Sunday 5 May 2013

Trying something new...

So..... I´m not very good at this blogging thing. I spend lots of time online; I think of lots of interesting things I could write; but I´m terrible at combining the two things! Time to try something different :)

One of the blogs I read is by Tiffany, at A Clove of Garlic, A Pint of Salt. She started a challenge recently set by Jenni at Story of my life to blog every day in May. Now.... I know I´ve already missed the first few days, but I´m going to try and start now, and see if I can at least manage to post a few days every week for the next few weeks! Better than nothing, right? Right!

Even though technically today is Day 5, I´m going to go with the prompt for Day 4 for today, which is about your favourite quote.



This is one of my favourite quotes, one that has been useful for me in many stages of my life. The first time I saw it was when I was about to leave home to move away for university, which was in a town more than 6 hours drive away. No one I knew was going there, so it was a huge move for a 17 year old! At my going away party, my grandparents gave me this quote written on a plaque that they had made (they used to make wooden plaques and toys - Gramps would cut the wooden shapes, and Gran would paint the quotes and decorations).

It calmed me at a time when I was full of nerves, about to step into so much darkness - new town, university life, new friends. I didn´t know what to expect, and it was reassuring to think to myself that either whatever was waiting for me would be familiar, or that it would show me how strong I could me. In the end, I think it ended up being a little of both. :)

This was also very comforting for me for other huge steps in my life - new jobs, new cities, new countries! Rather than getting myself worked up over what was waiting for me, I could trust that either I could already deal with it, or I would learn to deal with it.

Two years after my last big move, I still use this quote - but now with my students :) When they are worried about living overseas, about functioning solely in English, I give them this quote, and I think it helps (I hope it does, anyway!!)

What´s your favourite quote? More of mine are on my pinterest board here: Quotes. Please share your favourites!!


Sunday 10 February 2013

Challenge: Mini jeans skirt

Ok, so this challenge has taken me a long time to complete.... I started it sometime towards the end of 2012 and just finished today - so maybe 4/5 months? I think the important thing is that I finished it though!!

Challenge: Change an old pair of jeans into a jeans skirt.

Before - old (but favorite!) pair of jeans that have seen better days...

I really thought that this would be more simple than it actually was! But I guess my year 9 sewing skills from 14+ years ago (omg, am I really that old??) had kinda expired, and the fact that most tutorials I found online were for long (think 70s hippy) denim skirts, I was working blind!

In saying that, I´m pretty happy with the result! I´m not going to win any fashion awards, and I certainly won´t be rushing out to make another skirt anytime soon, but at least I know I can do it!!

I decided to make the skirt after I realised my favorite pair of jeans were kinda old (ok, very old) - so old that the fabric was starting to wear through in places. Places where you should not be able to see skin when you are wearing jeans. Converting them into shorts (which I actually need far more than a skirt!) was not possible due to the.... ummmm..... ´sensitive´ location of the biggest hole, so a skirt it was!

This is not an appropriate place to have a hole in your jeans....
I took the time to unpick the inside seams, and although it was a lot of work, I´m glad I did - I think the contrast seams add something. And I´m not sure how well the fabric would have matched up again if I had just cut the seams.
With seams ripped. I cut a lot of the legs off - anyone have ideas for the leftover material?

The hardest part was working out how to line up the back seam - In the end there is a slight bubble, but I don´t think it´s really noticeable (please don´t tell me if it is, let me live in my dream land just a little longer!).
Can you see the bubble? No? Ok good.

This was a huge challenge for me - but a worthwhile one!

 
Ta da! Finished product! (Ok, so I may have to straighten the bottom a little... shhh!)