It HURTS.
A LOT!
Good thing Im not allergic! Did I mention it hurts.....
23 hours ago
BEE STING!
It HURTS.
A LOT!
Good thing Im not allergic! Did I mention it hurts.....
OWL!
If you know me a little you will know that I LOVE Owls. I think they are the most beautiful creatures and I have a number of pictures and toys of owls around.
Well, on Thursday night on the way home we happened to see a live Owl. He startled me by flying in front of the car as we were driving into our estate. There was no way I was going to hit him because I was only going about 10k coming up to a roundabout. He flew from the side of the road, across my nose and up into the Big tree in the middle of the roudabout and then sat there looking at me indignantly. I was entranced. He was SO beautiful. He looked like the one in the photo above so Im guessing from that, that he is a Powerful Owl.
In another Owl related sighting, there is a gorgeous post from Mod Kid about her brush with an Owl, complete with photos of the darling creature. You need to go have a look. A different kind of owl but still just as beautiful. Amazing that we have both had owl sightings on the total oposite sides of the world. I hope to see mine again sometime soon.
I would love to own an owl as a pet but I could never bear to subject one to captivity. Same with an Eagle. I kinda wish we could have owls as companions like in Harry Potter. Ones that had their own minds and freedom to come and go etc. Id love that. And on an upside, maybe my mail wouldnt go astray so often then too.
Hope youre enjoying your Easter Break.
Its been a hard days night....
Wow. Youd think that once I was no longer 'employed' Id have plenty of time. Ive been so damn busy that I feel like Ive been on a treadmill constantly. And of course, no time to blog or even barely read blogs.
I did manage to go to the Craft Expo last week with my cousin which was fun. Managed to get a fat quarter of my Lila Tueller fabric Ive been waiting and waiting for. Seems like noone is getting it in over here. Dissapointing. And they didnt have more than fat quarters so I couldnt buy a couple of metres like I wanted to. Seems like Im going to have order it in from overseas. Thank goodness for Etsy sellers. In the mean time Im going to frame the pieces I have and put them on my wall. My 'office' is kinda part of the lunge at the moment so I have to be careful what I do but those should look nice on the wall. If not, they will go into my sewing room. Yeah, I know, bizarre. An office in a corner and a whole room for a sewing room. I guess 'cause in theory the sewing room gets more messy....anyway.
The other thing that I picked up was a fantastic pattern making system called Lutterloh - The Golden Rule. Its essentially a tape measure and set of patterns that allow you to create patterns that are totally fitted to your size. Its the most bizarre looking way of doing things until you see how its done. Then its so very logical and so fantastic that youll just want to sew this way too! Im going to spend some time sewing from it so I will blog about it going forwards. Im very excited.
Oh and other great news is my cousin is having a baby girl in a couple of weeks. So I will finally have a little girl to sew for instead of the plethora of boys. I love all the boys but boys clothing is not as fun is it?
Little M here at home is growing up fast. Hes only 3.5 months old but hes already cutting teeth, trying to stand up, and man he has the loudest demanding voice of any baby Ive heard in a while. A real little personality. We find the demanding amusing at the moment. Remains to be seen how amused we are when he is 2....I think hes gonna give us hell. Ah but he is such a little darling. All your worries fall away when you look at him and he smiles at you. Yep Im totally wrapped around his finger arent I?
The only other thing I seem to be doing is becoming very domesticated. OMG how does anyone have a child, keep up with the housework, cook, clean, AND manage to have any sort of life of their own? I feel like all Im doing is cleaning. Ive barely managed to spend any time on the new business Im trying to set up. And I really need to get onto that!
But for today my cousin Kyrya is coming up to spend the day and we are going to play. Maybe even a little crafting. I will worry about the business after Easter.
Happy Easter everyone!
A new take on virtual shopping - what fun!
Have a look at this video. I think shopping like this would be much fun for just about anything other than clothes. I still feel the need to get up close and personal with my clothes - not being a perfect size small you see....
