Lifestyle - A Day at the Museums

In the last week of the Easter holidays I met up with my good friend Tabatha Tweedie her two gorgeous kids for a trip to the Hands on History centre in Hull. We were glad we'd arranged to go as they're closing it down which is going to be a real loss. Hull is meant to be city of culture soon, not sure closing museums really goes with that image!

But, moving on. We met at 10am in time for it opening and lept through the door as soon as they opened it. The ground floor is all about childhood and had a Victorian school set up as well as the chance to dress up in some costumes. Madam decided she would like to be a chimney sweep... 

The kids took it in turn being teacher and then we went to check out the raised area which had lots of books and a puppet theatre. Madam and little tweedie played with the puppets and the animal shaped cushions whilst baba tweedie made a myriad of escape attempts and threw blocks through the gaps in the railings. 

We then went down into the cellar which was set up as a scullery and had lots of laundry items as well as a two seated loo that amused the girls immensely. Baba tweedie chose to climb up and down the stairs with his mummy whilst I supervised the giggling in the cellar!

The girls ran off to look in the shop and when we caught up with them we were bemused to see a lot of Egyptian items. At which point one of the staff pointed out the lift and we discovered there was an upstairs gallery as well! 

We found a room filled with Egyptian artifacts as well as a side room with a sarcophagus and mummy in. Madam was a bit creeped out by the mummy and dashed off into the final display area. This was all about life in Hull through the years. 

They had lots of examples of really random things including a room set up as an 80s living room, complete with textured wallpaper and ruched blinds! Tabatha and I loved seeing the needlework, costumes and old sewing items. I also found a doll dressed in the 1930s uniform of Newland High School for Girls, which my grandmother would have worn. Cool. 

After rounding up the girls who had found a clocking on machine to play with we left through the shop again and said goodbye to the Tweedies. Madam and I went to McDonalds for lunch (which she thinks is the best thing ever!) and then headed for the Maritime Museum. 

This is one of our favourite museums to visit and madam chose to save her favourite part for last. This meant I got to go to the upstairs gallery which was having a Beryl Cook exhibition. I love Beryl's art and was really glad to see so many paintings to look at. Madam even found a display she could play with. 

I did manage to avoid having to explain the Karma Sutra paintings that were tucked in a corner area, thankfully! Madam then went to find her favourite sign before we headed downstairs to the whaling gallery. 

Whilst in the whaling area we discovered they were having a hands on display so we got to handle a piece of baleen (whale's teeth), a harpoon and looked at a whale vertebrae that had been used as a butchers block. I took madam to look at the scrimshaw cabinet as we always notice something new in there. She was most fascinated with the Narwhal tusks this time. 

After having run several times around the museum we declared it time for an ice cream and then rang my mum to pick us up. Parents are great, aren't they? :-) 

I love how many free museums there are to look around in Hull. We'll go again in May half term and look at some of the others. Do you have a favourite museum? 

Love, Pearl.

Craft - Frozen Cape for Madam

What did you do with your Saturday night? I ended up spending hours making an Anna/Elsa cape inspired by Frozen for madam. She, like many many other little girls around the world is totally in love with the newest Disney film.

She asked me, originally, to make a cape like Queen Elsa's coronation one, but that one is really too hard for me to recreate easily. Princess Anna also has a purple cape on for the majority of the film and this has a pom pom trim. I decided to make a combination of both of them. It is full length on her and flows really well.

checking the length!

I found this simple tutorial on Pinterest and used that to make the cape. Obviously I scaled it down to make a child sized version and also made the hood a snugger fit as I didn't want it to be sinister! 

I chose to make the hood and cape ties in a different colour and fabric to the main cloak, just to make my life more complicated! It all went well until I came to attaching the hood to the cape and then I managed to break my sewing machine needle. :(

After a frantic hunt through the house I managed to find the spare needle I knew I'd seen somewhere. *Mental note: buy more machine needles!* After finishing attaching the hood I only had to add on the pom pom trim and the neck ties. Simples. Yeah, except the trim wouldn't go through the machine!

Pom poms pinned in position.

