Claire July 20th, 2009

Those of you in the UK, and further afield for that matter, may have heard about the art project in Trafalger Square, on the Fourth plinth of Nelson’s Column. Our craft group Stitched Up have been approached by Hazel Ellerby, a local actress/ artist to help make a quilt t0 celebrate the women of the East Midlands. She’s asking for women to contribute a quilt square that passes on a message either about yourself, or what you would want to say to the world. The squares will be sewn into a qulit, exhibited following the plinth day (12th August) and then eventually taken apart to be sold for charity.

If you would like to take part, the quilt blocks need to be 12″ by 12″ making an eventual square of 10″, and they can be sent to Hazel at:

Hazel Ellerby, 17a Fisher lane Bingham Nottingham NG13 8BQ.

Don’t forget to pin a piece of paper to the back of your piece, with your name and a message to the world!

The rest of the quilt blocks that have been made so far are on the Stitched Up flickr pool page – have a look at the variety of lovely blocks people have made x

Tags: quilting

• crafts
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Claire July 10th, 2009

To my lovely new home.  It’s so nice here (wish my own real home was as easy to tidy up and decorate!!!) and I do hope you like it.  It’s quite a strange thing to have had it in my head for ages and then to see it all on screen in front of you.  It was a kind of “Oh, Hello there!” moment when I saw it, especially as it seemed to have a life of it’s own…

Things are so busy at the moment – teaching workshops in the evening and tomorrow is the first of my summer school classes, as well as trying to get everything done for a craft fair next weekend.  And dealing with a severe garden obsession.  I decided one of the things I needed to do to help lose weight was to not cabbage in front of the TV sewing and eating chocolate, but instead spend a couple of hours in the garden of an evening, battling with snails and slugs and Japanese Knotweed, trying to make a lovely garden to enjoy.  More on that later.

Anyway, welcome, and hopfully you have enjoyed your stay xoxo

PS, if any of you need a recommendation for website design, Vicky and Jez are people that I would wholeheartedly recommend!

Tags: garden, pinky and boo, work

• pinky and boo
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Claire June 25th, 2009

One….

Two – my first ripe strawberries…

Three…

Well I think I found more than one, two, three yesterday afternoon. Was feeling a bit out of sorts with myself, annoyed at a certain staff member making bitchy nasty comments about me, to me and behind my back (don’t worry – I have started keeping a diary of them so I can take out a grievance on her – just biding my time, or as my parents would have said, given them enough rope to hang themselves with!) and just MEH! Anyway, after being whisked out of the office and given a lift home by Vicky and Jez I decided to sit out in the garden and sort myself out.
My garden is a source of both delight and frustration for me. Delight that I have a secluded and pretty large outdoor space, frustration that the snails and slugs seem to devour anything pretty I plant within hours, that the weeds triple overnight (they never seem to get eaten by the snails though…) and a huge mess of a pile of chipped slate tiles. Goodness knows who decided it would be a good idea, but over time this blob shape has had foxes having a good old root round and pulling up the membrane underneath, and it’s covered in weeds. Planning to get rid of the slate (if anyone in the Nottinghamshire area would like some please feel free to email me and collect it!) and spread what I can’t get rid of around some of the rest of the garden, and then get some turf so it goes back to being grass again.
For all the frustration though, doing a bit of digging, putting some alpines I bought in the rockery around the pond, putting some more (so far slug un- munched) sweet peas in, was just he tonic. That and finding the first ripe strawberries, and my first (odd shaped) tomato on my plants.I then pulled one of the patio chairs under my Laburnum and enjoyed the sunshine. So a garden, the company of 2 cute (and slightly deranged) kitties did me rightly x

• furry things , home , nottingham
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Claire June 19th, 2009

