silly saturday

Remember Margo’s jumpsuit?!

Took meself off the last couple of days for a quick sort-of break from blogging as I’ve been starting up over on Instagram.

Yes, finally bite the apple, after several years of ‘gentle’ nudging from lovely friends.

Now, if you wonder from time to time whether I’ve fallen off the earth over here, click on over there.  You don’t have to sign up to read. 😆

I do try not to repeat myself, so there are things over there too brief for here, and vice versa, but the opposite. . . but with longer things. 🤨  (IG is for short stuff, WP is for longer.  Better?)

Like Margo, above & below, I have managed a bit of cleaning and sewing prep—hoovering/vacuuming, laundering rugs & washing the kitchen/bathroom floors. Keeping everything fairly clean. “Fairly” is relative, and currently means not operating-room-sterile, but acceptable under the circs.

barbara (felicity kendal) fitting margo’s over-sized chorale costume

‘Tis long past noon, but I’ve caught up on WP for the mo, so will stop, get dressed, and think about getting trash ready for the trek up to The Trash Compactor, about a 20-minute walk.

As it will be the second time I’ve been out in about 3 weeks, am not certain whether to rejoice or regret. The sun is shining and I don’t have to wear a coat, so will choose the former.

May you not have the other in thought today, or any time soon, Lovely Ones!

Stay Safe & Stay Home!

❤️   💋   ❤️  💋   ❤️

😆    🧶     🧵     🌅

 

silent sunday

Let us all be thankful for at least one thing today. If we do this every day, perhaps these positive thoughts will begin encircling the globe, ourselves, and each other. Imagine everyone encircled by gratitude!

From Saturday’s walk . . .

silly saturday

PSA! (Public Service Announcement)

Watch your Spam folders, Lovelies, as they’re having a field day.

And now on to the chronology of my Thursday mend project.

(The silly part)

Remember the placement, Lovelies…

Thought this was the tip of at least half a yard…

Oops. The cut out bit was my first piece… phew! 😳

Between Silk & Synt– hope that’s ok…

Remember that bit???

Oops

Let’s try this again

Finished

friday, sweet friday…

It’s that time again

Oops… wrong day. I’m thinking “Sunday, sweet Sunday with nothing to do” from the musical “Flower Drum Song.”

Just looked it up on YT, and the song’s setting is not what I think of when that line comes to mind. I’m quite happy having Sundays to meself, thank you!

Those for whom self-isolation is more torturous have my sincere condolences.

I hope you’re reaching out via phone and internet, contacting and being contacted by loads of people, perhaps learning a new hobby with online help, or just catching up on your rest.

Ready & waiting!

As you see (right), my sewing table finally got cleared off for last Tuesday’s Virtual Tea Party, and this morning I got the vacuum out.

Not implying the immaculate guests left crumbs!

I got it out mostly to get rid of the dust I swept off the ceiling fan blades today. Summer is here and the AC had to go on, which meant the fan needed to be on as well, which meant… you get the picture. 🤪

Now for a nice nap, so I’ll be ready to tackle that pattern…

Hope wherever you are, dear readers, you’re staying safe and healthy!

❤️   ❤️   ❤️   ❤️   ❤️

Water’s hot, bread’s buttered – come on over!

Just about ready . . .

A hearty welcome to you all! To you coming from  the U.K. and Europe…

and all you lovelies from Down Under who started tea our yesterday.

Thank you for coming, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 🍀

Have waited a day to celebrate  because I’ve a recipe to share. Besides my usual brown loaf, toasted or plain, we have . . .

Oops!  Just realised I forgot to get out the jams: raspberry and a mix of blueberry, acai and I don’t remember what else. Just a tick  —

As I was saying, have some toasted or not Irish Buttermilk Soda Bread, and a recipe. Made a pdf so you should be able to download. If not, let me know in a Comment below.

Irish Soda Bread

I’ve toasted and buttered  pieces of the soda bread so you can see how it does, and have a nibble.

Half the rest of the loaf awaits cutting, and the toaster is all warmed up.

It makes quite a solid bread, and freezes nicely. As you can see, I didn’t use golden raisins as they’re a bit diffy to find here. Hopefully you won’t be disappointed in their taste.

Now, have you introduced yourselves? Everybody happily drinking and eating?

Hope to have plenty of time to meet and have a chat with you all, and again, thank you for coming!

