Started and Finished

Craft Challenge

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Posted on June 11, 2013

It is Tuesday morning here and we have had a long weekend. My mother came to visit and I have been spending time doing things other than blogging. On Saturday we visited 6 open gardens as part of the local Garden Club’s weekend titled, “Gardening on the Edge” which is a specific reference to the escarpment location where we live. These were large, mostly ornamental gardens with stunning displays of camellias which are in full flower at the moment. One garden had a large, productive vegetable patch so that was of particular interest to me.

We arrived home at about 3pm just as it began to drizzle with rain. We have had consistent rain since then with it barely stopping, day or night for 64 hours. The rain is not heavy – just gentle, soaking rain which is predicted to continue for another 3 days. I hope my new vegetable seedlings don’t get waterlogged.

A 3 day weekend meant that I achieved most of the essential housework so I had time for some other activities. Since it was raining I turned to my sewing room. As always, there are some projects underway and many others planned and waiting to start, so my goal this week is to make some real progress and I will share it with you here.

This is a pair of pyjamas I have made for Izz. I had finished the bottoms except for the waist casing and elastic so that was the first thing on my list. This fabric was given to me and I had already made pyjama bottoms for myself and another pair for Izz. This pair used the very last of the fabric and necessitated having an extra join in the back but it is not visible due to the casing. I then found the tshirt fabric in my stash to make the top. I was left over from when I was making school polo shirts for Belle (over 20 years ago).

The next project was another top made from scraps. It can be a pyjama top or would be equally suitably to wear to daycare with her jeans. The white ribbing for the neckband and cuffs is cut out and ready to sew.

This is some material that I cut out and prepared to make a sundress. It will fit a little girl from about 12 – 18 months. The style means that it is very flexible and can usually be worn for at least 2 years. I am not making it for anyone in particular but may sell it or give as a gift.

Here is a piece of plain calico and a smaller piece with teddy bears. I plan to make a patchwork cot quilt – once again, not for anyone special.

You may wonder at me making random items for which I have no specific purpose. Although I do not have a room full of fabric stashed to the ceiling, I do have a reasonable quantity of good quality fabric and smaller offcuts. I love designing and creating garments and useful things that use what I already have so my goal is to gradually work through the pile.

This week I hope to complete several projects and I will share more photos as the week goes on.

Please let me know what you are doing in the craft room, too.

Slow Living – May

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Posted on June 3, 2013

Another month has flown by and it is time to review it in the spirit of the monthly round-up at Slow Living Essentials . {nourish*prepare*reduce*green*grow*create*discover*enhance*enjoy}

Here are the Slow Living categories:

{Nourish} Apart from the everyday cooking I discovered that I could make very acceptable gluten-free cupcakes by simply substituting gluten-free flour for regular wheat flour.

{Prepare} I retrieved several kilos of cherry tomatoes from the freezer and made some more tomato sauce. I gave some to Missy and restocked the supply in our pantry.

{Reduce} When I look around our home I can see how much ‘stuff’ we do not have. It feels so much lighter not to have excess in our lives.

{Green} Another raised bed made which brings the total to 3 so far. These have all been created entirely with salvaged or leftover materials.

{Grow} This is the time of the year when we harvest with seemingly almost no effort on our part. The citrus are all producing luscious fruit – oranges, grapefruit and lemons as well as so many avocadoes that we can almost eat them at every meal. We have planted more seeds and the bok choy seedlings are poking theirs through the soil. We planted seed potatoes in another bed.

The harvest…………….

{Create} I made a dressing gown for Miss O.

{Discover} I am discovering some more family history snippets as I keep working on my family tree.

{Enhance} We have applied to have our home included in the Sustainable House Day in September. It was interesting to write the application and really think about all of the things that make our home sustainable. Many of them are things we now simply take for granted.

I also made enquiries about joining the local Friends of the Library group.

