lots of orders from friends and colleagues for bags and make up bags for them to give to friends and relatives as christmas presents.

Luckily, I had most of the requests pretty early on (most before September!), so I was able to plan my sewing time around the knitting! And I had a lot of fun wrapping them all before passing them on.

2011 has been a pretty good crafting year. I've kept sewing and knitting throughout the year, and learnt how to crochet. And Josie and May is now a fully functioning business (this time last year, I didn't even have the name). I'm already planning crafting for the next year - quilting and more knitting and embroidery as well as sewing. Promise to keep you updated throughout the year!

Arts and crafts (and a beautiful building in the middle of London)

It's been a busy week for our little team at work. So when the boss suggested a couple of us visited a 'house' down the road that had just opened to the public, we jumped at the chance to have a proper lunch break and a wander outside.

Two Temple Place

Two Temple Place has been in private ownership for over 100 years, and has just recently been opened to the public, along with an exhibition of publically owned art from across the country - starting with William Morris: Story, Memory, Myth.

The works of art have been loaned from the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, which is currently undergoing £5m renovation. There's wallpaper, tiles, stained glass, and a lot of tapestry - massive panels of hand stitched embroidery, made by the ladies of the house (not 2 Temple Place, another house, and I can't remember their names, other than the daughter was called Florence). They're amazing, large swathes of loveliness. The tones of the threads used and the direction of the stitches creates an amazing effect. It took everything I had not to reach out and touch them. And the wallpaper... wow! It never fails to astound me how those patterns are created. There are examples of finished rolls, but also works in progress and planned works, showing the intricate details of the initial designs.

The building itself is beautiful enough for a visit, even without the William Morris exhibition. Built for William Waldorf Astor (of Waldorf Hotel fame) in 1895, it's been through various private owners since then and has only been opened up to the public for the past month. There's a little information in one of the rooms about the history of the building, including bomb damage in 1944 (since restored). It's a good fit with the theme of the William Morris exhibition. There's lots of friezes, carvings and statues of characters from fiction, including Shakespearean characters, and the Three Musketeers (this inevitably led to a hushed chorus of 'da-da-da da-da-da', as we thought about Dogtanian).

No photos were allowed, but more information is available on their website. And it's free to get in, so pop round when you're next in the area! Definitely a good way to spend a lunchtime.

52 sleeps!

Yes, I know it's only just November, but those of us who plan to have a crafty Christmas have been thinking about the 'C' word for a good few months now.

Most of my plans are around decorations, including some Christmas bunting and fabric wreaths. I got the   materials last year but never got around to making them, so I'm determined to get them finished by early December.

For the first time I'll also be participating in Crafty Christmas Club, set up by the lovely Tilly.  Pop over and have a look if you fancy seeing what people are planning on making for Christmas (presents, food and decorations). Unless you're expecting to get a present from me. In which case don't - you'll only ruin the surprise!!

Oh, and crochet at the Make Lounge was brilliant. I loved it so much that I've already signed up for the follow up course, and I've a new skill which I've already put to good use...

...the Mollie Makes apple jacket. Although I have the magazine I used the pattern that was reproduced on the Guardian website. And if you fancy a laugh - read the comments. Honestly, if they put as much effort into crafting as they do commenting, well, they could probably have mastered the apple jacket pattern by now!