Home made pjs.

When I was younger my Mam made most of my clothes. I used to get sick of the endless fitting & pinning, clothes on and off etc. Also I wanted to be like my friends who sometimes had identical clothes bought at the same shop. How ungrateful I was.

I had a go at making a couple of garments while at school & college but my Mam always finished them off. She still claims to have a O level in needlework! As I am running out of inspiration for crafting or maybe just need a new challenge, I decided to make myself something to wear. I bought a pattern for some pyjamas and some cheap fabric (crinkly, silky stuff, £2.oo per metre at Boyes). They have turned out very well, I have surprised myself, they are comfortable too. My 16 yr old was a little worried when he saw me ironing the pants until I explained they were pjs!!

Also my new squashy pillow looks CKish I feel, and very comfortable. £3.99 at B&Ms. Its not somewhere I go but have had some quite pretty little things from there. 

Crockery.

I never realised how many people were interested in utility china. I am slightly obsessed with "Woods Ware Beryl". My Grandma used this daily and the green china takes me back to when I was little, I can almost smell her kitchen.

Her kitchen was very small but it had a tiny coal fire in the corner, I used to love sweeping the hearth and throwing the bits in the fire. My Granda would say "watch that brush doesn't catch light!". When she died some of the remaining china came to us, then when I got married they must have come to me somehow. When I discovered eBay I began to collect, this is an old pic as I have more now. My latest is a set of breakfast cups however, I'm a bit disappointed as they don't seem a big as I remembered, unless it is because I was little then!

If you look on top of my dresser you will see another collection. I was going through a Cottage Ware phase at the time. At the moment though I am looking for bone china tea sets, complete if possible. May mam will say "and where are you going to put that?" She is right but I cant stop, I have even got stuff packed away in the loft. Well its my day off today so i'll let you know what I find!!

Getting ready for Halloween.

Here are some snaps from past Halloween. I am needing some inspiration for this year. I was thinking of a witch scarecrow scene with pumpkins. The problem is usually the weather, the wind is quite bad around this time of year and the outdoor decorations get battered. Any ideas?

The Printers Drawer.

This is my printers drawer. It was used when printing was done manually and the printer had all of the letters etc. in little compartments in drawers like this one. Wall mounted, it is a great way to display bits and bobs that once lay around the house probably in a drawer or a box and never got looked at. It is amazing just how many people stop and look at this little display. Mine has badges, spoons, mini weights, old coins, shells, my grandads game keeping whistle tiny bottles my nurses medals and much more.

Finishing off projects.

Over the last year I have had several crochet projects on the go. I was accumulating many bags full of balls of wool and crochet squares. I have eventually got round to putting them together ready for the colder evenings.

This one I really like as it was my first attempt at trying different crochet patterns. I have done a basket weave, cables and a lacy design. I put them all together to make a patchwork style blanket. I would have liked to make it bigger but It would have took forever.

This one is just a little rug that goes over a foot stool and was made up of the left overs.

Here is a display of some of the pressed glassware I have been collecting. Yet again I am running out of space but you can stack these up on top of each other. I find it quite difficult to photograph glass but it looks nice when it catches the light.

The nice thing is that I use all of this stuff so its not just collecting dust!

Re-cycling again.

A few weeks ago I was looking for something in the cupboard under the sink and found some old candle stub's, too far gone to use but loads of wax left in them. What a waste I thought! So, I sent for some candle wicks from ebay, dug out some old votives and had a go at candle making. I melted the wax in a bowl over a pan of hot water, then used an old tea-strainer to filter the old wax and waited.

I hope they burn ok, It was so easy, too easy I feel! I will report back on how they go. I plan to do some more with fresh lavender and decorate the glass with lace etc.

Just a couple more photos from my last post was having trouble with uploading.