Dining Table Solution

Today I purchased this vintage oak drop leaf table, very inexpensively at a local used furniture shop.
(The picture is taken in the shop, not my house).

I popped it into the car (I have a hatchback, great for things like this) and brought it home. It is now in the living room under my grandmother clock and I was pleased to find means I can sit at the table and still watch TV. So usable when eating alone with TV for company, as well as when guests come round.

This allows the former dining room to remain as my study, and releases the old study/sewing room to be almost completely for sewing! I may put the folding guest bed in the sewing room too. Making really good use of the whole house whether it is just for me, or when guests have come.

The pieces are rather a mix of styles, which is a tiny bit jarring, but I shall manage because its practical.

Continuing Chaos

The knock on effect of the new tables, lamps and pictures for the bedroom, was that I then moved the other furniture around and swapped mirrors, the clock etc from other rooms in the house. Then the traditional pink and green floral curtains looked wrong and have now been switched out for some plain olive green ones which I've been wanting to use for ages. These were too long, and I still have to shorten one of them.
The pin boards which I use to display my many necklaces have also had an overhaul with a lick of dark brown paint on the trim so they match the other dark brown items (still drying in the kitchen) and I still need to think through what should be where in a logical way, to make getting ready in the morning as easy as possible.
I've still not managed to dismantle the old warped desk in the sewing room/study as it is now stacked with things which were on the bookcases (now moved to the old dining room) and I'm away with work tomorrow.
I think this evening I shall prioritise the second curtain as the bedroom is strange without it. And it is important to keep the bedroom pleasant as this assists good sleep. I was so energized by the transformation I had trouble sleeping. Should sleep like a very tired person tonight.

I collected the Craft Fayre items today and was sad to see that almost nothing sold. Apparently the Craft Fayre was not as popular as the normal Food Fayre, and won't be running in September after all. So the next church outlet won't be until December. I don't want to stockpile fabric crafts until then, so need to find some other outlet for the pieces I have created.

Right off to shorten and press that second curtain and hang it.....

Back later!

Clutter Clearing Twist

Well my clutter clearing has taken a bit of a twist. It's sort of like it has a life of its own and I'm just assisting, but it must be coming from my brain!

Today I went to Dunelm Mill (UK interiors shop, not expensive) and bought two pictures, 2 lamps and 2 small tables for my bedroom, came home and reorganised my bedroom layout. I need to get things tidy again in there now, but it does make more sense than it did. The new pieces are more contemporary and give a fresh feeling to the room.

 

 I have also temporarily relocated my study into the dining room, so I can take the huge old warped desk apart to dispose of it. This works surprisingly well, except for the slight downside of now having no dining room. I did only use the dining room for the occasional dining with a guest and drying laundry, so I'm not sure whether I'll put it back to a dining room or not afterwards. I seem to be getting more use out of my home this way, so maybe I need a gateleg table I can erect for guests?

Alterations to the Maybe pieces

After I purged my wardrobe and got rid of 6 bags to charity, I was left with a smaller pile of things I'd like to keep only they needed some sort of alteration. Generally I hate doing alterations so I am going to do this as a timed exercise. If I didn't like the pieces enough to have made the alterations by the end of April then they go in the next lot of charity bags.
Since this is a sewing blog I thought you might be interested in the alterations so I'll show each piece before and after (hanger shots only sorry) so you can see what I did.

2 useful books I'm reading which I'm finding helpful on the decluttering are "Organising from the Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern and 'Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui' by Karen Kingston. (I have older versions than the ones pictured above). Kingston's book is mostly about the clutter clearing, with some new-age stuff I'm not really into. Morgenstern's is much more practical about how to organise the stuff you do need to actually keep to have a normal life. I like the balance I get from flicking between the two.

One thing which came out from Kingston's book is that keeping broken, ill fitting or unfinished stuff in your house creates clutter and has a negative energy, and all those UFOs, things needing alterations or just plain fixing do indeed impinge on you and sap your energy. This applies quite a lot to clothing and sewing projects, but also to general household maintenance.

Decluttering in progress

The decluttering is in progress, and it has to be said that my home is a target rich environment, so it was slightly hard to know where to start. The very first thing I did was to put the dead flowers in the green bin (garden waste) as much as I enjoyed them when fresh they were a bit sad later on.

Then I turned my mind to clothing, and so far I've tackled the coats and scarves in the hall cupboard, the jackets, blouses and cardigans and some books. Its feeling good, so I need to keep my energy and keep going!
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Sadly I'm now at the point where I need to try things on from the main wardrobe! Black tights, ballet flats and jersey cami is probably a good base for most of the pieces.
5 bags of stuff to go so far, including some shoes and I was extremely pleased to find some favourite solid gold squared-hoop earrings I thought were lost 2 or 3 moves ago (had been dropped into the toe of a shoe!). I am very pleased to have them back!!!!

