splashes of colour



The New Zealand farmer's markets
Posted by Picasa

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On the importance of blocking

Image
I started this scarf on a road trip around the South Island of New Zealand with my parents and brother this Christmas.  Though I was doing most of the driving, I knew there would be quite a bit of quiet downtime and wanted to bring a bright, colourful project along with me that was also portable. I finished the crocheting a few weeks ago but took ages to sew in the ends and block it.  This was the first time I've blocked something and am really delighted with how professional the results look.  My trusty iron and ironing board, an old towel (not sure why I couldn't use a good one - or if I should but it was a case of better safe than sorry), sewing pins and a spray bottle.  The image below is the pre-blocked scarf.  Really quite wobby and the final three images are my rather professional looking end product! Really rather delighted with my success and safely delivered to its new owner (even though its still summer here in New Z...
Read more

Peppermint cape a long

Image
Pattern:  http://peppermintmag.com/other/sewing-school/ Fabric: Stash - black cord, quilting cotton. Closing: Button and cord from a retired pair of PJs The construction of this was fun and I really love the shoulders - which do indeed keep the cape in place. A few possible improvements to the pattern however, (but it is free - so complaints are minimal!) - 1. They don't give you an indication of what the sizing refers to.  I made the pattern two sizes larger after I assembled the original pattern pieces but possibly over did it.  The back is quite swingy (which I like) as a result. 2. Assembling the pattern was more difficult than I'd like as I wasn't sure what to set the printer margins to (so therefore wasn't sure that I'd printed to the right size - hence my upsizing). 3. There wasn't a pattern piece for the bias binding on the neckline.  So a small bit of measuring and drawing with chalk required.     I first saw the pattern on Crazy ...
Read more