Wintering

 Hello everyone, how are you all doing? Just yesterday I read a post about a book called Wintering, I have seen this book about before and thought that it looked interesting.  In fact I think I may have it saved on a list somewhere? Anyway what I want to say is that the post shared a bit about the book and the key elements, mainly the first being that we as humans need to go with the seasons and stop trying to be in one season all the time.  Well,  I found that very honest and spot on.  The post went on to say that we need to recognise that winter is a time to rest and stop rushing around trying to be as productive as we are in the summer, and also that is true in our lives.  As we age we are not in our spring time, and just because of this we don't need to beat ourselves up for being tired or being able to do less but rather listen to our bodies and embrace each change.

I really liked the key points and this has made more me determined to get my hands on this book and read it during the coming season.  I can fully appreciate the idea that we try to be the same throughout our lives when in fact we are not.  As a woman aging is almost a dirty word it would appear if you look around at the products and treatments pushed at us, there is also this current gym culture where it would seem if only we all went to the gym seven days a week we wouldn't age at all.  That is rubbish of course as all bodies age, and joints do wear no matter how much we try to stop it. However I am not saying that in a gloomy way, rather that we need to try and embrace all the good things that come with it, the acceptance we have for ourselves and in many ways the experiences that make us better people.

It must be said that I am guilty of trying to find a solution at every turn whenever I am tired or lacking in energy, when I feel I am not getting as much done as I used to and also of trying to hold off the dreaded wrinkles (aalthough I do so with the cheapest of cheap Asda moisturiser!).  These points have given me a nudge to accept a few things a little more though, I am older so of course I can't stay up late and get up at six fresh as a daisy, dark winter months do make me more lethargic so plan less and curl up with a book. At the same time I do get out for a good walk with the dog every day and get some daylight but we have to work with what we have and stop all trying to be eighteen.  That is past and to be honest would any of us really want to go through it again?  So one for your list and mine Wintering by Katharine May and if you have read it please let me know in the comments.

Now for a little on this weeks sewing...

I bought a couple of pieces of fabric last week, mainly because I was ordering a piece for a gift dress that I am making, then I saw this bargain piece at £5, that did leave me paying for postage though so another £5  piece gave me free postage.  So that is what happened, why pay postage when you can get more fabric for the same price?  The first piece was floral and that is  for the gift dress, for myself I got a blue velvety rib knit, and also an oatmeal knit both for t shirts.

The first velvety piece I made up as a mimi g  t shirt with long sleeves.  The pattern is simplicity 8177 and there are also trousers and a longline coat in this pattern, I have made the coat for a work project.  I love the v neck  on this t shirt and I will make this again, very easy enjoyable make.

I have also been doing work sewing this week but I am always unsure wether I can share that yet, so maybe at a later date.   I hope you all have a good week and of course enjoy what you have and what you are able to do. Take care. 

A Waistcoat Make

 Hello, how are you coping with the dark days.  They seem to come on pretty quickly this year I think and mainly due to all the cloud cover we are having but it does feel very dark all through the day at the moment.  I am trying to keep on top of that by making sure i take the dog out earlier in the day.  This does mean that I have to stop work and have abreak to do this but if I leave it until I am finised for the day I will miss all the daylight!  I know that is not an option for most people, I was lucky in that when I worked in school we were out on break duty every day so that did mean that I always saw some daylight.  Office workers are usually in artificial light all day long and I know that can be hard.

There has been lots of research on  how this lack of daylight impacts our health and well being, so whatever you do for work it is best to try and make the most of any daylight that you can get.  Go outside at lunchtime and have a walk, you will feel better for it. 

Today I have been working on something that I wouldn't chhose for myself but I really like the way it has turned out. It is a waiscoat, and I don't wear them myself but I think it is the fabrics involved that have caught my eye so I will definitely be trying to incorporate them into some sort of little bag. There is really only crumbs left of the charmuese fabric but I am sure i can work them in somewhere.  So The project was newlook 6914 waistcoat or vest.   I made view A for work in a needlecord and charmeuse for the lining and back.  I really like the two fabrics together and the silver buttons...

My Mannequine is a bit wonky, whenever I try to make it bigger it drops down and feels like it is going to fall apart. 

