The Road to Sidmouth (part 3): Utilitarian Makery

Hello hello, welcome back.

I know you come here for the sewing and not the snark (or do you?) so today’s post is going back to basics of the blog. I decided to put sewing skills to use for festival camping. I made a lot of colourful clothing already (which you can see here) but today this post is more about addressing our practical needs through sewing

Pillowcase

More of a scrap buster rather than genuine need – I could easily bring a regular pillowcase – but the scraps were burning a hole in my stash cupboard and the polyester fabric content is probably beneficial for sweat or dirt of something.

I don't have a photo of the final item in use, and I'm not sure where I've actually put it now. So instead, here's a photo of  the sewing space from earlier this summer. The pillowcase is made from the diamond fabric, which is still available to buy from Girl Charlee here. One word of warning: the print is much larger in scale than th website suggests.

Camping cosies

While researching dehydrated backpacking meals, I saw that a lot of people use a pot and post cosy combo to insulate a dish while it’s rehydrating. This frees up the stove for other uses or saves fuel (you’re not keeping something simmering) or allows you to leave your dinner unattended for a while.

Most people out there are using scraps of thermal insulation foil apparently to make theirs, though I have seen kitchen aluminium foil versions and glorified jiffy envelopes as well. All the camping cosies are round, and while we could have bought one or repurposed a soup can, we chose to try using our regular 750ml Lakeland boxes. The Jetboil has neoprene insulation, and we happened to have some on hand, so now it’s all one cohesive dinner set (kinda)!

Mine is a black, grey and lime green combo and B went for a black, blue and rainbow combo.

That’s it really, I was hoping to make a new swimsuit ready for the trip but that didn’t happen. Oh well.

K

The Road to Sidmouth (part 2): The Camping Challenge

I'll admit that I haven't been camping in a long time. B is similarly (in)experienced.

So we've got a lot to do before spending a week at the Sidmouth campsite. If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that we will be a lot better off by planning and preparing, and we will suffer if we just try to wing it on the day.

We're transporting almost everything on the train with us so we can't just overpack for every eventuality either. So, I've been looking at the ultralight movement for ideas so we don't get weighed down by our own supplies.

One thing working to our advantage is that we can afford to throw a bit of money and a bit of makery at the problem. So this is what we've done to get ready

Buy a tent

Trading off weight against ease of setting up, we picked one of the Decathlon Arpenaz 3-person tents. The concept of a blackout tent is new to me but we chose this one for a few reasons:

• B doesn't like being woken up by the sun
• If there's a remote chance of anyone suffering migranes, this is a ready-made dark space
• We need it to stay cool as it's blisteringly hot at the moment and we need some actual sleep.
• We need it to stay cool because we've got nowhere else to store our food or stuff.

Buy something to sit on

A week of sitting on the ground is likely to be unpleasant. I got a posh chair, B got a cheap one and each of us thinks that our own is better. Let's see who wins.

Buy a camping stove

Actually, we got a Jetboil.

Ah the Jetboil, the Macbook of camping stoves. With its neoprene sleeve and colour changing logo. It boils water. It boils water damn well and it boils waer damn fast. Just don't ask it to do anything else.

This thing cost twice as much as the tent. It cost more than anything else coming on the trip (with the exception of B's fancy new headphones). But we are a couple of compulsive tea drinkers and we couldn't avoid getting something optimised for boiling water. Cue the constant (almot instant) mobile supply of tea.

This has made it quite fun planning meals. We have no ability to keep chilled food and need to keep things light and compact. Our only cooking facility is boiling water. Dehydrated food party it is!

I'll go into more detail about food planning and other  makery in another post, but for now you need to know that we're going to play to the Jetboil's strengths, and our love of laziness by embracing dehydrated backpacking meals.

Bye,

K

Buying supplies

The Road to Sidmouth (part 1): Deny all knowledge of the molly

Sidmouth Folk Week? Oh yeah, I've heard of it. We used to go and visit during the summer holidays. Had a big craft market on the hill, right? I wonder whatever happened to that festival...

What? It's still going on? Over 50 years old? Except everything that moved to the other end of the seafront?

Well I never. How charming! I guess we might pop by for a visit if we happen to be in the area in August.

Maybe I'll be wearing a few of my new clothes - it is a festival after all, one must try to blend in with the revellers. I'm sure you understand.

A New Hat

To keep the sun out of my eyes. Fabric: sold to me over FB by a caberet performer who was getting rid of old costumes and said this would be good for a refashion (fabric originally from Berwick Street). Pattern: MadebyYaya's tutorial on YouTube

A Scrappy Waistcoat

Just in case I need to dress up. This uses my beloved fabric slashing technique. I love how the front turned out,  but am not so happy with the back. Still, that's what you get with a scrapbusting project. It's drafted from one of the slopers from Metric Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear. It's also reversible!

Some Activewear T-shirts

Because it's going to be hot and sweaty (if this weather continues) and I want something airy and fast-drying. The fabric is Southwest Colours Swirls, Rock Art 16-Scarlet Magenta-YD, and Desert Sunset from Spoonflower and the pattern is another sloper from Metric Pattern Cutting for Womenswear. I've tried some small variations in hem finishes and neckline.

A Square Skirt

I haven't had one of these since I was a teenager! Ooooh, pixie fashion will fit right in at a folk event! I hope no one else is wearing the same thing! Pattern: self-drafted, fabric: Girl Charlee

Safety Pants

For decency's sake. What do you wear under your skirts? Fabric: Z&Q Supplex, Pattern: MadeIt Play Pants (graded up 2 sizes as it's a teen pattern. There are rumours of an adult-size pattern coming soon...).

***Okay, I don't seem to  have a photo of this...let's just say I'm  being decent***

Mesh Garters

Making the mud on my shins a little prettier. A wacky idea, but I like the result - they could even go over wellie boots for a fun contrast. Fabric: eBay, football socks RTW from eBay, Pattern: self-drafted

Rainbow Infinity Scarf

You've just got to have a bit of neck coverage - to stop the sunburn. Plus, rainbow colours means I can embrace my inner hippie and keep my neck hidden. Fabric: B's stash, Pattern: I followed an Instructables tutorial for measurements, but tweaked it a bit as I wanted exposed overlocker seams.

Maybe I'll see you there?

K x