Requiem for my trousers - Ta dah!

This is a bad news/good news post.  First the bad news.

My trousers have died.  To be fair, they have had a good innings.  They are nine years old.  Which in trouser years makes them about 112.  These are the trousers that have survived every cull of my wardrobe. Every house move and clear out.  Every makeover and fashion reinvention.

I bought them when I lived in Kosovo.  Think mud and dust in Summer.  I wore flat shoes all the time because the surfaces were all uneven.  And these were the perfect flat shoe trousers.  Good quality linen, a good cut that relaxed rather than sagged around the behind with each wear.  And comfort akin to trackie bottoms.

They then came with me to New York the first time we lived here and I schlepped all over the city in them.

In North Africa they were line dried in searing heat over a couple of years, fading to a kind of colourless grey.  So, when we came back to New York three years ago they came too, but were consigned (most of the time) to house trousers.  A bit too scruffy to be seen out in but too deliciously comfortable to give away.

Every Summer I promised myself would be the last.  But somehow they came out each year for one more go around.

But this year, they have given up the ghost.

First it was a thinning.  But the thinning gave way to a hole, and a dangerous lack of thread in the crotch area (ahem).

So, what to do?  I couldn't quite bring myself to throw them away.  And then I hit on the perfect solution.  I could still sit on the them, sort of....

TA- DAH!  (Imagine a gap in my typing here while I skip around the room.)

I had some heavy cotton fabric with a big repeat in the pattern that I haven't quite known what to do with.

It used to be wrapped roughly around the original horsehair (uncomfortable) cushions that came with this chair found at a flea market years ago.

But the chair had a makeover when we moved to Manhattan and the fabric went to live at the bottom of our laundry basket.  For a very long time.

So, cast off fabric, meet worn out trousers.

A fab new cushion.  My first ever cushion cover.  Do you like it?  Do You?

Now it lives on our sofa bed, looking pleased with itself.  Fits right in.

Even the Queen looks pleased.

So there you have it.  I made a cushion cover.  Hurray!

So, have you recycled your clothes?  Would love to know what you've done with them.

C.x
(The Queens are vintage life magazines bought on ebay and framed by Mr. P.  And the make do and mend is an original photo from stock in 1942.  Did I tell you I love ebay?)

In the bag - Ta-dah!

LOOK!

My iPad cover.  What I made.  All by myself.  Gosh, how clever am I!

I would like to tell you it was nothing really, just something I knocked out in an afternoon.  But this has been tormenting me for about a month now.  I even got up early one Saturday recently because I thought I'd cracked it, only to find myself ripping it apart again in frustration later in the day.

Never one to make it easy on myself, I didn't think to look up a pattern.  Or at least I did, but I didn't think any pattern would accommodate the beautiful piece of fabric with the car that I wanted to form the front flap, and I knew if I found a pattern I wouldn't be able to adapt it, so I ploughed on.  To give you an idea of how many times I re-did this, I went through a whole spool of thread...  I know, right?

And now that I've got it sorted, I can't believe how stupid I was being all along.  And of course the answer was so simple, and had been staring me in the face.  All I needed to do was to follow the way I made my bags (sort of).  I knew I didn't want any exposed seams on the sides because they would come apart after awhile, but I must have tried every possible variation of folding and stitching before it dawned on me that I needed an inner pocket sewn right sides together and left that way, and an outer pocket sewn right sides together and then turned inside out so that the right sides faced out.  And then the inner pocket could, well, sit inside the outer pocket.  Genius!

That only left the flap, and I knew I only had this little piece of fabric to work with so necessity made that bit quite straightforward in the end.

So, there you go - my first ever made up made thing, ever.  Isn't it pretty?  Do you like it?  Do you really?  And doesn't my iPad look the business tucked away in there?

If I'm honest, I will tell you that in fact I didn't make the pockets high enough, so that when the ipad is inside, the flap comes over but you can't see all the car, which niggles me.  But I still love the colour combination and the travel motif (nothing if not obvious) and the general feel of the thing.  And did I mention that I made it?  Me.

And just in time - I am off on my travels tomorrow (Afghanistan and Lebanon - not sure how I feel about that...) and will be out of touch for a week or more.  Will be thinking of you all and looking forward to hearing how you're getting on.

C.x

(A bit of a cheat, but...) Ta Dah!

Mr. P is in England at the moment, taking to an architect and builder about the old lady house. I had to stay here and work, which I'm feeling a bit peevish about even though I know we both didn't need to be there, and that gallivanting across the Atlantic every couple of weeks is all very well but we have to watch our pennies at the moment if we are going to have any money to spend once the house is bought.

And it's raining. And will keep raining for the next 5 days if the weather forecast is at all accurate. So to take my mind off my strop and the weather, I decided to do some crafting. (It was either that or endless episodes of Lie to Me...). I tried first to fix the iPad cover I started to make a few weeks back. All I achieved was to understand how to use my seam ripper. If anyone needs lessons in using this nifty little tool, I'm your woman. I can tell you that an empty flat is just the place for this exercise, because I had free reign to swear liberally and loudly all afternoon.

