4th day off before xmas- Harry potter studio tour!

Work organized a trip to the Harry potter studio tour, so we went!
It's Christmas themed at the moment, with the Great hall dressed for the Yule ball and fake snow everywhere!
I'm feeling very festive now 😁🎄

Prizes from the fashion museum!

I'm pretty sure I posted about entering the "vintage treasures" competition run by bath fashion museum back in September.

I posted pictures of a few of my favourite items- corde 1940s handbag, 1930s dancing shoes, Edwardian corset...

And the handbag won!

I had a really lovely parcel of goodies arrive yesterday- I really have been spoilt in the run up to Christmas!

3rd day off before Christmas (ex work xmas do!)

We arranged back few months ago to go out on Friday night for Tracey's leaving do and Dahks retirement do.
We failed to realise that this was the final Friday before Christmas- so the bars and pubs were jam packed, as was the restaurant.
We had a lovely meal and a good catch up..  and a bit too much wine..

2nd day off before Christmas

I got stir crazy. I moved all my sewing and crafting stuff upstairs so that the house looked tidier.
And then I thought to myself, "before I hoover, I could move some furniture around..."

So, I moved the DVD unit to behind the sofa, the drawers behind the sofa upstairs and then the 6ft book case to where the DVD unit was.
And now there's a big gap by the TV so I might move the record player.

Then I washed all the rugs and dusted the surfaces.

By the time I hoovered it was gone 2pm and I was still in my PJs.

I had a wash and went into town to pick up my Amazon parcel which is for my parents for Christmas.
It was supposed to come last Wednesday to a drop off point but the driver lost it. 8 days later it still wasn't there so I cancelled it in a huff.

I bought Marley a fancy turkey cat food from the pet's corner shop. ( It's a bit more expensive than online, but I like that they have loads of choice and are independent).

Traff and I went to John Lewis to collect a replacement present for my parents- it ended up being £30 cheaper!
In addition, they had super middle class carol singers, accompanied by a pianist on a baby grand.
There were also free mince pies.
I do like a John Lewis shop 😁

1st day off before Christmas

I booked a bit of time off in the run up to Christmas- yesterday was my last 5.50am start of 2018!
That feels so good to say!

I finished two crafty projects- I finished the scarf I was making for my Mum for Christmas. I also finished my sequin skirt from the Pinterest pattern I posted- the one that had a blood sacrifice from Tracey.
I've also prepared the pieces for a few more projects, but I'm waiting to start those.

I've ordered a desk and a chair from Gumtree to make myself a sewing room in the back bedroom. I'm fed up with sewing on a coffee table that falls over every 5 minutes. So this is a good start for bigger projects in 2019.

I've also finally watched 'gone with the wind' so that's another film to check off of the two watch list.

I had a few chores to do today too- I had to go and restring a violin so I got a nice cycle ride out of it too.

Christmas tree hat pattern

Lazy weekend/ how Tracey ended up in a&e

This weekend was a pretty lazy looking one originally, but it ended up with us seeing plenty of people- Jenni and Therese came to town on Saturday, so we tried to brave town with the sideways rain. We made it to the Italian deli, but not much further.
Ace arancini though!
In the evening vwe went for dinner with Roz, Marek and Akua so I'm feeling like I'm back in the social loop.

On Sunday I decided to have a go at making the skirt pattern I posted. Tracey came over to do some marking.
All very safe and easy.
And then I somehow managed to see Tracey's finger. So gross. Basically there are two lessons here:
Keep away from clumsy people who have sewing equipment.
Keep your fingers out of the way!
So, we continued the marking in A&E.

Incidentally, I also did not finish the skirt.

Bavarian crochet from crochet kitten

From here:

http://crochetkitten.blogspot.com/2012/09/bavarian-crochet-in-rows.html?m=1

But there's a really good stitch tutorial here:

https://www.thestitchinmommy.com/2015/01/bavarian-square-tutorial.html?m

 it worked in rows, but traditionally it is worked in the round. The resulting fabric is textured and thick, yet still drapes really well. It's perfect for all your fall projects!

