Aldeburgh Seaside and Some Autumn Planning

There are very few places I'd rather be, rain or shine, than at the British seaside.  Ironically I now live pretty much as far as you can get from the sea in any direction (which admittedly isn't that far given that the British Isles are really tiny weeny dots of islands in the middle of rather a lot of water).  But I do spend quite a bit of time daydreaming and pining away for it. Having been born and bred along with the rest of my family for generations on the coast in the north of England, and having lived there for the first 18 years of my life, there is definitely still salt water in my veins.  I love the amusement arcades, joke shops, fish and chips and fairground as well as the long stretches of sand and rock pools to explore with nets and buckets.  I still have a long-time recurring dream of being a seagull and flying over crashing waves.

For this reason there is always a week or so kept sacred in the diary every year for an uninterrupted stint of family time replenishing our sea air and saltwater intake.  We've already had a week in Cornwall during August, only just surviving some unseasonably wet and windy blasts of weather in our tent.  Last week it was the turn of beautiful, colourful Aldeburgh again to receive our affections. Aldeburgh to me is on the genteel end of the scale of seaside fare, not like the brassy 'kiss me quick' brand of seaside that I grew up with.  At Aldeburgh there is also the beautiful Suffolk surroundings to explore and a number of thriving, pretty little towns that offers plenty of diversion for both me and the rest of the family.  It's somewhere that has become a regular haunt.  

Once again, there was some pretty wild and woolly weather to contend with, which meant that most outdoor activity consisted of running for cover, leaning against the wind, battling with brollies and so forth.  Here was the view of the beach road from under my umbrella.  Even for the seagulls, it was pretty wet!

There was no Wifi to distract me in our little home-from-home, so I had lots of time to read books and do some planning for what I'm going to tackle next in my sewing studio.  As a result, here is a list of Autumn projects that I'd like to get my teeth into:

Goddess dress to finish - this has a definite deadline of 10 September as it's my Made Up Challenge Pledge!  I haven't done anything further on this since my last post, as I've been on holiday, but I'm itching to get this floaty-light summer dress finished while the sunshine lasts.  Here's a reminder of where I'm at with this.  Just pinned and basted together at this point while I experiment with attaching a lining.

Next I want a blue chambray shirt - This will be from the same pattern as the one used in the Shirt Therapy post and I already have some light blue cotton ready to go.  This will go with lots of other things in my wardrobe I imagine and I like the idea of customising a bit with pockets, contrasting inside collar etc.

Tweed fitted jacket with Swarovski crystals - I'm looking forward to this one! I'm intending to make something in homage to Alexander McQueen and the beautiful tailoring in Savage Beauty.  I have the princess seamed jacket pattern already cut out, some fine wool tweed ready to go and at the moment the idea is to embellish the jacket quite heavily somehow.  There's quite a bit of embellishment in designer AW 2015 collections also, so I'm looking for inspiration from here too.

Blue keyhole tank top - This will be the same as the Coral Tank and Acid Yellow Tank already made and posted.  I've worn these to bits already this summer.  Now I need one in blue.  Simples!

Floral fabric trench coat  - I have in mind a smart trench coat for the coming colder days and already have some interesting fabric in mind.  I would like a classic trench coat pattern and might try to find an old, discontinued McCall's classic from eBay.  Either that or there is a Burda Style one that looks quite similar.  This will be my first coat and the challenge for me is really exciting to think about.  This is the fabric I'm currently favouring for the trench.

Next up would be a Rigel bomber in navy or plum luxe fabric - I love my gold Rigel posted here and have worn and worn and worn it.  As bomber jackets continue to be a wardrobe staple and appear in the AW 2015 collections too (they go with EVERYTHING!) I want another one.  Possibly several more actually.  I'm thinking either in navy, or one of the deep masala reds that are everywhere for autumn.  Here's a reminder of the gold one.  What a happy jacket this has been!

Now here come a list of craft and home furnishing projects, which I usually don't have time for (and will probably stay at the bottom of the priority list!), but that I would like to get around to:

Cushion covers for studio - I have a sofa and big wing back chair to lounge about on but no cushions yet.  I'd like to custom make some sewing themed ones and have lots of ideas.  It would also be a good way of using up scraps and bits of left over fabric.  As ever though I am time poor, especially when it comes to anything that's not a jacket or a dress!

New cushion covers for the house - We're currently refashioning one of the sitting rooms (that makes it sound as though we live in a mansion!  We have two living rooms in actual fact). I feel the need for smart new accessories.  Must be orange!  Must be mid century modern feel.  Probably in a graphic print.
Door stops for kitchen and toy room - both of these rooms have doors that bang shut all the time.  It really annoys me and so need soft but heavy door stops to minimise floor scraping and door slamming respectively.  


Phew, that's one busy Autumn ahead.  I'd better get cracking then!