Christmas decorations

Look we have a room that looks grown up and everything.. The tree ended up in front of the french doors as they don't really need opening much this time of year. You can see the end of the settle collected from mum. The table is not the new one as that is still propped against the wall till we finish sorting a few more things out.

The top picture is Jake one of our cats on the settle looking towards the tree. The cushion is the one my gran had on it when I was little and the cover mum had made has shredded so that is the original cover, not bad for something that has got to be over 20 years old and possibly a lot older.


It even still looks reasonable a day later for Christmas dinner. This side of the room is more sorted and clear than it has been for a long time. I can't in all honestly say the whole area is or that I got as far as I wanted to but I had to be realistic about how much physical work i could do currently so things like painting the walls has been put on hold for now, however I quite like bare plaster especally when it as well done as this is, the plaster we had in I can't fault..

The other side of the room is less organised Ill show you a picture at the bottom, However to be fair it isn't as bad as it looks. Against the wall is the octagonal table top with a cloth over it, in front of that is a sideboard with some stuff in front of it and the the table base, which has a couple of boxes piles on top. There is also some building supplies that haven't yet been used In front of all that is two more dining chairs and a rocking chair with some stuff on them mostly opened presents which haven't found homes yet. So with that out the way here is the picture.. I hope to find homes for some of this before new year as we are having a party then.

50 metres does Nikki twice !

Herself suggested the title and as it is about her who am I to argue?

50 metres to do what you may be asking? Well I could just leave you to make up your own ideas and if I tell you it involved Jon wrapping her in gaffer tape it may or may not help your mental images, probably depending who you are and how well you know the people in question.

50 metres is two rolls of tape which is what she brought with her, in fact we used three rolls and more would probably have been a good idea, though by that point she was commenting it was rather hot and restricting, of course the corset underneath the gaffer tape probably didn't help that feeling.

So what were we doing? Well at one point we discussed the relative pros and cons of bondage tape though we never got on to talking about a friend who found out he was allergic to the glue on masking tape when he was mummified in it but honestly the real reason is actually suitable for this blog.

We were making her a personalised tailors dummy. Nikki has been making some lovely outfits for herself but she has no-one nearby to help fit them and while it is lovely to have her visit so I can help it isn't always easy for her to find the time and money to do that as we don't live close. Now she has her own personal copy of her torso to do her fitting on which hopefully will make her outfits even more stunning.

For anyone who doesn't know you can make a dummy by dressing in an old t-shirt you don't mind destroying with the appropriate underwear beneath, in this case a corset as she is making period outfits. Then get someone to wrap you in gaffer tape (duck tape), you need to get a good layer so when you cut the t-shirt and tape combination off it holds it shape plus try and keep it fairly flat. We added a bit of scrap fabric to extend the neck as well so she can fit collars and the full slope of her shoulder if wanted. Then you stuff it well and stick it on a pole. One personal tailors dummy. I don't have any pictures of it finished as we only did the taping, Nikki is doing the stuffing at home, I'll see if she will do a picture later.

The shape we got shows how useful a personalised dummy can be. Nikki has a very sway back, honestly that is her real shape, while she has a corset under it she wasn't wearing any form of bustle so the back of a bodice is never going to fit her well without either someone else to help or a dummy like this because she just isn't a standard shape in that regard, just like most of us aren't a standard size one way or another.

First few crochet things.

I have completed a few simple items since Julie showed me the basics and have decided yarn stashes could easily become just as bad as fabric ones.

So far I have done a scarf come collar but need to find my button box to finish it. Two hats for my youngest nephews for Christmas and a scarf for small also for Christmas as he saw me making the first one and wanted it for himself. Instead he is getting a rainbow scarf.

I used this pattern for the hats but the two scarfs were just done on the fly. I looked up how to do button holes in a book from the library. The scarf/collar is dc (UK) and the rainbow scarf is htc with one line of dc at the end to mirror the starting chain as it didn't look quite right otherwise.

The hats are significantly different sizes due to the amount of increases done on them and I'm not sure which are best so I have left off weaving in the ends till I can find out how they fit as they were quick enough I think I can unravel them and re-do them while we are all at my mums.

I like this crochet stuff it works up quickly and is easy. Well so far not having done anything involving much pattern! I want to try some lace patterns and some miniature stuff come the new year I think but before that possibly a couple more basic bits to add to christmas presents.

