Weekend Charity Shop Find

 I hope you have all had a good week, it is dark and wet here at the moment like a proper winters day. Yesterday we had a trip to the charity shop I took some of my decluttering, five books, a top, a jacket and some bits and bobs.  Still on track with the declutter but I don't want to overwhelm the shops so I will do this weekly.  

I did come back with one thing, so exciting well I think so!  The Tilly Walnes Stretch book that I ordered from the libaray over a year ago and made some lovely things from.  It was just sitting on a shelf for £1 and in brand new condition.  Well rushing over to my husband he didn't know what all the fuss was about but this is an expensive book that is why I ordered it from the library and I did love it so to pick it up at this price was just fabulous.  Today I am wearing a sweater that I made from it.

The pattern piece sheet in the back doesn't even look like it has been unfolded, someone must have bought this on a whim and never done anything with it.  So I am thinking of working my way through this again and possibly doing some youtube on it, I can't decide if that will be a good use of my time as I already make vidoes for Minerva.  I also don't get that many views on youtube, if you think this is something that will be useful to you please let me know in the comments or I will be just talking to myself in the videos;)  Either way the book will used and loved.  Feeling very pleased with my bargain today.   My husband had strict instructions to not let me come back with lots of books but as this is non fiction and so useful it slipped through the net. 

Yesterday I added a trim to the neck of a dress I had made, I found the nekline on the pattern low for me.  It is just me personally but as I am petite I felt it was just showing a large expanse of chest despite  being a really good fit.  I think if you are larger up top this can be ok as you push the garment out and it gives a different appearance.  There is the option to add trim on the pattern but I didn't have any so I pleated a long folded piece of the same fabric to create my own trim...

It just gives me an extra 2cm and I will feel a little more covered that little bit can make all the difference.  If it was just a pattern I had created myself I would have changed the neckline but as I was showing a pattern here I have to make it true to the pattern, and just resist my urge to modify everything.

We watched a good film last night called the Last Duel, it had Matt Damon, Ben Alfleck and a few other big names in it and was based on true events.  If you get the chance give it a go, I do like films that have a bit of history to them and it is always astounding what women had to put up with and also the ridiculous ideas of the past that saw women burned based on the ideas and whims of men!  That is also a theme of the book I am currently close to finishing The Mercies, I know women in some parts of the world still suffer horribly due to superstition and religion. 

Anyway I will leave on an upbeat note, I have enjoyed my week of sewing from home and there is plenty planned for next week.  I hope you are having a super new start the year, back soon, Take care. 

Middle of the Week

 The middle of the week already, time passes so quickly I walked my dogs earlier and got caught in the school rush coming out.  We have a large secondary school near us and if you don't time it right you are faced with hundreds of teenagers walking towards you at once, somehow they don't know how to step to the side like we grown ups do  but remain in a block shoulder to shoulder.  It was a quick get out while my stomach is settled I will have to have a week on the FODMAP to get me back to normal as it feels like everything I eat I am at war with at the moment!

Here are  a few pics from my walk, as the sky was looking so lovely...

The dogs are  there charging ahead they have this little contest about how can be just a tad in front of the others at all times.  Still a very lovely winters day again today, I am making the most of every day despite my stomach trying sabotage things.

Here is the bag that I made up last night, Jo if you are reading you may recognise a couple of fabric bits.

The combination of offcuts worked well here again and the black fabric used to be a skirt. 

Every now and then I have the thought that I can't keep making all the bags different as I will not have enough variations but it has not happened so far and there are lots of different ways you can put fabric together.  My hudband said well they are the same shape and yes they are but I like to keep that bit simple and just play around with the fabrics I use or put on them.  The main thing is |I have fun doing it and hope the people who receive them enjoy them and appreciate that they are all different.

I will end with sharing this crepe top with you, very nice fabric to work with this one.  Ripple crepe from Minerva and burda pattern 6225. It hangs very well and was a pleasure to sew.

Have a super end to the week, and look after yourselves.

A Good Start

 The sun is shining and it is a beautiful day, what a good start to the year.  We have just been out with the dogs and came back to have a sandwich and some crisps.  The park was full so maybe everyone has the same idea to get out while the sun is shining.

As I don't eat regular bread I have used the last of my little gf rolls, so if anyone knows of a really quick little bread that can be made daily in small amounts please let me know.  I know how to make a full size gf loaf but it doesn't keep, it is only really good on the day and only me that eats it.  I buy the schar ones occasionally but they are so expensive for what you get so I need a really quick fix maybe something yeast free?  I had thought of adapting my scone recipe but there is plant spread in that so not so light as a bread, just a thought is thee such a thing as a scone bread?

Yesterday I finished my bag and listed that, I actually got all the photographs done only to find i had not added a label to the front.  As I have bought these bag labels they ought to be used so I handstitched one on and redid the photos again!  It is a good combination of colours this one, a bit of good news too when I got up this morning to see I had sold another bag, that always makes me happy.

First bag of the year this one, watch out for many more I do enjoy making them. 

 After lunch I have listed a few items on Ebay, I haven't done this for a while but thought I would give it a go.  They are clothes I don't wear anymore all in good condition back from the days of me buying in the next sale.  That was sometime ago as I make everything now but they are classic work wear styles so nothing that is out of fashion.  Step one for me of letting go of what I don't use, I look at them and they are nice but never wear them so someone else could be using them.

We have been watching Around The World in Eighty days and I am enjoying that, it is nice to see some easy to watch TV.  Also watching The Tourist, they do tend to start the new year with a bit of good viewing.

I have commented on the weather too soon as I have been typing this the sky has gone dark and it is now pouring.  We got out just at the right time. That is where my flexible plans for my days will come in handy, to get out while it's good and never put off a dog walk while the sky is blue. 

The tree came down this morning, it is always a little sad to say goodbye to Christmas.  Many people do leave their trimmings up a while yet but once it is new year we always tend to tidy them away for a fresh start.  It is just bare in the window without the twinkling lights.   We pop everything back in the loft in the same place each year so it is easy to find, the little counter top tree I had in the kitchen has been put in a bag with all the baubles still on it ready for next year.  Do you do the same or do you have a change each year?  I like to stick with the same decorations but if you like to mix things up I suppose you could do a swap with a friend or relative to save on waste. 

Have a lovely day everyone.