December

Hi there, I have been a little blog absent I know this past couple of weeks but it has been a funny month.  Just about everyone I know has had this awful cough/cold bug which has not been helped at work by the heating not working for the whole month!  It did finally get fixed a couple of days before we broke up for Christmas. Prior to that I had the sick bug at the end of November on my day off!  We did manage to get to the theatre at the start of the month to see Rock of Ages and that was fab, I mentioned that in my last post but I thought it was at least a positive start to the month despite all the germs flying around.

I did manage to take this photograph of the big wheel in Sheffield as we were coming out of the theatre and I thought it looked lovely all lit up.

We don't go into the city centre all that often not unless we have a specific purpose, my mum on the other hand goes a couple of times a week.  That was something we always did when I was a child, Saturday we went into town. Ok there was some food shopping to be done as there were not supermarkets everywhere back then but even as a teenager I went with my friends, it was as if we had been indoctrinated into the shopping as a hobby mindset.  It is not something I have ever done since, so our occasional trips often provide me with something new to see as everything changes so quickly.

My friends and I also has a trip out for afternoon tea this month at Wortley Hall as our little Christmas meet up, seeing my friends was lovely but the afternoon tea for me was a disappointment,  now if you have no special dietary need then it is fab because my friends got a lovely selection of food. They appeared to have just thrown a few bits together for me though, despite the fact that I let them know when I booked two weeks before, then again on arrival to be sure.  When they did bring my plate out my friend took this photo for me...

I look happy here but this was not my food!

So far so good but when I looked the sandwiches had meat in and that pudding is milk based, I explained I had the wrong plate and then had to wait about 25 minutes.  When it came back I had a sandwich containing just tomato, one with just cucumber and one just pepper with onion, the tall pudding was gone of course but not replaced this pitiful bit of food still remained £13.99 no offer of a reduction but saying that no one ever came back to ask if everything was ok we ended up paying at the reception desk as we left. This was a real shame as we had been before and they did a brilliant job that time making me up a vegan plate, it must depend on the chef, not that making sandwiches requires chef training.

In complete contrast to that experience I had an amazing Christmas lunch in school.  The cook did an incredible job catering for all the different needs of the children and staff, the food was so good and all for the price of a school meal.  So it just goes to show it is possible if she can do it on that grand scale.

I did treat myself to a new cookbook this month Cook, Share, Eat Vegan by Aine Carlin.  I have tried three things out of it already and they have all been tasty.  I am marking each page with a post- it as I go with the aim to try just about everything, I have had cook books in the past where I haven't made very much from them but I have a few by this author and they are usually good and the food is well balanced.  The post-it idea is to remind me to keep trying new things, I am also making little comments on them about the dishes.

We have visited family and had family over for Christmas lunch but  other than that no other outings over the Christmas period, we don't generally go out for New year either as we never have.  |That is all fine by me as we certainly won't have to worry about any huge bills come January.  I am happy to relax, walk the dogs, read and get a bit of sewing done.  Speaking of which this is what I am currently working on...

I am doing a long sleeved version of the top and the jacket may stay the same if it suits me, if not I will modify it a bit.
 The fabric was sent by Minerva crafts, also be sure to have a peak at my post on Saturday 29th December as my butterfly dress will be on the Minerva Crafts Blog then.

I hope you are all having a lovely relaxing time and are ready for the new year ahead, best wishes to everyone and thank you for reading.


Etsy Shop

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Handmade Gift

I finished another little crochet project last week but I have to say parts of it were pulled apart and redone about three times as the sizes of parts didn't work out!  I got the pattern from a link on pinterest but first of all everything came out ludicrously small,  then ok but the wings were the wrong size, (it's a penguin by the way) so more unravelling.  Well I know it could be me that did it wrong but after checking and redoing I gave up on the pattern and made it up as I went. I winged it.  (ha really bad I know)  So I did get there in the end and I'm quite attached to the little guy now, he is part of a themed gift for my friend's baby boy.

I have also made a little hooded jacket that I have appliqued penguins to the front and back, with mismatched buttons in pale blue and turquoise.  I really enjoyed making this and can think of a whole range of wildlife themed children's clothes I want to make, but steady on let's see if that fits him first.  As it is a surprise I couldn't ask for clothing to check against so I just did his age but a bit bigger.  Finally I ordered a nice picture book off amazon to go with the items.