Hand sewing trim down the full length of both open edges takes ages! And I had promised it would be ready for the morning. Argh! I just used a simple back stitch and got cracking. That's a lot of pom poms.

But I am so glad I did it. It really finishes off the cape perfectly and it makes it look less like the quick sew it really was! (She has ordered a red one and a black one as well. You know, to be Red Riding Hood and Darth Vader. Obvs.)

Finished! Just waiting to be snuck into madam's room for a morning surprise...

Madam has not taken it off since waking up to find it hanging on the wardrobe door in her room. Well, except when I insisted during painting at Sunday Club earlier!

She wore it over her coat whilst walking to church and back and she wore it to the restaurant for my parents Ruby Wedding lunch. She even wore it whilst we watched Frozen after getting home from the restaurant again.

a demure, queenly pose

yeah, that's more like madam!

I'm glad all my effort was at least appreciated and the number of people who've commented on it has been quite satisfying too! But, no, I'm not making any more that quickly. At least not with pom poms!

She asked me to take a video of her dancing on her bed in it this morning, so here it is for your amusement...

What did you do with your Saturday evening? I think my next one will be *much* quieter!

Love, Pearl.

a work, or two, in progress

I have done it again. I have started another project without actually quite finishing the last one. I didn't used to do that when I first started. So what changed?

Which bit of me is it that is incapable of finishing what I've started? Because it creeps up and attacks me in other areas of my life as well. I am at an international level for my  procrastination, that much has been true for years. But that usually involves me *not* starting something...

I know that part of it is the thrill of the new I think we all suffer from at various points. You know, when you have to wear your new shoes around the house all day as it's the only way you'll get to wear them... But this thing where I'm racking up unfinished craft projects is not my norm. I am the person who read the Silmarillion (yes, I do want a medal, thanks) because I had started it and didn't want to give up.

(I've just googled Silmarillion to see if I spelt it correctly (I had) and apparently they're talking of making it into a film! Why?)

The only book I have ever given up on, in fact, is Don Quixote. And if you are one of the people who thinks it's brilliant, I will laugh. Because I loathed it. I also really didn't like Wuthering Heights, but did finish it. I have read both Shirley and Vilette because I enjoy Charlotte Bronte's writing. Neither of which were particularly fun for me. So this plodding on until I get it finished is actually my default and I don't know how it's got out of kilter.

Or do I? (that was like some terrible TV thriller). I have begun to wonder if I should view it as a good thing. Not because I end up with loads of unfinished things lying around my already untidy home, but because it shows an unwillingness to put up with things.

I have had a low boredom threshold for years and was trained to stick with things until the end and the joys of delayed gratification. But I am older now, and though I am not seeking instant pleasure wherever and whenever, I am not happy to accept being stuck with something I'm not enjoying.

Why should I? I have, after all, taken the bull by the horns and reclaimed my own life because I was unhappy. I even had to convince myself that giving up on the relationship wasn't giving up. It was actually growth. And allowing myself to be in charge of my life rather than a spectator was ok. I still have wobbles where I realise the power of what I have done, or when K *still* calls me his girl (actually, that mainly pisses me off, how has he not got the message yet?).

On a complete side note, my cousin was asking if I was ok and telling me how sorry he was that life was being shit to me. I mentioned that I was feeling stronger and wasn't prepared to be anyone's punching bag. He hadn't known that part of it and has now promised to beat him up when he next sees him. Which I really don't want, but is quite sweet of him to offer! See, I need someone who wants to fight for me, not with me...

Anyway, back to my inability to finish projects. But it isn't even that. Because 9/10 I do finish them. I just have to have a bit of distance to get re-excited about it again. I set myself challenges with some of my projects by going in at a level I'm not really at yet and hoping I can do it. Sometimes it defeats me and I have to back down and do some simple projects to bolster my confidence for another assault at it. This is certainly how I treat my crochet. And I think that might be because I taught myself from books and magazines with no knowledge of what it should look like. 

I was always pretty confident with the knitting as I have seen people doing it my whole life and knew mine looked "right". But crochet? Nope, none of my family/friends did that. I know a lot who do now, but not when I started. I am more bold with my choices but also love trying new motifs. Because they are small you can try out new stitches/techniques in relative safety. 

