Making Things Last

Whilst sorting my wardrobe the other day I came across an old favourite pair of black suede shoes.  (Please excuse their dusty appearance and rather grubby looking inners.)

I haven't worn them so much this year, firstly, because I haven't worn skirts very often and these shoes are great to wear with a skirt, and secondly, because of this split in one of the soles.

I bought these shoes at a jumble sale or charity shop for just £1 and they are one of the most comfortable pairs I've ever had.  Just the right height (I don't get along too well with high heels and find ballet flats just too flat that they aren't actually flattering) and a quite wide fitting, so no nipping or rubbing.  They are one of the only pairs of black shoes I own, so are really useful as a consequence.  They may not be the most fashionable pair, but I really like them and all those 80's styles are sneaking back into fashion these days.  I remember wearing tassled loafers as school shoes and they're all the rage again.

Anyway, as I don't yet want to part with them, I thought I'd take them to the shoe repairers and see if there was anything they could do.  As I paid so little for them, and enjoy wearing them so much, I don't mind paying to get them repaired, even if it costs up to £10, which it invariably does, because I couldn't buy another pair for that money.  I had them re-heeled last year (I did it up north where it was a little cheaper), but this time around I'll have to get them repaired here. 

I must admit that I really enjoy going into the shoe repair shop.  They always look incredibly busy with lots of shoes in various stages or repair.  It's encouraging to know that people are making the most of their belongings and looking after them more carefully these days.  I like to watch the guys working whilst I'm waiting, it reminds me of the old cobblers shop in our village growing up as a child.  It used to fascinate me.   I loved the smell of the glues and the leather and watching the cobbler attach the heels and soles to the shoes.

I also found another pair of brown suede boots that I thought I'd try to get repaired.  Again, these are an old favourite pair, super comfy, a sort of cowboy boot style with a low heel.

They're great for throwing on when I need to take the dog for a walk around the park.  The problem with these, is that they have a moulded heel and not one that can be removed and replaced, so I'm not sure if they're salvageable.  I could hear a rattling sound when I was wearing them the other day.  Turns out lots of small pieces of gravel had got up through the small hole pictured and into the heel itself and were rattling around as I walked. 

Time to get them repaired I think, if I can that is.  I'll get back to you and let you know how I got on.

Sorting and Sifting My Wardrobe - Part 1

With the advent of some warmer spring weather I felt inspired to tackle my far too cluttered wardrobe and see if I could give it a good sort and sift.  I remember doing this last year as spring approached.  I needed to put some winter things away until next year and make room for the spring/summer clothes I keep in storage over the winter, as well as get rid of anything I'm just not wearing anymore or no longer wish to keep.  So, on Sunday night I started the process.  Here's a picture of my wardrobe, full of autumn/winter clothes. (Apologies about the quality of the photograph, it was taken in artificial light)

I must admit that I do have quite a lot of old favourites in my wardrobe that I just don't like parting with, but I think there comes a time when you do just have to say your good byes and move on.  At least that is what I'm telling myself, to help me be a bit more ruthless this time around.

I used to shop quite a lot in charity shops for clothes and have bought many an item that I have had good wear from.  Some items, however, very rarely see the light of day and it is these items that I am going to try to focus on sending back to the charity shop.

I do seem to have an abundance of jackets, most of which never get worn for one reason or another, lots of skirts that I used to wear more, but haven't worn so much this winter, many of which I still want to keep as they fit well and I find them very comfortable to wear.  There are a few, however, that don't fit so well and I'm afraid it's time to say au revoir to these.

Many of these items I have now packed away until next autumn, as they are quite heavy and unlikely to get worn from here on in, others I am keeping in the wardrobe, as they are a little more versatile and I can wear them over the summer too.  I'm looking to reduce the amount of clothes and shoes I put in seasonal storage, as I've noticed in recent years that the amount has increased, causing the storage bags and suitcase I use to store them, to clutter up other parts of the house.  Something that I'd like to resolve if possible.

There was one particular vintage dress in my wardrobe (pictured above), that I bought on eBay a  few years ago.  I've been thinking about this dress for quite a while now.  It's a beautiful dress with a striking print.  It fits quite well but I don't like how I look in it and as a consequence I just haven't ever worn it and I'm not sure that I ever will.  I am seriously considering seeing if I can sell it via our local vintage shop, which stocks lots of similar items of clothing or alternatively even use the fabric to make something I will wear.  It is such a pity for such a beautiful fabric to hang unused in the wardrobe when it could be worn and enjoyed.  I must admit that I am verging on the latter approach and trying to think what I could make with the fabric.