I eventually abandoned my efforts in favour of repeating an earlier success. If in doubt, stick to what you know...


So I made another bag. Smaller this time, because I had less material, and because I wanted it to be useful for my 8 year old niece.




I'd found this lovely fabric at Purl Soho when I made my first bag. It's so Springy and happy and has this lovely pattern on a deliciously slubby thick cotton...





Very Princess and the Pea... I decided to use grey thread which would blend with the darker colour way and provide contrast to the yellow fabric...


I realise this was a bit risky since my days of sewing in straight lines are obviously yet before me, but still... It has all the same feature as the first bag, with a magnetic snap for the outer pocket and two smaller pockets on the inside...






And, of course, it's reversible and washable.

Having made it once already, this came together pretty quickly and I'm chuffed to bits with it. I only hope my niece likes it too. Do you?

C.x
P.S. I realise I've been completely crap lately, not really crafting much, and not commenting on all your lovely blogs. But I am reading them all and planning lots of future projects, so please bear with me. There's just lots going on right now.

P.P.S. The quality of photos is appalling because Mr. P. went off to England with the cable that connects my SLR to the computer, so these were transferred using the Blogger App on my iPad, which clearly doesn't do photos.  Humph.

Cue drum roll...

Ta- Dah!

I'm so bursting with excitement and general pleased-with-myself glee that I'm not sure where to start.  Or what to say.  I made a bag.  Not just any old pillowcase with a drawstring bag.  A sturdy bag that stands up all by itself.  One that I can throw in the mashing machine when it gets grubby.

THIS bag....

...with inside AND outside pockets, with a magnetic snap....

... a fully reversible bag..

I made that.  From scratch.  Me.

Maybe this will say it better than I can...

C.x

Woman meets machine

LOOK!

I made that.  All by myself.  No need to rip and start again.  First time.  With a sewing machine and everything.  Me.  Yes indeed.  I'm so clever I could skip.

Okay, now that that shameless bragging is out of the way, let me tell you.  I went to my sewing class yesterday all excited.  I got there 20 minutes early and hung around outside nervously waiting to be let in.  Everyone arrived and we all settled down while the teacher went over everything she'd already explained about machines last week.  (The woman has the patience of a kindergarten teacher.)  She gave us scraps to practice on first.  I would show you this practice piece if my sampler looked like the woman's next to me, with neat rows of all the machine's stitches as she went through the settings one by one.  My sampler looked different to that.  A bit challenged really.  Random bits of stitching all over the place.  Still, I got there somehow without injuring myself or breaking the machine.  And then at some point the teacher told us to take out our fabric that we'd cut last week and start to sew the bottoms of the fabric for the inner pockets together.  So that's what we did.  After that, it went by in a bit of a blur with only the odd hiccup.  (Note to self: never sew with the foot raised.)  And by the end of class I had this:

I could tell you the million and one things that are wrong with it and what I might try to do differently next time.  But mostly I want to come round to your house with it so that you can see it for yourself and  ooh and aah and tell me your stories about how you learnt to sew and what a lovely bag this is going to be.  Oh yes, and how clever I am...

Of course, this is only the inner lining of the bag.  The apple print fabric will be on the outside with the dotty fabric making an outside pocket.  But when I open the bag and look inside, this is what I'll see:

The dotty lining with two apple pockets.  Sweet, no?

Last class next week where we make the outer bag and the strap and put it all together.   So expect more shameless bragging then.

C.x

Busy bee

My weekends are normally sloth-filled affairs.  Speaking frankly, Mr. P and I are idle creatures.  But this weekend has been a shining exception.

On Friday, we went to a cocktail party on HMS Gloucester, docked in Manhattan for a few days and due to be decommissioned shortly.  This sounds more salubrious that it was, and involved me trapping myself in the ship at one point when I went to the loo instead of sipping cocktails on deck.

On Saturday, I went to my first sewing class at Purl Soho.  I can't tell you enough good things about this shop.  Like being dropped into a rainbow.

There's so much inspiration wherever you turn, whether it's baby bibs...

...or felted figurines...

... or cashmere scarves...

... or these exquisite Liberty Tana Lawn samplers...

(such a simple idea, but such a lovely display just inside the front door).

They have a blog (Purl Bee) with regular project ideas (the quilts next to the cashmere scarves in the photo are some recent examples).  And the staff are friendly and helpful (but I think I've mentioned that before).

