some sewing, ending with a little iPad tip

Life has been too busy to sew anything remotely challenging, like a shirt dress or similar. I am sticking to tried and trusted patterns for t-shirts. The output is not exactly amazing, I made a grand total of two new ones.

I used the Blank Slate Rivage raglan t-shirt pattern, which I have made a few times but never short sleeved. I like this pattern because it finished slightly lower in the back.

The first t-shirt was meant to be a all grey sparkly number but whoever cut the fabric of the bolt is not good with their measuring tape. I always order a metre for t-shirts because it is generally enough for the bodice and short sleeves. Alas, not in this case. No matter how much I tried, there was not enough fabric for the sleeves. At this point I had already cut front and back and there was no going back. I rummaged through my remnants and found a small piece of white knit fabric which I used. It is a shame because the two fabrics aren't the same quality, the sleeves are  bit flimsy and probably will lose shape quickly. You can see this on the first photo. I'll last the summer and when it is falling apart, it will be good for cleaning bikes. The sparkles are there, just not visible in the photo.

My second t-shirt is bright green. Summer is the time to wear bold and bright colours. I bought this fabric last year in Truro. I'll be remembering my last summer holiday when wearing it. The fabric is more substantial and I hope this t-shirt will last a good while. I just love this green. 

Both were quick and simple makes. The sleeves have a sleeve band, which I might omit next time I make a raglan t-shirt. A simple hem will do and is much quicker. Now that I am a master of the double needle, my hems look quite professional and most people would struggle to tell that my t-shirts are made by me and not an underpaid and exploited worker somewhere in a distant land. Of course, if the t-shirt is turned inside out, it is more obvious, particularly because I can't be bothered with stitching in labels. 

Ok, now on to a completely unrelated topic. I my last post, I asked if anyone knew how to insert photos from the Apple photo library in a blog post using the iPad. Thanks for your suggestions. It appeared that no, it is not easily possible and that some faffing was required. I like faffing but not with computers. I am however a master Google searcher and don't give up easily. I found an easy way, after digging a bit deeper. Here it is, in case you use an iPad for your blog posts. I am writing posts in my browser, even on the iPad. I use Safari because it is preinstalled. I have tried Chrome just because. I don't use a blogger app or any other app for it and I don't know if this tip would apply. When you click the insert image icon, what is missing on an iPad or iPhone is the option to "upload" images. This is what you would choose to insert images from your local photo library. To change this, you need to do the following:

• On Safari: Hover over refresh circular arrow in the bookmark line. This will bring up an option "request desktop site". Choose this and hey pronto, when you now click the insert image icon, the "upload" option is magically there and you can choose photos from your Apple photo library, or any other place that you use to store your photos.
• On Google Chrome: If you are using this browser, you need to click on the three little dots to the right of the bookmark line. This will bring up a menu. Scroll down to "request desktop version" and choose this option. 

Let me know if this works for you. I am now confident that I can take my little nifty iPad everywhere, and write an illustrated blog post without pain.

Thanks for stopping by. Thanks also for the many virtual hugs sent to my mum. See you later!
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