Special Delivery

This has been an exciting week on 11th May, our first grandchild, George Steven arrived.  Everyone has been lovely and so excited about it all. Mother, father and baby are all doing well and should be coming home tomorrow.

All this has meant Lindy's Loops has been distracted too.  I did manage to finish a Funky Purple Cord Bag to go with the top I made for the Make and Mend Fashion Show at the Star and Shadow on Sunday.  I can't wait to see the full outfit put together.  Do come along and support the local designers and crafters who will be there.

I deviated a little from my usual lines to re-cover our old Moses basket, which all 3 of the Chapmen chaps have slept in and now the new little one will be able to take a rest in it.  Not for long I think as he was quite a big chap, 8lb 15.5 oz!  His mammy likes beige and creams so I found some lovely beige polka dots which I think are quite becoming for a young chap.  It was a tricky task but I enjoyed it, but I don't think I will be taking orders.

I started knitting something for him a few months ago, but we didn't know then that it would be a boy, so I finished off the hat and shoes with some little blue teddy buttons.  The next project will be a little Winnie the Pooh sleep suit.

I think I can see an idea for new lines for Lindy's Loops, retro baby grows!.

Frills and Spills

It has been a busy old week, lots to cram in at the 'day job' in just 3 days but I could get used to that.  But more importantly Lindy's Loops has been busy catching up with orders for bags and getting things ready for the fashion show which is being organised by Make and Mend as part of Newcastle Fashion Week.

I enjoyed making a customised bag for Karen which is a Seaside Bag but this time it was a small bag, with a long strap, worn over the body.  Take a look at the bigger version over here .  Karen is a talented lady why don't you pop over here and see some of her work at ArtieD on Folksy.

I have a couple of dresses ready which you have seen in earlier blogs which will go to the fashion show but I have been working on an outfit which is inspired by Englebert Humperdinck and the fact that I have been singing Les Bicyclettes des Belsize  all week, (there is also this lovely version )  What would make me sing such a song?  I have booked a trip to that London and am staying in Belsize and intend to recreate the cycling in the lovely short film of the same name.

Anyway to outfits, I thought of all of the lovely frills and flounces, not least on Engelbert's shirts and so decided to make a top with a frilled front and flouncy sleeves.

It is a loose fitting top in cool cotton, lovely for hot London days.  It has darts in the front and back to give it a little more shape and structure and I have added a purple ribbon so if you are super slim you can pull it in with a lovely little bow to show off your figure.  If you prefer things more loose and flowing the ribbon isn't attached and you could just tie it in your hair.  The background is lilac and the print is purple and green circles and swirls.  What do you think?

For the fashion show I am suggesting teaming this up with a pair of purple velvet trousers. I am going to make a little purple bag with a draw string top and trim the lining with a little left over fabric from the dress.

So this week has had me humming favourite tunes from the 60's I love a little bit of Cilla and Lulu and of course Engelbert.

Oh yes, and at last I got to see Soul Boy, what great memories of Northern Soul Dancing in the Chelsea Cat in South Shields, our very own version of Wigan Casino.  I am wondering what inspiration that will provide me for dressmaking!

All good things must come to an end

I was looking forward to 11 days of working on lindysloops, relaxing, eating, drinking and generally having fun.  Where did the time go?

It went like this:  

Fulfilling orders for bags 

Working on some designs for the Make N Mend Your Style event on 15th May which is part of the Newcastle Fashion Week.  

Knitting a little more of the baby blanket that my son has asked me to make for his friend, it is a beautiful pattern of butterflies and triangles in purple and cream.

A couple of visits to our favourite drinking establishments in Ouseburn.

A bit of gardening, mine and my dad's garden.

Enjoying home baked bread and pizza courtesy of Chapman minor.

A bit of dancing and keep fit to keep the llb's at bay

Watching the Royal Wedding, wearing my best hat.

The kind folks at Our Local Crafts gave me a shout out on their blog which was really kind and as a result I seem to be gathering more followers on my facebook page.  That's how it went, and the sun shone and made it even more jolly.  There are so many reasons to be happy if you just look for them.

And so it must come to an end and normal life resumes well for 3 days at least.  We need the normal bits to make the other bits seem event better.

Looking forward to my next little break in 20 days time.

I hope your bank holiday weekends have been fun.

Not such a busy week

The trials of self employment this week.

1. Sewing machine total failure.  I had planned to buy a new one anyway so off I went to buy one, got it home and the light doesn't work.  No time to take it back until next week.

2.  Panic about having enough stock for the Craft Fair on Sunday and wondering if I better contact Fat Elvis to see if the has got anything I can sell.

