Uber Chair Cover

We have a vintage chair which badly needs re-upholstering and I recently had a brain wave; crochet a cover for it - something stripy and cosy, in a mad colour combo.
Well I spotted this last week during my online wanderings...

How genius is that?! An Aran knitted cover. I want to sit there and read books all winter. Of course in our house it would be the colour of mud by the end of the week with grubby little finger marks and speckled with bits of food but you could use a washable wool and buttons to close it at the back.
You like?

New Year

A belated happy new year to everyone. Hope you had a restful and fun break. I also hope you managed to sneak in a bit of crafting, or at least made a few crafting resolutions.
I'm keen to make some sort of quilt this year for my son, something he won't be too shamed about as he gets older. I can't make up my mind whether to make a tivaevae inspired piece something like this...

... or a quilt á la the celebrated ones made by the women of Gee's Bend. I just love how their designs are shaped by the materials available to them, whether it's old jeans or a curtain. Perhaps THAT can be my new years resolution - don't pay for any fabric this year, just use the pieces from my unruly, and not insubstantial, stash. I'll give it a shot.

So to the Piha Craft Exchange and the year ahead: What would you like to see happen? At times last year we struggled to get enough people to cover the hall hire, so we really need to increase the numbers. Is twice a month too often? Is Wednesday evening a good day and time for you? Recently I've had a number of mums tell me that their young daughters are keen to learn to knit etc. Do we change it to a Sunday afternoon, once a month? We'd love some feedback, please email me with your thoughts.

One thing is for certain; Hannah and I are keen to have more 'educational' sessions this year. Whether it's a cheese-making lesson (come on down Tasha, Melissa and Anna?!) or bread (Michael), screen-printing (JK), or even a basic introduction to sewing/knitting/crochet etc. Again, let us know what skills you would like to learn this year - and whether you know any talented people who would be keen to share their knowledge.

Our first session is on the 16th of February so we would love to see you there. I'm going to take along my mending - not very creative but sorely required at the moment.

See you there if not before.
Anna

Xmas at the PCE

Christmas is gold for a craft-mad person like me - so many things you can make: presents, food, cards, decorations etc.

This year I'd love to make a heap of skirts to give to friends' daughters. They are super quick and easy to make. But, dammit, I never have the time; December is always madness. Hopefully this Wednesday I can make something Christmasy. A few cards? Nougat? Maybe even a skirt or 2. Any ideas - I'm keen to hear them.

By the way I'd love to teach a non-sewer how to make a girls skirt - let me know if you are keen.

Here's our Xmas flyer... 

I love this image of these women. 

Happy crafting. See you this Wednesday.

Anna 

No Craft Session tonight

Hi all - I'm in deepest darkest Piha News Land so I'm flagging the craft session tonight. We'll have a Christmas extravaganza next week. Hope you can make it. Apologies for the postponement.
Take care.

Strawberry Sauce Anyone?

Did I say we were going to make strawberry jam - sorry I meant sauce; delicious, sweet, RUNNY sauce. Mmmm. So ok it didn't go quite to plan but I had a good time anyway and I learnt a lot, like how not to make strawberry jam...

 

Thanks to the fabulous women who came along and helped. Let me know if you have any ideas on what to do with this stuff! So far I've used it in apple [and strawberry] pie, on pancakes with yoghurt and in ice blocks. However there's still a swag of jars here so drop me an email and I'll pop some in your mailbox.

The next session is on the 1st of December. I'm not sure what to do. Perhaps we could make some Christmas cards or some simple Xmas presents - things like stuffed toys and skirts are easy to make. I'm open to suggestions. Christmas Mince Pies? Christmas decorations? And being such a mad time of year I think this next session will be our last for the year.

Jam Session

This Wednesday we are going to make some strawberry jam. I'm looking forward to it as I am a jam making virgin. As children we used to 'help' my mother, who was a big preserver of fruit and marmalade maker, but I've never made jam on my own before.

Helen has kindly offered her preserving pan and expertise and we'll whip up a batch. Email me if you are keen to come along as I need to know how many kgs to pick. I think we'll go to Janita Gardens
on Henderson Valley Rd. Also bring along some jars (with lids) and a paring knife so we can all pitch in and hull the strawberries.

I'm yet to confirm this but I also think Tasha is going to show us how to make yoghurt. Apparently it's super easy and of course miles better than using the bought sachets.

See you there - remember to RSVP.
Anna

Session 9

Thanks to Sue, Tasha and Clare for coming along. It was another late one again: sewing, eating, drinking and talking - all my favourite activities.

Clare did some more work on her beautiful cross stitch...

 

The process looks so analogous to how a printer works; row by row, little dots. I don't think my eyesight is good enough for cross stitch at that scale. Although for years I've wanted to try my hand at either Blackwork embroidery or Sashiko, a Japanese technique that's similar to Blackwork. I recently got this book out of the library...

It has some beautiful projects. Perhaps next winter I'll make a start. And here's a photo of some cute Sashiko work and a sample page of various Blackwork patterns...

Tasha brought in a stack of sarongs she bought in Malaysia. She re-hemmed them, then very kindly gave one to each of us. Thank you Tasha, I love mine. Not sure whether to keep it as a sarong or make it into a wrap-around skirt. I have a pattern somewhere. It could be a good PCE project.

Tasha also worked some more on her scarf...

I started on another library bag and began converting some of Lenny's ankle-breezing pants into shorts for summer.

Sue also made repairs to various Keio garments. It's good to know that he doesn't need that bulldog clip to hold his pants up anymore - poor child!

The next session is on the 17th. We're planning an activity for it, so stay tuned for that.
Take care,
Anna