Embroidered Ginger Jeans Part 1

First I must confess that I started these jeans back in October last year...taking slow to a whole new level here!

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the Ginger Jeans from Closet Case Patterns, and as a disclaimer I should add that I received the pattern free as a tester, but I wouldn't have made like 7 pairs if I didn't love the pattern off of its own merit! (I probably have mentioned it before but I haven't posted in such a long time, and can't be bothered to check back to see if I did)

For the yet again failed FESA sew along, I listed making two replacement pairs of Gingers, and used some really great broken twill denim off eBay, such great quality, and no twisty legs woohoo!

So then I had one of my slightly infamous 3am ideas - anyone else get these?! - and decided that I simply had to have skulls embroidered on my butt pockets. Because they're skulls and it's me. So a bit of googling revealed that it was a thing, a couple of US brands did skull butt jeans, and a bit of pinteresting threw up a few choice designs. I purchased one from Urban Threads (who are cheap and wonderful and will have whatever embroidery you're looking for!) and sized it up and printed it off. I decided for the sake of needing some to wear immediately I would make up one pair as normal, and since the embroidery completion was glacial it was a smart move!

As I was using black denim (obviously) I needed to use the tissue paper method to stitch my design as the pockets needed to be mirrored as identically as possible so risking free hand was not an option. I traced the designs onto tissue paper that was slightly thicker than usual, not sure what it came with, it is a bit like that really terrible toilet roll at school that was like tracing paper.

 I just tacked the tissue paper down to stop it shifting. I chose to use two shades of grey, a lighter one for the skull part, and a darker one for the swirly bit to the side. The pockets were interfaced so there was no risk of stretching out.

Once it was finished I pulled through the tacking stitches. Then I very naively thought I would pull the tissue paper off in one piece. I have no idea what kind of brain glitch was responsible for that idiocy because as I'm sure you will all realise, it looked like this...

 Doh! So out came the tweezers, and eventually I got all the bloody stuff out!

So at this stage it was December, not too bad! Queue second pocket being finished in March. This is why I went ahead and finished the other pair, I know myself well enough to know that no matter how much I *had* to go through with my idea,it would take me forever to actually get finished.

Well, the finished pair are pretty much identical in design and spacing. I do wish I had done them a bit further in though. It looks better when all the edges are folded inwards so on the finished pair they don't look too odd.

Part two will show the finished jeans.

Have you ever incorporated embroidery into your handmade clothing? If so would you do it again or was once enough?!

February Reading

Another book post - sorry! This post was just finished before any sewing related ones, I swear I'm not turning into a literature blog :)
February was also a seven book month, so I'm very much on target for a 52 book year!

Affliction by Laurell K Hamilton was the first book of Feb, and it was over 700 pages long! I used to be a huge fan of the Anita Blake series but my interest began to wane when the books began to be kinda rubbish and the sex got a bit ridiculous. I saw the three books I don't own in the library and thought I would give them a go. Affliction included the character Edward who I really like, and a book with him in is always better than without. I don't think it was the worst LKH book, but the conclusion to the story was shoved into 10 or so pages as an afterthought almost. An easy semi-enjoyable read that could have been so much better id Anita kept her legs shut more.

Jason by Laurell K Hamilton is basically a story about LKH's personal life. I wish I had known it was not in any way integral to the ongoing story line and not read it. It was so cringy and 99% of it was about sex, and the sex scenes were really poorly written. In conclusion LKH has an unusual romantic set up, good for her, please stop releasing thinly veiled books that tell us about it.

Dead Ice by Laurell K Hamilton was, much like Affliction, a semi enjoyable read spoiled by terrible sex scenes and an ending pushed into the last 10 pages as an afterthought. A shame because it could have been really good, like the original ones were. It may only irritate me but I think that the amount of things added so someone could understand the plot if they hadn't read the series is way too much. If you pick up book 24 in a series you should expect there to be a few head scratchers. I do not need a description of each character like I have never "met" them before!

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn - No Gone Girl but it was good. The story is about a journalist who is forced to return to her home town to cover the story of a missing little girl, a year or so after a little girl was found murdered. I thought some parts of the story were unnecessary, in particular the extent to which the character Camille has self harmed. Not that it isn't feasible, just felt it was unnecessary to go so extreme with it as the plot has a lot going on anyway.

