~Vintage Buys~

Yesterday I popped along to the Festival of Vintage at York Racecourse which is now in it's 4th year. Admission for the day was £10 each; I didn't think it was as much as this last year.  It's a bit steep, but I suppose it is a festival-type event rather than a vintage fair. We didn't have much time so just had a quick look round the stalls only but you could easily spend the whole 2 days there if you participated in all the things on offer.
This little trailer caravan was parked outside...

...and was decked in just-my-cup-of tea 50s style...

I also loved this 50s kitchen roomset...

 

 

 

Some of the stalls were extremely pricey. I bought these Salter scales for £19 from a lovely couple who had reasonable priced stuff - the same scales were on a nearby stall for £38.



And I got this barkcloth curtain for £10 - just debating whether to make a skirt out of it, what do you think? There's enough for 2 cushions as well.

See you soon x

~New Look 6895 Ta-Da~

Sorry for the delay in finishing my top I started to sew last week here
I get easily distracted with my 'to do' list and have undercoated and glossed the spindles and handrails in the hall and landing as well as making a roman blind for Jack's room. Now I have a stinking head cold just in time for going away for a couple of days!
I had sewing machine issues too, bunching and breaking of thread and noisy sewing...Got my manual out, laid it on it's side and cleared the feed dogs of packed lint with a paperclip, needle change, tension adjustment...Running like a dream now - I felt like a mechanic and very pleased with myself!!
Here is the finished top...

I'm pleased with it though I made this one with the scoopier neck and I actually prefer the higher-neck version.



I left out the gathered sleeve band too and make straight capped sleeves. This photo gives a truer pic of the lovely fabric too...

 

And to finish off; a vintage button with a handsewn button loop.

It looks lovely with this White Stuff blazer I treated myself to with my Birthday money...

So tomorrow (with my Lemsip and tissues) I will be trotting off with Jack on a road trip to Bath.  As a big Jane Austen fan, or Jane-ite as my English teacher used to say, I am very excited. Not sure my son is, but we will have fun!

See you soon x

 

 



~Sewing in the hols~

Spurred along by Daisy's Sew-Along (click on the link opposite) and also the final of the Great British Sewing Bee on Tuesday, I've started a new sewing project...

 

It's New Look 6895, which is a multi-size pattern for 6 tops - I'm making view C, top right, which takes 1.5m of fabric.  It's got a gathered scoop neck, and gathered short sleeves.

I made another of these (view E) in 2012...

 

 

I'm using this navy soft cotton lawn, which I bought a few weeks ago for £5.99 a metre from the fantastic Fabworks millshop here in Dewsbury. It looks a bit faded in my photo, but it's a true navy.

Talking of the Sewing Bee; I did apply for this year and made it to the phone interviews but no further. *sad face*
That said, as I do my cutting out on the floor in a most unglamorous fashion, oofing when my knees hurt and I put my tongue out whilst concentrating - all these things would have not made easy viewing!
Here are my 4 pieces cut out, notches cut out and tailor-tacks done, all ready to start after tea. See how messy my sewing room is now you can see the untidy side! 
And now, Small Dog has just wondered in to have a look a la Claudia, Patrick and May just to check up on me...

I will return tomorrow with some progress (hopefully).

 

 





~My Sewing Room~

I'm always intrigued to have a peek at other's sewing rooms. Do you want to have a look at mine?  I only ask as I've had a tidy up!  I've done a bit of painting this weekend - painting the walls and ceiling white and I also bought 2 sample pots of Farrow and Ball Estate Emulsion in Calamine and Nancy's Blushes...

These sample pots are £3.95, and are a good way to experiment and paint furniture on a budget. Nancy's Blushes must be a new colour as it wasn't on my 2012 colour chart (which I look at for recreation!) I know lots of you love Annie Sloan paint, but I still like F&B and always get good results. Here are the pinks...

I painted the legs of my sewing table in Calamine and my Ikea storage drawers in Nancy's Blushes,
both had 2 coats then a coat of Colron Finishing wax...

So here is my sewing room now...this is the finished storage chest with my button tins and jars.  The vintage medicine tins have my darning needles in.

Tidy ribbon in a basket...velvet ribbon is my favourite trimming.

