A simple A-line skirt

I have decided to make myself a very simple A-line skirt from this gorgeous purple linen:

I've made two similar skirts in the past and neither is perfect so this time I'm making a muslin and adjusting the pattern so that I'll have a good basis for more elaborate skirts in the future. It will have some basic embellishment (buttons maybe?) and will probably be lined but otherwise it couldn't be simpler - two seams, one zip and four darts. Bingo. I really love the rich colour of the fabric too which will look great with turquiose and navy blue spangly bits, plus I have 2.4 metres which means I should have plenty left over afterwards.

The basic pattern is one I made aeons ago following Cal Patch's instructions in 'Design It Yourself Clothes'. I like the book on the whole, although as usual with sewing books her style is very different from mine and requires some imagination on my part to visualise how it would look in my kinda fabrics etc. That's cool, I can do imagination. My only niggle would be that the patterns would not fit a large (or probably even average) busted woman - luckily I'm not, but blouses without darts? Even I like a bust dart in a blouse and I'm a B cup. So if you're small chested it's worth a look, if not ... then you might still like the skirts and trousers but expect to be disappointed with the blouses, dresses and jackets.

I gots me a Kindle!

I finally succumbed. It's happened. I was in Nottingham at the weekend, surrounded by people with Kindles, feeling the temptation. MrK said I should definitely have one for my birthday (June) and yet somehow I had one by the end of Saturday. The novelty of a slither of plastic which contains the works of Jane Austen, a Terry Pratchett book (Jingo), Madame Bovary and a bunch of other stuff, most of which was free, has not worn off yet. I think I'll get my favourite comfort reading for it, even though I own it all in paper too (The Hobbit, LOTR and Winnie-the Pooh).

But you know what this means?

I need a Kindle cosy to protect it. I'm thinking of sewing one. Maybe a fleece lining and cotton patchwork exterior and a big button... methinks a trip to Fabric8 (local fabric shop) will be required this weekend.

On the downside we got home from the trip to find my craft books had been targeted by the cats as a suitable pissing corner. They are not even books I can replace on the Kindle! Doh!

Slice of Springtime Heaven

This was a good chunk of yesterday afternoon:

That's a pile of my favourite veg and herb gardening books, tea and some lovely March sunshine. I've not been quite 100% and had spent a good chunk of the morning cooking and knew I was in for a late night. So decided it was in my best interests to chill out, rather than getting stuck into the garden. A good couple of hours later and I had a list of herbs to grow, along with lists of plants and seeds to buy and bits that needed moving in the garden, and a little plan of the herb beds.  

The books are:

Food from Your Garden by Reader's Digest which is my bible of veg gardening. My parents had it as I grew up and I snapped up a copy from a charity shop. It's old fashioned and fantastic with lovely illustrations. It also assumes you have at least as much space as a full size allotment and says amusing things like 'for a family of four, two 12ft rows should be sufficient'. I love it.

Organic Kitchen and Garden by Ysanne Spevack, Christine Lavelle and Michael Lavelle. A great book which is half gardening, half cooking. The gardening section has a lot of general info on organic methods plus directories of veg, fruit and herbs with cultivation requirements, timings, spacings etc. The book I usually go to first. 


Allotment Month by Month by Alan Buckingham. To be honest all the info in this book is in the others, in fact they have more info, but I bought it because of its month-by-month arrangement which makes organising myself that bit easier. 


Grow your own Drugs by James Wong which is a fun book I still haven't made anything from. 


Jekka's Complete Herb Book by Jekka McVicar which is my herb bible. There's no magical information, obviously, but otherwise it's just great for someone like me who dabbles - I don't need great textbooks of info and Jekka strikes a good balance here. I can see how a dabbler like me could get by with only this one book. Obviously it isn't my only book as I'm a bit of a book fiend, but since I bought it, it's often the only one I open.