Pantone Colour of the Year - Turquoise
Aparently Pantone's colour of the year is Turquoise. Now this excites me in one way - because I love Turquoise. But it annoys me in another. Because Ive been looking for Turquoise things for the last year or so. I seem to do this regularly. I must be smack bang in the middle of their 'typical demographic' because for years now I go looking for colours, shade, patterns or icons (like owls, and mushrooms), that arent around and then turn up 'in fashion' either the next year or the year after when Ive moved on to something else. Its so damn frustrating.
Ask Helen - I used to like doing the Christmas decorations in specific colour themes, but Ive given up because the colours I want dont actually become available until the following year or the year after. True story. And I havent worked out how to make my own tinsel and baubles etc. Though saying that I think last year I can across a whole lot of make your own articles and blogs on just that subject - but I found them too late for me to have the time to do them.
Anyway it looks like I should be able to cover myself in my turquoise this year if the predictions are correct. Yay. One day Im going to work out exactly how this Pantone thing works....and I think Im gonna start making my own stuff and using the colours I want when I want them, and let the rest of the world just catch up to me (heh).
Here comes the sun do do do do
Waters rising and crochet dreams
This morning we woke to find that the river was coming up to meet us. You can see from the photo on my last post that there is a fair bit of land between the back fence and the edge of the water. What you cant really tell is that there is also about a 4-5 foot drop. Well, the picture to the left is what we were greeted with this morning. Rain and a rising swell of water. I think it will take a while for the water to raise up to us, but Im sure other people on the Gold Coast will be flooding at the moment. We are keeping an eye on it.
In my world of crafting however its the perfect weather for sitting around learning new things. And of course crochet is one of my new things to learn. Ive decided that I really love the idea of a granny square a day as per Pip from "Meet Me at Mikes". She has fantastic beginner videos that are really helping. I also worked out that I have the total wrong thread for crochet. I should have read the very first lesson post properly. So tomorrow I will go in search of the correct threat/yarn.
A wonderful colour comination I love is something that I saw on the Grand Revival Blog - Purple, Turquoise, Lime and Blue. Yum. I dont want to post any more of her photos here in case she gets upset with me so if you would like to see what she has made of the yarn the post is here. So beautiful. I will show you my own yarns when I get them.Until then, I hope you are all safe and if you are in the Brisbane/Gold Coast area at the moment, I hope you are enjoying the rain.
Oh What A Night
I have been spending a few days down on the Gold Coast with my family and the photo above is the view I have every morning. No noise other than cicadas, birds, the occasional boat meandering past and yes, even the occasional fish jumping (I kid you not). Gorgeous. The photo is taken off the balcony of the bedroom Im in, and is literally just a shot from my phone, so imagine how much better it looks in real life!
Last night my cousin and I hooked up the Wii and had a ball. We played until around 1.30am and laughed so much we were literally crying half the time. Im hoarse from shouting and laughing. And before you wonder, no we arent children. Shes 27 and Im 37! We were playing tennis, boxing (ouch, feeling that one) and Mini-golf which was an absolute scream.
This morning we are continuing the stupidity by having conversations from downstairs to upstairs via sms. Why? Cause its just so stupid. Sometimes, any little thing will just make you laugh and quite frankly, I like to roll around and enjoy those times as much as possible. So sue me. (heh).
Im off now to have a shower cause we are going out for breakfast and a movie. Something chick flicky like Valentines day or something. And then probably back for an afternoon snooze. Im sure 4 hours sleep is going to catch up at some point.
I think Im bored with the orange
Why dont I make my own? Im lazy. Frankly. I need to totally redo my website and get that running too (www.moonshinedesign.com.au) and I think somewhere in the back of my head I want the two to match. So until I find the time...and motivation... to rebuild that site, I will continue to use a random blogger template that takes my fancy. Hope you dont mind. I get bored easily...
So what do you think of this new look? Kinda cute huh?
