Salme T-shirt…

This has to be one of the simplest and most satisfying makes ever! Once I'd downloaded the pattern, printed it out, and taped the sheets together, my Salme t-shirt took roughly 4 hours to make. It would have been quicker but I added top stitching and used French seams instead of bog standard ones. I found a beautiful, end of line, poplin in Fabrics Galore that Paul Smith used a season or so ago for his men's shirts. It's wonderfully crisp, so will probably crease like mad if I so much as breathe heavily while wearing it, but I couldn't resist the colour! The pattern actually recommends fluid fabrics, and so, because this poplin doesn't have the drape of a silk or jersey, I made a boxier version of the t-shirt with longer sleeves and only three pleats which has resulted in a smart rather than casual top. I'm happy with the result though, but next time (I foresee at least two more of these in my wardrobe)  I'll stick religiously to the pattern–five pleats and seriously slouchy. Not sure if I'm quite brave enough to go for the transparent look shown on the website, perhaps a very light knit would be more dignified–I'll leave flesh-flashing to toned twenty-somethings!

Elizabeth,
x.

Lucky me!

Apart from crawling from one shady spot to the next, the last week has been spent, slowly working on my white quilt. All the hexagons are sewn together, and I've almost finished the 'barnacle' block which I'm outlining with strips of folded fabric to form ruffles around the main cluster of barnacles.

The ruffles make this barnacle
look almost rose like.

The EPP is complete.

I've made a start on another block: this one features kantha embroidery, and the tiniest bit of mola reverse applique – just a central velvet circle, surrounded by a larger silk circle, which sits on a raw edge linen circle (it's quite gauzy, so conveys the translucence I'm after). The subject is a couple of dandelion seed heads. So far, I've partially completed the first seed head, and I'm really trying to resist the urge to include some pale green for the stem – this is after all, meant to be a white quilt! I couldn't resist adding a halo of tiny gold beads however, so perhaps that's enough deviation from the main colour theme?

A nearly dandelion, and, patches
ready for sewing together.

Cutting the squares and rectangles that will form the main patchwork is taking much longer than I thought it would – there are so many of them – next time, I'll make bigger patches! But a totally unexpected, and very generous gift, from Kate, has got me itching to put my rotary cutter to work. Kate gave me a super pile of unwanted antique linens, including this gorgeous baby dress. Part of me thinks it's a crime to cut them up, but if the alternative, is for them to never see the light of day, then surely it's better they are used, rather than hidden in a stash box?

So pretty!

Look at the detail,
all done by hand too!

As if all this beautiful linen wasn't enough, Kate also gave me this fabulous indigo dyed fabric! I'm not yet absolutely sure what to do with it, but there's certainly enough to make a very striking pair of ceiling to floor curtains.

Now my friend may have a fabric stash to rival that of Liberty's, but this really is quite generous, don't you think? In fact, if it wasn't for the weather, I could almost believe it's Christmas.

Elizabeth,
x.

Liberty Lawn and a new Summer Dress

Typical: I decide to make a Summer dress, and almost immediately, the sun hides behind a big fat grey cloud! Well, the forecast may be for wind, rain, and a drop in temperature, but I'm damn well going to make that dress–although I'll probably end up wearing it with tights and boots.

I'll be making the Bebe dress by Serendipity, which has (to my mind) a beautiful shape: flattering, and modest but not too stuffy either. As much as I love Colette patterns (and the trend for retro styling in general), I sometimes feel they are a little too cute and girly, best suited to those with racing snake hips and no more than a B cup bust. I also think there comes a point in a woman's wardrobe (round about the age of 35, depending on shape and size) when you have to ask yourself 'will I look like Bette Davis in Who Killed Baby Jane, if I wear polka dots/Peter Pan collars/Mary Jane shoes/hairbands? In my case, the answer is a resounding "YES", although I have to admit to owning two Peter Pan collar tops, but they are very grown up, very sombre, very navy blue.

Does it suit me?

