(As with the other SF, take these not with offence but with a large pinch of salt - I like a lot of the songs I've satirised here.)
Austria: The one where they fit a ESC entry into a tourist vid
Belarus: The one that's so joyful that you can be forgiven for involuntarily emitting an exclamation of "squee!"
Bulgaria: The one sent with the implicit purpose of making most of us feel óld.
Croatia: The one that shows you that you're never short of friends, when you have multiple personality disorder.
Czechia: The one with the world's saddest orgy pre-party.
Denmark: The one where an Aussie takes part in ESC without having to bung the EBU money under the table.
Estonia: The one with a duo who have as much chemistry as two inert gases, music from the (19)90s and a lyrical cliché dating from the (15)90s.
Hungary: The one that perhaps comes closest to celebrating musical diversity.
Ireland: The one with the recycled Westlife b-side and the offspring of Harry Potter and Alvin the Chipmunk.
Israel: The one with the very questionable dance moves.
Lithuania: The one which will traumatise dogs and small children across Europe.
Macedonia: The one with the world's most underwhelming virtual reality game.
Malta: The one where the title matches the vocal style.
Netherlands: The one with the exhibition of an ancient Dutch pagan tradition - engaging in vocal harmonising in the woods at midnight to invoke the spirits.
Norway: The one with the serial killer moonlighting as a DJ.
Romania: The one with the unlikeliest blend of genres since the mid-80s zydeco-ska crossover.
Russia: The one that is as strategic as Kasparov and Karpov combined.
San Marino: The one where three times is many and four times is too many.
Serbia: The one where Katy Perry called and wants her chorus to Firework back.
Switzerland: The one where they pledge faithful devotion to a God who had dozens of lovers.
And this final's "Big 6" voters:
France: The one with the ill-fitting English chorus forced in.
Germany: The one that is very metal. Not heavy metal. Light, but strong metal. Do you guett' what I'm saying?
Ukraine: The one whose lyrics would mostly not look out of place if accompanied with the "hits blunt" meme.
While a sewing machine is super convenient, having access to one is not required for mending. Most mends can easily be done by hand. If you're really patient, you can even make entire garments by hand, just like they did in ye olden days.
So, let's take a look at a few basic hand sewing stitches to get you started.
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(Image source) [ID: hand stitches for quilters: the running stitch, slipstitch, backstitch, whipstitch, and blanket stitch.]
The running stitch
The running stitch can be used for many purposes. It's popular in embroidery, and can be used to outline shapes or baste (temporarily secure) pieces together. It can also be used to ruffle fabric by hand, and I personally use it a lot to secure patches in place when covering up holes in garments. The running stitch is also the base stitch for sashiko, a popular style of visible mending.
The slipstitch, also known as the ladder stitch, is my go-to stitch for closing tears and fixing torn seams. This stitch is frequently used to sew pieces of knitting together, too. You can also use it to make small size corrections in a garment, for example to add a quick dart or to make a side seam smaller. It's invisible on the outside, which makes it a great stitch to fix up things like plushies, duvet covers, or pillows.
The backstitch will likely be the stitch you'll be using the most when working on a project. It's a strong, clean stitch that can be used for almost anything: seams, hems, embroidery, attaching two pieces of fabric together, zippers,... This is also the best stitch to imitate machine sewing with. If you're only going to learn one hand sewing stitch, then make it the backstitch!
The whipstitch, also known as the overcast stitch, can be used to stop fabric edges from fraying and is great to finish seams off with. It can also be used to quickly sew two pieces of fabric together, for appliqué, or as a decorative technique. I personally prefer the blanket stitch over the whipstitch because it's a little cleaner, but the whipstitch is faster than the blanket stitch.
The blanket stitch is great for finishing off seams and stopping fabric from fraying. It's also frequently used for appliqué and embroidery, and can be usedto make button holes by hand. It looks neater than the whipstitch, but is also slower to get done.
Get yourself a spare piece of fabric and try these stitches out before attempting them on a real project. I promise you'll get the hang of them quickly!
If you're only going to learn one of these, then make it the backstitch as it's the most versatile hand stitch.
Weather is getting warmer and I've been thinking about Cardassian swimwear. It should definitely cover both body "spoons", but since it is swimwear it could be a bit more casual and revealing.
Sooo, have a look at Damar in swimsuit relaxing somewhere on the beach!
deepintheshadyglen