We've Been Making Memories

To all of you who celebrated the festive season, I hope you had the Christmas you wished for.

We were very fortunate and had a very relaxing time, making lots of memories with our little pickles, and the rest of the family. 

Mr Y has been on holiday for over a week now, how is it that holidays fly by so quickly?!  To be fair, it seems like he has been on holiday a lot longer as we have kept ourselves very busy.

As soon as my Mr had finished for Christmas, we popped out of the county and over the boarder into Norfolk to make a rather special visit to the man of season; a ride on the Santa Special on the North Norfolk Railway.

Although we’ve taken countless rides on the NNR, it was the first time we’d taken the girls on the festive special steam train.  The Black Prince did the pulling, and it was such a crisp, clear winter’s day, with stunning views, it was truly magical for them and us!! 

After sherry, a mince pie and a little bit of carol singing, we had a warming lunch in Whelks Copper and a brisk, blustery (freeeeeeeezing cold) walk along the prom before heading back into Sheringham for some last minute Christmas shopping and a trip to the fudge shop!!  The coffee fudge from there is divine!

A quick journey in the car to Norwich, where we were resting our heads for the night, an overindulgent dinner picnic and the final of Strictly Come Dancing, our weekend couldn’t have been better!

On the 22^nd, we made our yearly pre-Christmas trip to the local pantomime; this years offering was Cinderella.  It really was a great night, highly entertaining and engaging.  The evening’s entertainment was only slightly marred by the beastly man to my Mr’s left who felt it necessary to belch loudly after every sip of his seemingly never ending supply of Pepsi!!!  He looked like such a sweet little old man - proves you can never judge a book by it's cover!!! ;-)

Anyway, I finally managed to track down that illusive golden marzipan, so was able to finish my booze laden Christmas cakes!  We’ve made a start on the one for us; the others were for gifts and seemed to be well received.  I don’t eat Christmas cake, can’t stand dried fruit, so ours should last well into January.

For the first time since we’ve been married, we had Christmas Eve as just the four of us, and it was perfect.  Of course, there were some last minute preparations to be done, a mountain of vegetables to peel and chop, those last few presents to wrap, but we crammed the rest of the day full of family games, and festive baking to ensure that the little monkeys were tired right out! 

Watching Santa fly through the night sky at about 5.20, flying from West to East, added an extra special touch of magic to the day, before they tucked into a meal of roast gammon, jacket potatoes and pickles, then we all snuggled on the sofa to watch Arthur Christmas.  

Once offerings had been left for Father Christmas and his Reindeers, (yes, I burnt their cookies!), it was time for bed, and time for Mr Y and I to put our feet up with Foyle’s War and a box of Roses for company!

Christmas Day went smoothly, and all the days and weeks of preparation really paid off.  We spent it at home, cooking a roast dinner for my parents and brother, and the crackers that I made only a few days before went down really well. 

With the exception of my mum, everyone else spent the afternoon constructing some of the Lego that the girls had received for Christmas.  You’re never to old for Lego!   

I was lucky and was gifted some truly lovely things, including some scrumptious vintage goodies.  There were more knitting patterns from Mr Y (he knows me so well!), 6 brooches to add to my ever expanding 1940’s brooch collection (he had apparently been collecting these for months, sneaky thing!) and two new wool holders, one in a bright lemon yellow, the other grass green!

But my all time favourite gift was a Womens Land Army brooch, just like my Nan would have worn during WW2, given to me by my parents.

The tree is looking a little worse for wear, a few bald spots on its bauble heavy branches, and I’m itching to take it down, but it’s my birthday tomorrow, and I’ve never had a birthday without the tree being up, so I’m resisting the urge to de-needle everywhere; that can wait until New Year’s Eve!!!

xx

1940's Hollywood dress pattern in Clydella fabric

Well, I've only been and gone and made another dress!! 

This one has been weeks in the making and to finally get the last stitches done and it photographed on "Doris" is a huge relief. 

Two years ago (time flies!) I bought a piece of fabric which was labelled up as Viyella.  Having worked with Viyella before and really liking the finish, I picked up the 3 meters for a reasonable £17.50.  It's a soft yellow colour with a small design of 1cm which is cream and brown.  The fabric had sat in my stash for months until June (told you it had been months in the making) when I finally found a pattern to go with it. 

1943 Hollywood pattern.

When I came to unwrap the fabric, I found that there was an original label on it that I'd not seen before (teach me to look properly at what I buy won't it?!) and instead of Viyella, I actually had a piece of Clydella.  If you look it up online, you might think that Clydella is Viyella's poorer quality relative.  Viyella has a 55% merino, 45% cotton content whereas Clydella is 81% cotton, thus making it cheaper and less "cosy".  The fabric was actually lovely to work with.  It didn't fray too badly or slip about, is strong and durable yet is soft and hangs really nicely so Clydella gets a thumbs up from me! 

The dress wasn't the easiest.  The instructions weren't exactly detailed and in two places just simply didn't make sense!! 

