Tag Archives: exercise

Mar8

Sewing frustrations

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Sewing frustrations

This zipper pouch caused a lot of frustration. I used two of the adding machine paper scrap strips. It was all fine and dandy until I realised I had forgotten to remove the paper and had to rip out my stitching AND peel back the fused Thermolam.

Also the top corners looked like crap and I had to figure out what I was doing wrong in that area. I probably should have just gone back and reviewed a tutorial on YouTube but you’d think I would know what I’m doing by now.

Anyway it’s good enough for my own use but I doubt I’d give it as a gift because it still has issues!

This small drawstring bag is for my boss. I used a scrap of vinyl and some quilting cotton from stash. It’s about 10″ tall and has some chocolate inside for her birthday.

Rather than boxing the bottoms the usual way, I did that thing where you fold your fabric in half, right sides together, top edges matching, then push about an inch and a half of the bottom edge up inside then sew the side seams. It makes for a cool detail on the base without the extra step of sewing across the corners and chopping off the triangles to get that 3D bottom.

I just had three days off and my main activity was reading. Why? Well, this came in at the library.

You Outlander fans will understand!

I did get some exercise in too. We went out for a sunny walk on Sunday and on Monday I spent over an hour at the gym in the morning and I was back in the evening for yoga.

Work today so I shall have to put Jamie and Claire aside until this evening!

Jul25

Staycation – days 4 – 7

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Day 4 was a long day, mostly at home. There was library book reading, sewing and Ravellenics project planning.

I finally decided on a crochet project for the Ravellenic Games (on Ravelry, to coincide with the Olympics). I went for a bag pattern I’ve made before. It’s called the Feelin’ Groovy Drawstring Purse. It’s a paid pattern now but years ago I was one of the testers for the designer so I got it free.

I’m using Lion Brand Mandala in Chimera from the stash. I had to wait to actually start the project because the Games hadn’t started yet.

My exercise class on Thursday was Strength and Lengthen at the gym with Mr Fixit. That was a good class. The teacher was nice, which makes a huge difference.

Day 5, Friday, was an early spin class. I sweated a lot and had very sore quads afterwards. Once that was out of the way, I could get going on the crochet.

I decided I needed to make the base bigger and do six squares instead of five because the bag would have been too small. So I’ll be adapting this a bit as I go.

The sashiko on my tote bag pieces was done, so I made up the bag with a white linen lining and vinyl handles.

My muscles were glad to have a rest day on Day 6, Saturday. I cooked in the morning and we had lunch and games at our friend’s house. That took up the whole afternoon.

I finally finished Troubled Blood, the fifth Cormoran Strike novel, the one that weighs over 4lbs!

I also made more progress on the bag.

Six squares all joined up and the base circle complete.

My Little Drop of Wonderful wanted to be in my photos today, inspired by the fun photos of Ravellenic mascots in the Colourful CALs group on Ravelry.

She also came out with us today to our favourite tea shop and Costco.

I think I will name her Sparklii.

Day 7 isn’t over yet but the plan is to go to the gym for a weights workout later. And tomorrow I’ll be back at work.

May1

FOs: sewn and crocheted

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FOs: sewn and crocheted

G’day all! I hope I find you well.

My 4S program is really helping to keep me moving. The Strength part has been a circuit that I’ve set up downstairs, with some music, and various exercises with dumbbells and bands and things. The Stamina is mostly walking, with some gardening thrown in. The Stretch is yoga, and the weather has co-operated so that I could enjoy some Sunbathing, in my swimsuit no less!

Some days, I’ve managed three out of four, though my goal is two.

I just realised Sewing is another S that I enjoy, and I did finish a couple more things today. These shorts…

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…are not something that I would be seen dead in in public! However I had this remnant and thought I’d try the “make a pair of leggings from a pair you already own” as per the Crafty Gemini tutorial. I made them as shorts because (a) it was just an experiment and (b) I only had a small piece of fabric. I must say, I was surprised with how well they worked out. My new sewing machine has a bunch of stitch options and I used a couple of the stretch stitches to put these shorts together. If this fabric was a lot sturdier and held in the <ahem> wobbly bits a bit better they would work as swimshorts and I could make a bikini top to go with them.

At least my old fear of sewing knit fabric is waning!

