Cat-astrophe

The 12 cubic foot bean bag refill we bought last weekend is meant to be used for a number of different shaped cushions, so I've been quite busy sewing them up in the past few days. There's a roll, a sweet-shaped cushion, a few square meter big ones, the lot! The pile-of-pillows (photo link added later) is growing on a daily basis, and I actually think I have (and have had) almost enough now.

The only project that I have not yet been able to finish is the cowchair, but that's because of the hundreds of upholstery nails that need to be removed before I can start building it up again. By doing a handful every day I've already taken out more than two-thirds of them, but that still leaves many to be done. And then the reupholstering! I think on Saturday I may actually just put the chair in the garden with the fabric thrown over it, and do the actual work after the party, when I have time to do it right.

Whilst sitting in the garden yesterday, doing some preparatory work on a little pouffe that needed to be filled still, I heard a noise inside the house. Since WM was not at home that struck me as odd, so I went to investigate and found the neighbours' cat in our kitchen (so much for trying to air out the house by opening all doors and windows)! The cat, as startled by my entry as I was by it being there, jumped out of the kitchen into our hallway, ran like a flash through my sewing room and out the open door into the garden, where a large plastic bag full of white little polystyrene balls was waiting. Not for the cat, but for me, obviously. Cat merely ran past it, but the bag, already open for me to use, tipped over (have no fear, that stuff weighs nothing; no animals were hurt in this production). A little gust of wind decided to show up right at that moment and carried thousands of tiny white balls into the air, creating a little typhoon. It was a party for one, and a few days early, oh well! Although I can't imagine this stuff being really environmentally friendly; I'm NOT going to vacuum the garden. No darling, I'm not.

Spilling the beans

My WM decided that -even though I said I'd use the table in the front room- I do really need a drawing and cutting table, so he bought me one! It's huge. I mean, it's really, really big. And it's green. And it has white lines on the table top. And it has wheels, so I can move it around. Any guesses yet? Right, a table tennis table! But it's a great table, really. I can't wait to get started. Even though it will have to be in the garden, because the thing is just too big for my sewing room. Good thing I'm in the luxury position of having the garden right outside of it!

After the initial excitement about my table subsided, we went to Pentonville Rubber on Saturday to buy some bean bag filling, a foam roll, and maybe some other soft materials for me to cover, so that our garden will almost be like little Morocco for the BBQ party. We found loads of different foam matresses, bean bag refills, rubber mats, fiberfill and lots more, and the Pentonville staff were very helpful. In the end we only bought a bean bag refill, and the salesman told us to go to Chapel Market market around the corner if we wanted cushions, which is exactly what we did. Behind the market stalls I found a little shop called the Sewing Center (17 Chapel Market), where they sell all kinds of cheap haberdashery, as well as second hand sewing machines and sergers. We then went on to visit a few fabric shops in the area, and first went to Bargain Center on 93 Upper Street. In my mind this would be a large shop full of very cheap fabrics, but it turned out to be quite a small shop, chockful of gorgeous suit fabrics and lining. I will definitely go back in the fall (it's just too hot to think about suits now) and check out the bargains. From there I went on to Sew Fantastic on 107 Essex Road, which I really didn't find so fantastic; mostly fake fur and fleece, very colourful, but just not for me. I did however buy some curtain lining, which was cheaper than unbleached calico. I have to say I'm getting a bit discouraged about finding fabrics that I can use for clothes, and I'm starting to think I may have to resort to the internet.

Oh, and we have ordered our camera, it just hasn't been delivered yet. Picture mania to follow as soon as it has arrived!!

Pillow Talk and Musical Chairs

WM and I will be hosting a BBQ in early August, and we're hoping for the summer to arrive before then so we can just put loads and loads of cushions in the garden instead of have people sit on chairs (of which of course we don't have enough, but more on that subject later)! This past weekend, after shopping around for -but still not buying- a digital camera on Saturday, we went fabric shopping on Sunday. The curtain factory outlet once again proved to be the perfect place: we came home with meters and meters of fabric for gorgeous cushions; all very different in style, and all very colourful, some beautiful, some truly ugly, but fun nonetheless. I would of course have posted a picture if our hunt on Saturday had been successful, but now you're just going to have to wait.

Immediately after our decision to host a party, the subject of seating arrangements came up. We used to have quite a few chairs around our table in the kitchen, but mysteriously they started to break down one after the other (it must have to do with WM's great cooking). My WM wouldn't be a WM if he didn't find a solution: two pink chairs sitting outside a bar that was being refurbished. So now we're lounging at the kitchen table! A few months after, he found an armchair on the pavement and decided that it would have to come home with him. Fact that it was too dirty to sit on was not a deterrent, and once I got used to the idea, I actually started liking the chair. Of course I have my own idea of how to make this chair part of our interior: it will have to be dressed up as a cow (mooooh!). Hopefully I can get this done before the party, but I'm not entirely sure of that; it's quite a project. If not, then maybe the chairs WM found outside a few days ago (which are an exact match to the chairs we used to have in the kitchen before the pinkies moved in), will come in handy...