Needlefelted Bears

Realised I never posted these two who went to new homes as part of a miniatures swap. They got blue bows round their necks before they were sent off.

Needle felted from alpaca leg wool which felted well though it did need trimming as it was quite fuzzy even when well felted. Both natural colours supplied by a local breeder who gave me enough to ee going for a good long time!

There are some wonderful mini bear makers out there and they include crochet ones too so when I'm a bit better that that I may try one of those. The Thread Artist Guild members make bears by knitting, crochet and needle felting and have some wonderful examples posted every month on their Yahoo group which I'm a member of.

Crochet

The re-organisation of the back is sort of on hold though we have got a lot more room there. The on hold is because I have been having pains which i think are related to doing to much but just in case they signal more serious things I'm taking it really easy the next few days.

On the bright side Julie came round at the weekend and apart from seeing her and Dave for the evening which was great in itself she also ran me through the basics of crochet. As I hoped having someone actually show me sorted out the issues I was having with turning rows and the like and I've since done another sample to prove I remembered it all.. Now onto making something worth keeping.

Progress on tidying

Progress has been slow this last week as we have all been down with colds. However I have done some things.. I get a bunch of tester pots and have been trying out paint colours so I can paint as areas get cleared. As the room is almost a T shape and the light levels vary from very brightly lit by natural light to pretty much no natural light at all colours look very different in different areas. I have narrowed it down to two, one twice the price of the other but it's coverage is MUCH better. I have been trying them on pieces of card as they can be moved about but now I'm going to use up the rest of the test pots on the actual walls in a couple of different places to see if the more expensive one is worth the money, if I have to do one coat not three it probably is both because you actually use less paint and because of the time saving.

The other main thing that is an improvement is the table has stayed clear enough we have been able to have your evening meal all together at the table before the small one goes to bed which is something we've been wanting to do for a while.

Other sorting has been done but in other rooms rather than this one, though we are definetly at the looks worse before it gets better stage.

Spaceships and progress out back.

The picture at the top is a spaceship the small one made recently. We were told firmly we had to save rubbish to make things from and indeed we were happy to do so for the school as the teacher had asked but himself decided he needed first pick to build something at home which he had great fun with. Since then it has sat ignored on the table so I took a picture and took it apart so the parts can be re-used to make something else.

So on to progress with the re-organisation. The area to be sorted is too big to be cleared of everything as suggested so I am doing it in stages. I have started to clear the wooden floor area though the building supplies are still there.. however as those are to finished the heating and therefore destined to go under the floor which of course will be out of sight. There is no point making Jon's life more difficult by moving it farther away at this point. However the pile of fabric that was there has been moved and sorted into keep and not keep. I am part way through washing it all as it is very musty due to being a small part of a lot of fabric I inherited in a round about sort of way (see earlier posts) and had been stored in a barn for a while.

I have also got two huge boxes of sewing pattern which I have sorted into keep and give away and got several friends to take what they want. One more friend to look through them ( and anyone else who reads this and is local is welcome to) then I'll see if there is any interest in ebay for the rest.

I did however do some tidying in another part of the room. The dresser had become a complete mess as any small items without a home had been dumped there so I cleared it and got out some of my Denby which is now on display.. It makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere.

In reply to the questions here.

I haven't got appropriately labelled boxes because typically I managed to recycle all the appropriately sized boxes just before we started but I'm working on that. I agree it's a good idea however.

I haven't set a specific time each day but I am trying to do a bit each day and see how much energy etc I have,

I don't want to get containers because a) we have quite a few, they are just full not nessacaraly of stuff we want to keep and b) I want to get the shelving sorted first so they are the right size.

I feel both overwhelmed and excited at the same time.

Planning the attack

Questions from orgjunkie.com

1. What do I want the purpose of my room or area to be?
It should be a combined living and dining area,with the area near the kitchen having the dining table and the rest general living space which will free up the front room to be a more secluded, more adult sitting room.

2. What do I need in or near the room to serve that purpose?
Dining table, the current one needs to move probably to the attic as it has always been my work table and is very good fr that purpose, then my gran's hexagonal one has to come down from Mum's house.
Sofa, TV and most importantly probably shelving and other storage.

