Thursday 19 May 2016

Homemade Summer Challenge

Yesterday I did my yearly trip to Primani to get some new strappy vests for summer. I replace all the faded, shrunken and generally scrappy tops in time for the nice weather and also if you go early enough in the season they have a better range of colours! Yesterday was my last shopping trip for clothes for the foreseeable future because I have decided to set myself a mammoth challenge! You see I'm a bit of a shopping addict so for me the following will be a BIG deal. I have decided that from today I will not be buying any new clothes for the next 5 months! That brings me to my birthday month of October and as I can't promise I won't enjoy a few new items around that time, it's the perfect time to end my challenge. Until then I will only wear what I own or make or alter from charity shop finds. I'm hoping this will not only help my sewing skills improve but also save some well needed pennies. It will also prove to me that I don't wear 40% of my wardrobe which will be donated at the end of the challenge. I am allowing myself to buy essentials such as underwear and hosery but this my friends will be it! Let the challenge commence

Thursday 12 May 2016

Website Update!!!!

I've just spent all afternoon sinking my teeth into editing and updating the Mama Likes To Sew website. When I originally set up the site I had no idea what I was doing and it was a rather daunting task to say the least! I spent ages trying to find a host and comparing prices and I was worried the more I searched the less likely I was to actually get the domain I wanted. It's an absolute mine field trying to get a website up and running! Today I have tweaked everything, added new pictures, new content and tested every link is present and correct. There is still much work to do photo wise as I'm constantly adding to my portfolio but all in all I'm quite proud of myself! 

Tuesday 10 May 2016

Hello old friend

It's been FOREVER since I last posted. Life just kind of took over and now I'm back and ready to roll! Or sew, however you want to look at it! I've been studying Pinterest a lot lately for new inspiration from like minded people and getting ideas for future projects. I got my Singer out for the first time in yonks the other day and realised how much I actually enjoy making something from scratch. The feeling of looking at a finished item is one of such pride, especially when it was just a pile of fabric, wadding and a few reels of cotton only hours before. This got me thinking about the potential of some of my fabric stash. Crafting as a whole is seeing the potential in something that maybe others can't see, whether it's a pile of fabric, paper, beads or even furniture, the thought process is always focused on the final result. I really thrive around like minded people and revel in their creativity. A friend of mine is so talented in not only dress making but also mixed media art and has an amazing studio in her house dedicated to crafting. It was like walking into an Alladin's cave of creativity. She is able to take even the most mundane object and turn it into something beautiful and that my friends is a talent. I'm so glad that programs like the Great British Sewing Bee, Money For Nothing and George Clark's Amazing Spaces are given air time because these shows enable ordinary and unrecognised people a chance to show what they are truly made of. My local fabric store in town is always packed when I go in there and it just goes to show, the old skills are well and truly still going strong.