Day 4: Fabric Shopping

I didn't actually work on any UFO's yesterday. I had them with me, but I didn't touch them. Actually, that's not quite true, I did take the Hungry Caterpillar Dress out of my bag to show it to Lily, who I spent the day visiting.

Before visiting Lily, I went fabric shopping. Fabric Warehouse has their pop up shop open at the moment, with nothing over $5pm. Too good an opportunity to pass up.
I found:
A gorgeous blue satin, which I currently don't have a photo of as I gave it to Lily for her birthday. Apparently it's likely to become her wedding dress, which makes me happy :)

Knit fabrics, cotton and cotton blends

 The grey cotton is destined to become a t-shirt muslin and a bunch of underwear. The blue and black stripe are intended for tops. As I've realised I need some tops, especially short sleeved tops, that aren't baggy t's and that don't have writing on them.

Black wool, it's darker than the picture shows

 $5pm for lightweight black wool. (Yet another) panel skirt I think, this one for next winter.

Black on black

 Gynn mentioned ages ago that he wants me to make him a waistcoat, with a black on black damask type pattern. I've always had a look around for it, but never seem to find it. So when I found this for $5pm, I was stoked. Showed it to him, and he likes it, apparently it's just want he had in mind. It's really lightweight, so I'm going to have to underline it. (I think that's the one where you cut another piece the same then sew them as if they were one piece in the pattern).  Just what I needed, a new project to start.... But given I've been keeping my eye out for the right fabric, I wasn't going to not get it.

Between finding a black on black for Gynn and finding perfect blue fabric for Lily, it was totally worth the trip to check out the sale.

 I also visited Asia Gallery, where I'd never been before. But after seeing the photos from The Great Wellington Craft Crawl that Leimomi, The Dreamstress organised, I really wanted to take a look.

Pretty blue and black. 

The blue and black is going to become a jacket, something I've always wanted to make myself. Still not sure on the pattern yet, but something about hip length I'm thinking.

I got a couple of other fabrics, but they really didn't photograph well. I have a suspicion my mum might want one of them when she comes up next month too. They had so many pretties in there. The racks of kimono's were amazing. There is also a massive bin of $5 kimono. I had a bit of a rummage, while wishing I could tip it out and get to all of them. Came home with a couple more than intended, but I now have a black kimono to be used as a spring/summer weight dressing gown, one for Lily, one for Gynn, plus a couple of others that I loved the fabric on.

So rather than working on UFO's, I got the materials for a couple of projects I want to do. It almost seems the reverse for this months intention. But you know what, my crafting is about enjoyment. There is often an element of money saving, as I tend to buy fabrics on sale. There is definitely an element of having things that I like and that suit/fit me. But primarily, I craft because I enjoy the process of creating as well as the satisfaction of the finished project. I don't ever want to lose that enjoyment in my crafting.

Day 3: FO: Cabled Baby Cocoon

This post is a day late, due to a migraine that had no consideration for things I wanted to get done. However, it's still getting written.

Wednesday was a good day. I worked away the morning. The afternoon was spent in the kitchen, two lasagna's and a dish of spinach and ricotta cannelloni later, I had dinner for 7 people, leftovers for a meal on Thursday and a lasagna in the freezer ready for another night.

The evening was spent working on my Cabled Baby Cocoon, using this pattern. Which I finished!!! The story being me making this, was a few months ago, I decided to cut my hair. I went from hair down past my waist, to hair just past my shoulder. Before getting it cut, I decided I needed photos of just how long my hair was. Unfortunately, I can't find the disc, so I can't share any of the before photos that Jackie of J-Photography took, but here is her Facebook page and Flickr if you want to check out her work. I've looked in all the obvious places, but I must have put it somewhere very safe when I cleared my computer desk prior to going away. In return for her taking the photos, I was going to make a newborn prop for her, being this baby cocoon that she'd seen and loved.

And here it is

Cocoon

Cocoon with a doll of Guinevere's in it

Day 2: Bits and Bobs

Yesterday was a busy day, I spent most of it working, then the evening I was trying to get things done with a daughter who wanted attention and didn't want to sleep. I went to bed when she did, and was asleep about 15 minutes after her.

In the middle of all my busyness, I managed to get things done.
My UFO progress was small. While I had a few minutes between clients, I sat in my car and did some knitting on a baby blanket. It's been on the needles for awhile, and looks pretty much the same as this one that I finished last October. Actually, this one might have been started then, as it got started not too long after I finished the first one.

