Frugal Lunch Bag

My priority sewing job for this weekend is going to be to make myself a reusable lunch bag so that I don't have to keep taking it in a plastic bag.  I put my lunch in containers but then I tend to wrap it in a plastic bag before putting it in my actual bag just in case of leaks. plastic bags are not good are they, but we do tend to still have some for lining the bin and stuff like that.  All my shopping bags are reusable ones  but we do still tend to accept a few of the nasty ones for lining bins and stuff.
So I will eliminate a bit more  waste and make sure I use a cloth one for my lunch that can be washed.  I saw this idea in one of my favourite craft books...

I probably wont make it that big but I will use whatever leftover fabric bits I have even if it has to be a bit of a patchwork design.

I will not be buying any of the specialist materials it tells you to use just whatever I have to hand.  Although the book is sewing green it is not very green to buy new materials for every project is it?

I may use a bag for life between two layers of cotton to make it waterproof as these bags don't break down quickly do they and I have lots of them in the cupboard.  I will experiment and see what comes of it.

This is the book the idea is from...

It is a good book I have had quite a while and while the ideas are green you can make them greener still by always trying to recycle the little bits too, like don't throw a ruined item out without first removing zips and buttons etc, really cheap 50p bags from charity shops may have good zips or handles you can use (craft shops charge a ridiculous amount for handbag straps so don't ever buy these new if you can help it.

Handmade Bridesmaid Dress

I have been a little absent on here recently but so busy the time has flown. I have been busy this week making a bridesmaid dress and altering an evening dress. I have been getting up for work, leaving at 7.30 coming home, cooking, eating, sewing then a bit of T.V, bed and repeat all week. In fact yesterday I got up and altered the evening dress at 6.30 a.m because it was needed for picking up that evening. So I feel like I have been on a bit of a hamster wheel this week.
The good news is that after Easter I will be working four days but finishing Thursday lunch time, that should give me some space. There are things I like to learn and do and the reduced income is worth the time I will gain, because you can't buy time.  I think that by not being wasteful with what I earn has given me the possibility to be able to do this. If you like designer clothes, hiring a cleaning lady and eating out every night then this option may not be for you.
I prefer to wear my own label, be my own cook and take care of my own  house. But that's just me, I respect other peoples choices.
After that ramble here is the bridesmaid dress I have been working on...

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It is a satin but the lady wanted me to use the reverse side which is textured, it has an over skirt of net and the satin flowers are hand stitched between the two layers.

It has an invisible zip and a petticoat stitched in to make it stand out a bit more but if this feels too much for the little girl I will unpick that part of it, it is still very full without it. 

 I think it has turned out well I just hope they like it. At one point this week I was very annoyed with it as the zip had to come out as the fabric had stretched a little. You will know what I mean if you have ever had to unpick tiny stitches on fabric that leaves pin holes!

I am hoping for a less hectic week then I will do some sewing for me. 

Frugal Small Living

Just recently  I have started watching the US programme Tiny House Nation. I find it really interesting and I admire the people on there who are willing to par down their lives in order to do other things with their finances. Some are living this way so they can travel for their jobs, a couple on last night were doing so to be mortgage free. Also so they could move for the husbands schooling, then residency and so take the property with them.
The properties are really well designed and look good in the landscaping which usually accompanies the build. The thing is the American owners usually have a gorgeous plot to put the tiny home on, this of course makes all the difference. Some of them are placing them on land owned by parents or siblings, farms etc. I would imagine it would be very difficult to get a gorgeous site for such a home here in the UK and if it was available it would be probably quite costly so you might as well be paying full rent or mortgage on a regular property.
All of this however does not stop me from being incredibly fascinated by how people manage to live in this way. I like all the space saving ideas and a lot are similar to the way we live when we go away in the caravan. That is just a week at a time though and I do like to sew and have space to myself. I would imagine living on top of each other can be incredibly difficult.
There is a blog I have followed for some time called Rowdy Kittens Tammy and her partner had a tiny home built and lived in it for three years full time also moving locations a number of times for work. You can see it on her blog, they have decided to winter in a rental house due to the cold and the pressures of small living.  I really enjoy her blog and she has always been very honest about the reality of living in such a way.
One thing that strikes me is that US homes are generally so much larger than ours here in the UK yet they are the ones choosing to opt for these micro homes sometimes, this can only make it so much harder to do.

The above picture is the kind of thing featured in the show, sometimes with a loft bed/pull out bed.

They do look really cute and I would imagine are great for keeping clean but perhaps suited more to a single person or a couple, a family in one would be a real challenge.

Having read that lots of you are downsizing your belongings for a more simple life the show is certainly worth a look for all the space saving ideas and de-cluttering advice. I tend to look on in horror thinking where would all my clothes and sewing stuff go? If anyone is living in a tiny apartment or home it would good to hear from you. 

