Last week I set myself three tasks the first of which I blogged about in Handmade Tale – Baking – hop on over and take a look I won’t mind (and it includes a link to a wonderful lemon and raspberry cake recipe from Richard Burr!).
The second and third of my personal tasks were sewing based, something that my Mum taught me many years ago. I remember a beloved polka dot circular long skirt that I wore and wore and wore that Mum had made for me. Simple but perfectly proportioned, it made me feel like I was 5 foot 10 instead of the diminutive 5 foot 3 and a half (don’t forget the half people, it does make all the difference!) as it swirled around my ankles. Then, there was the ball dress Mum made with a red silk dupion bodice and short layered chiffon shirt that Mum hand hemmed and which took her hours and hours because it was so full. The school ball turned out to be a disappointment as my then boyfriend got hideously drunk and ended up spending the evening in the toilets, but the dress. Oh, I loved it, more than the boyfriend by a long stretch, and it made me feel positively beautiful. I still have it hanging in the wardrobe, along with the Liberty print hand smocked dresses Mum had also made when I was a child. You’d have thought that with this maternal influence I would have regularly sewn clothes for myself and my children but sadly I have never made time to do it. I have however regularly lusted after the fabrics sold at Millie Moon in Frome and the gorgeous retro kits from the legendary Clothkits. I have even devoted many evenings to knitting jumpers and cardigans for the children. I realised recently that I now have the time to sew and the Great British Sewing Bee had motivated me enough to get the sewing machine out of its rather dusty box.
Life of Ryrie 