New treasures, seaside

I took the kids to Devon for an Easter break for 6 days, to see my mum and rest of my family. We had fun playing in Grandma's garden and going to the beach. Like the little girl with the little curl, when the English beach is good, it is very, very good.

I have now come back home with a bit of a haul. These two ladies were a present from friends when I finished my MPhil about 10 years ago (in what seems like a different lifetime).

They have been languishing in a shoe box in my mum's spare room so I rescued them and plan to find them a suitable wall space to hang upon. I like their battered appearance - just adds to the appeal for me.

On our way home from the beach we stopped at a couple of great charity shops. One shop in particular was a bit of a mess and just full, full, full of stuff. This is the best sort of place for a rummage. I bought this straw flowered basket. I love it and will "share" it with my little girl. It says "Lulia"on it - I think- not sure if that was maybe a holiday destination.

I also bought these sandals - they have a cork wedge heel and fit perfectly. The label is missing so I don't know what make they are but I think I am in love.

And then I found this tweed fabric - the label says 2 1/2 yards. I am not sure what to make yet - at this time of year I am thinking of summer clothes, not winter. But at £3 how could I refuse? It has a silver metallic thread running through it. I am stashing it away for now. I like to think and ponder for a while on what to do with fabrics like this that I chance upon. Sometimes this is more fun than setting out to buy a fabric from the fabric shop for a specific project. This way chance and serendipity have an opportunity to work.

Finally ( I said it was a good haul) I found a pair of brown herringbone cotton trousers with a nice wide leg and quite a high waist. (aplogies for rubbish photo). The waist and lining are reminiscent of old fashioned men's suit trousers. I think I need to make a puffed sleeve forties style blouse or a fitted masculine shirt to go with them...another one to ponder. Is the world divided I wonder into those who do like to shop in charity / thrift shops and those who think it is madness?

I brought back this nautical cotton fabric from my mum's fabric stash - which really is an uber-stash - I am even now stash- bustin other people's stashes. I am planning a skirt with the facing on the outside and some red piping. Hope to have this ready for Zoe's made-by-me-May

I did also consider a dress - maybe in the style of the coffee date dress on Burdastyle but need to check if there is enough fabric. A dress with red piping? I am determined to get the red piping in there somehow.

I have signed up to wear something I have made every day for the month of May but in a lite version so it only has to be one item per day. I am not hardcore enough to do that. I am aware recently that I have been wearing my own me-made clothes about 4 out of 7 days per week - so I am going to try and up the ante. It is good to wear things I really like and that fit me. Since having a second child my body shape seems, well, just a bit odd to me. I am a UK ten for trousers, though that depends on the brand and cut. My bust is a twelve but my shoulders seem to have gone back to a ten. I think maybe I am a size UK eleven if only that existed. So the only way to ensure a good fit is to make it myself. I am also tired of the endless consumerist need to have new cheap clothing, and the throwaway attitude of our society in general. In addition to my own me-made stuff most of the stuff I wear comes via charity shops now, and I have recently been sorting out clothes that no longer fit properly and selling them on ebay, and use that money for craft supplies for me and the kids and sewing stuff. This is the only way I can fund our (not expensive) hobbies as I am not currently earning and our weekly budget is tight.

After this huge posting I am off for a cup of tea and to prance round the house in my new sandals.

A den and gloomy day

It is half term holiday here so while I have been working on my Stashbustin' honest, but have been distracted and out and about, walking in the woods, building a den under the dining table. The den used a large piece of camoflauge cotton fabric , so it is stash bustin in a way (with parcel tape not thread!) but it is too dark here to today to photograph. (It's snowing again this afternoon) The camo fabric came to me via Freecycle and is kind of awful if you are thinking of sewing clothes but it is fab if you have an almost seven year old boy!

I enjoyed reading Zoe's post this week . I agree that it is liberating to give up buying mass produced clothes and to stop shopping so much. We are such a consumer driven society where shopping is one of our top leisure activities and it seems to me that there is something in the zeitgeist in blogland rejecting this right now. (Love that word, zeitgeist!) I have been thinking a lot about how we as a family seem to have so much stuff - since becoming parents, Mr Minnado have been amazed by how much stuff our kids get given. When T was a baby I can remember all his toys fitted in to one carrier bag - now our house is awash with toys, and yet compared to some houses we go to we don't have AS MUCH STUFF! I try and give a few things away every now and then, but still things keep coming. My family tend to give one present to each child for a birthday but my in laws like to give a big sackful - this has led to tension in the past and we have T's 7th birthday coming up soon....just to add to my rant he won the school raffle top prize at Christmas and I was torn between being pleased for him and being appalled at it. It was a huge basket filled with toys, sweets, one book and a dvd. There was more there that I would give him at Christmas myself! I couldn't understand why they didn't giveout 8 or 12 prizes to different children rather than have one child win the lot. There were some lovely things in it - his favourite being an aquabead craft set and a remote control car! But it just highlighted to me how out of touch I seem to be with other parents who think this is okay. We did divide the basket up infact , as there were several pink girly things that went to a couple of friends with girls. T gave his sister the cuddly toy and they have both used the craft sets.

Anyway, I have managed to put half a dozen pieces of clothes on Ebay this week, and filled a bag for the charity shop. And am workign on several stash bustin projects...need to stop typing and get sewing to finish!