Avoidance...

Well, today I had intended to get down to the business of completing several sewing projects that I have on the go (including the giveaway item - coming soon - I promise!!). However, it would seem that the god/dess of sewing had other ideas. First the bobbin ran out of thread, then I ran out of white thread altogether after filling the bobbin. So I had to use a spool of pale pink thread instead. Sigh.

Then the machine started playing up and trying to eat the fabric I was sewing, before acting like the thread tension was all wrong and making everything pucker. And to top it off, the upper thread kept jumping around all over the place and not behaving itself. By this time I wasn't just sighing any more. So, after completely ruining a perfectly good piece of Laura Ashley fabric, I threw a sulk (rather than the machine), and went into the other room to read through the manual, to see if I could figure out why it was being so evil to me today.

Turns out that when I replaced the top thread, I put it on the spool thing the wrong way round, and so the thread wasn't feeding through to the needle correctly, and so was dislodging from the upper thread holder and just basically making a nuisance of itself. So I turned it around and to be fair it did look a lot happier.

But that wasn't all. While all this naughtiness with the top thread was going on, the bobbin had decided it wanted to join in, too, as I discovered when I took it out to inspect it. It had somehow managed to gather together a rather unsavory group of extra threads - all with many ends sticking out all over the place, and it also looked like it had at one point tried to hang itself, it was so tangled up in the mass of knotted threads. So I just started pulling ends out whenever I found them, until eventually there was just the recommended number of ends poking out of the bobbin feed hole, and everything looked nice and tidy again.

I tested that the machine was now working properly on the now ruined Laura Ashley fabric, and, once satisfied that I had done an excellent job of being sewing machine doctor, no longer felt the urge to sew. So instead, I did what we all do when faced with tasks we don't find appealling - I avoided it. I suddenly, and with great conviction, decided that it was desperately important that I press, fold and put away my fabric stash - in full - immediately. So that's what I did. I even found a nice little place for them on the bottom shelf of a kitchen cupboard (my sewing area is in a corner of our kitchen). It took me two hours to do completely (some of the pieces were pretty creased!), but I am very pleased with the result. And despite it being an avoidance activity, I do feel like I have achieved something today. And also, now Mr Deravelled is much less likely to notice if more fabric adds itself to the pile, seeing as it is now nicely tucked away under the tea towel shelf. And, as you can see in the photo, there's plenty of room for more! ;)

So tomorrow the Moomin and I are going to take a trip to our local indoor market to pick up some more white thread from the little fabric shop we like to frequent. Just the thread. Promise. Although, I do need some ribbon. And some broderie anglais to edge a skirt for the Moomin. And possibly just a smidge of fabric to make a little skirt for me.....

The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!!

Ok, this isn't my planned giveaway, but that of a very inspirational blogger, whose posts I love to read and be inspired by.

Such a beautiful blouse - and such a beautiful woman. :)

Happy Birthday to me!! And a giveaway coming up!!

Well, today I turn 28. I can't believe how fast life flies by. It doesn't seem five minutes ago I was sixteen and sat gazing out of the window in a geography lesson, wishing I was older and didn't have to go to school any more!! (I actually loved school, but geography was not my favourite subject!) Now look what's happened - it's twelve years later, and all that's changed is that I now sit at a desk in a mind numbing job, wishing I was back at school!! lol

I remember playing "Button Moon" with my friend Sally, at age six. I remember being one of the only kids at school one day, age eight, because the snow was so deep, and all the lessons being cancelled and having snowball fights all day (bliss!). I remember the tears I cried when we moved up to Yorkshire from South Wales when I was ten. I remember my first kiss at age eleven (it was awful!). I remember fearlessly walking two miles to my best friend's house, down a long and winding country road, on a regular basis (she lived on a farm), and thinking nothing of it, aged fourteen. I remember breaking my heart when my first serious boyfriend dumped me, age sixteen, and swearing off boys forever (ha ha!). And everything since then has gone by in a blur. Meeting Mr Deravelled; starting a new life with him in his home town, away from all my friends and family in mine; getting engaged; graduating from uni; planning our wedding, then that same weekend finding out I was pregnant with the Moomin (!); the Moomin being born six weeks early, and spending two very stressful weeks in hospital with her, praying that she would soon be well enough to come home; moving house; Mr Deravelled starting his own (still very successful)business; the Moomin's first birthday; falling in love all over again in New York City; the Moomin's second birthday; Mr Deravelled taking a 9-5 in Leeds; planning and booking our wedding in New York and having everyone who we wanted to be there being able to make it (thanks everyone!); and now here I am, sat typing this!

Wow, that was a very potted history of my life, with some ommissions for ease of reading, obviously!!

I have been pondering for a little while as to whether or not I should have a giveaway on my blog, to say thank you to everyone who takes the time to come and read my ramblings. And now it is my birthday I feel there is no better way to celebrate! So, in the next few days I will announce the first Deravelled giveaway of one of my creations. I am no professional by any stretch of the imagination, but if you fancy winning something homespun, keep your eyes peeled over the next few days. :) Now I need to find my camera......



ETA (10.30pm): The Moomin found my camera for me (clever Moomin!!), and so here is a photo of a slice of the gorgeous Victoria sponge that Mr Deravelled made me this evening for my birthday. What a sweetie! Of course, he DID use every mixing bowl and spoon we own to make it, and then left it all for me to clean up!! But we can't expect everything from our menfolk, can we? ;)

My first bag!

