Tag Archives: jeans

May5

April wrap up

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April wrap up

Hi all

I’m overdue for my April roundup, aren’t I! It was a making, vlogging, walking sort of month. Mr Stitches and I have been getting between 5000 and 10000 steps in every day, and I have also been supplementing with a few home workouts. Trying to get fitter again. 

Ali of Little Drops of Wonderful has had her Dodgy Bag Makealong in progress, and there’s an active thread in her Ravelry group. I’ve posted quite a few photos in there of bags I’ve made, including the one for my swap partner in Alberta. 

She sent me a lovely package of goodies in return. A bag that she made, some ceramic buttons, stickers and a cute toadstool charm. 

I’ll pop a few photos of the things I’ve sewn below.

Caroline bags (photo tutorial on this blog) including some smaller ones just for fun

Bum Bag – this was a pain as there was binding on the inside and I do not like binding!

Laptop bag – my own invention

Tote from upcycled denim

Forage bag – a Noodlehead pattern

Scrappy continuous zipper bags

Arm band for phone – another invention of mine so I can log steps when  working out at home

Scissor keepers – a SewingTimes tutorial

Tiny zip pouches – I made a YouTube tutorial for these

Turtle mop – an idea I saw on Facebook

Coral denim bag – another YT tutorial,  this time from Mama Project. Struggled with this one. Not good enough to sell but I used it today and I love it so I’m keeping it. I dyed the jeans with Rit.

There’s been quite a lot of crochet too. 

Turtle

Crochet pussy hats – I’m on the third one so far this week. Yarn is Ice Yarns Picasso.

I had another fun outing with friends one weekend. We drove a little way south and had a lovely time in a small town with a yarn store (that was really busy as they were having a special event with wine and cupcakes and everything) and a quilt store. So we spent lots of time browsing and inhaling yarn and fabric fumes and then went and had a coffee and a snack. 

I’m writing this on May 5th, and today was my first market, selling my bags. I did sell a few, and made a reasonable amount of money, but a lot of that was thanks to my friends who came to say Hi. I certainly didn’t expect them to spend any money but they did and I’m grateful for that. 

It was a tiring day of getting up at 6am (because I woke up before my alarm and thought I may as well get up) and driving to the venue and spending 5 hours “peopling” (I’m out of practice at that). Packing up didn’t take long, but I got home desperate for food and tea! And then Mr Stitches and I went out for a 7pm show of Taiko drumming which was absolutely awesome and made me forget my tiredness. 

Mr Stitches’ recovery from cancer is going quite well, though the after-effects of the radiation come and go. He will be going back to work next week, but only 4 hours, 3 days the first week. And then gradually working his way back to full time. I have also started looking around to see what part-time jobs there are in the vicinity but I haven’t gone as far as updating my resumé.

If you haven’t yet gone and checked out my YouTube channel, Stitches and Slapdashery, please do go and visit.

Thanks for reading.

Apr1

March blog/vlog wrap-up

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My favourite corner!

Hi everyone

Spring has sprung! We just went for a walk around our neighbourhood, it’s 21 Celsius out there (although it will be cooling again after tomorrow) and the local deer are enjoying the delicacies provided by our backyard flowers, such as they are.

Mr Stitches, aka my husband, is recovering well from his cancer treatment. After the anticipated dip when treatment ended, he’s been getting better and better. He’s eating well though has to take care with his throat still. Nothing too scratchy or spicy or dry. He’s started to wean himself off the painkillers.

We’ve been taking daily walks and his energy is returning.

I’ve been vlogging frequently all month at Stitches and Slapdashery on YouTube and also published a few tutorials. I have one for drawstring project bags for knitters/crocheters, zippered project bags, a denim cup/water bottle carrier, and a couple of crochet ones too.

The granny square pants were finished and have been worn (INSIDE the house)!

I am in the process of knitting a baby blanket with Ice Yarns Sweet Baby – the pattern is Ten Stitch Twist by Frankie Brown (free on Ravelry).

I made quite a few upcycled denim bags. The one I was most proud of was the backpack which I designed myself.

And I also made an Amplector by Spencer Ogg, and a simplified version of the Linds Handmade H2O2go, which turned out awesome.

My crochet WIP is probably going to be a cardigan or sweater, for which I’ve started making daisy squares like this one.

