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Ali’s Been Busy!

Published by Thimberlina

A lot has happened since I last posted…… I’ve been on the telly for one! But that’s another story! I’ll tell you all about that shortly – I kept a diary throughout filming, it might need a little editing before I publish it here though.

But for now this is just a quick post to let you know what I’ve been busy doing the last couple of days.

My stash is out of control to say the least. A combination of ‘no where to sew’ – by that I mean I’ve no where to go (due to the ‘C’) word, so I’ve not got the same inclination to sew. But then I’ve still been buying fabric like there’s no tomorrow!

I used to keep a record of my stash on an app called Cora – but it’s stopped working (pained face), so now I’m feeling totally disorganised which I find makes me even more unproductive, and my sew-jo has gone into quarantine. And for longer than the recommended 14 days!

I decided to go back to documenting my stash the good old fashioned way using paper and lever arch file. After a bit of googling I couldn’t find a template that was ‘just what I needed’ so I made up my own:

I wanted a space to glue a small swatch, and also a space for free text.

It’s been a long job and I’ve no where near completed this mammoth task, but I’m feeling better already.

Here’s a few of the sheets I’ve done so far:

And guess what?! I’ve worked out how to scan on my printer, so now I can have a digital copy on my phone too. I think we’ve all bought fabric when out and about only to discover we have something very similar at home.

If you want to organise your stash and fancy using my template, click on the link below and you’ll be able to download it.

alisbeenbusy-organisingyourstash Download

If you do, let me know by using the hashtag #alisbeenbusy if you post on social media, or drop me a comment below.

In case you’re wondering where the hashtag came from….. at the end of the Sewing Bee Final where it let you know what we were all up to now, it said “Ali’s been busy, but is back playing golf”. I think me being busy at that time was a bit of an understatement! The pandemic was causing all sorts of craziness for all of us and it was only just getting started.

So yes, I’ve been busy, but I’m still smiling.

Hope you are too!

Cheerio for now

Ali xx

Sunday Sevens 9th May

Published by Thimberlina

I’ve been on annual leave this week so caught up on with a few jobs outside, and played golf.

Now lockdown restrictions are relaxed I’m not sure if I’m feeling like the old me any more. A lot of us talk about loosing our sewjo, but I’m feeling I’ve lost motivation for everything – not just sewing. It’s such a bit effort to do anything and often I get to the end of the day and feel like I’ve wasted it going round in a bloody daze. I do keep my self busy, as you can see from my Sunday Sevens, but I think this last 12+ months is taking its’ toll on me, like many of us out there.

Bank Holiday Monday – a game of golf with Bob. We tee’d off at 8:30am as the forecast wasn’t too good for the afternoon. We just made it in before the rain and wind set in for the rest of the day.

So close….. the nearest Bob’s had to a hole in one. Only 18 inches from the hole – but he missed his putt for a birdie!

Cleaning some of my tubs/pots. Note to self to do this at the end of the summer and put away in the garage.

7 tubs all planted up.

The grass isn’t looking too good after we put a 4 in 1 treatment on it but hopefully in a couple of weeks it’ll perk up.

Thursday I met up with Gaynor for the first time in real life. We’ve been insta buddies for just over a year and she only lives half an hour from me. We got on like a house on fire.

And I had a birdie on the 15th hole!

On the way to Bob’s on Friday teatime I took a different route to avoid the traffic and spotted this on someones garden wall. When we had the tour de Yorkshire there were yellow bikes everywhere. This one’s faded a bit but it’s still looking lovely.

Saturday we had a mooch around Skipton. This caught my eye in one of the shop windows.

Bob bought some fabric for his next sewing lesson – a summer shirt.

And I bought an iron on badge for my Hey Day Dungarees.

I think that this must be my first Sunday Seven post when I’ve not shown you a plate of food or cake!

I did mention last week that I was going to put my S.S.’s on hold until after Me Made May. I’ve changed my mind!

Cheerio for now. Stay safe, and keep smiling,

Ali x

Not sure what Sunday Sevens is about? It was a fab idea thought up a long time ago by the lovely Natalie of Threads & Bobbins – a fellow Yorkshire lass who lives in America. There’s no rules but the idea is to share 7 isn photos from your week. Read more about it on Natalie’s blog post – it actually took some finding – Sunday Sevens started way back in 2014!! Read her first post HERE.

