The beautiful Blue isn't well, so I gave her her dinner separately today and, as she hung out for a bit with me, yoghurty beak and all, I couldn't resist a photo or two...
That's one mucky beak, she looks like she's dip-dyed it!
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Wardrobe pocket organiser... or the smalls holder!
I have some nice underwear, I really do. Most of the time however it sits in a drawer forgotten about and so this week, one of my little projects was to make a pocket organiser to hang inside the wardrobe door and hold my lovely smalls. You can blame it on/thank 50 Shades, it seems almost anything is at the moment! ;o)
I re-purposed a blind that used to hang in my old kitchen... top right hand corner of the gratuitous photo of my friends dressed as pirates and, if you look carefully, an octopus!
It was a pretty rough and ready sewathon, it took less than an hour to make.
I cut the back (it's prelined from its days as a blind) piece out, 20" wide and 25" tall (I allowed 1" on each edge for hemming), using as many pre-existing finished edges as I could to minimise sewing. The cut edges I neatened with a row of zigzag stitch and the two long sides I turned and hemmed. I also kept details from the blind such as the buttons along the top as a decorative detail.
The organiser has 9 pockets approximately 6" x 6" big. I cut 8" wide x 19" long strips of fabric, giving myself an inch top and bottom to hem them and a 1/2" turn in each side. Starting from the bottom I sewed them onto the backing. For the bottom row I used a piece that was pre-hemmed and stitched it over the unfinished edge of the backing before folding it over to encase the bottom edge.
The outside edges were then folded in line with the outer edge and stitched in place.
And the one large pocket separated into three, 6" wide each, with a single vertical line of stitching.
The next two rows followed in much the same way, the bottom seam sewn right side to right side and folded over, edges turned in and pocket seams sewn at 6" gaps.
So there you have it, by no means a work of (stitched) art but a quick and easy to make, useful bit of re-purposing and the fabric is one of my favourites, a really cheerful modern floral; it made a nice change from acres of white cotton!
Seams, seams, seams...
 |
| I know, it's blue, I quite like the blue... |
Phew! They're all done, it's been a labour... of love? not so sure about that but very much worth the effort. Cuffs and hem to go and I can get back to the fun stuff like the big oversleeves, I'm quite excited by the prospect of them :o)
Monday, 23 July 2012
It's quiet...
As the lovely boyf closed the door behind him this morning, the silence was heavy in the pit of my stomach; butterflies hovering nervously above. He is on a last minute business trip to Boston, the 11 yr old is in Devon with her Dad… it’s just me and the dogs (ok, and the cat, chooks, fish and hamster!)
I used to love silence, I was a curl up with a book in my room kinda gal. Then came growing up, work, marriage, baby and all the accompanying noise, broken up briefly by the thundering silence of the divorce, before being filled again with new friends and family (both two legged and four).
I have actively cultivated a busy, noisy life and when the boyf, now a firm fixture in that life, started travelling more frequently it would throw me into such a panic. I was too reliant on our busy, managing-the-day-together camaraderie. Such things can't last however, it was time to grow up again and I am now slowly learning to find my way back to the joy of real silence and my own company.
It is surprising how much free time you have when there is just yourself to mind and, instead of worrying about how to fill it, I have a schedule of things I'd like to get done, if I have time. Little projects that on a normal busy day would never make it past a thought. I have enjoyed a day of dog walks, dinner in the garden, painting and stitching. I am looking forward to it all again tomorrow, and Wednesday too.
By Thursday I'll be itching for my two back home, which they will be... bringing with them that lovely chatter of home and family.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
