The Steampunk Circus

Last year Tullie House ran a museums at night event for which I ran a fancy dress life drawing activity. It was really good fun and I had such a good time so I was very pleased when they invited me back to do it again this year. To tie in with their current exhibition, Mechanical Circus (I did lots of automata workshops for this exhibition,) this years theme is the steampunk circus.

Front view

Side view

Back view

I wanted to make a costume for the event but knowing how much running around I did last year I didn't want to make anything too impractical so I decided to make a waistcoat. That way I could enter into the spirit of things but still be free to run the activity without worrying about fancy skirts or anything! I used a basic pattern and replaced the tab at the back with ribbon loops so I could lace it up to give it a more Victorian feel. I also decided not to bother with buttons and am using an old brooch as a fastening instead.

Lacing detail

Front detail

Brooch fastening

It's (finally) a wrap!

The finished lace wrap cardigan

This time I have a really good excuse for not posting for a while, I've been in New York. We had a great holiday, saw lots of cool stuff and had a good time. More about that in a later post when I have sorted out our photos.

Before we left I finished a cardigan I'd been working on, literally, for years. It's a clover lace wrap cardigan in 4 ply cotton, with bell sleeves. I really loved the pattern, which is from Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller, and started it, as I mentioned, several years ago. Because of the lace pattern, fine yarn and my tendency to get distacted with other things I would work on it for a while and then abandon it for months at a time while I worked on other projects. Anyway, I finally finished it before we went away, dyed it purple (me and white are not a good combination) and instead of giving it a knitted neckband and ties I used ribbon.

Detail of the clover lace pattern

This was a good move in terms of saving time but a bad move in that it left it too wide, the cardigan kept sliding off my shoulders. So, I put a little tuck in the back and this seems to have solved the problem. In retrospect I probably should have knitted the neck band but I was so desperate to finish the thing that I just couldn't face it. Typically, I've finished this lightweight cotton wrap just as the weather has started to change, but ther's always layering!

A little tuck in the back

Stained Glass Swallow

I tried to post this yesterday but I couldn't upload any pictures. Now that I can, here is the post!

Bird suncatcher hanging up

I can't believe it's over two weeks since my last post, how time flies! Anyway, I've been off this weekend which has been lovely and today I've been getting back to my stained glass. It was my Nana's 80th this week so I wanted to make her something and I decided on a bird suncatcher. I did this design a while ago and decided it would be perfect for the occassion. I did swallow type colours as I had lots of bits of blue and a few bits of red and I love swallows. I think the red really finishes this bird off. I've also done the soldering on a leaded piece I started months ago. I will eventually finish it! Again, it has a bird theme (but I'm not obsessed, I just like the shapes and colours!)

Design and cut glass

The finished suncatcher

Catching the sun(!)