What Preps are you doing this week? Part 9

[hobo]

Jenny, I’m estimating 60w max from the reviews. Maybe I’ll do better with the double USB input. Blooming sun has gone in now

[hobo]

Ordered a heat sealer for my ongoing mylar project. Not had great success with a hot iron!

[Le Mouse]

Wilko is my go-to place for household stuff. Their wipes are cheap, plastic free (except for packaging!) and vegan

Unfortunately, their wipes are too stinky for me. I use Dettol ones, which are now biodegradable and until recently were on the AllergyUK recommended products list. They claim to be fragrance free, but they do have a light smell, but it's not one that gives me a headache or makes me sneeze. Plus they were on offer when I did Mum's Tesco online order this week

I spent a bloody fortune yesterday. Aldi got me meat and fish for the freezer, a couple of bottles of my preferred laundry liquid which has been notable by its absence on the shelves of late, and a load of booze! Wilko was bin bags and foil meal containers and toiletries. Savers was a massive bottle of Fairy (cheapest place for it) and tubes of toothpaste. Plus at each shop I picked up a couple of packets of paracetamol. Mum has arthritis and I have a dodgy back. That plus any plague I'd catch would get through loads of packets!

Today I'm doing craft research. I need new trousers, but I can't really afford new ones that would definitely fit (M&S probably), so I want to have a go at making some. I have a mahoosive load of plain cotton leftover from when I was making covid masks, so I won't fall short of material! I've been all over Pinterest for a few days, and found a free pattern today. I've also dug out my sewing books to revise on skills. If I make some that work and look good, then I'll get some Dylon to brighten them up as currently the cotton is bog standard unbleached beige.

[Frnc]

Today I'm doing craft research. I need new trousers, but I can't really afford new ones that would definitely fit (M&S probably), so I want to have a go at making some. I have a mahoosive load of plain cotton leftover from when I was making covid masks, so I won't fall short of material! I've been all over Pinterest for a few days, and found a free pattern today. I've also dug out my sewing books to revise on skills. If I make some that work and look good, then I'll get some Dylon to brighten them up as currently the cotton is bog standard unbleached beige.

I wish you luck. Yesterday I tried sewing a zip in my shorts pocket. Got one side done, spent quite a while trying to get the second side started, and gave up. Unpicked it all. It's surprisingly hard to find shorts with decent zipped pockets. These have two, on the sides, but my phone barely fits in.

[GillyBee]

I need new trousers, but I can't really afford new ones that would definitely fit (M&S probably), so I want to have a go at making some.

I understand the challenge in making clothes that fit. I am working from top to bottom and have remade my test top several times to get it right. Future makes from the same pattern company should be much easier. Now I need to find a way to recycle my thankfully very cheap test fabric into something useful.

I really like the Melly sews blog for explaining fit issues. She taught sewing for years before moving to blogging and explains things well (if rather American)
https://mellysews.com/how-to-fit-pants- ... ng-issues/

I assume you have a supplier for cheap material for learning? If not, you could look at these guys .https://poundfabrics.co.uk/ - Or maybe not if you are short of cash. I always spend more than I planned

[Arzosah]

GillyBee, I've bookmarked both of those links, thank you! I desperately need a blog like mellysews, and while I have a lot of material, quite a bit of it is plain, and more of it is old-fashioned, so dinosaurs and hearts in an anti-pill polar fleece fabric is just wonderful

[Vitamin c]

Just spent a few hours breaking down pallets into storeable lengths, just the right sort of weather for that warm and cloudy.

[Le Mouse]

I assume you have a supplier for cheap material for learning? If not, you could look at these guys .https://poundfabrics.co.uk/ - Or maybe not if you are short of cash. I always spend more than I planned

OOOOH! I could do damage to my bank balance with that poundfabrics!

When I bought the cotton last year, I got carried away and bought pretty much a roll of calico I don't know what the sewing equivalent of having eyes bigger than the belly is, but that's what happened with me. Upside was it was extremely cheap!

I wish you luck. Yesterday I tried sewing a zip in my shorts pocket. Got one side done, spent quite a while trying to get the second side started, and gave up. Unpicked it all. It's surprisingly hard to find shorts with decent zipped pockets. These have two, on the sides, but my phone barely fits in.

I have yet to venture into zips, but I understand they are a right pain in the bum!

[jansman]

This sewing lark is definitely a high- end skill. I am lucky that my wife is a superb seamstress. Mind you, it’s what she did for a living before the children came along. She amazes me when she fixes, alters and creates stuff! I really need to learn some basic sewing ( buttons etc) because without her , I wouldn’t know where to start.

[GillyBee]

Sewing is definitely a skill worth learning. The basics can be learned very quickly. It is just a matter of starting where you are and taking it step by step. I was lucky enough to be forced to learn by my step mum back in the seventies. I did not appreciate it at the time as we were broke and I did not like looking "home made". Now I am very grateful I had the chance to learn.
As a result I have a reasonable but not advanced skill set. The headache is fitting as my shape is no longer anything like my teenage self and is quite a long way away from a "standard" shape. So the new challenge is to make clothes for me rather than cute stuff for toddlers.