I spent time cutting out and taping together a cloth pull up pattern, I'm trying out this one, the Trimsie Trainer pattern. So I had managed to measure Guinevere to work out what size I need (the largest! Eeep, she really got her mama's thighs, good for walking long distances) so I could work out how much fabric I needed. Then it was picking out the colours I wanted. Which Guinevere helped with. She was pointing to all the bright colours (and black) on my computer monitor, saying 'red' to most of them. Still trying to decide exactly how many I'm going to make. And what I'm going to use for the inner layer. I'm thinking flannelette, so she knows when she's wet.

I know working on cloth pull ups isn't working on a UFO, but it's working on something that's needed. Plus I've found when I start new projects with a UFO completion mindset, I'm more likely to finish my new project, meaning no new UFO's filling the cupboard.

I was hoping I'd get as far as working on my wetbags, but that might have to wait.

Day 1: Corset and Wetbags

So technically today is the first day of my 31 day series, but I'm not writing about today. As I decided after doing this last year, I'm going to write about the previous day. With the little one I'm never quite sure when I'm going to get free time to write. Especially as she's a night owl. She goes to bed late and gets up late. I have tried to change it, but it's never worked, she takes after her dad.  I also have to find time around the job I started a week ago. Anyways, back to what I was saying.... So my plan is to write about the previous day, regardless of what time of day I get a chance to blog.

But I did work on UFO's yesterday. Two of them even.

I spent some time unpicking binding I'd stitched onto my underbust corset. I'd sewn it on as a single layer, not doubled. Whoops. I'm not going to say much about my corset until I have it all finished, which I'm planning on doing within the next two weeks.

Ages ago, like about 6 months ago, I made a wetbag. I cut another out at the same time. Even though it was such a simple project, and it worked well, I just never got around to making the second one. Yesterday I cut out the other two. Meaning I now have 3 cut wetbags sitting on my worktable ready to go. Cutting out the other two wetbags does count as working on a UFO, as they were planned and the fabric was sitting with the cut one in my UFO cupboard. I plan to work on them maybe later today, more likely tomorrow.

3 cut wetbags, patiently waiting stitching. 

I have discovered that even with being washed once or twice a week, the old wetbag has barely frayed around the cut edges of the handle. So I haven't decided if I'm going to overlock what will be the exposed edges of these ones. I know I should, as it's better workmanship, but really it'll probably depend on what time of day I start working on them. And if I feel like switching my overlocker from black to white thread.

Oh, and I'm also not going to be blogging every day this month. I go away at Labour Weekend to the Wellington Folk Festival. I don't even have cellphone reception out there. So it's a technology free weekend. It's such an amazing weekend too. Camping with friends. My mother in law is usually down the other end of the camp, and will probably take Guinevere for a night, which means a night with no child climbing into our bed in the early morning hours wanting cuddles. There is a ceilidh (dance) on the Saturday night, with a caller, so that even if you don't know the dances beforehand, you will after. Then of course there is the homebrew and singing later that night. The Sunday night is the main concert. It's just a weekend full of family, friends, fun, music, dancing and relaxing. There is a good chance I'm not even going to work on UFO's that weekend. Well, not a UFO from the cupboard. I could count my daughter as a UFO, she's totally a work in progress. And is the most amazing thing I've 'made'. 

I'm rambling.... Time to go play with fabrics I think. 

Cleared Worktable

On Friday night I started pottering at my worktable, slowly picking bits up and working out where they should go. Nothing too serious. Just as I went past each time, which admittedly is pretty frequently, as I walk past it to get to my computer, I'd pick something up and sort it.
Yesterday I did a little bit more. I was even able to start seeing the table top. You can see how covered it is in this photo (yes, same photo as in my last blog post)

Worktable used as dumping ground

And that photo is after I'd spent some time sorting things on it. Previous there wasn't space for the black and white bag at the front. 

This is what it now looks like:

Tidied worktable

All that is on it is my overlocker, a basket of craft bits that need new homes (most have new homes, they just need to get there), and a tray with my priority UFO's. I think there are 4 in there. 

I don't think my worktable has ever looked this clear, apart from the day it got moved into my sewing room. It's definitely going to make it easier to work on my UFO's for the next month as I do my '31 Days of Unfinished Projects.'

31 Days of Unfinished Projects, Take Two

Last year I participated in Nesters 31 days blog challenge. Here is where I started talking about it last year. I've decided that I'm going to do the same again this year. Partly to once again give me some motivation to work on my UFO's. The other part is I've been pretty slack in the blogging department for the past few months, I keep saying to myself, 'I'll do it tomorrow', and then don't. This means I have to do it today, and will hopefully get me back into the habit.

I still have a cupboard full of UFO's. Plus a box of cross stitch ones in another cupboard. Plus a few on the (very cluttered) worktable. I'd like to say I have less UFO's than last year, but looking at my list from last year, too many of them are still UFO's. But that's okay right? They say that good things take time.

