Bits and pieces

1. I am finally done with setting up my sewing room! Eventually there will also be a fold-out bed in here for (very occasional, which is why I don't have one already) visitors, and hopefully my enormous fabric stash will decline in size to accommodate it. Here's a photo so you can see where I will be sewing. Isn't it gorgeous? Love the light in this room during the day, much less keen on the actual overhead light which is very faint. I need some kind of reading lamp for my sewing table. Please excuse the carpet, which desperately needs hoovering as I had some polystyrene in there that just crumbled into a million pieces while I was unpacking.

2. I went to Aldi today because they had a bunch of knitting and sewing stuff in this week's special offers. I bought a TON of yarn, in total defiance of my long held plan to only buy one project ahead for knitting purposes. :( Still, several of them are tiny scarf kit projects that I picked up to do while I watch TV in the evenings. I also got some chunky so I could make another cowl, and some Aran because I'd like to use that to make my next jumper. I also got a little "tailor's kit", which is a sort of cheap assortment of plastic sewing tools, but most importantly for me includes a cheap tracing wheel, which is something I've wanted to try using for a while. That plus some basic needles, a seam ripper and a thread snipper made it worth the €5.

3. In the process of unpacking everything in the world, I came across the only thing I have left from my home economics sewing classes at high school. I would have been 12, maybe 13 when I made this skirt. I can't think why I bought this fabric because I've never been a big fan of little sprigs of flowers. It's both better and worse than I remembered as a sewing project. Anything hand stitched is beyond terrible, but the machine stitching is not actually quite as bad as I expected, and the lapped zip is actually pretty good! I wonder if my mum helped with that bit. I am kind of torn now between preserving the skirt for amusement/posterity, and using the fabric for something else. The sentimentalist in me thinks keep it as is, the practical part of me says it's a waste of fabric that I could make into pocket bags or something.

4. I'm still thinking about that green leather jacket that I want to turn into a bag and so I'm still thinking about patterns. Increasingly I'm thinking I need a pattern that is intentionally a bit slouchy. In the meantime, I immediately bought ChrisW's new pattern the Lombard Street bag while the coupon was still available, and I previously bought her Sugar and Spice Tote pattern as well. ChrisW is one of my favourite pattern makers, and her patterns are totally unlike most of the rest of the bag pattern world, which is big on totes and low on RTW-style complexity. Nothing wrong with a tote, but generally I prefer to carry an actual handbag.

5. This is another sort-of WIP, previously seen draped on Flossie in my sewing room photos above. It's a vintage sequinned panel of chiffon. My plan is to make a really really simple shrug, by just hemming the edges and then sewing the rectangle together down each side. However, it needs to be hand sewn rather than machine sewn, which is a bit of a daunting task. (Before that it needs washing, as well. I had it out and airing for a few weeks but the musty smell isn't improving. I think a bucket and some soapy water will improve it without all the sequins dropping off.)