I love that print!

So yes that was quite a surprise, I really love it.  Not in my style but still a cute combination.

In other sewing I managed to use up some fabrics to make my mum a fabric scarf, I did it bouble sided so there were no seams showing so it is warm enough but smarter than a wool one.  She was happy with it.

Today I have had a new pump fitted for my central heating system, earlier this year it was a new boiler and last summer a complete flush out of the whole system.  Let us just say central heating is eating up our cash in many ways at the moment and not just in switching it on.  I am hoping that is it for a while now. 

Reading wise,  I am battling through a book at the moment and I don't know if there is any point carrying on, it is called Mrs March.  I did say on my youtube channel that I thought it might pick up, so far it has not and the character herself is really getting on my nerves.  In fact typing this right now I have decided to chuck it in!  I mean what is the point if it is winding me up? I have other books on my TBR list so I'm off to pick up one of those.  Have a great week all,  and get outside. 😊

Making and Making it Last

 Hello, a new month and a fresh page, at least that is always how it feels.  I was listening to the radio while cutting out the other day and they were discussing the need for everyone to consume less and to make things last.  It is a double edged problem for me in a way as I have always made clothes and really made them last, but I also make and create sewing for my job.  This always leaves me feeling a mixture of emotions relating to that.

 One.. I love that I get to work on sewing projects for my job and I really enjoy that.

 Two.. I am teaching other people to make their own, cherish those clothes and reduce the need for fast fashion.

 Three.. There are those who now just use this as another area to splurge.  It is awkward and of course none of my business, then at the same time all of our business.

I have made myself a couple of things this week, the first being a top from french terry that was bought months ago and the second being a dress from all the offcuts of a work project I made earlier this week.  Now because I am a small size I can often use up all the fabric in this way.  I like to use it up and I am always on the look out for ways to use the fabric scraps. I do watch a few sewing you tubers, but I don't watch any haul videos.  I am not against a chairty shop haul video, if someone gets their fabric or clothing in that way as it keeps it all in the loop. 

 Then again I promote new fabric in  my work,  but that doesn't mean that everyone has to buy every piece and every pattern, rather that everyone should find something just for them.  I would hope they would enjoy making that item, love it, keep it for many years and that it would become the norm again to make all our things.

The need for constant newness has become quite obvious in a lot of home decor too, I see many vloggers who do makeovers constantly changing their homes in a way to keep up with the need for content creation.  In fact there is one who I can think of who has moved house about five times in the last few years.  What is it that is missing?

  Now I personally need to repaint my hall and bathroom, not for fun! Rather that these high traffic areas are in need of freshening up, I am also hoping to choose better paint this time so that it can be washed.  The paint in my hall just wipes off with the cloth when I try to get hand prints, so trade paint is just false economy. 

Getting back to the radio show someone suggested that they always swap out their wardrobe seasonally and that the act of getting all their clothes out again each season was just like having all new things and provided that much needed novelty.  I like to do this too, although I only swap some of it as I have clothes that I wear year round but I layer up.  It was quite eye opening when I was doing this recently to see some of the colours together.  Having recently been looking into what colours suit me best I could quite clearly see that I already gravitate towards the right ones, and my autumn palette is there already.  

I will leave you with a little peak at my memade top, I can assure you I will have this for a long time.

The pattern was self drafted so no pattern to share, I cut a slit a the neck then backed it after that I made topstitched darts either side to pull the front open and add interest.  There is also bias tape on the inside for a neat finish.  That  is all for today, have a good week. 

A Few Autumn Days

 Hello, another week almost at an end and Autumn has really taken a hold now hasn't it? We were just saying while out walking that it all looks very lovely for a short time as the leaves begin to fall and cover the ground, however it is not long before it is all dark smush beneath your feet.  All the more reason to get out for those Autumn walks every day and make the most of it.  We have a little reminder in the form of a dog but I bet plenty of peopke just let this season pass by, thinking they will do it tomorrow.  We do that with a lot of things don't we? Give it a day, or two or three.  Get out there now and have a look around and it won't disappoint. I like to make a point of stopping on my walk and looking around, listening, even if it just to the peace and quiet.  It can be tempting to rush if you are fitting a walk into a busy day but if we try and stop in a couple of places I think we benefit more, there will always be that to do list.  I think 'to do' lists are the only thing that is not going anywhere!  

