The Good Scissors Issue no. 2

Hey! Happy August and welcome to the second issue of The Good Scissors.

July was a busy and hot month. I’m not sure what August has in store heat-wise but I do have quite a lot of busy weekends already booked in. I always find summer a difficult time to be “productive” because I’m either 1. too hot or 2. too busy having fun.

The bonus of the summer days are that it doesn’t get dark until 9 or 10pm, so we have ALL evening to get things done in the daylight. I really do dread the short days of winter, where the day feels like it’s already over at 4pm.

That being said, I want to squeeze out as much light as possible from these long August days and finish lots of the creative projects that are whirring around in my head. (Whilst still enjoying my summer not forcing myself to be productive 😅)

One of my highlights of this month have been going to see the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. It’s a wonderful art exhibition that takes place every summer, and it accepts hundreds of pieces of art by all different levels of artists. The walls are completely jam-packed with every type of medium you can imagine. It’s such a feast for the eyes and always such an inspiring day.

If you’re from the UK or happen to be visiting London this summer, I highly highly recommend a visit! (The gift shop is also incredible)

Another highlight was a gorgeous sunny day in Oxfordshire having lunch and then looking around two fab antique shops (Station Mill Antiques and The Old Flight House). Have a look at the video I made to see some of the things I spotted:

What have I been making in July?

Summer is always a busy time full of fun plans so I find that I don’t always make that much in the summer. One of these makes I actually finished at the end of June but I had too much to cram into the last issue! That said, the three sewing projects I completed this month I am super happy with so let’s take a look.

This hat is one of my favourite things I’ve made in a while!! I used the polka dot cotton twill that was leftover from my Ida Bag (see issue no.1) and it makes for the most adorable sun hat. I made this pattern once before when I was very new to sewing, and I definitely used a material that was too heavy (a thick canvas with a heavyweight cotton lining) so I’ve always found that hat too stiff and a bit hot. This medium-weight cotton twill worked much better, and I used some leftover light-weight cotton for the lining inside the hat. The pattern comes with 2 brim options, and for this version I cut in between the two brim sizes. Also worth mentioning that the pattern does include straps that you can tie under your chin if you’re worried about your hat flying off! Love love love this pattern.

It must be said, I am a dedicated tote lover. Possibly even a tote addict. So it’s saying something that this is now 100% my favourite tote bag. I never really realised how much good pockets could improve my experience of a bag. This pattern includes loads of lovely pockets (4 elasticated ones, a big zip one for a laptop or iPad, a little zip one for a phone or bank cards) and also an elasticated loop for holding your water bottle, and hooks to hold your keys. It really solves the one big tote bag problem which is that it can end up like a black hole with your keys always being hidden right at the bottom. Also I made this bag out of a pretty tablecloth from Flying Tiger and I love the combo with the green gingham.

If you follow me on Instagram or already subscribe to my Substack you might have seen my lampshade cover tutorial and my article about making cute lamps! This is my latest lampshade creation which I made for a super fun collaboration with Piglet in Bed, using off cuts of their gorgeous linen bedding.

I bought this red gingham cotton from Cloth House specifically with this project in mind, as this gathered-neck gingham floaty dress has been on my Pinterest board for ages. I hacked the Carol Blouse pattern into a dress by simply adding some length and tapering it out to give the dress a more A-line shape. I also made the sleeves a bit shorter (there is info on how to do this in the pattern!)

The gathered neckline and sleeves on the Carol Blouse are just gathered using a long stitch and then bound with bias binding (and optional lace). I found this has given the dress a lovely professional, neat finish, but it was quite time-consuming. One tip I loved in this pattern was to actually do 4 rows of basting/gathering stitching, which does take a little bit longer to unpick at the end but it made the gathering process so much easier and it felt way less likely that a thread would snap.

There are quite a few patterns I’ve seen that look similar to this one, so I found it difficult to choose one. I would also like to try out the Picnic Set pattern by Cayden Naughton, which has an elastic neckline. Let me know if you’ve tried that one and would recommend it!

We moved house at the end of last year and have since been on the very slow journey of decorating it. The room I’ve been wanting to tackle next is our spare bedroom, which I think will be the perfect little room to turn into a cottagecore haven. I have various sewing and DIY projects that I want to complete in this room (see moodboard above):

• Wallpapering with a vintage floral wallpaper I found at an antique fair

• Painting a wooden mirror with a Bloomsbury-style pattern

• Making a fabric shade for the ceiling light (Alice Palmer inspired)

• Making a pair of roman blinds for the two small windows (I’m thinking of block printing some fabric to make these from, but we’ll see how much energy I have when it comes to it!)

