A change of heart....

Well summer holidays are upon us, mums , dads and grandparents too are crazily planning activities and outings to keep the young ones entertained. As one blogger I have just read quite rightly stated, it would be very difficult to limit the amount of time  the children  sit at computers and play on other gadgets if we don't do the same so I am using my evenings to catch up on blogging and sewing etc so that I can enjoy this glorious weather with them out and about.
It's funny how limiting your time seems to inspire you to greater activity, at least it does me, and I have done more sewing and crafting in the past week than I have for ages.
 Do you remember my attempt at the Collette Sorbetto top. I wasn't very impressed at first. The amount of alterations I had to make to the pattern somehow spoiled the feel of the finished top. However not one to give up and believing that it did have some redeeming features like the bias bound neck and absence of any fastenings, I decided to have another go. Since I stopped making my slippers to sell, I have boxes of lightweight cottons which would have been used for linings, going to waste. Some of these are very pretty and crying out to be made into something wearable. In the end I chose this chocolate spot fabric as I had quite a bit, so it wouldn't matter too much if I messed up. Luckily I was easily able I recreate the pattern in my own proper size, and even had enough fabric to make a simple skirt. For the skirt I used a New Look pattern 6051 which has a super collarless zip up jacket and trousers too.

 Though it must be a bit ancient, as I cant seem to trace this version at all on the internet! Must make sure I hang onto this one.

I love the contrast fabric  used as bias binding and continued the theme by making the waist binding and ties for the skirt from the same fabric.
Not bad out of 1.5 metres of main fabric and .5 metre of contrast for the binding. So all in all I think the top pattern will get well used after all, and of course it was free!

I've also made a few more pieces of recycled collage jewellery. This is a new venture for me and I'm still finding my feet and though it will never replace sewing, it is something I would like to continue with and develop. I' m also pretty proud of the necklace stands I've made out of cardboard and fabric scraps . I found the tutorial at 'Cut out and Keep' but cant seem to find it now. There is another one here though and it makes photographing and displaying them so much easier.

Next I repainted a Lloyd loom style chair in duck egg blue and recovered the seat in a pretty patchwork of duck egg blue and bright pink. I'm quite pleased with the result especially the colour combination.Shame the squares didn't quite line up, but it is supposed to be rustic looking !

My final project this week is a cushion cover made from 1950s curtain fabric finished off with a cute mini Pom Pom braid which will be up for sale in our pop up shop.

So a busy week crafting and sewing as well as looking after our gorgeous grandsons!
Sometimes a girl can have altogether too much fun!

Hope yours is half as good

TTFN

Jenny xx