An old interest has been sparked again recently. I pulled out my quilting books, some of which are full of templates for foundation piecing. What this involves is tracing the outlines onto a sheer fabric, interfacing or tracing paper, or you can photocopy them from the book and use that instead. Then you place small pieces of fabric behind the paper outlines and sew them together, through the paper, in the order of the numbers on the paper. The paper is torn off at the end.

I thought I’d have a play with this rat block, to which I added fabric top and bottom and then turned it into a zippered pouch.

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This is a pretty sloppy effort! I’m not proud of it. The zipper seams are not perfect, the quilting lines didn’t stay in the ditch, and the part on the top of the head where it meets the ear doesn’t match up. I could blame getting used to the new sewing machine but I should probably just suck it up and take responsibility!

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I am happier with this result – the Loops & Threads Barcelona cowl/snood. The colourway is Lapis. It’s very muted but I do like the variations. The circumference is 29″ and the length top to bottom is 21″, which is long enough to be able to wear it as a hood.

And my other crochet FO:

Four little nesting pots or bowls, for which I have no plans at the moment. They could be used as mini yarn bowls, plant pot covers or just catch-alls for random bits and pieces. These used up some of my miscellaneous DK yarn that I’d wound into cakes using odds and ends of different colours. By using two cakes at a time and holding two strands together, the colours seem to work! And I like leaving the ends hanging, trimmed to a uniform length, for added quirkiness.

Well, I think that’s us up to date. I need to get a daylight photo of my knitted blanket to show the progress. Tomorrow, if I remember. Take care!

 

 

Apr24

Playing with my new sewing machine

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Playing with my new sewing machine

I have to say, there are some really handy features on my new Janome 4120QDC. The thread cutter is awesome! The needle threader is good, though I’m still finding I have to squint to make sure that the thread is in the right place to be pulled through the needle, but I’m sure with practice it’ll get easier. I love that I can move the needle over when doing a straight stitch, which was useful yesterday when I made a couple more masks for my oldest son and wanted to topstitch a little closer to the wire. And I also love the zipper foot for its notches on BOTH sides – my old one only had one on one side which limited the way I could sew in zippers.

My first project was this one which was published by Fabricland. They are little pattern weights, and I filled mine with wheat berries because I had a huge bag from years ago. They aren’t very heavy though, so maybe something with a bit more density would have been better.

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I made ten – it felt like a good number!

And then I made this…

…which is an infinity scarf with zippered pocket. I had to go with stash fabric, and it turned out I had about a metre of this soft knit jersey. In order to get the length I needed, I had to cut it lengthwise and seam the two pieces together end to end. With hindsight, I should have made it a bit shorter because it isn’t as snug to the neck as I’d like. The pocket lining fabric is another knit that I made a top out of a couple of  years ago. The tutorial I linked to isn’t the only one online for something similar. I made mine by leaving the turning gap in the bottom of the pocket rather than in the seam at the end of the tube. It  makes for a neater finish.

As soon as I’d finished that, my son brought me an old bandanna that I’d made him about 5 years ago. I made two face masks out of it for him for work. The ones they’d provided him with were crap – thin fabric, useless wire, badly shaped, and elastic that was the wrong length. So now he has some better ones.

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This morning, I joined in with a Zoom meeting for Crafternoon Treats (podcast) Patreons, and I wanted something to do with my hands while I was doing that. So I pulled out a bag that has been sitting around for probably a year! I think I started making these pompoms out of Stylecraft Special DK some time around last Easter to make a garland or window hanging. I had made a bunch of them (they aren’t very plump, as the pompom maker I have is not great, but at least they were quick) and had started crocheting them together with chains. Today I finished joining them and decided to decorate my deck railing. I rather love that the yellow ones, which coincidentally seem to be mostly along the top of the railing, look like dandelions.

After a month of being off work, I could feel the pounds creeping on. No work, no gym, just an occasional bit of yoga or a walk, and not every day either. So on the day I did my tie-dye hair I made a plan. Each day I would do at least two out of four S’s. The S’s are Sun, Stretch (yoga), Stamina (walk) and Strength. I am checking them off on a piece of paper as I do them. Because self-discipline isn’t always easy! It’s surprising how just doing something makes you instantly feel better. It can just be a half hour of yoga, or a walk around the neighbourhood, or playing some loud music while you do some push ups, squats, and dumbbell lifts.

By going for a walk in the sunshine, I can check off two at a time!!