This week has been a busy one of sewing as usual, I had a couple of new patterns to test/teach /make up.  I can't share those as they are work projects.  I also finished a second dress for a neighbour, I am making her a number of items for her holiday.  She is commsioning me to do this as the summer clothes are out of the shops. In other sewing news I did finish a top for myself yesterday afternoon, it is self drafted and was a quick make.  I made it using french terry that I bought earlier in the year, I have yet to photograph it so I will share another day.  It is plain so hopefully will go with a few things as my patterns creations struggle to do so.

I did make a Maison Fauve pattern for work also it is called the bellinin blouse, so although this particular one is not for me I will make it again in future.  I really like the cover art on these patterns but I must say as with a lot of indie patterns they are expensive. I will share that here as it is not top secret...

I think these patterns are pretty enough to make good gifts if you are thinking ahead for Christmas.

We made a rare evening trip out last night to the cinema, we went to see Speak no Evil, not a horror I don't like those but it was a thriller and I was jumping a few times.  We went to Penistone Paramount, it is quiet and old fashioned and we love it.  The funny thing was as we were leaving the house my husband said, this is so weird, leaving the house in the evening that is.  We really do not care for going out at night, and if you want to go for a meal it is cheaper in the day time.  So with this in mind we often take days off work week days and go out to celebrate things then. 

Well I hope you are all well, that is all for now. Take care. 

Creativity, Slowing Down and Taking Back Control of Our Minds

 Hello, well it has been a while and I have certainly wondered whether or not to continue with this blog, the main reason for that being the change in what people are consuming in terms of media.  Now I still do love to read blogs and hope to continue to do so, however when I look down my favourites it seems that everyone I have followed has either stopped updating or closed their blogs altogether, sad I know.

Having looked at my stats for the previous posts there doesn't seem to be a  lot of activity, or views taking place and a lot of people do watch vlogs rather than read blogs it would appear at this moment in time.  I too enjoy watching youtube and have a channel myself, that does not take away from the fact that I like to read the written word and to be able to digest it in my own time.  Thinking things through and engaging with ideas is so much harder to do when watching a vlog or more to the point a 'short'.  

Now the 'shorts' thing on Youtube is something that I just cannot relate to, it goes hand in hand with reels on instagram and I imagine Ticktock but as I don't watch that at all I can only guess.  The whole concept it quick and gone in seconds before moving onto the next thing, this is further fuelling fractured attention spans. Also there is the time it takes to make some of these short films just so that they can pass before our eyes for a few seconds to be forgotten.

In the past I have used instagram as a source of inspiration for sewing and craft projects but this is becoming increasingly difficult as more and more people use reels, having to hold and pause an image before it disappears is awkward and the constant flashing past of the same image in a reel just turns me away from the media.  

Art, sewing, knitting and a host of other crafts take hours to produce,  I personally want to be able to pause and take note of the details, to admire the colours and thought that has gone into each piece.  This is very hard to do with the current speed of consumption and it does make you wonder if anyone is really noticing anything.  Let us be honest now, there is so much out there at our fingertips, so there will always be the next thing to view, infinitely!  

We cannot view it all, so we have to be selective.  With this in mind I have decided that I will continue here on this blog, it may change a little to include more topics but if it just me chatting away into this one little corner of the internet well ok.  

Let us take back control of our minds, for me that will involve seeking out the bloggers that are still out there who share my interests, plus a few new ones I hope, plus being mindful as to what content I choose on youtube while also setting a limit.  

So with that rather long explanation aside I will share a little sewing content for those of you that are here for that. As you can imagaine rather a lot has been made since my last post so I will just give you a little update as to what I have been up to for the start of Autumn.

Autumn Sewing

Earlier this year I bought a couple of pieces of fabric from Annies in Sheffield, one of these was a denim and this was intended for wide leg jeans.  I have made the jeans and they have been worn a number of times already I love them, however I do feel the difference with my usual jeans as the fabric is non stretch.  Many of the jeans we buy  have some stretch content now so it is quite different and unfortunately not as comfortable to wear. 