• Making some kind of fabric wall-hanging for above the bed - either quilt or appliqué

• Possibly painting some kind of wooden dresser (if I can thrift one)

There are quite a few tasks here… but I think it will be the perfect project going into Autumn.

A few of the things that have been quietly inspiring me this month, gathered together in the hope they might spark something for you too.

So this isn’t necessarily something just inspiring me in the past month, but it is one of my biggest creative inspirations in general. I feel like I need to include this in the Inspiration Shelf early on because it relates to so many other of my creative inspos. The Bloomsbury Group were a set of influential artists, writers & intellectuals making art in the early 20th century. Two members, Vanessa Bell (sister of Virginia Woolf) and Duncan Grant lived in a country home called Charleston Farmhouse in East Sussex, England. Bell & Grant were artists, and every surface of the farmhouse became a canvas for their art. They hand painted the walls & furniture, made their own tiles and mugs for the kitchen, created needlepoint textiles and hand-printed curtains. There are paintings on the wall by other artists who were part of the Bloomsbury group.

Charleston farmhouse (and equally beautiful gardens) are now open to the public. I visited four years ago and have been enamoured ever since. I’m always noticing how many artists & makers I follow are inspired by the art of Charleston. Definitely try and visit if you’re in the UK!

This is probably the most beautiful magazine ever made. I find it difficult to sum up what Blumenhaus is actually about, so this is the quote from their website: “Blumenhaus explores Botany with a romantic approach through 220 pages of editorials, portfolios, words & illustrations.”

So it’s a magazine based around botany, but it explores flowers and plants in SO many unique, interesting, artistic and historical ways. It’s just exactly to my taste, every creative they interview in their “Meeting With” sections happens to be someone I’m already obsessed with, such as Tess Newall, Luke Edward Hall, Molly Mahon, Katrina Shu, Marin Montagut. As well as these gorgeous interviews, they have stunning botanical-inspired fashion editorials, features about folklore, gorgeous customs from around the world, floral textile design, gardening tools, anything you can imagine that is vaguely botany inspired. I just love it, and if you love beautiful things then I know you will love it too.

Many of their issues are sold out now, but you can still get their most recent ones. They’re also soon releasing their first anthology, which is a cloth bound book comprising the first five issues. It’s probably quite pricey, but it would be a beautiful gift to receive. If you have any special occasions coming up then pop it on your wish list!

An incredible visual storyteller bringing folktales to life.

Making gorgeous clothing from vintage linens (lots of beautiful filet crochet inspo).

Dreamy cottage inspiration.

I love Carly’s YouTube vids - always incredibly whimsical, fun and inspiring.

Some bits & pieces made by talented creatives that I’ve been lusting over recently.

1 . Log Cabin Quilt Blocks by Catherine-Marie Longtin

This book really shows you how you can create abstract, interesting and gorgeous quilts using the log cabin patchwork block. It looks like great inspo for my spare bedroom quilt wall hanging project.

2 . Folk Art Horses & Dancers Tea Towel by Marion Elliot

Marion Elliot is a British artist who is often inspired by folk art and uses collage & papercut in her work. This tea towel would be the cutest addition to my kitchen!! Or it could even be framed…

3 . Pyjamas by Projektityyny

You’ve probably seen Projektityyny’s beautiful quilts on Instagram. I’m a big fan of everything they do, including these adorable stripy PJs.

4 . Button Mini Claw Clips by Hey Ricochet

This is what dreams are made of.. cute hair accessories made for crafty girls. They also make granny square claw clips for all my fellow crocheters. Hey Ricochet is based in the US but you can buy their stuff at The Hambledon in the UK!

5 . Hand-painted Lampshade by Bloomsbury Revisited

This lampshade has been on my wishlist for ages. They’re made by an artist called Jane McCall, inspired by the art of the Bloomsbury group (see the Inspiration Shelf!). They’ve always been slightly out of my budget but I’m thinking I might treat myself as part of my living room makeover.

Thank you so much for reading The Good Scissors. I’m hoping to include some downloads and tutorials in future issues, so stay tuned & please subscribe! :)

Kate

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