A Month Of Bargains

1. My usual charity shop limit is £4 a week. Which is £16 a month.  For ages I've been looking in CS for a single Pokal glass tumbler, as I only had 5, not 6. So I was pleased to find one for 50p in the Warrington IKEA bargain corner - they come in sets of 6 for £4, which is 67p each. Set complete. Not a CS buy, but never mind
2. I don't need pinking shears - but Bob spotted brand new Fiskars ones for £8 instead of £35, and all my other crafting scissors[and garden secateurs, and kitchen scissors] are the orange handled Scandinavian beauties. So I got them - and passed my others onto two sisters I know who are starting their sewing journey, and will make good use of them. [Break shop, Cromer]
3. Bob also spotted 4 Pantone mugs for £4. They have gone into the cupboard, and random non matching mugs have gone in a CS donations box [Hospice Shop, Norwich]
4. I said I did not want anymore Willow Tree Figures, but the Bright Star Angel was £4 not £25, and she will look so good with the others at Christmas. [RSPCA Chorlton]

Total spend £16.50. That's OK. I probably won't buy any CS stuff for the next few weeks. My bargains

There is only one problem. The Angel has lost a hand. She had two when I took her from the shelf and gave her to the lady to wrap up. 
But when I unwrapped her, her right hand is missing. I checked very carefully in the bag she'd been in, in case it was in there. But no...

I am working out how to make a new hand. Air-drying clay is currently my best thought. Bob suggested putting some sort of pin into the wrist to hold it. On closer examination, there is a mark on the wrist, and I wonder if the hand had already been repaired and was loose in the shop...

No matter, I have till December to fix her!

In Everything Give Thanks

These are the words of Paul in his letter to the Christians at Thessalonica. I was completely exhausted when we got back from Manchester on Friday night, and have developed a nasty cold. But I was thankful 

• For a safe journey
• For 5 superb days with the family
• For a lovely home to come back to
• For the neighbour who had put my wheelie bin back
• For good food to eat
• .... For so much more.

But I was feeling a bit flat - missing my two cheerful little boys, and sneezing a lot. "We may have post waiting for us" said Bob, hopefully. There was indeed a stack of flyers on the mat [no, I don't need new furniture, replacement windows,  a will or a funeral plan - and I am certainly not planning on moving house!] But at the bottom of the heap, a proper envelope, with a handwritten address. And inside, the most gorgeous card

My wonky photo doesn't do it justice. My friend had already emailed a thank you for the small package I'd sent her. This handmade thank you card really lifted my spirits - as did the message inside. 

In this busy world of texts and emails and WhatsApps, it really means a lot when somebody makes an extra effort to show their gratitude.

"Writing thank you letters " after Christmas or birthdays often felt like a chore when I was a child, but I am glad Mum drilled the habit into me, and grateful to others who say thank you sincerely.

Let us not take each other for granted. Every day, find somebody to say thank you too. And make it genuine, not just a perfunctory phrase mumbled in passing.  ❤️💚💙🧡🩷

A Visit To The Royal Armourers?

The family in Holland all went to a theme park. Rosie rode the carousel, and Jess explained to the fairy that Grandma had made her fairy dress. 

There appears to have been a medieval knights component to the experience. Steph sent a photo of tabard, shield and sword. "Knight's Tabard? How difficult?" I replied [perhaps a little too quickly] "Easy. Is Grandad required to make the shield?" George would like a shield please. With fire on it. And a sword too. So, having finished Shed Aprons and other tasks, Bob and I set to work to produce items for George and Jacob, done in time for our trip north.

He inserted old "ship" halfpennies into the pommels, polished to a shiny copper, and whipped the hilts. The shields were laser etched, painted and waxed.

I turned some scraps and a green cord skirt into two tabards. They are reversible to plain green if the boys want to play Robin Hood or something. Having learned at the castle the other week that bright colours were authentic, I went to town with these

Pressing Matters

Wednesday morning was the start of the Autumn Session of the Shed. It was a Mardle [Norfolk word for get-together and natter] The men, wives and other friends of the group enjoyed drinks and snacks in the sunshine. On the right is Nancy. She's in her 80s and has lived in this area most of her life, and involved in all sorts of community activities.

She is a great supporter of the Shed. I'd taken down my last apron*, to show those who hadn't seen them. 

She asked if she could borrow it and take it round the various groups she attends, to drum up some orders.

I hope I am as active and enthusiastic when I'm in my eighties!

* I've sold 8, and one was a gift to Mandi, whose company donated the fabric. She kindly posted a lovely review on the Village Facebook group. I already have orders for three more from blogfriends. So I spent Thursday cutting out another 10 aprons, and pressing hems ready for stitching when I get back from hospital visiting this morning.

Pressing matters - it gives a much neater finish. Making 10 at a time is a good way to do it. There's still lots of fabric left...

What Does MIB Mean?

I thought it was Men in Black, but in the NANSA CS in Norwich, they have a basket by the door. Everything is £1, and labelled with a tag saying MIB and describing a fault. Ripped sleeve, broken zip, stain on front, faulty seam...

I picked up a dress, it was a really pretty 100% cotton fabric. And my size too. But a horrid rip in the sleeve and half the buttons missing.

I'm not sure if MIB means "Mend It"Basket, or "Make It Better" but the fabric was lovely and I knew I could make something from it. When I got home, I carefully unpicked both sleeves. The dress was extremely well made, every seam stitched neatly, and all raw edges properly finished. The tag said "Patra", not a name I recognised. I tried on the dress. It was...snug. But pretty, an incentive yo lose a few lbs. I bound the armholes with bias binding, found buttons to fill the gaps, and added discreet hooks&eyes between the top buttons to stop gaping.

Definitely good value for money.

My

Incredible Bargain.

Midi-dress In Blue

More Interesting Buttons?

Do you ever buy things from a CS which needs mending?

What has been your best bargain?

Stitches In Time

One of the parts of the "Castle Reborn" project which I have been following with particular interest is the needlework. In the Great Hall there are a number of hangings, and in the adjacent room, a wonderful embroidery - a sequel, if you like, to the Bayeux Tapestry.  

All this stitched by Norfolk women, worked to an exceedingly high standard. Here is the 'year' piece- twelve months, with sun, moon, earth and ocean in the corners.

 And here is a hanging depicting the six kings. Find out about the 'Bayeux Sequel' here

It has been hung rather high on the wall, so you cannot really see it in detail - I learned on Wednesday that many visitors have remarked on this, so maybe it will be put in a more accessible spot.

But there are panels showing some details hanging at eye level in another room

As I walked round on Monday, I was involved in a WhatsApp chat with Kirsten - the whole idea for our collaborative stitching was actually born out of an earlier visit to the Castle 3½ years ago.

"I wish you were here" I typed. There was so much inspirational stitching. I suspect some of it will definitely get into this year's TwoByTwo project.

I love that these two 'sampler' panels have such interesting stitching between the patches - gold on red cloth, and the simpler blue on white.

The people behind the Reborn Project felt it was important to ask local Norfolk Women [from the Costume and Textiles Association] to do this work - and although it is strictly an embroidery [as is the original Bayeux piece] they refer to this one also as a Tapestry.

Better photos and more details here,

The last section ends with the words

"All noise of wars, thanks be to God, is quiet in the English lands"
I am grateful for the peace of my life in East Anglia right now - would that this were true across our world.

Keep-Going

Like party-going and theatre-going, only this time having a good time in a Mediaeval Castle Keep. Because we have annual passes to Norfolk County Museums, we were delighted to be invited to a special preview of the Keep Restoration. To see the work that has been done in Norwich Castle Keep over the last seven years at a cost of millions. 

We went on Monday and it was utterly brilliant. So much to see, a fabulous atmosphere. The main Keep has been restored to the way it was in 1121. The central area is the royal dining hall, and beautifully painted in historically accurate bright colours, with wall hangings and wooden tables and benches. Visitors can dress in robes and feel part of the King's Banquet.  The place was full of people, all ages - young families, students OAPs.

Here's Bob pretending to be Henry 1st [son of William the Conqueror] Tomorrow I shall say more about the embroideries. If you can access BBC Sounds, listen to Monday's Front Row [Link here] which explains even more about this phenomenal project.

And here are some helpful Table Manners for the King's guests

Spam On Crackers, Anybody?

Despite our hard work, and your good wishes, Saturday's event did not turn out as planned. We arrived and set up just after 10, Here's a picture taken at 1pm, Saturday, as I sat beside Bob, under the Men's Shed Gazebo. Just seven people on the field, and about thirty more milling about by the bar and the tea point. 

Only eight stalls were there, and I forgot to take pictures. It was quite a surreal event really. The ice cream van left early, as so few people seemed to be buying ices.

And as for the eclectic mix of stall holders... There weren't many takers for unusual pink plastic creatures produced on a 3d printer, pyrography, WW2 memorabilia, earrings, or jute baskets. 

There was a poet who tried in vain to sell his books - he had written poems about Bloomsbury and Tavistock Square. Bob mentioned TS was close to our daughter's office. But the poet said he had never actually been there! 

There was a gentleman, dressed as a US Army Officer was giving out samples of Spam on little crackers "I have enough for 500 visitors" he said, rather sadly, and returned to his stall [a model of a Spam factory surrounded by pictures of WW2 people on ration eating Spam] He had a model chicken on top of the factory, which talked...

Publicity had not been very successful, which contributed to poor attendance I think. There were more people first thing, and a few more later - many said they couldn't find out the details anywhere and a lot of the information on social media omitted the time.

One bemused lady had come from Norwich with her dog for the Rescue Dog Event [what? where?] 

But most did stop at The Shed Display. We had positive conversations with about 40 people I think. Bob and his mates sold £50 of stuff, including just two of my aprons, plus bug hotels, model boat kits, door wedges and tealight holders. And a few blokes took leaflets about the Shed. We packed up around 3.30 [no sign of the Community Rounders Match] £50 will help with the next insurance premium. I hope to sell my aprons elsewhere [I shall put some in my online shop later this week]

When people talk about "Normal for Norfolk" they just have no idea.

A Pinny For Your Thoughts

Not far from here there is a small joinery company, which makes bespoke furniture and cabinetry. They supply customers across the world with amazing conference tables, library fittings, dressing rooms and more. They also fit out super yachts. It is all high end, luxury stuff [a million miles from my flat pack IKEA kitchen]  They also run a wonderful apprenticeship scheme training young men and women in woodworking skills. And as well as all that, they have helped our Shed Project by occasionally donating offcuts of wood and veneers etc. 

The latest generous parcel unexpectedly included some fabric. I suspect it may be offcuts from upholstery on one of the yachts. It's a heavy blue and white striped cotton. There is an awful lot of it!

Bob wondered if I could make some stuff to sell to raise funds for the Shed.  But the thing is, no piece is more that 50cm wide. I spent Sunday afternoon sorting and measuring it all.

Stacks of fabric labelled "50x200cm, THREE PIECES" etc. What to make? I thought tote bags, Bob suggested BBQ aprons, Liz said drawstring bags, and Steph [the Oasis fan] came up with "Bucket Hats"!

I decided to start with an apron. I had to join two strips with a centre seam to get a piece which was wide enough. I spent Monday afternoon working on the project. Here is Prototype #1, being modelled by my ShedMan.

It needs a bit of "tweaking" and I want to add some sort of Shed logo or tag. But it is good quality fabric, and if I make a batch, the men can put them out to sell at their stand,  when they go to community events etc. 

Do any of you have any other ideas for quick and easy makes which would be saleable? Thanks for all the brilliant suggestions below

[Thank you Cleyndert and Co for your encouragement and generosity]

Two-By-Two

It's The First Of August - and today marks the start of the fourth collaborative stitching project between Kirsten and me. I am so excited about this one! We started out with the Postcard Project, stitching on linen

And then we did the Cross Country Collaboration, working on evenweave Aida, doing cross stitch

And latterly, the CoverStory, adding patches each month to a foundation sheet, to make bookcovers.

In all that time we have learned about new embroidery stitches, Swedish weaving, Spanish work, Sashiko, Dorset Buttons, different types of thread, couching and more. We have also learned the wisdom of having A Good Plan before we begin a project, even if we tweak it along the way. 

CoverStory happened because we wanted to create useful pieces of stitching. And the book covers are great. So let's do a couple more covers, we said. But this time, slightly differently. Postal charges have gone up significantly since we began in 2022. And I have discovered that doing a practice piece each month has resulted in much better work.

This time, we are using the EPP [English Paper Piecing] technique, where each patch is stitched round a paper shape, then they are joined together at the end. But we will each do two very similar squares - and post one, and keep one. We will do 15 [x2] in total, to make a piece just big enough for an A5 book cover. I have already used my diecut machine to produce a lot of paper squares [quick, efficient, uniformly sized] plus a 'frame' so that we can choose where to cut out the fabric patch. 

Here's the frame on my bedroom quilt showing how you can line up the designs to get the best patterns. Below is a practice patch, to give you an idea of how it will work. So every month there will be two patches prepared by us both. That's Two-By-Two. Off we go!

Wonderful, Wet, Workhouse Weekend

Term has finished, the family were in Norfolk for the weekend. A cheap pack of chalks and stencils provided amusement outside on the patio, in the late afternoon whilst Dad and Grandad went to Beck's to get fish'n'chips. Friday night's sleepover was followed by Grandad's Legendary Pancake Breakfast. 

Jess takes these Very Seriously. We used Great Grandma's Cherry Stoner to prepare a bowl of fresh cherries to eat with our pancakes.

Then Mum and Dad arrived and we went over to Gressenhall to the Museum. The girls loved discussing Workhouse life and dressing up as poor Victorian children.

We enjoyed a good lunch in the café [great discount for cardholders] then walked over to the farm to look at the animals and go for a ride behind the tractor. Then the heavens opened - just as we were outside, in the farmyard. Running to the cars we were soaked to the skin! Back to Cornerstones, where Grandad made hot chocolate, with marshmallows, and we changed into dry clothes and dressing gowns, and did some cardmaking...

I am very sad that Norfolk Museums Service has cancelled their "Guest Tickets" Scheme. Last year when we renewed our subscription, we were offered 15 Guest Tickets for £5 each. We used four on Saturday - saving £40 over the regular price of £60 for the family. We have used 13 of the tickets at various museums. They run out in September, and that £75 has already bought us £145 worth of tickets. NMS make money on their visitors in the gift shop and the café, but I cannot see families wanting to pay £60 for a day out...
Are there good museums near you? and are they expensive to visit?

Four Decades Later...

When Liz was 3, Bob was at College and money was tight. There weren't Charity Shops on every other street corner then - so I made lots of her clothes from remnants and scraps. Laura Ashley sold lots of gorgeous cord dresses and skirts which I could not afford. But they also sold bags of the odd shaped leftover pieces from the factory. For a couple of pounds I got loads of small cord patches. I made Liz a little blue jacket,  and appliquéd houses, and Big Ben, and on the front, a cloud and the sun. On the back, above the houses, I put stars and the moon. The cloud and moon were scraps of my wedding dress fabric. Liz called it her sun, moon, stars jacket. I gave it to her for Rosie, but it was just before lockdown, and Rosie never wore it. But this weekend, Liz showed it to Jess, and she adores it...

I just wanted to get a couple of pictures, front and back. Jess was busy dancing about, waving the bathroom duck, explaining it all to me! That's  Big Ben, Grandma. In London..." 

It is so lovely to see the little jacket being worn again

Sad To See It Go...

 

About 12 miles up the road, less than half an hour in the car, is Taverham. A small village, for many centuries, its great claim was that St Wulstan lived here. He was venerated as a saint before the Norman Conquest, and of noble birth [his mother closely related to Ethelred the Unready] But he renounced all that to become a farm worker. Now Taverham has all the usual facilities [schools, library churches, a big Lidl ...] including a large Garden Centre. 
The 'Nursery Centre' offers a lot more than just the regular stuff. On site there are other businesses - a windows company, shoe shop, art studio, Hospice Charity Shop and more.

For years there has been an excellent haberdashers/sewing shop called Sew Simple. the range of products on sale is phenomenal - quilting, dressmaking, knitting, embroidery, art and painting,

 cake decorating, children's crafts, craft books and patterns. I don't think there is anywhere else in Norfolk with such an extensive range.
I really enjoy going - just to wander around, and maybe buy a skein of DMC thread.

So I was quite upset when someone announced at our Craft Group yesterday that the store is closing down in August, as the owner has decided to retire. And everything is half price.

I get the impression this was quite sudden. When I got home from the group, Bob suggested we went over and had a look [We needed to get a few bits from Lidl, and he is researching Firepits] 

Here's my hoard:

• 2 packs tissue paper
• 10 skeins of DMC floss
• A reel of Guterman machine embroidery thread
• A pack of bobbins for the floss
• 23 adjustable slide buckles.

Original price in excess of £27.50 - I paid £12.63

I will explain the buckles later. It was fun to get some bargains  - but I am sad the shop is closing [especially for the staff who were completely unprepared and are now trying to find alternative jobs] Losing independent shops like this is inevitable I guess, when more and more people buy online, very cheaply from Temu etc, and are happy for great container ships from China to bring goods to the UK. 
But these ladies had excellent specialist knowledge and were always willing to help and advise. I know people who travel across the country to buy specific craft products from them - and pop into the Hospice shop and the other businesses too. A real loss!

Here's the Craft Group Summer Social - Jane taught us to make balls on sticks using leftover wool and bits of bamboo. Mine's the dull dark purple one at the front [all the fancy wools had already been grabbed] Jane suggested we should each make a load more to fill a vase to stand 'on the mantelpiece or in the fireplace' As Cornerstones possesses neither of these fixtures, I have decided not to bother!

But it was good to end our session chatting and sharing a buffet lunch. 

Do you have a good haberdashery nearby?

And whatever shall I do with my Ball On A Stick? [no, perhaps you should not answer that!]

CoverStory update : Kirsten's piece ie now also completed , pictures here

Keep-Going

Like party-going and theatre-going, only this time having a good time in a Mediaeval Castle Keep. Because we have annual passes to Norfolk County Museums, we were delighted to be invited to a special early viewing. To see the work that has been done in Norwich Castle Keep over the last seven years at a cost of millions. 

We went on Monday and it was utterly brilliant. So much to see, a fabulous atmosphere. The main Keep has been restored to the way it was in 1121. The central area is the royal dining hall, and beautifully painted in historically accurate bright colours, with wall hangings and wooden tables and benches. Visitors can dress in robes and feel part of the King's Banquet.  The place was full of people, all ages - young families, students OAPs.

Here's Bob pretending to be Henry 1st [son of William the Conqueror] Tomorrow I shall say more about the embroideries and the rest of the work . If you can access BBC Sounds, listen to Monday's Front Row [Link here] which explains even more about this phenomenal project.

But here's some helpful Table Manners for the King's guests - click on them to enlarge.