Amy Butler Chelsea Handbag

I've had my eye on this Amy Butler handbag pattern for about a year now. I bought it with some birthday money, and today I set aside time to make it! 

I've had some fat quarters hanging around for a while, and they just about covered the pattern. I ran out of material to cover the false bottom of the bag, but as this sits inside and isn't really seen I'm not too bothered.  

This is the reverse. I didn't bother making it symmetrical; I quite like it being slightly off. But anyway, this was mainly a trial run.

It was fun to make! And will probably be used as a knitting bag. 

Today I...

Went to the Turkish Cafe in Norwich with Katy and Leanne. We had Turkish Tea (above) and Turkish pizza!

And I baked Chocolate Orange Cake for work, which went down very well. The colleague whose turn it was to 'Shake and Bake' this week hadn't been told it was her turn! and she was on holiday today, so I quickly re-jigged the rota and relied on this least-fuss-maximum-pleasure cake. 

Finishing an Unfinished Project

I finally finished my tweed skirt last night. I used Amy Butler's A-line skirt pattern, but actually had to adjust it a fair bit as the material was too heavy to sit in such a flared shape. I shaved quite a bit off the sides! particularly the bottom. Anyway, I'm pleased with it now and I think it'll look lovely with coordinating jumper and tights.

I've been feeling irritated by the amount of unfinished projects I have hanging around. I wasn't quite in the mood for sewing last night but I was determined to clear them all until I am only working on one thing.

My current unfinished projects are:

• Kaffe Fassett daisy green skirt (lining to cut out and attach)
• Ikea Sew Easy dress pattern (material cut out, just needs to be sewn together)
• Amy Butler Chelsea Handbag (new pattern, all to be done)
• Sarah Dallas long-sleeved TV jumper (one sleeve to knit, then to be sewn together)
• Red and White Norwegian mittens (2nd mitten and two thumbs to be knitted)
• Green and purple jumper from Rowan magazine (barely begun, no enthusiasm to finish)
• Red and purple loop jumper from Rowan magazine (front only to be finished, then sewn together)
• Yellow bed socks with red beads (one knitted, one to knit!)

So you see, there is a LOT to be done. These have all been started and left over the course of 3-4 years! And as I'm on a money-saving mission what better reason to work on what I have instead of buying new wool or material?

The only new thing I shall buy is wool to make my new winter accessories. My work colleagues gave me a John Lewis voucher for my birthday so I'll use that to buy most of the wool needed. I can't wait to finish everything I've started

Peas, Potatoes, Garlic, Onions, Lettuce, Tomatoes, and a Cat!

Meg was outside sunbathing this morning, so I went out with my camera to try to get a photo of her in amongst the plants. And ended up photographing the progress of my vegetables as well.

The peas are doing much better than I expected.

As is the lettuce. The only thing I'm not sure is - is it ready to eat now?

The rest of the gang: potatoes, garlic and onions.

Tomatoes, courgette - and cat!

Hagos is off to Brighton for a gig today. I'm planning to finish off a couple of sewing projects, make some late Christmas presents for friends that are visiting on Monday, and watch my current TV indulgence - Over the Rainbow. I would never had thought to watch such a programme, but I saw the first one when I was at my parents' visiting, and I find it interesting seeing people working hard towards their dream. 

A Jumper and Thinking Ahead

I am so close to finishing my long-sleeved TV jumper. Only one more sleeve to knit! Even though it's 4-ply it hasn't taken me long at all. If I hadn't had all the other projects that I made in the meantime it would've been finished months ago. 

I'm already thinking about the next long-sleeved TV jumper (black with red stripes; or red with midnight blue stripes?) and also about my winter accessories for this year: hat, mittens and scarf. I make myself new winter accessories every two years. They always match my winter coat. And this year I have two new winter coats, both from Boden.

 

I bought the above coat (which is a deeper colour than in the photo - more like a redwood) a couple of years ago at a Boden sale in Norwich. And I bought the coat below in last winter's Boden online sale. I never buy Boden full price - it's just too expensive, but their sales are good.

So, I've decided to have the main colour of my winter accessories as orange/spicy ginger, and the contrast colour a violet purple. That way they'll match both coats (I don't want to knit two sets of hats, scarves and mittens!) and the colours themselves will be very warming and cheerful.

That's a LOT of knitting to come!

Progress

My work colleagues bought me the Kaffe Fassett material above two years ago for my birthday. I cut out the pattern straight away, and the lining, and it has hung on my shelf unit in my kitchen ever since, waiting to be sewn together!

I think the reason I hadn't finished the green skirt, was because this other Kaffe Fassett skirt was also hanging on my kitchen shelf unit waiting to be finished. This purple skirt was ostensibly finished. I just had to sew the lining to the zip, the rest was done. Except, I wasn't happy with the way the zip lay alonside the back seam. There was a little kink.

I've written before about how much I love this material. I think I bought it with birthday money my sister gave me a few years ago, and I love it because it reminds me of the hydrangeas that grew in my granny's garden when I was a child. So, I knew that I wouldn't be happy with this skirt unless I fixed the zip/seam problem at the back, which for months (years) I thought it meant I would have to unpick the whole skirt and sew it together again.

It was only during my four days off a couple of weeks ago, that I had the brainwave to unpick the back seam and unpick a little bit of the hem, and just realign that. If you're still following me, it worked! The hydrangea skirt was completely fixed in half an hour, and I could go on to my green daisy skirt.

I have decided to finish most of my unfinished stuff before starting on any new items, except perhaps to allow myself to make my new Amy Butler bag pattern, which I also bought with birthday money :)