An hour later and I have a bag full of things to send to the charity shop, a pile to go into storage and I'm almost finished sorting through the winter clothes.  Here's what the wardrobe looks like now.

Lots of lovely empty hangers. 

Next on the agenda is getting out the summer clothes storage bags.  There's two of them, plus a  large suitcase that I keep on top of the wardrobe.  I'll post again when I've sorted through all of these items.  It usually involves a lot of trying on of the clothes to check they still fit me and that I still like them and want to wear them.  Wish me luck

Project 52 - Week 11 - Start Making Seed Cakes to Feed the Birds

This week has flown by so quickly and I must admit that I haven't really properly focused on completing things on my to do list, so today I needed to think of something quite simple that I could complete in time to post.  This task is something that I've been meaning to do for a while. 

Inspired by Penny at The Hen House, as I've read her blog post on this, and by the fact that I always have a bowl in the fridge which I fill with left over fat from cooking, to prevent it going down the sink. 

In the past, I have tended to either throw waste fat in the waste to go to landfill or lately, put it in the food waste for recycling into compost.  As I'm not sure how easy it is to recycle a large lump of fat into compost, I've decided that this idea is a much better option and if it brings lots of lovely birds into the garden, even better.  It's also another tiny step on my Zero Waste journey.

I bought some bird seed whilst out grocery shopping the other day, £1.49 for 1kg from Tesco, but I'm sure you can probably buy it cheaper from other sources. 

I used some small foil trays as moulds, that I salvaged when tidying out the baking drawer last week and put them aside for the purpose.

The fat looks pretty disgusting.

I melted the fat over the hob in an old baking tray and poured it into a bowl along with the bird seed before spooning it into the moulds.

In this batch I was able to make about 8 cakes from a pudding bowl full of fat and half a bag of seed.  I then put them in the fridge to set, after which I will be cutting them out of the mould with a butter knife and skewering them so that I can feed string through the hole and hang them.  They're not quite solid yet, but are getting there I hope.

 

 

I'm pleased with the results so far and will post when I get them strung up.  Thank you Penny for the inspiration.   I look forward to seeing if they get eaten and by whom.

Joining in with Dreamer at Living a Slow and Simple Life in trying to complete a task a week in the Project 52 challenge.

T is for .... Trying

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again ..........................or so the saying goes.

Well, after unravelling my bunting once I got home from the knitting and stitching show, I decided to try and make it again, sans errors.  Originally, I hadn't put the holes in to pass the ribbon through, which you did by knitting two together and taking the yarn over, a knitting skill I've never tried before.

So, armed with my bamboo needles, ball of wool, the pattern and a recorded programme about hoarding on the TV, I gave it another try.  Initially, I got it wrong again, by managing to somehow pick up an extra stitch where I shouldn't and therefore filling in one of the holes, but on my second attempt it worked, much to my delight.

I continued on with the bunting flag until I realised that I hadn't put the rubbish out ready for collection in the morning (it was 11pm by now), so had to rush around the house emptying bins and bagging up recycling before heading to bed.

So, here's a picture of where I'm at with it at the moment.  It's not perfect, but it's taking shape slowly and I'm happy with it. 

Here's a close up of the holes.

 

Determination + effort (trying) = success (or moderate success).

 

Joining in with Mum from Mum's Simply Living blog posting using the Backwards Alphabet

A Day Out At The Spring Knitting And Stitching Show

Today, I had a lovely day out at the Spring Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia in Kensington.  I'd never been to Olympia before, so I had to plan my journey, which actually wasn't too complicated, as I could catch a train from near where I live.

I arrived at around 11am and joined the long queue to get in which moved very quickly and then there I was in amongst all those lovely, lovely stalls selling anything and everything you could possibly think of relating to knitting, stitching and lots of other crafts too.

The first stall I went to was just full of lots of lovely accessories and other bits and pieces, so it was difficult not to indulge in some new fangled pom pom makers that I'd seen Kirstie Alsopp use on one of her craft programs on TV and which looked so simple to use. 

I have a massive stash of acryllic double knit that I need to use up, so I thought I might use it to make some pom pom bunting.  They were very reasonably priced on this stall too, as I've seen them elsewhere for a lot more money.  I also got some lovely ribbon to label my hand knitted projects

and a lovely inexpensive ring casing, which I bought so that Little Bird could make me a dress ring with her polymer clay.  (She was quite thrilled at the prospect).

I had a good look around all the stalls.  There were some beautiful fabrics on sale at very reasonable prices, but to be honest it was just so busy that it was hard to get to the front of some stalls to get served, so I didn't really indulge in much fabric buying.  I did buy a couple of lovely grey spotted fat quarters, for a possible future patchwork project, but that was all.