恭 喜 发 财- gong xi fa cai (Chinese Happy New Year)
Hell, Thomas and I just spent the weekend with friends celebrating the Chinese New Year. New Years Eve was on Saturday night and is traditionally a 'reunion' time for friends and family - you gather together and eat special food and enjoy everyone's company. We had a lovely night and the house was decorated in beautiful red and gold lanterns, wall hangings, cracker drops and coins. Before we went up there I read up about Chinese New Year and so I made the door hanging in the picture left. The characters are for "Fu" meaning Good luck. On New Years you hang the Fu symbol on the door upside down meaning "Luck has arrived". I loved the idea so I rushed out to a local store that I had seen had a shipment of Chinese Silk Jaquards, and sewed up a simple square with the Fu symbol appliqued on. Was the first time I have appliqued anything so Im quite proud of it. Our friends loved it. They didnt have a door hanging so it fit in perfectly. I also made some Red Envelopes for the children - another New Years tradition (also in the picture). The red envelopes are given to children, unmarried relatives, friends, employees (as a bonus) etc and hold money. The money doesnt have to be huge amounts but it must be in an even number (ie multiples of 2) and must not have the number 4 in it - so no $4, $14 etc. This is because the number four in chinese sounds like the same sound as 'death' when they say it. So its very bad luck.
For me personally, I feel like this New Year is actually my real New Year. For some reason, our Australian New Year - while it was fun cause we spent it with friends, didnt actually feel like the start of a new beginning like it normally does. Im not sure why. This Chinese New Year has felt like a new beginning to me. Possibly because of my changing job situation and stuff. I am looking forward to having a spectacular year and it feels like its really beginning now. My mood is high and happy, Im as relaxed as Ive been in years, everything is going right and well. Its just a great feeling of happy optimism and freedom. Im enjoying it.So Gung hay fat choy to you (thats how you pronounce it and it means 'may you become prosperous'.)
Oh and if you would like a tutorial on how to do the door hanging just let me know. I took pictures just in case!
Im Inspired
I recently started to teach myself to knit and crochet. Cant say Im doing overly well at it but thats probably because the only time I try to do it is in bed when Im watching a movie or have a headache and cant read. My concentration is not the best. But looking at the lovely blanket in the following blog post from Attic24 has me inspired. I want a lovely 'old fashioned' blanket like that to snuggle under when Im on the couch reading and snoozing. I love it. I dont remember my grandmother ever doing anything like that but it reminds me of her so maybe its something that is buried deep in my subconscious memories of her. I do remember her rag rugs. Am thinking of making some of them too since I have found they arent that hard to make. I will see. I do have a little time on my hands at the moment of course...heh heh.
Photo with thanks from Attic24. Go read her blog, its gorgeous.
A new Beginning...on life changes and opportunities
This week has been busy, challenging, and yet also fabulous. I was supposed to start work again on Tuesday after having been on leave (aint long service leave a wonderful thing?!). I got myself ready, actually totally psyched to be going back. Ready and roaring to go and get back into it.Turns out, they actually just needed me to come in to be told I was being made redundant/retrenched. Oh. Well. There you go.After the initial shock I have realised what a fabulous opportunity this is. Im happy about this change. I was ready for a change in role, and potentially a change in company. This way they are helping me to make the decision so that I dont procrastinate over it. Excellent! I will be sad to leave all my friends at work of course, but the really close ones are part of my social circle anyway, so I will still see them regularly.
Ive been kinda sitting here trying to work out what to do. I am still on payroll for another 5 weeks while they see if there actually is an internal role that comes up for me - but I doubt this will happen. While my skills are quite extensive, with so much movement in the company at the moment Im thinking they are downsizing again, and that isnt condusive to other roles 'coming up'. So do I look for another job? Do I spend 5 weeks crafting and not worry about it? Could I potentially go back to school the way I dream - could we afford that? My brain churns on and on.
I think what is stalling me at the moment is this - I basically have the option to do ANYTHING. How many times in your life do you get that opportunity? A brand new start. The sun rising on a new era of my life. Its scary and empowering at the same time! And rather than stress about it, Im trying to just breathe it in and live with the moment of freedom. Most of us truly never get to feel utter freedom for any length of time, so just for now, Im going to enjoy that feeling.
My outlook is positive. I had a feeling this year was going to be a fantastic one, and its already started with a bang. Wonderful. I hope all of you are feeling the same positive vibe because its delicious.
