Kate Selene

Quiet space to make jewellery

I have been busy busy busy, second batch of jewellery off to a shop, this one is on its way to Frome as soon as they are out of the polisher. Its been really fun getting back in with the jewellery, even if it is at night! Its so quiet round where we live, its almost quiet magical to get to work at the bottom of the garden when theres nothing around. Aaaaaaahhh, bliss!!

Sewing...... Iv missed you!

Aaaaaaahhh sewing, I have missed you!! I have decided to do a craft stall in December, which means stock!! Stock I always leave until last minute to produce. Not this year! One thing I have definitely leaned how to do since becoming a mum, is that time is very precious, so whenever I can I knit, crochet and squeeze as much in as possible.

I was in need for a new purse and key rings for the car, so I just made a few samples and I was hooked! I had a load of cotton tape arrive this week and I have really enjoyed using it, along with busting out the zips that have been stashed away.

I have been making things in batch since then, cutting out, pressing and sewing whilst Minnie is asleep in the day. Im building up quite a stash!!

But this morning I thought about my red fabric........it had to be strawberries! Never made them before but i was surprised how easy they were, so heres my first one. I cut out a ton of other templates whilst Minnie napped this morning........

........very excited to get back to sew them!!

Soaking in the calm

This week has just flown by, and I haven't really done too much, well it doesn't feel that way anyway, as this week I have just been making the most of our house, its veg patches, flowers and fruit. Minnie now fits into her pram so I have walked a few times each day which has given me a nice bit of time to admire my surroundings and gather in the first crops.

Jeans flowers that surround the house are just breathtaking, so many colours with one new flower replacing an old one every day.

Iv also had some time to finish this new piece for my little munchkin, its now just a bit longer and fits really well. It will keep her nice and toasty on our walks.

There has also been a snippet of time where I was able to photograph the new jewellery that I made before i went on maternity leave, I still need to send these out to & Vintage, definitely a job for Monday, as Elle has sold some more of my work at the shop.

This range is still based largely on flowers and the repetition that I so enjoy in jewellery making, knitting and crochet. I need to get into the workshop next week to make more work as I have two new shops to stock, one will be new new online shop which should be up soon.

Along with walking and taking in the calm, the veg patch needed visiting, so I gathered in the produce and began sorting an washing.

We had tons of fruit!

We made jam, and lots of it! A big batch of blackcurrant and gooseberry jam!! Its delicious!! And the rest of the fruit was packed into the freezer and some dehydrated for making pies and crumbles.

So, I have already started a new scarf ( always nippy here in the evenings) but it wont take long to whip up, so I had best get thinking of what to make next.

Have a restful evening, I'm enjoying mine in front of the fire.

A blast from the past

And indeed it was! I spent the weekends at my Mums and we had dedicated some time to going into the attic to retrieve some bits and pieces from when I was a baby. It was a very fruitful few hours and we found books, toys, pictures and a suitcase of my baby clothes.

I wasn't surprised that there was lots of knitted and crochet outfits and some gorgeous dungarees, but my Mum was surprised at how much of it she made herself. So needless to say many of the clothes made there way back home with me, and looking at how some of them had been made I fancied seeing if I could make something myself. I really don't get on with patterns so I tend to make it up as I go, but once i have figured out how to do it I'm away!!

My first attempt at making some clothes was about a week before the attic visit, I really wanted to see if I could make little clothes! As it turns out the answer is yes, and my little munchkin also approved!!

I made it using some lovely cotton fabric i picked up years ago, in a charity shop no doubt!! But I have always loved the delicate flower pattern and I made a blanket using some of it before this little one arrived.

Having made this before the attic visit, I was sure that I could crochet some pieces too, and that even If I made then a bit on the large side it wouldn't matter, not with the way this one keeps growing!!

So i started off with a simple double crochet for the neck lining, 34 in all as the yarn worked up quite thick, and on the second row I just introduced a treble every 4 stitches and increased each row after that.

I just introduced the shell stitch and worked from there, joining the fabric where i thought the arm holes would be.

And taaadaaa!! Cardi mark one!

Seeing how this worked up I went straight onto the next, but worked in a DK acrylic yarn and did 50 stitches for the neck and increased by two every ten stitches, and as before, worked in a shell stitch. I trimmed the edge with cream but I'm hoping the more I make the more confident I get with the colour choices.

They only took about an hour a piece once i got going, so you may not be surprised to know Im on my third, but this time its a dress!

In other news, before I went on a clothes making curve I had made up some really nice samples of mixed cotton yarn, it looks and feels lovely and im keeping then to one side untill a projects strikes me! I also still need to finish of this giant triangle scarf that I got into making over a week ago, i just cant decide how to finish it. Its so surprising, the colours I chose to use when making are just not colours I would wear, does anyone else do this? What I wear is always in the grey, brown, blue category!! Hhhmmmm.

So, have a lovely afternoon!!

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