So I think that maybe, being always excited and on to the next project is helping me learn more techniques. I want to know it all and grow my skills. The only area this falls down is my sewing! I am still lacking in confidence. Right down to the cutting the pattern. In fact, it's mainly the cutting. Once I have the pieces, sewing it together is not too hard. Fiddly sometimes, but fairly straightforward with the machine. And I like my machine, it does what I ask it to. Bonus!

So, this new pattern I got, I might need some help with... But I will do it :)

Moral of the story? Not sure there is one. But a work-in-progress is not necessarily the only work-in-progress. Learning new skills is fun. Learning when to call it a day is also good...

A Foxy Little Number

Ever since this months issue (10) of Simply Crochet dropped through my letterbox madam has been hankering for me to make her the little fox coin purse featured on the front cover (it is unbelievably cute!).

 

I went out and bought myself some yarn from Boyes as I did want to keep the fox colours as Fox is my mother's maiden name and I have a bit of a thing for them. But you could very easily make it with whatever DK yarn you have...

 

I got home and then couldn't find the box with my crochet hooks in. It wasn't in my pile of crap that lives on the sofa (even after I tidy it all off it resurfaces moments later). It wasn't in the front room that is now kind of my craft room. I did look in a few other places, but no. Yesterday, I thought, well I haven't tried the big storage ottoman which is where the box officially should be. And yup, there it was, in the proper place, no wonder I couldn't find it!

 

I rummaged through it knowing that I have at least one 3.5 hook, but it wasn't there! Brilliant, all that searching and I still didn't have the hook I needed. I gave up and bought another one yesterday so that I could just get on with it. They are only a pound!

 

I started when we got in from school and after doing the first segment twice (I didn't like how it had crocheted up and decided to re-jig the pattern so I could make it more even). I really didn't do anything exciting, just decided to always start the row with an increase and not alternate as the pattern said to do. I found that when I ended a row on an increase and then started the next row with one, one side of my fabric was a lot tighter than the other.

 

By making the increases always at the start (and keeping the spacing to pattern) I solved the problem. It may just be how I crochet, but perhaps worth keeping in mind if you decide to make it yourself.

 

So I made the two sections for the pocket, crocheted them together and started on the flap/head section. It was only when reading the pattern for the head when I realised I had missed an instruction for the pocket.

 

Arse.

 

I went back and unpicked my seam, corrected the mistake by just undoing my ends (I was so glad I hadn't finished the pieces properly yet!) and reattaching my yarn and going form there. Then I re-seamed and added on the head piece.

 

The ears were made up in moments and I added those on and sewed in all my ends etc. I added a cute vintage style button I had for the nose and I'm deciding whether to surface crochet the eyes on as suggested or use some little black buttons for it.

 

I also need to sew in a zip and then he's finished! He is for madam, but I love him so much I really want to keep him! I am also very tempted to give him a Sir Didymus style moustache and eye patch! Maybe if I make one for me I shall do that :)

 

For madam I might add on a strap so that she can wear it more as a little bag as she would love that.

 

And here he is, step by step. I got rid of the photos of the sections I did wrong! These are just what it *should* look like, if you actually read all the instructions carefully! And I don't think you can see where I had to join in the yarn, bonus :)

 

back of pocket

front of pocket

the two halves seamed together (it's invisible from the front)

head section

head attached to pocket

ears to be attached, ends to be sewn in

done!

 

elephants and pigs

Ah, Sunday... I do love a good Sunday. I spend most of them with my parents and we try very hard not to watch any TV at least until late afternoon when madam can't cope any longer! (She only really has it as background noise, she doesn't watch it intently for long.)

 

There is a ban on kids TV channels so it'll only go on if there is something good we all want to watch. Last week we lasted until Deadly 60 (or one of it's incarnations) and then we have to watch whatever my dad chooses...

 

I used to spend most of my afternoon either reading all the magazines and supplements from the 2 Sunday papers my dad always gets. But now I have a laptop and can sit in the living room and still be unsociable by being welded to the internet, but remain in the same room as everyone else! :) Brillbobs...

