I couldn't do it...

I could not stick to my list.  This is what I came home with:



uuhh, I'm hiding it from Scott in between typing and photographing.  Lucky all of it is spoken for, and most of it will be cut up, sewed up, or market out before the day is done.

posted by: blytheswideshut at September 11, 2005 13:00 | link | comments |

Lest we forget

I sat in front of the site in November of last year, for a very long time, struggling to imagine what 9/11 must have been like; the loss, the devastation, the sheer terror, and I couldn't even begin to come close.  I stayed there awhile, lump in my throat, tears streaming down my face, silent.  After an hour or so I had to slowly make my way somewhere else.  Once I was somewhere else, I realised something - it was almost silent there, at the site.  Despite the work, the traffic and the people, it really was very quiet.

posted by: blytheswideshut at September 11, 2005 11:39 | link | comments |

mitred corners

In the interests of actually making an apron for this month's Tie One On, I taught myself to make mitred corners last night.  I was half asleep, and a bit droopy at 2am, but after reading 101 instruction sheets, I decided to just have a go.  This was the result.



Front side. I didn't press the seams, or measure anything, so it's not perfect. I needed to mitre both sides, so here's the back side.



The back side came out a lot better.  By this time I'd got my head around how the whole thing worked, and the results were a little better.  I'm sort of a learn by doing kind of person.  But I can't ever 'DO' anything until I've put myself into information overload.  Once I'm awash with hints, tips, tutorials and examples, I then put it all aside and have a go myself.  It seems to work for me. (unfortunately not always the first time!)

Here's the actual fabrics I'll be using.  The brief for September's Tie One On is "Dish Towel Apron".  So I bought a tea towel yesterday for 99c at Spotlight, and some vaguely complimentary fabric for $1.99 at Lincraft, so the whole project should cost about $3.50 (50c for pro-rata thread cost).  You should see the tea towel - it is truly awful.  Very coarse and rough, with wide, open weaving and flecks of woody fibres in the cotton.  I remedied the situation by washing the towel in boiling hot water a couple of times to 'shrink' the fibres together, then ironing it from wet with a very hot iron.  Now the towel is a great deal softer, and has the appearance of being tightly woven.  A vast improvement.



I have to go back to Spotlight this morning to get some white fusible interfacing, and yellow thread for the apron. These two items only - no extras. I promise. haha.

Larger versions of the images are available here.

posted by: blytheswideshut at September 11, 2005 07:32 | link | comments |

tingling

The tingling in my hands kept me awake last night.  Secretly I'm starting to worry about how bad the carpal tunnel effects could end up being.  It also seems that any time I do any hand sewing the subsequent/consequent pain in my hand is almost unbearable.  Yesterday I did some finishing work on some machine sewn garments, for perhaps 15 minutes, and the pain that I experienced last night was almost unbearable.

The other flare up I had recently was during the great 'sock monkey' crazy of July 2005.  I sewed on arms, ears, tails, and faces all by hand, and had the same after effects.   But I can't not hand finish off my sewn items - just the thought of stray threads, stitching coming unravelled, or messy work makes my skin crawl - especially if it's an item intended for another.

At the moment I'm getting prepared to make a Jordy-Bag to send down to my (recently re-united) Auntie Bobbie, who is going into hospital for major spinal surgery in early October.  I'm planning to use this fabric  for the outer, and some sort of similarly shaded  fabric for the lining.  I'm going to put a zip in the jordy-bag though, and I'm also going to put a fold-over flap on the bag, in the style of a messenger bag, because I think it will look neater that way.  I'm going to fill the bag with crossword and other puzzle books, pens, and a novel to keep her busy while she recuperates.

Back tack match-ups are posted this week - I hope I get in, I'm very excited!  I can use my Jordy-Bag project as a practice run for the Back-Tack bag swap.

The kids are sleeping, and even though I am tired and my arms are aching - I can't have my usualy Nanna-nap, I have a little visitor this week.  The elder sister of one of my Friday kids is with me this week for "work experience" - aparently she wants to work with kids when she grows up.  So she's here observing the shenanningans that go on here.  Fun.

We were going to go and see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night, but Scott came home and went straight to bed, he'd been nursing a migrane all day, and he couldn't stand to be vertical another minute.

When he got up we had crumbed lamb cutlets for dinner.  First time I've had them since I lived at home and my Mum used to make them.

posted by: blytheswideshut at September 06, 2005 13:45 | link | comments (1) |

the week that was

1. It was my birthday on Friday. I am now censored years old.
2. Aunt flo visited for the first time in three months.
3. Dog bite boy's ear did not survive.
4. Diamonds and platinum helped to take the sting out of turning censored.
5. Scott got back from his 4 night business trip, only to find out that he has to go away for a full week. I'm not really jazzed about it.
6. I forgot to call my dad and wish him a happy Father's day.
7. I continue to be shocked, appalled and speechless at the aftermath of Katrina. I just can't believe what I"m seeing. What happened to America the SuperPower?
8. Smartie's Birthday was on Saturday, he is now 3.  He can read 3 and four letter words, and is able to write legibly.
9. I need a holiday.  But I have to finish my tax first.
10. If I don't take a holiday soon, I am going to melt down.

posted by: blytheswideshut at September 04, 2005 22:39 | link | comments (1) |

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