They’re all going to look different as I’m using stash and the background yarn has long colour changes.

I’ve been recording over the Easter weekend so there’ll be another vlog uploaded tonight. If you haven’t checked out the channel yet, I’d love for you to visit! Leave me a comment 😀

Hope you’re enjoying the seasonal changes wherever you are. Have a wonderful April. 😊

Nov28

November wrap-up

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We’re nearly at the end of November. I’ll be doing Vlogmas on my YouTube channel, Stitches and Slapdashery, so I hope you’ll be able to visit me every day in December over there.

It’s been a quiet month. I was feeling under the weather for a large chunk of it, culminating in a few days of heavy cold, but I’m better now.

I’ve been gradually adding to the pile of small Christmas gifts, including coasters, earrings, upcycled denim bags and pen pouches.

House coasters

The above were made using a YT tutorial called Chicken Love by Minki Kim.

Ugly Christmas sweaters

Crocheted ornaments from a pattern by Fay Lyth on Ravelry.

Handmade journal

Random paper and printed card made for a pretty journal for my December plans.

Lots of grannies

I crocheted 36 fugly granny squares with two strands of DK and a 6.5mm hook, which I’m currently sewing together to make pants!!

Folded square coasters

More coasters from a simple tutorial by SewCanShe.

Three upcycled jeans projects
Some earrings
Pen pouches

These are from Christine’s Home Affairs on YouTube.

I am still between jobs but feeling the urge to get a resumé together so that I can line something up for January. To that end, I’m studying for Food Safe Level 1 so that I can add that qualification to my resumé.

I’d love to see you over on YouTube during December. Happy crafting!

Aug7

38 rounds in…

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My tension isn’t brilliant but I’m enjoying myself and hoping that a good wash at the end will even things out somewhat. (All That Jazz cowl as linked in my last post.)

My new sashiko needles and thread have shipped but in the meantime I’m playing with embroidery floss. These two panels will probably become a zippered pouch. I intend to add more embroidery first.

Jul20

Staycation!

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Before inventory at work, I booked a week off. I knew it’d be something to look forward to, after the extra shifts and overtime, and now I’m appreciating my good planning.

Day 1: I looked at the week ahead and booked myself into some gym classes. Monday, I just did a regular self-directed workout, with some treadmill time and some weights machines.

I did laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and mopped the floor, and then treated myself to a few blissful hours in my sewing room.

This is another boro/sashiko project, probably a bag, but this time I’m covering the whole surface with stitching. I’m not rushing it, just stitching away while playing YouTube videos or Netflix, and it’s very relaxing.

The weather has been in the 30s every day, and even in the basement it’s been uncomfortably warm. Add to that the hot flashes that I’m getting every day now and sometimes I’m mopping my face as my glasses slide down my nose.

I’ve been reading a series of novels by Robert Galbraith (aka J K Rowling) which are detective novels. I read the fourth one in the series first, because I picked it up at the library not realising it was part of a series. And I only realised that J K Rowling was the author once I’d finished it. So I requested the rest of the books from the library and quickly devoured the first three.

The book above is the fifth one. Admittedly it’s a large print version, but still, it’s huge compared to the others. If you’re interested, the first book is called The Cuckoo’s Calling.

What do you think of this adorable pincushion? One of my co-workers left this week, and I gave her one of the bags I’ve made as a leaving gift. She gave me this with a lovely note.

I’ve been eating quite a few apricots this week. Our tree produced a fair few this year, and even though some fell on the ground before I could get to then and others were occupied by earwigs, I still got to enjoy those little packages of edible sunshine.

Our valley has been hit by smoke again this summer from the numerous wildfires around the province but I am grateful that we are only breathing smoke and not having to deal directly with fires in my neighbourhood.

Take care, everyone.

Jul4

Playing with sashiko

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Upcycled denim patches, tie dye cotton
Backed with light interfacing

The thread I used was basic embroidery floss. I can see how proper sashiko thread would give a superior result, though, as it’s not plied and wouldn’t split.

Once I had built up this fabric I trimmed it to neat rectangles and made a tote bag. I was inspired by this site. I used more denim from jeans for the handles.

The patches and lining are made from the fabric left over from the tunic top I made recently. There’s a magnetic snap and D ring tab inside.

The lining before assembly
The final result

I love it!