Back to the dress: I'll be making the longer version with puffy sleeves. My colour palette will be predictably restrained–all those clashing prints are a bit too 'court jester' for me, and I really don't understand the appeal of making a dress from quilting cottons. For the skirt and bodice I'm using a chambray, while for the sleeves and under bust trim, I'll use this Liberty Lawn, which I've completely fallen in love with. Liberty Lawn is something of a revelation to me, I've read plenty of blogs where others extoll its virtues–softness, lightness, a luxurious touch and fabulous drape–but I simply wasn't attracted to it. But this fabric is a total winner: it doesn't scream 'Liberty' print, it just suggests a subtle, almost batik pattern to me.

I haven't put scissors to cloth yet, so would love to know what you think. Will I run the risk of looking as if I've raided an overgrown child's wardrobe, or is this, as I hope, a dress for a grown woman?

Elizabeth,
x.

Show and tell

As a teenager living in North London, Ally Pally used to be  where we'd all slope off to for cigarettes, cider and snogging, not knitting needles and yarn-they were for grannies! Well I might not be a granny, but I seem to have gone straight from punk to young fogey, to older fogey and Alexandra Palace is now an annual shopping destination for fat quarters and luxury yarn.

I picked up some lovely tweeds at Jamieson's of Shetland, plus some Japanese fabric, linens and warm, slubby fat quarters at Sew Enchanting, which surprisingly, aren't shown on their website. I have to confess that I am drawn to texture rather than colour and sometimes find stands that look like a blizzard of print a little confusing. I prefer the statement that simpler fabrics make. Don't get me wrong, I genuinely admire the skill it takes to combine a lavish use of print while retaining the impact of a patchwork block, but it is not something I feel comfortable doing. Besides, why gild a lily? But perhaps my real reason for developing this aesthetic is that stands selling Liberty prints, and pretty florals, always seem to be the most crowded. Being a bit of a shorty, I dislike crowds and find the inevitable wrestling match it takes to fight my way through bags, elbows and bodies towards a potentially interesting fat quarter too much effort. There's a lot to be said for internet shopping!

Although I enjoyed the show, I couldn't summon up quite the level of enthusiasm for it as I have in previous years. I suspect it's because the Festival of Quilts was so impressive, that this year's Knit and Stitch show was slightly underwhelming by comparison. It might also have been because Patrick couldn't conceal his boredom as he traipsed around behind me.

I would like to point out here, that I didn't force Patrick to come along, he volunteered—looked up train timetables and everything! I asked him if he was quite sure that he wanted to tag along, and his reply was an adamant 'yes, of course!'. Yet, almost as soon as we were inside, Patrick adopted a pained expression (akin to that of a chastised puppy) and proceeded to ask 'can we go yet' every couple of minutes. Eventually, we agreed that he should wait by the coffee and muffin stand, while I made a quick tour of the show. On my return, I have never seen such a perfect picture of bored blokedom in my life, I wish I had had the presence of mind to take a photo so I could share it with you. Later, I caught Patrick exchanging sympathetic glances with another equally bored looking bloke. Was I sympathetic to their predicament? Not a snowflake's: let's just call it payback for a Summer spent watching endless sport.

When we left, I asked Patrick what he had thought of the show. With a look reminiscent of a hostage finally set free after years of captivity, he muttered something about 'hoardes of wombles' then led the way down the hill towards the nearest pub.

What a cruel indictment of my fellow crafters, but one that I fear may contain a grain of truth. Ouch!

Elizabeth,
x.

Friday fabric fix

Did I need them? Of course I didn't. But how could I resist? Quite simply, I couldn't. So, as is fast becoming my habit, a couple of Fridays ago, I brought five fabulous fat quarters from Creative Quilting. As well as enabling me to exploit a fancy for using the letter 'f' alliteratively, my latest fabric fix covers two other favourites: collecting crisp linens and a fondness for French toiles.

I didn't have any specific project in mind when I purchased it, but I've since found that linen combines beautifully with my beloved Japanese woven cloth. With Christmas not so very far away, this discovery gave me the perfect excuse to make a scissor pouch (such an ugly, nasty medical condition, sounding word!) and needle book to go with one of the pincushions I made recently.