I think adults are often hard to buy gifts for but there are so many lovely little things you can do for children.  My boys are not little any more but I used to love making them dressing up outfits as that was something they loved to do.  I also made toys from felt to go with characters from favourite books a few times.  

Here a few more pictures, sorry bad lighting time of year again!

 Here is the back of the jacket, I had to do the penguin low so the hood didn't cover him.

I decided on buttons because I thought a zip might a bit scratchy near his face.

The eyes are just stitched from wool, the original instructions (that I threw away) said use sew on eyes but I thought that may be dangerous,  so best to sew the effect of eyes instead.  My friend has been told not to peek at the blog as she sometimes reads it.  I hope it is all ok for him.  What gifts have you all been making?  I always love to read your comments.

Etsy Shop

Sparkly Top for Mum

This last  week I made a gift for my mum using the fabric that was sent to me by Minerva Crafts I have only just forwarded their post so here is a quick peak.

Very shiny and right up her street as she loves a bit of sparkle, she has had the top now as I had a feeling she would want to wear it at Christmas and I was right. It hangs better on her as my mannequin is not at the right size in terms of shoulders.  I will share more when it is featured as the original post has photographs of her wearing it.

I am glad she likes it and now she likes that style she may be brave enough to choose some fabric for herself.  I have told her to do this but she always says 'oh but you are so busy'  no it's ok I say, have a look!

I have started a new little crochet project, something small so it is almost done, it would have been finished but today has been a catch up day.  Friday I was sick I had been up in the night being ill and we were supposed to go to the theatre Friday night!  Fortunately the show had a couple of seats left for Saturday so they let me transfer the tickets at a small cost as they were better seats.  So glad they did as we had this booked since March, the show was Rock of Ages and it was brilliant, if you like eighties rock with a comic twist you should try and get to see it.  So that is two weekends running I have been ill on Friday how rubbish is that?

The little project will be shared at a later date but I would quite like to make something wearable in the chunky yarn, I am keen to try out a larger hook. If anyone can direct me to a simple top in a chunky style that would be great.

Last week I finished reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik I really enjoyed this as it was another book of total escape.  In the theme of a grown up fairy tale style so completely out of the ordinary, I will not give too much away but the story follows Agnieska and her village by an enchanted forest, the Dragon is a wizard who must be served by a village girl for ten years. It is total fantasy so if you like to read about every day life then this is not for you, but for me a change in genre is good sometimes.
This week I have just started A Skinful of Shadows, this one is a YA novel but that doesn't bother me I have read some really good stories aimed at that audience.

We have just finished watching The Last Kingdom, I really enjoyed it though I did have to look away in parts (it is a bit blood thirsty) now I am on the look out for another series to watch.

Juliette Blouse and a Few Frugal Bits

My make for this week was the Juliette Blouse from simple sew pattern I was gifted by a friend.  I originally looked at this and thought the shape looked too basic for it to hang very well, however I was wrong.  Very pleasantly surprised when I tried this on after completing it and now I think this pattern will get much use. It is easy to make up so perfect for any beginners and comes together with the ties so no too much to worry about in terms of fitting.

No pictures of me in it I'm afraid as it is cold and I don't want to go and change, get the tripod etc. So you will have to make do with my model here doing the work for me. I think I will layer this for this season with a long sleeved t-shirt underneath, I do that a lot!

It is quite a floaty feel to it so I would imagine there a re lots of suitable fabrics for this style, I think it would look nice in a linen.

So that is three of the free patterns that I have made up to now and I have been happy with all of them, feeling pleased my friend thought of me before her trip to the charity shop.

This morning I have double lined a curtain that I have hanging at the back door, my intention is to thermal line all my curtains as the lining on them is quite thin apart from the ones I made myself which are good and heavy.  When I moved in at this house we had such a large floor to ceiling window in the back room I just bought inexpensive curtains as it was cheaper than buying fabric. Also the window takes two pairs of curtains, they do the job but I am currently out to make every window as insulated as possible in the evenings, what with rising costs.  

 I have noticed that Dunelm Mill do ready made thermal linings which are inexpensive, so I am off tomorrow to go and have a look at those.  In the meantime today I found a large, lined cream curtain in a cupboard, so I took down my curtain at the door in my sewing area and pinned then stitched it to it.  I needed to take it up a little and I gathered it in to the pleats, now it is good and heavy and that is one curtain done for free!  

