Teacher aprons (yes, I know it's summer holidays!)

I know the last thing anyone is thinking about at the moment is back to school...but a friend of mine is a teaching assistant in the primary school’s Reception class, and a while back she had a request. A little summer project.

She needed some sort of carrier for the flotsam and jetsam of Reception class – pencils, stickers, cards (and I suspect the odd chocolate treat for mid-afternoon pick-me-up?). A little bag on a belt? An across-the-body satchel?

Then Sandra from Cherry Heart posted about a gardener’s apron she had made, and I knew I had the solution!

This is a teacher’s apron, in jolly primary colours and fabrics that appeal to 4- and 5-year-olds.

I sewed a pocket slim enough for pencils, with two other pockets for stickers and whatnot/chocolate. You can see the contrasting turquoise thread above...

Sandra’s tutorial was very clear and super-easy to follow - this apron was made in under an hour, including breaks to fetch children snacks and towels for paddling pool play. You can find her original post here.  

Late last night Bunny had a night terror; I heard her crying at 2:45 a.m. She was burning up and delirious, shaking and scared. I cuddled her and comforted her, then she came into our bed for the rest of the night. Cool washcloths and a soft breeze from the window settled her, and a dose of Nurofen helped with the fever. She woke this morning sleepy but absolutely fine, like nothing ever happened. Such a universal parenting situation; I remember cuddling up to my mother after a nightmare, there is nothing quite as comforting. I don’t know which feeling is better: being the child being comforted, or now being the mother, and knowing that wonderful, deep happiness of being the one who can provide such comfort.

But I digress because I'm sleepy...

This morning I woke weary and bleary, with a foggy mind and rattled nerves. I decided a spot of creativity first thing would sort me out and start the day on a positive note. So I made a second teacher’s apron, for the Reception class teacher, using the remaining fat quarter fabrics.

For these aprons I used an inexpensive fat quarter pack of fabrics found on eBay, which fit the bill perfectly.

I matched up some ribbon and bias binding, including a bright orange shade from my grandma's stash, which I used for the pocket trim and apron ties.

I had wondered when on earth I would ever use that orange!

This time the apron was finished in 45 minutes, including yawns and a break to make more tea.

I have some scraps of each fabric leftover – I think I’ll make some little bunting for the classroom. Little Flower will have a very colourful and coordinated Reception class!

Enjoy the weekend!

Chrissie x

Bronze fennel embroidery

After some lovely emails and kind comments on my latest herb bouquet, I thought I would share some of my favourites from my garden and their uses.

But I also have started a new, herb-themed embroidery project, so I'm combining the two in this herb + craft blog post...

I am making a set of herb placemats, using the gorgeously rough-textured linen I first used here.

This is bronze fennel, a striking statement plant in the garden. The bronze fennel in my garden is nearly five feet high, a full and frothy feature in the corner of the herb border.

 

Bronze fennel towering over the lavender

I cut it back to the ground every year, and it shoots up so quickly and fully each summer. As it matures, the leaves turn bright orange, with yellow stems.

I love the colours, from cool white-green stalks on the young shoots to the rich, burnt orange of the feathery larger leaves. Sunset colours.

The Work-In-Progress

It then turns more coppery bronze, hence the name, but I wanted to capture the fiery shades of early summer leaves.

I matched the embroidery floss to the leaves (thank you, Sublime Stitching, for such vivid hues!). I turned to a beautiful Japanese embroidery book for some inspiration:

Herb Embroidery on Linen - that's fennel under the title!

The book features the common fennel in an embroidery pattern, so I adapted it to suit the bronze fennel’s palette.

How stunning is this?

Fennel has a cultivation history spanning thousands of years, used by the ancient Greeks and the Romans to suppress hunger and enhance food flavour. It was used as an insect deterrent in the Middle Ages, and today fennel seed is a common herbal remedy for indigestion.   

My fennel grows in a bright sunny spot, and the leaves and young stems can be added to salads and fish dishes with tasty results. The flowers have a bit of crunch and add texture and gorgeously sweet aniseed flavour as well. The bulb of Florence Fennel is the variety used in cooking; I may grow some of that next year!

For my first herb placemat, I stitched the stalk with chain stitch side by side with stem stitch, in two shades of green. The young bronze fennel plant has tan-coloured flower stems, and tiny yellow blossoms – these open wider with greener stems as the summer goes on. I stitched the flowers with French knots and straight stitch.

The leaves are simply straight stitches with the occasional stem stitch to add slight curves.

I want to keep the mats very simple to focus on the embroidery. I backed this mat with a neutral vintage linen fabric I bought at a fete earlier in the summer (from Sarah Moore’s stall, read more here). I thought the placemat looked a bit stark with nothing but the herb in the upper left section, so I added a little bee in the bottom right corner, as the bees love the bright fennel blossom.

Teeny tiny bee!

I already have more wee insects in mind for the other placemats, you’ll have to wait and see!

Chrissie x

A Kaffe Coco Dress

What do you get when you cross some wonderfully funky fabric from Kaffe Fassett with the perfect Coco dress pattern?

A Kaffe Coco Dress!

(I’m not having a good face/hair day. Sunglasses aren’t enough; I need a hockey mask.)

Thank you once again to Bunny, who happily photographed me in the back garden, adding an artistic off-centre angle to the image above when I said I only wanted the dress in the shot.

The fabric is Kaffe Fassett Paperweight, in the pastel/grey colourway. It reminds me of a Gustav Klimt painting.

This time the Coco pattern whizzed off my sewing machine in an evening; it was an absolute delight to make. When I was finally able to make it, that is. Sometimes WIPs are worked on in half-hour increments...or ten minutes...or less!

For my Kaffe Coco Dress, I spread out the fabric on the living room floor one evening, weighed down the pattern with some tinned tomatoes, and cut out the dress pattern. Then it was time to pack lunches and tidy the kitchen and whatnot.

The next evening came and went, then the next...I was so anxious to get this dress sewn up! Finally, on Wednesday this week a very dear friend was coming over for the evening, and we decided to get our sewing machines involved. Perfect opportunity to finish my dress, which had been sitting in pieces on the back of a kitchen chair, waiting to be sewn.

Sometimes I don’t dare to put something away, even if it’s just moved to the utility room, for fear that it won’t see the light of day for another year.

We poured some Pimms, switched on the machines and stitched and nattered all evening. It was utterly wonderful!

And look, Grandma, my shoulder seams are getting neater!

How do you fit it all in? I am asked that question often, and now I ask the same of you: How do you squeeze in creative time when life is so full of caring, childrearing, working, nurturing, cleaning, cooking, washing, playing, driving, organising, etc. etc. etc.!?! How do you do it?

Now there’s a blog hop topic I’d like to see! Hmmm...

Chrissie x