 

I have made another top for madam, with the beautiful elephant fabric. It was just big enough to make a cute little sun top and madam spent Thursday wearing it whilst we went to the cinema to watch Despicable Me 2. And she enjoyed it almost as much as I did... Only minimal fidgeting involved!

 

The top was pretty easy to construct, I chose to make it harder as I didn't want the elephants marching on their sides. They are on the straps, but there was no way to avoid that... I cut a front and a back, stitched them up the sides and turned down a bit to make a channel for the elastic at the top.

 

I made two folds of fabric for the straps, and threaded elastic through them so they have a cute gathered look and it's really easy for madam to get the top off and on. I sort of followed a pattern I'd come across on Pinterest, but mainly so I got the dimensions, I was going to make it reversible, like the pattern says but couldn't decide on a fabric for the reverse.

 

 

 

I think I made it harder by not though, because I then had to make the specific elastic channel, and I couldn't just trap the straps between the layers to secure them. None-the-less, I'm really pleased with how well it turned out. And so was madam, despite this facial expression! 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday was spent trying to sort out a birthday party for madam. Her birthday is still two months away but I wanted to know I had somewhere booked. Her birthday is on a Friday this year, which also makes it harder. I started off looking at church halls as then we'd just be able to do the invite everyone in the class thing and let them run riot.

 

However, it was so hard to even find out how much the halls were charging. I only found two that listed their hourly rates. The rest just gave me a phone number to call. (We remember how I feel about phonecalls...) I really can't see the point of dedicating a whole section of your website to Hall Hire if it just then says: For all enquiries phone... Useless.

 

I tried the local leisure centre as they do hire too. Again, no rates given. But my mum then asked about their party package and I pointed out it'd be a minimum number of kids and that we would end up paying quite a bit. She pointed out that, judging from the prices we had found, if you added that plus the food and all the hassle, it might be easier to pay for a party.

 

So then we checked the local soft play centre (parent hell, kiddie heaven). Here we found an actual list of prices and a detailed description of what their parties entailed. Finally! And we realised if we booked there we would be able to get it actually on her birthday, too. We'd sort of been looking at the Sat/Sun for hall hire.

 

So I rang up (I know all the people there, so not that hard) and we managed to get after school on her birthday pencilled in. Then mum said she'd pay the deposit so we could secure it. Bonus :) So that's it. We have to invite at least 10 kids at £8 each, but they get two hours playing and food. Normal entry is £5, so it's not bad to get them all the food and save me the hassle.

 

Just need to make a cake and sort out party bags and I'm done :) I have made a pinterest board for party ideas as madam had asked for a piggy party. Might have to find/make her a piggy costume...   





happiness fairy reporting for duty

I've done it! I've finished the fairy outfit! It has been a labour of love to a certain extent. Working with net is not as easy as you'd think. Its hard to get it to line up and the pinning it is a trick.

 

And I have been mostly working with about 6 layers at a go. The wings were a real pain to cut out and as soon as I did I stitched them together on the machine so they would be a bit easier to work with. Then I attached them to the back of madam's vest top and got her to try it on so I could put a stitch through the top of the wings to stop them drooping.

 

I love the fact you can see them from the front as well :)

 

And then, foolishly, I thought I would add a couple of sparkles. So I sewed a few flower sequins onto the top.

 

 

 

And then a couple on the wings.

 

 

 

And then, for some unknown reason I decided to make her a couple of wrist cuffs which required snap fasteners and then another sequin on each! At midnight last night, when I finally finished I did question my own sanity. But madam's face this morning was worth it all!

 

 

 

Getting her to take it off after I'd done the photos was a minor battle I could have done without first thing, but never mind. Fairy costume is finished and I can get on with my next project now :) 

 

 

superhero or flamenco dancer?

I was planning on blogging about the cape I made for madam last night, you know in a step-by-step fashion. But I did that thing of getting caught up in what I was doing and forgetting to take pictures... Sorry!

 

Needless to say, it was a pretty simple make. I sewed to rectangles of cotton poplin together (we ended up with orange and purple) and then turned them through to the right way around. I then merely folded down a section at the top to make the channel for the tie. The tie was made from sewing two strips of fabric together, folding in half and seaming it. Again it was then turned right way out and threaded through the channel I'd made. Et voila! One cape.

