Sewing fun!

I woke up this morning and couldn't wait to get to my stash and get some sewing on the go! What a change! This is why:

My granddaughter and her best friend have a blog called: Confessions of a Bake-a-holic. They are both fifteen and share a love of baking. I read their blog yesterday and then remembered that I had some fabric in my stash with cupcakes all over it. As they are going to meet up for a baking binge in a couple of weeks, I thought I would make them matching aprons. I'll see my granddaughter next week and will give the aprons to her then. I hope the girls like them! Here the aprons are in my kitchen:

Happy baking, girls!

Oops!

Well, the curtain I made for my colleague fitted the window perfectly with one mistake: the hems for the curtain wires were on the wrong sides! I said that she doesn't have a clue about sewing and I made the assumption that the curtain would fit in one direction when it actually had to be in the other direction! Fortunately, I was able to correct the mistake and the curtain is now in place and her son is very impressed. Phew! That was a relief. Lesson learned: don't make an assumption when sewing something 'blind'!

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.

Back in action!

I am back sewing again, at last! My hand is much better, especially since I bought a support for it. There are only a few actions that cause pain: writing by hand; cutting with a knife; using scissors and ironing. The last two don't help with sewing but thank goodness for rotary cutters!

I had to make a colleague a tote bag as a birthday gift. She loves pigs and collects anything with a pig on it. I bought some new curtains at a charity shop some years ago and had one whole curtain left so I was able to 'fussy cut' two pigs out for the outer bag. I completed the front and back with log cabin style patchwork. Inside are two slip pockets, one of which has a rather startled looking sheep on it, as though it has found itself in the wrong bag! There is also a snap hook for keys and the bag closes with a magnetic snap at the top. It is quite a big tote bag but I hope my friend finds it useful as well as fun. I've called it a 'piggy bag' and will put a piggy coffee mug and a chocolate 'Peppa Pig' lolly in it. Here it is:

My Travel Bag

This is what my travel bag looks like.

Home again

We enjoyed two wonderful weeks in Pigna, Liguria, Italy! The weather was hot and sunny 90% of the time; the local food was delicious; our son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren arrived a few days after we did, having got their visas at last, so a good family time was had by all.

Our apartment was in the medieval village, which was very interesting. The whole experience was what I had envisaged as a holiday in the mountains in Italy: a small village populated by local people and not too commercialised. For the first few days we were able to relax and unwind in peace and quiet before the grandchildren arrived. The photograph below shows me doing what I had dreamed of doing: sitting on the terrace at the apartment doing cross stitch!

We took several day trips by bus or by car and here are the grandchildren, Emily and Alexander, with the backpacks I made for them ready for another adventure.

My travel bag was very useful and I was pleased with it. If I make another one, I will divide the large inside space with a zippered pocket; otherwise it met all my needs.

Unfortunately, I had a fall on the bus going from Nice station to Nice airport on the way home. I put out my right hand to prevent banging my head so banged my hand instead. It became very painful so I went to the hospital yesterday to have it checked out. Fortunately, nothing is broken and it is just soft tissue damage. So I should be able to cut out fabric and begin sewing again before too long. I was worried it would be weeks and weeks before I could sew again! Of course, there is the small matter of having to go to work again on Wednesday night...!! I wonder how long my tan will last??

Packing my bags

These are bags that I will be packing in my suitcase. A simple backpack for each of my two grandchildren. I really made them as packaging for a DVD and a couple of magazines to keep them occupied but they might use them to carry something light.

I'll also pack the grocery tote I made myself from Lisa Lam's new book, 'A Bag for All Reasons'. It might come in handy when I visit the village market.

It's really neat the way it rolls up and fastens with a popper.

The packing will get done this afternoon and we are praying that our family will be able to join us very soon!