It has been a funny week. On the one hand it seems to have gone by quite quickly. But on the other, it doesn’t feel like I did much to make it go quickly. I had my day off today, and I had plans of a long walk, warp the loom and a nice glass of wine at the end of the day.
How many did you do? I hear you cry.
One! The glass of wine, or two.
I had to do some work today, so that was much of the morning gone. The other half had to go into work, so I figured we would be out walking by 2 pm. Nope. It was gone 3 pm when he got back. I ended up washing the car, hoovering the carpets and cleaning the dishes, which then led to cleaning the oven.
We did get a walk in, but only 40 minutes. I felt a bit cheated. He asked if I had a good day off, and I couldn’t really say yes, because I hadn’t done the things I wanted too. Today might as well have been a work day. I guess a positive is that I wasn’t staring at a screen all day.
On the crafting front, it’s been a bit dry. I made a couple more masks. The hand stitching is getting better. Two went to work with the other half, so that’s nice.
So, I get two medium masks from the sleeves. Then three large from the back and two large from the fronts. This shirt had no pocket, so it is a large mask. One with a pocket in the left chest side would be a medium or maybe two small. It all depends on your placements.
I brought these lovely blooms last weekend. The peonies are a lovely red shade when new, but over the week they change to this blush pink shade, then through to white.
I’ve been exploring free templates for leather work. I checked out some basic wallets and a bag. Although, I would prefer to go on another course but for bag making first. I was looking at what you need to work with leather. There is a lot. You can buy kits with all the basics. It makes me think back to stained glass making. You need much less in the kit department. I’m not deterred but I’ll think about it some more before I jump feet first!
I am looking out for some leather to make a nice pair of sneakers, but more fashion-y, if that makes sense, something in a nice warm chestnut tone. Soft to the touch and expensive looking. But without the expense.
While digging around in bedside table drawers, I came across a skein of yarn. I wondered where this had got to. I picked it up at Wonderwool Wales two years back. It’s lost the tags now, but I’m glad it has surfaced again. Isn’t it great when you come across a stash you forget about. Like a squirrel hoarding nuts.
It was a pain to photograph. The iPad gave it a purple tint. The iphone was better, but I still had to adjust it a bit. I think it has merino in it. It is quite soft. Not sure what I shall use it for.
I made some bread last Sunday; floury baps called barm cakes. These two turned out fine. Mainly because they were last in the oven as there was no more space, and I realised I should have proved the others for an hour more. Oops.
The rest were fine to eat, just not perfect. I may make some more this weekend, although I have a chocolate flan waiting to be made. A huge bar of Dairy Milk is in the cupboard, and if I don’t use it, I’ll eat it.
Well, I am out for an early walk tomorrow, so I had better get some sleep.
Hook This, Weave That 
You might remember that my husband does leather work and I can testify that there is quite a lot of equipment involved. Well, in his case, he invested in an industrial sewing machine and also uses one of the antique treadle machines I’ve managed to collect since living here. He hand stitches a lot of it too. He has accumulated quite a few tools specific to leather work such as skivers and there are hides in bags, in rolls under the cutting table etc. He’s made mostly bags and usually makes his own patterns up but, at the moment, he’s making himself a leather jacket. Patterns for men’s jackets are almost non-existent so he’s using a pattern meant for fabric and adapting it as he goes along which I would find very scary. He’s supposed to be re-covering the seat cushions on our sofa with leather but he always seems to find something more interesting to do 🙄
He loves it though so don’t be deterred – as with most crafts, you can generally start with a small amount of kit and add to it later.
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Thanks for your comments. It’s useful to know because I’ve only come across a few items of equipment so far due mainly to the projects I have completed. But then I watched a video for a wallet and was like ‘ok, quite a few more tools’. I think that’s why I want to make a bag next, when this lockdown eases up. The course I know of uses a sewing machine, so it would be a good induction, and I am sure it will use more tools as you mention. It does sound daunting converting a fabric pattern to leather, but I guess the principals must be fairly similar. Hopefully you will share a picture of it when he finishes. I hope you get your sofa cushions covered soon.
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