3. What can I remove from the room?
Some of the sewing stuff. Longer term this includes the sewing machine but it needs to stay till the workshop is ready so will probably take the place ear marked for a computer desk for now. There is less to chuck in this room than you might expect as it is where the stuff we actually want ends up because if it is put away we can't get to it as putting away currently means a storage unit!

4. What problems do I see with the room?
The area near the back door because it easily becomes a throw hole. This is where I plan to put a desk but for now will probably have to store the sewing machine instead. Getting the storage right so it works for what we want to store.

5. What organizational tools might solve those problems?
Lots of storage of the right size! Having a plan.

6. What habits need to change to solve the organizational problems?
Us all being squirrels. Ok that might not change but we need to stop being such perfectionists we need to realise the area is good enough to use and the last bits that need doing can be done around using the room rather than constantly waiting.. that is helped by Jon having realised he can do the heating from the void under the floor. Plus being realistic about what we are going to use and when, sometimes it's better to get rid of something and buy a new one later if we need it I know this in my head, my heart and the recycler in me finds that harder to accept.

7. What kind of a budget do I have to create the organized room of my dreams?
Most of the budget has been spent already on the remodling. Apart from paint and paper we have most of what we need as to start with we are going to reuse things we have at least until we get the new table and so forth in and see how everything sits..

8. What kind of a timeline is necessary to organize the room?
Next few weeks, end of the month at the latest as we need to get the furniture from mum's and get ready for christmas. Even though we don't decorate for christmas till the last minute I want to get everything out and go through it before the shops have run out of anything I might want otherwise I'll buy stuff I already have!

9. What is my plan of action? (very much an overview at the moment.)

Clear the wooden floored area and go through the random piles so i at least know what is there, work out what is staying and what is going.

Get one of the boys to finish stripping the ceiling paper (there was a big leak so the ceiling needs re-papering), once that is done I can get on with painting. I'm not doing the ceiling myself as I'm 5 months pregnant and my balance is suspect.

Once that area is sorted moving items of furniture around, which includes things currently in here and ones that need to come in from elsewhere. Then the other part of the room can be sorted and rearranged.

Organising the back

Those of you who have been to my house know the back part well, even those who haven't have seen parts of it in pictures as that is where we normally sew. It has been a bit of a dump.. no strike that a huge dump. For ages as there is no organised storage everything is temporary partly because we were planning to take the floor up in the last bit to finish the underfloor heating. Those who know us know we have too much stuff so not having places to store stuff is fatal however big a house you have.

Well the news is Jon has started on the heating again and has decided he hates taking floors up so much he has worked out how to do it from underneath. This means we can get on with sorting the rest and it also means we can keep the original floorboards and sand them back. Those floor boards are in pretty good nick though we do need to patch in a few where he has removed the hearth from the no longer used chimney, leaving it would have been visible and coursed a cold patch.

For those who don't know the layout of downstairs is as follows. The front door is at the side of the house and you come into a hall with the stairs in front of you. To the right is a sitting room which goes across the whole of the front of the house. To your left is a door into the kitchen and straight ahead is a door which goes into what is now a tiny second hall with the utility room under the stairs off it and another door into the back of the house. The whole of the back of the house is open plan and is a bit like a horseshoe ie from the middle of the house you can enter into two areas (one the kitchen) with a wall between them, both of which open up into a large area across the whole of the back of the house. A huge amount of work had to be done to get the house like this including knocking about the whole area, new doors, windows, putting in beams to allow walls to be taken out, raising ceilings, redoing floors, including putting in underfloor heating and so forth. The main work was done a while now and the kitchen was finished the beginning of this year at which point we ran out of steam.

Now however we are getting on with things again all be it slowly at times. I am determined to get the back sorted and for it to become our main living area before Christmas hits and before it gets much colder so we don't have to huddle round the wood stove in the front room. Also mum is retiring at the beginning of next year so we HAVE to go and collect my gran's dining table which we said we would take and some other furniture as she is downsizing big time and can't store it any more.

To help spur me on I have decided to sign up to The 30 day Organizational Challenge. There are prizes and everything though most I'd either not get or would find out if they would send to friends in the states. The real prize would be to get the area sorted. Basically the idea is to pick a room, cupboard whatever that needs sorting and spend the month gradually doing it.