To the side of my trusty Janome sewing machine is my Cath Kidston pincushion toadstool which Laura bought me years ago.  The round pin tin was my Nana B's and the rose needle book was my Nana F's.

The crochet bunting was made by a friend. The pine shelves and table are Ikea from years ago - the table legs in Calamine look lovely now.  The piano stool is next for the pink treatment...

The spotty bags under the table are filled with fabric scraps I can't bear to throw away!

A pile of folded  fabric...

And some more fabric I've bought to make some new clothes.  I also found this Merchant & Mills pattern for a Madison Dress - totally forgot I had it; so that will be on my 'to do' list.  

This cute 'I love sewing' rack by Sass and Belle was a present from a friend and holds vintage Sylko wooden reels...and a random evening bag  :)

And from a different angle...

How long will I keep it tidy?

~Finished Play Quilt~

I thought I would share a few photos of my finished quilt with you.  I have made a few quilts before, mostly thrown together and not very planned.  I actually thought about this one! It's designed to be a play quilt, that can be thrown on the floor anywhere and will withstand regular machine washing.  It's also the right size to be a cot quilt or would be a lovely cover for little-people naps on the sofa.  It is for my brother's new baby due in July.  I did my research on the t'interweb regarding measurements and methods.  The finished quilt measures 31 inches (79cm) by 35 inches (89cm).

I wanted the fabrics to be suitable for boys or girls, and I like a random selection of fabrics. All the fabric was prewashed to minimise shrinkage and colour-run (I usually miss that stage out due to impatience!)  The back is a scarlet polycotton...

...which was cut 4cm bigger all round than the quilt front, enabling the excess to be pressed and folding over to form the binding.  I machine-sewed the binding and it's ok, quite neat and the mitred
corners are mitred-ish...

I had all the materials, apart from the backing polycotton, the light wadding and the red and blue retro floral fabric which repeats regularly (see left top and right bottom below).  This was from Sunday Nest haberdashery upstairs at Me and Mrs Fisher in York. Some of the fabrics are repurposed (the star fabric was once Laura's pyjamas)  vintage (below left)  and other scraps of fabric were given to me.

I found lots of useful advice here:   http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/p/tutorials.html

Hope you like it!

~It's a Cracker!~

I can't abide spending my money on things like Christmas Crackers, though the kids would fall out with me if I *bah humbug* didn't buy any.  Frugal solution follows...
Buy Tesco Value Crackers - 10 for the sum of 96p.  I couldn't buy the cardboard for that, so I thought I would use them as a starting point.

I bought 2 packs of cute chocolate Christmas puds from Co Op for £2  (I had more than enough so ate these ones that were left)

I carefully dismantled the cracker - they'd glued the cracker-snappy thing to the card so I snipped it and reglued it after generously filling the cracker with choccies...

I dispensed with the nasty plastic toy...

Added some vintage eiderdown fabric scraps, gingham ribbon and hearts...

Thrify crackers total cost £2.96

~Vintage Caravan fabric~

I'm so excited that my Spoonflower fabric has arrived! It's so cheery to come home from work to an unexpected parcel, even more so when Small Dog has resisted the urge to eat it as he does most letters.
Sally from Poppycock & Other Creative Nonsense wrote about her Vintage Caravan fabric samples from Spoonflower here and I popped straight over for a look.  I hadn't heard of Spoonflower before but highly recommend the service I received. I paid $18 for a yard of 42 inch wide fabric, plus $7 postage from the USA, and thankfully I didn't get stung with any additional customs charges. Yay! Here's my fabric prettily wrapped in tissue...

...and here is the fabric close-up.  I chose the brown background as I'm imagining using it as cushion front panels with natural linen/wool/tweed and mother of pearl button fastening on the reverse...

I see something different each time I look at it; fabulous ditsy prints, 1970s floral patterns and even more fabulous vintage caravan shapes that make me smile. Caravan ♥ Love is a beautiful thing!

~Sewing Room Tidy Up~

The messy state of the sewing room has been a bone of contention in our house for a while now.  It's always way down my list of things to do, though I admit it's a source of stress as it's where all the home paperwork is dumped filed, and I store my candles and made-up stock there too.  After some baking and picallilli-making this morning, I've made a start sorting fabric - as you know stroking and folding fabric is a favourite stress-busting pastime of mine - and I've put some aside to list on eBay tonight. There are some FQ's and wool skirt lengths and upholstery fabric, so if you fancy a look my eBay link is in my sidebar, username  lavender_attic. Here's a bit of tidy shelves...

