lately

Things have been fairly busy here lately. Not just the christmas things, but all those other jobs that you like to wrap up before christmas (so you can relax after christmas of course). Things like cleaning out cupboards, planting trees (two moptop Robinia's in this instance) in the front yard and sewing clothes for the holidays. Sometimes we make things much harder for ourselves!

On the christmas front, I have wrapped the school "Secret Santa" gifts for the kids, that the parents are providing, handed out at presentation night by the man in red himself. I will (yes, I will) sit down and write out that menu for christmas day. I've had requests for a ham, a pork roast and trifle. Sounds very much like last christmas. As for presents, I'm hoping to make a batch of jam this week, as well as some fimo beads for necklaces.

Do you like my roses? Though these David Austin's don't make the best cutting flower, and their beauty is fleeting, I can't tell you how cheering it is to have my own flowers in the house. We'd never stayed long enough in our other houses to get to enjoy the rewards of our plantings.

As you can see the kids have a billycart now. A garage sale find on the weekend and so far enjoyed by all. Though I must say it is a little nerve racking to see your oldest and youngest speeding down the driveway. Two little daredevils.

Yes, I 'm thinking it will be another rather busy week.


How are you getting along?
What is on your christmas menu this year?
Have you been crafting or working on projects?

the skirt that almost fits

It's been a good decade since I've worn a pencil skirt. Reason being it is next to impossible to find one that will fit me properly off the rack. So I thought a pencil skirt would be a good challenge of my sewing skills, as well as a practical way to learn a few new skills. Besides, it was the first project in my new book, and it is nice to do things in order sometimes.


The Pencil Skirt is the first project in Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing, which I talked about here, and it's focus is on vintage dressmaking. I know I said it before, but I do love this book.

I cut out a muslin (using an old sheet) in the size 8, made a few adjustments, before cutting into a vintage red wool that I'd had sitting around for a good four years (see, I knew I would use it one day! Good news is, there is plenty left for that girls winter jacket I'd planned.)

It took me about a week of sewing here and there to finish the skirt. But the basics of it was really very simple. The instructions were easy to follow with lots of pictures along the way (Pictures are a very good thing when I'm sewing!).

I made my first waistband, learned to use the step by step buttonhole on my machine, and inserted a lapped zipper. Many firsts. I'm not sure why those techniques scared me for so long. But they were things I needed to learn, because I was avoiding pattern that had buttonholes in them, which was really a bit silly.

Focusing on vintage construction and finishing meant some handsewing, of which fortunately I have done quite a bit before. I finished off the (blind) hem and underneath the zipper seam with bias, which is called a Hong Kong seam. Much prettier than overlocked seams, don't you think?

 

Please excuse the uncomfortable poses!

Unfortunately I did make it a little too tight. I must remember to allow more ease next time. In my enthusiasm sew this up,  I used the recommended fabric, wool, to make the skirt. Good for smoothing over lumps as strong, rigid fabric usually is, but not such a great thing for the Summer weather. Also not great is that the skirt really needs heels to make it look in proportion. Something I don't wear often anymore, because it's just not practical when out and about, as I'm usually chasing or carrying a toddler. I'm not really sure when I will have the opportunity to sport the secretarial look.


Meanwhile it hangs optimistically in my wardrobe. Defiantly too tight and inappropriate for my lifestyle. But a pencil skirt that so very nearly fits, is nothing to be sneezed at in my books. It may not be perfect, but it was made slowly and with care. Slower fashion. I like the sound of that.

expectations

Christmas has that funny little way of sneaking up on you. One minute you're enjoying the warm Spring days and the next you're surrounded by tinsel, with christmas songs echoing in your ears. However, I'll admit that I really do love the planning stage of christmas. I've been known to have a folder dedicated to the making and baking at christmas. I wish I was so organized the rest of the year.

This year I've purposely tried to keep things a little simpler in the way of cooking and decorations. I don't want to feel that slightly panicky, overwhelmed feeling that is unique to this times of year. Because there are end of year gatherings and end of year school concerts to go to.  Presents, cards to give. Food to prepare. It is so easy to get swept into the fast momentum of this time of year, with so many things we should do, then falling into a crumpled emotional heap on boxing day morning. I've been there.

