Sewing is my crystal meth.

I'm getting the shakes - we're back in our building site of a house, and I haven't really been able to sew because I'm meant to be doing wallpaper stripping, polyfillering, painting and other dull, soul-destroying, non-sewing related activities.

Last night I was going to take the evening off and do a bit of stitching, just to try and slow my heart rate and stop the cramps, but I ended up spending three hours looking for children's wallpaper that was a) non-gender specific, b) didn't make me want to vomit, and c) didn't cost more than a week's wages.

I sort of classed that as 'work' even though it didn't involve paintbrushes or masking tape, and so decided to move my night off to tonight. I'm making a bag based on one I already own, and was hoping to finish drafting the pattern and actually put thread to cloth. Only my set square is still at grandma pickledweasel's. As is my french curve. And I thought I could improvise with a bog standard steel rule, but I can't find that either. The only straight thing I can find is a Transformers board game, which unfortunately isn't marked out in inches and cms :(

I'm seriously strung out - I may have to do some cross stitch just to tide me over until I can get my hands on some proper gear again. In the meantime I'm trying to keep my mind busy with plans of future projects. I've chosen colour schemes for Munchkin's new room (our old bedroom) and our new room (the shiny new loft room) based on a throw and a lamp. Sounds crazy, I know (maybe it's just the cross stitch talking), but I read an article on interior design that said it was the best way to start putting a room together, just to take an item and build everything around it.

The throw is single bed sized, and I love the colours in it, although I'm struggling to find other fabrics to complement it. It has a slightly 70's feel floral pattern on one side, and stripes on the other. The lamp is from Next, and although they do a whole range to match (bedding, curtains, rug etc.) I think I'll just stick to a couple of lamps and a light shade, rather than go overboard. I've found a deep red quilted bedspread that matches perfectly, and I think the rest of the room will be fawns and greys with touches of red. It's all sounding very grown up :)

Hopefully by my next post I'll have managed to sew something. If you don't hear from me for a couple of weeks, it'll be one of two things. I'll either have got desperate and be trying to complete my mother's heirloom hexagonal patchwork quilt, which was started circa 1971, or mr pickledweasel will have arranged some sort of intervention, and I'll have had all my copies of Sew Hip confiscated and have been sent away to rehab.

Conversations with my daughter.

Munchkin wears cloth nappies and has waterproof pants that fasten over the top. They're Motherease Airflo ones, and they come in a variety of different prints. This conversation took place during a nappy change this week.

Mommy: Right, lets put some pants on.

(roots around in nappy sack and pulls out a pair)

Mommy: Oooh, look, the ones with safari animals on.

Munchkin: No mommy, not.

Mommy: Not those ones?

Munchkin: No, fishy one.

Mommy: Why don't you want the safari ones?

Munchkin: A bit noisy. Lions a bit noisy.

Mommy: Oh, I see. What sort of noisy?

Munchkin: Hoovering.

Mommy: The lions are hoovering?

Munchkin: Yes.

Munchkin has mixed feelings about the loft conversion, although seems to like the new stairs. She has also warmed to Russell, the joiner who's doing all the work, and often asks where he is or what he's doing. The following exchange took place during tea this week.

Munchkin, holding aloft a pea: Look mommy, Russell!

Mommy: Sorry, what sweetheart?

Munchkin, still waving pea around: This Russell.

Mommy: Oh, ok. What's he doing?

Munchkin gallops Russell / pea around edge of plate.

Munchkin: Look, eat him! Nom nom nom nom!

She is a delight at the minute :) I've whipped up another tunic for her from Kitschy Coo's pattern, this time with some applique on the front. I've had this applique idea in my head for a while, and I'm pleased with the way it's turned out - it's a development on something I did ages ago. I wanted it to have a slight seventies feel to it, and I think the denim is perfect for it.

*pops in*

Helloooo! Still at my mum's, still have no ceilings or bathroom at our house. Never mind, we're making the most of the sunny weather and enjoying grandma pickledweasel's garden.

