The reason I have been rather absent...

It started with a hole...

 and a trench...

 and lots and lots

of rain.

 The hole got bigger

 and a new soak away was formed.

 New drainage pipes were laid at the back

 and the front.

Then the holes were filled in

 and the edgings all done

Then today the gravel arrived, 40 tonnes of it!!

 After an hour or so the entrance looked like this

 but the pile still looked like this!

My arm is now aching and I can't even do any therapeutic sewing as my sewing machine broke half way through making my Abbey Coat. Our drive is looking great though!

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Pre Shrinking Wool / Wool Crepe

I apologise now for the rather dull nature of this post, those who are not mildly fabric obsessed may wish to skip this one:)

I succumbed to this beautiful fabric when browsing the web...

 It is wool crepe and I am going to be making a peplum top with it but I had no idea how to pre-shrink it. After a quick search on google I came upon this site. I was sceptical that it could be so easy and actually work..

I decided to give it a go with my bargain wool blend coating material I bought last month to make my soon to be formed Abbey Coat. I overlocked the raw edges then flung it in the tumble dryer with 2 large towels that were very wet (hot water) but not dripping then put the dryer on for 40 minutes on high and....it worked! The fabric came out looking great.

Next was the wool crepe, I did the same as above but the outcome was not as great.

 The material has shrunk a little but it has also lost its sheen and it has felted quite a bit. The drape is no longer as nice as the material is stiffer:(

 

I am still going to use it to  make the top but I think I will take my next piece of wool crepe to the dry cleaners to be shrunk!

Hopefully my next post will be either a finished top or coat...or maybe a living room with a ceiling...

Linking to some of these linky parties!

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The Show!

I mentioned here that I entered my local Industrial and Horticultural Show last weekend, I have been taking part for the last 3 years with varied sucess. I started entering after being asked to by a lady at my church and it has gone from there. The only problem is that the same 3 (older) women enter every category, every year and always win!

This year I entered loads of baking but I forgot to take photos of any of it except my iced biscuits, and this photo was taken after they had been rattling about in the tin for a few days:)

These won second prize. First went to an ordinary empire biscuit, modern baking does not do that well in shows like this...! I got the idea from pinterst but being lazy iced the lace with glace icing instead of royal icing. It would be much sharper in royal icing so I won't be as lazy the next time!

Another of my entries was a lemon drizzle cake that also got second. It tasted amazing and I will share the recipe here when I next make it!

Linking to some of these fab linky parties.

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