For the last couple of weeks I have been dipping a (rather hesitant at first) toe into bobbin lace making. Sue who is one of the Stitched Up regulars is an incredibly talented lace maker, and brought along a spare pillow and bobbins and encouraged us to have a play. Now, when Sue does something she does it with such confidence that you could be forgiven in thinking that it’s easy. She even makes bobbin lace look easy. Now to be fair the way Sue explained it it wasn’t as complicated as I thought it was, as you only work on 4 bobbins at a time (get me – instant expert eh?)
Here’s my first piece – a sample of the different stitches. I did find myself talking to the bobbins for the order they go in (although it’s not the only thing I talk to to keep in line!). Sue then scared me by getting me to try out a pattern. Now I love the leaf thing in the middle, and the use of a different coloured thread makes things easier to see, but the edge, well I still don’t feel that confident that I know what I am doing when Sue isn’t on hand to talk me through it!
What has been good is that I haven’t had this level of enjoyment for something new in ages, and it is good to remember that. One of the nicest things when I have been teaching is that people are enthusiastic about the things I have been showing them on the course that I take for granted as I have been doing them for ages, like embroidery or sewing on a machine. It’s that excited, clap your hands together feeling you get when you try something new that I haven’t had for ages.
And now for something completely different – Pinky and Boo will soon be moving to a new home. I have had the domain Pinky and Boo for ages (over 2 years I believe….) and nothing has ever really been done with it, but now Vicky is sticking all the stuff that needs to be on there, and making it work as well as look pretty – I spent a lovely afternoon with her last weekend looking at fonts for the logo and pretty colours for the site, as well as what will go on it – it will be a home for the blog as well as having an e shop and other bits and bobs on it. Vicky‘s another one who makes things look easy… Anyway, more progress on that soon. Til then, here’s some gratuitous cute kitty shots xoxo

• crafts , furry things , lace , pinky and boo
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Claire June 10th, 2009

Hello!

Long time no see as my Dad would have said…. Reasons for absence range from being locked out of my email address and therefore all other sites that use the same login and password to changing computers, work and general “meh” feeling that I think I moaned about earlier.

Anyhoo, I thought I would pass on details of the courses I am teaching over the summer. The courses are all based at the Textile Workshop in Sherwood (a couple of miles out of Nottingham City Centre with tons of parking, and surrounded by charity shops….) and are organised by South Nottingham College. The 2 day courses all cost £32 for the two days, with most materials already provided for you, although some of them may ask you to contribute a couple of pounds if you need extra. All courses run from 10 til 4, with a lunch break.

Day 1 we will be having a play with various techniques for transferring designs to fabric, including crayons, transfer dyes, pens, photocopies, as well as shoving random bits and bobs through an ink jet printer like printable cotton, Aida and Vilene. A fun day that is a bit like playing, and getting messy!
Day 2 we will spend making an item or items out of your creations from the day before, whether an embellished picture, bag, purse…. the limit is your imagination! If this course fills up I will be offering more dates as it’s a popular course and we can’t have more than 6 or 7 in a group.

If you want to take part and have pictures/ photos you want to print, please bring these along with you on CD or USB stick.

A chance to refashion some of your/ your childrens’/ your partners’ clothes into something new – we all have plain tops, skirts, cardi’s etc that are perfectly fine, but maybe you are a tad bored with. Learn techniques such as applique, embroidery (hand and machine) as well as basic alterations to help fit. If you are a bit scissor happy then this is a constructive way of having some credit- crunch fashion help!

2 days of making yourself a handbag (or handbags if you are a super fast sewer!) and co-ordinating zip purse from a variety of patterns. Patterns will be copied at full size a available for you to take away. Materials such as interfacing, lining, zips and fasteners will be available for use, as well as some fabric, although we would strongly suggest you bring along your own fabric for the outer (some of the donated fabric we have is a bit dated rather than vintage…) – 1 metre would be sufficient. The Textile Workshop also stocks Moda and Amy Butler fabrics so you could treat yourself to some yummy fabric whilst you are there!