We have had a couple of leaks about the house this last couple of weeks, fortunately my husband is quite handy and managed to sort them without the need for outside trades people.  One of the leaks persisted and we then watched a YouTube video that highlighted one little thing that had been missed, the part was bought and now that issue is resolved.  So watch videos before splashing out on repairs even if you still have to call someone, at least you may be aware of the simplicity of the problem so that you don't get charged a fortune for a reasonably simple job. 

My next job is I have a blouse to cut out for my mum as this will be  a gift for her, then a couple of little gifts.  The trouble with that is I won't be able to share the little gifts until later due to spoilers!  I will share my mum's blouse though as she knows about it and will want to wear it over Christmas.  

Another little frugal discovery I have made is a pot of foundation I found in my cupboard, the colour was all wrong when I bought it but I didn't get rid of it as I hate waste. I got it out this morning and mixed a little with my usual plus some moisturiser to make a sort of tinted moisturiser, it works!  That will make my usual stuff last twice as long, I would love to go bare faced and to be honest I probably don't look much different but I know so that's the thing.  I was researching natural ingredients to use instead this week, coconut for moisturiser and so on.  The trouble is some sources say it can cause acne so we don't want that do we? Shea butter and argan oil were  also mentioned, plus the use of some spices to make blusher and so on, if anyone has any experience of trying these natural cosmetics please share. 

Crochet Cowl

This week I have been trying to do a little bit of crochet every evening to finish the cowl I had started, not a lot just a few rows and it worked as I finished it yesterday.  This has made me feel that maybe I could do something bigger by plodding away at it like that, I am not very fast at it but it just shows a little here and there and things get done.

I got the width and chain length from the beginner book, I also repeated the rib pattern that I did on the fingerless mitts but this time I used two colours.  I didn't make it as long as the cowl in my book I just measured around my neck, then I twisted it before crocheting the two ends together after that I carried on around putting a shell edging all around the outside.

I am very happy with it and feel it will be useful and not fall off or come undone like a scarf does sometimes.

I think I will start a small novelty item  for now while I decide on a bigger project.  There are a few images of snowflakes and little decorations I have seen on pinterest so I will have to have another look.

Earlier this week I made  a little hairbow for the daughter of a friend who was admiring my flamingo blouse, I knew I had a little bit of fabric left and some children's hair slides from a while back.

Sometimes it is nice to make something small, especially if you can use up those last bits of fabric.  I have started keeping really small pieces now just in case I fancy doing some micro patchwork (if that is a thing!)

A little bit of progress has been made working through my library book 'Drawing on the right side of the Brain' fascinating stuff!  While I was working on one activity that has you copying an image from the book upside down, I was thinking this will never look anything like it should, well it turned out better than if I had done it my way, right way up.  I have since done other images this way and it really works.  It is just to get you looking and not to suggest you forever draw upside down.  So far so good hopefully I will be improved by the end of the book.

Today I have been taking up curtains for a friend, I listened to another radio 4 drama while I was doing that, it had a little twist to it.  You can find it here Heather.  I have also just quickly  cut out a top from one of the patterns I was gifted a few weeks ago.  It is a very basic shape so will take no time at all to sew up tomorrow, or later this evening.

I have to say it looks very large at the moment I am hoping it will be due to the effect of it having a tie back, otherwise there will be some adjustment's made.  The spotty/floaty image on the cover looks good (future fabric choice perhaps). 

Burda Trousers and Sewing a Pocket Welt

This week has been lovely and relaxing, a few things made, books read and these Burda trousers finished off.  I don't know why but I had them near completion about two weeks ago and then they just sat there waiting to be finished off.  My husband thinks they are a little busy but I like them, there is no point making your  own clothes if they all look the same, change is good.

My husband did point out that you can't see the details because of the pattern and he does have a point so I have taken a few close ups so you can see the pockets and belt loops.

I actually have two buttons on the back pockets that are not exactly the same, they are the same colours but slightly different. I'm ok with that.

I did have to make the seams a bit larger on this pattern as it starts from a size 10 also once I had alsmost finished and was about to put the waistband on I had to alter that at the sides and back too.

I chose to put a button and button hole at the front although the pattern suggested a bar and catch, I prefer and feel more secure with a button as I've had trouser with that sort of fastener and they can come undone.

