'Crafting with La Cootard' Weekend

Great to see some of you at the 'Crafting with La Cootard' weekend extravaganza ..I hope that you enjoyed making your items.  Most of you managed to make something that bore a vague resemblance to the 'show pieces' but  there were one or two notable exceptions. Though tempting I will not stoop so low as to name and shame here - but if you are now looking at a misshapen 'purse' with a zip that doesn't zip (thereby undermining the entire zippage principle) then IT MIGHT BE YOU!!!

I am sorry that some of you did not quite grasp the essentials of purse making (what a waste of EXPENSIVE glue that was....).  If you are now lacking your finger prints you only have yourself to blame - I TOLD YOU NOT TO PUT  GLUEY FINGERS TOGETHER.

Watching the re-runs of 'The Great British Sewing Bee' was a little painful ('It could have been ME') but as the needs of the guests come first.....and some of you INSISTED (badgering is not a pleasant trait Punter X) we all had to endure.

 Well done to P-M for 'attempting' piping - I am not piper myself but FOR GOODNESS SAKE PUT SOME EFFORT INTO IT!!!  Mind you I could not say anything at the time...'She who pays the piper...' etc, etc...

Still, I managed to ignore most of the attendees and carried on making my own thing in a corner.  What do you expect for £9.99....my COMPLETE attention...that would cost an extra £4.99 AT LEAST.

NO photos of the event itself or other makes.  Sorry that some all items just did not pass muster

Let us call it tough love and leave it at that...

 However I did manage to take lots of photos of the one thing that I made....funny that

As per tradition we did our usual conga to the sea front - P-M leading the way of course (some people...).  I know that a few of you were begging (unseemly behaviour to be honest) to be in the photos but  if you are past your sell by date then admit to it and LET IT GO!

The vuvuzelas (smuggled in by YOU KNOW WHO) were a bit much for 8.30 in the morning and I will sadly be enforcing a full scale ban for next year.  I have had complaints from the  Neighbourhood Watch committee and they are threatening to strike me off the 'Pooper Scooper' task force if it continues. No 82 is keeping a log....

Due to 'popular' request I dug out the umbrella that I had 'refashioned' last year using the same material  used for the bag  (who can forget THAT event....sadly seared in to my memory bank for all the wrong reasons..).

You may recall the 'chair makeover' from a year or two back (following the 'Car Booting with La Cootard' event)  - again using the same fabric as the bag.

 If I cover a three piece suite with the same fabric and run up a suit I could camouflage right into the background.... with my rucksack on my back..Val-deri, Val-dera, Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha........ha

See you next year!

(Two days that I will never get back....)

PS A sadly serious Pinterest request....again.....I think that I have made it clear that I like my photos to stay here thank you)

All vintage embroidered tablecloths are equal - though some are more equal than others....

Thank you again for very kind comments about my half baked wrap dress - I will have a go at completing it  all being well!  Just a word about top stitching - I can 'hold the line' so long as I don't blink!  If I blink the whole thing goes Pete Tong and wobbly!  I am thinking of manufacturing an eye lid propper upper!!

Delighted that Ann won The Great British Sewing Bee - a triumph of, and for, attention to detail and no shortcuts (cough, cough....)

Adding in my usual no Pinterest request - thank you - though I see that someone has already posted them there - despite no pin, etc, etc, etc. Today  I am very much feeling like giving up with blogging...

 I am rather partial to a nice embroidered tablecloth - one or two of these I have shown before but as I got these out when my sisters came to stay at Easter time I thought I would photograph some of them 'en masse' as 'twere.

I have taken other photographs that show these tablecloths with the 'matching' china ready for tea time!  I will post those separately I think

This may seem a bit odd but these are not necessarily my favourite tablecloths - I have some quirky printed ones that I like muchly and some embroidered ones that are not so 'fancy' but have little details that I love

 I would like to eat these....

And these......

The one below I have shown before but always worthy of another outing don't you think.  Swags and garlands aplenty

And some all together

The one below I have had several times over and a damaged one I made into a bag.... I have got other pieces left over from it somewhere

I particularly like embroidered wild flowers -  clover, buttercups and daisies are especially lovely

The detail of the falling petal I particularly like

 Too much?

The one below has a few broken threads.... and sister Sue dropped jam on it..... gasps of horror

Go on - get your cloths out and use them.  That is what they were built for!

PS: Just adding these photos in for Barbara - sorry that my email is soooo useless and slow Barbara so posting these to show the backs for you!

Great British Sewing Bee has us buzzing!

Thank you for helping with the tray ident - it will turn up eventually.

Limited photographs - this my reflection in a mirror and that mirror has a ship chiseled into it so a bit blurry!

 Anyway I have been wanting to make one of these for a while and the other day I thought that I would.  So this is a simple wrap dress and I very much wanted one section to be embroidered.  Fabric selection was based purely on what I had a lot of - I recently went to the Isle of Wight and bought EIGHTEEN FEET of this fabric (in dire need.....)  for £4.99 from a charity shop (I did not go to the IoW JUST to buy this fabric!!!).  The fabric therefore determined the type of embroidery that I could use...this was a damaged tablecloth (fear not dears).

Note here that the embroidery appears to have swapped sides... not really.... just no longer reflected in the mirror

But Jenny why are you only showing us this top bit......?

It is because when I tried this top bit on for 'fitting purposes' Bronte said: 'Oh dear'.....and that put me right off...

I made my own bias binding so that the embroidered side tied in with the other bit.

 I was pleased however with the top stitching (I am partial to a nice bit of top stitching) here - this was the only bit that I was pleased with.

 So here we have a load of photos of the same thing!  This is in the DoS at the moment - I am going to start another one and begin again...again.

This evening I will be shirring....I used to do a lot of shirring....I am looking forward to shirring again

What have you been sewing and have you had many/any disasters?

Best wishes
Jenny

PS: Hello Constance and wish your mum happy birthday from me!