The pattern is Simplicity 

The next was a top using leftover fabrics from a work project, the t shirt is lightweight but I figured I could layer it up for the cooler months.

I also made two cardigans for the Autumn winter season, one was again using up leftover fabric and the other (the red one) was a complete refashion of a charity shop sweater.  For both of these cardigans I used the Marlo pattern by true bias and I find this to be a really useful sweater pattern if you are on the look out for a cosy make. 

Slightly mismatched buttons on this one.

Bronze buttons on this one

To continue with my use it up theme for the season, I made the Liberty Frill dress from a fabric donated to me some time ago.  I think the navy is just the thing for this time of year and with thick tights and a top underneath it can be worn on cooler days.

I also made a couple of t shirts or tops for my mum using one that fit her well as a template, again this was a 'use it  up' project as I try to work through the left over fabrics I accumulate from my work.

 

I hope that I have given you something to think about today and also that you will continue to drop by from time to time.  Maybe we can all slow down together to appreciate and not  rush our way through our days in search of the next thing.  Thank you for reading and take care. 

Recent Makes

 Hello everyone I hope you are all doing well. I have had a busy month and have decided to have the day off today, well if you ignore editing a youtube video, planning the next one, cooking, baking and cleaning. Anyway all things of my choosing but still I find it hard to quiet my mind a lot of the time. 

So a few things to catch up on, firstly I am still continuing with my scrap busting projects and having recently received some lovely pieces from Jo at Three Storie High I have made a rucksack.  Now I didn't use a pattern for this I made one up as I went along.  If you are interested in this you can see the process on my youtube channel at Beyond the Sewing Room the link is here  it won't be available until after 6.30 pm today.

So I made this to take out on my bike rides, I wanted it small enough to not be bothersome but just big enough to carry essentials.  I am aware it sagged a bit at the front so I added more padding to the front and around the zipper when I got home.

As you can see in this photo here, where the pink spotted fabric is inside that is where I added 

more padding.

Thank you so much to Jo, I had such fun going through the odd bits and combining the colours I will be making more bags from the remaining pieces as I really need to get back into enjoying that.  I do feel my time spent trying to sell some on Etsy then Folksy had spoilt it a bit for me.  It is true what they say, sometimes making money from these things changes how you look at them. 

Now a couple of weeks ago I had a trip to Annies fabric shop on Abbeydale road Sheffield. It is only the second time I have been and we really enjoyed having a browse and buying a few pieces.  I bought linen in pink for some trousers plus some french terry for an autumn top (I will save that for later).  My friend bought t shirting jersey and some double gauze.  We then had a cuppa at a local tea room in an antique yard.

In other recent makes I made a gabardine jacket for myself as my minerva brand ambassador make, the fabric is called pecan pie and the pattern that I used is the Harriet jacket by style arc.  Now the jacket is plain to start with but I added my own pocket detail to bring some life to the front of it.  I think it works really well.  

It was rather hot that day for the jacket, not so today!

I cut shapes from craft paper to determine how big I wanted the pockets.

The lining is a rose and hubble fabric.

I also made this scrap busting shirt for my husband, there wasn't enough fabric for long sleeves or facings under collar etc.  So I made three quarter sleeves witha tab  and did contrasting undercollar, stand and button band facing.  He loves it and it felt very satisfying to use it up on something so useful and seasonal.

Now this next one was a copy of an image I saw on the sezane website, I sort of made it up as I went and used up some leftover jersey.

I did have the image of the Sezane one for comparison but have to clean up the laptop regularly so it is gone. 

That is just a few of the things I have been making, I hope you are enjoying your projects wherever you are.  Take care everyone.

What to Let Go

 Hello everyone, so I have mentioned that for memademay I am focusing on remaking and using up fabric scraps.  This has presented me with a dilema as I  was doing a bit of sorting through last night.  There are some things that I wish to change and there are some pieces that I piece togther to use in garments etc.  However there are also scraps that I will likely never use again, I am not particularly fond of, or I have just seen too many times given that I work on fabrics for my job.  In the latter case they are just taking up space, not only space in my cupboards and drawers but also space in my head as I can't get past them, don't want to use them, so there they sit in limbo.