The fabric is lovely and soft and was bought along with the pattern from Minerva Crafts, after trying these on I may have to make some more for the winter.

One thing I thought I would mention is the way the welt pockets at the back are created, on the pattern you are instructed to cut tow small pieces for the inner vents and that is not the way I do it so here is my way.

I just cut one rectangle and stitch it over the marked points on the pieces. Put  a piece of interfacing over it first  then cut out your little letter box opening.

 Next you push it all through then arrange the folds so they feel even and hold them at the sides ( this manipulation gets easier with practise so have a go on a few  scraps first.

Flip it over at the sides and you can put your fingers on the little triangle bit, it does get easier the more you do it.

Then machine stitch it, you may find you want to stich all the way around to maintain an even width or you can just do that part when you add the back of the pocket.

I hope that is clear enough I just find it easier than messing about with two pieces. This may have been explained by  me before on here when I have been making skirts, so if you have seen it before I apologise for repeating myself but without going back through and checking I can't remember!

I also made another pair of fingerless mittens for my younger son in grey and I have just started on a cowl. It looks a bit narrower than I thought so I made add an edging once it's complete so any suggestions welcome.

Friday we had a browse in the charity shops and I found this super book...

It was only  £1.50 and is full of recipes, places to see, tips for camp sites, days out and all kinds of camping information.  Plus many vegetarian recipes or ones that can be easily adapted.

The book is also divided into seasons and this recipe above is from the winter section, I may have to try that one.  I was going to take a few more shots then the battery went dead, photo overload for today.

Back to work tomorrow so that will interfere with my making time :(  I have decided I am going get up a little earlier each day to fit a bit of something in before I go to work, as I have to be there for 7.30 on Monday this may be a push put even if it just a row or two of crochet or a few stiches on something it will be a start.   I will keep you posted.

Crochet Fingerless Mittens

It must be something to do with the change in temperature but I had the urge to get out my crochet hooks and have a go at something.  I haven't done any since 2016 how ridiculous! Where has that time gone? So back then I taught myself as best I could  with library books and YouTube and created this Floral wreath  it hangs on the wall near my sewing table.  Well as it has been so long I had to get a book out again to jog my memory, I chose a beginner book by Emma Varnam and decided to make the fingerless mittens.
My first pair are a bit odd in size, I think my tension was varying, the second pair I have made for my son as he said he would still be able to use his phone in them.  My younger son also wants a pair in grey so on with those now, it is nice to be able to make something for them.

I went to fetch this yarn  yesterday after my son said he wanted black, I could barely see what I was doing!  It really made a difference trying to work in a dark colour and was maybe not the best choice for a beginner but they are definitely better then my first pair which turned out a bit bumpy, but wearable.

The black ones I made a bit longer, I seem to have trouble when I get to the end of a row deciding which one is my last stitch so any tips would be appreciated, I end up checking lots because I am uncertain.  With knitting you have a definite number of stitches on the needle that can be clearly seen I find with crochet the stitches are harder to spot.  All you old hands at it will be laughing but I tried putting a safety pin at the ends but that seemed to confuse me more so I took them out.

This is the pattern I used...

This is the book from the library...

I got the yarn from Hobby craft and it is  Women's  Institute acrylic 100g, you got three balls for the price of two making it £1.50 a ball is that good?  As it is not something I buy usually I have no comparison, I know I got some from there a few years ago when I did the wreath and a few bits from the charity shop.   Also if anyone can point me in the direction of some more good beginner projects that would be great, I don't really want to just do blankets as we have the dogs and little claws will get caught in them.  

While I was getting a bit of crochet finished earlier I listened to Henry James The Turn of the Screw this was a really good dramatization of this story,  I read this a few years ago and enjoyed it, just earie enough without being horrible if you know what I mean.  I don't like actual horror but good old fashioned ghost stories can be enjoyable.

That said, I  had to put down one of the books I got from the library because it was too disturbing 'Alice' by Christina Henry, I got one hundred pages in then stopped, there are some images you just don't need in your head!  I did read The Chimp Paradox by Dr Steve Peters over two days.  I enjoyed that, there was  lots of information in there that makes you think and question your thoughts, I am about to start 'Uprooted' the good thing about getting them from the library is I don't have to feel bad if they are not for me, I can just stop and move on.

I am going to have another browse on the BBC radio 4 website to see if there are any other dramas I can listen to while getting on with things, any audio book suggestions I can get on there? My only problem with that though is that if I don't like the voice doing the reading I can't listen.