Sunday Sevens 2nd May

Published by Thimberlina

Brrrrr…. I’m feeling cold writing this. The April showers that came last week are continuing into May have made the lovely weather that we had in early April seem a distant memory!

Monday was the best day of the week and as rain was forecast I made the most of the weather and headed off to B&Q to buy some paint for the garden.

I’ve been putting off making a start on this as there’s so much to do. One side of the fence is complete. Rain’s put this on hold for at least another week looking at the forecast.

Tuesday before golf I planted up a couple of hanging baskets.

And turned my back porch into a temporary green house!

Tuesday afternoon was like the middle of winter! The greens turned white with the hail stones, and then we had horizontal rain.

Later on in the week was still freeeeezing but at least we didn’t get wet again.

More rain on Saturday. The players at cricket don’t have to stay out in it like us golfers do, and at least the bar is open!

After cricket we ordered a curry from the takeaway and a took the opportunity for a pic of little H.

On Thursday we had an out of town job at work, so stopped off at the golf club for our break on the way back! Here’s my lovely little work sis Bex.

I did mention in my last Sunday Sevens that I’d be putting them on hold until after Me Made May has finished, but I won’t be posting MMMAY until next weekend so here I am!

Cheerio for now. Stay safe, and keep smiling,

Ali x

The Mary Quant Style Dress

Published by Thimberlina

Wonky pockets! No one noticed them when I posted a Reel on my insta. I think they were distracted by my groovy moves! If you’re not an insta fan and not sure what a Reel is I’ve attached a link to the bottom of this post.

This dress incorporates a couple of challenges:

The #frugalfrock21 organised by Sam at Frugalisma, and Ruan at the Yorkshire Sew Girl

and

#so50patternmixing organised by @sewover50

The idea behind frugal frocks is to make a dress using a free pattern and to use fabric from your stash to create Frugal Frock! As soon as I saw Alice & Co pattern for the Mary Quant style dress I was sold! HERE’s the link if you fancy downloading this free pattern.

The dress is designed for a woven fabric, but my initial thought was to use this pattern to make a dress for golf, so I sized down and made it up in lycra. Most patterns given finished garment measurements which is really useful if you are changing from a woven to a stretch or vice versa. For this dress I chose the size which gave the exact same finished bust measurement as my actual bust measurement.

There was a few changes I made due to it being in a stretch fabric. The main one was to the pockets. The instructions call for a facing on the pockets and then to turn in the lower part of the pocket, press and then stitch onto the dress. Although this lycra from Funki Fabrics is quite good at holding a crease when pressed I decided the pockets would be easier to attach if I added a piece of woven fabric to the facings:

And then stitched them right sides together:

Then graded the seam allowances, and lots of pressing. Here’s the Reel from insta showing how I did it:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ali – The Fabric First Aider (@thimbers)

I also used the same woven fabric for the wrong side of the collar to give some stability, but I didn’t use any interfacing:

I used the main lycra fabric for the inside facing. There are 2 ways to finish to finish the inside depending if you are making the dress with our without sleeves. I opted to use the facing for the sleeved version even though I was making the sleeveless dress. I didn’t cut out the key hole front until after I stitched it in place. As you can see below I drew on the stitching line using a frixion pen:

When I turned the facing to the inside I under stitched I, but when I wore it the first time the facing didn’t stay hidden so I ended up top stitching it in place, which fixed the problem. You can see here it was peaking out and I never realised!

Here it after top stitching. Excuse the cleavage! I’ve found that when I wear this dress I need to wear an old bra that doesn’t give the same ‘oomph or lift’ as my newer ones!

All in all I’m really pleased with this dress. Originally made with golf in mind with it being made in crazy fabric, but I actually wore it for lunch in my friend’s garden with a pair of wedges and I think I’m more likely to wear it off the course than on.

A close up of the button detail. Button found in stash, from my MIL’s collection. A perfect match don’t you think?!

Just a few more pix of Mary Quant style dress, including me hiding in the daffodils!

And here’s the Reel I mentioned earlier – getting all groovy in my friend’s garden. And this was without alcohol!!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ali – The Fabric First Aider (@thimbers)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have had a little inspiration to maybe try a different fabric from what’s suggested.

Remember, don’t be scared to try something new, it’s only sewing!