MIA....Ive been BUSY
Ive been real busy this week. And that has meant, no blogging. Sorry. Its possibly going to become the standard for me for a while. Im going back to work you see. I wont have so much time here at home. Its a good thing because it means that I am well, physically and mentally. I will of course miss the time away from work...but all holidays must come to an end (it wasnt exactly a holiday but you know what I mean).With the focus back to work thing I have realised that most of my work clothes dont fit. No I havent put on weight, in fact Ive lost a little. I was talking to Hell trying to work out why my clothes dont fit then...and aparently I was so depressed and shattered that I just didnt really care about how I looked, so I wore everything a bit tight and just put up with it. Eeeek.
Having pulled my sewing machine back out I can of course rectify this. Im sewing myself some new clothes. Im also exercising more so I can fit back into what I have, but the new clothes are what I will talk about.
First off I made a basic A-line Skirt (Simplicity 9825) - Picture above. OMG, this is a simple pattern and should have taken me a couple of hours moving slow, but it took me 2 DAYS! I pretty much stuffed up everything that could be stuffed up. I stuffed up the waistband so many times I lost count. The unpick was my friend I tell you. Its a gtood thing that the fabric was a forgiving fabric and doesnt show the multiple sewing. Then I stuffed up the zip. 3 times. I finally got it all together and it still needs to be hemmed but that is the easy part. It finally actually looks OK. I will take a photo soon and post it another time.
At least with all the things I did wrong, I now know this pattern inside out. I will be able to whip it up really fast now in another colour or in a different length. Im thinking the applique version next - but doing it reverse applique. Just not sure what fabric. Either that or getting something nice like a Nicey Jane or a Lila Tueller and cutting out the patterns to applique. I will work it out.
Anyway, Im back to work Tuesday so think of me and send me strength. I will be very nervous. Im almost beside myself at the moment - winding up in stress. Im sure I will be fine once I get in there and settle back into normality. Its the anticipation that is the worst. Lots of meditation tomorrow and of course sewing....
Beautiful Beads and Jewellery - Creative Arty Facts!
I have a friend who lives not far from me who creates the most beautiful handmade glass jewellery - Liz DeLuca from Creative Arty Facts. Liz started bead making a similar time to me but she has totally far surpassed anything I can do. She brought her already phenominal artillary of experience with ceramic art (Nationally renowned!), painting and a vivid eye to colour blending and positioning, and she has translated it into beautiful, wearable glass art. I proudly own and wear a couple of her pieces and always get comments when I do wear them. The bracelet and earrings I have from her collections are as prized to me as my diamonds - seriously!I consider myself very lucky to know Liz because not only is she an artist of the highest degree, but she is also a wonderful, giving and caring person. She has mentored me in my glass art, provided inspiration for my jewellery, and on a personal level has provided warm and supportive friendship during my hard times. She is truly an angel on earth!
Liz will be showing her beads and jewellery as part of the "Women of Substance" exhibition for the Red Hill Gallery. The show will be happening from Feb 12th 2010 and I cant wait to go! It promises to be a fantastic collection of women artists who are the cream of the Australian art scene. Glass, Painting, Sculpting and more. What fun!
Liz has a blog and a website, along with an etsy site. She also holds classes at Mad Monnies here in Brisbane and sells her beads through Mad Monnie as well.
If you love beautiful glass jewellery and beads go check out her work and her blog. You wont be dissapointed.
Creative Arty Facts
Happy Australia Day!
Here in Australia the entire nation has taken the day off to have a BBQ with friends, drink a lot, listen to Triple J's Hottest 100 and basically just celebrate the fact that we are Australian and think we are the "Lucky Country". So to everyone out there 'HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY'. Im very proud to be Australian and love my country. Hell, Thomas and I have come up to the Sunshine Coast to stay with friends, drink, BBQ and of course, melt in the heat (and loll in the pool) whilst listening to the Hottest 100 (well, of course!)Below is an essay on Australia written by Douglas Adams. I love his sense of humour and he has pretty much captured Australia perfectly - both our sense of humour and believe it or not, most of what he says is true, even if he says it in a very ironic tone. Its a little long but a good read, so enjoy.