Minerva Post and Eating Out

I should have added this link yesterday but I forgot! So here is my link to my Minerva post, lucky dip bag.  These are some of the items I made during the summer using this fabulous surprise bag, I have since made a black dress also that I blogged about here, top to dress pattern hack using some more of the fabric.

Today we have been out for lunch to The Botanist in Sheffield, this is not something we do a lot but it was a little celebration.  I have to say I am starting to be in agreement with my husband that eating out is a total waste of money.  I know that I sound like a real grump but honestly after a main meal each you do not expect to still be hungry, especially at thirty odd pound!  That is half of the weeks food budget so really I was not impressed. My meal was a Malaysian curry, basically a very watery soup with the tiniest bowl of rice you have ever seen.  My husband had a kebab that had four small pieces of lamb and a few bits of red pepper and onion, with a side of skinny sweet potato fries (one very small potato.  Funny thing was that his dish came with this tiny bowl of sauce and a lady accompanied the waiter to ask if my husband would like assistance in pouring this sauce over the kebab??  Why I am not sure, maybe to justify the price, anyway he said no thank you he could manage! 

Needless to say we did not stay for desert and when we got home he had a bowl of cereal, how bad is that? The food was tasty don't get me wrong but you shouldn't feel hungry after paying for a meal.

Up to now I have always maintained that yes it is a bit expensive but for special occasions we see it as a treat, today I feel a bit like we were mugged!  I think for future celebrations we may do food at home, a nice walk and a drink in a pub to finish it off and let that be it.  We have found some nice deals where you get two for one meals in the past, perhaps we should leave the over priced food to those who don't mind.  

  

I have a pan of pasta on the go now, got to fill that space! Some nice cherry tomatoes and some olives, better than anything I ate today, you live and learn don't you.

On a thriftier note I did collect five books from the library today that I ordered last week, two of which I was looking at in Waterstones last Saturday but no way was I paying £8.99 a piece for books I may have finished in a couple of days.  That is some nice quiet reading for the coming weeks. 

     

Homemade Naked Bars

I have got into a bit of a habit of picking up these Naked bars when I go shopping...

Now I do like them  and it is great that they are all natural but at £2.50 for four they are a bit much for what they are.  I have been telling myself that as I don't eat cake or biscuits it is ok to pick these up as they are handy for work.  The truth is I know these things are easy enough to make I just need to get back into the habit of making them.

 

As I have been home awaiting a delivery I thought I would get on with that, I haven't tried to imitate that flavour as I have gone with what I have in ingredient wise for today.  I may try that flavour on another occasion.  

There are various recipes for oat bars floating around out there but they all seemed to require something I did not have on hand, so I have made my own version using up what needs eating.  This seemed like the best solution.

Here are mine, and I chose to bake them for a little while rather than just have them raw as many recipes suggest, this was mainly due to the moisture form the bananas and raspberries in mine.

Fruit and Oat Bars

140 g oats

130g nuts (ground in the blender) walnuts & almonds

200g prunes

70g raspberries

2 bananas

3tbsp cacao powder

water to blend (just enough to mix it but not too wet)

Blend the nuts in the blender then add to the oats, blend the prunes and raspberries with a little water so it makes a puree, mash the bananas. Add the cacao to the mixture and give a good stir, push it down flat into a tray and score the pieces however big you would like them. I chilled it for ten minutes then baked it on 190 for twenty minutes. 

I have tried one and they are very tasty, I didn't add any additional sugar as that is my taste so if you feel you like things a little sweeter or want them to taste more like shop bought treats then add some maple syrup I will leave the amount on that up to individual tastes.  I think they are spot on without it but then my tastes have changed over the last few years, the Naked bars may be in fact a little too sweet but I have been lazily going for the convenience of them.  I am going to separate each of these with a small piece of baking paper and freeze them that way I can get one out each day for work to keep me going late afternoon. 

As you can see from the above picture I managed to cut it into fourteen pieces, I weighed one and it was 30g maybe a touch over and that is the weight of the Naked ones so I can see that these are going to be much better value and less packaging.  My mixture may change occasionally based on what I have in or what I fancy so I will keep you up to date with any modifications.  For now though this recipe was a hit so I am going to get those in the freezer before I am tempted to just sit eating them.  

