Thursday 16 October 2014

Make way for Christmas

Now I know a lot of people will be thinking please do not mention Christmas just yet! Well I really don't get why it has become such a headache for some people and lets face it, it will be here before we know it.
I can understand people who are struggling seeing it as one more thing to budget for, but that is it, you need to budget for it and not get sucked into the buy everything lie!
We all decided years ago (about 17 to be exact) that we would not buy for the adults at Christmas, there was one child in the family at that time (my nephew) and that has only grown to four children over the years. It immediately took all the stress of 'what shall I buy, will they like it, did I spend enough?' We all breathed a sigh of relief and have not looked back. We buy on birthdays, this is more one to one and spread out through the year.
These were 10p card packs bought on sale just after last Christmas.

I also got plain card packs on sale from Hobby craft for the ones I will make, so some of the spending is already taken care of.
People say but I enjoy the giving, so why are so many people in debt, stressed out and complaining about it? A lot of it has to do with expectations and you need to decide whether or not those expectations are your own or other peoples.

The meal on Christmas day also seems to send many people into a state of panic, do you not cook the rest of the year? If not why are you inviting ludicrous amounts of people to your house on a day in which you feel the meal is vitally important.  If you are not confident cooking then don't invite everyone, if you want to be hospitable then invite but ask that all chip in and bring something.

The main event should be getting together and enjoying that feeling of togetherness, anyone who is more concerned about a burnt Yorkshire pudding is perhaps not as close to you as you thought. ( U.S readers may not know what a Yorkshire pudding is -it's a batter made with eggs and flour cooked at a high temperature in the oven until it rises and usually served with Sunday lunch.)

My children usually decide what they want about now and we get it sorted at the best price after doing a bit of research online, they know how much they can ask for and if they want something that comes to more they can combine it with the gift they get from grandparents etc.  This has never needed to be done as we usually manage to find what they want at the set price.

Don't leave it until last minute, that is the key thing I think.  If you know it will be a struggle then start saving in January if you must, why are people rushing around in December when everything is top price it makes no sense.

It is coming! Don't stress, spend as little as possible and just enjoy the twinkly lights and time off work that what I think anyway.

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Make it fit!

I have done quite a lot of clothes alterations this past week, not for myself but for other people.  This is not always the most exciting aspect of sewing but it is one of the most useful and cost effective uses for the hobby.
I had a bag full  of dresses, trousers, jackets etc. at the weekend that a friend dropped off, I replaced a zip for a colleague of my husbands and last night I took in two shirts that my husband had just bought. He always buys them for the collar to be comfortable but then they are too wide in the body.


My friend is short so her trousers will always be too short, plus she has lost weight.
Now many people would see losing weight as an ideal excuse to just get rid of all their clothes and buy new. Well that could cost an awful lot of money, despite the fact that some people may object that by the time you have paid for alterations you could buy new, that is not really true is it?  A nice pair of trousers may be £20 at least, a local person would charge far less to make them fit for you.  There is also the fact that you may still need length adjustments , so on top of the new price you may still need to have them taken up for them to be perfect.
It is also the case that you can buy great bargains at charity shops and sales if you find some one to do your sewing for you. You never have to think oh that is too long, a bit big etc, just grab the bargains and have them fitted to you.
Often when I buy things at charity shops even if they are my size I still like to alter the length or tweak things a little, it make them more to my taste.  This is something you can't always get from just going out and buying new because we are all different heights and not many people are a fixed size waist and hips.
If you have seen this dress in an earlier post that I got from a charity shop I pretty much took it apart. It was a size 14 I think, (I'm an 8) and floor length maxi.  It was shapeless also, I gave it structure, raised the hem while maintaining the border at the bottom and sized it down.  Maybe you have clothes that just need some time and attention,  it will save you money and save those clothes ending up in landfill.  Why not find a local seamstress.


Tuesday 14 October 2014

Fabric, Books and Under the Weather

Well the last couple of days have been a little unproductive as I have not been well. I am wondering if it is the change in the weather all of a sudden but I have had a bit of everything.  they say you don't catch cold from the cold (I know it is a virus) but why is it as soon as the temperature drops everyone starts dropping with it.
My fabric arrived but I have no energy to get started so it will have to wait, I am also now confused as to what to do with it.
The tartan fabric is lovely and soft and would make lovely winter cushions so a bag no longer looks likely. The fabric with the birds will still be a skirt but the birds are a lot smaller than I thought so they do not give the impact I had hoped.
If I go down the route of making cushions though I will have to replace all of my living room cushions with wintry ones. That feels like an unnecessary expense so unless I can come up with a frugal or recycled way of sourcing knit or fleece fabric we will have to see.  My patchwork cushions are perhaps more suited to spring summer, hmm.... unwanted woollies anyone?

This kind of thing would work with old jumpers.

While I have been feeling rubbish I have been reading Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman ,if you are interested follow the link in the side panel . It is really interesting and I love books that teach you about how you think and why. One small thing in it stuck in my mind and it was about an experiment where students were asked to read an amusing text, some held a pencil in their mouths sideways forcing them to smile. The others held it pout fashion, the ones smiling found the text more amusing.  Basically if you make yourself smile more you naturally feel better.  I have read about this before but we need these reminders don't we.
I have some little Amazon ads down the side of the blog now, don't know how this will work or if it will but I thought I'd give it a little try as I shop on there for my books and with Christmas coming I'll be buying off there for my children too. Nothing too invasive.
Oh, I also bought myself some B vitamins thanks to Pam in Texas for reminding me about that I'm sure when I recover I will feel the benefit.


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 al...