ALMOST SPRING

Finally, the weather is warming up. The sun is setting a little later and rising a little earlier, I think Spring is just around the corner!

This week I am still working on passports - rigmarole and forms, I hate them both!

Somewhere in between I did the things I really like. I baked a vanilla cake with passionfruit icing.  It's a super easy cake that I bake a lot and  a good use of our home grown` passionfruit.

125g melted butter
1 cup castor sugar
1 1/3cup SR flour
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.


Preheat oven to 160 deg C. Sift the flour and combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix well. bake in any greased tin that you like for about 30mins (?) or until it's done. Too easy.

You can easily change the identity of this cake to CHOCOLATE . To do this modify the recipe to
1 cup SR flour and
1/3 cup  cocoa powder

I also made another dress from my favourite pattern right now.  Butterick 5415. I loved this Amy Butler fabric and originally bought it for a Colette Peony. I prefer it in this style, though these pics aren't showing the colours that well. I have a lot of fabric left, def enough for a skirt, possibly another dress with a neckline change, I'm thinking square. I have decided I should  stick to sewing what I know and what fits rather than what I covet!
I

HOLIDAY WARDROBE

For the last week and more I have spent far too long on my computer sourcing airfares and accommodation.

Anyway I've had success, we are off to Bali, for a week in November. It will be the second last week of the school year . The boys won't miss too much being away for a week at that time.  We save about $2000 going in the low season.

Next on the agenda is renewing our passports, oh the paperwork.... I have heard the passport place is very pedantic about crossing the t's and dotting the right i's so I will have to get my husband to do that task I think.

Next on my list after that is sewing my summer/holiday wardrobe.  I have been practicing with this Butterick 5415 pattern.

It's an easy dress to make, the neckline and  facing were simple to do.  I did have to recut and modify a bit though.  Pattern sizes are so misleading, according to the pattern I really needed a size 16. Size 16 pattern wasn't available so I decided to go with a 14 and hope for the best but it wasn't the best it was  too big.
I re-cut the bodice and waist  to a 12 merging into the 14 around and hips. It's a better fit.

Being lazy I wanted to bypass a zip so I just sewed up the back seam. That works. I put darts in the back as it was a bit baggy through that area and that worked too. The pattern has 3/4 sleeves but I thought it would be too much in this fabric.

I'm pretty happy with this as a pull-on summer dress, I will make this again. Plus it's perfect for Bali and I will definitely take my Alabama Chanin cotton/jersey poncho for those cooler tropical evenings.

!4 weeks and I am counting.......

AUGUST...

It's the 8th month of 2012 already, where has the year gone?  Where is the summer, is my biggest question right now.

I am well and truly over the cold months. This is sunny QLD and whilst the days are sunny and glorious the nights are bloody freezing,  Adding to my winter discomfort is that my house, like most QLD houses, is built for the summer.
Anyway to keep myself busy and the blood circulating in my icy fingers I have been knitting my square for "Save the Children."

I followed the instructions and cast on 44 stitches. I dropped a few on the way but seemed to pick up some as well as I now have more than 44 stitches. Hmmmm....???? I am almost ready to cast off and begin my next square. I might even try a knit one purl one next time.

Knitting has been happening by night and by day I have made a muslin of Collette's Peony dress pattern. 

The instructions are great, easy to follow but fitting was a little tricky. According to the pattern the bodice should be a size 8 but I went with a size 10. i think it is a better fit but the neckline might still need a bit of tweaking.

Size 12 is perfect for the waist and hips. This time around I opted for sleeveless. I will make it again, maybe with the sleeves next time.