A tale of two skirts (and one cat)

As well as the usual approach of selling fabric by the metre from rolls, my local fabric shop also sells remnants by weight. They are sorted by type, and priced by the kilogram.

Craft cotton remnants

If a piece is too large the staff will cut it for you, but there does have to have at least one metre left. This means that sometimes I end up with odd leftovers which aren't really big enough to do anything with.

Recently I wanted to make another skirt; one which would go with my red and black swing coat. I found the perfect wool mix remnant, but I was going to have about 60cm / 24" left over, and no idea what to do with it.

Pretty much all that was left at the end

I asked Mum for suggestions, and she wondered if I could possibly squeeze a second skirt out of it. With some very careful cutting out, I did!

Work skirt

Non-work skirt

All of which makes for a very short post, so . . .

I've been aware for a while that one thing which this blog lacks is cat pictures. Cats seem integral to sewing. They make sure that your pattern pieces don't blow away - by sitting on them. They highlight which book you need to consult - by sitting on it. They stop your fabric from sliding off the table - by - well, you get the idea.

I don't have a cat, but I do get to fuss over my friend F's cat, Teddy, when I visit. Last week when I was over, not only did I have my camera with me, but Teddy had kindly positioned himself in front of one of the cushions I'd made for F last year.

Not that he was keen to pose for the camera.

Not wanting to be photographed

Really not wanting to be photographed

Oh alright then, if you must

Teddy is a Norwegian Forest Cat, which means that he is very fluffy indeed. (I must confess that when F first told me he was a 'Wegie' I thought that she'd got a Glaswegian cat, but we soon cleared that up.) He is also very long-bodied; I sometimes wonder if under all that fluff there are actually two cats welded together!

Stretched out

He's not the most athletic puss you'll ever meet, so 'action shots' were definitely out of the question.

This was as active as we got

Sometime I'll have to take my sewing over with me, just to see if he sits on it!