Hiawatha Made Some Mittens

When we bought Cornerstones in 2009, I bought some mats for the bathroom. In 2022 we changed the basin, and I modified the second pedestal mat to fit the shower. After seventeen years those turquoise mats are looking rather sad, so we replaced them last week. Norwich IKEA had a very limited choice of colours, so we went for grey. Yet again I altered Mat #3 to fit round the shower cubicle. 

I am pleased that the old ones can go in a textiles recycling bin - well done IKEA. I must have too much time on my hands - as I was restitching the binding, I worked out that if this set lasts 17 years, it works out at a cost of 2p a week to have a safe, non slip path across the bathroom!

My other domestic sewing involved the adjustable worklamp which I use for close work.

This is a really fancy piece of kit. Back in Leicestershire, I had been hankering after one, but the proper adjustable ones were well over £100. Then one of Bob's electronics catalogues arrived, and there was one for around £15. A tenth of the usual price. He rang them up - and it was an error. But because he pointed it out, they let him have one at that price- a true bargain. It has been so useful. I was concerned that in the spare bedroom, it might get accidentally bashed by visitors [enthusiastic grandchildren] For months it has been wrapped in a Jiffy bag,. Now it has a proper button on case, and it looks much smarter

Two scraps of fabric from a curtain sample book, lined with an offcut of soft thermal curtain lining. I thought it would be a quick job - simple bag, with lining, two buttoned straps. But I somehow got the lining and outer in the wrong order. First I got the thin side inside, and I got the soft side outside, then a mixture...

It took me three attempts to get it right, it was Hiawatha's Mittens all over again!

Of the fur, he made some mittens,
Made them with the fur side inside,
Made them with the skin side outside.
He, to get the warm side inside,
Put the inside skin side outside;
He to get the cold side outside
Put the warm side fur side inside.
That’s why he put the fur side inside,
Why he put the skin side outside,
Why he turned them inside outside.