 

I make it sound like it was all problem free, but I did my fair share of cursing. I think this mainly comes from the fact my sewing room turns itself into an oven as soon as you spend more than five minutes in it... I ended up sewing in my bra and pants, probably best I was on my own today!

 

But I am really happy with how the cape turned out, its possible to wear it either way so madam can choose which side faces out... She was so pleased with it this morning that she ran all the way to my parents house with her cape blowing out behind her. An awesome look. She has chosen to go for colour today as she is wearing a green vest top and pink cropped skinnies. Yeah, that's a lot of colours for such a small person to wear at once. But heck, if you can't get away with it at age 4, what is the point of life?

 

 

 

She did get changed once we arrived as she had a party to go to this morning. So on with the beautiful flamenco dress my parents brought back from their holidays and she was allowed a real rose to put in her hair to finish her "look". For one so young she is very conscious of her look... I might have to keep her away from too many fashion bloggers!

 

 

 

 

 

She had so much fun at her friends party though, and somehow the flamenco dress survived an almost constant 2 hours of bouncy castle madness. I have put it back in the wardrobe for a later date... 

capes and wings and things

Madam and I, whilst waiting for the bus yesterday, were messing about and I made a cape for her out of her nightie. She had it with her so she could get ready for bed there rather than at home... Anyway, it didn't work all that well so she announced that I had to (HAD to) make her a cape. A Superman cape, to be precise. You just need red and blue she said...

 

So, apparently that is my next sewing project. I'm also going to turn the gorgeous elephant print fabric I got from ebay into a simple summer top for madam. Mother and I are planning how we can do that. Sounds like we're making a tube and threading ribbons for straps!

 

 

 

This afternoon will be mostly spent cutting out these flaming wings for the fairy outfit though. I must get it done otherwise it'll be Tuesday night and I'll be doing it in a flap. I have got each of the three colours of net we originally used and my plan was to cut two wings out of each colour so we have the same 6 layers as the skirt. Then I will have to hand stitch them onto the vest top. I might run a line of machine stitch down the middle to help keep them together first...

 

My next issue is what *actual* wing shape I will cut. Do I do butterfly, dragonfly or some form of other shape... She's going to be sitting in the car for a while whilst we get there so maybe she won't be wearing the top until we arrive! Crushed wings, whatever their shape, is not a good look. 

 

template from www.craftscope.com

 

 

Template from peekadot.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

I think I'm more excited than she is now... I'm really hoping the fact her costume is homemade will help her in the competition stakes. It's easy just to buy all the things you need... I also love that I made it. I love knowing that she has something unique and that makes her happy. When she spent the day dressed in the outfit she told me she was a happiness fairy and that everyone smiled when they saw her. And they did. It was lovely for her to get all that positive feedback from people.

 

I had better get a move on if I want to buy stuff for cape making, I suppose!     

peanut butter and fairies

*This post now has all the photos I had planned it to have*

Firstly, some apologies... I haven't written anything all week as madam is now on holidays and I can't go to my usual haunts for free wifi. Well, I can, but it wouldn't be as easy to achieve as usual. I have got lots of things to write about today but have forgotten my phone so I can't post the photos :(

 

I shall have to post them another day... though I might be able to lift a couple from where I've posted them on other sites...

 

So, I made the salted caramel peanut butter bars from essbeevee's blog and it was great fun. I found some of the initial mixing a bit hard going with a spoon so in the end went for the tried and tested "just shove your hands in" technique. And then squished it all in to a big disposable tin thing. The big tin could have done with being bigger. This recipe makes a huge amount...

 

Then I made the caramel and poured that over. At which point I *really* wished my tin was bigger, it didn't overflow or anything but I was a little wary of what would happen when we poured the chocolate on... I had promised madam faithfully that she could do the chocolate and sprinkles so I put what I'd made into the fridge and licked out the bowls before doing the washing up.

 

In the morning I was going to meet my dad at 9.45 as I was heading for a gym induction and he was having madam for me so chocolate melting/pouring/sprinkling was being done whilst also making breakfast for us both. And it was a lot of chocolate! My, this really is a great treat recipe.

