2017: more of the same

Christmas has been and gone, the New Year blew in on a cold wind and things are slowly getting back to normal - work this week; school again next week. 

Like everyone else I am starting my new year thinking about what and where we are going next. Last year we made the first steps towards moving our family to a new (different) home. This year will be about making the move itself - selling our current home and finding a new nest for our family to grow. It's no mean feat seeing as we live in about the most expensive part of Edinburgh and would really like to continue living in the same area. But, I am a firm believer in things working themselves out, so I am looking forward to it and trying not to be daunted. 

For the moment then, my priorities are about preparing for these changes. Decluttering and tidying up unfinished projects, organising stashes and paring back my (our) belongings ready to move. 

Last night I sat down and tackled the mending pile: 

• one skirt with a falling-down hem 
• one cardigan with a hole in the shoulder/neck seam
• repairs to a shoddily-made RTW hat 
• knee patches for the littlest boy
• a side seam split repaired in a school gym skort
• a hole in a t-shirt repaired

I had the house to myself, a stove to sit next to and an unending supply of tea and music. It was an hour or two well-spent - with things restored to cupboards and wardrobes rather than languishing in a pile. 

Next on my list are the unsewn Christmas projects which didn't quite cross the finish line: 3 pairs of pyjamas, 1 nightie and some zippered pouches of one type or another. 

Happy New Year everyone! 

Mending Monday #4: Kapow

Ahoy there. Apologies for the slight delay. Work happened, or life, or something. 

Anywayz. It's May! Just how did that happen?  One minute it's snowing, and then the sun is shining again and summer is just around the corner. Amazingly, the springiness of the weather, has also returned my sewjo, and over the weekend I blitzed my mending pile like a crazy mending ninja. KAPOW!

Just like that, I stormed through:

• 2 pairs of boys trousers that needed a button replacing (for those waistband elastic adjustor things, you know)
• One girls frilly tutu that needed a bit of waistband stitching to be redone
• Repairs to a toddler grobag (sleeping bag thingy)
• Two mummy-made girls tops that needed fixing in the under arm area
• One pair of boys trousers that needed patching and fixing 
• A school cardigan that needed an under-arm repair (oh - I see a pattern here - something about that girl and her armpits!)
• 7 dribble bibs that have been waiting for poppers
• overlocking the internal seams on dress I made in sometime in the late 1990s.  

That dress I mention, I did really make it in the 1990s. Probably 1997 or 1998 when I lwas a student. It's some kind of rather loose weave viscose, which frays badly, and which I bought from the absolutely fabulous Abakhan Fabrics in Liverpool. I still have a couple of other bits of fabric in my stash from that time too! Overlockers hadn't been invented when I made the dress, and although I probably knew about finishing my raw edges, I didn't. I didn't have pinking shears until after 2003... Anyway - despite being rather see through and having a wonky hem, this dress is still in my wardrobe, still fits and is still the sort of thing I like to wear. I can't work out if that means I have timeless style, or just no style at all. Sigh.

After that flying start, who knows what the rest of May will bring? What are you mending today?

Making Monday #9: pocketses

Here we go again, some more mending to share. This time, it's of my own creation. See here, a fine pair of enjoyable purpley velvet troosers, I bought a couple of years back. They have quite a lot of stretch (good) but on the downside, the corners of the pockets started to tear quite soon after I bought them. Major apathy and a newish baby, meant I couldn't be ar$ed to take them back (pun intentional) at the time.

As I've been mending my way through these last few months, I picked them out of the mending basket a couple of weeks ago, and zigzagged across the weak points with my machine. Despite having enough thread to sink a small ship, I didn't have anything that matched these fine trews. The upshot - as you can see - is a natty and bold explosion of bright blue across my b u m.

Yay! another quick mending project and a garment restored to full use....

Except. 

Last week, the bean (age 8) told me I had holes in my trousers. I think he observed them while I was on the floor doing a jigsaw with little bean (age 2). So, despite the repairs holding firm, the fabric -  in combination with my ar$e area and my energetic bending/stretching lifestyle(!) - means that these fine trews are in the unwearable pile. Again.

Sigh. 

Mending Monday #8: hat it again (or what knitting taught me this week)

It doesn't seem possible that my house/life has quite so much mending in it, but I am not making it up, people. I live with ruffians I tell you. 