3.  Craft Fair is cancelled the day before the event, not the organisers fault, problem with the venue.

4. On the upside managed to get a cancellation at the Make and Mend market at The Star and Shadow. This is a lovely venue for craft fairs and gigs.  Got a confirmation when I was still in bed on Sunday morning so a mad panic ensued to gather everything up and get there.

5.  Central Motorway closed, traffic jams on a Sunday morning and an interesting diversion around Newcastle.

6. The sun shone and as a result there were not a lot of people at the market, but I did get some interest and a very excited young lady loved my bags and upon purchase immediately emptied out her old one and started using it.

7.  I did get a lot of knitting done.

I don't think I will be giving up the day job just yet.

Here are a few not very good shots of my stall.

Lindy's Loops Closed for Funshine

Everyone has to take a day off so Lindy's Loops closed for the day to participate in some fun.  The day started with the torture of my poor clarinet teacher, I just can't do flats, apparently I read in sharps.  I purchased some beautiful purple fabric to compliment this Berry Brolly Fabric watch out for the bag coming to my shop soon.

Next stop home to pick up my best buddy and then off to the toon for a wander in the afternoon sun.  First stop Ladbrokes to place a little wager on the Grand National.

Gateshead doesn't have a great selection of pubs these days, but the refurbished Central is wonderful it is a Flat Iron Building and provides such interesting rooms and now it has a roof terrace and although the view isn't what you would traditionally think of as spectacular it allows you the pleasure of Gateshead's old town hall and watching trains going in and out of town.

And in case you don't see any trains they have a model train in a glass case.  By the way look at the bridge behind the train it looks like the brickwork is starting to bow.

We made our favourite walk over the magnificent High Level Bridge

 to watch the Grand National and lucky for me I chose an each way bet as the only horse I picked that was placed came second, so I will have to make sure to collect my £6 or so winnings.

As always we headed off towards Ouseburn and on the way we stumbled upon a stray bus, all aboard the number 14 for Tottenham Court Road.

These guys look a little confused, they only hopped aboard the number 14 hoping to to go to Oxford Street!

We enjoyed some late afternoon sunshine outside the Cumberland Arms and in the garden of the Free Trade which has the best view of all.  As we set off for home we walked along the quayside and the party boats were out in force which meant that the blinking eye was blinking.

and I couldn't resist a little shot of the Baltic, before heading home.

What a nice day off.

Cowboy Dreams or the Tribulations of Self Employment

It all started with a beautiful piece of fabric by Alexander Henry.  

Ever since I bought the fabric I couldn't stop singing Cowboy Dreams and wondering what ever happened to Jimmy Nail.  More importantly I have been dying to make this into a bag.  So more haste and less speed, furiously cutting and trimming and stitching and then disaster, sewing machine fail, production halted at Lindy's Loops.

This is when I realised that I need to be everything in my self employed world so I called the maintenance department and there I was fiddling with moving machinery parts and machine oil in hand.  Now I know the frustrations when something goes wrong in your business.  They say you must add in realistic costs to your product to account for your time, well you better get your savings out if I add the stoppage time to this bag!  Any way I got things going again and it is finished now.

I thought the fabric was quite bold so I have put the patterned fabric on one side and plain fabric on the reverse and I have added my usual little flower brooch to the plain side for a contrast.  I just love these 50's style ladies in all their hour glass figure glory.  The fabric is called 'Shoot from the Hip'. If you want to buy this bag you need to visit me at the craft fair on the 17th April at The Pullman Lodge in Seaburn.

I hope you like it, I am planning some more bags in interesting fabrics so keep checking out my blog.

Perfect Little Circles

How appropriate that I should be drawn to this lovely fabric (which is actually called Modern Meadow, by Joel Dewberry) it has lots of Perfect Little Circles and today we are going to see Perfect Little Circles at the Head of Steam.  They are supporting the excellent  Pale Man Made and there will be music selected by Bill from Pop Klubb.

Anyway here is the dress which the music influenced.  It is based on a classic 60's A Line style and has a front zip which was a popular thing in the late 60's.  I do recall that it could be a dangerous thing to wear to a school disco, unless you put a secret pin through the zip to stop the boys revealing all!

The fabric is a sort of turquoise green and mustard colour and I have to say the photo doesn't do the colour justice.  It is a very light cotton so I have fully lined this in poly cotton so that you can keep your modesty and stay cool.  As always I have included a button brooch.

This is another one which will be going to the craft fair on 17th April at The Pullman Lodge, Seaburn.  I hope to see you there I hear this will be a bumper event as it is Makers Markets birthday and there will be cake.