Well, after my last post, instead of going away and working on perfecting my doll pattern as planned, instead I decided to make a bag. Yes, a bag. The pattern is from Lotta Jansdotter's fabulous book, Simple Sewing, and I have to say, I'm really proud of my achievment. It took me about 4 hours, start to finish (the fabric cutting out process takes me ages!), and was loads of fun! The photo doesn't really do it justice, so I will explain all the bits. The fabric I used for the outside is a medium weight 100% cotton, snapped up in the current Laura Ashley sale, and is a lovely faded blue colour. The fabric I used for the lining is a cute floral polycotton fabric in baby pink, which I spotted at a fabric stall in my local indoor market (it was a steal, too!!). I used a bit of pale rose coloured velvet ribbon that I found in Hobbycraft to line the edge of the pocket on the front, and all in all, I think it looks pretty good for my first bag!

It's funny, because I didn't really enjoy doing sewing at school. I was always afraid of the sewing machines (after my teacher gave us the ubiquitous girl in previous year didn't look what she was doing and got the needle through her finger speech), and so kept away from them as much as possible. But my little sister had her own sewing machine from a very young age, and could knock up pretty much anything if she put her mind to it. But then last October, she asked me what I would like for Christmas. I had been admiring several Cath Kidston-esque quilts from afar, and so mentioned those to her as an option. However, knowing how tight money is at the moment for everyone, I suggested that she could make me a quilt instead of buying one, as it might save her a bit of money (and we all love something handmade with love, don't we?). She agreed (the darling!), and proceeded to keep me updated with visits to fabric shops etc.

I started wondering what I was missing, and the more I thought about it, the more I realised that I wanted to try this whole sewing malarky for myself. After all, I had managed to finally conquer knitting last summer (after a million and one failed attempts as a child - much to my mother's despair!!)so, maybe it was finally time for me to conquer my fear of getting a needle stuck through my finger (I actually haven't got rid of that fear, to be fair). I was already ok at hand sewing, but felt that the time was finally right to move on to bigger things. And by bigger things, I mean a sewing machine.

So when my mum asked me what I would like for Christmas, I knew immediately. Knowing nothing myself about the difference between a domestic machine and an overlocker, for example, I left the decision up to mum (she does indeed know best!), and so, on Christmas day, after an age of waiting, I was finally the proud owner of my very own shiny new scrummy yummy sewing machine!!



It is a Brother XL-5600, and I adore it!! It's a model that is now no longer made, but still fab, and I am enjoying getting to grips with it (especially figuring out what all the additional feet provided with it are for - only a couple of them are explained in the manual). Sorry there's no photo of my own machine, but my camera has gone AWOL, and Mr Deravelled's has just run out of battery (not that mysterious an occurence, seeing as the Moomin was playing with it last night!!).

Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I did promise to post about my Christmas pressies ;). Mr Deravelled got me a tax disc for my car (it's what I asked for!!), and, just to prove that he is quite romantic (and to balance out the whole tax disc thing) he bought me some gorgeous underwear from Figleaves.com. AND he picked my favourite colours. AND he got the right size!! Clever Mr Deravelled!! :)

Very sleepy now, and a photo of a doll

Just a quick post before I finally clamber into bed. The meal tonight was gorgeous, and it was wonderful to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a while. For Craig's birthday (he turned 29), I made him a "Craig Doll", which was dressed in a karate uniform, complete with black belt (Craig is a karate instructor). Evereyone loved the little doll, and were making it do all the karate moves across the table all evening. Here is a photo I took of it earlier.



It's not bad for a first attempt at making a doll. I designed the pattern for it myself, and just winged it with the little jacket and trousers. Although Craig told me this evening that I had tied the belt wrong!! But I don't do karate, so how was I to know? ;) I now have several requests to do mini versions of other people, so I'm going to see if I can perfect the little doll pattern over the next few days. I'll let you know how I get on. :)

Back to normal

Well, the tree and all the decorations came down on Monday evening, and have all been carefully packed away ready for next year. I can't believe the festive season is now well and truly over. It never lasts long enough for my liking!! However, as next Tuesday is my birthday, I have managed to get next week off from work, so things are looking up!!

Tonight we are going out for a curry for a friend's birthday, which I am looking forward to. And a year today me and Mr Deravelled finally get married (after a lot of false starts and cancellations!!), so I am now allowing myself to start to get a little bit excited. Yay!! We are getting married in Ladies Pavillion in Central Park, New York, and it's all booked up now. All that's left to sort is the bridesmaids dresses, Mr Deravelled and his Best Man's suits, the flowers, and the party for everyone who couldn't come to New York, for when we come back. We are also spending our honeymoon in New York, so will be there for a total of 12 nights!! We're hoping for snow (not so much that the whole city comes to a standstill - just enough for it to look good on the photos!)



Here is a photo of Ladies Pavillion in summer. Doesn't it look beautiful? :)

Happy New Year, Everyone!!

Just a super quick post before the Moomin steals the laptop to play her Mister Maker DVD on. I hope everyone had a very happy new year, and that it's turning brings you love, happiness, peace and plenty!!

I will post more later - including pressie pictures!! :D

x x