I saw my brother recently and he presented me with a very sorry looking hat. It is one of the three scrap hats I have given him over the years (he wears a hat most of the time, even in the summer. No, I don't understand it either). One of the yarns I had used had started to disintegrate with the result that the hat was developing organised holes in various places. I say organised because the fabric and stitches around was intact, so picking up live stitches seemed fairly straightforward.

Here you can see one of the smaller holes.

This hole was a bit more dramatic. As there was a complete round or two of dodgy yarn here, it soon parted company with the rest of the hat. It looked very scary, but I did my best not to panic. I cant possibly comment on rumours about gin. 

Anywayz, I made a start with some duplicate stitch over the top of some of dodgier areas, and to fill in the gaps in the smaller holes near the top of the hat. 

Once that was all fixed, I moved onto repairing the body of the hat. I ripped out the dodgy yarn and picked up stitches around the bottom of the hat. I needed to add some length back in to compensate for the bits lost through dodgy yarn and felting. It was all going so well. I was bossing it big style. I added a few more rounds and then set about grafting the new live stitches to the old live stitches of the brim. 

Me and old Kitchener are great friends, and I am sure (although I have never tried) that I could successfully graft a sock toe in near darkness. I set about the great graft. I took it steady, working on groups of 10 stitches at a time just to break it up a bit, and allow myself an opportunity to drink tea, wrangle children or put it down occasionally. I didn't think I would be able to guarantee a whole 6 hours of uninterrupted grafting that this would surely involve.

I did half of the grafting and then stopped for some family event (dinner maybe). After bed time, I picked up the hat again. I was going to nail this mother. I grafted and grafted and grafted. I sipped my drink, I admired my work. It was looking so good. I was down to the last 30 stitches, the last 20, the last .... 

Um. Something didn't look right. I looked again. I stopped. The knitting demons laughed and laughed. 

The remaining numbers of stitches did not match. It wasn't a fudgeable 1 or 2 stitch discrepancy it was EIGHT - 8! Eight whole stitches had somehow disappeared between the brim and the rest of the hat. 

I should have counted my stitches. I should have counted my stitches. 

There endeth today's lesson. 

to be continued... 

Mending Monday #6

More patches on knees here (yes, the stream of holes does seem to be never ending, thanks for asking). This time a pair of worn cords have been rescued from the can't-be-worn pile. 

They belonged to the bean, but are now much too small (nothing to do with languishing in the mending basket, ahem). 

I ironed on a couple of those cute car patches again (see the iron shapes?) using my friend bondaweb. 

And then, I got my Boro mojo on again and stitched on top to secure the patches really firmly. You can see that I took care to stitch across the edges of the patches to make them extra secure.  You know, because boys.

Cute huh? They are much too big for little bean, but have been stashed in the appropriate place for later.

Mending Monday #5

This week I was inspired to approach my mending in a different way, and rather than just slap some patches on the outside, I took a different path.

Reading around on the tinterwebz somewhere or other, I came across Boro - the Japanese name for a very specific type of repaired textile. The examples I saw all seemed to be blue, repaired with indigo thread and patches, and knowing I had a wee pair of toddler jeans to repair I set to to work.

First I found some suitable patch material, culled from an old top of mine. I cut two patches, and roughly worked out where to place them on the trousers. Then I marked on a stencil of dots to guide my stitch work. I used one of the children's washable markers and a ruler to give me a rough grid to work with.

I pinned the patches in place inside the trousers, and then set to work, stitching across and then up and down to create teeny crosses. 

The inside is fairly neat - and I caught the edges of the patch with a simple running stitch.

When everything goes to plan (FO)

Today I impressed myself with a little project, fixing up a favourite RTW skirt. I bought it from a sale rail last year, and have really enjoyed wearing it. It's navy jersey - with some wool - which makes it super cosy. It's also super comfy, and has been in heavy rotation through the year. When I realised it worked with bare legs and sandals, it became a summer staple too.

Recently, the fabric has begun to get a little translucent, and rather than reveal the details of my undergarments to the world, I've been thinking about how to fix the problem. I researched wool jersey, a lot. I knew I could attach another layer of fabric on the inside, but couldn't quite decide what to use. 