Waste by Tristram Stuart is a fantastic book. It may be a few years old, but much of it is still very relevant today. The scale at which we waste food from the field, through to the supermarket, through to our homes, is astounding. We should be ashamed of ourselves. I have a bit of research to do to see if things that were promised to be in place after the book was finished, but before the present date, were upheld, but as a general picture of the issue it hits the spot. It will make you much more thoughtful about your own wastage, and if that is all it achieves then still worthwhile in my opinion.

A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride - This was a short but very powerful book! I read the novel version as opposed to the version adapted for the stage, but I can definitely see why the theatre showing this has had audience members walk out. Very raw portrayal of a young Irish woman's life, the text starts off slightly nonsensical as the language is not only free running but changes with the age in question. Not something that bothered me but some may find it difficult to get into.

Beautiful You by Chuck Palahniuk - I found this book to be completely hilarious! The not so gentle or subtle mockery of 50 Shades of Grey (I haven't read it but any one who has heard reviews of the book will not fail to get Palahniuk's game here) and the outlandish scenarios make for a short but satisfying read. It has been a long accepted fact that many men find nude women/pornography distracting, so it was refreshing to have a satirical tale of women becoming overwhelmed by sexual desire.

So readers, any of these taken your fancy? Or any you have read and enjoyed/not enjoyed?

January Reading

Happy Friday!

This is one of the new posts I am going to be doing monthly as a nice way to track my reading month by month (I do track books read on Pinterest each year) and perhaps introduce readers to a new book along the way!

So in January I read seven books:

Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey was the January Lincon WI book group choice, and although I did not make it to the book group I still read the book and was surprised to enjoy it! Most months I do not particularly enjoy the books, so it is really nice when I do. Very briefly the book is based around Maud who has dementia, and the stories of her sister going missing in the 1940's, and her friend Elizabeth who Maud believes is missing in the present day.

Outcast Volume 2: A Vast and Unending Ruin by Kirkman & Azaceta Graphic novels are one of my favourite things to indulge in, I love the stories and the artwork, and the innovative story telling. Outcast's main protagonist is Kyle Barnes who has been plagued with demonic possession his entire life. His "sidekick" is Reverend Anderson, and together they are trying to work out just what the hell (excuse the pun) is going on.

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk was something I struggled to get into. I think it was the separate stories within the main story that  was the issue for me. The story is based around a group of writers who sign up to a writer's retreat and they go a bit insane. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was just the short stories, or just the story of the writers. I liked many parts of it but as a whole I found it a bit of a slog.

You by Caroline Kepnes A bit late on the bandwagon (as usual!) but I enjoyed the book a lot. I found that the "victim" was unlikable to a greater extent to the creepy perpetrator Joe whose eyes you see the story through. I liked the stalker's perspective, and going through the story with his twisted view on things. Also makes you want to lock down your social media. Be careful in book stores ladies and gents!

The Collector by John Fowles was perhaps not the wisest choice to read straight after You! It follows the story of a man who is obsessed with a young woman, and when he comes into some money he kidnaps her thinking she will grow to love him. I loved the first part of the book as told through his eyes, but found the second part as told through the diary of the girl to be a bit irritating. A good read, but the second part could have been better.

Low: The Delirium of Hope by Remender & Tocchini is the first Image release I have found a bit "meh". There is nothing wrong with the story as such, I just didn't go for it personally. It is set in a world where global warming has destroyed the protective ozone layer and humans have had to colonize the depths of the oceans to survive. Spoiler alert: We are still dicks to each other even after all that has happened.

The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson was the February Lincoln WI book group choice. This one I did not like. Even though it is based on historical documents I found it to be a bit preposterous. Thomas Hawkins is a spoilt arse who ends up in the debtors jail "The Marshalsea". There are some spooky goings on and Thomas is forced to get to the bottom of it. I'm not one for historical books, or crime/mystery books, and it seemed to be enjoyed most by those who were a fan of Dickens (I'm not).


So I hope that didn't bore anyone to death! If you have read any of these books/graphic novels let me know what you think.

So It's March...

...And I have been demonstrably absent since September. Life got busy, at points a little too busy.

I have kept up reading blogs, and thinking about this one. I was tempted to just scrap it and start again but there's no point. I do however have to make some changes round here, I clearly cannot just blog about sewing as I make only a small amount of garments a year. I hope that any readers will be ok with a shift to a slightly broader range of topics.

I now do instagram which I am much more frequently posting on than here, and if you'd like to check it out I can be found under the user name of Ms_Melancholy

More posts are in the works, but for now -

Edited because I wrote February and it is actually March - What a dumbass!