I'm going to spend the next two weeks focusing on this unique stitch so we can go over how to work it in rows and how to work it in rounds. Today's lesson is Bavarian crochet in rows. Next week we'll cover Bavarian crochet in the round.

Note: This pattern has been updated to change "hdc" to "sc," which we feel results in a more closed square.

Bavarian Crochet in Rows

Special Stitches:

4-fptr cluster. Work a fptr over ea of the next 4 stitches, keeping the last loop of ea fptr on the hook. After the fourth fptr, yo and pull through all 5 loops on the hook. 4-fptr cluster is complete.

5-fptr cluster. Work a fptr over ea of the next 5 stitches, keeping the last loop of ea fptr on the hook. After the fifth fptr, yo and pull through all 6 loops on the hook. 5-fptr cluster is complete.

8-fptr cluster. Work a fptr over ea of the next 8 tr, keeping the last loop of ea fptr on the hook. After the eighth fptr, yo and pull through all 9 loops on the hook. 8-fptr cluster is complete.

Beg Ch: Multiple of 8 + 2.

Row 1. Sc in 2nd ch from hook, *skip 3 ch, (4 tr, ch 1, 4tr) in the next ch, skip 3 ch, sc in the next ch, rep from * across.

Change colors if desired.

Row 2. Ch 3; turn. 4-fptr cluster over next 4 tr, ch 4, sc in next ch-1 sp, *ch 3, 8-fptr cluster over next 8 tr, ch 4, sc in next ch-1 sp; rep from * across. Ch 3, 5-fptr cluster over next 5 st.

Row 3. Ch 4; turn. 4 tr in top of first cluster, sc in the next sc, *(4 tr, ch 1, 4 tr) in center of next cluster, sc in next sc; rep from * across. 5 tr in top of last cluster.

Change colors if desired.

Row 4. Ch 1; turn. Sc in first tr, *ch 3, 8-fptr cluster over next 8 tr, ch 4, sc in next ch-1 sp; rep from * across, ending last rep with a sc in last tr.

Row 5. Ch 1; turn. Sc in first sc, *(4 tr, ch 1, 4 tr) in center of first cluster, sc in next sc; rep from * across.

Change colors if desired.

Rep rows 2-5, changing colors after each odd row if desired.

Abbreviations
beg          beginning
ch          chain
ea          each
fptr          front-post treble crochet
rep          repeat
sc          single crochet
st          stitch
tr          treble crochet
yo          yarn over

How to make a sequin skirt reblogged from ruffled

I saw this on Google+ and I need to make it 😁
I'm hoping to do a bit more sewing in the new year- so I'm adding this to my project list when I see some suitable fabric.

The original post is from 

https://ruffledblog.com/diy-sequin-maxi-skirt/

I've posted the pics at the end.

What you’ll need:

Fiskars Orange-Handled Scissors

Fiskars Thread Snips

1 yard teardrop sequin mesh fabric in blush

1/2 yard stretch lining

1 yard nude foldover elastic

Matching thread

Making yout DIY Sequin Maxi Skirt

1. Make a pattern

I love this teardrop sequin fabric because it’s a bit stretchy, so making a fitted skirt is a lot easier for someone who doesn’t know make a pattern from scratch like me. I used a maxi skirt I had to make a pattern using butcher paper and added a fishtail like shape to the bottom to give it a mermaid skirt shape.

The other reason why this sequin fabric is a little more forgiving when making a mermaid skirt the first time is that the sequins aren’t as tightly sewn in as the mermaid sequin fabric (the one the sequins flip into a different color) and you can easily remove them for seam allowance using snips.

After diving the depths of the internet researching how to sew sequin fabrics, I came across this post that helped me along the way. Here’s another great project using mermaid sequins!

2. Prepare the fabric

You’ll need to remove the sequins along the seam allowance before sewing your panels. Skipping this part means you’ll run into issues with your needle sewing over the sequins + having a prickly feeling with the skirt sequins poking your skin.

