save money #5 free stuff swapping

In my local facebook group I saw that a local garbage company was organizing an event. Here people could get rid of things that can't be recycled in the normal bins but also for things that were in good condition they would be set out for people to take. 

Events like this along with buy nothing groups are fairly common and good places to find things for free or at least cheap. The downside is that the selection tends to be limited so finding something specific can take time. 

I didn't have anything I needed but I had things I wanted to get rid of and I was curious. It is amazing how much things I found that I didn't want anymore. I wasn't even doing a decluttering just keeping an eye out and slowly the pile of things grew. Adding  that I'm maybe considering moving soon and it makes this very timely. 

The day of

The event started at 3 and I had a lecture until 4. It didn't say on Facebook when it would end but I assume it's at least a few hours so I'm trying to make it if not there is another event in a month. 

I did make sure to pack everything before hand so I could just leave directly after the lecture. That same day I'd gotten a delivery and the box came in handy to transport it. Partly since I was going to get rid of the box and I don't want to get rid of the bags.

Turned out my lecture ended early so I could leave and be there a bit after three. There were quite a lot of people there but not that many interesting things. They brought things out as they came in so there might have been something if I stayed longer. But I didn't. 

Though I did find some things a stack of clay pots but they didn't have draining holes so I left it. I did pick up a pot to use as a mold for some future candle-making endeavors. 

In the end I didn't find much I wanted but if I had been less picky or stayed longer there were plenty I could have picked up. I'm mostly glad to be rid of my things, mostly my printer which has been a source of frustration almost since I bought it. 

Alla fredagsaftnar samlades man by Eva Öhrström

 This is a non-fiction book about salons as a phenomenon. From their origins in the 1700 and until they disappeared after the first world war. The book sorts them by location but focuses on France, Germany and dome Sweden. It describes some famous and influential ones. 

In general salons were regular or weekly gatherings hosted by members of the upper class, though the guests could be slightly more diverse with various artists. They would meet and discus art, music, politics, philosophy etc some with more politics side others more entertainment. 

My thoughts

While the salons in themselves are a fascinating subjects this book focused more about the people at specific salons. There were a lot of detail about the hosts, hostesses and guest  in a way that at times felt a bit gossipy. I would personally had liked to know more about the wider social context and their impact on the arts and politics. That being said it is very well written so despite me not resonating with the focus it was still enjoyable to read. 

What it did show was the interconnectedness of the salons in the different countries. People traveling from one place to another would get invited to the local salons even in times when their respective countries were at war with another. 

Still a lot of it just felt like rich people amusing themselves in a way that didn't affect anything real.

Sewing a summer jacket: part one Zero waste pattern

 A while ago I bought a sewing book with patterns designed to leave no fabric scraps. Considering the amount of scarps I have leftover from other projects this seemed like a good solution.  

So I'm going to try it and since I was planning to make a summer jacket anyway this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I will say I think this is an excellent book for beginners or people making things out of thrifted fabrics like tablecloths where you have to conserve fabric. My struggles with it mostly stem from me using a dress-pattern to make a jacket.

In general most of the patterns are of a loose fit made for people with different proportions than me. The way the pattern is made with all the pieces fitting neatly into a square means that the length of the sleeves determine the width of the body. Hence the loose fit and three quarter sleeves where I wanted a tight fit and long sleeves. But I found the pattern closest to what I wanted and set to alter it to my measurements and needs. 

Considering all the uncertainties I managed to talk myself into actually making a mock up, a test out of cheep fabric. This is good practice and something I should be doing more. However it also adds to the fabric waste, although this fabric was an old bed sheet that my cats had ripped up and I'd already assigned it to my rag rug project.

Since there isn't a paper pattern to copy I needed to measure it out using a ruler. But since it's all straight lines its not that hard.  And, no I did not iron it before but it doesn't matter if it's not perfect. 

I put it together with clips rather than sewing it because there is a limit to how much time I wan't to spend on this. Putting it on I learned a few things. First it gave my wizard robe wibes which I don't hate. Second the sleeves could be a bit longer, they are just barely long enough but I want to have a margin for seam-allowance and stuff. Third the pattern does not give the shape I want. But this can be solved by pleats. 

I decided to do some adjustments with slightly thinner sleeves and slightly shorten hem. Once I'd learned what I could it was time to try it on the proper fabric. This is a stiff black cotton that I bought at a thrift-store a while ago. Almost immediately I realized that since the end fabric was thicker and stiffer than the test it did not behave like the test. 

It stretching uncomfortable in the back of the neck where the fabric is just straight. I solved this by cutting out a bit turning it into an arch. For this I used parts from a coat pattern that I have.

There is also some weird folds around the arms which needed some strategic pleats to fix. In general this has become a lesson in how far you can stretch a pattern before it would have been easier to just use a different one. 

Still it looked decent enough so I sewed it together and then got started on the pleats which is what will give it a shape. I'm thinking boxpleats and making a thing of it. 

After far to long adjusting them I sewed the pleats together and ironed them open. I'll sew them down later when I'm sure I won't have to unpick them. Instead I turned my attention to the front and the collar. Mostly how I didn't like it since the collar was just straight. So I'm taking the collar from the pattern from before mostly since it matches the part I cut from the back. In order for this to fit though I needed to cut a bit of the front.  I then stitched the collar and lapels together pressing the seams. These pieces and the front lining I cut out from the same fabric though these were not part of the neat square pattern and there was some scraps left over from this. But in even with this there were still far less scraps than normally so while it wasn't zero waste it was low waste. Also these will all be used for my rug so that's fine. I then stitched everything on unfortunately breaking a needle in the process.

At this point the jacket is about half way done it still needs a lining and I'm debating if I want to buy new fabric or use what I have. It's also going to have embroidery so that's up next once I have decided how they should look.

Artificial condition by Martha Wells

This is the second book in the Murderbot diaries here is my review of the first one All systems red.

Plot

Having left the people who bought Murderbot from the Company, they they decide to travel to the mining station were it all began. Where it hacked themself, went on a killing spree and named themself Murderbot, not necessarily in that order. To get there they hitch a ride with ART a research ship far more intelligent than they thought who insists on helping Muderbot after some threats. 

At the mining station they take a job as security guard to get a travel pass. Working for a group of researcher trying to get back data that was stolen from them. something that turns out to be just as dangerous as Murderbot thought it would be.

My thoughts

The friendship between Murderbot and Art is one of the highlights. Basically ART (not their name it's just what Murderbot calls them) is a bot piloted ship owned by a university. They are a know it all, giver of unwanted advice and the extroverted friend Murderbot needs. 

In the first book Murderbot only interacted with humans which they did as little as possible. In this one though we see them interacting with a lot more bots, besides ART there is a Comfortunit (similar in structure to Secunits like Murderbot but without the weapons). Murderbot tells Art that bots can't trust each others since they always have to obey humans orders. Despite this its clear that they do trust bots more than humans probably because they can't force them to do something. 

I kind of like that the mystery of what happened to make Murderbot free themselves was so pointless. There was no great conspiracy just people being greedy and underestimating dangers, stupid choices that lead to horrifying consequences.