-----------------------------
Australia is a very confusing place, taking up a large amount of the Bottom half of the planet. It is recognisable from orbit because of many unusual features, including what at first looks like an enormous bite taken out of its southern edge; a wall of sheer cliffs which plunge deep into the girting sea. Geologists assure us that this is simply an accident of geomorphology and plate tectonics, but they still call it the "Great Australian Bight" proving that not only are they covering up a more frightening theory, but they can't spell either.
The first of the confusing things about Australia is the status of the place. Where other land masses and sovereign lands are classified as either continent, island, or country, Australia is considered all three. Typically, it is unique in this.
The second confusing thing about Australia are the animals. They can be divided into three categories: Poisonous, Odd, and Sheep. It is true that of the 10 most poisonous arachnids on the planet, Australia has 9 of them. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that of the 9 most poisonous arachnids, Australia has all of them. However, there are curiously few snakes, possibly because the spiders have killed them all. But even the spiders won't go near the sea. Any visitors should be careful to check inside boots (before putting them on), under toilet seats (before sitting down) and generally everywhere else. A stick is very useful for this task.
Strangely, it tends to be the second class of animals (the Odd) that are more dangerous. The creature that kills the most people each year is the common Wombat. It is nearly as ridiculous as its name, and spends its life digging holes in the ground, in which it hides. During the night it comes out to eat worms and grubs. The wombat kills people in two ways: First, the animal is indestructible. Digging holes in the hard Australian clay builds muscles that outclass Olympic weight lifters. At night, they often wander the roads. Semi-trailers (Road Trains) have hit them at high speed, with all 9 wheels on one side, and this merely makes them very annoyed. They express this by snorting, glaring, and walking away. Alas, to smaller cars, the wombat becomes a symmetrical launching pad, with results that can be imagined, but not adequately described. The second way the wombat kills people relates to its burrowing behavior. If a person happens to put their hand down a Wombat hole, the Wombat will feel the disturbance and think "Ho! My hole is collapsing!" at which it will brace its muscled legs and push up against the roof of its burrow with incredible force, to prevent its collapse. Any unfortunate hand will be crushed, and attempts to withdraw will cause the Wombat to simply bear down harder. The unfortunate will then bleed to death through their crushed hand as the wombat prevents him from seeking assistance. This is considered the third most embarrassing known way to die, and Australians don't talk about it much. 
At this point, we would like to mention the Platypus, estranged relative of the mammal, which has a duck-bill, otter's tail, webbed feet, lays eggs, detects its aquatic prey in the same way as the electric eel, and has venomous barbs attached to its hind legs, thus combining all 'typical' Australian attributes into a single improbable creature.The last confusing thing about Australia is the inhabitants. First, a short history: Some time around 40,000 years ago, some people arrived in boats from the north. They ate all the available food, and a lot of them died. The ones that survived learned respect for the balance of nature, man's proper place in the scheme of things, and spiders. They settled in, and spent a lot of the intervening time making up strange stories.
Then, around 200 years ago, Europeans arrived in boats from the north. More accurately, European convicts were sent, with a few deranged and stupid people in charge. They tried to plant their crops in Autumn (failing to take account of the reversal of the seasons when moving from the top half of the planet to the bottom), ate all their food, and a lot of them died. About then the sheep arrived, and have been treasured ever since. It is interesting to note here that the Europeans always consider themselves vastly superior to any other race they encounter, since they can lie, cheat, steal, and litigate (marks of a civilised culture they say) - whereas all the Aboriginals can do is happily survive being left in the middle of a vast red-hot desert, equipped with a stick.
Eventually, the new lot of people stopped being Europeans on Extended Holiday and became Australians. The changes are subtle, but deep, caused by the mind-stretching expanses of nothingness and eerie quiet, where a person can sit perfectly still and look deep inside themselves to the core of their essence, their reasons for being, and the necessity of checking inside your boots every morning for fatal surprises. They also picked up the most finely tuned sense of irony in the world, and the Aboriginal gift for making up stories. Be warned.
