New Skill - Machine Sewing

I am not a fan of machine sewing.  Never really understood about loading and threading the bobbin and the mystery of the different types of sewing 'feet'.  Saying that, I have accumulated a few sewing machines over the years hoping that each one would lead to a new found love.

Anyway, an opportunity arose this week which was to attend free local sewing classes provided by our residents priority fund.   Here was a chance to make something and take the evidence home.  Literally a five minute walk from where I live I would have been a fool not to embrace the challenge.

After a morning's worth of guided tuition I sprung home with a pair of pyjama bottoms.  Who knew that sewing in elastic wasn't so difficult after all.  I look forward to another sewing class next month.  Could I have eventually caught the sewing bug?  That remains to be seen. :-)

Busy, Busy, Busy

You would think that before deciding to open a shop you would have accrued enough stock to go in it wouldn't you?  Well, I tend to work backwards and although I have an on line shop in place I don't have nearly enough things to go in it!  I have been working frantically this week trying to design and and make things from prototype to finished product.  I have certainly found myself in the deep end.  I am proposing to open the shop on Monday.  There I have said it.  I have given myself a deadline to meet!  I will keep you posted with my progress.  This blog isn't going to be all about the shop.  Normal blogging will resume after I have sorted myself out and got to grips with all the new things I need to learn.  See you soon!

Edited:  I totally underestimated the amount of preparation involved in opening an online shop!  There is no way that the shop will open on the proposed date.  I think for now I will just keep quiet and then let you know as and when it has opened.  Right, back to the grindstone:-)!

A New Hobby

Thanks to Clare I have taken up another hobby!  I have never attempted patchwork before but have been inspired and encouraged by Clare's enthusiasm, tutorials and wonderful patchwork that she produces.

Most of the crafts that I do, require quite a bit of money to be spent on them but I see that patchwork can be quite frugal if you want it to be as all you need is fabric, a needle, some cotton for tacking and sewing, cardboard for a template and scraps of paper to make the hexagons.  I think I will want to spend money on beautiful fabrics though, so maybe it's not quite frugal as I first thought!

I was supposed to be doing housework but got distracted making my first lot of hexagons.  Fabric hexagons are wrapped around papers and tacked together.  The next fun bit will be sewing the shapes together.  I can see this becoming an addiction!

Thank you for all the comments regarding the moon in my last post.  Today in the Northern hemisphere the moon is waning and ascending.   According to a guide that I have, if you are going to be planting onions or shallots, it is best to plant them when the moon is descending  on the 20 - 22nd March in the morning.  March is the last chance to prune apple trees, when the moon is descending from 13-24th March.  I have taken this information from a book called 'in tune with the moon 2011'.  I have no idea if the advice works but if you haven't had much success in growing things maybe it is worth giving it a try!

Keeping Busy

Following the advice of my blogging buddies (thank you for all your support and kindness on my last post) I have been busy making and doing and getting out and about.  Today I went to one of my favourite places.  I love the bohemian feel of Covent Garden in London and feel very at home around there.

 It was a bright and sunny day and the colourful shops lifted my spirits.

 I got to visit the shops that I like (bought a lovely big chunk of Rose Quartz in the shop above).....

 ....and my son got to go in the shops he likes such as the Forbidden Planet comic book store that is a haven for a soon to be teenage boy.

Yesterday I went on a jewellery making course local to where I live.  It was just a small group of four of us and a tutor.  The first thing I made was the bracelet above.  It is really heavy and has loads of bling!

 We then made earrings........................

 .............and then seed bead bracelets.

 I think I enjoyed making the clasp most of all, shaping the wire around into spirals with round nosed pliers.

I also made a pretty necklace with faceted glass beads and used crimp beads to hold them in place.  I thoroughly enjoyed making the jewellery.  The hardest part of the course was choosing what beads to use!

Getting in a lather

In need of a treat and wanting to learn a new skill, I booked myself on a soap making workshop. I got to the venue early, so walked around the back streets of Islington admiring the multi storey townhouses and wishing that people would leave their blinds up/shutters open so I could take a peek inside.

When I got too cold, to the point of not being able to move my hands anymore, I made my way to The Make Lounge. When inside I was invited to put my jacket and bags into a storage area and then come back and help myself to a drink when done. With a hot cup of coffee in hand (but no sign of the biscuits and savoury snacks that were mentioned in our communication) I sat down at a group of tables as other people joined the room.

The tutor was among the last to join us. We wrote our names on sticky labels and stuck them onto our clothes and then had to go around the room and say our name and if we had made soap before. As each person spoke, something dawned on me. I seemed to be the only working class woman in the room. What I mean is ( and forgive me if I am not eloquent enough in expressing myself) is that the women were well spoken, confident and well educated. My feeling of inadequacy loomed over me ready to make me the class fool by saying or doing the wrong thing.

After deciding the groups of fragrances we preferred such as floral, warm, citrus etc we were put into 3 groups to make the soap as a team. The women in my group found it a breeze and were in their element dipping their pipettes and getting to grips with the digital scales and thermometers. Now, back at home I would find this no problem at all but I felt shy and intimidated by these women who seemed to ooze confidence and organisational skills. They were pleasant enough towards me but I felt really uncomfortable. They probably thought the same about me! I really wanted to crawl under the tables and come out when it was over.

I must have enjoyed myself in a strange sort of way as the time passed quickly. At the end of the course I spied some savoury snacks at the back of the room. Drat! It was too late to eat them now.

With my small box of soap wrapped in a towel and continuing to 'cook' on my journey home, I walked up to the station to catch my train. Arsenal were playing at home. I didn't know. As I got into the station having to force my way through the Arsenal supporters coming out, a tall uniformed man screeched at me ' ENTRANCE OVER THE OTHER SIDE!!!!' I didn't realise that he was talking to me until he screeched at me for a second time 'OVER THE OTHER SIDE!!!' 'YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SO RUDE!' I screeched back at him, being very rude in the process. I think I was feeling particularly stressed after my not-so-much-fun soap making experience.

I now have to wait 24 hours before I can cut the soap into bars and then 4 weeks before I can use it. It does look good, poured in the mould with its sprinkling of lavender flowers. I think I would like to make soap again but in the comfort of my own home, with my own things around me and my own company!

* Just to add, I think that a workshop at the make lounge would be good if you went with a friend or a group of people rather than by yourself unless you have the social skills that I sadly lack!

Learning New Skills

As I was contemplating the sunset a few nights ago, I started to think back to the promises I had made for myself this year. It was to be a year of action and a year of learning new skills as well as applying some of the old ones in practising painting or drawing every day.

Today I learnt a new skill. Today I learned how to do clay pigeon shooting. For a beginner I didn't do too bad at all. In fact, as you can see from our score sheets, I beat the boys!!!