And then the other day, I found myself looking at the Alabama Chainin website. I was smitten by all those lovely jersey projects, embellished with itsy bitsy piecs of fabric. Super inspiring slow fashion sort of stuff, and I can foresee some of this ideas coming along here sometime soon.  It got me thinking about that skirt again, and what I could do with it, and then I realised I could do something with colour. 

And, I had something in the stash that would be perfect. Double win!

Once the idea crystallised in my head, my fingers started to get impatient. This afternoon I took advantage of a sleeping child, and got to work. My methods were not particularly refined, but they worked!

First I laid my skirt on top of my chosen fabric (folded) and using a kids washable marker I roughly traced the shape I needed, adding a small seam allowance as I went.  I cut the shapes out and joined each side with my overlocker. 

The skirt has a double layer yoke/waistband which is attached to the single layer skirt with an overlocked seam. I used this to add my new skirt lining - lining it up carefully and overlocking over the existing seam. I was really careful here, and didn't remove any fabric with the blade of the overlocker - I wanted to preserve the length of the skirt as it was.  

Once the lining was attached I cut the it to the same length as the skirt, and finished it with a double fold hem. 

I'm so pleased with the result. I used about a metre of jersey from my stash - a remnant I bought earlier in the year for £5. I used my overlocker - so fast! The whole thing took less than hour, including all the setting up, the clearing away and hugging a toddler who was not best pleased about waking up from that sneaky nap. I'm so happy with the result, and so proud to have done it - to have rescued a favourite skirt, with a little bit of skill, a little bit of time and a few pounds worth of fabric from my stash. I don't think I'll be able to resist flashing my pink petticoat at everyone!  

Cupboard Love

Autumn is upon us and, although the sunshine has been glorious, the cool mornings are the giveaway that the season has now turned.

Maybe it's the change in weather, or the start of the new academic year at work (university rather than school), but I've been clearing out a few things. One of my current projects is to do with food cupboards and freezer. I'm trying to use things up, so menu planning is getting interesting. Last weekend I defrosted puff pastry and some salmon fillets and cobbled together a simple salmon en croute. There is more salmon and mackerel in the freezer, so I think it might be time for a fish pie soon. It's as much about clearing and cleaning as it is about thrift (and the run up to Christmas) I've been feeling a bit uninspired about meals lately, so this is an attempt to jolt myself out of a rut, and rediscover the dark recesses  of my cupboards!

Mending Monday #3

When I was pregnant with the little bean I stole borrowed a couple of my husband's merino wool sweaters. They were warm and comfy and roomy enough for a growing bump. Perfect to throw on over pyjamas, or with work clothes, or any time I needed a cozy layer to keep me warm. 

My fondness for these sweaters has not abated and we have now perfected our system for sharing these fine garments. The man wears them first, and when an elbow hole appears (as verily it shall), he willingly gives the sweater to his wife. Sometimes she mends the hole and wears the sweater herself. Sometimes she just wears it without mending the hole. Yes dear readers, I am a Bad Woman. 

Elbow repairs were needed recently, and couldn't be put off any longer, so I found some suitable sock wool and a needle and set to work. I love the whole visible mending thing that Tom of Holland has perfected, so I went for a circle on one elbow, and a square on the other. 

I started with the outline of the shape in running stitch, and then worked a basic darning stitch across the hole. The circle darn is a bit less tidy than the square one, but I don't think anyone will be checking for consistency.

I'm not quite sure why I haven't tried to persuade my other half to wear a darned jumper - I have offered to sew on elbow patches for him. So far he has declined my offers. Funny that. 

Mending Monday #1

My active children, who love climbing trees and doing sliding tackles on the lawn and lots of other rough and tumble things, can be quite hard on their clothes. The jelly bean in particular seems to have an ability to shred the knees of a pair of leggings in no time at all. 

I don't mind at all (and feel a little bit proud when I am shown a hole that happened during whilst climbing a tree) - but I do seem to have a never ending mending pile. I have thusly declared that Mondays will henceforth be Mending Monday, when I dedicate whatever small portion of the day remains after everything else is done, to the activity of mending. 

Some recent casualties, here awaiting triage. 

Today, then is about patches. 

These trousers belong to the bean - but need a swift repair before 8 year old fingers make that wee hole a lot bigger and turn the trousers from mendable to binnable. 