There is also the matter of the beaches. Australian beaches are simply the nicest and best in the entire world. Although anyone actually venturing into the sea will have to contend with sharks, stinging jellyfish, stonefish (a fish which sits on the bottom of the sea, pretends to be a rock, and has venomous barbs sticking out of its back that will kill just from the pain) and surfboarders. However, watching a beach sunset is worth the risk.
As a result of all this hardship, dirt, thirst, and wombats, you would expect Australians to be a dour lot. Instead, they are genial, jolly, cheerful, and always willing to share a kind word with a stranger, unless they are an American. Faced with insurmountable odds and impossible problems, they smile disarmingly and look for a stick. Major engineering feats have been performed with sheets of corrugated iron, string, and mud. Alone of all the races on earth, they seem to be free from the 'Grass is Greener on the other side of the fence' syndrome, and roundly proclaim that Australia is, in fact, the other side of that fence. They call the land "Oz", "Godzone" (a verbal contraction of "God's Own Country") and "Best bloody place on earth, bar none, strewth." The irritating thing about this is they may be right. There are some traps for the unsuspecting traveller, though. Do not under any circumstances suggest that the beer is imperfect, unless you are comparing it to another kind of Australian beer. Do not wear a Hawaiian shirt. Religion and Politics are safe topics of conversation (Australians don't care too much about either) but Sport is a minefield.
The only correct answer to "So, howdya' like our country, eh?" is "Best {insert your own regional swear word here} country in the world!".
It is very likely that, on arriving, some cheerful Australians will 'adopt' you on your first night, and take you to a pub where Australian Beer is served. Despite the obvious danger, do not refuse. It is a form of initiation rite. You will wake up late the next day with an astonishing hangover, a foul-taste in your mouth, and wearing strange clothes. Your hosts will usually make sure you get home, and waive off any legal difficulties with "It's his first time in Australia, so we took him to the pub.", to which the policeman will sagely nod and close his notebook. Be sure to tell the story of these events to every other Australian, you encounter, adding new embellishments at every stage, and noting how strong the beer was. Thus you will be accepted into this unique culture. Most Australians are now urban dwellers, having discovered the primary use of electricity, which is air-conditioning and refrigerators.
Typical Australian sayings:
*"G'Day!"
*"It's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick."
*"She'll be right."
*"And down from Kosciusko, where the pine clad ridges raise their torn and rugged battlements on high, where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze at midnight in the cold and frosty sky. And where, around the overflow, the reed beds sweep and sway to the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide. The Man from Snowy River is a household word today, and the stockmen tell the story of his ride."
Tips to Surviving Australia:
*Don't ever put your hand down a hole for any reason whatsoever. We mean it.
*The beer is stronger than you think, regardless of how strong you think it is.
*Always carry a stick.
*Air-conditioning.
*Do not attempt to use Australian slang, unless you are a trained linguist and good in a fist fight.
*Thick socks.
*Take good maps. Stopping to ask directions only works when there are people nearby.
*If you leave the urban areas, carry several litres of water with you at all times, or you will die.
* Even in the most embellished stories told by Australians, there is always a core of truth that it is unwise to ignore.
See Also: "Deserts: How to die in them", "The Stick: Second most useful thing ever" and "Poisonous and Venomous arachnids, insects, animals, trees, shrubs, fish and sheep of Australia, volumes 1-42"
- Douglas Adams
Mooce Baby is having a giveaway
In my blog reading travels I have gathered a larger number of blogs that I like to read regularly. They are listed down the side of this blog here - mostly so that I just need to come to my blog and see whos updated and go off and read. There are a huge number of fantastic blogs out there and I just seem to keep collecting them. But believe it or not I do read them all (at the moment anyway, being off work etc).Well Ive found another blog that is really cool and (even better), they are a local person (local to me here in Brisbane). Mooce Baby. Im enjoying reading the blog entries and she makes the most fabulous childrens clothes. With a background in fashion design, you just know these clothes are gonna be gorgeous!
I thought Id let you know that the Mooce Baby blog is having a giveaway at the moment which is a great reason to head over there, and you will wanna stay and read once you get there! Go check out the Mooce Baby Blog and the Mooce Baby shop/website.