I have spent a pitiful amount of time crafting since we moved in, even pitifullier considering my mum has a craft room in her attic and a fancy computery sewing machine. However, I have managed to whip up a tunic from Kitschy Coo's tunic pattern, and a yard of fabric that I bought in her 'I'm going to America and need more room in my fabric cupboard so I can bring back yards and yards of textile loveliness with me' sale.

It took hardly any time at all, and I'd have finished it in a couple of evenings, had there not been an elastic shortage in the grandma pickledweasel household. It's a little bit too big for Munchkin, but she seems to be growing at an alarming rate so it should fit nicely in a couple of months.

In other news, the pickledweasels had a lovely time at mr pickledweasel's brother's wedding a couple of weeks ago. Munchkin was a flower girl, and was on her very best behaviour all day. Admittedly she had very few duties, namely a) walk down the aisle holding her aunty Jade's hand and b) look cute for the rest of the day. Mission accomplished :)

Work In Progress

We have stairs!

But they only lead to the top of our semi-demolished wardrobes :(

Hopefully in three weeks we should have some ceilings for our existing bedrooms and a floor for our new attic bedroom.

Oh, and a bathroom :)

We are having fun at grandma pickledweasel's, although a week's holiday to Shropshire was a welcome break for us (and her. and her washing machine, which has been on none-stop since we arrived), and we have another week away planned in bonnie Scotland at the start of July. Which is very fortunate, as the builder has just told us it's going to take about three weeks longer than he thought before we can move back in again :(

No-one is available to take your call right now.

We're very busy doing this

and this

and some of this

over at grandma pickledweasel's while we're having a magic new bedroom made in our loft. This involves a lot of mess and the removal of ceilings and our bathroom, so we'll be staying at grandmas for about a month. It's great fun, but there's not much time to blog, so I apologise in advance for the lack of posts.

If you'd like to leave a message, please speak after the tone.

*Blleeeeeeep*

I am a bag lady.

I really like making bags, they're so satisfying. They're functional, relatively easy (once you work out how to decifer the pattern, and choose fabric that doesn't run in the rain), and you can put your own stamp on them.



Here's two more I've made in the last couple of weeks. Folklore Bag No. 326 3, a present for a friend.

And a bag from the latest issue of Sew Hip.

My brother got me a subscription to the magazine for my birthday, and although I really love reading it I very rarely make any of the free patterns. I would love to do one of the quilts they've featured in the last few issues, but it just seems a bit of a big scary project. Anyway, this bag is a present for a five year old - what five year old doesn't like ruffles?

I scaled down the pattern by a third, and put pleats in instead of gathering my ruffles, as they're backed with denim and were too stiff to gather. In the magazine they sewed a row of buttons along the top ruffle to hide the seam, but I didn't have enough buttons that matched. I made a flower using this tutorial instead, and mounted it on felt and put a brooch back on so it's detachable.

In other news, Munchkin also has bag lady aspirations. Why else would she have taken off her sleepsuit and her nappy and intentionally wee-ed all over her cot two nights running?

Sitting on top of the world

Today Munchkin is a whole two years old. She doesn't quite understand the concept of it all, but she has got the hang of presents and cards and cake :)

I was all set to make her a squillion presents, but I thought about it for a while, and I figured I was probably doing it for me rather than her and I didn't have the time anyway. So I thought about what she would really like, and made that instead. I bought this fabric about a month ago, not knowing what I was going to do with it but at the same time knowing that it would definitely be used and not just sit in my stash. When I brought it home Munchkin took it out of the carrier bag and lay on it, looking at all the different countries, so the obvious choice was to make a floor cushion out of it.

There is a guy down the road from us who makes cushions and curtains and has a shop where he sells upholstery fabric on the cheap. He made the inner for me for £4.50! I told him he should be charging more, I was expecting to pay at least a tenner :)

Munchkin loves it, and I'm hoping it'll be a favourite lounging spot for years to come.