Fitting in

I thought today I would share some thoughts on a book I'm reading that has struck a chord with me.  I have not finished it yet but the central character doesn't feel like he fits in anywhere other than at home. Now I'm not saying I feel this way but we all have times I'm sure when we feel we don't belong at a place and this could be because of the actions of other people, those people not being kind, or just plain cruel.  The central character Lorenzo tries to behave like others to fit in so he will get less hassle for being different.  I would not do this. I think you should be true to yourself, express your opinions especially if asked for them but do so in an appropriate way.  You should be kind to others but not a doormat, work hard at your job without being exploited, also you should be able to express your concerns to your boss if something is happening that is wrong.  If your friends like who you are they won't only like like you because you say yes to their every word. At the same time they won't sit in a room with people who are criticising you unjustly and say nothing because they fear for their own popularity.
This is all a very cryptic rant  but I just have to say that in a couple of weeks I will leave a job I have loved for  many years  because a new person took a lead position last year, called a meeting to ask about things that might not be going smoothly and because I politely stated a situation that wasn't working this person decided I didn't fit in.  They have underhandedly made this very clear for some time now, even now as I leave they have advertised my position at a higher level, the same level I have asked for but been refused as it was not available, but hey 'I didn't fit in'.  I know I have always worked hard, done my best and not been unkind, other people express shock at this persons behaviour but never in front of them as they are afraid to do so. In front of them they make sure they act so 'they fit in' . I have never had this situation arise with a boss before but I'm sure there are people out there who have.  I have always been respected for getting on and doing my work to the best of my ability but I suppose some bosses are just not strong enough to deal  with anything other than people who stroke their egos, even when they are wrong.
I will start my new job as me, do my best and work hard, I will also pray that my new boss respects me for that.
I might also add I am not the only person to have left due to these reasons, three wonderful strong friends have gone on to pastures new, we meet up regularly as ourselves, don't edit our thoughts to fit in and most importantly share good friendship.  For these people I am eternally grateful to the job I will leave behind and the good times I have had there.
If any one would like to read the book ( which probably has nothing to do with my ramblings) there is a link

                                                                    here  Me and You .

I would also be interested to hear more thoughts on this, has anyone been treated in a similar way? How do you stay true to yourself?

Skirt refashion step by step

I was itching to do some sewing this weekend and I have had this lovely piece of fabric with deer on it since before Christmas ( a fat quarter) and I have just used one strip of it on a cushion.  I also had a khaki skirt my mother in law picked up a charity shop for a pound because she said I would use the fabric.  Now the deer fabric is not very big but pretty, the skirt has a nice shape at the top but all pointy handkerchief bits around the bottom which I don't care for.  So I decided I would take most of the skirt away just leaving a sort of yoke at the top ( not sure if that's what you call it but never mind). I then placed my other fabric beneath it and shaped it so it would be 'A' line.

Here is the scary crumpled skirt, I didn't bother ironing it yet, not when I'm going to chop off most of it!

You can see here a lot got snipped away, I did check the length with another skirt to make sure it would be long enough when I added the new piece of fabric.

The fabric is brown with a salmon pink, beige and green deer. I think it goes well with the khaki.

                             Ha! More crumpled fabric this time the slip. It will see an iron, promise.

I also had a green slip dress in a lining that again my mother in law gave me from under a lace dress, I chopped and shaped the bottom of this to make a lining.
I stitched down each side of the new fabric, then laid it right sides together with the original skirt making sure side seams lined up then sewed all around.  I then turned it over and top stitched (number 24 on Toyota machine) so the seams were folded back toward the thicker fabric ( in this case the top of the skirt).

Then I sewed my lining in by turning it  through and just catching on the edge of the existing facing at the waist, I didn't machine stitch down the sides of the zip I did this by hand tucking it under as I went. I prefer to do it this way I think you have more control over how flat it lies.

Now it all got a really good iron and a try on. You can't actually see all of the top of the skirt with the top I'm wearing but who wears tops that short anyway in February in England? I like the colour combination, I also have a salmon pink long sleeved T shit and a brown jumper that would go with this so I'm  sure it will get lots of wear.

So I have managed to make that fat quarter into something wearable and recycled something at the same time.  The only part I may change is the lining, the slip was on the bias so I can feel that when I'm wearing it so it may annoy me, I have some other lining so if it proves to be annoying I will change it as that part is very 

quick to do.

So does anyone out there have any small special bits of fabric that could find their way into an item of clothing.  I have been looking at some of the fabulous bright clothes on the  Desigual site here there are skirts that look like they are made from about three or more different fabrics so lots of inspiration there.

I like this skirt

Kitchen cupboards makeover and some bargains

I thought I'd share a few of this weeks money saving bits that we have managed.  They did involve spending a bit of money but in all they have saved us quite a lot.  Firstly my husband came home last week with these fabulous bargains from the Tesco. They are selling off Christmas stock as they do at this time of year but I never quite understand why as they will be selling all the same stuff again next year.  Four rolls of wrapping parer at 10p a roll, three packs of Christmas cards and a pack of Christmas napkins, again all at 10p each.

Not bad for 80p, so now I just need to put them somewhere safe so I can find them easily later in the year. 

The next thing we did is to finally get around to changing the handles on my kitchen cupboards, I've never liked them and we have lived here six years but as I liked the cupboards I just kept putting off ordering any. Well this week I decided they were going and I found ones I liked on eBay at a pound a piece. My husband went one better and found them elsewhere at 80p each (there's that magic number again) so we ordered them. We needed 26 but my husband ordered 30 just in case we need spares.  He put them on in no time and I think it has transformed the cupboards.

These are the offending handles

Here are the shiny new ones

Now I'm not sure if I want to change the tiles later, they are ok but I would have chose something plain or a pale colour but not beige! Brilliant white or very pale aqua and none of the embossed tile bits. Any thought anyone?

I finished the book thief and it was amazing it had me in tears, I'm currently reading two books one with my son which is Ketchup clouds and he picked it up from the teen section and has now decided it has inappropriate bits in it (I agree) but we want to know what happened with the main character so I'm editing it as I read. (ha,ha).  I'm also reading The Woman in Black the sequel by Martyne Waites.

I just picked this up at the library and it is yet more WW2 stuff at the start so i hope I won't be all emotional at the end of this one, but if the original is anything to go on it's more of an eerie tale than a sad one.

Not a lot of sewing this week but I have altered some curtains for someone so that has brought in a little extra but as my little dog still has his sore itchy eyes (he is still at the vets every week) that little bit extra will probably be going to the vet along with a bit more.