I'll fill them with scissors, pins, needles and other sewing notions from Merchant and Mills whose range of products would entice even the most reluctant sewer to start stitching. When boxed, I'm hoping they'll make a suitable Christmas gift, but I can't say for who–that would spoil the surprise!

Farewell, for now!
Elizabeth,
x.

Turning Japanese

Well, my first visit to the Festival of Quilts more than lived up to expectations. Pauline Burbidge's central stand was awe-inspiring, and seeing her work close up, rather than in print really brought it to life. I particularly admire her more recent, limited use of colour (mainly black, white, grey and a bit of salmon pink) and casual use of hand stitching, whereby nothing is too perfectly neat and tickety boo. Her work is never confusing though. It's as if she has some magical control over chaos, managing to bring together abstraction, loose brushstrokes, fabric layering and random stitches into a cohesive whole that evokes the rural Scottish landscape in which she lives. I would have loved to take some photos of her stand and show them to you, but alas, photography was not permitted. So if anyone is unaware of Pauline's work, I highly recommend following the link above to find out a little more about her.

There were plenty of other fabulous quilts on show too. Naturally, traditional quilts are still popular but I was really taken by how many modern quilts there were on display combining unusual choices of fabrics and freestyle stitchery. My personal favourite was a smallish quilt made mainly from what appeared to be grey and beige upholstery linens and seat webbing, with just a single splash of red to add vibrancy to the piece. It reminded me of the sort of painting Alberto Burri might have once produced. Another interesting piece was a quilt made entirely from vintage table linen, somehow this managed to combine the best of both worlds, traditional and new. I could go on forever about how many quilts I fell in love with, or was inspired by, but since a picture is said to be worth a thousand words, here's a compilation showing a few favourite snippets.

As fascinating as it is however, looking at other people's work doesn't provide anything like the thrill that shopping for gorgeous fabrics can. Rather swottishly, I took along 'a little list' of all the things I wanted to buy, and all the stands that stocked them (I was, after all, a woman on a mission). I bought lots of beautiful silks from The Silk Route, and, some Valdani cotton perle from The Frame Workshop which I'm already using to make more Dorset Buttons. My star purchase though was enough Japanese woven cloth to last me… ooh, at least a few weeks. I first came across this wonderful fabric two or three years ago, when I brought a few pieces of it on ebay. Inevitably my stash soon ran out and I had to find a new source. (Reading this sentence back to myself sounds as if I'm some kind of addict. Sadly, it is true, my name is Elizabeth, and I am an addict–although thankfully my fix is nothing more dangerous than fabric). So I googled and poured over every fabric website I could in a quest to see if anyone else stocked my personal holy grail, until finally, just when I was beginning to think I had imagined Japanese woven cloth, I discovered Quilt Essential.

At first I couldn't see any Japanese woven fabrics on Quilt Essential's stand and had to ask where they were. To my surprise, they were not prominently on display but tucked away in a little box towards the back of Quilt Essential's stand. If you're wondering what on earth is so special about Japanese woven cloth, take a look at the pictures below. Which ever way you turn them, back of front, they are exquisite. The colours are just sublime: while at first glance, the word 'taupe' may spring to mind, the more you look at them, the more colours you see, this is particularly evident when you turn the fabrics over. Japanese woven cloth is also beautiful to handle and quilt with even though it looks as if it might be have been woven with suiting in mind. The only downside is that Japanese woven cloths are considerably more expensive than most fabrics, which is perhaps why so few people stock them.

Although these fabrics are available online I'm thinking of taking a trip to the shop. I might be able to persuade my husband to come too, since Quilt Essentials is based in Derbyshire, in Richard Arkwright's original mill yard, which is a world heritage site. If by any chance, the owner recognises me, it will probably be because I was the lady who virtually hyperventilated when I finally succeeded in my quest to find some Japanese woven cloth.

Elizabeth,
x.

PS: If you know of any other places that sell Japanese woven cloth online, please let me know!