{Enjoy} We enjoyed having visitors. Our daughter who lives in Melbourne was here for a weekend – she managed to tack it onto the end of a work trip so that was good. We enjoyed her company and dined at a local restaurant one night. Miss O came to stay for a few days before she went back to school after having had her tonsils removed. She and I had lots of fun and you can read about it here and here. Taking time to savour afternoon tea with friends is special.

Now I am off to check out some of the slow living blogs.

Til next month………..

Growing Girls and Large Hems

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Posted on May 14, 2013

It is easy to forget how quickly children grow. I made this dressing gown for Miss O in June 2011.

By July 2012 I was writing about letting the hem down here.

Now it has been handed down to Izz and the hem taken back up.

A few weeks ago I took Miss O to Spotlight and chose the fabric for a new dressing gown. It is red with black and white dogs on it. She gave the princess, fairy and other girly fabric a glance but this is the one that caught her eye. The fact that we have a Border Collie (black and white) may have influenced her choice.

Once again, I have put a large hem on the gown and it is still quite long so I expect this one will easily last a couple of years.

Something as simple as a hem that can be let down is not an option on a ready-made garment but by making clothes you can customise them to suit your needs and generally extend their usefulness.

Slow Living – March

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Posted on April 2, 2013

This year I have joined with Slow Living Essentials so here we are again with a review of March. This will be interesting as we spent 16 days on holidays. We took a road trip to NSW, Victoria and Canberra and enjoyed a relaxing time. If you want to know where we went and what we did you can see more here. Meanwhile, I will try to fill in the categories below.

Here are the Slow Living categories:

{Nourish} While it was not spectacularly interesting, we did manage to feed ourselves each and every day.

{Prepare} The first half of the month was spent preparing to go on holidays.

{Reduce} The contents of the refrigerator and freezer were reduced to almost zero before we headed off on our holiday.

{Green} We took our picnic set and our own food for lunches when we were travelling so no takeaways and no disposable containers.

{Grow} The seedlings which we planted towards the end of February continued to grow while we were away and we are now picking and eating the bok choy. We are also reaping the fruits of self-sown cucumbers. These came up from cucumbers that fell and rotted from the summer crop. This is the second year that we have had a follow-on crop of cucumbers. The great thing about growing them in autumn is that the cucumbers are not as prolific nor do they ripen as quickly so we are generally able to keep up with them.

We also harvested a pineapple and mangoes.

{Create} The holiday theme is evident again in this suit bag that I made to transport the suit that The Duke wore to a wedding while we were away.

{Discover} New places and new adventures.

Woodside Beach

River

{Enhance} Sadly, death was the catalyst to renew some friendships that had languished. We were reminded of the fragility of life and the importance of nurturing relationships. However, there was happiness as well.

The happy couple

{Enjoy} We did enjoy our travels and recharged our batteries so now it is time to get back to the things we do every day and I hope my slow-living round up for the end of April is a bit more interesting.

Til next month………..

Suit Yourself

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Posted on March 4, 2013

When we were in Melbourne last month, The Duke bought a new suit. Before we left the store it was packed onto hangers and placed in a suit bag.

These bags are fairly lightweight plastic and we now have at least 3 of them at home. They are convenient if you are taking a suit when flying interstate but I would never store clothes in them as the plastic does not allow any air to circulate and the clothes would be mouldy in no time.

We are going on holidays next week and will be travelling by car for a couple of weeks. The suit will be packed as we have a wedding to attend in the latter part of the trip so I decided I wanted something better than a plastic bag.

First, I removed the zipper to re-use in the new bag. Then I used the existing bag as a pattern. I made the new bag somewhat longer so that is able to hold a dress as well. Thanks to the generosity of a friend I have several metres of poly cotton fabric, some of which was perfect for my project.

Here is the suit in the finished bag.

All zipped up and ready to go.

We now have a breathable carry bag/dust cover for special occasion clothes and another piece of plastic has been eliminated from our home.

