Bucking the trend: Library opens

Like many families with young children, made-up stories are very much a feature of our lives, and a part of being a parent I find quite hard. Tell you a story from my head?  Do you realise it is 6.45am? Learn how to make tea and I'll tell you a story.

I usually defer to their dad, who finds the muse quicker than I do. Some of these stories and characters have become part of family life.

For my daughter, a highlight of the trip to the library is having a go at stamping the return date. And so, inspired by this rubber stamp I bought in Lille, we have been playing libraries.

I made a few little books for our library, and this lead naturally to making our own storybooks. Drawing the covers, writing the stories, it was lovely. And a very funny insight into the nearly four-year-old mind:

And so, the little books became a way of recording these stories, a snapshot of a time that will pass before I know it, and doubtless before I am ready.

I used some thin A4 card for the covers, I sliced them across the middle and folded in half. For the pages, I used some A5 coloured paper, though plain would do. 

Folded in half, I found the centre, and using thick thread (tacking or button thread) I sewed the whole together with one large stitch. I finished by tying a really strong knot and trimming off any overlapping edges.

We made little tickets for the inside cover - and for the all-important stamping - and they were finished.


I think she needs to work on sustaining the narrative arc, otherwise great. The Booker prize 2041 is in the bag.

mixy matchy serviettes

This project was mainly an excuse to get some fabrics down from the shelf and play with them, if I'm being honest.

It is really nice, and a bit more grown up, to have cloth serviettes, (or is it correct to say napkins?) but I do not feel grown up when it comes to ironing and washing, so paper it is.

But. What if I made a load of them, and they weren't linen or anything silly like that, and maybe if they were patterned so the odd tiny speck of sauce didn't really show, and well, it would be an excuse to use the rolled hem setting on my overlocker that looks like fun.... so here they are.

Each one is comprised of two 42cm squares of fabric placed wrong sides together. I slipped in a bit of fusibile interlining into the middle. Then overlocked around the edges on a rolled hem setting. I added a line of straight sewing a few centimetres in to hold the lot together. Really easy, the only challenge was finding patterns that contrasted. A nice challenge.

They made their debut last Sunday as we soaked up the last of the heatwave with a barbecue.

At the time of going to press they are drying and not looking too crumpled. I reckon if I maintain my low standards I can get away with not ironing them.


Goodbye summer, hello autumn. How happy I am to see you and your beauty.

papier mache bowls

Indian summer crafting is, I think, made for papier mache. 

You can go fancy with chicken wire, snips, wallpaper paste and such. These are just flour, water, salt and local paper. 

And none the worse for it.

The paste is one part flour to five parts water and a tablespoon of salt stirred on a medium heat. The bowls were covered in cling film first, and you need at least four layers.

Also helpful would be some sun. The weather last week was not great, so these bowls took about four days to dry. When they were finally dry they suffered a bit of collateral damage coming out of the bowls as I had to slip a knife in between the bowl and the papier mache to get them out, but this got covered up at the decorating stage. Perhaps putting a bit of vaseline on the cling film first would have helped.

We all loved this stage: watered down PVA in abundance and torn up strips of pretty paper to cover up the newspaper and mend any tears.

A lot of fun, and such a great project for kids. On this occasion if I am being honest the fun was mainly mine, as attention spans seemed especially short. 

Perfect for collections and collectors of any age.

Lille: le weekend dernier

The Lille braderie: one beautiful city, two million people, several tonnes of stuff and nine very over-excited women.

The happy marriage of a car boot sale, a flea market, and a vintage fair, all on the scale of Glastonbury.

 It was hard to remain calm. So we didn't.

And bought lots of penguins instead.

My pupils dilated, my suitcase filled and my bank account emptied. What a weekend.