June 14, 2025

I’ve been in France the last two weeks, so there were limited things I could do, but I do have stuff to talk about! 

I had two main crafts with me; the knitted beige blouse I needed to finish, and sewing projects. First the blouse. I picked this up again after losing my yarn for a few weeks. I managed to finish it, but there is an error - I knitted the collar on the wrong way i.e. inside out. It’s not the worst thing as it could be styling choice. I tried to unravel it to start the collar again, but the single stranded mohair yarn is impossible to unravel, it gets so knotted. The other option would be to cut it off with scissors, but that seems drastic and would waste the yarn. So I opted to keep it. I could also cut it later if I wanted to.

After blocking the finished piece, the result is pretty good actually! The fit is snug, but it is a blouse. I will need to wear a cotton something under it though for the itchyness. It's an usual piece, but I like it :) Happy it checked off the list.

I also decided I would sew here. While I’m in France I can’t do any of my usual stuff like gardening, woodworking or wicker baskets, so I thought sewing was something I could do as it’s a bit more mobile. I recently found a fabric shop near the house in France, so that got me excited. I brought over some sewing accessories like my fabric shears and pins etc and bought the fabric in the local shop. I also bought a sewing machine to keep here, everything else I can take back home. 

Backstory done, I found a colourful patterned fabric, which I thought would look great on a dress or something. I first made a skirt of out I practised french seams on the whole thing, including pockets, which was very satisfying. French seams are where you encase all the frayed ends of the fabric so none show. This is a good alternative to serging the fabric like most commercial clothes, but you need a special serger machine. Anyway it turned out alright, a bit on the small side, but the main issue is I realised the fabric is a bit thick / heavy, which isn’t ideal for clothes. You want clothing fabric to be light and drapey on the body. Annoyingly, this isn’t the first time I’ve made this mistake.

I still had loads of fabric leftover so instead of making more clothes, I decided to try making bags. I copied the size and shape of one of my favourite go-to bags that I bought on street in Mexico a few years ago. I’ve always thought it was the most convenient shape and size. That worked out really well. Super happy with the result. The bag has two layers of fabric, one for the outer side and then another layer for the lining. Then I sewing the edges together to make it have a bit more structure. Given the heavy fabric, it acutally stands up pretty well on it sown. I didn’t add any interfacing in the middle either. For the handles I cut out some plastic from a water bottle and slid it inside the handle to give it more rigidity.

Very happy with the proof of concept. If I made it again, I would potentially add more plastic on the inside for structure, e.g. the base could have a plastic square it in, maybe the sides as well, maybe all of it? The water bottle did the job ok, I had to iron the plastic a bit so it would stay flat and not curl into its original round form. In the ironing process, the plastic shrivels up and becomes bubbly. So I’m on the look out for better, flatter plastic once I get home, I’m thinking the standard large milk bottles might do. 

I decided my proof of concept was so good that I would make a bunch more. The same bag, the same fabric. This could a nice addition to my future craft market stall. I prepped the rest of the bags, sewing the outers and the linings, but not assembling yet, so I can slip in the better plastics when I’m back in London. 

Overall, I wasn’t able to sew the dresses and skirts I set out to make, but landed somewhere reasonable with the bags.

The final thing I’ll talk about, having made progress on, is a website! I don’t say much about my vocation here, but I wanted to mention the website I made for my contracting company. I have been lucky with agencies so far in getting clients, but I thought it was time to build my own brand as a backup. Hence company website. I made this in two days, using a django framework, meaning I can write it in python, using bootstrap for styling. It’s the same process as my thecraftofliving website, so I knew it wouldn’t be too tricky. It a static website, so much simpler as well, just a few pages with hard coded content. Simples! Check it out here - acfaber.com

I’m looking forward to going back to London next week. Will be checking on the field. I’ve been trying to get in touch with well drilling companies, and they’re all very friendly, but so hard to get them to actually send me a quote. I don’t get it. That’s the main priority still. I’ll see what there is to harvest, maybe the wild cherries I found, maybe more broad beans and garlic. I’ll be spinning the sheep wool to finish the Grobbendonk jumper… And hoping continuing with the Japanese chair if the wood has straightened out. I’m in London for pretty much the rest of the summer, so I’ll go back to weekly updates! 

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