Snuggly

Snuggly

reuse sewing

Hello. Are you keeping warm, it's a bit chilly out there. If I keep my neck warm the rest of me usually stays warm as well. I often wear scarves, even in the house, but I remembered about this fleecy neck snuggly which I made a couple of years ago and dug it out of the cupboard. I posted about it, but I thought it's worth another mention because it's quick and easy to make, and someone else might like to have a go.  

All you need is a small childs fleecey top with a zip up the front. Mine was a hoodie, I bought it from a charity shop for 50p. It sits nicely around my neck, tucked inside my fleecy top. 

First I took the zip out, then cut across the middle off the garment under the armpits. I hemmed the two sides where the zip was, and hemmed the top. This one has two handy pockets, which could be used to hold a mobile phone, cash, or keys. I wrapped it around my neck and marked the places where the press studs needed to be.

Next I made a pair of fingerless gloves with the bottoms of the sleeves. Hem the cut edges, and put a few stitches between the thumb and first finger. They fit snugly round my wrists.

Keep a look out for a child's fleece in the charity shops, or maybe you have a child in the family who has outgrown theirs. Are you managing to keep warm?

I went to town this afternoon to collect two of my pictures from the Arts Centre. The third one is going to be in the Open Exhibition, which starts on Saturday and is on until February. I shall go tomorrow night for the preview.

Heidi is at the vet tomorrow morning, we need some more tablets, and they will be checking her blood count as well. She seems to be doing ok, she is quite lively and playful.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Home made shopping bags are in fashion

Home made shopping bags are in fashion

make a bag Scrapstore sewing

Hello and Good Morning. Here's another colourful post for you. Why do shopping bags have to be dull, boring, plain, brown, grey, plastic, or covered in advertising logo's? There are alternatives. Let's brighten things up and make shopping bags a fashion accessory. Let's have them in a multitude of colours and designs. Let's use up all the spare fabric we have and make pretty fabric bags which can be washed and used for years. Here's my latest selection just finished. 

Made from fabric sample books so the two sides are different. I found some extra fabric for the handles so they don't match, but it doesn't matter. The sample books were included in my £5 basket when I last went shopping in the Scrapstore, so these cost virtually nothing.

If you don't have a Scrapstore, you could look in car boot sales and charity shops for cheap fabric. Curtains work well, bed throws, as well. Anyone with a sewing machine can make shopping bags. Let's all brighten up the High Street, the shopping malls, the markets and supermarkets. Are you game for this? Go on, give it a go. Show off your own home made shopping bag with pride.

How to make a shopping bag.

Thank's for popping in, I've got things to do, we'll catch up soon. Enjoy your Sunday.
Toodle pip.
PS. When I say, 'we'll catch up soon', there is no particular time scale on that, it could be anytime.

What can you do with a tin of peas

What can you do with a tin of peas

food make a bag sewing vegetarian

Hello. There are some days when I don't mind what I eat, as long as it's cheap and fills me up. Saying that, you won't find any meat or fish in my fridge, unless it's cheap white fish for the cats, I no longer buy ready meals either. I will sometimes splash out a bit more dosh for something extra delicious, but not very often because I can make tasty food from scratch myself. So, I buy my food on price. My meals don't always look appetizing, my aim is to eat it, not to step back and admire my handiwork. 

A while ago I picked up a dented tin of mushy peas from Tesco, maybe I ought it eat it. 

My lunch yesterday was a spud in the microwave and half of the peas. Scoff scoff, it filled my tum, and at only 15p, it was a bargain. Bags of spuds are in season and cheap at the moment.

Dinner last night was steamed sprouts, broccoli, potatoes, and an onion, topped with the other half of the peas. Another tum filler at possibly 40p, a wild guess.

This is ten shopping bags waiting to be assembled. I had a fabric sample book from the Scrapstore and took it apart. The pieces weren't big enough to make a complete bag and handles, so I have used other fabric for the handles. I don't think it will matter, the two sides will be different anyway because there is only one sample of each. Best get on with it then. Need them for the Christmas Fair.  

Thanks for all your comments on the previous post, it's good to hear that we are all on the same wavelength. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Hanging hearts

Hanging hearts

crafty stuff sewing

Hello. I went for my annual check up at the dentist this morning, and was in for a surprise, my usual lady dentist Emma was not there, she has left, and now I have a young man to prod around in my mouth. Jim was friendly enough, he decided to do a couple of x rays. Oh dear, after years of getting a clean bill of health, it seems I now need a filling replacing. He showed me the dark shadow, indicating that something was going on inside. He said nothing might happen to the tooth for a long time, and it was up to me if I want to go ahead with it. I suppose I had better get it done, I can't afford to lose the tooth. 

