It has been a positive age since I last posted on my blog. I have been exceedingly busy in the sewing room as I was preparing for a long weekend away on a Sewing Retreat. This was the first ever retreat organised and hosted by Sian of Kittenish Behaviour and was held on the Isle of Wight.

I was determined to wear only ‘memade’ garments for the retreat and this meant some last minute dressmaking.

Daisy May who is based in the USA and would be travelling to join us for the retreat had organised a secret sister gift swap. In fact ladies attending the retreat came from far and wide including Erica who also came from USA. I was in the minority having travelled only about 30 miles to the coast before catching the ferry to the island. A car ferry was a new adventure for me but it all went very well and I am now very confident about taking my car ‘abroad’.

Back to the secret sister gift swap; Daisy May gave us a link to a free pattern for a drawstring bag that incorporates an old CD in the base for stiffening and strength. What a great idea and one that I will be adopting in the future.

Having been secretly linked to Anna, I checked her vlogs to get an idea of her likes and dislikes. I made up the gift bag and filled it with an assortment of sewing gadgets and sweets – liquorice allsorts and plain Dark Chocolate.