As Su wrote, “Since Covid 19 is such a huge issue impacting all of us, I’ll get my update out of the way and let you all decide whether you want to discuss or ignore the virus in your own comments and posts.”

I’m choosing not to go on about it myself, and just enjoy talking with everyone. But please feel free to do as you choose.

🍀  Happy St. Patrick’s Day !  🍀

 

 

 

You’re invited!

Getting it together for tomorrow’s celebration

You’re all invited to our Virtual Tea Party tomorrow❣️

No need to dress. Come as you happen to be, and we’ll indulge with a cuppa and a nibble appropriate to St. Patrick’s Day.

Joining in with Su down under in New Zealand for our monthly  worldwide gathering.

Do click over to enjoy her lovely photography and very appropriate invitation.

You can also find us at #virtualteaparty2020

Until tomorrow!

Sunday Sevens #2020-1

This week’s loaf

Dear friend Ali suggested I  start Sunday Sevens again, and as I’m owing a post anyway, will chime in with one of me own, as started by the lovely Natalie.

S.O.S to anyone who’s used the Hudson Pant pattern:

Is this a proper fabric?  “Viscose, Nylon, Spandex blend; 40% crosswise stretch, 65% lengthwise stretch.”

I won’t be putting ribbing at the ankles. Anybody had experience either pro or con with that?  Haven’t made this pattern before and can’t touchy-feely as it’s from an online US shop (and the last on the bolt so am not linking to it.) 😉

Thoughts & Suggestions gratefully appreciated ❣️ ❣️ ❣️

I’ve not had any probs staying inside this past week because I’d just discovered two fascinating-to-moi YouTube channels, Trinny and Fit2Stitch.

Between the two, all my previous, albeit nebulous, wardrobe plans have shifted rather dramatically. Guess it’s not such a bad thing I didn’t push myself into sewing new things.  🤪

Thanks to The Fold Line for their Sunday reviews of new podcasts, vlogs, etc., because it was a Joey Sewy episode that put me onto Trinny. As Jo said, “She’s crazy as a fish,” but I love her fashion sense.
Her style and make-up tips are even for us ladies “with leisure,” no matter what body shape.

As for pattern fitting, must say Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns makes a lot of sense. I’ve yet to try her ideas out, but the time is coming. Must take another look at her patterns, too…

Betwixt all this I somehow got looking at BBC’s Women’s Hour podcast list and heard a good’un: “Sacrificing for Fashion.” It starts at  24 min. and runs to 33.5 min.

After listening to it, I was delighted to see Trinny in white trainers. I’ve seen and envied Karen Ball’s wearing them in all colours, but didn’t know how to get that look for myself.

Thanks to Trinny, now I can. Anyone have recommendations for reasonably priced ones on this side the pond? Zara’s look like  platforms, so I’m not eager to fork over money.

Lastly, so’s you don’t think the sewing machine’s been gathering too much dust, here are my three rice bags.

The largest is holding up the phone, but generally sits on the floor as a door stop.

The two half-size red ones live in different places, depending on needs. They have more space inside so a camera or a phone can sit comfortably. Come to think of it, there’s a cup needs a bit glued on . . . 🙄

Hope everyone is adapting to their new routine & staying well.

Many thanks for all the goodness and joy you’re sharing online!

❤️ 🧵 ✂️ ❤️ 🧵 ✂️ ❤️

silent sunday

Just turned clocks ahead an hour. . . . .

🙄

 

silly saturday

Guess who did a big shop?

😇

textiles to the moon & beyond

TEXT’ILE, adjective [Latin textilis.] Woven, or capable of being woven.
TEXT’ILE, noun That which is or may be woven.

My favourite dictionary has these two definitions for textiles. The later reminded me of something I discovered whilst researching on Cornell’s HEARTH* web site: Style Engineers.

Style Engineers is a fully developed and free short-course for girls and young women who like fashion and fabric, and might also be interested in a career in the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).

There’s a companion section to train prospective leaders (teachers).

If you’ve wondered what textiles are used in space, here’s your chance to have a peek behind the helmet. Scroll down this page for these short videos:

• We are engineers!
• Movement Improvement
• Marvelous Materials
• Smart Clothing
• Patternmaking Tools & Tech

Your mission, should you wish to accept it, is consult your local guild or club or WI and see if there’s any interest in this course.  Good luck!

Partnering with Wild Daffodil for Textile Tuesday.

(*HEARTH led to my series on fitting, which I mentioned in last week’s post.)