A 2 day course to help familiarise yourself with the basic functions of your sewing machine, including setting your machine up, selecting threads, feet and needles as appropriate, different stitches for different uses, putting in a zip (they really aren’t scary!), making a button hole as well as having a play with free machine embroidery. At the end of the 2 days you will have made either a cushion or a purse as well as an embroidered corsage. If you have your own machine and would like to bring it with you so you can learn on it, please feel free.

Day 1 we will be covering a variety of hand embroidery stitches, as well as covering all you need to know to get started – if you have ever tried a stitch and not “got” it, then this course is ideal for you, as well as being an ideal start to those considering my 20 week course in and embroidery starting in September! All materials will be provided for you including threads, hoops, and a variety f materials to embroider onto.
Day 2 we will be covering the basics of free machine embroidery, including using different threads for different effects, and how to combine both hand and machine embroidery. If you have your own machine and would like to learn on this feel free to bring it along with you.

In september I will be teaching more courses, either 15 or 20 week accredited courses – more details about these in the summer!

If you like the sound of the courses and want to book on to any of them, please contact Karen Taylor (course co-ordinator) at the Textile workshop on 07809 158606, or at the shop on 0115 9603337 and she will be happy to help. If any of you do book on, please let me know so I can put a face to the name! x

• clothing , crafts , embroidery , nottingham , sewing and crafting , teaching
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Claire April 14th, 2009

Back again after a break that ended up being far longer than I imagined. No real reason, just a general “meh” feeling I haven’t been able to shake off, combined with IT issues (something to do with blog surfing and then getting the blue screen of death…. RAM burning itself out…. do I sound like I know what I am going on about? If I do, I don’t…..)
Anyway, just cos I haven’t been active online (barely been able to check my emails each week let alone daily, so I really had disappeared off the radar) it doesn’t mean that I have been idle. Think I need to have a bit of a show and tell really.
I also recently started teaching 3 craft classes – 20 week hand embroidery course, a 15 week hand and machine embroidery course and a 20 week mixed crafts course, so I am happily settling into them. Have dates for 5 weekend courses through the summer school, and 3 evening classes starting in September. Craft fairs may have to take a back seat this year, although I have booked to do 5 in West Bridgford, which were consistently good/ at the least OK last year and I have new ideas for the stall. It’s also the time of year again when I am being made redundant – this time it’s the end of May, so job hunting time again. I love working in the Voluntary sector but the funding situation is starting to be a bit boring now – after 12 years of working I have never had longer than a 2 year contract. That’s getting a bit much as this is the 6th time I have been invited to “you’re being made redundant and we have no guarantees as to whether we’ll get more money in to continue with the project/ course/ service….” discussions. Moan over. I’ll find something else, I always do.

My plan is to be on my own domain soon, with the blog and shop all accessible and pretty. That’d mean me getting my act together, but watch this space!

Anyway, the first of the “show and tell”s for you – this dresser is solid pine, but had gone a really manky orange colour, but I can’t complain as it was free from a friend who was relocating from Nottingham to Sheffield, and simply didn‘t have the room in his small and incredibly minimalist flat…. David had suggested that I paint it dark brown, as we have a lot of dark wood furniture. Poor lad was given an “are you taking crazy pills” kind of look. I wanted cream and robins egg blue. So that’s what I got. Couple of coats of satin later and I am really happy with the result, especially as I think the colour helps show off the little nick nacks I have displayed.

I always wanted a dresser with loads of chickens on it, so although this is a small dresser at least I have 2 of my hens (anyone remember Bread?) and my 50′s cock- tail tray for starters.

Not to burn myself out too soon I will go, and now we have some decent light take some more pics of the other things I have been beavering away at recently behind the scenes, and be back soon xoxo

• stuff , stuff I made , thrifting , work
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Claire February 14th, 2009

I have meant to blog about these for a while now, but it wasn’t until I learned a new word yesterday that I remembered. Pinnilet – meaning a half apron or mini-pinny. Love it! Not sure what score you would get at scrable with that one, but nevermind!
I have uploaded some of my aprons to Flickr – if you want to see some more, go and pop over there.