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3 bags and a box of books/crockery taken straight to the charity shop so I couldn't change my mind!
Great to get it out of the house..... more to do though.

Decluttering

I've been re-reading Karen Kingston's 'Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui', which has many helpful points (even though I don't agree with her on spiritual things.)
I must admit a few things had me laughing out loud as I could see myself in an example in her book.

Once I'd finished skim reading the book I got up and filled 2 charity bags with coats and scarves from the hall cupboard. A lot more to do yet, but found these 3 questions from the book very helpful

- Does it lift my energy when I think about it or look at it?
AND
- Do I absolutely love it?
OR
- Is it genuinely useful?

I think the point where I paused on the Artist's Way was the decluttering chapter, so maybe that will restart again once I've done some more here.

A dear sewing friend said to me she would know I was serious about decluttering if I decided to get rid of fabric, so we shall have to see :-)

Suits, teal and the decluttering urge

Not in any particular order here are some things that have been going around in my head. They also sort of interlink with each other.

Suits. Now I'm working at a customer site 3 days a week, I'm suddenly wearing my old pantsuits a lot more. I don't know if I need any more purchased suits, but I definitely need to make the most of the ones I do have. My jacket sewing skills are not yet up to making pant suits for work, and I'm not sure whether or not this is something I do want to focus on in my sewing. I wonder if I would be helped by buying another suit for work, or if I just need to be more creative with what I already have.

Teal. I have long been a fan of teal, it really brings out my eyes, but actually its not very flattering to my under eye area or my chin/neck region. I'm seriously considering removing it from my wardrobe which is a bit of a shock to the system as its been one of my go-to colours for a LONG time. But I am definitely a Spring and look better in ivory, red, orange, coral, pink and lime than teal. Turquoise isn't as bad, and stuff with low necklines or mixed with lots of white seem OK too, though why wear those when I can glow in coral?


Decluttering. I brought lots of stuff from the other house with me including all of my clothes, shoes, books, sewing stuff and fabrics. It is starting to bug me just a bit and I'd like to have less stuff, though I'm not entirely sure where to start. Clothing would be an obvious place to begin I think since I could link it with both the need for suits and the losing of teal, I could get rid of things which don't fit or work as I do so. I'm slightly nervous this will result in nothing to wear, but its not a serious risk!

Then I think I need to do an overhaul of the study/sewing room by replacing the desk, adding some fabric shelving and having a general declutter, move round and tidy. This would require some new furniture and some assistance in construction (prob from mum and dad), so is probably a little further down the list since my car just cost me a chunk of money in maintenance.

Red dress: done but needs work

I did finish the Red dress but it is too large and will need significant work to make it wearable. It's too wide in the shoulders and body and the underbust seam hits too low.

Although I finished it within the timeframe I was out last night and so haven't managed to write a review yet. I'll see if I can still get it entered.

PR Red Dress Contest

I planned to sew blue cushions, so of course I fancy a red dress! Something simple I can wear with a jacket to work I think.

Maybe this will help me get back into taking photos of myself wearing the clothes, something I have been rather remiss about recently.
I already have 2 dresses in the SWAP, so don't need it for that, but I shall sew it anyway.
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I think I shall go with New Look 6751 View B in plain red ponte, do my normal forward head alterations.I think I'll cut the sleeve and neck bands with the main pieces, and then do a simple facing for the neckline. I'll omit the back zipper too, change the darts into gathers and add a belt.
Other than that it'll be JUST like the pattern!

Aprons for craft fayre

I took a bit of a break from sewing clothing whilst I finished of my old assignment at work. I start the new assignment on Monday morning, and am straight into going to site to meet the customer. I think the learning curve at the start will be quite steep, so am not going to sew anything complicated for a bit.
I've had various meals out etc to say goodbye to colleagues I won't be working with anymore, though I did manage to make some time on Saturday to finish off the 2 adult sized plain black aprons, and the 6 green checked aprons (3 adult, 3 children). The child's apron is the only one you can see properly in the picture. The striped bag was previously made, but not pictured before.

With these items and some cream cushions not shown I now have a bagful of stuff for the show. I still have another 2 weeks or so, so can produce a few more items. I have a range of blue velvet backed cushions planned, though not yet cut out, and these should be simple pieces I can sew when my brain is busy with learning the new job.
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I've taken a short break from the Artist's Way for a few weeks as I was getting overload.
I'm also taking a break from SWAP until early March probably, but as I have already made 7 pieces I feel that'll be OK, and I can still finish (though probably not be in for a chance to win, but hey that's how these things go, its not advisable to change jobs, move house or get divorced mid SWAP!)

Black 'Heart' Cushions

Having finished the black dress I could carry on with more SWAP pieces, but I think actually I need to make some pieces for the Craft Fayre, even though I can't be there in person. Since the machines are threaded in black, I am going to take a piece of black upholstery fabric I bought as a remnant at some point. I think in being black I thought to make it into clothing when I bought it, but it really is going to be better as aprons, bags, cushions and other such things. It sometimes surprises me how many such things can be got out of yardage, compared to clothing.

