Skip to main content

Does anyone enjoy writing instructions?

I used to work as an office administrator and must've written scores of departmental memos in my time.  I prided myself on being clear, precise, making points logically and so they could be easily understood.  So why do I now struggle with writing instructions?  Maybe I want to feel I've moved on from those sometimes fun but mainly times monotonous working days?  Anyway, whatever reason, I've spent way too long this morning writing a simple blog post explaining how to make a fabric cuff.  Now, I get to write another set of instructions to be printed and included in a kit, about how to make the very same thing.  Which is fair enough, but I'd rather be sewing!  Mind you, doing this stops me from thinking about the bowlful of washing up in the kitchen, so it's not all bad.  
I've got this pretty Emma Bridgewater 'Strawberries & Cream' bowl next to me, filled with embroidery thread in equally pretty colours.  The bowl's got several chips around the rim, so it's gone from being a cereal bowl to having a second life holding craft supplies. 
Coffee mugs that've become chipped or lost their handles experience their second life as pen or brush holders.  Well, it pays to get value for money out of what you purchase, and I'm a great believer in 'waste not, want not'.  The odd imperfection doesn't bother me too much.  
Besides the instructional writing, I did manage a couple of other small crafty tasks that've hung around for no good reason.  I added backing fabric to two more pennants / boho bunting or whatever I'm calling them!  That's eight made so far, and I'll have to make at least one more as it's better to have an odd number than even.  Don't ask me, why, it just is.  
Also, this morning I sewed backing material on to this kinda weird bit of slow stitching.  It's a square of white cotton I painted with acrylic before adding stencils and stamping.  I've been rather half-heartedly stitching into it, but then went into overdrive the other evening.  I've since added masses of running stitches, outlining and filling in shapes made by the stencils in particular.  
I found a lovely dusty pink printed material I'd been hanging on to, waiting for the right use for it, and backed my slow stitching with it.  So now I've a stitched, backed square I'm wondering what to do with.  Make up into a fabric roll?  Sew into an envelope style pouch?  I can't decide.  
In other 'news' I had an eBay delivery today.  A pack of ten flex frames I bought which, I hadn't noticed when I initially purchased them, were sent all the way from China.  I should've selected a UK seller really as it seems wrong - or at least not massively ethical - to order stuff from the other side of the world.  But then again, if I'd bought from a UK seller the actual frames might've been supplied from a Chinese manufacturer anyway.  Attempts to shop ethically aren't that easy, are they?  
I've not used flex frames before for making purses or spex cases, so that's another new skill to master.  
Okay, I can't ignore that mini-mountain of washing up for any longer.  I'll do it and reward myself with a chocolate bar.  Yup, that's a plan.  
Hope you're having a good day, and bye for now.  



 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

  I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day.  It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice.  Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle.  Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it?  I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning.  I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point.  Time will tell.   This is a link to the listing, if you're interested.  This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs.  It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday.  I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax.  The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out....

In praise of wool

Just a quick post today. I'm offering you a short but peaceful break from the overwhelmingness (is that a word?) of Christmas.  By now you've probably eaten your bodyweight in sweets//roast potatoes/pigs in blankets/cake/After Eights ... whatever your festive indulgences are.  You're under-exericsed, over-stimulated, feeling broke and possibly guilty about an argument with a relative or friend you've never entirely got on with.  So, here's something to take your mind off all that.   I've two videos to refresh and revive, and they both concern wool.   Interesting fact.  Well, I found it interesting.  About 1% - yup, one per cent - of the world's textiles are made of wool.  Out of curiosity, I also googled how much is made of cotton.  That's higher, but it's only about 24% and that's heading downward instead of up.  Synthetic fibres are the bulk of all textile manufacture.  Anyway, back to woolly wonders.   My firs...

Abstractuary ... no, I hadn't heard of it either

  Goodbye January, the month that feels like it's stretched out to be extra-long, the month we have to plough through to get to February and real signs of Spring.  You may know, if you've wandered by this blog before, that I'm beavering away at Ann Wood's 100 day stitchbook challenge.   That's still going strong.  Three pages done and I've started page four.  But I've also stumbled across another monthly challenge, and this one originated with Tori Chatfield, a.k.a. Kool Kooky Kreatures.  You can find her on YouTube and Facebook, and she runs something called Abstractuary.  Tori's produced a list of prompts for each day in February, and the idea is that you produce something arty or crafty based on those prompts.  You can stitch or paint or collage or use whatever kind of materials you want. I won't commit to following these prompts every single day of Feb, but I'm certainly going to use several of them.  Tori's also produced a Pinterest...