As the trousers are lined (see that blue lining peeking out?), I didn't want to sew patches on with my machine. The potential for wonky/twisted and uncomfortable results was too high, so out came the bondaweb. 

I went for a patch on each knee, rather than just the one that was holey - and used a cute cotton fabric I picked up in a remnants bin last year sometime. I eyeballed a suitable shape, and then whizzed around with the overlocker to finish the edges. 

I might have slightly overlooked the fact that the overlocking would affect the stick at the edges of the patches. However, after ironing the patches onto the trousers, I hand-stitched the edges of the patches down. It was a bit quick and dirty, but I figured the stitches would be lost in the overlocking and noone will ever know. 

The bean put them back on at the first opportunity, and tested the newly restored knees/patches by slide tackling his way across the lawn. Those cute patches stood up well to the rough and tumble, but who knows if the grass stains will ever come out... sigh. 


Feel free to join in with the mending thing y'all. What are you mending today?

Upcycled baby wipes (or whatevs) FO

I've been having fun playing with my new overlocker. And, since Zoe started the whole thing off with her comment about making washable wipes for her daughter with hers, I thought I would make some too. 

An easy first project :-)

Fortunately I had stashed the cut-off sheet edges after making the muslins a couple of weeks ago. I cut the remnants into pairs of squares (eyeballed rather than measured) and serged rounds those edges, using Winnie's tutorial on scarves to work out how to turn the corners (although I notice that I didn't actually follow her instructions at all really, but things turned out okay).

A few minutes later, I had a gratifying stack of 5 smaller, and 5 larger washable wipes to go with that pile of muslins.

The overlocker thing is going really well so far. I even managed to rethread one of the loopers when the thread broke. It was a bit fiddly, but really not too bad. I will just gloss over the small accident that befell one t-shirt that I was trying to repair.  Corners are tricky, it seems, and I managed to make a much bigger hole than the one I was trying to close up.  Oops!

Upcycled muslins (FO)

Howdy chaps. 

The other night I got a little bit of sewing time and decided to mop up one of the WIPs on the 'pile'. A wee while ago I found a threadbare sheet softened from many washes, but too narrow for any of our beds. I decided to upcycle into some muslins (or burp cloths for those of a North American disposition).

Easy peasy. Here's what I did:

1. Cut the sheet into squares about 22 inches square (I think).

2. Because the sheet was worn - and had a few thin patches, and because I wanted to end up with something that has a bit of life left in it and can withstand quite a lot more washing, I used two squares for each muslin. I lined two squares up, whizzed around the edges with the sewing machine, leaving 3 or 4 inches open for turning.

3. Turned the two layers, so that the raw seams are on the inside, and finished the muslin with some top stitching to close. 

4. Inspected for thin patches, and darned using a zigzag stitch on the machine. 

5. Tidied up loose threads and press. Folded and admired. [Take pictures for blog*]

6. Gift to expectant friends. 

* optional, obvs.

Clearly, these could have a number of uses, and small ones (about flannel/washcloth size) make good washable baby wipes, or window polishers, or dusters or whatevs. You know it. 

The easiest cowl in the world (tutorial?)

I promised the other day that I had unvented the easiest cowl in the world, And, here it is. 
It seems completely fraudulent to call this a tutorial, since it is so blinkin' easy. 

Are you ready?

Wait. Before I begin with the tute, I should go back to the beginning of the story. A wee while ago, my dear 8 yr old son asked me for a cowl. He wanted it to wind round his head like a ninja, and asked for one in (navy) blue - that's a school colour since this boy is a model pupil and takes school life pretty seriously. Anyways, I thought: simples - I can knit, so I will knit him a cowl. 

And then Christmas came ... and went ... and there was no cowl. There were not even any beginnings of a cowl. I had yarn, and a pattern (probably), but no time or mojo to fit it into my life.

Fortunately for me, the bean has a birthday every year (who knew?) and this happens to be at the end of January. So, I just let the Christmas cowl thing slide, knowing I had another cowl-gifting opportunity racing towards me. 

I was going to nail this thing. Like a boss.

A day or three before the birthday, there was still no sign of a cowl starting. But, I  had a plan. 