So what is it like currently? Well a few pictures in a mo. It is actually slightly better than it was at the beginning of the month as we tidied on, around and under the table as we had friends round for Saturday dinner. Currently it is a mix of building materials, sewing equipment and random tat. It all needs decorating as well.


Looking from the utility room into the area that needs the heating put in. As Jon is working under the floor now I can sort this bit. I think we are leaving sanding the floor till the spring but the rest needs painting and so forth before I can furnish it.

You can see right through the back area, to the right of the window the house goes back farther and believe it or not there is another window back there plus a back door at right angles to the window, or rather a boarded up space for a door as we need to get it fitted still.
Looking back into the same area. Much of the building supplies, mostly boards against the wall, will disappear under the floor shortly. The white pile in the for ground is hiding my industrial sewing machine. That needs to stay for now but hopefully come the new year I will be able to move it to a workshop a friend of ours is planning to get at the end of the road which he is happy for me to share.


This is the area round the corner, the other half of the main back area next to the kitchen. It is slightly better than the rest but not much. The floor in this part is concrete with the heating pipes screed into it. We plan to cover it with reclaimed wooden flooring but again that will have to wait till the spring I think as we need to be able to clear the room completely which will mean furniture outside in the day at least. You might just be able to see the fabric I have bought for curtains in the corner next to the french doors.

I think that is enough for one post I will post my plan for the month tomorrow.

Ravelry

Ok it might sound mad to join something about knitting and crochet when I don't do either but I would really quite like to try again.. well crochet anyway, knitting I can do but am not so sure it's worth my time as I found it boring last time. That said it was about 20 years ago and things have changed ! Maybe it's a nesting instinct or something.

So got my membership through today and will see how it goes.

I will have to catch up with either Julie or my mum so they can help me get started as I seem to have a bit of a mental block trying to use a book. Should consider going to Knitwits again as well that might help.

Clerical garb

Lots of posts all at once.. remembered I never posted tis picture of the outfit I made for the last maelstrom. This is the new Cardinal of Mill'en. Being a roleplaying game I specifically went for colours that were relevant to the game world not real life but kept the clerical feel so it is obvious what he is. Must sort him a hat before next season I think. We also talked about an shoulder cloak but I have run out of the wool and as yet not found a nice matching brocade.

Another shot of him can be found here.

patterns

A few pictures of the pattern stash I just got. The top picture s two of my favorates.

I filled one box with patterns on edge here.. the rest are still on the table.

In the second picture what isn't clear is that the higher pile at the back are on top of a smaller box a bit bigger than a patten layed flat which is also filled with patterns stacked on edge.

Crochet top

I don't crochet, one of the very few fibre arts I've never learnt though I am weakening. This pattern for a top is certainly breaking down my defences, of course I want to do a pattern ladled experienced I don't want to bother doing the more basic stuff first.

That said I teach peple to sew and we start with what they want to make which is often not something basic so the question is how badly wrong would it go if I tried? Probably should at least get someone to show me the basics first. I did try from a book and got as far as a line of basic stitch but couldn't work out how you moved to the second line which is probably easy but I couldn't get my head round the instructions.

Patterns galore

The inlaws were back today with the last couple of bags of fabric. I haven't gone through them properly yet but there is certainly some nice looking wool and some linen or linen-look in there that looks good.

However the main bit of this delivery was the HUGE box of patterns. It was a large box with the top taped up high and another piece of card over the top and it was full to bursting.

The patterns cover almost everything you can think of . They range in age from the 1960's to probably the 90's I think and cover almost everything you can think of. The normal range of dresses, trousers, tops, skirts, coats, suits from skimpy tops to floor length evening gowns and several full gypsy style skirts. Also underwear, hats, dolls, bags, menswear, boys clothes and babywear including the sweetest buttoned together sleepsuits. If I had to pick one pattern as my favorate it would be one of the early ones for apron, with fitted bibs and patch pockets, very much back in now.

Knitting site

I don't even knit and I was very tempted.
Sorry Julie blame one of my friends on LJ.. haberdashery danger zone.
click here if you dare.

Fabric Haul

Yesterday the In-laws turned up with about a dozen bags of fabric from a friend of theirs who's wife died a year back. He wanted her stash to go to a good home and they suggested me.. They did ask first.

