Visitors

I guess summer time is when one either goes to visit people or you have visitors come to stay with you. This summer it is our turn to have visitors stay with us.

Our family from Bahrain has come to the UK to see us and various friends - and to get away from the 50C temperatures! Actually, we seem to be the base from which they are going out and about. At the moment, our daughter-in-law and grandchildren are visiting friends in Oxfordshire and our son is here with us. It is the first time he has stayed with us alone since he was 18 and he is now 41! At least I don't have to worry about him if he is out late, although he did get off the bus in the wrong village on Sunday night and ended up having an hour's walk to get home!

Our other visitors thus far have been our French friends who spent a few days with us last week. Our grandchildren were here at the same time and our granddaughter enjoyed practising her French. I must confess that I was rather exhausted by Friday last week, thinking of meals and trying to make sure the visitors were entertained and the grandchildren were behaving suitably. I don't think I am coping too well with teenagers; I find them rather stressful!

Before our French friends arrived, I did manage to make a set of South African-themed placemats as a gift for them. However, I forgot to take a photograph of the placemats. I have just finished another set for my daughter-in-law to take back to Bahrain; they are also South African-themed, this time with pictures relating to the San people, or Bushmen as they used to be called. This is what the mats look like:

I bought the fabric for both sets of placemats in South Africa. It comes in panels, printed with the placemats, so all you have to do is cut them out and stitch them.

Continuing on a South African theme, I have a South African friend currently staying in our village. She enjoys knitting so I made her one of these:

It is a zippered pouch with an eyelet in the front and keeps the ball of wool tidy while you are knitting. You put the ball of wool in the bag and thread the end through the eyelet and get on with  you knitting or crocheting. The ball of wool is kept clean, it doesn't bounce around the floor while you are working, and the cat can't get it! The bag in the photograph is one my friend ordered to take back to South Africa to give to a friend of hers who loves knitting.

I have also made my daughter-in-law and black and white wristlet to use when she goes out at night as she only brought a rather large bag with her. So I have done some sewing over the last couple of weeks; I just haven't had time to blog about it!

The children will come and go before they return to Bahrain in a few weeks' time. Then we will have a break till the next visitors come in September. Time to get on with some sewing!

Pink flower wristlet

One of my colleagues has two sisters who both use walking sticks. They have found that small wristlet bags are ideal for use with a walking stick and I have made several for them, including two black and silver evening bags. Well, it's time for them to go on their summer holiday and I received a photo of a pair of cream and pink sandals with a request to make a cream bag with a pink flower on it.

I tried different flowers but decided on an applique flower as I thought it wouldn't catch on anything and, maybe, get pulled off the bag. I used cream 100% cotton for the outer bag and strap and pink 100% cotton for the flower petals. The inner circle of the flower is from a scrap of contrasting fabric I had. There is a matching flower on either side of the bag. I lined the bag with compact fleece (Vilene Thermolan) to give it body and squared off the bottom corners.

Do you see how convenient it is with a walking stick? It means the other hand is free to carry a tote bag or hold a grandchild's hand.

I was all ready to make a black and white wristlet but I don't have a white zip - so frustrating when the nearest shop where I can buy zips is in the centre of the city about 30 minutes away!

On the baking front: I went to visit my friend on Thursday and, as I walked into her house, her husband's hand appeared around the sitting room door. Fortunately, I had a packet of six scones to place in it! I had also left four at home for the Great Golfer to enjoy after his 18 holes.

Life goes on

I thought I should at least write something to keep my blog alive! I haven't done any interesting sewing this week; I don't seem to have the energy to be creative and, with my shifts coming with only one or two nights off between them, I'm either tired or asleep during the day.

My trusty Bernina has not been idle, though. I shortened a pair of waterproof trousers for the Great Golfer to wear on the golf course: rather necessary for the kind of summer we're having! I also shortened a new pair of denims that I bought myself. Having put on weight since I started doing night shifts, I seem to have outgrown most of my trousers. I still have one more pair to shorten.

At the beginning of the week I made a curtain for a colleague. She gave me an existing curtain and I remade it into one to fit the window in the roof of her son's bedroom. I will see her tomorrow to find out if it fits. I found it rather awkward to make something from someone else's measurements (she hasn't a clue about sewing!) and for a window I haven't seen. It was a good example of recycling, though.

Hopefully, I'll feel more energetic in a few days when I have a longer break between shifts. I think I'll make a clutch/writslet using a tutorial by SEWCHRISTINE. You can find it on her blog.