My Daughters' Charity Run for Invest in ME

UPDATE: A grand total £1522 was raised by the Down High Relay Team for INVEST IN ME.  Well done all!

My two younger daughters Elaine and Shona are each running a leg of the Belfast Marathon on Monday 6th May.

Their school, Down High, has put together four teams of young runners and teachers for the marathon relay event.  The school  has nominated INVEST IN ME as their chosen charity this year, and this was - at least in part - due to the fact that they suggested the charity to the school because of how this illness has affected me over the last year.

Linky to Down High Relay Team Just Giving Page

I am obviously delighted that the school has run with this idea, and that some more funds can be raised for much needed biomedical research into the nature of the illness.  I realise that I am not as badly affected as many and so despite my limitations I can still get out and about to meet friends and socialise.  Those most severely affected with ME often remain bed bound for years with no effective medical treatment.

Much more research is needed!

Elaine, who is the runner in our family, is giving a talk during school assembly on Wednesday morning explaining the nature of ME and the need for good biomedical research.  Invest in ME sent a variety of resources to the school to help with this, including the book "Lost Voices from a Hidden Illness".

Shona, who doesn't normally run, has been training for a number of weeks now.  She is looking forward to marathon day, but doesn't think she wants to keep up with running as a sport....  (quite her mother's daughter!).

Anyway, I'm as proud as can be of these two, and am so delighted that the school followed through on the suggestion to support Invest in ME as their named charity this year.

Any donation - small or large - that you feel you could make to support these young people (and their teachers who are also running) in their venture to raise funds for IiME will be gratefully appreciated.

Thank you....

Oh and my eldest daughter is also running a leg of the same marathon as part of another team from the Biomedical Research Lab where she works.  Go Kerry!

It'll be a busy day and I hope to use my latest acquisition - a TravelScoot to get out onto the route to cheer them all on.

Run, my girls, run!

Recycling Fleece Project.

It's wardrobe clear out time - and I found that several fleeces were worn out or tired in places, but when I piled them up I thought the colours were too nice to just send to a charity shop where they may or may not get used.......

So I started by cutting out the sections of fleece and discarding the stitching - there's the mess.

And this is the pile of fleece created so far.

Now I've a couple of ideas for this (including a quilty idea) but I'm pausing in case any good ideas come to mind in the next day or two.  Suggestions welcome.  

And just to show that the mood is generally relaxed in the house today, here's Honey fast asleep!

Bloglovin... A Housekeeping Post!

Apparently I need to "claim" my blog by adding this:

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/6676671/?claim=54w2w225nqe">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

So there we go that's done now...  More sewing escapades soon folks.

Simple Skirt - A Learning Curve!

I was inspired by the A line skirts made on the Sewing Bee programme last week. 

I especially loved the flowery one Ann made, and as I have some nice material with red roses on it, I thought that a new skirt made from this would be a fun idea.

Right well, I don't have a pattern - so I thought "How hard can it be?"  (LOL)

I didn't cut straight into the roses material of course and so instead used this jolly stuff...  (an ebay "bargain"!)  

I started by measuring: my waist; my hips at the widest point; the distance between waist and hip lines; and finally the total skirt length. 

Easy so far.

I then worked out how much material I'd need to loose in darts - taking most of that out at the back.  I then added a seam allowance and a little rise on either side of where the zip will go.  And that was my pattern!

I ruled the dart lines directly onto the fabric..... 

Then stitched it all up and even added a zip - let's face it I need practice with zips!

Now before I put it on, I thought it looked fairly alright....

BUT once on, I could see that I had been much too generous measuring my waist.... I had thought I didn't want it too tight... hummm... at least the bum fit is better.

Little darts on the front - almost invisible -or is that because the photo is out of focus?

Anyway, this was a bit of fun!  And has given the girls a giggle....  Now I just need to apply the obvious changes and have another go with the roses material.  Watch this space!

First Dress Finished! :)

Well it took a while to complete but at last it's finished.  And as you see I didn't add arms, but instead used bits of fabric to face the insides of the arm holes.  I had thought these pieces were to make cap sleeves, but turns out I know nothing, and after much head-scratching I realised they were little unseen pieces!

I have learned a load of stuff on the way whilst doing this dress:  The zip was the first invisible zip I've attempted (and believe me it is far from invisible, but I think it's tolerably okay now that I've ironed it hard!).  I also had to wrestle with that curly hem foot thing... and with a little help from Utube and several yards of practice on fabric scraps, I finally got the hem done without too much stretching...

 And please ignore the funny faces - it is not easy to take photos in a mirror... and I thought I'd been so careful to avoid all the surrounding clutter!

 In the two photos below, I thought I'd try on a little poncho thing I bought in a sale years ago, but never wore.  I think it works with this dress okay... even though my face forgot to show it!

 Anyway,  I admit I'm pleased with the outcome of this dress, although to be honest the fabric disguises quite a few less than perfect joins.

I also love the fact I lined it - because it gives it a weight and warmth that the fabric alone would have been missing.  So I think I'll wear this....

Now, if you happen to be curious to read some of my ponderings along the way  - links to previous posts relating to the dress are given below.

And as you will see from the dates, the whole project took some time to come to fruition!

Aspiring Towards Dressmaking - Help!

Cutting out the Pieces for my Dress!!

A Little Progress on the Dress

Interim Dress Pictures - Add Sleeves or No?

Thanks for looking....  now I wonder what I'll try next.

Interim Dress pictures.... Add sleeves or no?

So here's my dress so far - kindly modelled by my eldest daughter.

I have full length arms cut out for the dress... but I'm thinking now I'll just change my mind and put on the cap sleeves for it instead.

Then I'll have to hem the skirt and do a few wee tidying bits - like attaching the lining to the zip on the inside.

As I'm writing this and looking at possibilities for my dress - the girls have that new sewing programme on Iplayer Sewing Bee... Did anyone else watch it?  I loved it.  Great fun! 

Sally's Sewing Corner

Up until now all my sewing has been at the kitchen table.  Which is all well and good, but means I need to clear everything away each evening ...

I thought I might get more done with a specialised sewing space.  SoI now have a new sewing corner in the kitchen.    TA DA!

A little re-arranging of the kitchen created a space:

Then a quick surf on the internet to find what I wanted from Ikea... 

Some assembly... (Thanks Tim and daughter Elaine.)

Nice wooden top - which I treated with wood oil...

And because the wood oil hadn't fully sunk in yet (and obviously I wanted to SEW), I put some surplus fabric over the work top so I could work on my dress..

Yes the dress IS still slowly progressing (that is it on the chair)... it's not perfect, but so far so good.  Hope to finish it by the end of the week!