Minerva Makes

Today I have a dress featured over on the Minerva crafts Blog   it is for the scuba floral dress I made follow the link to read the full post.  You will have to scroll down a little I am the third project they have on for today.

I have since worn this to go out in as it was a little warm to wear when we were having the heatwave in the summer months.  It is ideal for now though as this fabric is quite thick, I also thought it would be good for straight skirts for the Autumn/ Winter months so why not have a look at what other scuba fabrics they have on offer.   As it is grey and damp now looking back at that picture makes me crave the summer, oh well may as well embrace the boots and tights season instead.

It was a bit of an effort getting up in the dark this morning, I read somewhere that you should make your breakfast a treat so that you have  something to look forward to.  As I generally have the same porridge most days I am not quite sure how this will work but it might be something to think about.
There is a whole movement of people getting up at 5am when they don't need to just to enjoy the peace of the morning. I had enough of that when the children were babies but it would be good to manage 6am consistently on work days just to have a bit of a chilled morning, it is generally the alarm at 6.30 making me sad so some work there is required. I find I can manage a couple of days of jumping out of bed earlier but then  I slip back. The SAD clock does not work so don't waste your money, I found it just starts to come on brightening the room  about half an hour before the alarm actually goes off and therefore steals more of your rest.

There has been a run of poor books recently so I haven't been able to get my teeth into any of them,
I started reading the sequel to The Bear and the Nightingale and it was no where near as good and I gave up about half way through, I started The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night, but after the first few pages I decided that was a bit disturbing and perhaps not for me so I put that down too.  This evening I will start Any Human Heart by William Boyd, it was picked up at the charity shop for 75p so wish me luck with that one. I do like to have a good book on the go and recently they have been disappointing.

Five Frugal Things

I have decided to do a frugal things post this week as I have been reading a few on blogs over the past week, I particularly like Shoestring Cottage as she does a lot of these over there and it gets you thinking how you save each week. There are lots of these types of posts out there and of course you find you have more in common with some more than others depending on your interests and so on.  So here goes mine and just a few things I have found frugal and useful this past week...

• A free origami pattern over at Michelle patterns this is a lovely little butterfly and ideal for using up fabric scraps. Make one in paper first so you know what you are doing then it is just a case of choosing two fabrics to sew together then repeating the process.  It only takes a couple of stitches to keep the whole thing in place once it is folded, it could be used to embellish bags, add to a bouquet or as a brooch.  I also think it would be a lovely little craft activity for a girls party. Here is my first go at this, I'm sure there will be more...

• A trip to the charity shops that resulted in a bargain find of a wool dress, now ok this did involve spending money but at £7.50 it was too good to miss, it looks like new, is incredibly soft, it doesn't need an iron after washing (on cool) and after researching the label Edina Ronay it turns out it is a really good make.  I am not a label fan but it felt such good quality that is what prompted me to look it up. So feeling pretty pleased with this winter dress.

• Another thing I did this week was to print off another recipe to add to my own personal recipe book, I was having a browse on amazon at cook books and I almost bought a used one but then I remembered I only ever like a couple of recipes from each one I own or borrow so what is the point? Something I started doing a little while ago is to print off recipes and put them in a folder, I keep my favourites here now and if they are not a success they don't make it in.  This guarantees that this is one recipe book where I know we like everything in it.  This week it was a sweet potato and kale chilli, very good and one to keep.

  

  The recipes are all from different sites, whatever I spot while browsing and fancy trying.
  

  

  
  

  
  
•  In relation to that the next frugal thing is the three ready meals I have in the freezer from that recipe. I may take one or two to work for lunch or it will be something that is quick to heat up for when I come home from work.  I like to make sure when I am cooking my meat free meals that there is at least one portion left over to take for lunches, as we eat differently here that at least ensures the time and cost are efficiently used.

• I started another course on Future learn this time it is analytics and to be honest it is a little bit dry for me, I will finish it and quickly choose something more fitting.  I thought it was something I should understand a little better, but being a creative type all the data is sort of sending me to sleep!  I know there are those of you out there who are creative and good at that side of things but for me it does not excite.  I have learned a little bit already as you always do whatever you try but the good thing is this a great way to try free study in something you would not normally do.

