Joined up!

Welcome to October's New to Me link party.

Time to celebrate the swings and roundabouts of tackling new techniques, visiting new places or just generally pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone.

October has been a month for making new connections for me.

I have joined the local Camera Club and found all sorts of New to Me settings on my camera!

I have also joined a local sewing class to tackle a New to Me pattern.

 We visited Pollock House, a New to Me destination (with a lovely tearoom to boot!)

I took over as Treasurer of my local Embroiderers Guild branch at our recent AGM, and speaking of embroidery, thanks to the lovely Benta I got to (virtually) see my Walk in the Park embroidery hanging at the Knitting and Stitching Show!

It has been a busy month :)

 

Now it is your turn to share the highs and lows of trying something for the first time. As ever the link party will remain open until the end of the month, so if you need to be nudged to edge out of your comfort zone, consider yourself nudged :) Add the blog button to your New to Me post so that your fellow bloggers and readers can celebrate or commiserate with us.

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Escapes and exhibitions

Welcome to this month's New to Me Link party, your chance to celebrate any attempt you have made this month at trying something for the first time.

Applaud or commiserate with your fellow bloggers who have pushed themselves out of that cosy comfort zone during September. As ever the link party will remain open until the end of the month, so there is still time to give that new technique or pattern a go and join the party!

I have had fun this month trying out new techniques and visiting new places.

 First up two New to Me stitches for my submission to the Embroiderers Guild Page 17 exhibition, Drizzle Stitch at the top and Turkey Stitch below.

 Then a New to Me applique method using Freezer Paper and liquid starch, also for the Page 17 exhibition piece.

In September I have also managed to visit three New to Me countries, although only 2 of them are officially recognised as independant countries.

Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria (the unrecognised one!)

Moldova

and Romania!

As you can see it was a very interesting trip! As well as the amazing Painted Monasteries like the one above we visited a church in Romania that is described as being covered in stonework embroidery, it was glorious! Posts to follow on the trip soon :)

So, now it is your turn to share anything that you have tried for the first time this month, whether it was a brilliant success or abject failure! We have all been on both sides of those experiences so will be happy to applaud or sympathise with a fellow blogger whatever the result of your endeavours :)

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Firsts and Seconds

It is the 25th of the month already, how did that happen? You know what that means, time to open up this month's New to Me link party.

If you haven't come across the New to Me link party before, it is where we celebrate the trials and tribulations of giving something a go for the first time. So, join me as I share what I have been up to this month and join the link party if you have had any new experiences this month too. The link party will stay open until the August 31st so there is still time to have a go at something new and join the party :)

My New to Me's are definitely a mix of highs and lows.

The high?

My first ever entry in to the Hobbies and Crafts section at the local horticultural show and it came second!! I entered my Still Waters piece from the Embroiderer's Guild Capability Brown exhibition into the Tapestry item class. I wasn't 100% convinced that this counted as a tapestry but I was told that the organisers were not too strict on their definitions, and there was no other class that it could have come in so I went ahead and entered. I was very glad that I did when I went to collect it at the end of the show.
Next year I might even enter something in the Quilted Item class :)

My next New to Me has been a definite mix of highs and lows.

We treated ourselves to a new AGA range cooker in preparation for our new kitchen. If you haven't come across a range cooker before it is a very different way of cooking, and one that we are still trying to get our heads around. Instead of setting the temperature for a dish there are three ovens, all of differing heats, and the mantra is to "find the appropriate heat". We haven't starved since the oven has been put in, but there have been some occasions when the local fish and chip shop has seemed like a very attractive option!

My final New to Me is a mix of old and new, old - cross stitch and new - on paper. I picked up the paper cross stitch bunting kit on our last trip to France, and have been stitching away now and then ever since. When finished it will be another gift for the gorgeous grandson who, can you believe it, is about to turn one in a couple of weeks! Now that time really has flown :)

So, that's my New to Me's now it is your turn to link up. As always the link up will remain open until August 31st. Visit your fellow linkers and leave a comment or two as we all know a little encouragement when we are learning new skills is always welcome.

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Shorts, shirts and shirring

Welcome to another New to Me Link Party, come celebrate or commiserate with me on the highs and lows of trying something for the first time!

