Saturday 16 May 2020

Meerkats, Masks And Millarorchy

Just one meerkat, actually - a neighbour, very pleased with teddy's pyjamas brought me a lovely handmade card. "Let me know if you need any other outfits" I said, and she asked if I could dress meerkats. Before I could answer, Bob replied "Simples!!"
So I made Mia the Meerkat a little dress. She's got quite generous hips- hence the gathered skirt- and at the back, the dress opens all the way down, to accommodate her tail!
I fastened it with hooks and eyes.
Liz and Jon asked about masks. So I had a go at these. The key thing is pressing the pleats accurately, I think. I also used a white thread in the bobbin, so that once I had done the final line of stitching, it was easy to distinguish the front and back. 
Having looked at loads of YouTube patterns, I finally settled on one I liked. And then, having finished them, I discovered this site, launched this week in conjunction with Patrick Grant which explains things very clearly. If I make more, I might use his pattern. I'm running out of regular elastic- but one of his designs uses hair elastics. I don't have any of those right now - other than a back of super thick ones which won't stay on my ears!
I continue to log the maximum temperature in Ferndown each day, and was thrilled on Friday afternoon when my yarn arrived for knitting the weather scarf. I may put away the sewing stuff and spend some of the weekend knitting tension squares. The parcel looked exciting even before it was opened. The Millarorchy Tweed is beautiful quality and I am really pleased with my yarn colours...
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11 comments:

  1. I've made a few "Duck" masks, which I've found much comfier to wear - and easier for an amateur to sew! I've made them double, so at least there's a couple of layers for microbes to fight their way through. Like this https://us.vwr.com/stibo/bigweb/std.lang.all/05/50/4790550.jpg but in material.

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  2. Cute little dress for the meerkat.

    Love your wools that arrived. I look forward to seeing the results of your labour.

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    1. It's definitely going to take a full year!!

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  3. Oh you lucky duck scoring some of that beautiful Kate Davies wool. Love the colours and it will be so luxurious to knit with. I have one of her books but haven't knitted anything from it yet or cooked anything from it since it also includes a couple of recipes too. The Meerkat is adorable. How's Bubba?

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    1. I have done a tension square and worked out how to start the scarf. But I have got 35 days recorded - which is already 140 rows to knit! Baby George is Beautiful, and Happy. Thank you for asking!

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    2. Great to hear Baby George is thriving, as is our new Baby but I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated at restrictions, particularly since I'm also post-virus which is an added encumbrance.

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  4. Kate Davies has a great blog. She showcases some of her tweeds. Well worth a read.

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  5. You seem to be using a similar pattern to mine. Elastic is still to be found on Ebay.

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  6. Your masks look great and I adore the meerkat dress! What a lovely looking girl she is!

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