This is my first project out of Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. It’s supposed to be a chequebook cover but doesn’t actually fit my chequebook and instead will be fabulous for holding my little jewellery pouches when we are travelling. It has two pockets on the inside and closes with an elastic and button.The colours are kind of retro looking but they just went together so well when they were piled up on the table that I had to use them.

I made a few alterations to the pattern instructions - mostly to accommodate the materials I had available. Since I was using quilting weight cotton (which seemed a bit lighter than what was called for) I added a muslin backing to all the pieces to give them a little more body. I made my own binding tape (using this handy-dandy gadget without the fusible strip) which ended up being 1/4” instead of 1/2” so I had to trim a quarter inch off each side to get the seams to fall in the right places (note: I measured after I discovered the chequebook wouldn’t fit and this didn’t make a difference - chequebooks must be slightly smaller in Europe). The binding would be easier to do with half inch binding - my basting stitches showed in a few places and I had to do some tidying up on the inside where I had missed the edge of the binding when I was topstitching.

My favourite part of this is the button. I love covered buttons right now (this book has some really nifty examples). I just like the way you can create the perfect button to finish off a project. This button matches the fabric for the pouches inside the case. I think it picks up the brown in the cherry blosum print on the outside and gives the case an earthy feel.

 

 

I got needles in the mail today.  Some, such as the ones pictured above, are for our sweaters, and the others are for my Lace Tank. The needles above are 12 and 8 mm Surina needles that I ordered from Dream Weaver Yarns. They feel just as beautiful as they look and I’m excited about finally swatching for our sweaters.
 
While I’ve got you here ... this is what we’re eating for dinner tonight:
 
Peanut’s Summer Salad
 
1/2 English cucumber cut into small wedges
2 Roma tomatoes cut into small wedges
2 cups cold cooked whole wheat macaroni
 
Sauce:
3/4 - 1 cup of whole fat plain yogurt
juice and zest of half a lemon (or to taste)
1 tsp dried dill weed (or to taste)
 
Put vegetables and pasta in a large bowl. Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stir until smooth.  Pour sauce over salad and toss to coat. Serves at least two.
 
I invented it this evening to use up some of the stuff in our fridge. It’s really nice and tangy. Fresh dill would be nicer than dried but I didn’t have any. I think it would be good with shell pasta - they pick up more sauce. Dried soy beans or other salad crunchies might be nice too.
 
Off to swatching.

Katy, Liette and I are doing a Booga Bag Knit-A-Long - yesterday we met in the pub for some knitting and dessert. This has been a long awaited project - Katy had to come back from school, I had to get married, Liette had to find her needles - and now that we’re started we are just whippingalong. After just one evening of knitting (and a few minutes after we finished winding all of Katy and Liette’s new yarn on Monday) all three of us are finished the bottom of the bag and starting to work our way up the sides. The yarn is Noro Kurayon (or Silk Garden in Liette’s case) and the long colour changes make knitting it up really fun. We’re planning to meet again next Wednesday to knit some more - we might be half way finished by then!

 

 

(Did you notice how their faces are mostly still for the photo but their hands kept moving?)