Slow Living – February

4 Comments

Posted on March 3, 2013

This is my second month of joining in the monthly round-up at Slow Living Essentials and already I seem to be struggling with what to write. A couple of things seems to have conspired against me – it is a short month – is it really the end of the month already? and the weather! Since the dry spell broke on the Australia Day weekend (26th January) it has rained almost constantly which limits our activities somewhat

Here are the Slow Living categories:

{Nourish} With the onset of some cooler weather with the rain it was an ideal time to pull out the slow cooker.

I made a batch of pumpkin soup and and beef casserole.

{Prepare} We had an excellent crop of figs.

As well as eating lots of them fresh from the tree, I was able to dry some. This was very successful so I am hoping to have enough to do again next year.

{Reduce} This is always a hard one as we do this each and every day. I turned a singlet of mine that was too short into one for Miss O.

{Green} The weather has brought out the mould but I am keeping things clean and smelling fresh with the use of clove oil. You can read a previous post here.

{Grow} The warm, dry beginning to the summer meant that we had about 8 mangoes on our small tree. We planted it about 4 years ago and this is the first time it has fruited. I suspect that it is generally too cool for them here but this year’s crop has made it worthwhile. They are some of the best mangoes I have tasted and the flesh is as smooth as anything with no sign of stringiness.

Last weekend we had a rare fine day so we bought and planted some vegetable seedlings. They have more than doubled in size in a week.

{Create} Since my sewing machine has returned from being serviced I have got quite a bit of sewing done. I am working through my stash of fabric as well as some pieces I have been given. Here are some of the results.

Winter and summer pyjama bottoms.

A new lining in my skirt.

{Discover} I don’t think I have read anything this month but in a different vein I did discover some fabric to be used when I was sorting out my stash.

{Enhance} We gave away the used fencing wire via Freecycle. I also shared some of the many self-sown cucumber seedlings with neighbours, work colleagues, blogging friends and also on Freecycle.

It is a shame that I did not take some photos of them. Not so much for the seedlings but the innovative packaging. I used some excess egg cartons that I had been given and each seedling and its soil was packed in a space in the carton.

An internet friend sent me some fabric and I used some of it to make a dress suitable for an 18 month old. I will send it to her for her granddaughter who was born last week.

{Enjoy} We travelled to Melbourne and spent a weekend with our daughter who moved there recently. We saw her new home, sampled food at some local establishments and shopped.

I bought this dress to wear to a wedding in a few weeks. I just need to finalise accessories.

The slow living this month has been heavily weighted towards sewing and I guess that is not entirely unexpected with being stuck indoors due to the weather.

Now I am off to check out some of the slow living blogs.

Til next month………..

Weekend Work

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Posted on February 24, 2013

We have had a busy and productive weekend but it was not without some recreation as well.

Yesterday was the one bright spot, according to the weather forecast, in an otherwise wet couple of weeks. We set off early and headed to the markets at Yandina, which is about 40 minutes north of us. Our main goal was to buy some seedlings for our vegie garden. There is a great stall there and this was our first stop. We bought cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, beetroot, bok choy and lettuce seedlings.

The main focus of this particular market seems to be plants and The Duke always checks out the fruit trees and yesterday we bought another mandarin tree. I cannot remember the variety but it was not one had heard of, although the stallholder said she finds it is one of the sweetest varieties. We are happy to give it a try.

Once we were back home our next project was to hang the gates to complete the new fencing. I also did 2 loads of washing. After lunch the Duke mowed the lawn. I was very thankful that the weather stayed fine and windy so the washing was all dry and I got the ironing up to date.

It was easy to stay focused on what I needed to achieve as we had decided to go to the movies last night to see Quartet. It was the first screening by the Maleny Film Society back in the revamped Community Centre. We also had dinner there before the movie and had a fun night out. The meals are catered by Pomodoras on Obi, a local restaurant and function venue which also has on-site accommodation.

Today the weather has not been quite as pleasant, and we had some rain this morning, but it has not deteriorated as predicted yet. I have made some progress with several sewing projects. Three pairs of trousers for The Duke have been shortened as well as a new skirt I bought in Melbourne.

