Sewing kits

Here are the fruits of my labour! And the first thing I get to show you on the blog: felt sewing kits.

Those come complete with their little cotton bundle, needle, buttons and nursery pins. They are very handy and will fit in any bag / suitcase, and are an ideal present for mums, friends, and not-so-keen-on-sewing friends!
All of them, of course, are hand-made by myself.

Here is a detailed picture of the inside: I have been having lots of fun with felt recently. I'll show you my felt pasta soon...to die for!

**Sewing story**

Time to start talking about what really matters, and the reason for creating this blog altogether: sewing. I started it like must of us, I guess, with a granny showing me how to do basic stitching, sew buttons and make simple dresses for my dolls. After many years with hardly any practice, I’ve felt the need to take it up again in recent years. My Good Star heard my wish (and my moans about not being able to, you know, “do stuff myself instead of buying it ready made”) and bought me my very own, first Singer. I cherish it. It’s one of my most precious possessions, even if I don’t get to use it as often as I’d like. Since I've had it, I have tried and tested many things - clothes, accessories, bags, home things. Some very successful, some less...all gave me great pleasure to produce though.

Tell me, how did you start sewing? Is it always linked to our childhood? Or do we develop a need to be crafty when we enter a new stage in our lives?

Almodovar@Somerset House

Last night was the opening of Film 4’s mini season of open-air screenings at Somerset House. To start with a bang, the organisers showed the UK Premiere of Broken Embraces, Los Abrazos rotos, and the public turned up in what seemed like hundreds! We got there fairly early to secure a nice location, and to enjoy an alfresco picnic which I’d prepared in the afternoon.
As far as the weather goes, we were lucky not to have a drop of rain, but it really was alfresco – as in fresh-why-on-earth-is –it-always-so-flipping-cold-in-England?
(sorry, continental nature takes over sometimes, particularly when talking about the summer weather, of lack thereof)

Back to the movie, anyway! If you’re a die-hard fan of Almodovar, you’ll probably like it as I did. Now I know that some of the critics haven’t all been good, especially back in Spain, but it is nonetheless a superb film about films, just without the usual cohort of transvestites and hold-back-your-tears moments. Still, there are some very quirky characters, whether fictional or not, and lots of humour.

The atmosphere at Somerset House was super, too, and despite the high price tag, if you want to spend a nice evening in the city, then go for it, I had a great time, and of course, got to see the stars!

PS. Bring your own picnic (nicer and cheaper than what they had there) AND a blanket. By the way, thanks to the really nice person next to us who lent us one of their spare ones! Only me could think that they were gonna have chairs…silly sally!

Yummy!! Lavender!!

So here I am, throwing myself into that brand new adventure that is blogging.
But first things first - a bit about the title of the blog. Having thought, debated and wondered many times about the name of said blog, the idea simply came to me earlier this week while watching that silly man (sorry "Valentine Warner") on the BBC.
Yeah, I'm sure you know the one! That pedantic cook who present the "food to be eaten now" program, and who this week was being fed like a baby bird by a witch-cook, or whatever she called herself. If you saw the program, you know what I'm talking about, and you probably felt as uncomfortable as I did...
Anyway, the pedantic guy whose manners I don't always appreciate does sometimes, however, amaze me with some of the stuff he cooks - indeed this week, he conjured up a lovely tabbouleh, some lovely herby ravioli, but most importantly, some lavender cream meringues...and my goodness, did they look yummy!!

So, with in mind the very active idea of opening my very own blog, it all sort fell into place, and became **Yummy Lavender**

Said lavender cream meringues haven't been tested yet, but I am sure they will be very soon - expecting visitors this week-end so they'll be perfect. If you have tried them, let me know how they turned out ;) Well, folks, that's it for now!