Bonfires and Boot Led Zeppelin

This is the blazing inferno at our village bonfire night party. The event is organised by a local group of pyromaniacs who annually build a bonfire the size of a small house and stage a fantastic fireworks display. Everyone throws some cash in a bucket (there's no fixed admission fee) as they enter the field which then pays for the next year's fireworks.

This year my husband took his camera and captured these photos which I thought deserved a place on my blog.

You can really feel the heat despite the substantial tape safety barrier on sticks which keeps spectators at a safe distance.

Once we've had the fun of the massive bonfire, the fireworks begin, accompanied by the usual gasps of amazement from the crowd.

Another event we've enjoyed this autumn was seeing Boot Led Zeppelin at the Boiler Room in Guildford. Our teenage son was keen to see them as part of his musical education and spent the entire evening right at the front studying the guitar techniques.

I never saw the real Led Zeppelin in concert, so I can't comment on how they would compare, but it was a  fabulous night out. It's a fairly small venue so everyone is really close to the stage which adds to the atmosphere.

The music was great and you have to admire any man who will appear in public in what can only be described as a bright blue puff sleeved bolero with lavish silver embroidery!

A thrifty new skirt

Here's Rachel modelling a new skirt I made for myself. I finished it a few weeks ago but was suffering from some IT issues that slowed up blogging at the time - ironic as in theory I should have priority access to my own IT consultant....
Sadly the IT department were on a two week business trip at the time.

The skirt's made from a floral cotton poplin and has a contrasting aqua lining. I bought the materials and ribbon trim from Raystitch (www.raystitch.co.uk) and I think the whole lot cost less than £15. They have some lovely things and a very beautiful looking shop in London.

I have dipped in and out of dressmaking over the years. It can sometimes be a frustrating experience, here are my thoughts on the subject.

Why are some commercial dressmaking patterns so disappointing? This skirt is loosely based on McCalls 3341 which claims to be an A line skirt. Imagine my disappointment when I examined the pattern pieces and discovered that it was hardly A line at all. This lead to a flurry of pattern re-drafting using the sweep of one of my existing favourite skirts as a guide.

Secondly, why are commercial patterns so huge? I carefully measured myself, selected the right size from the pattern envelope, ran up a toile (as I'd taken huge liberties with the pattern this seemed like a wise precaution) and proudly produced a skirt/tent hybrid. Back to the pattern re-drafting for a second time.

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with the end result. Definitely a hint of Whitestuff, I think. Maybe I should give it a name like they do. Perhaps the "Patience is a Virtue" skirt?