Cheerio for now,

Ali x

Sunday Sevens 25th April ish

Published by Thimberlina

WARNING! Don’t read this if you’re hungry. There’s quite a few foodie pics this week. They’re not very exciting, well the cake it, it was bloody lovely!

Another week of glorious sunshine. I only worked 3 shifts this week, and luckily I wasn’t starting until 4:30pm so was able to make the most of the lovely weather. Talking of work, I’m happy to report I have had NO patients with any COVID symptoms this last week. I think that’s a first in a very long time.

Cereal with a lager. Is that wrong??!! It wasn’t until early afternoon ….not that I need an excuse.

Monday evening we had out first trip out to a pub. It was a gorgous evening – no jacket required.

Pork pie or a sausage roll 1/2 way round the golf course. It would be rude not to!

And cake afterwards! It was one of the ladies 70th birthday and she’d put on cake and fizz for us after golf. The red velvet seen at the top (feature pic) was my 2nd choice – YES I had to have both…. there was plenty to go round.

More golf and more food! It was one of my pals 50th birthday, we celebrated with a game of golf, and had a pork pie (for a change!) and a bottle of beer after 6 holes. And after 10 holes we had donuts. You might be thankful there’s no pic of them if you’re hungry!

And there’s more! Before teeing off on the 18th it was muffins and either a G&T or Pimms. I usually come off the course starving but not after this round!

Little H and I popped down to have a cuppa in the garden with Cyber Mom…

On Friday I basked in glorious sunshine doing absolutely nothing (a rarity for me) before heading into work.

My pix are a bit mixed up! I think it was Tuesday we decided to BBQ our tea, but then it started drizzling but the overhang on the shed saved the day.

Are you enjoying the Bee?! But to the point did you know that applications are now open for contestants for series 8?! If you’re thinking of applying just go for it!! I can honestly say it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. A few people have messaged me on insta about applying and the main thing they’re worried about are the time restraints. Yup, it’s just like it is on TV, but everyone’s in the same boat and finds it tough. And to be honest, it’s not as bad as you think – it’s amazing how productive you can be without the distraction of social media!

Each week after the Bee has been aired Mark, my fellow Bee, goes live on insta to chat about it. He calls this “the Bee Sting”, and other Bees from Series 6b join him. Last week I did, and so did Nicole. You can see them after the event on his IGTV or on Matt’s YouTube channel HERE.

On Saturday H had his second cricket match of the season. I mentioned he had changed club last week. This week he played against his old club and H scored his first senior century against them. Proud is an understatement!

H aged 9, this popped up in my Facebook memories this week so I thought I’d share this too. How cute….shame he had to grow up!

So this post is a few days late and it’s now almost time to post this current weeks’ Sunday Seven pix. I’m thinking I might put SS’s on hold for May as I’m taking park in Me Made May 2021 and am hoping to post weekly updates. I’m being a bit realistic that I might be biting off more than I can chew committing to 2 blog posts a week! But you never know I might!

Cheerio for now. Stay safe, and keep smiling,

Ali x

Sunday Sevens 18th April ish

Published by Thimberlina

What a gorgeous week! The weather has been kind to us here in the UK and I’ve been making the most of it, in between working.

I’ve been on nights Friday through until Sunday and was really dreading work due to the pubs being open for outdoor hospitality. Luckily, I got less than my fair share of alcohol related incidents over the weekend, so it wasn’t too bad.

Monday I met up with my lovely Sewing Wife, Lisa. We’ve not seen each for 6 months!! Love this lady!!

I wore my latest make…..soon to be blogged…..

Have I introduced you already to Georginger? She’s happy to be back out golfing too.

The pair of ducks are still waddling around the course. They don’t let me get too close, I’ll have to remember to put some bread in my golf bag for them next time I play.

On Wednesday I was on a day shift, this little cutie didn’t want to get off the ambulance. It’s a good job we spotted her before we set off to hospital!

Trying to be healthy at work – this makes up for the kebab I had later in the week!

Catching up with Cyber Mom & Pops in their garden.

And a trip to our local garden centre. No idea how those 2 big fat vanilla slices got into my basket, but they were bloody lovely. Only one made it home – the other I ate as soon as I got into my car!

I’ve been making a friend her invites for her wedding. These are the RSVPs – I dropped a bit of a clanger, can you spot the typo!!??