New Designs from Thea and Sami
One of the local fabric designers that I love - Thea and Sami - has released a sneak peak at her new fabric range Cottage Garden coming out soon. I cant wait to get my hands on some of this (though given my cluster stuffup finances at the moment it may have to wait a month or two.). Isnt it lovely? I can see bags and cushions and depending upon the shade of purple possibly bench cushions for the dining table. (Photo courtesy of Thea and Sami blog)You see we have a dining table that is large and wooden and we have benches instead of chairs (we dont entertain formally - we are very informal). Its in the room with the Iris wall (see my post about my budha for the colour). The benches can get a little hard if youre sitting for any length of time and while I love the current cushions, I could always do with some more! If the colour doesnt match....well there is always brown and possibly red (yes red actually goes well with the iris. I wouldnt have thought so either until I saw it accidentally one day). Or maybe a footstool for my office....ooh the possiblities. What fun!
My sewing adventure
I actually managed to spend most of yesterday afternoon sewing! I had to first clean out the sewing room because we had junked a bunch of stuff in there after the Christmas hoards left. Did I mention we still have my Godson, his Partner and Baby M staying with us. Yes they are now living with us for a while. So suddenly we have a houseful of people, a real little family. Anyway, this is why having the house to myself and actually having sewing time was so special.
So I will show you what I have made in a minute. Any experienced sewers will probably laugh that it took me all afternoon. Its a Passport Holder. I losely used this tutorial. When I say losely used, I mean, I basically read it then winged it myself. Wasnt hard actually. But Im still a nervous sewer so I did my usual - I made it out of paper first. That way once I had the dimensions correct, I just used the paper as a pattern to cut. It worked well.
So here are the pictures. See if you can work out the thing I did wrong. Oh, Fabric is by the wonderful PippiJoe - isnt it super cute?
Front
Back
Inside
Outside
Inside filled (the top left is supposed to look like a boarding pass -
dont look too closely its actually some movie tickets... heh)
dont look too closely its actually some movie tickets... heh)
So did you catch the mistake? Yep I put the button on the wrong side. For us English speaking peeps the hook should be on the right hand side and the button should be on the left. So when its closed, its going to look either Japanese (well I think it IS cute enough LOL), or like Ive made it with the fabric print upside down - until you open it of course. Once you open it you just realise the button is on the wrong side. All I can think is Ive been spending a lot of my time reading Manga lately so reading the book backwards is almost a habit now.
I made it for a friend of mine who is flying out for a trip tomorrow. I was supposed to have lunch with her today but Ive come down with a bad cold/virus and dont want to give the virus to her so Ive had to cancel lunch. Insert big Sad Face! It means she wont have it to travel with. Im sad about that but thats OK. Shes only going for a week, and I know she plans to travel a lot more so she can take it next time. I may even make her another one in the meantime - something a little darker cause Ive realised since I made it also that the white colour shows every damn mark - probably not good for travelling. I may even put the button on correctly on the next one...
Today feels like a sewing day
I have the house entirely to myself until I have to go get Helen from work. YAY. I should be doing housework (bleh), but I think I might sew instead. I have a few projects that I wanted to tackle and put off while we had so many people around the house over the holiday period. Like a passport holder for a friend (who incidentally is going overseas on Thursday so I really should do that one today I think), a doorstop, soft toys, a wallet for myself, baby stuff for my cousin, yoga feet/slippers, cushions with Thea's gorgeous fabric and a bunch more.Oh and clothes - but they will have to wait till I get patterns and fabric. Im looking like I will probably be back at work in Feb so was thinking I might 'reinvent' myself in the mean time. Sounds fabulous. Dont have the money to do too much though, but I thought maybe some new, sewn by me, flattering clothes might help with the back to work nerves (which are considerable I can assure you). How does one work out what suits you and then what to make? I wonder if there is a website or online course or something for this? I cant be the only person who has ever wanted to do this. Surely not everyone is born stylish and funky - I dont think I was but I desperately want to be. Being overweight doesnt help I guess. But surely us bigger girls can look good too? Any pointers for me?
I think I will leave that research for another day though, else I will end up in front of the PC instead of sewing. And today I want to make something!