Now, if I can stop getting sidetracked by discovering long-lost patterns, books and half-finished projects I will get it tidied!

~Finished projects & Knitting Book Giveaway~

The good thing about time off in the Summer is the opportunity to catch up on the myriad of unfinished sewing and craft projects.  I called into Me and Mrs Fisher for tea and yummy lemon drizzle cake last Friday, and was talking with one of the owners, Hannah, about how I feel I've lost my motivation and crafty mojo lately. It's all about time, priorities and opportunity... I have to say my first week off hasn't see me go far at all, but it means I have rediscovered my sewing machine (under the piles of stuff awaiting eBay listing, ironing and paperwork...)  So many projects I have got started - half- made dress, odd wristwarmers (all unfinished), hexagon patchwork, tea cosies as well as my dresser to finish painting...
Anyhow, I completed this name bunting for a friend to give as a Christening gift....

...using some Cath Kidston stone paisley, Ikea Rosali dot and Laura Ashley fabric.
I also repurposed a piece of hexagonal patchwork that I'd once used on a chair, to make this cushion which would be lovely in a caravan or VW Camper...

Then finally, my favourite thing...I bought this Liberty fabric ages ago; I absolutely love it and decided to have a go at a Summer top.  I used New Look pattern 6895, which features 6 tops with gathered necklines, bias binding trim, ruffles and fabric flowers (eeek!)  I am getting a bit braver and re-learning the proper way to do things.  I also used a vintage button and the  'Made with Love' ribbon, bought from Me and Mrs Fisher as a label...

Here's the finished article...I love it!

And for a crafty-mojo celebratory giveaway, I have this lovely book....
Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery
which has 35 patterns inspired by vintage fashion, with some lovely photographs.
All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment below by Sunday 12th August 12 midday, and for an extra entry,  please cut and paste my message -     Knitting Book Giveaway at Lavender Attic at http://lavenderattic.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/finished-projects-knitting-book-giveaway.html - Please let me know you have tweeted about my giveaway.
Many thanks and good luck!

~Recent projects~

This piece of vintage dress fabric from the local village charity shop for £1...

(A decent piece, about 3 yards long and gorgeous quality)
...Has been turned into this...

A vintage- inspired pretty dress! It fits really well, so I'll be making it in a few different fabrics.  I'd forgotten how much I loved dressmaking - I had my first sewing machine and made my own clothes from about age 14.  (How I remember the black cotton floor-length trenchcoat I made myself in 6th Form!) Anyway, I'm back on track, and have finally mastered a neat, covered and shaped side zip - yay!
I used this New Look Pattern which is really really easy.

As well as selling my homewares and vintage treasures locally, I have decided to have some items available via my blog.  This recently completed Rose tea cosy is for sale if you click on the 'Shop' tab in my menu bar.  I'll add selected items on a regular basis, some vintage treasures and some handmade items.

I used Louisa Harding Fleuris wool for the body, with oddments of cashmerino and double knitting for the roses and petals. Hope you like it!

~The Caravan~

Well, after a hectic weekend, Chateau H is parked on the drive! As novice caravan-towers, the way back from Bridlington was a white-knuckle ride to say the least, following (very) basic skills gleaned via YouTube and Caravan Club leaflets.  The caravan is actually very light as caravans go so it shouldn't be too difficult...
I spent yesterday afternoon blitzing it clean inside.  It's already a WIP - can you spot a bit of bunting in the back window?

My brain is now filled with thoughts of jockey wheels, leisure batteries, motor movers and how to empty the Thetford cassette toilet. Lots of exciting stuff to learn, hehe...
Son J and I slept out in it last night on the driveway. The ultimate staycation or what?

This is the bunting I've made a start on - lots of favourite vintage fabric scraps, including a 1970s pillowcase and some embroidered doilies...

Here's a peek of the dress I bought at the Festival of Vintage in York last week.  I'm still in the process of carefully mending some of the seams as it's quite worn in places. It's a stiff pure cotton fabric and I love the colours, the roses and the French newspaper and music design...

It wasn't a thrifty purchase I have to say, but I will treasure it, keep it forever, and, most importantly, wear it!