My new favourite dress

I went to visit my mum the other day, she asked when we got there if I could take her into town to get some bits and happened to mention that the market was on and there is a stall she thought I would like. It was a fabric stall, now I thought I may get some more material for Stephanie but didn't hold out much hope of finding a fabric I liked to make myself a dress. I have really struggled to find anywhere selling material that I like for myself. So imagine my excitement when the first fabric that caught my eye was exactly what I have had in mind for aggggggggggeeeeeeeessssssssss. And even more exciting just £1 per metre, what are the chances?

I quickly bought some and couldn't wait to get home and turn it into a new dress. I am so pleased with the result. I am planning on wearing to my friends 10th wedding anniversary party next week.

Not the best picture, I don't have a full length mirror in the house so had to rely on Stephanie taking the picture for me. Hopefully I will be able to get a better picture of it on Saturday.

The bodice of the dress is loosely based on a pattern for a top I already have, I guessed with the skirt and surprisingly got it right first time I was expecting to have to fiddle with it.

It is really popular too, my sister and my aunt have asked me to make them one.

this moment!

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

 

inspired by soulemama

Simple things..

Today has been a fantastic reminder that the simple things in life are great. Stephanie is showing the beginnings of the cold I am getting over so we have not done anything major considering it is the summer holidays. People that know me know that I like to explore and discover new places, which results in lots of day trips so it is not normal for me to have spent the past few days close to home.
However, that is not to say I have not enjoyed my peaceful few days. Today we decided to go to a local field, not the best description but my sleepy brain can think of no better word to describe the area, where there are always hundreds of blackberries. So with drinks and empty Tupperware tubs we set off for a the half hour walk. When we got there we picked hundreds of berries which will be made into jam, but not tonight as I am too tired.
We found a rope swing whilst we were there;

So much fun, it even held my weight so that I could have a short turn. You can't beat a rope swing!

Trainee artists

Today we decided that we would go for a walk to a local castle so that we could sketch it using the water colours and charcoals we found whilst looking in the kitchen boxes for something to do. We spent a couple of hours drawing different aspects of the castle.

I am so surprised that the children spent as long as they did in their art work. They want to take the art materials on our holiday with us so that they can keep practising. I must confess that I quite enjoyed the time taken in attempting to draw with them.

our weekend

We have done quite a lot this weekend considering it is a weekend at home to relax.

I have spent several hours at the allotment sorting out the weeds. I have been lucky enough to have been helped by the gentleman who has the plot next to mine. He brought his strimmer and hedge clippers down and cut back my grassy areas and cut back the bushes. I have gathered the windfalls to stew, I love stewed apples with custard/ice cream.

Dylan made this scrummy looking cake.

Stephanie has been playing with ladybirds in the garden.

These squares form the beginning of my next quilt project.

Finally, we collected the seeds from the sunflower we had growing in the garden.

Look how many seeds we gathered, there are literally hundreds. I have the idea of little packets of these forming the basis for some children's  Christmas presents this year, I would love to gather some more seeds from our plants to make a selection pack, I need to look into how to do his more for different plants.

how to make a rain catcher

To go with the weather chart we made yesterday we made a rain catcher. It was tried and tested within an hour or so of being made thanks to the wonderful British summer! It works fabulously. Here's how we did it;

take your plastic bottle and cut the top off as shown above.

cut down the removed section so that you have just the bottle neck.

place the neck inside the bottle. Add tape around the edge to hold together, and cover sharp edges. You could use coloured tape for this, we only had parcel tape so had to make do.

put in a teaspoon of food colouring, this colours the rain and helps it easier for small people to see/measure.

place you rain catcher in the garden, and close your eyes for every picture until Mum gives up and just uses any of them.

After it rains come and have a look and you should have something like this in the bottom of your rain catcher. We measured the rain 24 hours roughly after putting the catcher outside and have caught a whopping 12mm of rain in that time. Don't forget to fill any readings onto your weather chart!

making the most of a rainy day

We decided today that as the forecast for the next week at least appears to be rain followed by more rain a weather chart and rain catcher could be an interesting way to break the day up. here's how we made the chart;

 First we cut some cardboard from a box to make the back. Stephanie glued some pink tissue paper on the card to make it prettier.

Whilst Stephanie was gluing the backing on I prepared the papers. I drew a grid on the paper 8x5 boxes. Along the top the boxes say week beginning in the first one then the next 7 have the days of the week in. The left edge columns say temp, wind direction, rainfall and weather conditions.

Stephanie then made a key for the weather symbols with a picture. We have clear sky, cloudy with sun, cloudy, thunder, rain, snow, windy.

In the top of the papers make 2 holes.

                                          Through the holes going into the card push a push pin.

Glue the key onto the bottom of the cardboard backing.

Once complete you can leave your weather chart as it is, or decorate with stickers. The choice for today (surprisingly!) are princess stickers.

Food glorious food...

I am feeling smug this week as we have been eating homegrown produce with our dinners. We have had raspberries, potatoes, carrots and peas so far. I have tomatoes,onions, peppers and strawberries beginning to fruit in the garden and allotment. As well as plenty of the potatoes, peas, etc at the allotment still to pick. I love how food can occupy us as a family. We all have good appetites and enjoy a 'real' dinner more than anything. The children both love to help choose what we eat as well as to cook it. Tonight was pie with freshly picked veg, it has got to be one of the children's favourite meals it comes high on the list along with a roast dinner. There is nothing better than sitting around the table with the children enjoying good food and nattering about our different days.

A dress for a star.

I had an afternoon to myself so I thought I would get on with some sewing as I have a huge list of projects I want to complete. I made this;

Stephanie, as usual I must say, is in love with this dress. I adore making outfits for her as she gets so excited. This one had barely been cut free of the sewing machine before she had it on and was twirling around in it. This dress her favourite bit is the stars, because 'they shine Mummy'.