Yay! I had my hair cut and coloured on Friday! I’ve decided to grow my fringe and wear it to the side in case there’s another lockdown. It’s too traumatic trimming it myself – I’ve been using my duck-billed scissors for the job! My hairdresser wasn’t too thrilled with my cutting skills!

Saturday morning heading back to station at the end of our first night shift. We were both so tired but this amazing sunrise definitely perked us up!

When I woke up on Saturday afternoon I’d had a delivery and these plug plants needed potting on. Not want I fancied doing as H was playing cricket and I didn’t want to miss him batting.

Breakfast at cricket! Spectators aren’t allowed at cricket yet, but we are allowed to eat and drink at the cricket club, so ‘had to’ have a pork pie to make sure I was adhering to the rules.

H’s first shot of the Season. (oops, you can hear Bob ordering his drink too!). He’s changed clubs this year and is now playing at our local one which is in walking distance. Or staggering distance on my weekends off!

Sunday afternoon I went down to the golf club when I got up. Bob had been playing with the couples who we both usually play with on a Sunday afternoon. I missed out on the golf so just went down for a ginless G&T afterwards, and it was an excuse to get dressed!

Ravi and I celebrated our last night shift of the week with a kebab. Not only do we have fab fabric shops in Yorkshire we have great kebabs too!

If you follow me on Insta you’ll know I started teaching Bob to sew at the back end of last year. He broke his wrist on New Years Eve and hasn’t sewn since. But he’s ready to expand his sewing skills after making a snood and a pair of PJ bottoms. Watch this space to see how he gets on sewing a mans summer shirt!

That’s another week that’s flown by! Not sure about adding videos to my Sunday Sevens…. what do you think? Hope you can understand Bob’s accent – he’s even more Yorkshire than me!

Cheerio for now, see you next week. Stay safe, and keep smiling,

Ali x

Sunday Sevens 11th April ’21

Published by Thimberlina

3 weeks in a row! Crikey! Even I’m shocked!

When I stopped blogging so much (almost 4 years ago) it coincided with me & Craig splitting up, and I just felt like I needed to keep my life more private and I lost my blo-jo. That’s liking loosing your sew-jo, but to do with blogging.

But I’m happier now and as I really used to love writing my Sunday Sevens, and also looking back on them it wasn’t a hard decision to start sharing them with you again. So don’t be surprised if this is a regular post from me on a Sunday (isn). And as in the ‘olden’ days of my Sunday Sevens, there’s likely to be more than 7!

The week started with a Bank Holiday, and a ‘Full English’ before we headed out for a walk.

Wrapped up – it was a cold one🥶

Cherry blossom 😍 no other words needed.

The first hail stone of the week was on Tuesday. It’s hard to take a picture of it in the air, so here it is next to my golf ball.

11 days off and back to work on Wednesday. I love early mornings and seeing the Sun come up.

Imagine this view from your lounge window😍

And this unexpected view! I had to do a double take as I thought it was a real person when I first saw it!

I’m known for eating random meals at work. Scrambled egg with spinach, and mackerel in a spicy tomato sauce. Nothing weird there, I don’t think, but you might beg to differ.

Another ‘Full English’! But it’s the view I’m sharing this time. This is the view I have when having breakfast at Bob’s cottage. Shame it was too cold to eat with the door open, I just got him to open it to show off the view.

One of Bob’s neighbours had left this old drop leaf table out for the bin men…. Bob’s going to give it a new lease of life. (ps do you like his sweatshirt🙈 I bought a Cricut a couple of months ago, so everything now has vinyl on it! Bob’s a lift engineer in case your wondering….!)

We got dressed up on Saturday afternoon for a day at the Races as it was the Grand National.

And had a surf n turf at a lovely country pub on our way home. Well, it was on our knee in front on the telly, but I think we’ve all developed vivid imaginations during lockdown!

A seal or a sweet potato?

Oooops! When we walked off one of the greens today our playing partners trolley had disappeared. Somehow it made its’ own way to the next tee, dropping some clubs on the way!

One of these days I might narrow my Sunday Sevens down to 7 pix🙄. Next week H’s cricket season starts. I can’t wait to watch him in action again! I’m on nights next weekend but am hoping to catch a couple of hours when I get up. And hopefully I might get a pic or 2 there. He’s soooooo tall now. Those of you who have followed me for a while won’t recognise him!