 Today I am going to have to be a bit ruthless with these bits I feel, I still have friends in schools so I am going to ask if some of those people would like a scrap bag each for craft projects in school.  I had also thought of making up a couple of bags of pre cut squares for patchwork but of course this is a more time consuming task.  Doing both these things will then clear the decks for me to see what I actually will use in either garments or bags. 

I know I have an issue with letting these things go, as I am by nature a very thrifty and use it up sort of person.  The thing is that I have to remind myself is that I did not buy these pieces, almost all are from work projects and I do not need to feel guilt over them.  I can find homes for them else where and it does not need to be here. Just by typing that this morning I already feel like I can begin the process of removing many of them. 

Here is a recent remake of mine from a dress that I made a number of years ago, the dress was from a magazine pattern,  very straight with a tie middle.  The dress always felt a little short ,so was not worn very often despite being a lovely fabric.  To remake it I used a burda magazine pattern from july 2021, this particular pattern has a collar, button up front, a tie waist with elastic casing and also it is sleeveless.  I had to be a little creative with my cutting as the front where the tie adds on I have cut in two pieces when it should have been all in one.  I have also used plain black for the inner collar facing and back inner yoke piece.  

Now I love it! It will get lots of wear because even on cooler days I will a long sleeve top under it.  here it is...

I actually made this a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed the fact that I had saved this dress for further use. 

It has a yoke back and pleat which can't clearly be seen here.

All this has sort of got me thinking what else I need to let go of?  I do sort my books every now and then to keep them down to a managable amount on the bookshelf but even with that I feel I am at a point where I want to keep all the ones I have now.   I could never be a minimalist, but I am trying to reduce clutter.  I recently gave a big pile of picture books to my husband to offer to his collegues with young children, they were much appreciated and while I was keeping all the favourite books from when my boys were young, will they all be used again? Will they even be relevant if my sons have families one day? So I have kept some but not all.   I will keep at it.

Have a lovely day all, what are you letting go of today? 

  

Me Made May 2024

 Hello everyone I hope you are all doing well I know it has been a while.  There are so many things that I haven't posted that I just don't know where to start so for now I am going to share my Me made May so far just to get the ball rolling.  As I have been absent from here a while I thought this would just get me moving in the right direction. 

Are you taking part in Me Made May? If so what is your pledge?  I have decided to focus on remaking, repairing and using up fabrics that are in little bits.  I have made a start and I will share these another day, today I will show you my outfits for the last few days which have all been made previously and a couple have had a bit of a tweak to get them into regular circulation.

So for day one I wore the Kielo wrap dress by named clothing, made up in jersey.  I love this colourful fabric and the dress is really comfortable.

Day 2 we were out on our bikes and I wore this top from burda magazine, the top has sleeves that are in two pieces with sort of a mock short sleeve at the top.  The reason for this is that I was using up scrap fabrics when I made this, the back is also in two pieces with a central back seam.  It has a zip neck and feels a bit sporty.  The fabric is viscose challis in painted bouquet from Minerva.

Day 3, I am wearing the Tremplin cargo trousers by maison fauve made last year, the top is a t shirt part burda mag and part self drafted as I changed so much on it!  The fabric for the trousers is cotton twill,

 the fabric for the T is cotton pique.

Day 4, I am wearing the morgan jeans in green denim by closet core, and the top is a new look pattern but I have added sleeves to the t shirt.  The pattern had a jacket , top and trousers and the trousers have been made a lot. New look pattern K6532.  The top is jersy fabric.

Day 5, Morgan jeans again but this time with a style arc top in viscose challis.  The pattern is called retro rockery and some days I love it, and others not sure I think it depends on the weather outside. 

Day 6, I am wearing a self drafted t shirt in jersey and a simplicity 8652 pencil skirt,  that I have recently altered from the waist to make it shorter.  It has cute kick pleats at the back that I didn;t want to lose but I did want to be able to walk in it at speed so I took quite a chunk out of it.  Now it will be worn more often.

Here we are a Dam flask...

Well that ia all for today I will try and be more on it with this blog, but right now I need to get on with some work, walk the dog, return something to asda (out of date bread grrrr!) and a million other things.

Take care everyone. 