This month I have sewing related New to Me's for a change.

First up, I tried a New to Me pattern for Baby Bloomers from Vagabond Stitch

The pattern was so easy to follow that I stitched it up twice more!

Of course, shorts need a t-shirt to go with them, so I tried another New to Me pattern from Brindille and Twig

This pattern is free too, so if you need to whip up a t-shirt or two for a child then it is definitely a great one to try. The sewing wasn't altogether without incident, but all troubles were entirely self-inflicted. I was not able to convince myself that no-one would notice the upside down dachshunds from my first cut but, fortunately, I was able to rescue the fabric to make the sleeves! I found attaching the sleeve binding a tad difficult so would probably add that before stitching up the sides next time. This t-shirt is for 12 - 18 months so I suspect it would be even more difficult if I had been making the t-shirt for a newborn. Other than that it was really straightforward to do.

Sadly my third New to Me wasn't anywhere near as successful.

My niece is coming to France for the first time in a couple of weeks and I thought that I would upcycle this dress to make a sundress for her holiday. I don't know her exact size so thought that a shirred top was the way to go. I checked out lots of tutorials, who all stressed how straightforward a technique it was. I found the shirring elastic for sale in the local supermarket, chopped up the dress and set to work.

I stitched the first couple of rows and it wasn't quite as tight as I had anticipated but a couple of the tutorials mentioned that the first few rows might be looser, so undaunted I carried on until I had run out of elastic in the bobbin. Bobbin rewound and replaced I stitched another row, what a difference! Now this looks more like it.

When I had finished stitching with the second bobbin, I had a very tightly shirred piece of fabric but on testing the stretch I think that it is now too tight!

Clearly something is not quite right and I need to find that happy medium between too loose and too tight, so I am hoping that wiser heads than mine out there will be able to tell where I have gone wrong and what I need to do to produce a piece that is gathered but not so tightly that it would be better placed around a wrist than a chest :)

So, these are my New to Me successes and failures this month, now it is over to you. As always the link party will remain open until 23.59 GMT on July 31st, so if you are thinking of trying something new this month but haven't yet here is the nudge that you need. Grab the link party button and take the plunge! Check out the linkers and give them some blogger support for their endeavours too.

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New places, new pattern

Welcome to this month's New to Me link party.

The party where we celebrate and commiserate the highs and lows of attempting new things. Success or failure are all the same here, so if you have tried out something for the first time this month, link up and share your experiences with your fellow bloggers.

My own New to Me experiences this month are very different.

First up a whole New to Me coastline.

http://www.croatiaemb.net/main.html

We recently sailed up the Croatian coastline from Dubrovnik to Zadar, it was a wonderful trip which I will share with you as soon as I have sorted out my photos. At the minute I am struggling to work out which building is which!

Here's a taster :)

This is Omis, which is just south of Split on the above map. Isn't that an amazing backdrop?

We took a boat trip up the River Cetina from here and the scenery was stunning! 

My sewing mojo seems to have deserted me this month so there has been very little in the way of sewing going on, although I did manage to do a little embroidery on our cruise (in between sightseeing and cocktails!).

A friend's daughter has just had a baby boy, so I thought that I could make good use of some of the lovely knit fabric that I splurged on when the gorgeous grandson was born. I knew that I had my Brindille and Twig patterns to use for an outfit, but wanted to make a baby beanie hat to finish it off. So, I searched the internet and found this baby hat pattern and tutorial by Zaaberry.

My New to Me pattern came together really easily, so I can definitely recommend it. The pattern comes with two other variations, so I think I will be revisiting this next time someone I know has a baby.

Unfortunately, the pattern only comes in 0-3 months size, so the gorgeous grandson will not be receiving one for his cute little head :( Fortunately, my mum is an excellent knitter and has kept him supplied with a stream of knitted hats during the winter.

So, that's my New to Me's, now it is your turn. As always the link party will remain open until 23.59 GMT on June 30th, so if you are thinking of trying something new this month but haven't yet here is the nudge that you need. Grab the link party button and take the plunge! Check out the linkers and give them some blogger support for their endeavours too.

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New to Me - the Menagerie!

Welcome to this month's New to Me link party, where we celebrate the trials and triumphs of having a go at something new.

