Musings from The Tower...
This blog is mainly focused on my love of crafting. Embroidery, particularly cross stitch plays a major part but I will add any thing else that takes my fancy including, but not limited to Bollywood, Veganism, Yoga, Dance, Tarot and Pretty Things.
I made this when I learned of my impending nephew, I'd never made a toy before and this was a kit that I picked up at a shop, lured in by the fact that it didn't look too difficult.
I thought it would be a nice gesture to make a toy rather than buy one, because, as it turns out, I was naïve.
It actually took MUCH longer than I thought it was going to and gave me hand cramp for days afterwards due to the funny angle you had to hold the material to be able to stitch it together in the right shape.
Definitely a learning curve and I'm not convinced he's turned out looking exactly as he should have but hopefully that will just add to his quirky cuteness.
That being said, I am still desperate to learn how to make crochet amigurumi toys, which seem to involve less sewing but more tricksy crochet that my brain just can't get around at the moment.
I went on a rare trip to the cinema to watch a Bollywood film last Wednesday, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.
I'm a fan of Indian cinema in general and there's nothing like watching one on the big screen, (in fact I dream of being able to watch the epic Mughal-E-Azam on a giant screen with surround sound, some day, with a box of tissues and a tray of Indian sweets to see me through.)
I've seen and liked a few Ranbir Kapoor films so I figured there was a good chance I would have a great time and not feel like I'd wasted my money (damn you 'Alice in Wonderland,' destroyed by Tim Burton, I'm never getting those minutes of my life back - *seethe*)
The deal breaker though was the cameo appearance of one of my all time favourite Bollywood actresses, Madhuri Dixit (what a dancer!) not seen on the big screen for too long now but by all accounts planning a speedy return with this fabulous 'item number' and two films of her own lined up (I pray they will make it to cinema screens over here.)
Anyway, it was big, bold, over the top, sentimental and generally wonderful, it reminded me a bit of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, I think mainly because they fall in love on a holiday and the second half takes place during a wedding.
It's definitely one of those films that leave you feeling emotional but happy by the end and I was also very jealous of the Indian family eating samosas behind us come interval time, what a genius idea.
I've only managed to see a few Bollywood films at the cinema because the ones near me are a bit rubbish in that department (can't believe they didn't show 'The Dirty Picture,') and this one is absolutely my favourite so far.
I hope the fact that two of my local cinemas were showing one Bollywood film each last week is a sign that I will get to see more at the picture house, as if ever a film was meant to be viewed on the silver screen, it's the Bollywood masala movie.
I stitched these cuties for my nephew last Christmas; having a nephew gives me the excuse to stitch some soppy stuff every now and again. I used waste canvas for the first time and it was a lot easier than I anticipated although I still had to use some tweezers to pick out the threads after I soaked the felt. It has made me want to use it again to stitch cross stitch patterns on fabrics other than aida or linen in the future.
I guess soluble canvas is even easier because you shouldn't need to pull the threads out from under the stitching as I assume they dissolve in the water hence the name.
Metallic threads are still a pain though; I can't figure out how to stop the terrible fraying >,<
After much desperate avoidance I eventually got around to going through my wardrobes the other day to decide what I wanted to keep and what I really should get rid of. I hate this job and can only bring myself to chuck the bare minimum. But I always need room for more clothes so inevitably there has to be a clothes cull at some point. Amongst the stuff I really should get rid of because I never wear it, was a dress I bought when I was fifteen / sixteen. It was the first item of 'genuine goth' clothing I ever bought and I even had to go into the 'bad' area of town to buy it. It bore the emblem of a film I was obsessed with and it was black (my colour of choice) and had trailing sleeves. I had to have it and so I did, although I was never comfortable with quite how high up the slits on either side of the dress were, a real thigh glimpser! Because the dress conjures up so many memories, it had been hanging around in the back of my wardrobe for years. Looking at it, lying between the mountainous 'keep' pile and the more modest 'throw,' pile, I knew I couldn't just throw it in the bin and trying to sell it on eBay didn't seem right either.
So I decided to turn it into a bag, salvaging as much of the material as I could and using a pattern from a Cath Kidston book I was given at Christmas.
It was a pattern I had followed before but quite some time ago so I made a whole bunch of silly mistakes and had to improvise to fix them. I used an old dark green slip to line the bag and attached a long velvet ribbon, I already owned, to be the strap. I fixed the strap on using some red buttons from a button collection my mother gave me.
So it cost me nothing to convert the dress into a bag but it did take me practically a whole day to construct it. I want to do more machine sewing projects but I find it much less relaxing than cross stitch, I do have a bunch of cute dress patterns though so I really need to get on it.
