Tag: work

A Different Path.

Longleat Forest

Today I made an interesting decision. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but today seemed like the right time.

I telephoned HM Revenue & Customs, and told them that I was no longer self-employed. I have one last tax return to fill in and one last bank account to close, and that’ll be it. No more business.

I thought I’d be really sad when this moment came, and for a while I did feel as though I was failing. Had failed. Couldn’t earn a living wage through any of my endeavours, no matter what they were or how hard I tried.

But then I got a job. A job that I’m really, really happy with, even though it seems to be changing and expanding by the minute. Sometimes it’s a bit tricky, sometimes it’s a bit stressful, sometimes there’s lots to do and I just have to get on with it. I’ve only been there for a few weeks, but I’m really enjoying it. I’m doing web work, print work, information wrangling, and I’m actually using the skills I learnt on my degree course. I’m part of a team again, which I hadn’t realised I was missing so much.

I’ll still be sewing and knitting and making jewellery and growing food and taking photos. They’re some of the things that I really enjoy, so I won’t stop doing them just because I’m away from my Shed most days. But I’ll be looking at all of those things in a new light because, for the first time in almost a decade, I can finally do whatever I want. I don’t have to worry about what other people will like, or what might sell. I can simply please myself.

I’m really looking forward to it.

Always Make A Toile.

Work Outft?

Yesterday’s lesson turned out to be “Always Make A Toile”. The waistcoat didn’t fit. Not even slightly.

So, this morning I went on a mammoth wardrobe clear-out, and took out everything that doesn’t fit me any more. I then sorted the remaining clothes into “suitable for work” and “not suitable for work”. This led to the discovery that I own approximately one million really nice tops, but nothing to wear with them apart from jeans. And one ankle length black skirt. And my grey suit trousers.

So, this week, I will be wearing my grey suit trousers and my ankle length black skirt, with an assortment of tops.

However, I can’t alternate between one skirt and one pair of trousers indefinitely, so my next mission was to go through my wardrobe again, and try on combinations of clothes that I hadn’t thought of before. That led to the outfit above, which I really like!

  • The pale pink shirt is a men’s one from Marks & Spencer.
  • The dress over the top is this black jersey one.
  • The long skirt is this seersucker one, that I made last year and have almost worn out already. The dress is long enough that the outfit would be fine without the extra skirt underneath, but I do prefer to go for ankle length these days. It looks much better with my new shoes.
  • The belt is one with a teacup print, but I don’t think it’s quite the right colour. It does work to break up the black though, which I like.
  • The necklace is this rose quartz and amethyst one, that I made at the beginning of the year. I like the way that the three strands work with the neckline of the dress.

I think for my first day I’m going to play it safe and wear my grey Marks & Spencer suit with a plain black top. Once I’ve seen what everyone else is wearing, and established whether there’s an official dress code, I can work out what I need to sew next.