Little and Large

There have been a few little people arriving in my life lately. To welcome one such lady to the world, and celebrate her dad's moving in to his third decade, I made these two. 

More knitting plans are underway, but I also have some sewing ideas afoot. It all started when I browsed some old patchwork books and made a trip to Cowslip Workshops. Watch this space....

Three years later....

Over the past few years there have been some big changes to my job, location and marital status. It's been incredible and I've enjoyed it with old friends and new, but I thought that it might be time to dust off this old blog, and share some bits of life. 

In keeping with old posts, here's a little look at some of the handmade and homegrown elements of our wedding day. 

Photography by John Miles.

Invitations and menus designed and letter pressed by the wonderful James.

Homegrown herbs mixed with other beautiful seasonal flowers for the bouquets and the jam jars on tables.

Rose petal confetti - grown and dried at home.

Our tables, all mapped out on Dartmoor.

Homemade peppermint cream hearts were hidden inside the favour bags. I bought the fabric from Cowslip Workshops and sewed for days on end! I enlisted the help of Jo for her beautiful handwriting on the tags, then printed them with old bicycle plates found on the internet.

The boozy fruit cake made by Mama Brown was decorated with more seasonal flowers and herbs, and wrapped in ribbon from VVRouleaux.

When we sent out invitations we asked for pictures on the postcards that our guests replied with. We displayed these in books made by Liz Brown.

I loved all the making, baking, growing, laughing, eating, drinking, singing and dancing that went into our wedding, it made it ours. And at the end of it, there was just one thing that mattered...

.

Make-do and Mend

I recently decided to have a clear-out of clothes that no longer fit or have fallen apart. I came to the realisation that far too many items bought incredibly cheaply from high street chains have either stretched or gained multiple holes. In addition, most of these are likely to have dubious ethical standards.
This wasn't really a huge revelation, more of an awakening and a decision not to settle for low quality garments that have cost someone else so much more than it's cost me in money.

So, after my clear-out, with the old clothes that were too beyond repair to go to the charity shop, I was inspired by stitchface's story to make something recycled.

This is what, or who I should say, I made from some stripey shorts. A bit jazzy for me to wear, but looks good on Bear.

Of course it's not just clothes that this applies to. I've been avidly watching 'Homemade Homes' on Channel 4.

Firstly because it's set in Devon and I wanted to spot Jo Colwill on it, but also because I like the ethos behind hand making your own home with things that last rather than filling it with throw-away flat-pack.




Sometimes this is easier said than done, but I'd like to take up the challenge!

Rabbit and Goose

I've spent a great couple of weeks in Devon. I've managed to sail, surf and get out on the moors, as well as catching up with a few old faces, and going to a very beautiful wedding. I'll add a few of the photos to my flickr.

I also had time to make these guys. I used some nice linen fabrics and had fun making them.