This visit, I made a point of sitting down to watch one of the demonstrations on the stage.  It was a lovely project for a paper cut style felt cushion/pin cushion, which I enjoyed.  Then, after stopping off for a sandwich and a cup of tea, I joined in one of the free workshops to learn to knit bunting.  It was great.  You were taught how to knit and then decrease down to the point to make the triangular shape of the bunting flags, so I learnt some new knitting skills that I'd never practiced before.  You were also kindly given your bamboo needles, ball of wool and simple how to knit instructions to take home, which were really useful for future reference.  I didn't manage to finish my bunting triangle in the time allocated, as it was only half an hour, and have since unravelled it, as I had made a mistake early on, so I'm going to try to do it again at home and make a better job of it.  You can get the gist from this picture on the pattern.

I met a very nice lady in the workshop, who also gave me another pattern, to knit a very simple ruffled scarf.  I later purchased an appropriate ball of wool and I'm going to try do follow it at some point in the near future, so expect a post on the subject!

After stumbling out of one knitting workshop, I came upon another gathering of knitters and asked what they were doing.  They were knitting links for a chain of knitting, to decorate the knitting tent at a forthcoming music festival called the Wilderness festival.  I couldn't resist joining in, as it was only six stitches wide and however long required to make a link.  There was some gorgeous ultra chunky mohair and big 15mm needles, so I plumped for these and knitted this alternating between rows of garter stitch and purl stitch.  (I've not used purl stitch for years, so I was pleased to try it again.)

I loved working with this type of wool and would love to knit an ultra chunky blanket if I can ever find/afford some, or I may even knit some strips of fabric together into a blanket, cushion panel or rug.  I purchased these 15mm fixed circular needles for just this purpose. 

Whilst knitting the link, I managed to find out how to knit moss stitch, which I've seen and really like the effect of, but didn't know how to knit, so that should be useful for me to practice in future.

As you can probably tell, I found lots of inspiration at this show, from the stalls and the people I met and interacted with.  It's just amazing what you can learn from other people and I'm now seriously thinking of taking some kind of knitting course to further improve my skills. 

Elsewhere at the show, I loved this use of fabric on an umbrella frame, decorating a stall selling fabric. 

I also got inspired by lots of other ways to use narrow strips of fabric, either by sewing them together or knitting or weaving them into practical, usable items.   Imagine recycling clothing in this way, how zero waste would that be.

There was an exhibition of fashion by schools and colleges and a patchwork exhibition too, to wander around, plus other workshops you could pay to enter and other free demonstrations and workshops to watch or take part in.  Plenty for everyone to see and do.  If you like knitting and sewing, this is a super show to attend.  Just be prepared for the crowds and to part with some money, as there are so many tempting things on sale.

Tuesday at Home and A Change in My Exercise Routine

This post is a little bit rambling, but then life is a bit like that sometimes, so here goes.  Yesterday, I spent most of the day at home doing various bits and pieces.  I say most, but I did take the dog for a long 2 hour walk in the morning, on which I managed to squeeze in a few tasks such as returning some out of date drugs to the pharmacy, to be disposed of safely and popping into the doctor's with a prescription.  It felt good to get home knowing I'd crossed two things off my to do list for the week already.

Once home, I settled into spending the day pottering around the house.  OH had gone out in the car, so I couldn't do some bits I needed to do, that necessitated my having the car.  I did, however, manage to finally expose the bottom of the washing basket, which I haven't done for a good few weeks now and I'm definitely getting there with the ironing.  I waded through  a massive pile of shredding that has been building up under the sink, another tick off the list, and also did a bit of outstanding work before settling down to soup for lunch.

In the afternoon, I almost finished replacing the broken zip on a jacket of mine.  I bought the zip when we were in the Yorkshire Dales and hadn't measured the length of the original.  It was a bit long, which I had feared, but luckily with a bit of unpicking of seams, pinning and tacking into place, I managed to fit it okay, without it looking too much of a dog's dinner.   I need this jacket now the weather is getting better, as it is quite light for wearing in the spring, so it was vital I got a move on with it.  I now just need to sew it in place on the machine.  Fingers crossed.  I was pretty happy with the result of my work so far and if it extends the life of it, I will be even more happy.

(Talking of extending the life of things, I took delivery of my welly glue the other day and mended a couple of tears in a pair of wellies.  It seems to have worked okay, but I haven't road tested them by going through a puddle or anything yet.  At a cost of only a few pounds, it was well worth it to have hopefully extended their life too.)