A Slow Week, A few Books and Pretty PJs

 Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well.  So this week has been brought to a bit of a standstill for me.  I have somehow injured my back again! This happens every now and then and I really don't know why, I exercise my core, I walk every day and I am careful of bending and lifting but every few months crack there it goes and leaves me hardly able to move.  Now I do a lot of cutting out on the floor, I know that is not good is it? But space dictates and the dining table is not a good option for bending over  either so yesterday I had been cutting out lots of pattern pieces for a suit then went to stand up and crack I could hardly move and it was agony.  So that stopped play! I struggled downstairs and sat on a hard back chair holding the table for support for about an hour before the spasms let me get to the kitchen for the hot water bottle and pain killers, couldn't get in the cupboard bending too painful.  Last night was awaful today still in pain and hobbling but not as bad, when I finally made it to standing that is because getting out of bed was a right carry on. 

So while I am feeling sorry for myself and sat with a very hot water bottle pressed to my lower back I have been looking at folding tables that could maybe go under the bed upstairs when not in use.  The trouble is finding one that goes high enough with the legs.  Some have very bad reviews and also state they are hard to put up and take down so I can do without that every day.  My other thought was if my husband could make me a folding light weight table to go on top of our dining table to bring it up higher.  So short legs on hinges, a fold in the middle and a light top in two pieces.  I will be discussing this extra job for him when he arrives home. The outcome being that I have finally decided that maybe cutting out on the floor is not so good for me, especially with my somewhat temperamental back.  That said I have been in this situation before and it has had nothing to do with cutting out.  I discovered quite some time ago that running or any kind of impact sport like that really bothers it in recent years.  

This has all left me feeling at a bit of a loose end as there are things I want and need to be getting on with, and also thoughts about how we take for granted being pain free when there are lots of people who live with constant pain. 

Well now I have got that out of the way I will show you these pjs that I made last week, this was a sample make so not for me but really cute just the same. 

Very pretty I may make a pair for myself when I am moving about again, I can't wear anything like this in bed all that fabric would twist and drive me crazy but they would be nice for lounge wear in the summer.  Agh summer that seems so far way right now doesn't it?

I also have a piece of basket weave fabric in black that arrived last week and that is going to be my brand ambassador piece for the month.  I am most certainly going to be making some sort of skirt with that because the amount of times I have wanted to reach for a plain black skirt to go with a print top and there isn't one, so yes that is the plan. 

This month  has seen me reading and stop starting with a number of books, I really don't carry on with any more if they are not grabbing me as there is just no point .  I didn't finish the puspoise by Mark Haddon, I wasn't enjoying that at all.  Then I have read Crushed and this I did enjoy, a dark theme and I felt it was perhaps a YA title but maybe some of the themes kept it from being in  that section. I am not always entirely sure how they catagorise them as I have read some titles from that section that were very disturbing!  It had me turning the pages anyway...

So that one was the best of the three, I will have to look out for more by that author.   With regards to books I have done the same thing again this week I just went into the library went to one section and picked up three.  All the browsing in the world doesn't always get me a good choice so I am taking this new potluck approach.  It found me one good one out of three last time, the bonus being I didn't buy the two I was not keen on.  I try to be very careful of buying books that I am pretty sure about before parting with my money. 

I have been watching a new to me youtube channel this past few weeks called Kutovakika, she is so fun to watch and very cheerful and I like that.  She originally started off making films about her photography which is really lovely and imaginative.  Now she focuses on knitting as she is a knitwear designer. I love all her sweaters, videography and aesthetic, why not take a look especially if knitting is your thing or just to look at the beautiful scenery and artistic shots. 

Thank you for stopping by today, any thoughts on the pattern cutting table ideas would be helpful, but please keep in mind I work in a box room so a full size cutting table is out of the question for me.

Have a lovely week. 

Weaving Fabric

 Hello everyone, this week I have continued my scrapbusting and also thinking up more ways to use them and get creative with them.  So for a change I thought I would try something new, the idea was to weave the scraps together but in a neat way, not in a rag rug way if you know what I mean.

So firts of all I cut lots of strips in four colours that I thought would go nicely, then I stitched them together at one side so that they didn't unfold, so after folding them in half I stitched down the length of each one then pressed them flat.

