19/07/2026
🐝 Bee-Hind the Seams – Week 21
Stitches Inspired by the Fells –
Lake District Edition
Sew… what have I bee-n up to this week?
This week began a little slower than I’d planned.
After being knocked sideways with tonsillitis,
I took some time to recover before heading off to one of my favourite places
The Lake District.
Sometimes our bodies remind us to slow down,
and this week I was happy to listen.
Before our holiday really began,
we enjoyed a morning shopping in Carlisle.
I don’t often buy clothes,
but when I do,
I like to choose pieces that will work hard with my wardrobe.
This little refresh included a
denim shacket,
a soft beige double gauze top,
white broderie anglaise culottes,
a white popover blouse with navy insects on.
They all mix beautifully with my handmade wardrobe and have already inspired future sewing plans.
Although there wasn’t a single stitch sewn this week, there were thousands of stitches knitted 🧶.
My sewing machine enjoyed a holiday too, (and my electricty bill)
but my knitting needles certainly didn’t!
My Lake District cardigan travelled everywhere with me.
The bright green ribbing has become rolling fells,
while the variegated blue yarn is beginning to resemble the lakes.
The mountains are still to come, inspired by the sketches filling my notebook,
and I’m already planning subtle embroidered reflections and ripples to finish the design.
After all, knitting has stitches and seams too—perhaps even more precarious ones!
This holiday has been less about making garments and more about gathering inspiration.
My notebook was never far away. Between picnics, lakeside walks and peaceful afternoons, I found myself sketching mountain skylines, making design notes and capturing ideas before they disappeared. I wasn’t trying to copy the landscape exactly—I wanted to capture the feeling of it.
The calm.
The colours.
The memories.
The Lake District never disappoints.
We explored
Derwentwater,
Buttermere and
Ullswater,
wandered beside beautiful waterfalls,
enjoyed glorious sunshine,
picnic teas beside the lakes and even squeezed in a round of
pitch and putt in (East)Hope Park ⛳️
The boys enjoyed adventures of their own, climbing Helvellyn and Catbells while I happily explored at a gentler pace.
That’s what I love about our holidays
we don’t all have to do the same thing.
Some of us climb mountains,
some of us swim in lakes,
some of us sketch landscapes or
knit beside the water,
but we’re all making memories together.
The weather couldn’t have been better for wild swimming either.
My new tow float made its first Lake District outing, proudly displaying my little motto:
🐝 Bee Seen.
🐝 Bee Safe.
🐝 Bee Original.
🐝 Bee Wild.
It sums up everything I love about
👙open water swimming
🦋respecting nature,
🧷staying safe and
🚤embracing adventure.
No visit to the Lakes would be complete without looking to the skies.
We were lucky enough to see
six RAF Eurofighter Typhoons ✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️weaving through the valleys. ⛰️
You hear them long before you see them,
the roar echoing around the fells before they suddenly appear overhead.
Even after four visits,
they still stop us in our tracks every time.
Of course, holidays are about good food too!
We enjoyed picnic teas overlooking the lakes,
a delicious Indian meal,
the obligatory chippy tea complete with Cumberland sausage,
fresh pasta with Caprese salad and, naturally,
a refreshing glass of cider as the sun began to set over the fells.
Simple food.
Beautiful scenery.
Wonderful company.
Perfect.
Evenings were spent relaxing together,
watching The Great British Sewing Bee and talking about everything we’d seen during the day (& Rivals 2).
As always, I couldn’t help redesigning garments from the comfort of the sofa.
Once a sewist, always a sewist!
This week reminded me that creativity doesn’t always happen behind a sewing machine.
Sometimes it happens with knitting needles in your hands.
Sometimes beside a waterfall.
Sometimes floating in a lake.
Sometimes over a picnic.
Sometimes with a pencil sketching mountains in a notebook.
The sewing machine may have had a week off,
but my creative mind certainly didn’t.
Every sketch,
every stitch and
every view has become part of the story
behind my Lake District cardigan.
And that’s exactly what
Bee-Hind the Seams is all about.
🐝 What’s buzzing in the Hive next week?
It’s time to swap the walking shoes for sewing shoes!
Next week’s plans include:
* 🪡 Making Rob and Steve’s upcycled Marvel shirts.
* 🩳 Sewing my double gauze shorts to complete another summer outfit.
* 🏖️ Making my Coastal Towelling Hoodie.
* ✂️ Preparing more fabrics for the next wave of projects.
* 🧶 And, of course, adding a few more rows to my Lake District cardigan.
*More Swimming
*& Maybe a cheeky tattoo,
It’s birthdays, anniversary & Memory week.
Until next week…
🐝 Bee Creative.
🐝Bee Bold.
🆕Make something new
🏚️from something old.
Where every stitch tells a story. 🧵💛⛰️🌊
