Today Was a Good Day

Today was the day of good things for me and Ruth. Ruth got the sewing machine she originally wanted for 300 dollars less than she went to the shops with and I found some awesome things at the op-shop. I added to my vast empire of tracksuit material (bright blue this time), found a chair upholstered with carpet and the mother of all ironing boards finally found me. I wasn't shopping for any of these things of course, and I couldn't find the thing I actually wanted but I think that is what shopping is all about.

I saw this tatty looking thing sitting behind some even tattier outrageously over-priced chairs and decided it must come home with me. Then I sat in it and discovered it was really comfy, which was a bonus really. This picture doesn't really do it justice at all.



I'm not entirely sure where it's going to go, as my two room flat is already stuffed to the gills with furniture and the two chairs already there sometimes find themselves with nothing to do. That's not even mentioning the arm chair..

A while ago I posted about an ironing board cover I'd made for the brand new board I'd found next to a skip. At the time I had been lamenting the lack of quality ironing boards and the price for even a mediocre example. I poo-pooed Ruth when she assured me that one would eventually turn up in an op-shop, mostly because when you aren't looking for ironing boards you never see them, they're a bit of background item. Funnily enough the most glorious of heavy duty ironing boards just turned up in Ruths local. And it's green. It seems semi-industrial, with a heavy duty base and a wide top. It's even got one of those little arms that holds up the cord as you iron, which I was wishing that I had just the the day.



And it's almost a full year older than me;



Sadly, I didn't find any material for the caftan that Ben personally requested (not under duress I swear).

The real star of the day, however, was the Pfaff Classic Style Fashion, courtesy of Carol at Carols of Midland. Ruth finally managed to replace the sewing machine that I purloined last year with a much better one and it was all good fun.

Unmentioned Choice Three

A while ago I was mulling over my options of what to make next and after deciding that adjusting the pattern of choice 2 was too hard and the fabric I had was crappy anyway, I decided to go with the worst option, which was to copy a top I already have. As predicted, it didn't come out to well. It doesn't resemble the original in any way; the neckline is a different shape, I couldn't the the elastic in the gathered sleeve to do its thing properly and for some reason the back was massive. I ended up taking the elastic out, shortening the sleeves and putting a huge seam up the back.

This ordeal got me down a little so I didn't post it until now, 5 weeks later. I've sewn several things since then, but had no successes. I don't think I have any sort of natural flair or talent for it, I haven't made anything that I would consider even remotely acceptable and it is generally an upsetting chore. Like golf for some people I suppose. Except for Steve. He has natural flair and talent for everything, the bastard.

Here is it is anyway;



Here are two most excellent things I purchased on the internet recently that are on their way to me now.

A coin purse in the shape of an owl;



A pattern that I will probably never make, but for some reason the illustration makes me happy;



Who knew caftans could look so suave? It has an extra great dimension as I just sent it to my mum for giggles and apparently she had this pattern in the 70's and made a few for her dad. He probably didn't look very suave though. He probably just looked like a man in a dress.