A day in sunny Scarborough…

except it wasn’t that sunny. We left York in a heatwave and pitched up in the middle of what my gran reliably tells me was a sea-fret.

And you know what? It was beautiful and eerie at the same time. We took a walk along North bay beach and could hear kids playing but we couldn’t see anyone, then all of a sudden four kids would run out of the fog, head across our path and back into the fog again. Spooky.

We also went to the Sea Life Centre while we were there. I know they are huge, commercial, shiny, shiny zoos but by god, the fish are pretty. And also a little spooky, like these jellyfish.

Woooooooo, spooky jellyfish…

See? I could bore you with another twenty pictures like these, but I won’t. I’ll finish with one more though, entitled “mummy, why are those seals fighting?” Ahem.

Beccy

Finding crochet time…

Since I’ve been so busy over the last few weeks I’ve really been missing my crochet. Open studios is finished and to get over that after-the-event feeling I started a new wip.

Due to two freak cake + passenger seat accidents, I needed something to cover a nasty icing stain and decided on some lovely crochet. These are stacks of basic hexagons made using a pattern picked from the lovely Beyond the square crochet motifs by Edie Eckman. This book is serious crochet eye candy, I just wished she’d picked prettier colours for the motifs – why are half of them green and orange? My little hexagons will eventually become some custom seat covers for Ruby our little car.
The yarn is Stylecraft special DK, bog standard acrylic but it comes in at least 56 great colours. In the UK you can buy the perfect selection of 17 colours from Masons for about £25, or individually for £1.50 per 100g ball.
Beccy

I forgot to show you my Open Studios dress!

Despite the weeks and months of hair-tearing stress, I decided to make myself a new dress for the event, last minute. “Only you…” said ma. But sometimes, you just need a new dress. It looks nice in the workshop and dammit, I want to look nice too!
I used two patterns:

View A, but with the sleeves. Combined with…

…this skirt. The top part is definitely 60’s – look at that hair! But the skirt is 50’s. It looks a lot bigger in the pretty drawing than it actually is, but then the pattern has a 26” waist (and I don’t) so I replaced the soft pleats with gathering. Also the top doesn’t have a 26” waist either, more like 35 so I had to be creative with the darts. I should really try buying patterns in my size!

The fabric is some beautiful 50’s vintage I got from a random fabric sale at college. I had to use every scrap to make it (and sew some scraps together to make the button placket for the skirt!)

It was also very dull and a bit 80’s-does-50’s looking until I added the red polka-dot ribbon to the neckline and hem.

I know, good shoes. By the way, mum once told me that in the 50’s my gran had a 19” waist! How’s that for tiny? I haven’t asked her, but I have seen her wedding dress and if I had any nostalgic ideas about wearing it if I got married someday, I don’t now. Blimy, that lady was tiny.
Beccy

Open Studios…

…is finally here. The months of making, weeks of fretting and days of hectic workshop tidying are over.

Now it’s just a waiting game. As I write, I’m sat in the immaculately tidy workshop wondering if I’ll be really busy or very bored!

If you’re in York pop by and say hello! For those of you that can’t visit for reasons of being in an entirely different country, here are some piccies of my .

That last pic is my brother trying hard not to break anything, by standing very, very still!

More info about my work can be found on my website: www.beccyridsdel.co.uk

Beccy