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?