Make it Sew… again

Here I go again…

After the unqualified success of my first attempt at sewing (“unqualified” being an apposite word here), I decided to make another pair of boxers, to prove that the first time wasn’t a complete fluke.

The Snail had some fabric (see? I know these technical terms now) that would be perfect so I set about cutting that out with the pattern pieces I made last time. This was much quicker than before, of course. However, the Snail thought it would be good to modify the recipe, I mean pattern, a little. As these boxers are for sleeping in*, they don’t need the complication of the fly but could benefit from slightly longer legs (there has to be a Tom Cruise joke in there somewhere).

I’ve been overlocked

The Snail overlocked the edges (the overlocker is a way too scary machine for me to use) and then I sewed all the bits together, using the family Singer. It all went really quickly, despite a little jiggery-pokery required for fitting the elastic waistband. There was almost no swearing.

Concentrating…

… more concentration….

… they’re pants, well, boxers…

Eh, voila! Another sewing success. At this rate, I’ll have new set of sleepy-in clothes by 2042!

oOo

* I don’t mean as a substitute for a bed, they’re not that big.

 

ScrapHappy March 2020: Palletgate V2.0

Ah, PalletGate. Somewhat battered but still hanging on…

A hundred years ago (OK, six), PalletGate rose from the primordial soup (OK, an old pallet or two) and has stood guard, like a Colossus (OK, a colossal eyesore), over the space between paradise and Hades (OK, the area we keep the chickens in and the other bit where we don’t). That momentous occasion (OK, no wait, it WAS) is recorded here.

Weather and not-very-good quality wood means the pallet is beginning to fall apart

The seemingly endless storms we are now having, with high winds and lots of rainfall, mean that the wood is rotting and Palletgate is beginning, much like the writer, to fall apart. Fortunately, I still have a few pallets from a neighbour, who moved out and no longer needed them, and a new bottle of single malt to help me through the construction process (as and when that actually happens).

PalletPile

The plan is this: using the reasonably nice pallets from the pile, treat one (or maybe two) with the same external primer and paint used for PalletCart then build a whole new gate. I am tempted to use two pallets to give a good height so that the mesh (which I will re-use from the existing gate) will be more stable in the high winds that we seem to having more frequently now. I am also going to use those gate hinges that you hang gates on rather than the current ones (I will try to source second-hand ones).

Watch this space for developments! Actually, just come back occasionally, it is partly going to depend on decent weather which seems to be in short supply at the moment…

oOo

These ScrapHappy posts are curated by Kate, who provides links to other (mostly sewing) ScrapHappy bloggers at Tall Tales from Chiconia on the fifteenth of every month. I have sneaked a non-fabric-based ScrapHappy in when no one was looking!

Lots of other happy scrappers contribute too, so check them out: Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Johanna,
Joanne, Jon (me), Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie and Bekki

Obsolete Obelisk

When the Obelisk was new and shiny…

In March 2017, I made a Willow Obelisk at Denmark Farm, an obelisk that wouldn’t stop growing (read about it here). Nearly three years later and it had taken over all the resources of that patch of the garden, stopping anything else from growing there. So, the request came from the Snail – remove the pea obelisk please.

So I did (once Storm Ciara had done her worst, obviously). The roots were pretty tough to dig out, and needed cutting underground. The bits left in will rot*, adding to the general organic matter content of the bed.

When the Obelisk was old and lustreless…

The removed willow has been added to the brashings that we use to help slow the flow of rainwater off the field behind our garden and also help to create a wood pile for any wildlife that needs a shelter.

Hopefully now we can grow something else there, something less nutrient-demanding that will allow the soil to recover.

It’s like it was never there

oOo

* Or they’ll keep growing, because willow has no concept of outstaying its welcome.

ScrapHappy February 2020: Spring has almost sprung

Rusty Connector – worst name for a sex therapist ever

The issue with not replacing stuff every time a new version comes out is that eventually entropy takes its toll and it needs mending. Sometimes, the manufacturer (as in last month’s post) makes it impossible to fix but other times…

Take our CD player remote control. Now put it back. Thank you. The batteries last so long in it that they tend to start leaking before they have actually stopped powering the device and that slight chemical spillage leads to corrosion of the battery connector. Then it does stop working by which time it is usually quite hard to clean the corrosion off.

Time to remove it completely…

The connector no longer, er, connected.

Remember that old biro you removed the spring from way back in the noughties, and then left on a shelf? Well, that has finally proved to be useful as a new battery terminal.

Once in a biro, now in a remote control: the varied life of a ScrapHappy spring.

As good as new!

And that is a quick ScrapHappy fix!

oOo

These ScrapHappy posts are curated by Kate, who provides links to other (mostly sewing) ScrapHappy bloggers at Tall Tales from Chiconia on the fifteenth of every month. I have sneaked a non-fabric-based ScrapHappy in when no one was looking!

Lots of other happy scrappers contribute too, so check them out: Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Johanna,
Joanne, Jon (me), Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie and Bekki

 

Right to Repair

After my ‘escapade’ with a mirror, here’s an electronics take on the right to repair… I’m off to sign the petition at repair.eu!

Stuart's Weblog

We are at a strange junction of history. We have unprecedented access to technology. The number and capability of single board computers, sensor chips, even things like FPGAs that are available to the hobbiest, is amazing.

At the same time we have a massive removal of normal consumer rights from the ability and the right to access their own technology. Consumer devices are sealed shut with glues, special screws, warning stickers that threaten the user with dire consequences should they have the tenacity to break them. But the main method of sealing goods is to do it with software, and the aid of copyright protections.

The Digital Millennium Copyright act in the US and many similar laws make it a crime to break a software lock that is protecting a copyright work, even if the reason is legal. So we have seen a explosion of software in devices, and as…

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