Helen's Bookmarks Mk 2

In 2010, I took part in the Bookmarks project which Sarah Bodman at UWE organises (see post here).  I loved creating my 'Lovers' Lanes' series and it sparked off lots of ideas for more.  I immediately signed up to do another round so, this May, you could again find me furiously tracing and cutting at our coffee table (although this time, they weren't wholly hand-drawn - the baby necessitated the assistance of a photocopier...).  The new series is 'Alleys and Allies' -  it is a  continuation of the map idea started with 'Lovers' Lanes': again each design features a route plotted between two streets in London, this time representing a great literary partnership.

Helen's Best in Show badge for Graz

Last December, one of my good friends from work left to start a fab new job.  She is also very crafty (in fact, much better than me) so her leaving party had a craft theme.  It was around this time that the deeply annoying Kirstie Allsopp programme 'Kirstie's Handmade Britain' was on television.  My main issue with the show was that she kept saying that there was no point in her entering all these competitions if she didn't come first, totally belittling all the other contestants who had devoted months, if not years, to their crafts.  Anyway, the programme did inspire this badge which I made for Graz - all handstitched apart from a mishap with some superglue - who definitely deserved to be 'best in show'.

Helen's Halloween Costume for Sam

One of the best things about having a baby, in my opinion, is that you get to dress them up however you like and they don't object (or at least not when they're very little!).  I intend to take full advantage of this until Sam forcibly stops me so, in that vein, I had a lot of fun creating his first Halloween costume - Spider Sam!  It consisted of a black babygro, tights, socks sewn on as extra legs and another pair on his arms.  I then drew him a spider web on an old towel and he was good to go!  He clearly had no idea what was going on but was very amenable and I loved it!  His costume for this year is already in the pipeline.....

Helen's Wedding Invite

Alex and I got married in November last year (nearly a year ago now - feels like much longer!).  We had such a fun day with various stages - registry office ceremony with family, restaurant lunch with family and best friends, then evening party in a pub with lots of friends.

I drew our bunting-inspired invitation and had them printed by Graphico in Croydon (who were amazing - thoroughly recommended).  We then printed our three different inserts and put them together ourselves.  I remember reading on some terrifying wedding blog that the invite has to be a first taster of the day and fit in with all your 'themes'.  Needless to say, our wedding was theme-less but the invite did end up reflecting the day quite unintentionally - it was a decidedly lo-fi affair, my 'colours' were pale pinks and greens and there was bunting involved!

18 months to catch up on....

So there's been a fair amount of silence from my end over the last year and a half which I'm going to try and put right now.  After having my son in May last year, crafting went onto the backburner somewhat but I did still manage to do some.  Details in the following posts.....

Helen's Patriotic Cake

Red velvet cake isn't exactly a British delicacy but I thought the red, white and blue theme was an appropriate way to celebrate the Royal wedding on April 29th. It was also very yummy although mine was considerably more sunken and less red than the one in the recipe I was following.

Helen's Cardigans for Baby

Having worked up to 38 weeks, I thought I'd relish having nothing to do for the first couple of weeks of my maternity leave. However, I've actually been really bored so have been knitting furiously to keep myself busy. The top cardigan is my first attempt at making a garment from shaped pieces. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out although I have some work to do on making my 'sewing together' a bit neater. The bottom one is another version of the navy stripy ones I made at the end of 2009. My knitting has obviously improved a lot since then as all the bits I couldn't understand those first times round (like the eyelet detail round the neck) made perfect sense this time. I'm obviously learning!

Second Baby Craft

I am currently expecting the second crafternoon baby (in fact, he was due yesterday but has obviously decided to be fashionably late). A couple of weeks ago my fellow crafters threw me a shower of sorts and made a mobile for the baby. My contribution was these jellies which I was really quite proud of, and they only took me about 36hrs to make in the end!

Cupcake Party

My colleague Grazyna held a cupcake party a few weeks ago. Buying ingredients in the supermarket beforehand, I got really excited about the fact that I'll soon be getting to make children's birthday cakes and all the fun that entails. However, it turns out I'm absolutely rubbish at icing cakes! Oh well. My creations are all tucked around the back of the stand, out of sight, and I can take no credit for these lovely confections which were all created by the other attendees.