I've started to make some small felt decorations for our Village Hall Christmas Fair, they sold quite well last year. Pink and purple. I make a back and a front, put a bit of stuffing in, and blanket stitch them together, trapping the ribbon inside.   

I popped in the garden centre on the way back from the dentist, and bought four plants for the flower beds. Two of them are lavender reduced to £1.50 each and looked like they needed some TLC, the other two are heathers, purple and white. All planted and watered up now, and looking good.

I haven't found out anything about the email notifications not working properly, no one has answered my query on the Blogger Forum.

I've got things to do now, so I'll sign off. Thanks for popping in, We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Coffee cat

Coffee cat

cats sewing

Hello. This morning didn't get off to a very good start. I had to make a second mug of coffee because I didn't get to drink all of the first one. I was sitting at the dining room table with my drink,  as I always do, when out of nowhere came Mayze cat, taking a flying leap onto the table. It's a good job I had the mug in my hand or it would have gone all over the place. Her back leg went straight into it splashing coffee onto the table and up the wall as she jumped onto the window sill. After my initial annoyance I had to laugh as she tucked her coffee leg underneath her and lay down, looking all innocent. 

I've made twelve shopping bags to be sold for our cat rescue on our stall at the Epworth Show on Bank Holiday Monday. Me and Janet will be doing it as I have a big car to transport four tables and all the stuff we have for sale. I have booked extra space this time so we won't have to squash into the line with the other stallholders in the shopping tent. On the opposite side are individual booths of twelve feet square, so we will be able to set up our little shop in one of those.

Talking of cats, Sue has taken in three last week, it's lucky that we had a pen for them. They came from a flat where someone was evicted and they moved into a place where they cannot have pets. These cats are quite nervous and shy because they haven't been outside before. Two of them need neutering which will be done quite soon when they get settled into the pen.

Just a quick one tonight, I'm going to switch off and read a book. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

My hippy style bag

My hippy style bag

crafty stuff make a bag sewing

Hello. I've been busy getting on with stuff, plenty to do at Tightwad Towers. Thank you so much for all your kind wishes, I am overwhelmed by how many people take the time to send in their comments. But, life goes on and I have a lot of memories to look back on. Uncle Stan had a long and full life, and I hope to follow his example and fill mine with what makes me happy, and that is mainly keeping busy doing things I enjoy. 

I spent this morning finishing off this bag. It's 12 inches by 13 inches, and made out of scrap fabric, some hand stitching and some machining. I made the back and front as two separate pieces then blanket stitched them together. It is several layers thick so it isn't floppy. The handles are long enough to go over one shoulder, which is how people like to hold them. 

I have added a tab with a piece of black elastic to the back, which fastens onto the button on the front.

All the stitching is random, I didn't have a plan, just added it where I thought it would look nice. I frayed some of the edges of the fabric. 

The back is a plainish piece of fabric.

I am very pleased with it. I have made another bag front with a mixture of red and pink fabrics. Another work in progress to join the other projects. I need to do some work in the garden in the next week. The lilac trees are down but there is still a lot of trimming up on the other bushes, and the front garden needs some attention too. Thank goodness for the electric hedge trimmer.

I'll get off I've still to do the walk yet, don't want to get behind. Shed of the Year is about to start but I'll catch it later. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

When life throws you a curved needle

When life throws you a curved needle

crafty stuff sewing

Hello. My art project keeps throwing new ideas at me, it's not as straight forward as I first thought when the seed was planted. I now have to turn it into a fully grown cottage garden which will need lots of nurturing to get it into it's finished state. 

I need to sew around corners so I am using a curved needle, but it's not easy. With a normal needle I have to go up and down, pulling it through to the underneath and poking it back up again. I thought this curved needle would make the job easy so I can do the work from the top, but where should I grip it?

The eye is quite big so I suppose I could get a better grip on that, but it is so long I might not be able to control the pointy bit. I could hold it half way along but then it swizzles around and it takes a few stabs before I find the exact right place for the stitch. It's too narrow at the point to hold.

Maybe I could buy a smaller curved needle, I might look when I am next in town. Do they make smaller ones, are they easier to handle? In the meantime I shall carry on with this one. I can see this taking a long time.

Thank you for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip