Paying for my time

I sew and I love to sew.  If I see something I like and want and I can make it, I will.  

My sewing started when I was very young (3 or 4 years old), my mum and grandma sewed and therefore so did I.  At first it was just things or clothes for dolly, but I soon started making clothes for me.  My mum made my clothes and I sort of rebelled, because I wanted to wear more "modern" clothes and something different to my sister.

It was the early 1970's and clothes were expensive - everything was expensive.  I remember my mum crying because she had bought 5lb of potatoes and inside her bag (you went to the greengrocers with your string bag) was a large pebble.  She had just bought a very expensive pebble and to top it all we wouldn't have enough potatoes for the week.  Anyway - we could only dream of buying clothes off the peg and apart from C&A, Woolworths and BHS, there wasn't much choice.  Grandma was great, she made all our best clothes and even bought us clothes from Marks and Spencers.  She worked at S R Gents, who made clothes for Marks and Spencers, so had contacts.

In my teens I started making clothes for me, one off items.  There were plenty of fabric shops and lots to choose from.  I saved my pocket money and bought wisely.  It never occurred to me to make clothes for other people.  

But over the past thirty years or so I have been asked to make clothes for people and I have always refused.  Or I have been honest and told them how much it would cost.  Many brides-to-be ask me to make their bridesmaid dresses.  I'm sure they think I am cheap and are very surprised when my quote is far more than their off the peg wedding dress.  

One of the biggest costs is my labour, but material can only be bought in small quantities and therefore don't have the bulk price that the manufacturers can buy at.  My labour charge is £15 an hour and add to that the cost of consumables and electricity etc.  I am just too expensive.

In my last post I showed you one of the aprons I made

I posted the picture on Facebook as it was of interest to my friends.  Not all my makes go on Facebook because I like my friends to guess what I have made.

Well a neighbour say the apron and wanted one for her Dad.  She asked me if I would make one and said there was no rush as she didn't need it until August.  I never really answered her at the time, I never do, just changed the subject.  The material is from The Little Button Co and they also sell the aprons.  I know I have made one, but it was for my own use and a "gift" for my mum.  I say "gift" because she paid me for the material.  The material for one apron costs £18.  They sell their aprons for £18.  I know my neighbour would buy one off me for £25, as I guess she thinks she is doing me a favour.  But I should confess and say that I would be in breach of copyright and get her to buy one from The Little Button Co. 

My husband appreciates what I make and loves the quirky things I make him and as for my mum, how many aprons would pay for all the times she has wiped my bum, nose or blooded knee?

A Perfect Day

Do you ever get the feeling of total satisfaction and a sense of peace?  Yesterday I did, it was ten past eight in the evening and I was feeling relaxed, fulfilled and at peace with myself.  So I got to thinking about what had made my day like that.

As usual my day started with walking my dog, Red is his name.  Always happy to see you and eager to go out for a walk.  The ground was damp from overnight rain making everything look new and washed.  The spring flowers, including the late daffodils in my front garden, were nodding their heads in the breeze.  The air was fresh and clean and with no traffic noise I could almost believe I was on holiday.

My morning coffee tasted especially good, warm and full and satisfying.  It's deep rich aroma filling my nostrils with memories of eating breakfast with my friend in Germany.  Breakfast in Germany being a leisurely affair, with fresh baked bread and tantalising cheeses and succulent cold meats.  Laughter filled the air as we talked of things done and dreams to fulfil.

Once my breakfast had settled, it was time to get down to things more serious.  The laundry was sorted and started whilst I got on my exercise bike.  With a body tingling and feeling alive I showered and let my hair dry naturally.  

Time for my mid morning coffee.

Knitting was my next past time and I duly sat down, with my coffee at my side and started my next mammoth knitting project.  It is a coat by Kate Davies called Westering Home.  I am making it in a teal blue and now can't wait to finish it.  But for now I have made a start and the cable pattern is now set.

The postman arrived with my 72 plug plants, and in the beautiful sunshine I potted them up.  Red laid on the decking in his usual spot to sunbathe.

The laundry now washed and dried it was time for some more knitting.

As it was Wednesday I was teaching in the evening.  A lovely, lively class of 11 women all learning to dress make.  I set off one of my students on drafting a skirt pattern and then one by one taught four of them how to put in zips.  The pleasure on their faces, when they performed the simple task of opening and closing a zip that had been sewn in correctly, never ceases to surprise me.  Until teaching, I hadn't realised that putting in zips was so daunting to so many people and that when taught correctly, how relaxed people became.  It was at this time (8:10pm), that I vowed to get myself a bottle of wine and when I got home, finish of my perfect day with a crisp cold glass of white wine.

Perfect.

Happy New Year

Funny how people make a fuss of New Years Day, for me it is like any other (I am sat here writing this before going to work).  Many people reflect on the past year and what is to come in the next.  So for once I am going to look back over the year.

It was great.

I got my PTTLS teaching certificate, then literally walked into a teaching job.  I had an operation I was really waiting for and my health has improved.  But on the negative side, I lost two people dear to me.  My husband's mum Joan Jakins passed away suddenly in June, then my Nannan Florence White passed away peacefully.  I am missing both of them very much.

But my confidence in my sewing is reaching new heights.  Teaching people has made me realise just how much I know and how skilled I am.  I also take the greatest pleasure in seeing just the minutest achievement of my students.  But I am wanting to learn more for myself as well.

What am I looking forward to this year?  Lots and everything, as I have achieved so much in one year I will not be surprised on how much I can achieve in the next.  I am putting studies to the back burner for now and hope to take my Cert Ed in 2016, but I will be going for day classes in sewing, trousers are my nemesis.  There will be lots more teaching.  A trip to India to organise (not for sewing, but I will buy lots of material there), this is to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and both of us reaching 50 years of age. Both of these, I think, are huge milestones.

Have I done any sewing in the last 2 weeks?  No.  But I will be getting back there in the next week.  

Thank you for reading my blog and hope to write more in the New Year.

Happy Sewing and a Happy New Year to you.

  

Army Buttons

Whilst tidying my work room, (as you all know I am sorting my work room to make it better organised) I came across a set of battered army buttons.

From the back, they look like they have just not been looked after, but the fronts (especially the top left one) intrigued me.  On closer inspection, they were buttons from the uniform of someone in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (bomb disposal), and the marks looked like something shrapnel would have done.

They were the buttons from the army uniform of Great Uncle James Donald Bradley - Donald to his family.

This is Donald wearing his uniform with the buttons.  I am missing 3 small ones and two large ones.  At the time of his death Donald wasn't wearing the uniform, but a bomb did kill him.

On the 26th April 1939, Donald joined the RAOC, signing on for 4 years.  On the 20th March 1940 he was posted overseas with the Scottish 58th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment.  He was then plucked out of the water at Dunkirk on 2nd June 1940 and sent with the rest of his remaining comrades to Penhale Camp, Perranporth, Cornwall.

Donald had two passions, swimming and poker.  His strong swimming ability saved his life at Dunkirk, rumours are that he was in the water for a day and helped save the lives of many of his comrades.  Penhale Camp was (it has now been redeveloped) on the north shore of Cornwall with an enviable beach and surfing waters.

On 7th July 1940, the day he died, he was on his way to the beach when he stopped to watch a high stake poker game.  At the same time, a German bomber was on his way back to Germany and had some bombs still on board.  He dropped them over Penhale Camp, one of them near to the poker game.  Donald, unlike some of his comrades, didn't die straight away.  He later died of his wounds at Newquay and District Hospital.

As he was on his way to the beach, he would not have been wearing the uniform.  But was it in his locker?  Were the buttons given to his family and have been kept all this time?  I will never know. But they are buttons, they have a family history connection, I love buttons and I love family history, what a great way of connecting people to their long lost family?

This is me at Donald's Grave side

This is the field at Penhale Camp, where the bomb dropped.

Grandma's Button Box

I learnt to sew from my Grandma, but the one thing that always fascinated me was her button box.  I would play for hours with it, or just simply put my hands in and swish them around.

When my Grandma sadly passed away, it was the button box I wanted to keep as a memento.  I have her sewing box and tools as well, but they are not as tactile as her buttons.  I can spend hours with my hands in the tin, (yes it's a tin, not a box, but box scans better with button) sometimes getting them out, sorting them or just choosing one. I have tried to split them into categories, but they never seem the same, so I put them back together, just loose playing with their buddies, together in the tin.

In there are odd ones, or full sets.  The ones that I love the most are the ones that came from garments my Grandma made and wore.  At the end of the garment's usefulness the buttons came off and were put in the tin.  When I find a button the catches my eye, I remember my Grandma using it, or, if it is one I have never seen her wear, I image what garment it could have been on.
Some buttons have shouted at me and one set have really made an impression.  So much  so that I had to find the right material for them to make something to show them off.  They are 8 purple shanked hexagons and when I was given 3 metres of purple lining the hunt was on to find the right fabric.  
I eventually found it at Knit and Stitch and I knew I wanted to make a Navy Pea Coat Style jacket, and here it is -

A hip length jacket with double breasted front and slash pockets

The purple lining is a great splash of colour

With some scraps of purple silk I made bound buttonholes

Thanks to my Grandma's frugelness I have a jacket that is unique and not only because of the skills she passed on to me, but also because of the buttons, her memory lives on.