Tuesday

A Scholar's Reward


When one has successfully completed a twenty-page appendix, one is entitled to a little Her Time...  

Et voila, some little drawings and whimsical potential badge designs.  Alas I wish I could claim the 1940s inspired ladies as my own creations, but they are not, they are taken from the opening credits of the very marvellous film, Mrs. Henderson Presents.  I tried to make a Tweedle Dum-Tweedle Dee felt badge but as of yet I haven't quite cracked it.  My little coiffured madam in the first picture too, failed to make the transition to badge form as I just cannot render that eccentric facial expression again.  Don't you just hate/love the moments where you draw something to such perfection that it can only exist once in this world?

Sunday

Black Swan meets Disco Queen... I think


I used to show so much face painting on my old slightynoodles blog, but I just don't seem to have to time to indulge in it as much as I used to.  I still love it though, even if the land-lady did happen to wander into my room when I was ghost white and eyebrowless..  I'd never met my land-lady before - she must think I'm a bit strange. 

Thursday

There she goes again


It seems that as soon as I master one granny square pattern, I discover another and start a whole new project.  Well, maybe not project but certainly procrastination activity.  I can't remember the name of the wool but it's cotton and crochets like a dream; it has a fresh, heavy, solid weight and intensity of colour to it that wool rarely provides, and I shall be returning to the shop to buy more as soon as my essay deadline has been met.

The pattern is called 'snowflake' and was thought up by the fantabulous textile designer, Rose Sharp.  It was featured in my favourite crafty magazine, Cloth, which wonderfully manages to be completely hip and non-fuddyduddy.  

Tuesday

Did YOU steal my tarts?

  
I've always been a bit Alice-in-Wonderland-y.  Well, that's the excuse I use for my slight eccentricism anyway.  I don't even know if that is a word but it sounds intelligent, and, well... Alice-in-Wonderland - y.  As my dearest darling chum Miss Winnie over at diamondcanopywinn.blogspot has dedicated a whole lovely post to me and my crafty creations, I thought I would elaborate a bit and tell you more about my current felt-badge-making obsession...

Sometimes I have moments of crafty genius, such as randomly deciding to rip off Tim Burton's Red Queen design and make a badge out of it.  I got a bit felt-happy a while ago and went on a brooch-making rampage, from which my poor dear friends are still suffering.  It all started with meetmeatmikes' fabulous crafty book that I got for my birthday last year; it has to be the perfect procrastination companion and nobody could ever accuse me of being unproductive...

Of late I have rather enjoyed rendering facial expressions in embroidery, and I think the Red Queen came out particularly well. The original design included her crown but when it was all sewn together I thought it poorly executed and chopped it off.  How very Lewis Carroll of me.  I have also been making other designs such as owls and kokeshi dolls, and I have plans in mind for a white rabbit, toadstools and characters from Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away, both Studio Ghibli masterpieces that I admire and adore.

Hope to see you again soon new readers!  Leave me a message and I'll visit your blogs in return - it'll be nice to make some new blog friends after such a long break x

Friday

Procrastination is my middle name...

My granny-squaring habit is getting a little out of hand as the end of term deadlines hurtle ever closer.  I had my last Masters class yesterday and after wandering around the neighbouring botanical gardens for a while, gathering my thoughts, I returned home, made tea and biscuits and spent the rest of the day watching films.  I crocheted over 20 squares in the space of 133 minutes - the precise running time of Eat Love Pray, which was a very good film actually.  I probably could have made more but whenever James Franco is on screen my ability to multitask takes a rather dramatic nose dive.  Understandably.

I've also been working hard on my playsuit, and have spent most of the week pinning a mile of hemline.  Rayon is an easy fabric to sew, but I'm having to blanket-stitch all the raw edges because it frays like mad.  What joy.

Tuesday

Grannies, Packages and Pancakes

For the life of me I don't know why I get up so early in the mornings, but when there are scotch pancakes with golden syrup on the menu it doesn't seem quite so hard to emerge from hibernation.

I spent most of Sunday teaching myself how to crochet granny squares, having finally found the most fantabulous and instructive how-to series over at meetmeatmikes.  If there's one thing that's tricky to get the hang of with crochet it's making good square corners; this tutorial will transform you into a corner queen in no time at all.

 I've also been putting a package together for my dear friend Toni, who teaches English at a university in China.  We spent a whole year living there together in 2008-09, working at a school in Guangdong.  When we returned to England and she went straight off to university to do an MA,  I flitted about for a year not knowing quite what I wanted or who I was.  When Toni went back to China  I started uni again doing the same Masters in English teaching.  Now I'm getting ready to up-and-off again to East Asian waters as soon I have finished my MA, and I am sure our paths will cross again.  Watch out China!

I crocheted the string, used the tissue paper my Doctor Martins came in to wrap two cotton dresses for her, and as she is so obsessed with rabbits I gave her one of my favourite Belle & Boo postcards that I got from Paperchase a while ago.   My vintage copy of I Capture the Castle, one of my favourite books in the whole wide world, adds the finishing touch of whimsy.

Sunday

Re-working vintage

I blogged about this vintage jumpsuit last Spring in the old slightlynoodles, and I have to admit that although I am still in love with it, I have never worn it.  The trouser legs have always been slightly more ankle-flappy than is generally acceptable in respected fashion society, and until now I have been loath to try and adjust them as I am without a sewing machine.

Loath No More!  In one of my recent poor-as-a-poor-person forays into Primark [yes, I know, sorry], I picked up a pretty daisy print playsuit that, despite being appallingly cut around the bust, is a really good shape on my lower half.  It gave me an idea for re-working my jumpsuit and I have set about pinning and cutting up the legs,  the off-cuts of which I plan to use to layer the shorts so I can flounce about in the finished piece pretending I have hips and a waist.

Recently I have loved following the second-hand adventures of Marisa at newdressaday.  She has got the art of re-working down to a T and, despite the fact that I will have to hand-sew everything I do, she has inspired me to give it a go.

Wednesday

A tyrant spell has bound me

Not so long ago upon a time, I became rather enamoured with the pretty, mod-con ease of Tumblr and in a mad moment I deleted my blog, slightlynoodles.  A few months down the line and my fingers are itching to write again, and properly this time.  For a person who goes a bit weak at the knees for fancy font palettes and techy floaty backgrounds, resistance has proved futile and I have ended up running back to the motherly Blogger bosom after all. 

Direction was sorely needed, therefore I have conspired with my anti-Masters-studying alter ego to write a blog about my favourite procrastination activity, crafting.  In my crafting I worship my nancy, my needles and my n-n... other sewy things that begin with 'n'.  Needless to say, this has galloped as far as the Etsy bandwagon, and I have started to set up a shop there that I hope to get up and running by Easter.  In the meantime I hope to fill this blog as often as I can with interesting tidbits of crafty fantabulousness, and I hope readers will leave me lots of comments and suggestions that will wash me a-glow with smiles when my alter ego is poised considering life and the view from the edge of the department roof.

So dear Blogger fellows, until we meet again, with the wishiest of wishes from a slightly damp and chilly Birmingham,
Noodles x
[Alas I have not been able to retain the exact URL, so now I am slightly dash noodles, but I think I can control my anti-dash twitch sufficiently enough...]