Threads of Life

* I was invited to this year’s Gardeners’ World Live preview and provided with a pair of tickets for the show, therefore all my posts will be marked as 'Ad’ though as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

The theme for this year’s Beautiful Borders was “Once Upon a Time” and it’s one that the garden designers really embraced, in fact I don’t think it’s been more evident what the theme has been from a wander around the garden. Perhaps that’s because we all love stories, and love to retell them and I definitely think that’s part of it.

It was great to chat with Jan O’Brien about this garden and how it came about by reflecting of fifty years of lived experiences, with chapters still unfolding, and how it became the an invitation to tell her story, and the importance to her of its support for MND awareness. There’s so much more that I could say about this, but instead I’ll share a link to Jan’s SubStack so you can read her words for yourself.

But just looking at my photos of the garden you can see how much love, thought and hard work has gone into it and it’s clear to see that it’s inspired by sewing and textiles - the planted sewing machine and workbox were definitely eye catchers.

As we were talking and Jan explained the journey and inspiration for the garden, and how that everything there held meaning, I suddenly saw that the uprights throughout the gardens were in fact large scale needles and my mind was once again blown at the level of detail she’d incorporated into a garden which is small, and yet full of space.

It really was a beautiful garden, and Jan was equally as generous with her time so it was great to cheer her on when she was awarded Platinum for this garden, which she wanted to give people hope. I think it gave people just that, with a huge dollop of joy too.

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for once again inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was another great show! I’ll be sharing more from my visit to this year’s show throughout the year - I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Post Comment Love 21 - 23 August

Hello there, welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a relaxed, friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked, comment and share some of that love.

Please don’t link up posts which are older as they may be removed, and if you see older posts are linked then please don’t feel that it’s necessary to comment on those. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here we’re pleased you’ve joined us.

Last Saturday evening we boarded the Golden Arrow on the Bluebell Railway in West Sussex for two course dinner as it journeyed between Sheffield Park and East Grinstead. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it was a really good evening - the inside of the carriage was exquisite, the food was good and the waiting staff were absolutely brilliant, so it was well worth doing.

We were seated in the carriage below, which MOH was a little concerned to discover was a previous LNER train, as he says he rarely gets a LNER train which leaves or arrives on time - though this one proved him wrong!

Have a great week.

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Made the dress, wore the dress

I’d had this dress earmarked as my next project for a while, and while I’d cut out the paper pattern the fabric sat on the side almost taunting me. On mum’s recent visit she looked at the pattern and declared I could do it, but pointed it out it had a facing. I think that’s because I’m not really a fan of facings which flap about and get in the way, not because a facing was tricky to sew, well I think so anyway.

But anyway with a family outing planned with a meal on the Bluebell Railway, I thought to myself that it’d be quite nice to have something new to wear the following weekend. That’s when my brain said, well you can make that sundress, can’t you? And when your brain challenges you like that, sometimes you just have to prove it right. Or wrong.

So that’s what I did.

On the Monday I took the fabric and the pattern to my sewing group, and pondered pattern placement. I took my scissors but didn’t really expect to cut it out there as I hadn’t measured myself against the pattern sizes, so after a fair bit of faffing, I folded the pattern pieces up in the fabric and got on with something else.

I don’t think anyone at that Monday night group thought I’d really make it in a week, and at this point I wasn’t sure either, but hey ho!

Overnight my brain percolated more thoughts: the pattern pieces I’d been struggling to fit into one half of the fold was solved when I realised the fold didn’t need to produce equal parts, simple really but I worked it out.

And my brain decided to add a further condition, when it remembered that I’d bought some fab labels at the Festival of Quilts, and that it’d be great to include one on this dress. My awake brain remembered that I’m not a big fan of labels in clothes as often they can be scratchy, and then wondered why on earth I’d bought myself some labels anyway (in my defence they are very cute!).

Then I realised the label could be on the outside of the garment, just because they’re traditionally inside a garment didn’t mean that that’s where I needed to place it. So sorted, it was going on the pocket.

On the Tuesday afternoon I commandeered our oversized kitchen island to check if my overnight revelations were good. They were, and so the dress was cut out completely that afternoon.

It was just as well that the shop had mis-measured the material when I bought it in the sale back in May, as I needed that extra 60cms. Well I needed some of it, as this was my first time using this pattern I decided to cut it to the full length even though I knew it would be too long for me, but I was unsure how much shorter I wanted it but I knew I could sort that out later. If I didn’t have enough then I’d have needed to work it out, but I was about 25 cms away from doing that.

On Wednesday I started to sew, and the pattern started with assembling the pockets, so I got to check to see if my plan for the label would work out. It did, and remarkably well, though if I was doing this again now I’d add interfacing to the pink contrast pocket top as it’s a more lightweight fabric.

And doesn’t it look as if it was made for this dress?

I also discovered the benefits of a well-stocked craft room, as not only did I manage to locate the exact size zip the pattern suggested, I also had one in a toning pink. Then I found some cotton that matched the green background, so I was sorted, and maybe, just maybe making the dress to wear at the weekend was actually a go-er.

Thursday there was more sewing, and the zip went in. It’s in, it zips and hasn’t fallen out yet so that’s all good, but I think it could be neater though I guess with practice that will come. There was a slight mishap to the sewing schedule as while I was putting the zip in the tape I’d used to secure it decided to stick itself to my sewing machine leaving a sticky gluey mark, not the best. So MOH was called in with some rubbing alcohol to resolve the sticky situation successfully.

By the end of Thursday most of the sewing was done, there was just the top of the bodice to finish and the hem, but I sensibly decided to leave that for another day.

So after a very hot day at this year’s Rutland Flower Show I decided I wasn’t going to be beaten by my own rather daft challenge, and so it was time to work out how long I wanted the straps, and what length I wanted the dress to be.

MOH was called into operation again, to check that the straps covered my bra straps and to mark the hem. He was ok with the first task, but unsure on the second - but we got there. In the end I cut about an inch off the straps, and six inches off the bottom of the dress, so that’s an adjustment I can make from the off next time I use this pattern.

And so Friday night it was finished. I didn’t quite get the instructions for finishing the bodice so decided to wing it a bit, and added a row of topstitch around the armholes and neckline, and if I’m honest I like this kind of finish. It did mean that the contrasting rosebud facing was a bit flappy, which I’m not a fan of, so I sat there and hand sewed it into place.

Then after whizzing round the bottom a couple of times for the hem, and a really good press, it was actually finished.

So on Saturday night I wore the dress, and what’s more it looked and felt great - and not one single person asked if I’d made it, which I’m taking as a sign of success rather than everyone thought it was awful!

And while I’ll probably make another one, it probably won’t be in a week!