A Second Chance - the Ally Pally Stitching and Knitting Show

Last year, I attended the Stitching and Knitting Show at Alexandra Palace which I blogged about here. At the time, I didn't give it a glowing review because in my opinion it focused far too much on whimsical crafts and luxury products, and very little on fashion and practicality - a bit too much of the 'Mollie Makes' apple warmers and not enough for those of us wanting to build a handmade practical wardrobe.

I decided to give it another go when I read that the UK  Hand Knitting Association needed volunteers for their Sweetie Shop project at the show. I've been toying with the idea for a while of teaching crafts, or trying to get involved with a craft group, but I wasn't sure if I would like it, or if I could even do it - I'm not always the most patient of people! This seemed like a good way to find out.

It was great!

A knitted sweeties shop!

Denise and the other members from UKHKA kitted out an area of the Palm Court to look like an old fashioned sweet shop, with jars full of needles, wool, ribbons, and other bits and pieces. As a volunteer, it was my job to encourage visitiors to join in, ask questions, have a go at knitting or crocheting, and ultimately make a small sweet to pin to the centrepieces on each table.

Mollie, Nina and Yorke having fun knitting!

It was such a lovely experience! I taught people new to knitting (a little boy of 6 was the youngest) as well as spending time with much more experienced knitters, who showed me a few new things. The sweet shop theme was really attractive - no matter what your experience, you could complete something in a short time, and leave feeling you'd achieved something.

2 more satisfied customers

A crocheted toffee, and some little sweets made out of magic loops

I had 2 really fab days volunteering, so much that I'm going to organise something of my own - watch this space... And a big 'thank you' to the UKHKA for organising everything - do look at heir website if you have a chance.

See you soon!

The Coats Not Done, but I've Been Busy

I trust everyone had a lovely Christmas! Personally, I had a great time, but I'm a bit sick of meat, chocolate, and gravy, and feel a real need to de-tox.

Anyway...

A little while ago I did a post about starting this coat:

Pauline Trigere for McCalls, 1956

Well, it's about halfway done! Here's how it looks so far:

 

The basic outer shell is complete, but the lining still has to be attached, then the hems need to be stitched and the little capelet made. Maybe another week - or 2 - and you'll all be able to see the finished results!

But I haven't been idle - what with Christmas parties to make dresses for (see my Sid Vicious dress here) and various Secret Santa's to knit gloves for, my sewing machine and knitting needles have been humming and clicking away. I also found time to knit a few woolly bits for myself.

First, I made this hat from a 1940's pattern, using Debbie Bliss cashmerino:

 

This is the original. I know - it was meant for a young girl, but kids dressed like old ladies back then, so it didn't look so 'young' on me:      

Close up of finished hat

 Then, I made these fingerless gloves to match:

Finally, I had a bit of yarn left over, so I made another hat:

A beret!

And this was the pattern I used (bottom right). (Don't you think these ladies look a bit like a slightly off Pans People?)

I'm off to do some more work on my coat, and I'll see you all in the New Year!

Christmas Swap Loveliness

Look what the postie brought for me! These lovely parcels came to me from Liz at Ginger and Shortbread, arranged via Lakota's blog. Mr. Needles told me I should wait until Christmas to open them, but rules are for breaking, and I don't have that kind of willpower.

So this is what was in store for me:

A whole bunch of crafty, vintagey loveliness, with a bit of a Scottish theme!

There was some gorgeous smelling soap, a little tin heart (that's going straight on to the tree), and a box of Edinburgh Castle rock sweets:

 Next up was a copy of the Simplicity Sewing book from the 1970's:

 Now anyone who knows me will know that I'm mad on sewing books and diagrams, so this was perfect! I already have an early 1960's edition of this, but this one was completely re-vamped, with some great images. Here are a couple:

 And last but not least, this brilliant tea cosy made by Liz herself:

Tea cosy in use!

I love all the colours, and the 2 little pom poms on top are the perfect finishing touch! Mr Needles kept trying to wear it!

Finally, a bit of Scottish cheekiness in the card from Liz:

Love it! 

A HUGE thank you to Liz for all the brilliant presents, and all the effort and thought she put into them. Everyone should look at her blog - she takes some beautiful photos of her local area, and has that special charity shop luck I just don't seem to posess. And thanks to Lakota for organising it all.

Happy Christmas, and see you all in the New Year!

Quick Winter Woolies

Like the rest of the country, I've been feeling the cold a bit. I went to find my woolly gloves, but they seem to have disappeared into the wilds of my wardrobe. Suppose I just had to knit some new ones!

 I knitted these ones from a pattern I found here. They were brilliantly cheap to make - I used scraps from old projects, so they cost nothing. And they were fast - each glove probably only took a couple of hours to knit. It was also fun to knit stripes, which looked like this before the ends were sewn in:

Stripey chaos

Isn't the internet an amazing thing! Not only did it offer forth the fab pattern above, but while I was looking around for it, I found a whole slew of free patterns, which are bound to keep me busy for some time. One of them was this:

This was SOOOO EASY! And it only took abot 20 mins. to make. Here's Mr Needles modelling it:

And you can find the pattern here. 


It was also my first foray into intarsia, which was bit tricky, but it wasn't too bad - just have to be careful to keep the long strands at the back from getting too tight. 

Inside of wristband

 See you soon, and keep warm!

Ally Pally Knitting and Stitching Show

Today I spent several hours at the huge Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace. 

It was MASSIVE! -

The Great Hall

 There were hundreds of stalls, representing every type of craft and needlework you could think of: knitting, crochet, sewing, quilting, braiding, tatting, embroidery, beading, spinning, weaving, buttons, scissors, and on and on. It was like a cross between a trade fair, and a big needlework shopping mall. You could buy sewing machines, subscribe to magazines, buy books on any subject, attend workshops and watch demonstrations.

