Well, hello there! Somehow it is the middle of June and almost 2 months since I last did a blog post! 

The crazy times we are living in means I’ve not posted as much as I would have liked. Then with so much going on in the world, it was a case of finding the right words to say! I have been reading, listening and learning plenty about the Black Lives Matters movement, as well keeping our little family safe from this awful virus.

I thought it would be easier if I did a quick catch up post, in the hope of getting that daunting first post in a while out the way and try and resume some normality!

So what have I been up too? Well shortly after my last post, I came across a local Facebook group that were helping to make scrubs and other items of PPE. I immediately felt the need to join in, and threw myself into sewing! Headbands with buttons (to save ears getting sore from constant mask wearing) scrub bags to wash the scrubs, face masks for family and friends and of course scrubs.

My level of garment sewing is pretty much novice, having only made dresses and tops for Mabel and myself. I wasn’t going to let that put me off though! I was a woman on a mission and I really wanted to do my part. The NHS have done wonderous things for my family and I over the years, in particular, January when mum spent her final week in hospital. The staff were absolutely amazing, so it felt good to give something back.

You know I was dreading the trousers the most. Especially as I’ve never made them before, but you know they were so much easier than the tops!

I must admit it was quite an emotional journey making these. For more reasons than one. It brought some reality to the grand scale of what is going on, imagining someone wearing these who would be saving lives is kind of mind blowing. It also brought up a whole load of feeling from losing my dear mum, and the memories of that last week I spent with her. I do wish I could get those images out of my head, and focus on the happier times! I knew though, she would be proud, I also know if she was alive and well she would have dived head first into it and would have sewn, morning, noon and night. 

There was another special meaning for me making these scrubs, and that was my Grandma during the 2nd World War made uniforms for soldiers! This may not be a war with guns and bombs, but it is certainly a world war that we are all fighting right now, except our soldiers are the brave NHS frontline staff.

Just a small selection of some of the headbands I made. I raided my stash, and it felt good to do a bit of stash busting!

In other news, I have been stocking the shop up with some beautiful new fabrics! I have made the decision for the time being to be solely on Etsy. It is only a temporary thing, and I hope to be back up and running on both platforms again.

Here are some of the new fabrics!

After so much time on the sewing machine, I needed a bit of time to switch and do some slow hand-stitching. I have been engrossed in my cross stitch and pleased to note I am keeping up to date with the Animal Almanac SAL.

New fabrics in the shop meant a perfect excuse to whip up some new hexies. My other go-to hand sewing favourite these days.

Our poor little Louie has been quite poorly. Thankfully he is on the mend, but last week unfortunately was the victim of a particularly nasty dog attack. The dog almost broke Louie’s leg it was that bad. So upsetting, we felt so sorry for him, he has been through so much this year!

I shall spare you the gory photos, instead here is one of him recuperating on a beautiful cushion that was made for me for my birthday last year. Hopefully this experience won’t have too much of a negative effect on him psychologically.