This is a detail of one of the first aprons I was given – a lovely birthday present from my best friend Rach. Daren’t cook much in it in case I stain it!

I love this one – it’s plastic and quite discoloured on the trim, no matter how much I have washed it. But the poodles….. got to love them!

I actually thought this was a bit of fabric, and was quite prepared to cut it up, then saw how nice it was and couldn’t, despite the fact that I am too tall for most of the full length aprons I have – the waist ends up being rather empire line…

I love this fabric, and the pointy hem, and huge pockets!

Another pretty one, and I think the nicest thing is the amount of flare it has.

Pretty Geisha pockets on one I found for 50p….

And my favourite – love the window boxes on the pockets, and it’s so comfy with a long tie at the waist.

I don’t care if people laugh at me when I wear them – when they’re as nice as this, and protect your clothes, with pockets to carry round little bits, who cares! xoxo

• clothing
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Claire February 2nd, 2009

In case you hadn’t noticed…. It always amuses me that in the UK we grind to a halt at the few flakes we have, yet other countries that regularly have now, just deal with it. I did feel excited though when I opened the curtains in the front bedroom to see this.

Certainly makes the dull routine of a Monday morning getting ready for work a it more exciting. I love the light, and how everything glows.

All was hushed this morning as people negotiated with the steep sloped streets around here. My other favourite thing about snow is the crepe-y crunch you get when you tread on new snow. We’ve just been out to top up our gas and electric (damn meters!!!) and it’s started to rain, so no more snow tomorrow I fear.

I have several finished projects as well as WIPs to show you, once I have photographed them. Until I get round to that, enjoy the weather you have wherever you are xoxo

• nottingham
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Claire January 14th, 2009

Well, it kinda is. It’s out there at least. We’re using WordPress, and I am not used to it so it’s not as aesthetically pleasing as I would wish, but we can work on that one. Come and visit us, stay for a bit, join in! We also have a Flickr group, so pop over and see what we’ve been up to xoxo

• Frilly Bits
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Claire January 4th, 2009

Thank you for the comments from my last post guys – you bloggers are so forgiving to someone so slack at posting! Anyhoo, so far I have managed to post twice in a week – where will this lead I hear you cry? Daily blogging? Steady! That holy grail is far away!

Back to the purpose of the post – last time I mentioned Project Glamour, which in a very short time has now changed into “Frilly bits”. Hannah and I had been nattering on more than one occasion about making some vintage inspired clothing, and in particular underwear. We’re both very inspired by vintage patterns, fabrics and styles and both wanted to introduce a little glamour into our lives (says I who is still sitting in PJ’s and a towelling dressing gown!). We then thought that it would be great to involve others to join in the fun. So, we have the domain name ready to set the website up, and there’s already a Flickr pool to share some of your pictures, inspiration, WIP’s and finished items. The idea will be that each month we will make something to wear from vintage patterns or inspired by vintage glamour. The first challenge will be French Knickers - I have dug out some black and olive green satin that I am going to make mine from – once I have the pattern worked out I will buy some nicer fabric.

Hannah and I would love more people to join in the fun – we may run some competitions at some point from looking at the pictures in the pool, with goody bags of patterns and fabric to the winners. Hannah is the sewing expert, and I’m not too bad, so between us we’ll be posting patterns, pictures and when the website is up and running, we’ll have a forum for people to discuss their ideas/ share any problems – you don’t have to be a sewing expert to join in as most of the projects can be as simple or as complex as you wish. It’s a great way of getting some lovely lingerie to fit you at a fraction of the cost it’d cost you in the shops.

We’d love it if you joined us, even if you don’t want to do each monthly challenge. So, if you fancy inviting some glamour into your lives then come in and join the fun! xoxo

• Frilly Bits
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