This month all of my New to Me's are animal related, I am not quite sure why it certainly wasn't planned :)

First up

a New to Me pattern, Whiskers the Fox, from Ann's Orchard Needlework

Then

Two new paper piecing patterns tested for Tartankiwi

and finally Denis the Dinosaur!

My very first attempt at a stuffed toy!

When I saw the pattern in a recent Bustle and Sew magazine I thought it would be a great project for my first attempt at toy making, but didn't do anything about it. Then I got an email telling me that kits for the Dinosaur Softie were going on offer for a short period, so I decided to dive right in and order one straight away.

Despite the kit being advertised as suitable for a child, it wasn't all plain sailing I can tell you. I ran out of the green thread/floss and had to use a substitute to finish off the second leg and attach the legs and arms. The kit also came supplied with beads for the eyes, but I decided to stitch colonial knots instead, which meant that I also ran out of the black thread too!

The instructions for attaching the legs and arms were just that - "stitch into place". Having never attempted anything like this before I could have done with a bit more guidance.

We got there in the end and I am sure that it will look good on the gorgeous grandson's bedroom shelf, but it wasn't quite as easy as I had anticipated.

I bought a kit and a pattern for two more soft toys when I was at the Knitting and Stitching show. Fingers crossed that they are more fulsome in their instructions and their supplies :)

So, that's my New to Me's this month now it is your turn.  Link up and celebrate the trials and tribulations of trying something new and, of course, encourage and support your fellow bloggers who have moved out of their comfort zones this month too. As ever the link party will remain open until 23.59 GMT on May 31st, so if you are thinking of trying something new this month but haven't yet here is the nudge that you need. Grab the link party button and take the plunge! Check out the linkers and give them some blogger support for their endeavours too.

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New to Me - Lakes and Challenges

It is the 25th of the month, so time to look to see if I have tried anything New to Me this month and to invite you to celebrate the highs and lows of trying something for the first time too.

My New to Me's are pretty thin on the ground this month, although I did manage to complete all three of my challenges for Jen's 100 Day Challenge. That was definitely a New to Me experience :)


Not only did I work out the problem but also managed to correct it when the neckline of my newly serged t-shirt for the gorgeous grandson went all wavy!

Differential feed settings on the overlocker were definitely New to Me :)

I also found a New to Me supplier of great organic cotton knits for more outfits for said gorgeous grandson - Jelly Fabrics

It would take more willpower than I have to resist fabrics like these wonderful whales :)

My final New to Me, was a new destination.

We travelled to the Lake District in the NW of England to meet up with that gorgeous grandson, his parents and our youngest son and his girlfriend for a few days over Easter. We were surrounded by green fields criss-crossed with miles of drystone walls.

Lots of sheep and lambs to get the boy all excited :)

Moss covered walls had me itching to replicate them in embroidery, so lots of photographs were taken in the hope that I might actually get around to it someday :)

Of course, we could hardly visit the Lake District without visiting a lake, now could we? This is the view from the harbour at Bowness on Windermere, on the shores of Lake Windermere, the largest natural lake in England.

We took a steamer from Bowness on Windermere to Ambleside at the top of the lake, another New to Me!

So, that's all my New to Me's now it is over to you. Link up and celebrate the trials and tribulations of trying something new and, of course, encourage and support your fellow bloggers who have moved out of their comfort zones this month too. As ever the link party will remain open until 23.59 GMT on April 30th, so if you are thinking of trying something new this month but haven't yet here is the nudge that you need. Grab the link party button and take the plunge! Check out the linkers and give them some blogger support for their endeavours too.

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Stitching New to Me's

Welcome to this month's New to Me Link Party, where we celebrate the joys of trying new things whether we are successful or not!

I have several New to Me's this month the most exciting of which was seeing this at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia.

