Projects Central....

When I retired last year, I worried about what I was going to do to fill my time.  I've always worked and the prospect of days filled with no purpose filled me with dread.  Of course I usually have several craft projects on the go at any one time, but even when I was working full-time they didn't take all of my spare attention and energy.

So I joined my local U3A.  For those unfamiliar, the University of the Third Age is an international movement aimed at encouraging retired people to share their knowledge, skills and interests in a friendly environment.

At the last count, my local U3A has over 60 different interest groups, ranging from analytical philosophy to current affairs, birdwatching to gardening, Qigong to Mahjong... as well as dozens of others.

I gravitated towards the various craft groups, but found that the ones I wanted to join were full, with lengthy waiting lists. Undeterred I contacted the groups convenor who provided me with all the information needed to start my own.  My Creative Crafts group will be one year old this May and has coalesced into a lovely little group of like-minded ladies.  We meet once a month and tackle a different craft each time.  They've mostly been successful, with the exception of the needle felted mouse.  I don't think I've ever laughed so much as we ended up with a whole menagerie, none of which looked remotely mouselike!  I think first prize went to the duck-billed platypus. 😄

I've also recently started another group, Short Form Fiction where we concentrate on one form each month, discussing examples at the session, then writing our own pieces in the same style over the following month, to read and discuss at the next.  It's going well so far and the group is gelling nicely. I might, at some point drop my own efforts here...

However, since deciding to take up dressmaking again,  I've been scouring the interweb for useful YouTube videos (spoiler - there are eleventy million related to all aspects of making clothes), downloading tutorials etc, in the possibly vain hope that I don't end up with a one-size-fits-nobody 'shaipless sak'!  I'd already perused the U3A groups list, but the Dressmaking & Tailoring group was full.   More in hope than expectation I contacted the lady who runs it and asked to be put on her waiting list.  A few day later I received a reply saying she'd had a place unexpectedly come up and would I like to join!

So in the next week or so, I will be making a supervised start on my summer wardrobe, beginning with some simple tops and trousers, then possibly, more ambitiously, a jumpsuit. I've already bought some super easy patterns, and some lovely fabrics.  Of course I also need coordinating accessories so I'm also going to have a go at making some jewellery, from both polymer clay and wet felted beads.  

Again, I will post the results of my efforts in due course if they're suitable for public exhibition. The thing about trying new crafts is that it's impossible to turn out anything half decent on the first few attempts, so I will have to work through the initial dispiriting trials and failures before I resolve all the problems which I'm certain to encounter.

I now have NO IDEA why I thought I'd be stuck for stuff to do....!