Turtleneck

I have just made a Named Clothing Paola Turtleneck Tee.  It takes almost as long to say that as it does to make it.

This all came about because I'd seen such a lovely version on a mystery blog, that not only did I put the pattern on my to-buy list, ( I got mine HERE) but I also immediately ordered the same fabric too. Now, given that this sewist blogger was such an inspiration, I'd love to credit her and say thank you. However, despite (literally) hours and hours trawling the internet, I have failed miserably.  So, if you recognise this as the exact same Paola that you made,  or you know who did,  please get in touch!

 Anyway, here it is -

The fabric is a grey quilted Ponte Roma, £12.50 a metre from Dragonfly fabrics - still currently available.

Checking my measurements against the pattern, it was a toss up between 42 and 44.  Taking into account the thickness of the fabric, I decided to go for the larger size.  I'm glad I did, it fits just as I wanted, but if I make it again in a finer jersey, I'll think about going down a size.  Also, if was an 'under-layer' that I intended to tuck in, I'd probably make it a bit longer too, but that's not the version I wanted this time.

It took no time to cut out - only four pattern pieces - Back, Front, Sleeve and Collar, and not much longer than that to sew up.  I made the whole thing on my overlocker, except the sleeve and bottom hems, which I stitched with a wide zigzag.

I have tried it on and I'm delighted with it, and it'll look great under my Cleo dresses, but it is FAR too hot today to bugger about trying to take photos of me wearing it, so here it is on Lola, in my (currently) tidy & organised sewing room.

As the weather seems to have perked up, it may be a while before I get to wear it, but now I have this padded snuggly top with its cosy neck, I should be able to delay putting the central heating on for even longer than usual this year.

Turtleneck - The National

Afternoon Tea

I've been going throgh a bit of a sewing frenzy recently - partly due to the inclement weather probably.
Here's one of my recent makes

Photographed on my ancient dress stand as I find it impossible to take photographs of myself in the mirror.

The pattern is from the July 2014 issue of Prima magazine, and my first version is blogged about here.  I've had the fabric quite a while, and it was originally intended to be a pair of SewOverIt Ultimate Trousers, then it was going to be my third Tilly and The Buttons Cleo dress, but in the end I knew I wanted to use the Prima pattern again, and this fabric was perfect - a woven fabric with a little bit of stretch It was lovely to work with, and very comfortable to wear.

And wear it I did - when I met Gina at the The Orchard Tea Garden in Granchester for afternoon tea. Admittedly it was actually at lunch time, but it was definitely afternoon tea.

Lets take a closer look at that plate ....

And that was just for ONE!  I had my own ...

The Orchard Tea Garden has quite a history, which you can check out here if you're interested, but suffice it to say they have had lots of famous visitors including Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell, Rupert Brook, Charles Darwin, Alan Turing, and HRH Prince Charles.  Never let it be said that we slum it! As for the tea, we did both make a valiant effort, but in the end we had to ask for doggie bags.  And I didn't eat again for the rest of the day.  It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours, and great to catch up with Gina who I don't see nearly so often since I've moved to Norfolk.  

After we'd struggled to our feet and hauled ourselves out of the tearoom, I thought we should visit the church, even though neither of us was entirely sure if the TV series Granchester was actually filmed there.  

Well, it turns out it was -

Both the interior and exterior of the Church of St Andrew and St Mary are used for filming, as is the exterior of the village hall but there are also other locations in Cambridge, London and Hertfordshire. Apparently lots of the villagers are used as supporting artists too - that must be fun!

I'm still not sure that vicars are meant to behave (or look) like Sidney tho.

Afternoon Tea - The Kinks