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Thursday 27 August 2015

Sewing and Shopping.

Thursday is my shopping day, I pick Maggie up at 10.00 and we go off to Pontardawe. A quick trip round Lidl, perhaps a saunter round Home Bargains and maybe Poundstretcher and Farm Foods. Then back home, shopping unpacked and put away by 11.30.

I do not always buy much, fresh fruit and veg, milk and butter usually, flour, yeast and pastry fat every 3 weeks or so. The few tinned goods that I use I buy a couple of months worth at a time and cleaning products every couple of months. When I spot a bargain I snap it up, my freezers are pretty full at the moment so I am trying to eat out of them now. I did buy a great deal of cheese a short time ago, I popped into Tesco and there was a pile of good cheddar reduced to less than half price. I will not need to buy more for several weeks.
Lidl have a few things on half price every weekend and I use my head on what to buy. Their ready made burgers were on a while ago, they are 100% beef and worked out much cheaper than fresh loose minced beef. Ready to freeze and portion controlled, I snapped up a stack and froze down in packs of 2. I have made many meals from them and there are plenty left for the next month or so.

I am just as thrifty when I sew, I was up early this morning and had these made by 7.00. The fabric was £2.20 a metre from the Fabric Guild, I always buy enough fabric at a time to get free delivery.



I used a different pattern and just added side seam pockets. They are low waisted and a perfect fit for me. Fran will need 3" off the legs and the pockets raising by 3".

Then I picked out the free pattern that came with a magazine this month.


I made the cross over back style, as I was unsure about the style I used some old fabric and lined it, if I like it I will make a fully lined version.


Instead of one button on the back I used four as decoration. I will probably not make it again, the front neckline is 2-3" too high and the front really needs darts. Fran very kindly modeled it for me. Made in a very light fabric it may well hang better but I like substance to my tops.

I had another surprise through the letterbox, a very lovely bookmark. I already have it in use, thank you Rachel.


I have been doing some scrappy sewing as well, most of my small orphan blocks and HST have been sewn into blocks and are being made larger with strips of fabric sewn around them. I will show and tell when a bit more is done. I am using mainly blue scraps and strips as I seem to have amassed another small mountain of them.

Dinner tonight is chili and I need to go cook some rice.

                       TTFN                                              Pam

7 comments:

  1. Wow! You are thrifty! I like the top you made and the buttons look really cute. My husband said at lunch today that he would like to have a bowl of chili. I haven't made chili since hot weather rolled in. Chili sounds good!

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  2. I really like that blouse. It looks like a "Love Sewing" pattern. Is it? I had it on subscription for the first 12 months and to be quite honest none of the patterns were me at all. I decided to cancel my subscription and whadderyouknow - a pattern I like. 😉

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  3. I love those trousers ideal for lounging about, I admire your attitude to shopping if there was an award for the to frugal shopper it would go to you, :-)

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  4. I love the way you sit down and just SEW! The only things I've used my machine for recently are repairs for Tam when she was down, and I also hand-sewed a patch on Zane's trousers. Mind you, this week I lost half a day going into town shopping/viewing an auction, and then an entire day (till gone 5) at the auction.

    The buttons look pretty across the back of that top and you have got those slobbers off to a fine art!

    We are well-stocked foodwise at the moment as I laid in extra when Tam and Zane came, and stocked up on fish in M&S this week (OH will only eat M&S fish now as it is fresh - at the Morrison's fish counter you can often smell it from 10 feet away, which is NOT good practice). I am spending £40 a week at Morrisons as they have a deal on and I will get £15 off my shop next week, which is worth having. Certain things we get at Lidl, and try and get the bulk of our shop there normally.

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  5. Once we found quite by chance in Tesco a pile of cheese priced at 10p per pack, we bought 10 & froze them they lasted for ages. Anyway - I like your top I have that pattern but wasn't really keen on it, it looks a little better in real life! Hope you & Fran are keeping well xx

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  6. I do like the look of that top you made. But, as you said you wouldn`t use this pattern again, may I be so cheeky to ask where this pattern ends up? Hope you`re not binning it. If that`s the case, may I ask for it myself? I`m happy to make a swop in way of cookery book if that`s acceptable. Pleas let me know if you might consider giving the pattern to me.

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  7. Sounds like a good day! I like the four buttons on the top! xx

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