 

 

After it was topped and sprinkled it went back in the fridge to set and to await the arrival of my sewing buddies in the evening.

 

Although madam and I did have a sneaky taste test in the afternoon, you know, just to make sure...

 

I ended up having a rather frustrating afternoon as I had planned time to do some more tidying, get dinner sorted, and do some pattern cutting. But I ended up stuck waiting for the gasman to come round and service my parents appliances. :( We were late getting home and therefore all my plan went out the window. I ended up throwing out my ideas for the pattern I was going to sew and decided to just make the a fairy skirt for madam.

 

She is really excited about her competition and I really enjoyed making her skirt. It was a good job we had three pairs of hands to hold and pin the fabric as that was the only complicated bit. But more importantly it was really nice to have the girls round and we had a great chat. I also learned how to do a French seam.

 

 

Madam was awake the entire time as she is too nosy for her own good! She also insisted on modelling her outfit after everyone had left before she would go to bed!

 

  

 

The fabulous Tabatha also brought me a lovely goody bag of sewing stuffs including some pinking shears! I am so grateful to her, she really is like a little sewing fairy being so kind and helpful to me.

 

I will be attempting to make some wings to go with madams costume once I have acquired more net... I'm planning on cutting out wing shapes from the net and just sewing them on to the vest top madam is going to be wearing...

 

 

Perfectionism is not a game

 

 

On March 21st this year I wrote a post on how perfectionism leads to procrastination and suddenly in the last week it has become the most read post on my blog. And in fact the most read post of this week. Baffling really, don't know why the sudden surge in interest around it.

 

It does give out that important message though. That people like me are this way for reasons other than people can often assume. I'm not saying that I don't have a lazy gene, but most of the time that's not what it's about. I am so concerned about doing it right that I often freeze myself into inaction. I sit, I see, but I cannot do. I'm trying to keep up momentum but have to admit to having stalled again in the last few months.

 

My everyday routine has gone to pot and I can feel the chaos starting to build up again. And that terrifies me, I don't want it to be in control of me, and still I'm letting it win by not forcing myself to do it. My current excuse is that my timer broke (queue everyone I know (V) prodding me with sharp sticks via twitter). And you have no idea how bad I am at judging time. 15 minutes is not long enough (I know it is), I don't know where to start (just do something, it'll help), I don't want my friends to have to rescue me again (my friends genuinely care about me and want to help).

 

So many reasons and so many excuses that I *know* I'm being irrational about. And yet, and yet, and yet... Hopefully, I am having lovely Tabatha Tweedie and V come over on Tuesday for more sewings/girly chats so that will be a fine kick up the bottom to sort things out again. And the silly thing is I want them in my house now. I have turned that corner from being afraid to let anyone over the threshold for fear of being judged.

 

I am glad that being able to be honest allows me to have that freedom again. I love having visitors, I love being sociable. It's one of the few things I miss from having himself around, the house used to always have friends and family in it. I'm not saying I was always keen on all of the company, but I love having people round and making them food (I am a feeder, I plan on making snacks for everyone on Tuesday :D).

 

Actually, I really want to experiment and make these peanut butter treat things that lovely essbeevee keeps mentioning. I may also need to lie down and hope to avoid sugar coma afterwards, but it sounds like something madam would be able to help make, and I'm always searching for those type of recipes.

 

So I will go home this evening and I will put a music DVD on (I'll give you all 3 guesses whose) and I will use that to time my tidying. If I have 3 people (and a madam) in my dining room to do sewing we'll be needing the elbow room!   

making madam over

New day, new post. We *finally* got round to getting madam's school jumpers sorted out for September. This whole task has ended up being more complex than you would have thought. We'd been told many conflicting bits of information about where and when we could source them but success is ours. Two jumpers, £2 each. Get in!

 

I was asking madam if she was ready to be a big schoolgirl now and what would she be wearing to her new school (she's worn a mix of uniform and her own clothes to nursery).

