Espritpatch

Vintage Kitchen has been quilted for a few months now and was only waiting for the binding. There wasn't such a massive length to sew but for some reason, I have only picked it up this weekend to finish it up. I also embroidered on the pots and finished this afternoon, just in time for August  One monthly goal ! Now it is all finished I don't have space to hang it. I will have to rethink some deco to make room for it. Quilt stats: Size: 39.5' x40.5' Fabric from my stash (top and backing) Quilted with King Tut #960 (main quilting), #904 (blue  pots ), Madeira and YLI reflection (kitchen mixer) Started January 2019 as a quilt-along from Adventurous Quilter's website , finished in 2020. One very last OPAM for August and one more off my Q3 FAL list. Linking to  Monday Design Wall ,  Midweek Makers ,  Peacock Party Celine

On the calendar it's still summer, through the window it looks like winter. It's the late summer Bank Holiday this Monday in the UK and it certainly doesn't feel like late summer, rather middle of autumn. Today was wet, grey and cold too, so what a better time to finish my next heatwave dress really? 😄 I guess it'll be ready for next summer. Or I could wear it with thick tights and a turtleneck but that defeat the purpose a little! I tried to put my sunglasses on to entice the sun while taking pictures but it just didn't work... Good thing you can't see the goosebumps! The dress is a quick make really. I bought the pattern when it came out last year and hasn't tried it yet. I picked the mini dress with the neckline B. I cut the size 12 but because I'm tall, I added 2.5'' to the length so it didn't come out too short.  I used the strip facing method to finish the armhole and neckline. It is a little fiddly and of course it doesn't help to

Another request I had from my family was to make a bag to take their Bo to karate class. Bo are really long pieces of wood they occasionally use in their practice. And we have 3 of them at the moment, probably a 4th soon so it felt like a good idea to have them in a bag for transport.  They're longer than the karateka so I needed a massively long piece of faux leather for it.  Hubby requested a handle to carry the bag as well as a strap Of course, I met both requests!  Bag finished and off my Q3 FAL list. Another OPAM for August too 🙂 Linking to Whoop Whoop Friday .  Celine

Continuing on the "back to school" theme, next in the list was a pencil roll for my youngest. She picked the fabric and used the one I made for her sister a few years back as a model.  This one will hold 12 pencils I had a ribbon in my stash that works and that I know she'll like so that was perfect.  Ready for her next piece of artwork 😍 And another OPAM for August, not on my Q3 FAL list either! Celine

For once it's not the lack of time but rather the lack of energy. After our very short hop to France, we are now in force self isolation to comply with the rules. And since we're on holidays, there's plenty of free time. With the craziness of the last few months, I seriously lack energy and quite often motivation too but slowly I've been trying to make things again.  I started with a little pouch for my daughter to store her geometry tools when she returns to school next month.  I used some faux leather and fabric from my stash.  A very simple shape, I assembled both the outside and inside together at once.  Finished and ready for school. This one wasn't on my Q3 FAL list but it's an OPAM for August.  Celine

Why does it always take so long??? My mum made me a pair of palazzo style pants based on one I had and loved a few years back. But she cut the elastic for the waist too short and it was just too tight to be comfortable to wear. I wore it for a year or two before deciding it really needed to be fixed. So I unpicked the waistband probably about one or two years ago, bought some elastic and parked it! I guess my issue was not knowing the length to use since the elastic is in the back only.  I've been spending most of my "holidays" decluterring so after shredding 4 bins of paper, it felt right to pick this abandoned piece... After a few trials and errors, it is finished and back in my wardrobe! Yeah! Not perfectly done but perfectly wearable 🙂 Mending is good, especially when I love this very special Liberty Hello Kitty fabric. 😍 Celine

After the trials on the face masks patterns, I moved to mass production. After all, I think masks are here to stay so we do need a stash for all the family. I had made a few for the kids to go on holidays with. This weekend I made another batch of 19 10 adult size and 9 kids size.  I modeled one recently and I find they are good with glasses, they don't steam too much.  Another OPAM for August and this one was on my Q3 FAL list.  Celine

With lockdown, I have discovered sourdough. I have made bread for years before but always with yeast. At the beginning of lockdown, I couldn't find yeast easily so I tried a starter sourdough following all the tips on The Perfect Loaf website . And i haven't looked back from my first loaf. We've kept the bread in a tea towel to keep it fresh. My husband kept saying that it would be nice to have a bread bag. So finally, this weekend, I made one. I used a tea towel, cut the hems to avoid too much bulk. I made a little sleeve at the top for a cord and that was it.  One OPAM for August, this was nt on my Q3 FAL list.  Linking to  Monday Design Wall ,  Monday Making ,  Wednesday Wait Loss ,  Midweek Makers ,  Needle and Thread Thursday ,  Peacock Party ,  Whoop Whoop Friday Celine

There are so many masks patterns and tutorials available online that it is hard to know which one to use. I made a few masks at the beginning of the lockdown with  Bijou Lovely's   pattern.  I then tried to make some shaped face covering with the pattern on the Big Community Sew website . I tried adults and kids size for these ones. My next try was the 3D masks using this youtube tutorial  by Bilikis Signatures. And while I was watching this tutorial, I found another one by Add Crafts which is shaped on the nose and more comfortable to wear. There is a pattern available with 4 sizes, I have tried size M for the girls and XL for my son and for us. To make all these different trials, I cut off my son's school shirts. They are all 100% cotton, and being white shirts, the collar becomes really dirty/used quite quickly. So it was nice to be able to reuse/recycle. Linking to  Monday Design Wall ,  Monday Making ,  Wednesday Wait Loss ,  Midweek Makers ,  Needle and Thread Thursday

I finally had some sewing time this week, and it felt so good to create again. I picked an easy project as I knew I would not have too much time, so a quick finish was a win-win.  I had bought a lovely remnant from Jelly Fabrics a while ago, an organic cotton jersey, which I had just under 1 m off. With such a small piece, I had to be careful cutting the pieces, some I had to cut on a single layer to be able to fit all. The leftovers are minimal, I won't fit much more onto them. I used the well-loved 11th Hour Gear Pattern by New Horizons Design  to make a summer PJ. I had some pale pink ribbing in my stash which worked perfectly well for the waistband. I finished the hems with a simple zigzag stitch on the sleeves, legs and t-shirt hem. The PJ is a sucess, my daughter loves it and has adopted it straight away, perfect timing for the hetwave. My first finish for August and one of my Q3 FAL as well. Linking to Whoop Whoop Friday . Celine

This month is a big month in some ways. I will finish my job with my current company at the end of August.  In pre-Covid life, back in January, we had planned to visit our friends in Canada. We had also planned a tour in campervan to visit the Quebec area and Toronto  but of course, this is not happening now. We are now hoping to be able to cross the Channel at some point and visit the family, whom we haven't seen since early January. Fingers crossed this is finally happening despite Covid. With all this in mind, I guess sewing time will be more than limited and I doubt my energy levels will be through the roof as I am still busy with so many interviews but we'll see. I have kept a rather long list to have some variety! Quilting: 1.   Dear Jane - finish row E 2.  HST modern sampler quilt - need one last block and finish the top  3.  Farmer's Wife 1920  4.  Farmer's Wife 1930  5. Threadology quilt along -  needs binding 6. Purple and blue quilt 7.  V