When I was pregnant with little bean, I stole a couple of man sweaters from my husband. He discarded them because they had a weeny hole in one elbow, and he couldn't bring himself to wear them in public (wimp). They were great maternity wear - fine merino wool - long enough to cover the bump, warm and generally very comfy. I carried on wearing them after I stopped being pregnant too - and one of them was just starting to go into holes under the arms. 

A light bulb came on, and I just went with it. (Here's the tute: concentrate)

First, I got the sweater onto the slab table. And I started to cut. I cut along two lines: one under the arms, and one above the bottom ribbing
. 

[sorry about the rubbish iphone pictures - I was half way through before I even thought of taking a photo]

Snip, snip went my scissors. 

I was left with a nice tube of stretchy knitted fabric. My plan was then to sew along the cut edges and somehow fold it over and secure it, making a really cosy double layer cowl.

Can you see what is coming next?  Yep. That's right: I didn't DO anything else. I just left it. The edges seemed to be stable enough without stitching (they have rolled), it was nice and stretchy, and I thought the depth of fabric just made it better for ninja poses. 

I styled it on a hanger just to see if it worked. 

[Yeah, navy blue is a total badass to photograph]. A total success, no? 

All I can say is this - I cut off the arms and hem of a man's sweater to make a cowl. And THAT WAS IT. 

It has been worn by the bean, more than a few times. He favours the double wrap. It hasn't fallen apart yet, and I haven't been able to steal it #sadface

Just in case you are wondering: this is a regular fine merino knit (machine washable) from Marks and Sparks. I didn't treat it in any way, e.g. by felting. Job done.

Sunday tee #update

After yesterday's successful morning crafting I felt fairly pleased with myself. I petted those tees a bit, folding and refolding them and admiring my own handiwork.

Just before tea time I decided that it was time to put the tees away. As I laid the smaller tee in the cupboard I gave the oh-so-neat neckline an exploratory stretch. Hmm.

Would
It
Go
Over

The little bean's head?

I held my breath and tried. It stretched satisfyingly
streeeetch
but
Did
Not
Fit

Double curses.

I haven't decided whether to give the tee to someone with a smaller head (little beans noggin is on the big side) or redo it. Sigh.

Sunday tee (FO)

Crafting is a rare luxury at the moment, just because my energy and time is sooo limited. The other night I  had to rustle up a plain black tee-shirt for the bean's school dance show (we had tried and failed to buy one, and were running out of time). While the machine was on the table I took the opportunity to stitch up one of those raglan tees I cut out a couple of weeks ago.

This morning, while little bean had a nap and the jelly bean got on with some Halloween crafting, I managed to finish the neck of that little tee.  It was the first time I had successfully attempted to apply a neckband to a knit/t-shirt. There have been a few previous fails, but this time I read a tutorial that made sense to me, and I gave it a go.

We'll just gloss over the slight wrinkle which is - of course - At. The. Front.

Curses.

I also wrangled a neckband onto a plum stretch velvet tee which I made for the jelly bean in August. (And which looks nicer in real life). She took one look at it and said she didn't want it, but changed her mind today when I finished the neck. Again there is a wrinkle at the front, And I have managed to put it on back wards so the seam is also at the front. But, well, someone on a galloping horse probably wouldn't notice, and as these FOS are both upcycled remnants of previous garments I am not mcbothered.

Pyjama bonanza

Over the last week I have managed to wear out two (TWO!!) pairs of pyjama trousers. How does that happen?! They weren't even the same make or the same age.

As I'm on a bit of a sewing bee at the moment, I salvaged the usable remnants and (after a quick wash) I cut out two new pairs of pj trousers from the ruins. One pair is for the jelly bean (5 next week!) and the second pair is for the bean - his pair are shorts as that was all I could eke out of the fabric available. 

I used some existing pjs as a template, adding as much length in the leg as I could manage. My children tend on the slim side and just seem to get longer/taller rather than wider as they grow.

While I was cutting out pyjama trousers, and, given that I am down two pairs, I cut out a pair for myself. I used an existing (non-ripped) pair as a template, and cut into some rather fabulous cotton lawn I bought on a whim a year or so back. 

They are going to be rather gorgeous. I did wonder about making a matching top (there is still quite a lot of fabric left), but thought that would be a bit much, particularly as none of my other pyjamas have matching tops! 