I think I will start with a classic adult sized apron, and then a simple cushion and see what is left over after that point. Pictures before bed time :-)

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I loved the black cushions with naif cream stitched hearts, so made 8 of them. They need a press and perhaps a creamy button on the points (especially where my stitching is a bit wonky).

The hearts are drawn freehand with chalk (one half) and folded together and rechalked. This gives each heart a different shape, some fat and happy others pointy and elegant.
I also have 2 black aprons half made, 6 green check aprons half made, 4 cream cushions which need pressing and one green striped shopping bag finished.
Another couple of sessions and I will have half a table worth. Let's hope people will want to buy them.

Snow Day Black Dress

I took a snow day today and sewed up the black knit dress. This is New Look 6071 with the skirt lengthened by 9" and flared out slightly more. On this version the sleeves are the full length on the pattern.

The fabric is a stretchy black jersey from the stash. Not sure on the content but I think viscose, polyester and elastane from the hand, but we'll have to see what it is like to wear and launder. I'm hoping this will be a classic black dress. Black is not great for me around the face, so I will fill the deep neckline with a bold necklace, scarf or cami in good colours. This is my 7th piece of the SWAP, and the second using this dress pattern.
No excuses now I shall have to go outside and clear the snow off my drive. :-)

Banana Muffins

I've not done any baking for a very long time. More than a year I think. However in one of the exercises in the Artist's Way, I had put down baking cakes as something I've enjoyed in the past but not done for ages, somehow this percolated through into me actually making something. :-)
And so today I did a version of the Banana Muffins from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.

I've been very good and only tested one! I'll keep a few for home and take the rest in to work to share on Monday.

Plans and progress

Well frankly there isn't any progress. At least not on the sewing front. I need to sew the black dress next and I think I've OD'd on black and can't be doing with it.

I had a day off work today, but I did some household jobs and then went off to the nearest big city (Sheffield) to visit a discount outdoor shop. I got some specialist clothing for my hill walking activities, so I was OK with that in that largely my goal for the trip was achieved.
But the whole experience of driving in an unfamiliar large city, having trouble parking, having difficulty finding the things I wanted in an oddly laid out shop, and then getting out of a semi-blocked-in parking space and driving home again left me rather shaky. To the point that I'm not sure I'd go back.

I've had a few over-reactions to things recently though so maybe I need just try and chill a bit and see why I react like that so I can avoid the reaction when a situation occurs I don't like.

The city claustrophobia seems more apparent these days than in the past, though its a long standing issue/personality trait. I realised that I deliberately choose a slightly longer commute (distance wise) to work that involves lanes and countryside (instead of the main congested road) to get my morning 'tree fix', so perhaps the space thing is more of an issue than I have admitted to myself. I am aware I will take stairs to avoid lifts (elevators), choose to sit on the end of rows of seats in crowded place (church, cinemas etc), and walk out of small rooms if there are (what I consider) too many people there. The house I chose to rent is in a large village on the edge of a small town, with garden etc. I could not bear to rent a terraced house because of the closeness of the other houses.

However this afternoon, I was pleased that having got upset being unable to get the car out of the partially blocked space, I was able to calm down again, look carefully at the car, the space, the angle etc, and after about 20 minutes actually extricate the car from the space. (A long vehicle had parked across the back whilst I was in the shop). No vehicles were scraped and I made it home without any great issues. So I guess I triumphed.

I'm planning to go on another group walk tomorrow, and the fresh air and open spaces is infintely more appealing than driving in a big city :-)

Normal updates on sewing related stuff will resume shortly.

Picture Links Requests

In response to Ginger's request for the little wardrobe pics on the left to link to something, I have found some of the original larger pictures and made them link from the thumbnail. If they are linked I have edited the description to say so. Some of them I can't find the original matching picture in a blog post at the moment, but if I come across them I shall add. I've now added the year as well, so if you really want more info on the patterns used etc, you can go to the Blog Archive (at the very bottom left) and find the year and month and the posts should be there.

I realised I'd not added thumbnails for the most recent wardrobe collections so I had a little trawl through and added all the newer collections, including some I had forgotten (Newspaper Collection anyone!)

The very oldest ones were my early attempts at collections and my style and ability to create collections has evolved quite a bit since then.
So unless anyone speaks up for 2006-2007 collections they are history. I was plus size then so all the clothes are gone now, and I wasn't blogging then, so details of patterns etc are probably lost in the mists of time.

Hope this proves useful.

Interestingly in a normalish year I seem to do
SWAP (which is a double collection really) and is Spring clothes
which you can then wear in the UK Summer
then an Autumn Collection
then a Christmas Collection
and then start all over again with the next SWAP