Later, I prepared a beef stew for dinner and cooked up some meat for the dog.  When OH finally came in, it was decided that I would take Little Bird to her swimming lesson in the evening (usually he does the honours and goes for a swim himself), so I found myself venturing out once again.  I must admit I wasn't really in the mood, but someone needed to go and OH was far too busy. 

To pass the time whilst the lesson was taking place, I popped into Primark nearby (always a big mistake) and came out with a pair of trousers and a couple of storage bags for myself  and a few things for Little Bird to be put away for Christmas.  I know it's incredibly early, but I do like to shop over the course of the year to spread the cost of Christmas and  these were things that would be fine for next year.  It's been my first real indulgence this month and wasn't actually a huge one, so I don't feel too bad about it.  To be perfectly honest, I just haven't really been in the mood to spend much money at all so far this month, which has been a really good thing.  It means that I will have a bit of spending money for when I go to the Knitting and Stitching Show later this week.  Perhaps it will all change from here on in.  Let's hope not.

Today, I'm trying out a new Zumba class at a different leisure centre, as I couldn't get into my normal aerobics class on account of it being fully booked up.  This is getting to be a much more common occurrence lately, as it's getting very busy down at the gym.  It doesn't help that I can't seem to book online, so have to rely on booking in person or over the phone (when it is eventually answered).  It can be a bit frustrating, but there's not a lot I can do about it.   Fortunately, I have a membership that covers my use of a large number of leisure centres all over London, so I've started to look at classes in other centres as an alternative and to add a bit more variety to my week. 

I'm looking forward to trying a new class.   It's good to mix things up from time to time and I've been attending the same classes week in week out for a long time now.  I'm also trying a new class on Saturday morning, which I've been meaning to try for a couple of months.  Sometimes, I just need a good kick up the back side to get around to doing these things, and not getting into some of my usual classes gave me just that.  I'll let you know how I get on.

Waste Not Want Not and a Baking Drawer De-clutter

Sunday morning I found myself melting chocolate and making crispy buns. 

As a consequence of buying a different brand of cereal for Little Bird, which she didn't like, there was almost a full box languishing in the cupboard not being used.  As I don't eat cereal very often, preferring muffins, crumpets or potato cakes for breakfast, and OH prefers Bran Flakes and Fruit and Fibre (healthy man), and as I don't like to waste food, I decided to use said cereal and make some chocolaty treats.  Not very imaginative I know, but they were super easy and I haven't made them in a while.  (I do sometimes make these at Easter using Shredded Wheat (more nest-like) and top them with chicks and eggs.)

Using half the cereal and half the chocolate I'd bought, I made lots of crunchy treats to see us through the week.

That's one way to get it eaten!  There's also plenty left to make some more next week, when hopefully I'll be left with more space in the cupboard, without having unnecessarily wasted any food. 

Whilst on the subject of baking, not really an area of expertise for me, I thought I'd share a great little idea with you for storing bun cases, that I saw on Pinterest.  They are kept very neat and tidy in a jam jar.  Here's a picture of mine.  It keeps them in one place, saves them spilling all over the baking drawer and you can clearly see what you've got, which saves buying more when you really don't need them.

 

All this talk of baking gave me the sudden urge to de-clutter the baking drawer, in the hope of inspiring me to bake more.  Here is what it looked like before I started.

 

 

 

Quite tidy underneath, but lots of things randomly thrown back in on the top.  It's a lovely deep drawer which is really useful, but I find I can never keep it tidy for long as there's far too much in it.  (Probably, because a lot of it never gets used)  There's duplicate bags of flour and boxes of icing sugar, some items I've never used and are not likely to, plus those few things that I need quite regularly, but still have to root around to find which is quite annoying.  If it gets too untidy, things fall out of the back of the drawer and stop me closing it.  It's a fine line.

 

I decided that I needed to be a bit ruthless.  I'd tidied it a while ago and got rid of quite a few things, but there was still more that could go.  As you can see from the next photograph I earn my name around here as Mrs Receptacle as I often like to put things inside of things inside of things.  If you know what I mean.  It does work though to keep things in order, but is probably a side of my personality that OH finds most scary.

 

 

Eventually with a bit of effort, the drawer was in a lot better order.  Still a bit cluttered, but I know that most of the things I use regularly are within easy reach and don't require my delving into the depths.  Maybe when I get around to using up some of the duplicates, or just using some of the things in here full stop, there will be a bit more room.  I live in hope.  Here's the finished result anyway.

 

 

Continuing with my kitchen de-cluttering, with the aim of making it a clutter free zone.