Catchup on Social and Family!

Its been a while. So I'll do two posts. This one is a summary of what we've been up to without mention of me crafting!

First up - end of October was Sashas Hen do.

 

Michael Jackson Tribute Night +Wyboston Lakes 

It was a good laugh, even though the food was pretty bad. They ran out of potato (who runs out of potato?!!) So gave me extra aubergine. Lucky me. 

When we complained, they gave us luminous green risotto to go with our beef instead. Mmmm....

I did get to wear my Hell Bunny pansy dress which was originally meant for mother in laws wedding though :) Bit tight on me (not the dresses fault) and I had to sew the straps down because for some reason they fasten at the back with buttons. That's a disaster just waiting to happen

Just a garden centre shot. Cos I like it.

There was an overnight trip to Bewilderwood at half term...

...followed next day by a visit to Norwich Castle

There was a Halloween Party @Houghton Mill 

With a walk by lantern light (or disco-ball-on-a-stick in Noahs case)

There was a Halloween Party at the Comrades Club - almost missed it as I thought it was on the Saturday when in fact it was on the Friday. Found out half an hour before it started. 

I still won best dress adult though, simply by putting this frock on (bought on sale in Sainsburys in Norwich the day before)

We had an afternoon at Nene Park in Peterborough...

...and another trip to the garden centre

It was my 'babys' 6th birthday. He had a bouncy castle party for all heroes and princesses.

My Captain America (yes I forgot his costume for his own party - daddy had to dash home and retrieve it)

He got a lovely shiny keyboard...

...and a beautiful red haired doll (complete with Anna outfit I bought from China)

I can't believe my lovely boy is six already :)

We visited the Cambridge science centre. Joey looks good in a space helmet - no?

I only bought ONE dress in the sales (and it wasn't on sale) This is Lindy Bop. I wanted to go festive for the upcoming Christmas Market

And most recently, we visited @Wimpole Hall where they are currently doing lots of lovely christmas activites. (Its free for National Trust members, which we are)

The boys put on a light puppet show

Made pomanders and lavender bags

Decorated gingerbread shapes

had a wander to the walled garden, past huge christmas trees

then had a massive tantrum because the hot chocolate was finished and the crafty cottage shut as we arrived too late. We won't go into that...

Finally - it was decoration day at school last Friday. They all wear festive jumpers and make decorations all day. The parents are allowed to come in and help

And our tree

Bagmaking: The Evelyn (Swoon)

So, the last post I wrote has only just gone up - because I forgot to actually publish it! 

In it I described how I was trawling the Handmade fair with Tanja to find a fabric that would be the lining for my Evelyn bag. It was really flipping difficult. I kept producing my swatch in hope but failing to find the ONE.

I chose this bag pattern ages ago to go with the Fringe Flowers Mari fabric from Michael Miller. Its a large print so needed a large bag to set it off (bag comes in two sizes - I normally start with small but this time I went straight for big!) 

My search came to and end at the Eternal Maker. I bought two fabrics as I wasn't sure which would be best, but in the end I went for the more subtle mustard. Both the main and contrast (black) have these sketchy lines running through them as well. The pink is from the same set, the mustard isn't (but is probably from the same set as the black - I'm really bad at keeping track of names - it could be timeless treasures, but then it might not be)

so without further ado...

Ta Da

My favourite Swoon so far.

Next time, I should probably take the fabric requirements with me, as I ran out of the mustard so had to piece it together. I'm sure no-one will notice ;)

The Handmade Fair, Hair, and a clearout

I wasn't going to go to the Handmade Fair - its not that close to me and I don't like missing out on weekends with my boys. However. I won a pair of tickets from the Fabric Fox (as well as a fat quarter) and then I won another pair from a competition on the Handmade Fair website. So I had to go really didn't I?