Hardhome Embroidery

When I discovered that this would be at the show and my husband was going to London for a friend's retirement party the same weekend, wild horses couldn't have stopped me piggybacking the trip :) I had thought that I would never get to see the complete embroidery in real life, so was beyond thrilled to be able to see it for myself. Apologies for the photo the piece was in a corridor between two stalls so it was impossible to stand back very far for a photo. Despite standing there for a while I never got the chance to say "I did a bit of that!" :( Second from the top on the left side in case you are wondering. I think this will be the only time that I ever see something that I have made on display at a national exhibition, so you can see why it is my most exciting New to Me :)

My second New to Me is also to do with stitching. I recently went to an EG Trapunto Quilting workshop, which as you can see above I didn't get very far with. However, I did try out a New to Me stitch, Double Herringbone Stitch aka Italian Herringbone Stitch, for one of the areas that will eventually be quilted. The Trapunto is similar to Boutis although much more colourful!

My final New to Me involved tangling with the Beast again. I decided to change the threads for my next lot of stitching on the serger, which turned out to be a very bad idea! The tension went completely to pot as you can see. Fortunately this video on You Tube filled in the gaps in the manual and we were soon good to go. 

All set to tackle a t-shirt for the boy :)

So, that's my New to Me's now it is your turn to link up and celebrate the trials and tribulations of trying something new and, of course, encourage and support your fellow bloggers who have moved out of their comfort zones this month too. As ever the link party will remain open until 23.59 GMT on March 31st, so if you are thinking of trying something new this month but haven't yet here is the nudge that you need. Grab the link party button and take the plunge! Check out the linkers and give them some blogger support for their endeavours too.

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It's all New to Me!

Welcome to February's New to Me Link Party.

If you have been spending your time avoiding storms, floods or snowdrifts or whatever passes for bad weather in your neck of the woods, perhaps you have also had an opportunity to try something new to keep yourself occupied whilst the weather does its worst. If so, you are in the right place! The monthly New to Me link party is where we celebrate together the successes and failures of trying something for the first time. We all know that sometimes things don't quite go to plan and that practise really does make perfect, but we are here to commiserate when that first attempt doesn't turn out quite how you imagined it would and to celebrate on that rare occasion when it does!

My first New to Me this month has a bit of both sides of the coin in it.

I wanted to make some more dribble bibs for the gorgeous grandson so checked out Plush Addict's guide to the best fabrics to use and ordered some Plush fabric to back them with. Got to look after that little chin :)

I also wanted to practise my curves on the serger (aka The Beast!) and thought that a bib would be the ideal place to start.

Well as you can see I successfully negotiated the curve! Cutting out the Plush fabric wasn't quite as easy as I had thought that it would be, so the back of the bib ended up a little bit bigger than the front, hence the lack of topstitching across the top and the rolled edge of Plush fabric. It is probably better for the baby soft chin that it will be next to, so it doesn't matter for this project but it might make a difference in another project so more practise needed on the cutting I think!

Looks nice and soft though doesn't it? It feels it too.


I have also been making some progress on my Boutis project, one of my 100 Day Challenge projects and the only one that involves a New to Me technique.

It doesn't look too neat here, but this is the back of the embroidery, the tufts you can see are the ends of the stuffing. I am enjoying having a go at the technique, but I cannot see a quilt of it anytime in my future :)

The third New to Me is something that I have known my sewing machine was capable of since I bought it over a year ago, but have only just got around to trying out. Again, I used a new bib for the boy as my practise piece!

This bib has a linen denim-look fabric for the front and a checked flannel for the back. The front looked a bit plain so I decided to liven it up a bit by machine embroidering the gorgeous grandson's name on the front. It took a few reads of the manual before I worked out how to set it up, but it was really straightforward once I worked that bit out. I can see lots of monogrammed items in that young boy's future :)

My final New to Me is a new place, Portencross Castle, which was built on land given to the Boyd family by Robert the Bruce in thanks for their help at the Battle of Bannockburn.

The castle which has had a long and varied history as you might expect, is reputed to have been a resting place for the ancient Kings of Scotland on their way to their last resting place on the island of Iona. It is also said to guard the wreckage of a galleon from the Spanish Armada fleeing Elizabeth 1's fleet.

It was a much more peaceful place on the day that we visited.

So, that is my New to Me's for this month, now it is your turn to show and tell. As ever, the link party will remain open until 23.50 GMT on February 28th so there is still (some) time to try something new. Check out the other links to encourage and/or commiserate with our fellow bloggers who have moved out of their comfort zone. Grab the button from the sidebar and spread the word too.

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