Frantic Friday

It’s getting to that time of year again, where everything is frantic and I’m having trouble remembering where I put my head let alone the combined calendars of now two children with ‘things to do’. Today was a big day in the nursery organisational calendar where I had to nag ask people to bring in cakes, fake wrapped presents, fairy lights and sign up for Santa’s Grotto because we were still two slots short, all on about five hours of disturbed sleep last night.

I’m also still working my way through my Christmas present making, my dad, the tea towel hater is up next and I had been planning to make him the Amy Butler Kitty Tunnel, which is a fairly simple make, however on looking for the right materials to make it, could I find it? No. In particular I needed fake fur of quite a considerable width and I just couldn’t find it in that size. So, I thought about changing the materials, maybe making the furry interior of the tunnel with fleece instead but then I thought my dad could possibly think I’m trying to suffocate his cat, so instead I’m going to do yet another embroidered mini cushion, this time of his cat.

Whilst in town, me and Boy Lacer went into a new shop that has just opened on the site of our town’s old Woolworths, called Clas Ohlson, it seems to be basically the Swedish equivalent of Woolies but a lot lot better, imagine having the Ikea Market Place on your high street, it’s that basically. Even smells like Ikea, there’s obviously some secret patented Swedish scent designed to persuade you to part with your cash for cheap, nicely designed things, you never knew you needed. Boy Lacer liked it, I wheeled him in, first words “Wow! Amazing!”, I think all the neatly ordered, shiny stuff appealed to him!

Then back home, a quick lunch, booted Boy Lacer to nursery, got stared at my lots of kids as I trooped round school, my arms laden with (fake) presents and then back home to bake cakes and thanks to Clas Ohlson (whose patented Swedish scent persuaded me to part with a tenner in exchange for a cupcake tin, some biscuit cutters and a pad of drawing paper), I now have enough cupcake tins to bake large batches, so I baked twelve cupcakes for school and twelve for home.

The above photo was taken with iPhone ShakeItPhoto app, which I’m still in love with. I used it this morning whilst walking into town and took the photo of the leaf you can now see on my header at the top of the blog, you can see the whole photo here on my photo blog, I’m rather proud of it, would still much prefer an actual LOMO camera though!

Trellick Tower Skirt

I had my first of my two Christmas nights out tonight, with the mums and teachers from Girl Lacer’s class. It’s always good catching up on some insider gossip! We went to a local gastro pub, where I had carrot and coriander soup and a squash risotto, both in bowls I could swim in, so absolutely stuffed now! The food was delicious to, which always helps!

For the occasion I finally sewed up my Clothkits Trellick Tower skirt, I don’t go out much (cue violins please), so when I do I like to wear something new and these days that means making something. I was going to make the summer blouse from Weekend Sewing but took one look at the pattern sheet and thought “Ah yes, I’ve still got that Clothkits skirt haven’t I?”. Making a new skirt for going out to dinner, seems a little pointless as you’re sitting down all the time, no one is going to see it but it was a tight squeeze round the table and I had to stand up to let people past a few times and the first time I stood up there were literally gasps “Oh my god that skirt’s amazing!”, it’s not often something I’m wearing gets called that! It is a pretty gorgeous design though, I do like a nicely designed skirt, trousers are just, well, trousers, but there is so much you can do with a skirt, so I always like spotting an interesting looking skirt on someone, I think with this skirt people are going to be spotting it on me now.

So, here’s a photo below, excuse the child fingerprint smeared mirror and the messy bedroom, I’ve been making a skirt all day! It was a relatively easy make, having made a Clothkits skirt already, helped. Interestingly though, as both of my Clothkits skirts are pretty much the same shape, this Trellick Tower skirt feels like both a winter (with tights) and a summer skirt, whereas somehow my other Clothkits skirt, the short Rob Ryan one, I can’t see me in that with bare legs, I think it must be the stronger colours in the Trellick Tower skirt, distract from pasty white legs!