I have put a new lining in a skirt and am working on the waistband.

Here is the lining attached to the skirt.

And the right side with the waistband partly attached.

The reason I relined this skirt is because the original lining was straight and very narrow and I had split the side seam on it. I find this disappointing and annoying when I pay for a good skirt and find that they have skimped by making a lining that does not match the shape of the skirt. I am confident that my alterations will work well and I am looking forward to getting plenty of use out of the skirt. I also did some sorting of my fabric and have some ideas for several pieces so there is plenty to keep me going for a while.

Finally, this afternoon we topped up the soil in the raised garden bed and planted the seedlings. There are no photos as it was getting late and the light was not good. I hope to post some later in the week. It is now raining lightly so the seedlings will be enjoying that.

I am still waiting to hear from SarahN to claim the giveaway. Once I send it I will share what it was with you all.

Sew Quick and Easy

11 Comments

Posted on February 17, 2013

Yesterday I finally picked up my sewing machine from having it serviced, so today I decided to spend some time sewing. Some of it has been quite challenging, a pleated skirt which is now too big for me. I have completely disassembled it and am in the process of re-making the skirt but in the meantime it was good to start and finish a couple of simple projects.

First was a pair of boxer shorts for summer pyjamas for me. These were from some material kindly given to me by a friend.

I teamed them with an existing tank top to make this set.

She also gave me a piece of flannelette with a cute teddy bear pattern that was just begging to become winter pyjama bottoms.

I did some mending, too. This pair of shorts is about 12 years old and I wear them when painting or gardening. The fabric is in good condition but the elastic had given way so I unpicked the waist and old elastic, replacing it with 2 rows of new 6mm elastic.

The shirt which was waiting to have the buttonholes done is also finished.

I will keep you updated on the progress of the skirt.

In the meantime, don’t forget to comment on this post and follow my blog for a chance to go in the draw for the mystery giveaway.

Clear The Clutter

14 Comments

Posted on January 6, 2013

I have spent several years gradually decluttering in an effort to simplify my life. I am not sure what the end point of this journey looks like, or even whether there is a destination. Since I have most areas in my house fairly clear and streamlined, I am certainly at the point where it is easy to recognise potential clutter before it becomes entrenched.

It is important to identify things before they become clutter. An example is a plastic water jug that was in our refrigerator. It had obviously developed a hairline crack because I discovered a pool of water on the shelf where it was standing. Until yesterday this was a perfectly functional item in our kitchen, today it will not hold water which is what I use it for. So, I have thrown it in the garbage. Some people would suggest that it could be used to store/display non-liquid items or be refashioned into something else. I am all for minimising the amount of stuff that goes to landfill, however, I do not need this jug for any other purpose other than holding water, so out it goes.

Do I need another plastic water jug? I am trying to use more glass and less plastic in the kitchen so my plan is to look for a suitable glass jug. It is not desperately urgent so I may check out the op shops when I have time.

My sewing room is one area where I still have quite a bit of ‘stuff’. I am gradually working through it so tonight I did a little more. Just before Christmas it was a bit of a mad flurry to get the sewing table (folding) cleared so that I could fit bedding for 4 children in this room. I have previously resisted stashing things away without sorting them properly but as time was limited I carefully folded the remaining fabric and half-finished projects into 2 lidded boxes. I put the boxes in the wardrobe but as soon as Christmas was over and the table re-instated I brought the boxes out and placed them on the table as a reminder to me that I had to sort through the contents.

There are several garments which I had bought from the op shop last year with a view to using the fabric for my patchwork. I had begun unpicking this blouse which was in the box so I decided to finish that job.

Here is the material that I have for use in my patchwork project.

The buttons have been salvaged and are now in my button collection.

The scraps of fabric have been discarded.

I now have 1 less thing in my ‘to do’ pile. Here are another couple of garments which are the next things I plan to deconstruct and use for patchwork.