Week 8 October 29 - November 4, 2019

Week 10

October 29, 2019

I arrived in the capital of Canada yesterday, the city of Ottawa. Getting to my friends' place was quite easy. Found a parking spot for a couple of day, ended up with a parking ticket so was able to arrange a bit of secured paid parking for $7/day. That is a relief.

October 30, 2019

A quiet day until the afternoon when I jumped on the O-train and headed downtown. I got  a chance to visit with a friend.  Overall been a quiet week so far.  Just relaxing. Unpacked a couple of sewing machines and supplies. The plan is to teach my friend how to use his sewing machine and get him practicing some important skills like threading the machine, and sewing a straight stitch.

October 31, 2019

My friend had a meeting, so he played hooky from sewing class.  I took the time to sew up a ribbon skirt.  I got the fabric in Sherbrooke, made the skirt in Ottawa.

My first ribbon skirt of Winter 2019.

My friend spend the afternoon and early evening working on threading his machine and he practiced a bit of sewing.  Not bad for a person who has never sewed before!  More to come!

It was a quiet night, watched a few Halloween themed movies!

November 1, 2019

Another quiet day.  I worked on a few different sewing projects, starting cutting out squares for another quilt and continued sewing the reusable grocery bags. I have another ribbon skirt to finish for a commission. I have started planning for that - perhaps tomorrow I will get it finished.

My reusable grocery bag.  I tend to make these and use them to store people's orders and send their orders with the bag. I also have a standing order with a company back home. So, when I have a bit of time I cut out several and sew them as I travel. Hopefully I will be able to get a bunch done soon and send them home.

November 2, 2019

Started the day with a shopping run! My friends and I went to Fabricland.  I restrained myself from buying too much. I ended up picking up 6 metres of heavy cotton which makes nice fall-winter skirts and shirts. My friend picked up some fleece and some of the basic needs for sewing - scissors, needles, thread, seam ripper, pins and whatnot.

After that we did a few more errands before returning to the apartment and almost immediately Duane and I started working on a couple of projects. Overall it was a great way to spend a cool Saturday.

Sunday November 03, 2019 (time change day)

The practice of changing our clocks once every six months is kind of outdated and  real pain. But, here we are over a 100 years after it was made into policy changing our clocks.  FYI time isn't real.

My student was up early, he was really excited to get working on his project.  I checked in with  him to see how things were going. By early afternoon, he was done his first ever sewing project.  It was pretty impressive. My reasoning behind having him make a little fleece hoodie, other than it is super cute, was sewing small clothing can be done in a fairly small period of time, and there's generally a feeling of accomplishment. Working with fleece is also quite easy, and fleece can be quite forgiving.

While he worked on his little hoodie, I finished my second Ribbon skirt of 2019-2020 sewing season, and I made a couple more grocery bags and a set of tea towel hangy thingies!  It was fun just to be creative.

Waist 38", length 38"

I buy bar clothes from dollar stores or Canadian Tire, remove the stitching on one hem, and sew it to the hanger part which is scraps left over from a ribbon skirt workshop I assisted at. 

As is the philosophy with my people, when talking about hunting: Nothing goes to waste. Same too, with my sewing. I try very hard not to waste material and supplies.  That's why making these little tea towel hangy thingies is  a good thing...great for wiping your hands when working in the kitchen!

Monday November 04, 2019

I departed from my dear friends' home in Ottawa and made my way to Carleton Place where another friend had very special gift for me. We met in a parking lot. I am honoured.

I made it safely to my friend's very busy house in Toronto.  Wow!!! 

I will be getting busy this week finishing the shelving and kitchen counter, plus whatever else needs to be done!