 

She told me she needed her grey skirt, white top, new jumper, grey socks and school knickers (no, I'm not entirely sure what "school" knickers are, either) and a bow in her hair. Because *all schoolgirls have bows in their hair, don't they, Mummy!* Umm, if you say so... I'm not sure how we're going to achieve this trick with her hair still being so short. After the infamous nail varnish incident which I can't believe was actually 3 months ago already!

 

And after that incident, and the one where she covered herself in my eyeshadow you'd think she'd have learnt to just leave things alone. Especially as she gets in so much trouble after them! But no. Last night she stole my nice new lipstick and coloured herself from head to foot in a dark pink shade. And it took two baths and a lot of soap to scrub it all off again.

 

apparently last time she used my eyeshadow as a lipstick and then some lipstick for random colourings...

It makes me laugh that she complains about the scrubbing when I wouldn't have to do it if she would only behave herself... I'm also *really* hoping that we'll move out of this phase soon. She seems to have been colouring herself in for years... I have to keep reminding myself that partly I should be impressed at her inquisitive nature. But mainly it's still really annoying!

 

I have given myself and mother a new project to get ourselves involved with. Madam is going to a Fairy and Pixie day at Burnby Hall and part of that involves a costume competition. So yesterday mum and I bought three different colours of netting to help make said outfit :) I am quite looking forward to getting to do a sewing project with my mum, we've never done one before.

 

Speaking of sewing projects, I haven't actually progressed with any of my other plans, which is annoying me. I really want to at least get the pieces cut so that I can get on with the sewing asap.  

well and truly bitten by the bug

I'm a bit excited... I have been bidding for a couple of patterns on ebay (slightly aggressively in one case) and have managed to secure both of them! I have been a bit of an ebay refusenik for a while as I'm not very keen on the whole bidding thing. But I seem to have finally been dragged into the whole thing and am now a little excited about the whole thing.

 

 

 

I have bought a pattern for both myself and for madam so I might *actually* make something for myself for once. I bought a (hopefully) simple dress pattern that I might make for this wedding I'm going to in September, just need to find out how much material I'll need now!

 

Madam's pattern is a sun dress and goes up to age 16, so I might have to make it a few times... Again, need to know what the material requirements will be before I plot out how I'll make it... I fancy making her something in some really bright flame colours, she looks amazing in yellows/oranges.

 

I'm currently bidding for some very sweet elephant print fabric which I have yet to decide what I will do with. It'll be big enough for a madam make, or maybe a bag for me...

 

 

 

I mentioned the peacock coloured fabric I've got yesterday and I have now found the pattern I want to use it with. It's a very simple dress design with a little tie strap fastening. It's out of Prima magazines Spring Makes book. The version in the book is made from gingham and has quite sweet embroidery on. I was thinking I might attempt some of the embroidery, but I'm not sure I can be bothered with all of it! (There are quite a lot of flowers in their version).

 

 

 

So anyway, there is a fabric stall that has appeared on the local market, might have to check that out at the weekend, last time I looked they had some great stuff in navy with a strawberry plant print. Was ace. I'm thinking not for a formal outfit though...

 

I still, also, want to try making one of the fab Miette skirts by the lovely Tilly. I have a feeling sewing is going to be my new favourite past-time for quite some time to come!

jobhunting for the tech savvy

I started this post on Tuesday and I was going to add in a link to the Universal Jobsearch website. Which is the point where I interacted with the Jobsearch website. And wow. Now, I'd heard before how awful it was, but I foolishly thought that I would be ok, I mean, c'mon, just how bad could it be.

Awful.

I couldn't get it to register me, and then when it did do it, it wouldn't let me back in as it said the email address was already registered! Yeah, that was me... Now let me in! But it wouldn't. And even when I tried just running a search it refused to tell me how to apply to the job I'd seen. By the time I'd finished arguing with it I had come to the point of no return and had to pack up and head to my Work Focussed Interview (WFI).

Now, if you've never been unemployed then I am envious of you, and if you're on income support it's slightly different. You only have to attend once every six months for these WFI things. I'm up to 3 monthly as madam is nearly 5 and I will be moved to being a Jobseeker at that point.

