Out of the Box

My beautiful, vibrant "look at me"me  orchids are flowering, the weather is cooler and Easter is just around the corner.

I finally have my Janome Over Locker out of the box. It sat in the box for 3 weeks and from what I have heard from other over locker owners,. that is not uncommon. I have read the instructions and watched the DVD twice but I am not looking forward to the rethreading of it.

Oh, I have used it and it's fabulous it gives that "finished" look which is what I want. Ha, ha, it will just like riding a bike or driving a manual car - when I have had the practice that is.

My sewing nook is nestled in the "front room" I have lots of natural light and a beautiful garden vista. I don't have much storage space and the cutting table and iron are in another room.  No matter, it all works and that means that my sewing machine and overlocker stay out and set up, if they get put away well who knows when they will see light of day next?

I have 10 days off work over Easter and sewing will a happening thing. I have a pile of "to do" but no fabric as yet.  I am off to see "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" movie with my friend Sharron tomorrow combined with a stop at The Fabric Shop in New Farm. It will be a fun and productive day.  

Facing my fears - the Zip

ZIPS freak me out! I have made a lot of cushions over the past 12 months but I have never felt confident inserting the dreaded zip. I want my creations to look "finished" so I decided it's time to confront my fears.

SEW, to take the zip by the teeth as it were, I did a fabulous cushion class with Tammy at Piece Together in Wooloongabba, Brisbane.

This was a great class to do. Whilst I have made cushions before I hadn't put the zip across the back, I just put it in a side seam. Now I think the zip across the back is better. I picked up lots of tips and tricks and  as you can see in the photos I have been practicing at home with, dare I say it - minimal unpicking..

You can never have enough cushions!

Checkout this huge egg! We get 5 or 6 eggs per day usually the smaller size.
I'm sure Madonna laid this HUGE egg as she always does things in a big way. It had 2 yolks in it and if we had a Rooster it would be twins I am told. We have had several "double yolker"  eggs which you rarely see in commercial eggs anymore.

 

Found CoCo curled up in Liam's cupboard on a rainy day last week. I wish I could cat nap in a comfy, cozy spot whenever I felt like it. 

End of Summer

Summer is almost gone,  cooler mornings, evenings and glorious 30 deg days with low humidity.  Apart from the odd modification, the odd hem and a few repairs, there hasn't been much action on the sewing front. No reason just disorganized and "almost teenage children" to taxi around most weekends.

I think I will plan for  A Sewing Resurrection over the Easter break.

These gorgeous "Sexy Pink" Heliconias are from our garden. The weather is slightly cooler so a good time to plant some more veges.

The hens love their day release time and are happy roaming around the garden. We are getting 6 eggs most days. This is a big saving on my grocery bill as we used to buy 2 to 3 doz eggs each week.

I am on a frugal drive right now, cutting down on wasted expenditure though I must stress frugal without being :cheap 

I'll let you know how it goes....

Chairs are done.

 After years of being used, abused and largely ignored the dining chairs have finally had their much needed makeover. All eight of them are positively glowing now that they are refreshed and look as good as new!


There was no stopping me once I got the hang of the staple gun. Bruce didn't last too long on the job though. I had to sack him from the "stapling" part as he went way to close to my fingers, too many  times! This was a an inexpensive thing to do and didn't take too long, so I might do it every year.

That's one stash of fabric down and two to go. 

Added here is a photo of number one son Jack, I couldn't resist as I have  new photo editing software and love this shot of Jack, aged 15,  in black and white.

Long Hot Summer

It seems my "Summer of Sew Content" is morphing into a "Long Hot Summer". The combination of a depleted stash and a shortage of precious sewing time does not a happy sewer make!

Having said that I have had the brown fabric for a while and intend to recover my "In desperate need of a makeover" dining room chairs.

 In a bid to feed my fabric obsession I popped into "Patches"  yesterday and bought the other pieces of fabric on sale!  That takes care of the "stash" now I need to make some sew time.

A dress form the green and pink and maybe a full skirt from the purple, white and green fun fabric.

I have made myself a nice Sewing Ritual:

• I dress in something that I have made
• I wear the hat featured in this Blog
• I burn lavender oil 
• Drink endless cups of peppermint tea
• Listen to v loud music, (Nick Cave is a fave)

Once I had the scene set yesterday I had a lovely day making a tote bag for my wonderful friend Kathy in Sydney.  Though I have to say it was a bit warm here in Brisbane yesterday so it was a bit of a sweat shop set up for awhile. No matter I had a  lovely day happily, sweatily sewing away! Photo to come.

High on my list of things that make me happy are Spider Lily flowers. So delicate but still strong and hardy. No scent though which is unfortuneate.

Can't beat a good spot..

Who doesn' t love a good spot? In my opinion you can beat a lot of things but you can't beat a ....good spot.

I love this pattern, (Simplicity 8965) and we have developed a no maintenance friendship - the ones I like best. The McCalls 2401 pattern that I have coveted for ages finally arrived at Spotlight. Once I had it in my hot little hand , it looked slightly more high maintenance than tried and tested Simplicity. Go with what you know I say! So I did and as always I love the result and I can't go past a black and white combo either

Ha, ha we all love Bruce's new Ute (well, new to us), especially Spike who gets to go for a drive. The ute is great to get dirt for the garden and to throw the bits n pieces in the back that we don't have room for in the family car. Taking the photos with the ute remind me of the Paul Kelly song "It's Only 40 Miles to Saturday Night."

The Gardenia is from our garden, they are one of my favorite flowers, both so delicate yet so hardy. We have hedges of Gardenias around our house so their intoxicating scent wafts gently through on the breeze. Aromatherapy heaven! So lucky that we are getting a second flowering this season, must be from all the rain. Flowers make me happy.

Just finished reading Sarah Allen Addison "The Peach Keeper". I like her as a writer. This was an easy to read story with a few quirky touches and a nice reminder of how important friendships are.

I'm not sure what is next on my sewing agenda, so I'm just going to keep an open mind and see what inspiration comes along.

Making friends

I thought Emaline (Boutique Chic pattern 104 Emaline Skirt) looked interesting from the moment I saw her  and I wanted to be friends with Emaline.

We got off to a rocky start. It's true, you have to "make friends" and it takes a bit of patience.

I confess, it was all my fault. I thought Emaline would be low maintenance and easy going but I didn't read the construction instructions through properly and made a real mess of our first meeting.

That put me off Emaline for awhile but on a friends advice I re read the instructions, and adjusted the pattern to fit. I then recycled some fabric so it was a cost effective experiment and...Sucess!

Now that we have a history Emaline and I are firm friends.

When I saw this Alexander Henry "Matisse" fabric I loved it and I knew it was a perfect match for Emaline. In retrospect though I wish I had of bought more as it would look fabulous in a dress.

Now my "Summer of Sewing is coming to an end. Summer certainly isn't over but I'm back at work, kids are back at school, routine rules and time constraints apply. Also if I am honest I really don't need any more clothes... well maybe a few tops hmmm....