If you’re heading to the pub to sit in a freezing beer garden this week, wrap up warm. But really I’m thinking you must be mad! The temperatures are going to have to be a lot higher before you’ll catch me freezing in a beer garden, regardless of what Boris says! But then you might think I’m crackers playing golf in hail and snow like I have this week!

Anyway, whatever you’re up to, stay safe and keep smiling,

Cheerio

Ali x

Easter Week Sunday Sevens

Published by Thimberlina

I’ve just enjoyed a week’s annual leave – how lucky was I that it coincided with some lockdown restrictions being lifted – including opening up the golf courses, and also some glorious weather!

My first round of 2021 with the ladies at Cleckheaton Golf Club.

The sun came out after I played with ladies and Bob I played 12 holes in the evening after he’d finished work. I did 25k steps on Monday!

Some of the Pampas Grass on the course had been battered by the winds.

The broken ones have found their way to a new home.

A new frock was needed to mark the course being open at long last and I made this to wear on Tuesday in my first competition of 2021.

This is the Mary Quant Dress designed by Alice & Co Patterns and is available as a FREE download on the V&A website.

This picture was taken an hour and 45 minutes before I was teeing off!

As usual I rose to the challenge and finished it. Fully hemmed and ‘everything’ – I have been known to wear unhemmed outfits on their first outing.

Not just for golf! I love making clothes that aren’t just for one occasion. Although I made it originally for golf and thought the crazy swirly fabric might be a bit OTT for day wear when finished it was perfect to meet my work sister at hers for lunch.

First alfresco lunch of 2021 with my lovely work sister, Bex.

Helen (one of my sewing and golfing buddies) also made a new frock this week and came round to mine for a mini photo shoot in the garden. Both of our new frocks were made as part of the #frugalfrocks2021 challenge on instagram.

Thursday night we had a date night and I fancied carrying on with the 60’s theme and wore my spotty dress that I made last year for a 60/70s party. Apparently I can add videos to my posts so lets see if this works!

My bias binding collection – I use scraps from finished projects and make bias binding and keep it in this sewing box.

Love this time of year with daffodils everywhere!

More golf pics I’m afraid. I didn’t do much else this week. My new silver shoes and Vogue 1411 pants – I didn’t make them for golf but they’re perfect as they have an elasticated waist and I’m struggling to fasten anything at the minute!

Nothing to do with golf! I’ve run another sleeve hacking zoom class this week. I’m loving these and can’t wait to do them in real life too when we’re allowed.

The sun came out during our round – luckily I popped a skirt in my bag in case the weather warmed up!

As well as golf this week we have done some garden hopping now we’re allowed to venture out a little bit more. Unfortunately, I never thought to take any photos – I was too excited and too busy being sociable to think about taking any, but hopefully I’ll be back in to the swing of things for my Sunday Sevens next week and it won’t be all mainly about golf!

Have a great week whatever you’re doing.

Stay safe and keep smiling!

Ali x

Sunday Sevens 2021 – Bumper Edition!

Published by Thimberlina

Do I mention I’ve missed a few ? No….. life just goes at such a crazy speed sometimes, there’s no need to make up excuses.

I’m not promising this will be a weekly post, but I’m hoping it will be more than quarterly. I’ve had a scroll down my photos and picked out a few since the start of the year. A few? Well about 50. So I won’t waffle on with lots of writing otherwise we’ll both be here all day!

A work buddy drew this for me, not sure if I’ve shared it before??

Hope you have a great week. Some restrictions are easing here in the England, and tomorrow I can play golf. Stay safe whatever you are doing and keep smiling!

Cheerio for now

Ali xx

Being Sewcial Through Lockdown

Published by Thimberlina

I’m not sure why I never thought of it sooner… To arrange online sewcials.

I got the idea a few weeks ago and so far I’ve arranged 10 what I’ve called “Sew and Tells” and one workshop teaching how to slash and spread a basic sleeve block to create 4 different looks.

I posted the dates on my new Insta account The Fabric First Aider and a link to Eventbrite where people could register to join the sessions.

Now I’ve set up a page here on my blog with details of what it’s all about. There’s a link with dates of upcoming sewcials so if anyone wants to join in but aren’t on insta they can book through there.

So, if you fancy having a natter all about sewing, or learning how to ‘slash and spread’ have a read of my FABRIC FIRST AIDER page.

Oh, and did I mention they are free!

Cheerio for now, hopefully see you soon

Ali x

Stay safe & keep smiling