Four days and still comfortable in my clothes

I'm wearing black jeans, grey long sleeved tee and the Leadlight cardigan, all as before.  Accessories, my mothers black pearls...

And

A large black apron.  Actually I think an apron will be my go-to accessory most days. I have discovered how essential an apron is when doing all sorts of messy things when you have only a limited number of clothes. I cannot simply change several times a day.  And today I was going to do something particularly messy.  A workshop on dyeing with indigo and woad at the Hampshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers.

These are my raw materials

fleece, ricrac braid, lace, a scrap of embroidery on linen, a skein of hand spun wool , cord and twine

The workshop was led by the very talented Debbie from DT Craft and Design.  This is how it went

mixing up the dye pot

Heating till the water turns green and the 'flower' appears (this is woad)

Immersing the articles, while in the bath they remain a greeny yellow, as they are exposed to air they turn blue (indigo in this pot)

Once out of the pot the colour really develops

Finally, I was given a little spot at the end of the meeting to explain my lent clothes fast for Labour Behind the Label.  A number of ladies generously made donations on the spot, some others promised to check out this blog and donate later.  So for anyone who would like to donate HERE is the link

Thank you everyone who has given so far, bringing the total to £281

xx

C

Day #3 and a little yarn gathering

I'm off to meet friends at Unravel this afternoon.  This is a little local yarn festival that never-the-less attracts a wonderful selection of people from all over the country, including independent sellers of everything yarn related and knitters who find their wallets empty faster than water out of the plughole.  But the benefit of a warm fuzzy feeling (and that's not only the yarn) makes the expenditure worthwhile.  It's a great opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones too.

So It is hardly surprising that I have chosen my clothes today carefully to show off my latest piece of knitting

My Leadlight cardigan

With my cardigan I am wearing my wool dresss, bought two winters ago from Phase Eight and green tights (should be teal but I don't have any)

xxx

C

Day two (still working the black jeans)

Yesterday's blog was written on my old iPhone (thank you Blogger app) as I waited in the paediatric day unit for my grandson to be assessed.  Doesn't this sort of thing always happen when you are looking after someone else's precious child?  I was just supposed to take him for a check-up with his GP after a nasty infection that had him in hospital over Sunday night. There should have been no problems, and his parents did not feel they needed to cancel a very short break away that they had booked ages ago.

But as we sat in the surgery waiting to be seen he became all floppy and fell so deeply asleep he did not wake even when I carried him from the waiting room to the consulting room. "Better be safe than sorry" said the doctor and rapidly contacted the paediatricians and off we went. Thus I found myself blogging on the tiny iPhone4 screen without glasses (sorry for typos/spelling mistakes) while the genial atmosphere of the day unit's play room worked it's magic so that C (sometimes known on here as The Little Senator) was distinctly perky by the time a doctor appeared, so after a very thorough examination we took him home.

This morning TLS was determined to get in on the act as I took the selfie of my Day #2 outfit

Black jeans from Marks & Spencer as before, silk shirt from an independent shop in Cirencester and the permitted accessory, a black pashmina in case it gets cold

Today the total donations on my sponsorship page have reached £242.31  I just can't thank my generous friends and blog readers enough.

xx

c

Day 1 of #sixitemschallenge

Black jeans M&S, grey long sleeved tee jigsaw, hand spun knitted shawl by me

Xx

C

Fire in a New York Garment Factory

It was 1911 and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory situated in the upper floors of a Manhattan industrial building went up in flames.  The doors were locked, some people so desperate jumped out of the windows. In all 145 people perished, many of them poor immigrants.

Sound familiar?

Until 1819 children as young as 6 worked in the cotton mills of Manchester, England. After 1819 it was illegal to employ children under 9 or make children aged 9-16 work more than 12 hours a day.  It was a long time before the minimum age in the UK for employing a young person full time rose to 16

Familiar?

I think we all know about the conditions in factories in the UK and USA a hundred years or so ago from our history books and from novels.  The shocking fact is that these conditions persist today in countries like Cambodia and Bangladesh and we are shopping for the clothes they make on our high streets.

my brightest top

For these reasons this Lent (18 February to 4 April) I am giving up most of my clothes, they are staying in the wardrobe, all except six items and I am asking friends and family and readers of my blog to sponsor me by donating money to Labour Behind the Label.  You can read more about the charity's work HERE and DONATE HERE (please)

I am not doing this alone, Scrapiana an amazing blogger and crafter who teaches the art (yes I mean art) of mending is doing it with me.  In fact it was she who introduced me to the challenge (via instagram).  We intend to support each other by using all the usual social network wiles

Hoping this jumble of greys with black red and blue will see me through

I have been talking about my decision for a few days now and posting on Facebook and the question every one asks is 'how on earth are you going to manage?'  Well I don't know yet but I have tried to choose my six items very carefully, I am also allowed  accessories, underwear, sports wear and one coat.  To be honest given how the weather can be warm in March my greatest worry is I shall be too hot. 

From the left, grey jersey dress, silk blouse, black jeans, grey tee and red boiled wool skirt

That leaves one more item, it had to be my Leadlight cardigan because I have just finished knitting it and because I love it!

Leadlight knitted in Fyberspates scrumptious, a wool and silk mix

I intend to post a photograph of how I get on and how I alleviate the boredom of grey every day on here and on Instagram

A little note about Labour Behind the Label- it doesn't advocate boycotts but part of its work supports garment workers in countries such as Cambodia and part campaigns to raise awareness.  After all if it were not for campaigners in the UK parliament like Robert Peel nothing would have changed in this country (would readers from the USA please educate me and tell me who were the campaigners in their country in the comments below)

I actually need to raise £50 before I am officially on the team, I need another £3.00 so please donate.  In return I pledge to donate £10 in advance of every £100 raised (i.e. when the total reaches £101 I will donate another £10 and so on)

I should say the donations so far have come from knitters - YAY FOR KNITTERS!!

xx

c

Seven, Eight (at the gate)

Cake baking, house-working and knitting today.  A good day with lots to be thankful for

Fruit cake to Knitsonik's recipe (from her book on stranded colour work)

we looked every where for this book when TLM stayed last week - found while dusting a high shelf

One fruit cake, one chocolate in time for tea

swatching colour while eating cake

lastly so thankful this little chap has been given a clean bill of health after a night in the hospital

A week of good things

A day sewing in my studio makes me very happy.  Being part of the Six Items Challenge  was a good excuse to get some done.  It's amazing how difficult I found it, even with a bulging wardrobe,  to find six items of clothing that all coordinate and allow as much variety as possible when it comes to mixing and matching.  My solution was 5 items from my wardrobe and a new skirt made entirely out of stash materials.  There will be more details about the challenge on here on Tuesday, including how you may be involved and the full reveal of my new skirt, meanwhile here are some shots of the process.

On the cutting table

Double needle stitching is perfect for stretch fabrics

I wondered if I might go bright with the top stitching

Lapped seams (more about this later)

And hand finishing