This year I have really had to prioritise things, which has meant that I have had to ignore my wonderful wee sewing club here at Sew Well Travelled, and for that I truly apologise. It is currently May half term and my school has two weeks off! Which means I am going to endeavour to do SOME sort of sewing/craft as well as plan the hell out of my LAST TWO WEEKS ON PLACEMENT!!!! That's right guys, I am officially on the home stretch, I made it through the stress that is the PGCE year and have many grey hairs to show for it.
The last few months have been very tough going, I am currently job hunting for September as well as working hard to maintain my grades to get a good pass at the end of all of this. On top of this, in April we bid a tearful goodbye to our wonderful 20 year old cat, Toyah (pictured below).
She was something else was our Toyah but she became severely ill and it was cruel to keep her for our own sakes when she was no longer enjoying life. My mum and I made a resolution to live cat-less for the first time in our lives and we lasted a week. Toyah was such a big part of our family that no one could ever replace her, but our new feline friend has softened the blow.
His name is Murphy and he is the survivor of what seems like a severe cruelty case, as a result he has a gammy leg, no teeth on the left of his mouth and is extremely needy. Quite a lot for a four year old to deal with! He likes to help me plan my lessons by walking all over the keyboard when he's not getting enough attention.
Aside from my cat news that really is all that's been going on in my life aside from teaching. My current class are amazing characters and I am going to miss them a stupid amount when I leave at the end of June. I still don't have a job but I remain hopeful and tenacious with the process, yet right now I really am looking forward to relaxing a little this summer!
I've got a plan in mind for a top to make this half term using this fabric which I bought at the Sewing fair in Manchester last September.
It's going to be a semi self drafted strappy top, using a pattern from last year's Sewing Bee book. I hacked the pattern last summer to make the dress below and it worked out quite well! I'm thinking of breaking the rules and making the straps in a totally different fabric, just to make it a bit wilder!
I really need to wear that dress again actually. As well as that I'm going to make a few wee bits and bobs and finally put them on Etsy with the aim to top up my ever diminishing student loan, stay tuned for a link on here! I have a huge stash of fabric that needs to be used up, my first placement class did enjoy choosing from it for their iPad cases at our craft club though!
Anyway, you'll definitely hear more from me this half term, but until then - Happy Sewing Crafters!
Katharine xx
