Happy New Year!

I trust you all made the most of the holidays and having done so, are now (like me) ready for things to get back to normal.

I have been looking back at last year’s resolutions and am pleased to say that I have (for the most part) kept them.

I could do more exercise and I still haven’t learnt the piano, but I have knitted socks, made edible toffee and joined a book club; so I’m calling 2008 a success.

And I’m very pleased to say that Henry is still wearing odd socks every chance he gets.

I’m not making resolutions this year. So there.  

My only achievement over the holidays has been to finish my red dress.

And boy, am I glad I have.

The combination of a vintage pattern (with some 80 steps to follow), the silky, slippery fabric and complicated shaping made this dress a real challenge. 

The dress is very different to anything we would buy today, with it’s high neckline, shoulder pads and gathers around the waist. 

But, I guess I could have worked that out before spending a year making it…

What I love about the dress, however, is how it makes me feel.

The dress is rather demure and feminine, and makes me want to be extremely well groomed, refined and elegant.

In fact, the red dress has already made me paint my nails.

If I were feeling very brave (and believed for a moment that I could actually make them) I would order this fantastic vintage Vogue pattern and make one to wear with my red dress.

Why aren’t we all elegant and feminine and glamorous anymore? Well, maybe you are. But I dress pretty much like my sons: jeans and a t shirt.

Actually, maybe I will make a resolution.

In 2009 I resolve to be better turned out; in fact, I’m going to pronk.

Yes, I will ‘pronk’ my wardrobe and ‘hygge‘ everything else.

I have been encouraging the boys to make some presents too.

So out came the cook books and after some consideration (arguing) they decided to make these:

ridiculously sweet but fantastic fun to make.

Here’s the recipe.

And just for the record, I couldn’t find any corn syrup over here (not even in Waitrose!) so used golden syrup instead and all was well.

Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas.

Thanks for your company and encouragment this year, it’s meant a lot to me.

See you bright and early in 2009!

I made the Linnet bag in a lovely brown tweed fabric which my friend gave me.

I am sure the recipient will love the fabric and she will also be kind enough to ignore the interesting state of the circular base (which is smooth in some areas and slightly less so in others).

And because she also happens to be a doting Nana I have embroidered one of Henry’s fantastic dinosaurs on to it.

I just love childrens’ drawings, don’t you? 

I have been embroidering Joe’s drawings for ages now and am so glad that Henry is really, really drawing now too.

So as the pattern and the fabric were free, the bag literally cost me nothing.

Worthless.

But, we know it isn’t don’t we?

Look what arrived today from a vineyard in the south of France:

a sweet little purse. I love it.

I will use it everyday from now on, thanks Julia.

There is still time for you to win too, go and pay Julia a visit and try your luck as I did.

I stayed up very late last night, working on my first Linnet bag.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it is a lovely shaped bag,

but it has a circular base and tapered sides and lining

and it was way past midnight

and I found it all rather challenging.

Challenging as in, I had to unpick it three times.

So, on reflection (and in a rare act of self- preservation) I have decided to only make one Linnet bag and the other ‘planned bag recipients’ will just have to make do with two rectangles sewn together!

Another Christmas present completed! 

Now I just have three of these Linnet bags to make and I’m done.

Well, almost.

Anyone remember my red dress? You know, the one that was going to be finished for last Christmas?

Well, I’d really like to get it finished in time for this year. Famous last words?

And, I finally baked our Christmas cake today, which will be decorated the same as last year.

The recipe suggests leaving the cake to mature for at least three weeks before icing.

We will clearly be eating very immature cake this year.

I’ve been slowly chipping away at the homemade Christmas presents list.

But, I still have an awful long way to go,

and only 4 days left until school breaks up…

but let’s not think about that!

I thought I’d show you my embroidered hankies.

They’re for all the men in my life with runny noses and school boy senses of humour:

And I seem to know several.

I think hand embroidery would look great on these, in a traditional, flowing type of font

but clearly I have no time left for such things. 

I stitched them with my sewing machine (set up for free motion quilting) and used a stitch and tear film to help stabilise the fabric.

The phrases were readily supplied by my oh, so charming boys.

And believe me, they had much worse suggestions!

Well, I never said I was making classy presents.

Today was the day to Christmas-ify the house.

We always wait until December is in double numbers.

The boys and I got carried away making leias from magazines (except ours are obviously garlands). The hall is fairly dripping in them now.

There is something particularly pleasing about getting well thumbed (and then cut into for the scrapbook) magazines out of the recyling bin because you’ve found another crafty use for them!

Excuse the photo; it’s awful, I know.

But everything is grey and damp here in England.

My friend Dave is spitting feathers if he is reading this because he keeps telling me to get a tripod so I can take photos with a longer exposure time which will help solve the ‘everything is too murky’ problem and I clearly still haven’t listened to him.

Sorry Dave.

I keep a sketchbook. 

Always have done.

They’re never full of beautiful sketches and paintings though, I often wish they were.

But I don’t seem to work like that.

A hurried sketch, a scrap of fabric, a list. That’s what they’re like.

Anyway, they’re essential and this is my latest.

Inspired by Jessie Chorley and her altered books.

I took this with me to the ‘Market Square, Newbury Quilters’ and un-intentionally caused quite a stir:

one lady was a serious book collector and was frankly horrified that I’d defaced a book. And also because another lady was good friends with the author’s wife and wondered why I had chosen his particular book to deface… whoops!

anyway, I think these books are a great idea.

They’re fun, useful and cheap to make (a hot glue gun is helpful though) and can be really personalised. 

They can be photo albums, recipe books, address books….

surely, there must be people on my Christmas list who’d like one of these?

The way things are going round here, everyone will be getting an old book with a button glued on it or a bent record.

PS. We finally made it to tea at our new friend’s house, and had a lovely time! So, so pleased about that.

We always read the paper

(well, I read the glossy bits and he reads the sports pages)

over a pot of coffee.

Whilst wondering how long the peace and quiet will last.

In my experience, it never lasts quite long enough.

But, the coffee is staying warmer at least.

Thanks to Melissa’s tutorial. 

Our house is rather chilly.

And getting into bed between icy cold sheets is not nice at all.

So, hotties have been made from an old wool blanket.

I got the idea for the homemade variety here.

Now, our beds are warm and we drift off cuddling (and smelling) hot brown rice.

Well, actually I smell hot brown rice and lavender oil.

P.S. You may want to visit Julia (v. talented illustrator) and play her Advent calender game for a chance to win a homemade gift everyday.