Seek and ye shall find

I found my brag book; I’m over the moon! It only has 12 pages (= 24 pockets), so it will fit in my handbag perfectly! I quickly made a cute cover for it from the copper/gold dupion silk that I want to make a dress out of, and within a day the book is in full use. In the front pocket I’ve put a summary of the SWAP (stage 1: make 11 garments, the idea is almost enough to make me faint…). In the following pockets I’ve put a technical drawing on the left hand page, and a swatch of the fabric I want to use on the facing page. I even put a sticker on the swatch stating how many metres I have; I’m a sucker for efficiency.

I’d love to show you pictures, but unfortunately it won’t be until today that WM and I will be working our way through hundreds of options to find the perfect little digital camera. Fingers crossed that we manage to agree on which one to buy, and that it is actually in stock!

I still haven’t really started sewing, though. Not for lack of fabric or inspiration, or even kindly offered assistance, but unfortunately I am used to tracing my patterns, and I will have to wait for another 2 weeks before Esther’s parents bring over those wonderful rolls of tissue tracing paper from Holland. Yes, I know there are other ways of tracing your patterns, and there probably is other paper available, I just have not been able to find it in London. I can’t use newspaper or brown paper and a tracing wheel because I’m afraid to damage the antique table and I remember only too well what happened to my parents’ table. After a few years of my mum’s handiwork, my dad tried to sand the table down to get rid of the millions of tiny holes on the tabletop, but the top layer wasn’t thick enough. They ended up buying a new table and of course new chairs to go with it. And then they decided to give the whole room a make-over. Wait, perhaps I should start using a tracing wheel on the table: I could end up with a new room!

Sewing With A Procrastinator (SWAPminus)

A few months ago, my Wonderful Man and I went to Holland to visit my family and pick up my Husqvarna 1140 sewing machine that has been lovingly taken care of by my mother for the past two years (don't worry, I made sure she got a new one). We also took back with us the wooden case that once held a Magnum bottle of wine but that I transformed into a sewing box, and that is now filled with all kinds of sewing goodies. With the expert help of my WM I built a desk for my machine in the guest room (that I secretly call My Sewing Room), set up the sewing machine and -after doing a few minor repair jobs that were waaaaaaaay overdue- just left it sitting there.

Then, some weeks ago I went fabric shopping at The Curtain Factory Outlet with my friend Esther. As well as buying some gorgeous dark brown velvet for curtains, I bought some lovely grey Irish linen that I was planning to make into a suit for work. And a dress. Or a skirt. And a top. I didn't make anything, but I planned to do so. After that, WM and I decided we will go to The Gambia for two weeks in September, and with nothing to wear for that climate and culture; I started thinking I also need to make at least one long-sleeved blouse. And trousers. And another dress. Then I remembered that two weeks before we go to The Gambia, we may be going on a trip to Champagne, France, with WM's colleagues. So what to wear there? How about sewing a few nice tops for that weekend, to wear with my jeans? And of course something a bit more dressy, for when we go out to dinner (with champagne, of course). And, and, and...You see where I'm going with this?

Right, erm, don't panic. Aaaaaaargh! Too late. Okay: I need to find patterns, tracing paper, fabrics, and all sorts of notions (okay, I don't need them, I just really, really want them, as I'm sure you recognize). Lorinda wrote a great tip on how to make a brag book to prepare for shopping for fabrics, and instead of getting my patterns and stuff together, I'm focussing on finding that little book first now. Because I know I already have one. I just can't remember where it is.

Meanwhile, WM is asking when I will repair the hem of one of his suit trousers. Well, darling, as soon as I have built the large table I designed for drawing and cutting in the guest room! Too bad my design has so many flaws that the table could actually be a danger to the guests that do occasionally stay in My Sewing Room. Oops, I mean: our guest room. So today I will admit that, if I pull out the leaves of the antique table in the living room and cover it with a heavy plastic table cloth to prevent it agains my violent drawing, that might just work. Sounds like one problem solved. Sigh.

So now all I have to do is find my brag book. And heavy plastic table cloth. And patterns. And tracing paper. And fabrics. And, and, and...

Sew, where to start?

I first started making dolls, their clothes, and all sorts of bags, when I was about 10 years old. My mum used to make clothes for my 2 sisters and myself, and I just loved to see her at work in her sewing nook in our living room, busy cutting and sewing (usually with a few pins sticking out of her mouth): I wanted to do that too! She taught me how to use her machine (what a brave woman!), and from then on there were times she actually had to ask me in a stern voice to "step away from the machine" to let her do some sewing herself.

Although I was usually consulted on both choice of fabric and style before my mum started sewing, I found that sometimes I just wanted to wear something else than what she had in mind for me. When I got a bit older, with her help I started making my own clothes from patterns in KNIPmode. Never mind my first attempts (thank goodness there are no pictures), but since then I've made many, many garments, usually using KNIPmode, Burda or, occasionally, Vogue. Some of them I wore for years, and some of them were only for one night (prom dress) and many of them I gave away without ever wearing them. What a waste!

In addition to that, I suffered from the well-know disease of buying loads of fabrics without actually EVER using them (and sometimes even stealing from my mum's stash with the same poor result), or even knowing what I wanted to do with the stuff when I bought it. Before I get into that routine again: I will from now on...(drum roll)...Sew With A Plan! And even though I know that following the exact rules of the SWAP may be a bit too much for me to start with, at least I have to promise myself not to buy any fabric without knowing I'm going to make with it. Wish me luck!