So, I went to see my advisor, who is lovely, but completely pointless. I explained that 1, I can't get on to Jobsearch. 2, I can't input my skills, I had to use generic ones and miss out the qualifications I actually have as they're not in the options list. 3, the website is awful and threw me out just when I thought I was getting somewhere.

I mentioned my lack of faith in this whole "lets shove everything online" plan. And she agreed. There is one computer available at the Jobcentre which apparently is already booked solid, she has been locked out of Jobsearch as she had been on holidays and is waiting to be re-instated.

This meant she couldn't look up the vacancy I'd found, either. I mean, FFS what is the point... I couldn't find it on their silly touch screen things either. The lady gave me a list of other job search websites she would recommend instead!  We did a calculation as to whether I'd be better off working than on benefits and then I left again.

Advice given: well, she did know some other websites, I suppose.
Jobs nearer to being acquired: none.

Me, being me, I then had to go and do "joining in" at madam's nursery for half an hour, then we had to go and get the bus into Hull so that we could get the bandage removed from madam's hand. Why is it that everything is always on 1 day?

But the bandage is off, and her finger now just has a slightly larger than normal plaster on it. She is almost entirely back to normal and has been told to use her finger as much as she can. Of course, by the time we'd finished and walked back into the town centre we were just too late for the bus and had an hour to wait until the next one. So we tried again on the McDonald's toy front. And, finally, success! Sadly, they only had one version, but madam was just so happy with having one she wasn't bothered which it was!

We just need to watch Despicable Me 2 now...

I also popped into one of the shops and found me a new dress in the sales :) This makes a nice change as there are no shops in my hometown that I can really shop in. I just need to be about 5 sizes smaller and then I'd have no worries... (I do hate being this fat, but I can't seem to stop the comfort eating/eating anything not tied down thing).

And then when I tried to log back on to my computer when we finally got home it refused. It did the whole computer says no thing and wouldn't even start up properly.

Luckily as I was at my parents I managed to use their computer, log onto the website of the school I'd seen the advert for and print out the form so I could fill it in at my leisure... At least I had that option, I feel sorry for the people who are not tech savvy and have only one access point to the internet.

Yesterday, was mainly about my mum getting me to buy things! I'd seen a nice pair of shoes on ebay a few weeks ago, just everyday walking all over shoes, not too fancy. But they were purple. Mum saw them and made me buy her a pair and then got me to buy some for myself. Now I'd just been watching them thinking they were quite cool, but I didn't really need them...

Also, we found a really pretty shrug for me to wear to my cousins wedding that would go with the dress and shoes that I already have. I did get the money back from my mum for the shoes, but it was still £25 (altogether) down that I hadn't planned on spending...

I also bought some more fabric... Oops. This was just a metre of cotton poplin in Peacock. I shall use it to make madam a very simple summer dress...   

learning new skills is fun

Last night was sewing night! And if it weren't for the fact it'd be really inconvenient I'd love my friend to come round every time I sew. I think we both agreed that extra hands made ironing hems easier!

 

The fabric I'd chosen to use was vetoed by madam and she selected some other stuff I happened to have, and to be honest it probably worked better as some of the print was navy the same as the t-shirt we were sewing it to.

 

We started off by me learning how to wind a bobbin, insert it, and thread the machine. All less complex than it looked. We did have a moment where we had to figure out how to adjust the tension of the bobbin, but we achieved it without too much trouble.

 

I was taught how to do the seams and then I learnt how to do the stitches for gathering. It was great to have someone next to me with much more experience giving me tips. Although I have machine sewn before I've never felt as confident doing it. And I am quite confident that I could do the same again without too much swearing!

 

I was really pleased with how the machine performed given how long it has been out of use. It was a bit wobbly when threading the bobbin, and it needs a bit of a wiggle when you've finished sewing to free your work, but really, that's not too difficult to manage!

 

Madam is completely thrilled with her new dress and has been telling anyone who will listen that her mummy made it for her. Nice to know she's appreciative of what I did for her... 

 

 

 

From top: Madam being madam; rose gelato for me; melon sorbet ftw; Madam and her jelly shoes (cause it's summer); beautiful roses from Tabatha; madam pulling a very strange expression whilst modelling her new dress