And best of all, there's a woman who's going to teach me how to sew.  Those of you who have read this blog before will know that my New Year's Resolution includes the Merry Christmas project  (to sew letters and stuff them).  But I actually want to get a bit beyond that.  So I signed up for sewing classes.  I haven't quite decided yet if I want to make clothes, but I definitely want to learn how to use a sewing machine, and maybe make cushion covers or simple curtains.  After that we'll see.  Mostly, I just want to conquer my fear of sewing machines.  Yes indeed.  Now, I am afraid of spiders and dark alleys and the usual list of panic-inducing bogie- men, but I must also confess to a fear of sewing machines.  Now, admittedly, I haven't used one since I was thirteen, and it's not like I lost a digit, or sewed my hair to the apron I was trying to make.  I have no traumatic memories to justify this fear.  But I think  it's to do with the noise and the feeling that it and not I am in control of the process.  As though it will literally run away with itself if I don't sit rigidly paying attention to what's happening.

I haven't told this to my teacher yet.  And I was relieved to see that yesterday, she took her time and explained everything six times, and gave lots of snippets of interesting information.  And although she took a sewing machine out towards the end of the lesson, she didn't actually let us loose on them.  Instead, she talked soothingly of feet and soles and ankles and arms as though the machine was a friend of hers who could be our friend too.

We are going to make bags.  I knew this before the class, and I had a vision of a simple rectangle of fabric sewn on three sides with the extravagance of a handle to finish.  A bit like a pillow case with a string attached.  I wasn't terribly enthusiastic about this as a project, but had put it down to wanting to run marathons before I could crawl.  But the bag we are to make is a bit more presentable than that.  I will let you know how I get on, but in theory it will be reversible, and have pockets inside and out with a magnetic clasp.  This is the fabric I've chosen:

As you can see, I have even acquired the tools of the trade.  Of course, I have no clue what to do with them...  Anyway, we spent most of the class cutting our cloth.  This involved a self-healing mat (I LOVE this concept and want to apply it to all sorts of things...).  And a rotary cutter.  Hmmm.  Not at all sure about this contraption.  I'm sure I will come to love it, but for now, I can't seem to be able to cut through four layers of fabric at a time.  And I am left-handed so I kept having to flip everything around.  I am used to this.  But my right hand is weak and kept allowing the rule against which I was cutting to slip around.  Not great if you're trying to cut a straight line.  But I am determined to master it all and will be back for more next week.  Stay tuned.

Having been out and about so much yesterday, I wanted to hunker down today.  Mr. P demanded scones.  So I obliged.  (They are fast becoming a staple in the house of no knitted knickers.)

I have mislaid the scone cutter that's the right size, but have discovered that a wine glass is just as good.  My ulterior motive for making these is this beauty...

... purchased on holiday and carted back across the world by hand in the manner of ancient traders.  So, I decided to do it right and have afternoon tea.

And then, because I was on a roll, I made stewed rhubarb.  I LOVE rhubarb.  I think it might be one of my desert island foods.  But I digress....

I use a thumb of finely-grated fresh ginger and the juice of half an orange as well as the sugar.  It gives it depth (and besides, I love ginger, so any excuse...)

And to cap it all, while rooting around in the freezer for some worthy fish, Mr. P unearthed some bangers that he'd TOTALLY forgotten about....  So, we had bangers and mash for dinner.  Which was really just a base for Nigel Slater's onion gravy with marsala.  Heaven on a plate.

Oh, and I made two more granny squares.

(And if you hadn't already guessed it, the abundance of foodie photos in this post is down to the fact that I am learning to use my tripod.  The one I've had for 10 years and never learned how to use.  It's amazing what blogging drives you to...)

So, you see really, I am glad the weekend is over and I can return to work for a rest.

Have a good week.

C.x

Cloth

I was asked about one of the photos from my sampler:



and whether that was the interior of my house. I so wish that were true! It comes from Cloth Fabric in Sydney - an amazing shop where the owner works with local artists to create textiles in a traditional way.



I could have bought everything in this shop...



...the wallpaper, those paintings...



...those cushions, that vase...



...that lovely, lovely lamp...



...all those delicious ornaments...



...all of it, really...

Instead I had to content myself with some small fabric off cuts:








(sorry, that could have done with a good iron before I took the photo, but you get the gist.)

And, inspired by the use of so much hemp (or perhaps in another rush of blood to the head), I decided that a couple of coffee sacks might be just the ticket, so I begged these for free from a Sydney coffee shop:







(again, iron entirely absent...)

I have an idea for the Cloth fabrics but more of that another time. No idea what I'll do with the coffee sacks. Cushion cover? Lampshade? All suggestions welcome.

In another life, my house will be full of Cloth.

C.x
PS I need some help. I love the "you might also like..." links at the end of each post on lots of other blogs, but I've just tried to find out how to do it in mine and just can't. (it's 5.30am and I am stupid with jet lag) Can anyone point me in the right direction? I thought it might be "links to old blogs" but I've already got that on the right hand side. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. C.

PPS So, I figured it out (sort of). After struggling a bit more with it, I went onto the blogger help forum and simply typed "you might also like" and it led me to a free and ad-free widget download that does the business.  Still haven't figured out how to customise the selection of the three old post referrals, but it's a start. C.