I have a quote on the wall behind my computer, no idea where it came from, but I really think I need to embrace it a bit more, 'Let go of projects that feel like obligations not opportunities.'
I know I finished a bunch of last years UFO's, as I wrote about here, but not as many as I would have liked. I was tempted to challenge myself to finish more UFO's this year, but I've just started a new job this week, and am still getting my head around that. I think it will be enough challenge to work on UFO's and blog about it daily.
On a side note, I'm glad I've gone back and read that, it's reminded me of something I wanted to do differently this time, writing in the morning about the progress I made the previous day.

My mostly un-usable work table

 I can see 3 UFO's in that photo. In the stripy bag is a knitted baby wrap that needs sewn up and buttons added. In the black/white bag at the front is the Hungry Caterpillar dress that only needs buttons sewn on. It also contains my underbust corset that needs the binding sewn on. That bag is going with me to social sewing tomorrow, so progress will be made. I also know that at the end of the table are a couple of cut but not sewn wetbags which I really should finish.

My UFO Cupboard

 This is my UFO cupboard. Sorry for the bad photo, there is an ironing board and a worktable in front of the cupboard, so I can open it, but there isn't much space to take a photo of the whole thing. But you get the idea. There is another shelf below the three that you can see. As you can also see, it's a mess of unfinished projects. They're all just kinda crammed in there.

Cross stitch box

All my cross stitch supplies are stored in one box. Except for the thread, there are three thread boxes for those, they're on another shelf as they won't fit in the box. There are kits, pretty much all of which I think I've started. Plus a whole bunch of fabrics. Fox Collections used to do packs of 10 pieces of random aida for $25, and I might have bought two of them, back when I was doing a lot of cross stitch. And when I say back when I was doing a lot of cross stitch, I really mean about 10 years ago.... The rational part of my brain knows I don't need all that fabric, and knows I could easily replace it, but it's still hard to get rid of it, as it's aida I would use if I started another cross stitch. Which I really shouldn't do until I've finished some of the ones currently in progress.

You know, I'm a bit ashamed of just how many UFO's are in that cupboard, and how much of a mess it is. Please tell me I'm not the only one with a space like that.... Makes me realise just how much of a good idea this will be. Only 3 more days till October. But that doesn't mean I can't start work on UFO's now. Well, not now, I'm going to bed now. But tomorrow....

Belated Cape-Along

It's been a few weeks, and not for lack of anything to write about. I spent the first four weeks after my last post making things and preparing for an overseas trip. The past three weeks have been spent overseas with my little family. The past three days have been spent home sick. Not nearly as much fun, but glad it happened as I was heading home from holiday rather than heading on holiday.

One of the things I made before I went away was a cloak for my little one. Actually, I made two cloaks, as I made one for myself, but I'm going to ramble about the little one's one first.

Over at The Monthly Stitch the August challenge was making a cape. Now, I know I made a cloak, and it's not quite the same. But with all that I had to do before going away I wasn't going to have time to make myself a pretty little cape, so I'm totally counting what I did make.

We went to Burning Man. My husband has a large cloak he wears, that keeps him warm as he wanders the nighttime playa and doubles as a blanket. Plus when you wear it on the plane it counts as a jacket and doesn't take up luggage allowance. I decided I was going to make one for myself and for our daughter.

For Guinevere, I found a neon yellow fun fur on clearance. I had some polarfleece I'd gotten in a 40% off sale, enough for the middle layer of both our cloaks, plus some rainbow swirly satin for her, just like her Daddy's cloak. I also had some calico for an additional, velcro out layer, that would have EL wire sewn to it, to provide light when wandering around at night.

Guinevere telling me how she thinks I should lay out the pattern pieces

Guinevere attempting to cut out the fabric using her little scissors

Guinevere happily snuggled up on the couch wrapped in her cloak and grinning at Daddy (who you can't see, but is wearing his cloak)

I don't actually have any photos of her wearing it at Burning Man. Two reasons, one, I didn't take very many photos. Two, the cloak turned out to be impractical for wearing, she kept taking it off, which is no good when I was using it to light her up. So I sewed EL wire onto her little jacket, and used the cloak as a blanket in the wagon we were pulling her around in. She did spend about 30 minutes one evening running around the camp in it, but as soon as we went to head out, off it came. It wasn't helped by it being quite a warm burn, usually in the evenings she was topless under her jacket. Previous years she would have needed a layer or two of merino under it. 

My cloak, which I'll share photos off when I've taken some, didn't get worn at all, it was just too warm at night. Most nights I was still in just a t-shirt by the time we made it back to our RV for the night. 

So, blogged about a bit later than August, but still made in August, so I'm totally counting it.