The bags have a huge range of stuff in them including a fair few clothes though unfortunately pretty much all are too small for me. The clothes vary in design and style a lot but there is some quite nice bits in there. A few i think I will keep and re-fashion such as a black and red cord skirt with roses on. If I undo the panels and insert extra black ones I think it will look really good.

There are some beautifully made suits, the sort elegant old ladies wear but in some cases that actually makes then quite fashionable at the moment. Unless one of my smaller friends likes them most will probably end up in the charity shop. there is one skirt i really want to find a home for.. it's floor length white and black gingham with red smocking at the bottom to make a frill.. very silly, wonderfully so but too small for me :(


Everything is damp as it's been in black plastic binliners in a barn but none seems actually mouldy so the next few days will be spent airing it all. !! The clothes are probably going through the washer first.

The fabric is pretty much all good quality and ranges from several yards of some to scraps of others. There are several really good size pieces of quality wool, some silk, chiffon, satin, lots of cottons of all sorts, lining fabric and some synthetics though they are mostly skirting fabric and a few slinky dress fabrics. The lady who owned it all used to have a fabric shop and had a reputation for good quality and i can see why. Not everything is to my taste and some of it a bit to older lady for most of my friends too but much of it will find homes I think.

I also have a bag full of cones of thread and bulk polyester (the fluffy thread you get on t-shirts). Huge reals of elastic and curtain header by the ton. Even a bag of linen thread which went straight into the leather working box.

more costume

Made less than i planned but what has been made is not bad.

Firstly a coat and waistcoat to match. It's an 18th Century Banyan in other words and informal coat styled on a kimono. This is for a very rich merchant character. It is shown worn with the lapels open but has buttons up on side and can be worn done up to the neck. The waist coat is a basic waist length one which you can just see at the neck in the same fabric as the body of the coat.


The other item is a shift or under-dress. There is an over dress to go with it but I'll wait and see if there are pics of it on the person it is for because the pics on the dummy look a little weird. This came out very well and I am tempted to do a shorter version for myself in a lighter fabric.

Flowers.

Had some flowers in varses so decided to shoot some photos of them.. I think they came out well... lovely smelling peonys and red and white roses.

jacket

Jacket from the charity shop trawl. I liked the fabric but the length, very unfitted style and horrid gold buttons were very Madam Bucket as Tom said.

Cut 7 inches off the bottom, kept the arm holes and above exactly the same as that fitted well. Took in the side seam on a taper from the arm hole to the bottom. ie none at the arm hole about 1.5 inches at the waist. Also put in a bust dart in the front of the jacket on each side. Finally bound the lower edge with black satin bias binding and changed the buttons to more subtle ones.

I might use the 7 inches I cut off the bottom to make a matching bag.. you can never have too many handbags!

Bag

I have done well on my refashioning the stuff from the charity shop, in fact apart from trying the red jumper again at a hotter temp to see if it felts I have done everything now. I will do a second post for the jacket.

Made the jeans into a bag for my sister's birthday which was well recieved. I made a small purse to go with it too. The strap was rather an after thougth and next time I think I will recycle an old belt or if I have fabric the rest of the jeans. As it was I added a padded bit to stop the cord digging into the shoulder.

This bag I put a bottom in and then did a re-enforcing panel. ie a thick piece of card covered in fabric that sits in the bottom to keep the shape. It is tacked in and she has instructions to remove it before washing the bag. the small purse can be seen on the top of the dummy. It loops onto the red and white tap you can see at the back of the bag keeping it from getting lost in the bottom.
Everyone seemed to really like when we met at my Aunties so i am tempted to make some more and see if they sell. They arn't hard and they are quite fun.

Charity shop hall and Felting experiment

We went on a charity shop trawl at the weekend and i got some bits.. I got a camera bag which will get revamped as something else, a sweet little cruet set which will go with my Denby. Two short sleeve silk shirts to wear open over T-shirts (I don't do butteoned shirts well due to my bust). A pair of stripy jeans to make a bag out of. A pink and black tweedy jacket which i plan to hack and slash till it works and definetly change the buttons plus two pure wool jumpers.