After several hours, tea and cake was necessary, so I treated myself to afternoon tea in the rather over the top tea room:

Crazy wall paintings in the tea rooms - nearly put me off my scones!

 And I came away with some lovely stuff:

'New' vintage patterns - £6

Lurex thread for crocheting - £2.99

Some cute embroidery scissors - £2.99

And best of all - this Alexander Henry fabric from Fabrics Galore

This will be perfect for a gypsy style dress!

Overall, the event was pretty good, and it was great to see so many people interested in, and practicing, so many crafts. But it's that word......

CRAFT

 I just don't like it.

(This is the bit where I start to sound like my mother)

I sew, not because it's a hobby, but because this is how I clothe myself. I've been doing it long enough (nearly 30 years) to be pretty good at it, and I wouldn't dream of relying on the high street or designers to make up the bulk of my wardrobe. To me, this isn't 'crafty', which implies a certain folksy, amateurish, lumpiness. This is just what I do.

I feel by categorising all of the skills at the Knitting and Stitching show as 'craft', you seperate those skills from everyday fashion and they become regarded as hobbies. But fashion couldn't exist without most of these skills!

There's also a danger that these skills will become seen as luxury pastimes; I felt that many of the exhibitors, especially some of the knitting based ones, were quite expensive, specialising in silks and cashmeres, and with very little for the everyday. 

And I think that is exactly what was missing from the show - the attitude that knitting, sewing, etc, is not for everyday, just for Christmas (decorations).

The Making of a Knitted Rock God

Watching 'Lemmy the Movie'

Can you guess who it is yet?

 

It's Slash! When I joined Lakota's blog swap project, I was pleased to get Liza at The Vintage Knitter. Brilliant! I was already a follower, and knew she liked heavy metal, vintage Twinkle annuals, and knitting (of course!) She sent me a great bunch of gifts, so I had a lot to live up to. I hit upon the idea of combining knitting and rock by creating the woolly guitarist you see above. I took a Joey Ramone dolly pattern from Stitch and Bitch by Debbie Stoller and improvised the rest. And I was able to make it out of oddments, so kept it under the maximum spend.


Go check out The Vintage Knitter to see what she thought of it!
 

Knitting Mysteries

I made the jumper in this pattern a little while ago, and have worn it loads of times since. But there were a few mysteries on this pattern, which I've been attempting to investigate. 
  Number 1 -

I noticed this photo caption on the inside cover. It's this picture which drew me to the pattern in the first place - where was this crazy swinging 60's haunt, and was it still there? I had dreams of being able to re-create the photo. After some searching on the web (it's actually spelt Flanagan's), I found out it was a well known restaurant at 100 Baker St, seemed to be known for it's steaks, and is even mentioned on the website for Focal Point, a group based in Liverpool in the 60's, who hung out there when they were in London. Imagine - I was getting more and more excited about visiting! 

But it was not to be - Flanagan's is gone, and is now a branch of a popular pizza chain. Oh well......

 Number 2 -

I noticed this on the back of the pattern. It's something I've seen on loads of Emu patterns, ranging from the 50's to the 70's. Who was Janet Minton? Was she an all knowing knitting goddess, who could answer any knitting query? Or was it just a name used by a group of people at Emu, to give the impression of a personal service? When you Google the name, you just get more pictures of Emu leaflets, but no info on the great lady herself (I assume she is great - she must be if she can answer all knitting questions!)  Does anyone know anything about her?

Beautiful Buttons Dress - Complete (At Last)

 
This dress would have been completed a long time ago, if only I hadn't been slowed down by belt buckle problems. I just couldn't find one I liked. I wasn't asking for much - 1" wide, black plastic, it didn't have to be particularly special, as long as it had a metal pin so it stayed buckled. Could I find it? It was like trying to find rocking horse poo. 

 I settled on the one you see above, though I think it's a bit big. I can always change it later......

Here are some highlights from making it - 

No zip! I've never made a dress with a placket at the front, but I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. And it shows the buttons off beautifully:

Close up of button placket

I reinforced the split at the back with a little arrowhead. I should use these more......

Close up of Arrowhead being worked

Over the years, I've become fussy about the inside of everything I make. I find it hard to just 'run something up'; I can't leave the insides alone! I try to line everything; on skirts I usually bind the hems; on dresses I also bind the waist seam; and I use French seams wherever possible, just so it's neat and tidy on the inside. (Maybe I'm a bit OCD......) The result is this:

Skirt lining with bound waist seam

Bound hem, catch stitched to dress

Lining at back split, hand sewn to seam allowances

Though I'm happy with the way it looks, and it feels lovely to wear, it means that a dress which was meant to be something I could just 'throw on' is now a bit too special. Don't get me wrong - I'll wear it as much as I want - but I need to stop being so meticulous because it's slowing my output down!

Here are some close-ups of the belt:

I've never made one before, so really I just made it up as I went along. A stiff interfacing gave it some substance, then after it was stitched and turned right side out, I bound the holes for the pin with buttonhole stitch.

Finally, the dress has shoulderpads, which I thought was bit unusual for a dress of the 1950's. Wasn't the New Look all about round, natural shoulders, a departure from the square shouldered 1940's? I toyed with leaving them out, but decided to follow the pattern faithfully, so put some lightweight, rounded ones in. I didn't think they'd work, but they actually create a nice line. 

Shoulder pad (it was really hard to photograph)

I planned to wear it tomorrow to the Stitch Crawl, but rain is predicted, so I'm in 2 minds about attending. If I do, pictures will follow!

 It's not my car - I can't even drive!