I'm sure there were other things I could have added this week but these were the things that came to mind, I did a very fast shop actually on Friday and that resulted in a lower than usual bill.  We may find I have forgotten something as the week passes but I'm sure it will be fine.  I must do that as a matter of routine in future get in and out with my list as fast as I can, that way I will be saving time as well as money. I always enjoy reading how everyone else has kept the costs down from day to day so please share in the comments, I also noticed I have a couple of new followers so welcome to you and thanks for reading. 

Butterfly Wrap Dress

I spent a quiet day today as it has been quite grey and I thought I would take the photographs and write my post for Minerva Crafts so that is finished.  I also had to take my dress in a little as I mentioned yesterday I cut it out larger to accommodate for it not being a stretch fabric.  Well there was no need as that pattern was quite generous. I put heels on to take the photos and couldn't wait to take them off!  Why did I ever wear such instruments of torture? That said if I had a special occasion I would probably put them on to look properly dressed, how strange we women are.  As I generally don't have any special events to attend my feet are safe for now.

Here is the dress on the mannequin, I save the main post and photographs for Minerva.

This was a Kwik Sew pattern and came together well, had I not opted to cut the larger size to begin with I feel it would have fit first time.  It does recommend stretch fabric but this poplin worked really well.

I also took in a pair of jeans this morning, they are a favourite pair that fit well but are a little big at the waist. I unpicked the waistband at the sides, ran the side seams down a bit up to the rivets then cut through the waistband to remove a little there.

I did this on both sides, they are very stretchy.

 I just pinned it over to where I wanted it, then topstitched it on the outside.

 They are spot on now and no more working their way down when I'm out dog walking.  I like to try and save things, they are a little faded but that doesn't bother me, black jeans are never true black for long are they. 

Thursday Thoughts

I have one incomplete garment, two pending and a couple of repairs but hey it is the weekend for me now ( four day week ) so I will be getting on with those straight away.  There is this thing that I do where I feel I mustn't post anything until I've finished each project, of course this is not all the time but I go through phases of this.  As a result that sometimes means I have an absence of over a week, so today I am going to share what I am up to even if it shows a slovenly lack of getting on with stuff this week. (Ha, ha)

 So first up I have one dress cut out and ready to stitch dress for a Minerva post in a lovely butterfly fabric, it should be a quick sew now. That will be my job for the afternoon along with endless cups of tea.  I am thinking it may be a bit floaty now for Autumn, but still hoping a good few layers will see it through the seasons.

I have gone for this wrap dress pattern and it was one of the gifted patterns that my friend gave me.  It does actually say it is for stretch fabric but I wanted to use it so I have opted to cut a larger size and allow a little extra around the sleeves.  I hope that does the trick.

Yesterday I received my order form Minerva crafts this time I had decided to treat myself.  A nice unusual check to make a pair of trousers and a plain brown for a tie waist top to go with them, I also bought a pattern as trousers need a level of accuracy around the bottom and as these are to be smart trousers (I hope!) I will use a pattern this time round.  When I made the  mock jumpsuit here I just made my own pattern as they were slouchy trousers.

I have had my eye on that pattern for a while. In addition to those items I have a few broken zips to replace.

One thing I did complete this week was a bit of baking, I haven't done any for a while but I have decided to try one new thing a week from my various books, Vegan and Gluten Free Baking being my favourite at the moment as things tend to come out well.  I made the Vegan Ricotta cake ( not ricotta at all ,rather cashews and dates, or in my case prunes!)  This was a really soft springy sponge and as any of you that bake gluten free will know, that is not always case. It was baked in a rectangular tin then cut into portions when cool. It was gone in two days so that is a good sign.

This week my son has suggested we make the pumpkin pie, he is suddenly interested in cooking so I want to nurture that interest therefore that is what we are making.  I have to confess I have not seen a pumpkin yet and it is October, maybe I have had my eyes closed?  We will have a good look  around on Saturday. 

While on the subject of food I watched another episode of eat well for less on the laptop while doing my ironing.  I can't decide if it as all completely false or if there really are people spending those ridiculous amounts on food and not knowing!  I mean how can you not know? You are always expected to pay at the end of a shop so how can any of these couples be so clueless as they spend a week, a month or a year.  I love the idea of showing people how to get away from all the convenience foods  but some of these families are spending more on food than  some families have to get by on for a week to cover everything.  I am not sure that it is helpful for them to see others mindless spending then chuckling about it.  Sorry, having a little rant there. 

Off now to get stuff done.