But I've been resisting so far. Refusing to worry about the fact that christmas is but a few weeks away, family guests are coming and there is no sign of a menu or even a christmas cake, let alone a pudding. Perhaps there won't be a traditional christmas cake this year. Perhaps the teachers gifts won't have six different types of biscuits, maybe half that amount. Perhaps I won't get to make that handmade star for the tree.

Sometimes there is no one else expecting all these extra things except ourselves.


I think that panicky overwhelmed feeling was sneaking up me this morning. But I'm fighting it off.  I will write up that menu, but it will be a simple one. A few old favourites with perhaps a new ham glaze to try out or a new pork stuffing recipe. Just to keep things a little exciting.  Some sides, a dessert or two and we are done. It is nice to have some excess for the days after christmas, but just not too much. I still have a week or so up my sleeve to get that butcher's order in.

I need to remember that half the fun is in the planning. So I'm looking forward to sitting down and planning out the food, using a new stamp to make some christmas cards, and thinking about ways of getting creative with brown wrapping paper.

The glossy magazines full of their sparkly christmas decorations, fancy menus and high end gifts are all well and good to look at, but it is not the reality for most of us, and are usually stylized and contrived. I admit to buying more magazines at this time of the year, as they really are so pleasing to the eye. Sometimes there are a few ideas to adapt to home. But usually in a far less elaborate way.

As always, there are things that fall off the list of necessities. Things that we know deep down are not really necessary. Afterall there is always next year.



 Sometimes it's more about being in the moment, than ticking off that to do list.



How are your plans?
Are you trying to keep a simpler christmas this year?
Are there certain things that have fallen off your to do list too?

her sewing space

As I cleaned out the spare room last week, setting up Violet's side of the room, tidying my sewing corner which becomes quite messy by the time I finish a project, I realised that we had a spare corner where the computer used to sit. So I moved all of Julia's sewing and writing materials into the dresser, because her growing collection had definitely outgrown her little space in the bedroom. I know myself how much better I work, how much more enjoyable and quicker the process is, when I have a defined, organized space to work in.

So now her sewing books have a (Luca made) toolbox to contain them, her sewing and fabric boxes have their own space, her writing set is free from little hands, and she has a drawer to keep all those odds and ends. There is also space to set up her sewing machine one day. We finished it off with Zara's pretty bunting.

Most afternoons you will find Julia at some time or other sitting at her desk working or designing or reading about little projects. Her weekly sewing class is teaching her the finer details of sewing, but at home she takes a looser, more creative approach. I love how she just gets into a project and has a go.

 It seems the new little sewing corner has been churning out quite a few practical projects lately. A cards holder for her brother and his magic tricks,  a felt ornament for the tree and a handbag of her own.

Julia's favourite sewing books :

Sewing School : 21 Projects Kids will Love to Make
Stitch By Stitch
Simple Softies for the Whole Family
Sweet and Simple Sewing
Beginners Guide to Sewing and Knitting (an old out of print copy by Helen Allen)

I must say it is one of my favourite moments of the day when we happen to be working on different projects side by side. We ask each other what we are making. We have little discussions, talk about plans and ideas. I'm having fun sharing our sewing space.

december 1st

Halfway through Saturday I suddenly noticed that it was the first of December. Of course, it wouldn't be a proper December first without a tree, decorations or an advent calender. So out came the slightly tacky white tree, last years advent calender and two big boxes of ornaments.

I thought it best to keep it pretty simple this year with a very curious toddler running around, but I still wanted to have a tree (despite the other half advising otherwise), so I left most of my vintage baubles in their boxes for another year. Out came the bag of kitschy angels and elves (a recent op shop find), and satin baubles (passed on from a relative), though a few glass ones did make it to the tree. I am hoping for the best, as the odds do not look terribly good with the combination of a little girl who loves shiny pretty things, and a concrete floor. But so far so good.

A few little decorations dotted on the cabinet, and it looks to be done. Only the lights waiting to be connected now.  There is space for a few handmade pieces that I'm halfway through. