Craft and Cake

Craft, Chat and Cake - Love it

Hi there
Hope you are well.
Foxy Lady has had another busy and varied week.
Firstly, I started working on a new project. My friend recently bought a hotel boat (its humongous and very difficult to move by all accounts) and she asked me if I would assist her in re:designing the interior. So the current plan is to make 7 sets of curtains, some small and large cushion covers, a door curtain, a throw and some bed runners.
She bought a roll of fabric for some of these jobs, and I had fun on Tuesday, figuring out how I was going to cut out the pattern pieces. Bearing in mind that my boat is 6 foot wide, and so is the fabric, so unless I took the entire contents of my saloon (lounge) out of the boat, there was no way I could lie it flat for cutting out. Fortunately its a plaid (check) fabric, which isn't great for clothing, as you have to match up checks (if you a professional and conscientious) however, for cutting out straight things like curtains, its great because you can just cut along the lines. Also the fabric is proper upholstery fabric, and has a good weight and a bit of stiffness to it (will keep her toasty in the winter) so this meant I could cut it on my knee. I know that sounds weird and extremely unprofessional but it worked. Here is a short video of me before I got it in the boat..

A roll of fabric too big for my narrowboat

So after a day in my workshop sewing, low and behold I get aches and pains again. When I went to see my Chiropractor Paula last week, we discussed how my shoulder issues were possibly caused by how I use the sewing machine. But the day I did sewing, I purposefully only did an hour, then changed jobs to do the pressing etc etc. I figured out that its possibly the fact that my work table is too low, and stooping over constantly to use it could be a big factor too. Fortunately, my other half, has already booked time off work in the summer to re-fit my workroom anyway, and the table will be much higher anyway. The plans are to make a dinette like you have in some boats and caravans. We have quite a bit of loose furniture in our boat, but really, its best to have things fitted as you can make use of the space better. A dinette, is where the dining table and benches can be turned into a bed. Cool eh? I've always wanted one of them in my home. I will have better storage too for all my sewing regalia. By the way, for anyone in the Newbury area, I totally recommend Paula, she is very personable and really knows her stuff, I think shes great.
Here is a link to her Facebook Page

Paulas Business - Hermitage Wellness


Also this week Gillian and I  (Newbury Crafters Network) ran our first Craft and Cake session, at Tops Treats, a new dessert shop in Newbury. It was brilliant, we had 7 people attend to customise a tote bag. There was a small charge to cover our costs, and everyone got to take their bags home. Everyone that came said they really enjoyed it and will be coming to the one next month, which have decided will be jewellery making, Sara East, who own Tops Treats, was extremely accommodating, and specially made beautiful cakes for us. I didn't have breakfast today, and was really naughty because I had tea and cake when I first arrived, and then an awesome pudding in a mug before I left.
The idea came about when Gillian and I did the Christmas Pop Up Shop at Pineapple Palace. The shop was big enough to allow us to have a crafts table in the middle, where we would sit crafting and chatting. Gillian and I knew we would miss this aspect of the shop, and being community minded people, we discussed trying to achieve something like this again. Neither Gillian nor I rest on our laurels, and no sooner had we discussed it, we had organised two venues. One where we could hold a Pop Up Shop, and one where we could do craft sessions. As I said we charge a minimal fee to cover our costs, because we are doing it for fun, and we want to build on community and make it accessible to many.
Here's a live video I took of the event

The Decorate a Tote Bag session

We like to pass on our skills and knowledge, and learn things from others too.
Today we learnt about a Japanese for of sewing called Sashiko


One of the women bought it in with her, and immediately Gillian's and my eyes were sparkling with excitement of finding something new, the list was endless of ideas it was giving us. Its a type of embroidery, tradition used for repairing knees on trousers, if you want to know more please check out Wiki
Sashiko - Wiki

An example of Sashiko

Friday night is girls night, its a New Moon, so we are holding a sister circle in the tepee, then we are going into Newbury to a VIP event at a new pub that opening. Should be a great night.
I hope you have a good weekend too, but before I go, I would like to ask you a few things..
1) Have you ever been to a Craft and Cake event ?
2) If not, does it appeal to you ?
3) What activity would you like to do ?
4) Whats your favourite cake?

Please answer in the comments box below
Laters
Foxy