Socksperiment

Over the last few months I've been collecting worn and holey socks, piling them up ready for the darning fairy to repair them. She hasn't been around very much, that fairy, as - like all housework fairies - she is rather unreliable and easily distracted. You know, by shiny in-the-moment things like the Commonwealth Games, or drinking beer, or starting new projects (ahem).

While the holey sock pile has been marinading, I came up with a plan for a socksperiment.  Because my socks invariably go into a hole on the ball of the foot rather than the heel or the toe, I have been wondering if there was a way to reinforce this part of the sock and increase the sock's longevity.  

I think I have found a way. It involves knitting around the sock in s1 k1 a bit like a heel flap. And, when you are using two yarns in a grumperina' stripe it has the additional benefit of changing the direction of the stripes! [I must confess that this discovery makes me deliriously happy - I love knitting stripey socks, and making the stripes change direction is just mind-blowing. Just me? Oh, okay]

In order to test my hypothesis in a really scientific way, I am making myself a new pair of socks (see what I mean about being easily distracted). One sock has been knit the 'normal' way, and the other will be finished in the new way. I'm a third of the way along the foot of the second sock, and just about to start the k1 s1 section. 

Once I've finished them, I'll wear the blighters and see what happens. I hope it won't be quite as long-winded as the search for the Higgs bosun, or those experiments waiting for a drop of pitch to drop....

FO: flowery top hack

Last year I bought myself a couple of summery cotton tops, suitable for life with a newborn (e.g. easy to wash; and with plenty of ease to allow for discreet breast-feeding). One of the tops has been in regular use, fitting in nicely with other things in my wardrobe, although the shape was a bit, um, meh. The other one has just too much fabric to be flattering and I have never worn it...(but since both tops came from charity shops and cost no more than £4, I'm not too bothered about that).

I've been planning to refashion both tops for a while, and last week I finally got round to hacking the first top.

Here it is before (a giant flowery square). [In case you recognise this item from R*ver Island, I should say that I removed the weird interesting neckline beading and the patch pockets when I bought it]. Anyway, back to the hack...

In order to make it shaped a bit more like me (a woman with boobs that stick out and a waisty bit that goes in ever so slightly), I cut off the bottom so that I could create an empire line under the bust. I used another top as a guideline to help me decide where to cut.  

I then opened one of the side seams, and removed a couple of inches of width from the front part of the top. I left the back as it was. [If I was a proper sewing person, I would have opened both side seams and taken the width from each side, however, I am not that person and I figured I could get away with being lazy it].

I then resewed the side seam, and fitted the bottom back onto the bodice, which I had subtly gathered under the bust. I sewed the two parts together again, and then added some elastic to the seam on the back of the top. Proper sewists would no doubt have done this with a casing, but I'm just too impatient. So, I just cut the elastic to length, and zigzagged it straight on, using the new seam as a guide. 

Ta-da. 

It is quite a small change really, but it's made this top much more flattering to wear without changing my ability to feed the little bean if I need to. If I wasn't breast feeding then I might have taken more fabric out of the front panel, and made it a bit more fitted. I'll try and post an action shot sometime which shows the front...

Shortly (FO)

Little bean is taking up most spare moments, as you would expect of a 3 week old baby.  And, to be fair I am trying to savour these baby moments as I know how fleeting they will be....

Yesterday was the first day I managed a stitch of any kind. I got my machine out of the cupboard and finished a second pair of pyjama shorts for the (biggest) bean.

I upcycled them from some pyjama jackets I didn't wear - and which were taking up shelf space in my wardrobe.

As the bean often complains about being hot at night, I thought some short pjs might be a good move. I cut out 3 pairs using some existing pyjama trousers as a template. The first pair were quickly pressed into service, and have been a great hit - and yesterday I fixed the elastic in the second pair.

I'm so pleased with these - they are filling a need and helping me to declutter my wardrobe, and they cost only pennies to make....

Doll Quilt (FO)

I'm not an experienced quilter, so doll quilts seem like a good way to get some practice.

This is my latest offering, made with some scraps from a couple of other recent projects.

I felt brave enough to try my walking foot, and some freehand wiggly stitching lines. The jelly bean seems to like it, so I think that counts as a success....