These thread sniks from Fiskars, along with a seam ripper were the tools I used to remove the sequins along the seam allowance. Its pointed tips on the blades offer control when trimming in tight spaces and it gives a clean cut when you trim the ends of your thread. It will also cut yarn, floos and other lightweight materials.

3. Assembling Your Pattern Pieces and Sewing Sequin Fabric

Whenever you sew stretchy fabric, you’ll need to use a zigzag stitch. I also used the walking foot attachment to make sure the fabric wouldn’t move around while stitching.

You will sew the skirt and lining sepaterely. Starting with the skirt, flip both panels so they face each other as if they were inside out. Sew along your seam allowance (1/2″) on both sides.

To make the lining, I simply sewed a short tube skirt with stretch lining fabric. The length of mine was a little above the knees, so the length will vary depending how tall and how long you want it to be. Sew 1″ hem on the bottom. If you don’t have a serger like me, you can use an edge foot attachment which usually comes with your machine accessories

4. Adding Fold Over Elastic

This is super easy once you try on a piece of scrap fabric! FOE – fold over elastic – comes with a visible line in the middle, which is where (yup) you fold over the fabric.

Cut your foldover elastic to the same length as your skirt circumference and sew the ends together.

Align the lining skirt and the sequin skirt still inside out. I ran a wide stitch to hold both skirts together with a basting stitch, leaving both ends with long tails.

Place the skirt and the fold over elastic under it and lower the walking foot. Gently pull the elastic as you’re sewing around the whole skirt. Flip your skirt right side in and with your foldover elastic, align the skirt with FOE in the center. You sew FOE actually twice: there’s the inside stitch, which is zig zag; and the edgestitch for the “front” of the skirt.

Sunrise on the way to work

I can't believe it is still 8 days until the shortest day! It's so dark in the mornings now!
It was so cold and dark this morning that Marley wouldn't get out of our bed to have her breakfast!

It's been a busy but productive day at work. The office is so quiet. I guess people are taking time off to get themselves ready for the big day (11 days to go!)

I won some sparkling wine on the Christmas raffle whilst I wasn't at work yesterday.  So that was a good surprise.

Ray had her Christmas do in reading today, but came back early because the food was awful. Mum and I met her in town for fancy hot chocolate at second cup.
And then we went to the panto!
😁🎄

Gin bottle lamp

At the steam Christmas fair they were selling lights to make your own fairy light bottle lamp... So I made it my mission to finish my fancy gin from jenni.
I think it's very festive.

Charity crocheting spoils

Lydiard park

Tracey injured her foot almost a week ago falling down the stairs at work, so has been stuck in going stir crazy.
So we went to Lydiard park for a change of scene and then we made a super fancy home made pizza.

Gloucester

On Saturday, I went to Ray's for a craft day.
She wanted to ice her Christmas cake. And I was asked to crochet some items for a raffle at work for the night shelter. Initially I wasn't sure anyone would actually want to win any of my crochet wares, but several people have since told me that if they don't win a scarf they'll bring me the wool to make them one. So I guess they'll be acceptable prizes

We are homeowners

Yesterday we completed our house purchase.
😁😁🏠
We are now home owners!

The updated loft

So, today was supposed to be building control sign off day.
But today, once again, it didn't go to plan.

So last time the only thing that could be signed off was the window.
Today the window was the issue- so the landlady had to build a structure to support it to stop it from escaping.

We try again for building control sign off tomorrow....

Southampton

Argh, sooo many train delays! It took forever to get to Southampton today! I've never been so relieved to see the clock tower before.
I had hoped to get here early enough to see the Christmas markets but the trains had other ideas.

I'm chilling in my hotel room now watching Nadia on the TV eating hotel Chocolat mulled wine truffles procured at reading station.
Even my free drink token couldn't tempt me to walk downstairs again.

Work presents!

Christmas at Steam

Today I worked at Steam, doing the storytelling as part of Santa's grotto.

It was exhausting, but really fun. I'm feeling very festive.

I got some goodies from the Christmas fair there too. 😁

Christmas tree!

It's up! Tracey helped reluctantly.