Helen's Piano Bag for Mum

Mum is learning the piano so, when I saw a bag a bit like this one in Japan, I thought I would make her one. The Japanese one was printed but I appliqued the keyboard instead, using black and cream twill and then sewed it up into a neat shoulder bag that's just right for carrying around sheet music.

Helen's Christmas Neckerchiefs

Top: Laura. Middle: Mum. Bottom: Dad.

I have been continuing with my favourite pattern and knitted neckerchiefs for my entire family for Christmas. Mum's was in a cotton yarn, that I like to think of as 'Spring-weight'; Dad's was in a tweedy wool with short tails that he could easily tuck into a jacket; and Laura's was in a lovely soft merino which I imagined her wearing in a jaunty, Gallic way with a stripy t-shirt and a trench coat.

Helen's Christmas Card

Alex and I went to Bexhill-on-Sea in October and, as we were in the cafe at the De La Warr Pavilion, I looked down and saw the bubbles on the surface of my tea and thought, "With a bit of rudimentary Photoshop, that's my Christmas card". Et voila!

Helen's Dress for Laura

My friend Laura writes this great blog and is a bit of a star on the vintage scene in London. Before Christmas, I made her this dress for some parties she was going to. The top has a sweetheart neckline and princess seams, while the skirt is bias-cut with a fishtail insert. Putting a zip into the skirt was a bit of a learning curve and I seemed to spend hours handstitching the hem and lining but it was worth it in the end.

Helen's Hat and Scarf for Morven

I actually knitted this hat and scarf for Morven last Easter, then gave it to her for her birthday in August. I finally managed to photograph it in November and now it's almost March and I'm putting it on the blog.... So almost a full year from start to finish!

Helen's Far East Dress

Much like for our French holiday, I decided I needed to have some kind of character for a recent holiday to China and Japan. Again, I only managed to make one dress but this is it. I used this pattern, which is my new favourite thing and some fabric from the £1 place. This is me post-afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong.

Helen's Wedding Draught Excluder

Just what every newly-wed couple wants - a hand-knitted draught excluder! I actually think this is a much more romantic present than it first appears. No-one wants a chilly marital bedroom after all.....

Crafter Baby Shower

I have been ridiculously bad at posting lately so am playing catch-up now.

Back in August we held a special crafternoon crafter-shower to celebrate the imminent birth of the first crafter-baby (the lovely baby, Kit, was born on August 22nd all healthy and happy). We all made a bird from this pattern which I then put together to make a mobile. I'd like to say constructing it was done in a serene and capable manner but, in fact, it involved much stressing, wire hangers, embroidery hoops, superglue and cursing. Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and I'm sure Kit will love it when he can focus properly and appreciate all the hard work.

Helen's Apron Dress

I went on holiday to France at the end of June and decided I needed some kind of French persona..... I thought this persona would wear apron dresses so I made this. It's actually a wrap skirt and then a separate top. My sewing machine properly gave up the ghost while I was making it (the stitching should not be scrutinised) and is now being repaired by a nice man in Deptford (highly recommended). After all that, I only wore the dress once and my French persona mainly wore skirts and t-shirts..... Must try harder next time.

Helen's Bookmarks

I'm taking part in Bookmarks VIII, organised by Sarah Bodman at the Centre for Fine Print Research at UWE. I spent most of May furiously drawing these, which will be distributed in various bookshops and galleries around Europe in the autumn.

I am slightly obsessed with maps so it seemed appropriate that I based my designs around them. Each one depicts a celebrated literary romance with a route through London streets from one character to the other.

Helen's Bag for Jessica

My lovely cousin, Jess, is moving back to Canada so I made her this bag as part of her leaving present. I took this photo at Crafternoon 12 at Kim's house yesterday although, ironically, I made the bag at home before I went, thus making myself really quite late. Go figure. Incidentally, the bag is modelled by our other Jess who is currently expecting the first Crafternoon baby. Expect a lot of baby related crafts in the future (baby neckerchiefs).