stylish dress book 'B' in Nani Iro

After coming across this pattern again and again on flickr and sewing sites I finally got hold of the pattern book it features in and made myself one. It's pattern B from Stylish Dress Book. A loose blouse with gathering around the neck. The sleeves are in two pieces with gathering at the middle and an elasticated cuff. I assumed the book would be in Japanese like other ones I have, but was pleasantly surprised to find it was in English.  That saved a lot of head scratching and poring over a translation sheet. Still, with these Japanese sewing books you have to remember to add seam allowances and when tracing out the pattern for the lower sleeve, remember to add an extra 10cm to the width for the gathering. 

I bought this fabric last year and was waiting for the right project. It's Peaceful Cooing by Nani Iro and it's a double gauze (two pieces of gauze like fabric invisibly stitched together). It's very soft and warm... would make a beautiful quilt. 

I'm sure I'll be making this pattern again and again (and many others from the book). Next time though, I'll make the next size up (size 12) as it's a little tight round the shoulders, and I'll extend the sleeves two or three inches. 

The first bit of sun we've seen in weeks today. Still freezing on the beach, so a very brief photo shoot! I surreptitiously snapped off some beautiful greengage blossom on our walk and brought it back to the house. Spring is here!

a jacket for Nancy Boy

In a previous post I wrote about the cardigan I was knitting for the birth of my friend's imminent baby girl. I was swapping it for some timber he had going spare. They had picked out the name Nancy for her and had gathered a pile of lovely clothes and nursery things. Well, a healthy bouncing baby was born, but shock of shocks it was a boy! I wonder how often that happens?! The green and pink cardi was just not quite right, so I made this lovely kimono-style jacket instead.

The pattern is called Temari and is from the Scrumptious Baby Collection book by Fyberspates. Lots of other lovely patterns in there to knit too. The yarn is Austermann Merino 60.

It took them a couple of weeks to come up with the name Eben. He's ever so sweet and incredibly good natured.

a cathartic start to 2013

A workshop clear out involving a hammer is a good way to start the year. I had some disastrous firings  just before Christmas and it was depressing to see the evidence sat there in front of me. Nothing like the satisfying tinkle of porcelain shards to clear the head!

Why my glazes came out so terribly I'm still not sure.

Any ceramic people reading this please help... I was expecting the following glaze to be white/transparent. Why did it come out brown?

1260 degrees centigrade, 30 min soak, oxidation

Potash Feldspar   34
Talc   22
Whiting   12
China Clay   15
Quartz   16

another burda liberty dress

Such a good pattern this one (Burda 9503). I just finished this second version. The first can be found here. The fabric is some Liberty stretch cotton that I bought from the amazing Fabrics Galore shop. It's a little thicker than the Tana Lawn and stretches across the grain. If you ignore the fact that I sewed the sleeves on to the wrong sides it's a pretty good job.

tote bag

Merry Christmas everyone! I can reveal a couple of things I made as presents now that they've been given. I got this lovely fabric from The Sewing Shop in Canterbury with an idea to make a few gifts. Always less guilt felt buying yet more fabric when altruism is involved!

I made two reversible tote bags with some linen on the other side. A made up pattern heavily influenced by the lovely makesomething blog and flickr site, and by Hiroko's beautiful embroidered bags.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everybody. Hope you have a wonderful festive season. 

Windy Winterland

Windy Winterland is this Friday. If you are in the Whitstable area, come along to Windy Corner for a festive Christams Market. It was so much fun last year!