Uh oh...

Today I discovered that fabric buying is addictive......uh oh.

Stay tuned.....

Skirt Progress

I have pockets!!! And pleats!!

I am making definite progess on my skirt project. It is turning out to be easier than I expected. Everything so far is stuff I know how to do so it hasn't been too challenging yet but I have the zipper to go yet so we shall just see...

Last night I sewed and attached the pockets and I also basted the pleats in. I used the overlocker to finish off the edges of the pockets and the back seam and I LOVE IT. I wish I had an overlocker at home. It would just make everything so much easier. It was a bit scary to use at first though. It goes so much quicker than my machine and then there's the threat of the cutter!

It is starting to look like an actual garment. (apologies for the dodgy photos)

Next I have to join the front and back pieces, attach the yoke and the bottom panel and put in the zipper. Another session should get it pretty much finished. I'm very excited.

The Ship of Brides

I just finished the most fantastic book. 'The Ship of Brides" by Jojo Moyes.

The year is 1946 and all over the world young women are crossing the seas in their thousands en route to the men they married in wartime, and an unknown future. In Sydney, Australia, four women join 650 other brides on an extraordinary voyage to England - aboard the Victoria, which still carries not just arms and aircraft but a thousand naval officers and men.

Rules of honour, duty and separation are strictly enforced, from the aircraft carrier's captain down to the lowliest young stoker. But the men and the brides will find their lives intertwined in ways the Navy could never have imagined.

And Frances Mackenzie - the enigmatic young bride whose past comes back to haunt her thousands of miles from home - will find that sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.

Based on the true voyage undertaken by HMS Victorious, The Ship of Brides is a novel about love, blind faith, and an age when the collision between duty and love could leave you with more than a broken heart. 

It was just wonderful. Such a gripping story that I had to force myself to put it down and then I would pick it up every chance I got. The characters are so engaging and intriguing that it just made me want to read and read until I knew more. This book is based on true events where war brides were transported  across the seas and by having that element of reality to it just made the story more vivid. I want to write more about the story but I am afraid of giving away too much.

Jojo Moyes is a wonderful writer and storyteller. She paints such wonderful characters and the story moves so beautifully between years and decades, past and present, yet has a flow that keeps you engaged and wanting more.
I have read other Jojo Moyes books, in particular "Foreign Fruit" which has a similar style of intertwining present and past. It too is a wonderful read with wonderfully rich characters and story. She is a truly gifted writer.

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!! The 3rd of Feb 2011 is the start of the Year of the Rabbit!!

Since January pretty much sucked for all of us I think we should all just restart the New Year with the Chinese. Hands up if you're with me...

Photoshop my life....

It is time to photoshop my life.  Touch up the edges, adjust the tones, blur out the background,  focus on me and crop people out.

 The last few weeks/months have been some of the most confusing, mixed up and emotional that I have experienced so far. I came to realisation that I had never had my heart broken before. I can now no longer say that. 

 While it was a heart-wrenching, stomach-contracting mind-f*ck of an experience; it was exactly that. An experience. Something that I think every emotionally available person has to go through at some stage, possibly even more than once.  

I has taken me a long time and more than a few tears to get to the stage that I'm at now where I am feeling marginally better and even a little bit positive about my life. I can only hope that these feelings of positivity continue and that I am strong enough to get through the bad times when they do arise.

 It took me a little while to get to this stage and it will take me even longer to truly be ok but at least I have now made a step in the right direction.

 

 

Fabric Arrival!

Finally, my beautiful Hummingbird fabric arrived from Etsy!!! Very excited!!!

I'm pretty sure it arrived a few days ago but a few things in my life happened and I kept forgetting to go to the post office. But...never mind. I now have my fabric and I am happy.

I now, however, have to put a temporary fabric buying ban on myself. I have three lots of fabrics for dresses and a skirt currently in progress, not to mention other craft projects (like my felt fruit). That is plenty to keep me occupied for now so I have to lay off the fabric buying until I at least make a dent.

Now I just have to make sure I stay on track and actually (start and) finish my planned projects. I'm not the best at finishing projects I start. I get very excited and into a project but am very easily distracted and things tend to get left by the wayside. I'm am striving towards changing that part of my personality.

Wish me luck!

Skirt Project Progress

I had my first sewing class yesterday. It was really great. The other girls in the class were nice and it is a really great atmosphere. It all very loose and informal. Everyone just works at their own pace, on their own projects but there's help there when it's needed.

I got all of my pattern cut out, pinned to my fabric and got my fabric cut out too. I even started to pin the cut pieces together to start stitching. I didn't quite get to stitching despite being there for three hours.

I took the steps very slowly until I gain a bit of confidence. It took me that bit longer because I had Bronwyn (the instructor) check each step before I continued. Hopefully as I get more comfortable I'll be able to move a bit faster but for now I really don't want to stuff it up!