I was unsure what to weave them on, had a good look around, thought about the back of a picture frame then finally settled on a cardboard box.  I pinned the strips each side then set about weaving on the box.  Not the easiet but it was what I had and sometimes you have to work with what you have.

After I had finished the piece I had to press it to some interfacing to stop it all falling apart, this was not that easy as soon as I released it, it began falling away!  I quickly rewove bits and got the backing on, then I stitched some cotton to the back of it.

I suppose there are lots of ways you can use this and lots of fabric combinations mean it is endless in what you can create. Perhaps I will get my husband to create a frame for me from odd bits of wood so that I have a more stable area to work on.

For my piece I have made one of my bags, it is on one side and the other is one of the fabrics from the weaving so the bag can be used either way.

, 

I hope this has given you a little inspiration this morning for what to do with your scraps, other uses could be pot holders or coasters may use in a quilt or I thought of adding it to a top as a bit of extra embellishment.

Have a good week, everyone, bye for now. 

The First of Many Solid Colour Makes

 Hello, I said a  few weeks ago I would let you know how it goes with the viewing of daylight early in the day and if it helped my sleeping at all.  Well I can report that so far yes! It does appear to be working, first of all I am taking the dog longer walk first thin before I do anything else so I get a good amount of daylight there straight away.  I have always had a long dog walk at the end of the day when I finished my sewing jobs but that has meant that it is always gloomy during the winter.  So I do think this shift has helped.  I have kept the same getting up time too but then this has never really varied that much.

In sewing news I have made a plain white sweatshirt this past week, this is to fill the gaps in my very patterned wardrobe and to ensure that more things blend together well.  I have made this pattern before, it is the Simplicity 8982 and I have made it as a sweater before and also as a dress.

Last week I read the book My Name is Monster by Katie Hale, I nearly put it down halfway through but I stuck with it and it did appear to pick up but alas I was not a fan of the ending.  It was one of those that seams to fizzle out. This week my book is The Porpoise by Mark Haddon and so far I am disturbed. More on that when I have read more of it.

Today has been very busy I had to take my mum to the hospital for an appointment, she now needs more surgery on skin cancer on her nose that she has had previously.  We went for lunch after that, as it is her birthday this week and we are back across town to the hospital again with her tomorrow for the eye clinic this time. Old age is not an easy ride, she has been very healthy all her life and I am reminding her of this as for 86 she is doing really well. 

Well that is all for today back soon. 

Denim and Tweed Jacket

 Hello everyone I hope you have had a good week.  Last week I did mention that I had started on a new jacket.  This project was using up some leftover denim, buttons and topstitching thread plus a good sized piece of what I believe to be a tweed that was gifted to me sometime ago.  Now I had held off using the tweed fabric because I was uncertain what to make with it without it looking old fashioned.  I think there is a certain idea I have in my mind about jackets that made from that sort of fabric in that of people out in the country riding horses and walking about the manor house in their jodpurs, do you know what I mean? Anyway I was trying to steer clear of this somewhat outdated picture that I had in my mind, complete nonsense I kow but sometimes you just get a picture in your head and you can't get rid of it.

So I had decided to go with the denim jacket look and a mixing of the two fabrics, also the leftover jaquard lining I had in red was to give it a nice detail on the inside.  I am very pleased with how it turned out and also the idea that sometimes it is good to hold onto things for a while as the just the right idea will present itself in time.  I wore the jacket when we ran some errands on Friday and it has a smart feel to it without being a formal jacket and I think the demin does that.  Be prepared for  a number of images...

I added an additional internal pocket with trim for my phone.

There are also inseam side pockets added which are not on the pattern.

I love the pop of red on the inside.

     I only had to buy one packet of jeans buttons for the whole project as I had some other ones leftover.

So in all this was a great scrap busting/stash busting project and I feel I have something I will keep for a long time.

Not to stop there I carried on with the whole use it up theme and made some super large tote bags using patchwork.   I know I was trying to think of less time consuming projects for them rather than patchwork.  However I have only used a nine square design on each side and it is super for using up leftovers.  I have also added them to my Folksy shop and you can find the link to my shop in the side bar.

I think they are fun and of course big enough for a beach bag with towels etc.

I am off to do some work now so I will leave that with you please share any of your scrap busting ideas with me in the comments. Bye for now.