The future

It's amusing to watch people react to our decision to move out of London. As if leaving London means disconnecting from the epicentre of all life. Yesterday, the bubble finally burst and my intentions and motivations connected.

Most people assume we want to slow down, grow up. Actually people, that's not it at all. If anything we want to keep life moving. Personally, I've always struggled with settling. Between leaving my family home and moving into our one-bed apartment I've lived in 9 different houses. And as my mother kindly highlighted recently, have clocked up an impressive 5 different jobs since graduating. 

Moving from London is just the next adventure - a chance to try something new. And more importantly it's a chance for us to buy our first home.

Perhaps I should let the master (my all time favourite) D.H. Lawrence explain:
"I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred orange and scrub the floor."

M xo

P.S. Check out R's latest homemade loaf. Yum.

Nesting

In excitement of what's to come, I'm suddenly obsessed by interiors and already nesting. I finally got around to fixing up the terrible sewing job I did in a rush for our cushion covers 6 months ago. After unpicking and re-measuring, using vintage fabric I picked up in the Bexhill British Heart Foundation shop, I remade the removable cushion covers with this easy pattern from The Guardian. 

I also bought these gorgeous hand block printed napkins from Lulu & Nat and these retro placemats from ebay.

And finally, here is the dress I am halfway through making. It's a Cynthia Rowley pattern by Simplicity (2215) and seems to be going ok, apart from the missing invisible sewing foot needed to finish. I'm hoping to complete once I'm paid and can buy said zipper foot next week.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

M xo

Sunshine and sewing

There have been moments over the past 3 weeks where I thought it might never stop raining, thankfully this weekend we finally saw the sunshine in London. It's been a peaceful, music-filled weekend at home having spent the last few weeks travelling up and down to Sussex organising the collection of our new car.

After countless hours searching for my perfect bathrobe (yes I am that fussy), I decided I'd put my GSCE textiles skills to the test and attempted to make my own. Using some paisley printed organic cotton I dissected my old robe to create a new pattern. While the finished result isn't a complete disaster, it wasn't the best. The issue was the fitting around the neck, which on hindsight was something which could have been easily rectified - the old robe had a hood, the new one didn't. Oh well. To help with future projects I have decided to invest in a dress-makers dummy.

As always, I'm on a budget but after a bit of searching I found I Love Vintage Mannequins who have created dress making forms for a range of clients including Madame Tussauds and the Victoria and Albert Museum. They are currently selling on Ebay with auctions starting from a £1 (they're normally £79). I've got my eye on the Bohemian Rose and Shabby Rose busts, I'm just trying to decide between the cast iron or wooden base. And also where the heck I would put it in our bijou home. 

Happy weekend!

xo

Listening to: HelloGiggles Mix Tape on Spotify

Watched: The Bridge on BBC4

Ate: Kohlrabi remoulade, fresh organic beetroot, parmesan chicken and R's home-made bread

Traditional craft revival - Solva Wool Mill, Wales

My friends often tease me for my folky ways, but thanks to my father's hippy roots I've grown up to love traditional crafts. On our recent trip to Wales, we stopped by a working woolen mill in Solva. Not only did I fall in love with the woven rugs, blankets and knitted accessories but also found the most adorbs cat clambering atop of a bin of cardboard and offcuts.

Solva is the oldest working mill in Pembrokeshire and the only one in Wales specialising in flat-weave rugs, carpets and runners. Over the past 30 years, the domestic trade has declined greatly. With us importing wool and brands choosing to manufacture abroad, it's likely the majority of our wool products promote air freight and are potentially sourced from countries where animal welfare is not a priority.

When we move next year, I'm hoping we can upcycle and reuse where possible, but if we're buying new, be supportive of traditional crafts and promote more thoughtfully resourced products. I fell in love with the geometric traditional tapestry rugs. If you're interested in visiting a working Welsh mill, there are more details here: welshmills.org.uk/millsopen

Here are some of our snaps from Solva and check out the links at the bottom for stockists of traditional welsh products.

Solva Woolen Mill
Blodwen - Modern welsh traditional products

Eco fashion finds for earth day

It is no secret that I'm a bit of an eco obsessive and over the years it's become increasingly important to me as a consumer to find out more about where my purchases come from. Everything we do has an impact, so I do my best to follow St David's motto and 'do the little things'. This includes getting organic veggies, dairy and meat from the lovely folk at Riverford, buying fair trade and sourcing second-hand wherever possible.  I'm also a huge supporter of ethical fashion - as someone who studied and worked in fashion for a number of years, it's important to me that as consumers we're not coerced into buying instantly disposable garments from dirty companies but invest in the brands creating good fashion with great values.

Earth day isn't really a big deal here in the UK, but in celebration I'd thought I'd share with you my current eco fashion faves:

1. Breton-style organic dress by Amour Vert, $79 / 2. Big Sur organic cotton/recycled polyester sweatshirt by Poketo, $52 / 3. Blue bin trench from Anthropologie, £99.95 / 4. High-top trainers by Ethletic, £40 / 5. Supa Skinny Organic cotton jeans by Monkee Genes, £52 / 6. Hand-woven ikat downtown Satchel by Push Pull, $169

Megan xo

Spelt and Jam

After being spectacularly drenched this week on my cycle home from work, I have decided to stage a sit-in this weekend in protest at all this bloody rain we keep getting. I know, I know - it's great for the grass, so for gardening reasons I'm grateful. But that doesn't mean I need to be outside in it.

So, after a bit of proper work, I helped the boy out with his first loaf of Spelt bread. Last week while visiting my best friend Mari at her family's new home in Bath she made delicious bacon and egg sandwiches using a Spelt loaf from the local bakery and I was desperate for us to try it at home.

We're supporters of the real bread campaign and haven't bought a packaged loaf since December, with the River Cottage Bread book becoming one of R's most treasured tomes. I couldn't recommend this book enough if you're interested in becoming a regular bread baker, not only does it cover a wide variety of recipes but thoroughly explains the science behind being a good baker somehow making all the kneading better justified.

To accompany my sliced spelt, I decided to whip out the Rhubarb and Vanilla jam I made last week. One of the girls at my work had harvested her garden rhubarb and brought in a load so I decided to make my first ever jam! From the kilo of Rhubarb and a spare vanilla pod I had in the cupboard I managed to fill 5 jars which were duly delivered as gifts to various friends and family.

Rhubarb and Vanilla jam
** Whatever you do, don't scoop off the scum as directed in the recipe. Simply place a knob of butter in the finished jam before pouring into your sterilised jars and the stir. This means all the lovely vanilla won't disappear with the scum.

Oh and I almost forgot. Listening to this and wanted to share:

Thanks for reading,
Megan xo

Fields of praise, Wales

Here are some snaps from our long weekend in Wales. Despite it being my family's native country, this was my first time exploring Wales outside of the Valleys. Staying with the boy's family on the coastline near Haverfordwest, highlights from the trip included cantering a horse named Speckles along a sandy bay, visiting a working Welsh woolen mill and feeling overwhelmed by the abundance of vivid hues on offer outside of the city. Will post more pictures this weekend  but below are some of my favourite colours from the weekend offered up by the Welsh countryside.

Hope you like them,

Megan xo