Turns out I had an extra bit of holiday I could use, so I took the Friday off work. I dropped the kids off at out of school club, and headed to Englefield Green to pick up my lovely friend Tanja, who I haven't seen for a fair few months. After getting a look at her house building site, we hopped back in the car and made for Hampton Court.

Its proper posh round there. Really lovely. It did of course p*ss down the second we left the car, and did so at various points during the day. Luckily when it wasn't raining, the sun was out :)

First stop (after the coffee stand), the loos LOL. Very nice. Bit cramped!

Not a great photo. Sorry.

Inside one of the big shopping tents. There were two. We took a while getting around them!

The Art Deco airstream bar. Prosecco. On tap!!

Couldn't leave Hampton Court without a quick regal wave

wot I bought...

I got the last of these. Heh Heh. These were from Mauds Fabric Finds. I knew I'd seen them before, but I didn't realise it was this shop until I looked in the bag later. 

This is what I won from the Fabric Fox

Pretties from the Eternal Maker (I dragged Tanja round every single fabric stall to try and find a contrast fabric for the bag I'm making)

See how restrained I was? That last fabric I bought three metres to make a dress. The rest is for bags.

I got to meet the owners of lots of shops that I've only ever bought from online, including Tilly from Tilly and the Buttons. I spent AGES at the Eternal Maker.

Actually, before I went to the Fair, I had a haircut:

On the family side of things, we paid a visit to Wimpole Hall as we're NT members. It was 40s weekend. This puppet show is incredibly un-PC and awesome

I also cleared out the spare room. Below:

as it was originally ...then after the clearout...

... then after the ikea treatment. Its still not quite finished, but the boys love their new office!

Weddings, Holidays, and a new School Year

Just that really. I had a last minute change of mind about what I was wearing to my mother in laws wedding, and instead went with this: collectif atomic flamingo dolores dress, my MohedaToffeln clogs, a cheapo shrug from ebay, and the bag I won from the British Belles/Audrey Stars Boutique competition. apparently the feedback from the guests was that I looked 'exotic'. Thats fine by me :)

We visited grandma on the morning of her wedding:

This makes me laugh because Noah had fallen in the river 10 minutes beforehand, so he has one bare foot in the photos as he refused to keep his shoe on! The twins on the left are their brand new cousins and the man at the back is Richard, my step-father in law.

  

 One for the family album. Noah is looking thoroughly fed up in this! 

We went to Menorca:

I made the beach bag below just before we went, with some glittery vinyl from Dunelm Mill. The bag fits EVERYthing in it. Unfortunately it also shed glitter all over the place!

View from our apartment

Cheesy grins on the glass bottomed boat

Wearing my other collectif flamingo dress

View of the fort 

Chillin'

Cocktails!

And last but not least, school started the day after we returned from Spain:

Bagmaking: The Layla Bag by Cozy Nest Design

I'm now what I consider a 'regular' tester for Sarah of Cozy Nest Design. Her mind works in incredible ways, and this latest bag, Layla, is no exception.

I had been fretting for ages about what bag to take to my mother in laws wedding, and when the testing call went out for this bag, I knew I had to make it.

Its such a clean, cute design. You can either make with, or without the metal handles (now stocked by Emmaline bags in Canada, but hopefully soon by Bobbin Girl in the UK) but for me there was no question of using them!

The pattern, as usual, is easy to follow. I wouldn't call it a beginners pattern though - more beginner to intermediate. I would tackle it if you have made a couple of bags already and know the basics.

I chose to add piping all the way around the gusset. This was kind of tricky due to construction and I would omit this the first time you make this bag if you're a beginner, so you know how the bag comes together.

It doesn't take too long to make either. This would be great for a night out. 

There is one inner zipped pocket which is always useful. The bag is plenty big enough to fit purse, keys, makeup. Even a pair of ballerina pumps!

In the end I didn't use the bag for the wedding due to a last minute outfit change. I did make it specifically to go with a dress and these shoes, but the shoes hurt too much. (I love Irregular Choice though. )