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.

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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.