Also just found one more that I love Here

Skirt with Pleats

Just finished up my tartan skirt yesterday in time to wear it out last night, I was worried that the pleats wouldn't stay in as they are just pressed but not starched (as I don't have any). They stayed in fine but didn't remain as crisp on the back where I had been sat down.  I wore it unlined with tights but having worn it now I am going to line it so it doesn't grab when I wear tights.  I may also invest in some spray starch as I have another skirt in mind that will have just one big pleat at the front.
Here is the fabric with the skirt I copied from beside it...

I made the area between the pleats in the middle a bit bigger as that is how it is on the red skirt. I just pinned them in place then top stitched them down.

I cut the waistband so it just sits on the hips and do you know  what, I did not pattern match the waistband. Those people on the sewing bee would not like that would they? However I'm wearing it and I'm not bothered, I would match a pattern on the seams as best I could or in obvious places like a seam down the front or back, but honestly you could drive yourself crazy with it. 

There it is finished and my top covers the mismatched waistband so not to worry. 

I have fabric left for bag making, I haven't made a bag for ages.

I do have a flower girl dress to make for someone so that will keep me busy just waiting for her to get the fabric.

The other night I made the mushroom casserole from Jack Monroe's book and everyone loved it, except younger son who hates mushrooms, he had an alternative. Pancakes were had yesterday, they seem to be the most successful GF recipe so far.  I had a go at samosas the other day, oh no what a disaster, the pastry was hard. What did I do wrong? 

More Books and Cooking

I feel like I have done the right thing in cutting out wheat but it has increased cooking time and amount of pots to wash! I had a go at wheat free pizza last week from an Isabelle packet mix. It looked ok when the toppings went on (if a bit strange around the edges) and the boys were polite and said it was ok. I thought it was dreadful! It was chewy in a very odd way, I'm sure I cooked it long enough but it had the weirdest texture ever, I would rather go without!

One with ham on half for younger son.

One with olives and veg.

I will not be using that packet again but I will experiment myself with the dough I make myself. I ended up scraping the topping off my pieces and just eating that. Anybody got any tips I'd love to hear them.

I am having more success with lunches and saving, less food is being wasted I feel as I always take stuff the next day for lunch now. I made a curry last night big enough to portion off five other portions into containers into the freezer as the squash was massive. So with a load of veg and butter beans it made a lot, half a bag of cashew nuts battered to crumbs with the rolling pin and a jar of Tesco Royal Korma. 

Cutting things out of your diet means less junk to eat so this saves money too, it also means I don't get any cake after lunch on Sunday! Today I threw some things in a mixing bowl ( I really did throw them in no measuring) sugar, bertolli, an egg, gluten free flour, coconut and a drop of vanilla essence, I mixed it all up, put it in a tin and cooked for 15 minutes while the dinner was doing. It came out good, that was the fastest cake ever. I cut it in half, spread with raspberry jam and sandwiched them together, I had a slice after lunch, so there you go maybe you just have to wing it.

I called at the library yesterday, some books had arrived (not the Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall ones) A girl called Jack's book is very good. No expensive ingredients that only get used once, I can see I will do lots from this one.  It has a section just on beans ans pulses, also one for veg, so ideal for me.

I actually sat with this for ages last night and looked at it like a traditional book from cover to cover, it has little suggestions for changing things and tips for storing and not wasting food at the end. Well done Jack Monroe!

The days have felt a bit brighter this last week and I am definitely ready for spring, I have had enough of the cold now and I am ready for a trip in the caravan. Now that won't happen until Easter but warmer days would be nice. Is anyone else fed up of the cold? If Winter is your favourite season I really don't get it, I'm ready for sun, flowers and bright mornings. Coming out of work in the daylight was a huge bonus this week. 

Free Books and Free Time

This morning I awoke to look out of the window and groan 'snow', then I was wondering how will I get the car up the hill, is it worth taking it or should I leave it here? We knew it was coming but it is so disruptive and the roads are never gritted despite the forecasts. So I felt a bit grumpy as I was getting dressed then the phone rang, school is closed. I have to say I was pleased, we got there last week and stayed open but many children didn't and when not all buses are running it can be a real pain.  Sorry to all of you who still had to get in today but I am enjoying the unexpected day off.  There is something magical about a day off you weren't expecting, a little gift of time, which we rarely have enough of.

Only a light covering here at this point but it has continued to come down heavy and managed to disrupt transport. 