I washed both jumpers at 60 (and a third one himself was chucking) The patterned one shrunk very well the other two didn't so i plan to try again at a hotter temp. The patterned one shrunk from 41-43 inch chest to just the right size for small one who is nearly 4. I cut it down the front and it is now a boiled wool jacket for him.. result.

Red Coat update

Apparently this should be subtitled Ming the Mercyless!

Dave gave me back the coat as it was not fully finished last time and we agreed the collor needed changing as well. It is now done apart from a couple of buttons becouse he didn't bring them all over and possibly heming up a bit which he is happy to do himself.

The collar now comes round to the front and has five bones in the stand so it is not flopping whatever he does in it. I forgot to take any pictures of it on him but it does look very good, even if I do say so myself.

Outfits from Maelstrom Corination

Here is the outfit I made for Tom and the dresses I helped Nikki and Sarah make.. When I say help it was mostly encorragement and yes you are doing that right than actual hands on help. They both put in a huge amount of work and I am very proud of them. The main bit I did was embroider the stomachers on my machine for them.

Maelstrom aftermath

Well it's over and went well i think. more on costuem later. Thought I failed to take pics of half the things i made or helped make. To busy being in character which is a good thing really. It was a huge amount of work but it seems well recieved.

some pics including both Nikki and Sarah's wonderful outfits that I only really advised on here

Tom's outfit I did all of the one with the unreasonablly long title which i probably got wrong.

Forgot to take a proper pic of the throne once it was finished though you can see it in part in the corination pics. Lots of work for something no-one was allowed to sit in but it was cool. For those that don't know the small one phys reps the majesta.. hence there being a Regent but the game rules do not allow him at the main games.. so we had a decliration he was majesta and a crowning of the Regent in his absence. Hence the empty throne.

Kit making marathon

We will start taking kit to site Wensday for the next Maelstrom event which we are hosting. We have tents to dress, an arena to built, a ritual site to dress and much propage for a play, a corination and other things, most of which is currently in the process of being made in our house though various other people are helping out with bits in other places or once we get on site.

We have bunting and flags and stuff in progress. Lots of costume from tabards and sashes for soldiers to a Corination cloak and various people's outfits for the ball in the evening.

As well as group kit and personal outfits from Tom and I there seems to be a new process where by someone comes and stays for a week or so and makes a dress with my help.. they go home and someone else arrives. Half the time they only planned to be here a day or so.. I don't mind and everyone seems to feel I and helpful for them. I find I work better with company so it is all good and we have enough room even with our excessive clutter for more than one person to work at once.

If i get the chance I will do an update ocne more stuff is finsihed off or at least WIP pics at the end of the weekend.

I have had a problem with my left shoulder and arm which i am beginning to think has to do with my tooth. To explain I lose a chunk of a molar and while it wasn't paining me felt it sould be dealt with.. i dislike dentists a LOT so this wasn't easy but I went and they drilled out the remains of the filling and some decay and put a temp filling it while an inlay was made. Que two weeks of very sensitive tooth. Now have the inlay and it has had a couple of days to settle and I realise it's the first time I've chewed using that side of my mouth in two weeks and my shoulder is less painful.. conected? time will tell.

Over kill Corset

I now have a set of 18th century stays. I used J.P. Ryan's pattern which works well. Sarah is now working on a set as well as a dress.

The stays are fully boned, every channel you see has a bone in it and all of them are metal of one sort or another. I used two widths of flat metal boning plus one type of spiral boing which mostly went in the sides. This is rather overkill but hey and I intend to convince certain refs it is armour. Considering I'd happly take a blow from a real sword across it I think that is fair.

I have also made a small bumroll and a matching skirt. This is all for my Maelstrom character Oriel. I/she is a Taylor for the nobility of Millen but I am looking to stress that i am aservant and she plans to blend into the background a bit this coming event, hence the monchrome look.

It worked quite well though there are things i could do better like the visible locking off stiches I should have finished the thread ends off by hand. I am making some detachable straps as well as I think I may feel i keep needing to pull them up fractionally. I think for now I will be wearing the outfit with a black jacket i already have and was bought off the high street a while back. Longer term i plan to make a black wool riding coat, probably with plates in the shoulders and possibly part of the skirts..(to add to the armour theme and to up the amount of armour I am wearing) Still need to hem the skirt .