The dress has 7 buttons running down the back.  Where the buttons end and the two pieces of fabric get sewn together for form the skirt just didn't fit.  If I put the buttons where the tacks were then there simply wasn't enough fabric to cover ones modesty!  I stitched it as per the pattern, unpicked it and hand stitched it again, unpicked that and then, in desperation, decided to ignore the pattern and make the thing fit the only way it would which meant adjusting the seams.  I got there in the end and am very happy with the way it turned out.

Fitting of the pockets was also not easy as I kept getting the ric rac caught!  In fairness, I think it was far more to do with my inexperience at such things than the pattern itself. 

I loved the ric rac.  I bought the giant size stuff at my local fabric shop.  Having never before had a reason to look at ric rac, I didn't realise what a wonderful array of colours and sizes there are - I'm well and truly hooked and have already picked the next dress I want to attach some to! 

Trimming was time consuming, lots of tacking and pining and very careful placing.  There are two places where the two lines or trim aren't exactly symmetrical, and that bugs me a little but for a first attempt, I'm pretty pleased with it.

Enough waffling though, here is what you really want to see, some photographs!!



The belt isn't too big really, the dummy is just smaller than the dress - just realised it needs a belt loop so not "quite" finished after all!!! :o(

 I'm off to the North Norfolk railway this weekend for their 1940's event where I hope this dress will find a new owner. 

Autumn is very definitely here.  The evenings are drawing in and there's a definite chill in the air when Mr Y heads out at 7am.  Darker evenings mean more knitting time and I'm nearly half way through a cardigan which is being knitted in the most beautiful petrol blue colour by King Cole.  Should be finished in a couple of weeks, perfect for the colder months ahead :o)

Hidden treasures - vintage brooches

Can it really be Monday?  When the alarm went off this morning at 5.50am, I was certain that it was Sunday - don't you just hate it when that happens?? 

This weekend was a busy one and I'm shattered!  The rain put pay to the event we were doing so instead we got round to doing some much needed decorating.

Decorating =  moving furniture (obviously!), moving furniture = discovery of hidden treasures (well, those that have been put away for safety) and discovery of hidden treasures = time spent looking at them and therefore less decorating being done than I had hoped - oops!  Summer holiday's are nearly here though so Mr Y can always do it when he breaks up from school :o)

It may appear that I don't care about the treasures I found.  I mean, stashed under the bed doesn't seem the best place for things of such beauty.  They were stored when my youngest came along because they are quite impractical to wear with a little one in tow.  These are proper vintage items, not delicate in that they'll break if I breathe on them but certainly delicate enough not to withstand the tugging of a 2 year old. 

In fact, the things that I found mean a lot to me.  Silly as it may well be to get attached to a piece of jewellery but many have been given to me by someone near and dear. 

First up, found under the bed (along with a whole heap of dust!!), is this little pair.  I wore the large red one when my little lovelies were Christened.  The lady walking the dog, although a little tatty with some paint loss, was the most expensive coming in at £40.  I bought it with some of the money left to me by my Nan when she passed away.  I haven't ever worn it, which seems a shame, I know, but it's very fragile and I think, well know, I'd sob should I break it! :o)

Next, these two, the one on the left being on it's original card (can't say I'm certain it's the original card but it's what I was told).  The one on the right was given to me by my parents.  By the level of paint loss, it's clearly been loved but I must admit that I've never worn it - I don't like the demonic eyes.

These following two are, I think, from the 1930's purely because of the decoration on the bar.  The tiny one is very annoying to wear because it keeps turning round!

Next up, the dangling ones!  I get the one on the left, dogs with a dog kennel and all that but dogs and an umbrella?? 

Finally, my two favourites.  Both given to me by Mr Y they are rather special, if I do say so myself.  The one of the right has a head that turns from side to side.  It's a little stiff and I'm not sure whether it has always been like that or whether the years have taken their toll and things have seized a bit.  The pretty little one on the left is unusual too.  If you move the left hand bit of the scarf, his eyes move.  Dog with attitude! :o)

Now I'm not really a dog person, well, not in my house anyway.  We used to have a black Labrador who was like Digby and just kept growing.  In the end, when I was expecting 2nd little Y, he took a never ending holiday to Cornwall to live with a friend of ours.  I can now love him from a distance - suits me fine :o)  

Although I don't like dogs in my house, there is something quite sweet about some of the brooches from the 1930's and 1940's that caught my eye.  As to what they are made of, Bakelite, celluloid of just plain old plastic, I don't know and ,in all honesty, I don't really care.  I don't collect them for value, I have them because they are beautiful and I adore them :o)

Now they have been photographed, they have been returned to safety.  It seems a pity that they don't see the light of day more often.  I sometimes wonder whether I should display them somewhere, on a board or in a frame perhaps, but I worry about them fading in the sunshine (no chance of that at the moment, I know!!)  Maybe on "child free" outings they will get an airing.

Do you have a collection squirrelled away in a cupboard or under the bed??