It's Been A Long Time......

So, not too long after I posted my first blog entry I found out that I was pregnant. Things got a bit crazy around here and I went through a bit of a hard time for a while. Things fell by the wayside and blogging was not really on my mind. Now things are starting to get better again, I have a happy nearly 2 year old making new challenges for me, my older daughter is 8 now, and making even more challenges for me. So now I'm starting to think about these things that got left behind again. Things like taking more time for my craft projects, and possibly even blogging.

In the last 2 and a half years (nearly three years!) I have kept crafting. I have sewn and stuck, knitted, knotted and poked with pins and needles, scissors and glue. I haven't had as much time as I had before, but I have stuck at it. And now that the little one is a bit older I am starting to get a little more time. And so I have decided to challenge myself a little.

In 2016 I will start an Overly Ambitious Project. I have done this before, like in 2014 I learned to quilt, and I made 3 queen size quilts in a year, having started with no prior knowledge. And this year I have learned to crochet lace, with the really fine thread and impossibly small hook. I have almost finished my big project for this year, a really pretty lace shawl, and so now is the time for me to consider next year. Next year I am aiming to draft a pattern for, and make, one new item of clothing each month. I started out with pattern drafting this year and I am ready to push myself a little further with it now.

But why draft my own patterns? Yes, I must be mad! Well, the answer is simple. I am a plus sized, curvaceous lady. Commercially available patterns I end up having to grade up, and change curves and alter darts. And after I put in all of those hours, the garment I end up making doesn't much resemble the picture on the packet. So I will draft. It is a learning curve, I am undoubtedly going to get things wrong, and there will be frustration along the way. But that is why it is a challenge, and I do love a challenge.

I will check back in again in a few weeks time to let you know how the first pattern is coming along

See you soon, crafty friends.

We all start somewhere

Well, here is where I start my blog (and please bear with me as I have never done this before). Let's tell you a little about me to start with. I'm a full time mum of one, I gave up my job because of a lack of affordable childcare (as in my very affordable childminder said she couldn't look after my daughter anymore a week before I was due to return to work and nurserys were too expensive) and took to keeping myself busy with all manner of crafts. I have tried many (though certainly not all crafts) ranging from  papermaking to cross-stitch and from knitting to cardmaking. But there are a few that I keep coming back to time and again.
At the moment, between knitting the rows of my new jumper (which I have been planning for a while but never quite got around to until now) I am busy filling up my Scrapbook albums and making clothes on my trusty sewing machine. I will always be a scrapbooker, and I will always be a dressmaker, that one thing is certain. And this is why I've taken to blogging, I love the things I make with pretty paper, fabric, lace and ribbon and I would love to share my crafting knowledge (or occasional lack thereof) with the rest of the world.
So, if you're still with me, thank you and I hope you will visit again soon.