Sewing

I grew up with a very talented Mother who could not only knit and taught me, but is an amazing seamstress.

Alongside that my best friend is also amazing at sewing, so it was only a matter of time before I too took the plunge!

A few years ago there was a big craze to have the lovely pinafore dress designed by Dottie-angel there is a lovely selection that can be found over on Pinterest

Mum had made me my first Dottie Frock, I can't believe it was five years ago! I share the story here.  So the pattern was already cut perfectly for my size.

So armed with the pattern I headed to the local sewing shop in Cheltenham Just Fabrics and found myself the perfect material!!

I also found I had kept two books which I was pleased about which I shall dip into.

So I picked up the machine my Mum kindly let me have and I could start to learn.

To start with I had a practice with different stitches and with help of bestie who cut out my first ever pattern!

Day two involved embellishing pockets and starting to sew my first ever garment.

With the help of Professor Pincushion (what a cool name!) I added the bias binding to the neck. 

It's not the neatest, but I'm chuffed that I did it! Everyone has to start somewhere don't you agree?

I was determined to finish so I started at 9 ready to sew.

On to darts.

I found a great YouTube video just on Dottie Frock.

Next French seams with the help of Howcast

My final tutorial was for the bias hemming which Sewing Lara explained.

Here is the finished dress after 9 hours work.

Trip down south.

Took a trip to Teignmouth, how I've missed the sea it was so good to hear the waves and see the people enjoying it.

Day two we headed to Percy Fabrics and Haberdashery. The shop was full of a huge selection of fabric and a book of McCall patterns.  I was so excited to be able to pick up a pattern that will make some really comfy long and shorter length trousers and a nice summer top pattern.  I also choice some lovely Linen fabric to be able to make them with.

Then for the afternoon we managed to get into a Killerton National Trust property with advanced booking the night before.

We only had two hours which was not really long enough, but it was still beautiful place to visit.

The gardens were stunning and they had the most brilliant information board telling you what the plants were.

We made time for a little knitting with an amazing view!

Day three went to the best nursery I have ever visited.  Hill House Nursery

It has the most incredible area to look around.

Be warned loads of flower images.!

Within the nursery they also had an area where you could go and pick your own cut flowers.

Then to top it off we stopped for a cuppa and the biggest slice of cake I've seen!

We came away with the most beautiful aray of plants.

I hope you have enjoyed my visual diary as much as I have in sharing it.

Until next time.

Stan's second sleepover

The weather here in the UK has changed from super hot to lots of rain.

So for our second outing in Stan we were very lucky that it was sunny and dry.

We headed firstly to Carsington Water.  It has a walk around the whole reservoir which is 7 miles. You can do various activities out on the water including fishing and sailing.

Some fun facts.... At it's deepest it is 31 mtrs deep, the height of 7 double decker buses.  The surface are is 300 hectares or 700 football pitches could fit on the surface.  7000800 million gallons of water can be held at the maximum capacity.  It is the 9th largest reservoir in the UK.

Once we had walked we headed back to Stan for a cuppa and cake.

After we refuelled we headed to Foston and 

Hay Lane Campsite. A lovely quiet location. Due to Covird-19 not all the facilities were available, but we had hook up electric and drinking water available so that was fine.

  

It was the perfect spot to work on my new shawl and for Na to cast on some socks.

The next day we headed to Lichfield.  It is the first time I had ever been here, what a beautiful city.  Sadly the Cathedral was closed due to the virus but I still managed to take some shots of the city.

If you've enjoyed the blog, do let me know in the comments below.

Until next time.