Getting around to finishing craft projects...

I've been planning it since last October, I actually started sewing it last November, and I finished it this February: my red velvet skirtain. I'm calling it a skirtain because the fabric is an offcut from the bottom of a cotton velvet curtain from Ikea.
I put the zip in by hand because I haven't (yet) mastered the zipper foot on my machine, then had to unpick the whole of that seam because the two edges of the waistband didn't quite meet. When I say 'didn't quite meet' I mean one side was about two inches above the other. Not quite sure how that happened...maybe because I've worked on it in many little chunks of time? I did contemplate bodging it by folding one side of the waistband down...but then had a word with myself, unpicked it and sewed it up properly. It has a press stud because that's easier than a buttonhole!
I've worn it and I love it...and here it is!

Treating myself to a craft day

I've got a day off next week, and I'm going to be totally self-indulgent: I'm going to spend the day crocheting, knitting and sewing.
The crochet is a border for my knitted squares blanket. I started this border a few months ago and I reckon I'm halfway there, so I should be able to finish it as it's only about 3cm wide and I'm doing half treble stitch.
The knitting is a simple snood in divine Rowan yarn with a colourway designed by Kaffe Fassett, and it's a Christmas present so it has a built-in deadline!
The sewing is getting on with the two skirts from 'Dressmaking: the complete step-by-step guide'. I've stuck together the printed-out PDFs that make the pattern. Just need to remember to buy a couple of zips this week...

'Free': Koestler Trust exhibition

There's no charge for admission, but the title of the exhibition, 'Free', reflects who has made the pieces of visual art, film and music: prisoners and others in secure settings.
The pieces I saw were stitching- and knitting-based. Left is 'Coat of Flowering Hope', knitted by Li Jua Shao in HM Prison Eastwood Park, Gloucestershire. As the coat, embellished with knitted flowers and petals, is positioned leaning down a toilet bowl, I surmise that the maker's experience of hope may not be entirely positive...
Below is 'Highland Handbag', made by Tao Guest, in HM Prison Foston Hall, Derbyshire.

Curated by YBA Sarah Lucas, the exhibition is in the Royal Festival Hall, and on until November 25.

Next on my to-make list...

From the book Dressmaking: the complete step-by-step guide, by Alison Smith (Dorling Kindersley, £25), I'll be making two skirts from two pieces of fabric I've had for too long. Click here to buy it for £8.99 from the Book People, saving £16.01.
The book has patterns you can scale up on dressmaker's paper, or you can do what I did, and download the patterns from the DK website. Print them out, and stick them together. Cleverly, the pieces are coded so you know what to stick where.
The first pattern, a classic fitted skirt, is for a beautiful silky green sari-style fabric bought from an offcuts bin in Berwick Street.
And the second, a classic A-line skirt, is for a piece of red velvet cut from the bottom of a curtain from Ikea - waste not, want not!
The curtain is made from cotton velvet and intended to be hung at a window, but ours is hanging across the doorway of our open-plan(ish) kitchen and living room. As it's hanging from a lower-level pole, there was a very big hem to be taken up. And a piece of scarlet velvet big enough to make me a skirt simply cannot be wasted...
I'll let you know how I get on!

Our very own stitch and bitch

Exciting! Our local pub has been taken over by a new manager, who was keen to know what events he should run. I suggested a craft club... and this weekend I was in the pub (another one) talking to his girlfriend and another creative friend, and she's keen on the idea and so it's all going ahead this Thursday. She's calling it 'stitch and bitch' although I don't think it's (yet) affiliated to the official Stitch 'n Bitch site, so we're turning up with our knitting and crochet. There will be at least three of us (it's a small village...) . It'll be a great opportunity for me to finish my treble crochet edging for my knitted squares blanket, and to have a little refresher on how exactly the purl stitch goes. I know, it's really easy but I just can't remember.
I did run a craft club at work for a while (about the same size community as the village I live in) but it was very hard to find a time that suited everyone, and despite massive initial interest, people just didn't turn up regularly enough. Hopefully, this one will go better!

How to take in trousers

While it's very satisfying to make something pretty, it's equally so to do something practical.
I've lost quite a bit of weight over the past year (deliberately). One of the disadvantages - OK, probably the only disadvantage - is that some of the clothes you love no longer fit. But it can be quite simple to adjust them. Take trousers; if they have a centre-back seam you can just rework that.
Put your trousers on and pinch in the excess fabric at the centre-back waistband. Pin if you can ( or get someone to help), or just note the difference with your fingers.
Take trousers off and turn inside out. Fold trousers so that centre-back seam is lying flat. Put a pin in to mark the amount the waistband needs to be reduced by, then pin towards the crotch in a line that gradually blends with the original centre-back seam  - see left.
Try your trousers on - carefully! those pins are sharp. If all is well, the waistband will now be a good snug fit and the backside of the trousers will sit smoothly with no obviously excess fabric. If all is not well, remove trousers and adjust line of pins. Try trousers on again. Repeat as necessary.
Tack your pinning line if you want, then machine-sew. I leapt straight to this step without tacking because it's the second time I've done this and I was feeling quite confident.
Cut off excess fabric beyond new seam line. Zigzag-stitch along the cut edge to prevent material fraying. Probably you should zigzag along the edges before sewing the new seam, but this way round worked fine for me.
Put 'new' trousers back on. Enjoy a smug little smile...

Block draughts under the door: make a draught excluder

'Draught excluder' always sounds to me like some hi-tech cutting-edge device, rather than a fabric sausage.
I've been meaning to make one for ages and now it's getting chilly and those draughts around the windows and door are getting more noticeable.

How to make a draught excluder
Measure the width of the doorway and cut a piece of fabric this wide plus a length to give you enough girth in your sausage. A small side plate is about the right size, so measure its circumference (right around the edge) and there you go. Then draw around the side plate on to the fabric twice, for your two end pieces. Sew one end piece onto the fabric length, and up the side seam. Stuff the draught excluder with a fairly heavyweight stuffing. (I used bits ripped out of an old pillow but it's too light to stay in place at the bottom of the door so will have to be replaced. Learn by my mistakes!). Sew the other circular end piece onto the sausage. You'll probably have to finish the sewing by hand as it's too hard to manoeuvre a stuffed sausage around under your needle plate. Position the excluder at the base of the door and enjoy enhanced cosiness.

More home makes...
More on sewing...