So I have my skirt planned and I will be making that this afternoon, it's a bit different and I don't know if it will hang ok but I will share when it is complete.
I also plan to have a go at making wheat free chapati to go with curry, this will be a first so I don't know what that will turn out like, it looks basic enough.
On the subject of food someone recommended Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's books to me yesterday at work. It appears he has done a book solely on veg and one on light food which also has vegetarian food in. I had a quick glance after having a search online then found all his books in the library catalogue, so I ordered two and now just need to wait for them to arrive at the library.

I am considering this a good saving accomplishment as in the run up to Christmas I bought myself a couple of books and to be fair one of them could not be found in the library. However it is too easy to go on amazon and click buy, even if I do get it cheap. Free is always going to be cheaper! I always use the library but I have started to buy more books again and this drip, drip effect is something I must stop.  I think it is ok if it is reference material that you will return to again and again but most books are not and just sit on the shelves taking up space.
At Christmas I took two full bags of cookery books to the charity shop that have not been looked at in years so I do not want to start hoarding them again.  When my books arrive at the library I will look through them, note down anything that looks good that I will try and then they can go back for someone else to enjoy.

I thought what Mr money moustache said was perfect, 'Imagine you had hundreds of thousands of books on every subject to read whenever you wanted, you have, it's called the library and they even store them for you'. The thing is on one occasion when I was in the library looking for something I spoke to the librarian who said lets look on the catalogue, I said I had checked but they didn't have what I wanted but did they have anything similar?  She said oh we can just buy it in, she ordered a new copy right there!
  Now this was about two years ago and since then 15 libraries across the city have closed and the ones that are left have had their hours drastically cut.  It is such a shame and I really do hope that in the future we won't be losing them altogether. Reading form a screen is not the same as reading from a book, plus they offer social interactions for some, book groups, coffee mornings and a free safe  place to learn for others.
I have a book out at the moment on pattern cutting, I have had it out before but it is quite in depth and I never got all I wanted form it due to time, so I have borrowed it again. The thing is as long as no one has a hold on your books you can renew them a couple of times.
I'm off now to enjoy the rest of my unexpected day off.

Garlic Mushroom Wheat Free Panckes

Yesterday involved a trip to the big Tesco in the city because Aldi my usual place to shop does not have any of the gluten free flours. I decided for now to just buy the plain gluten free blend and the white gluten free bread flour. I also bought xanthan gum ( thank you Cornish chickpea ) as apparently you need this to make the flours bind properly. This is all new to me. They did have all sorts of goodies that I would be able to eat but I resisted temptation as I have been eating more variety since I stopped eating bread and cakes and buying the processed stuff would ruin that.
Today for our Sunday lunch my  husband and son had roast chicken but for my older son and myself I decided to make mushroom pancakes using my new flour.
They take a few pans but are easy to make ( husband doesn't like me using loads of pans he's on washing up duty!)

So I made two of these and they went down really well, they are full of mushrooms the ones on the plate at the side are a few that came out. Recipe is below and if you leave out the cheese and bertolli spread and use vegan substitutes  ( also for the egg, not sure what you use there) instead these would also be vegan.

Garlic Mushroom Pancakes 

Pancakes

2 eggs

4 desert spoons of dove farm gluten free plain flour

125ml soya milk (or just milk)

Olive oil

filling

1 pack of large mushrooms

2 handfuls of spinach

1/2 a red onion

2 garlic cloves

tsp basil

125 soya milk (milk)

small amount of mozzarella or cheddar

tsp of margarine ( I use bertolli spread or shops on olive spread)

Method

To make pancakes beat eggs, add milk then whisk in flour a bit at a time. Heat a little oil in the frying pan cook pancakes a few minutes each side then set aside on a plate.

Chop all ingredients, fry mushrooms in the garlic (crushed) add onions, after a few minutes add spinach, sprinkle in the basil.

Heat the spread in a saucepan then add milk as it gets hot add a little flour at a time and whisk quickly it will start to thicken (don't add too much it goes thick all of a sudden) take off heat and add a little cheese).

Place a pancake in an oven proof dish, coat one side with the mushroom mixture add a little sauce over the top. Fold over add more sauce and a little more cheese on top. Repeat with the other pancake.  Cook in a hot oven for about 10 - 15 minutes until golden on top.

I sometimes add a little chilli to the mixture to make it a bit spicy but that is up to you.

So one wheat free recipe down I will have a go at pastry later in the week ( I think that is where I will need the xanthan gum).

Also this week I am going to make a skirt with the check fabric I have had ages but I am still stuck what to do, I love the fabric and I usually just jump straight in  and cut out but I have seen lots of styles I like and I am undecided. Below is what I found on pinterest.

Right this bottom one is actually similar colours and I have some lace left, a bit longer but only problem is if I embellish it with lace I probably wont wear it for work and I like to be able to wear my clothes whenever.I may do a combination of these I will see what develops.

Here is my fabric sitting there on the sewing table waiting for me to make up my mind.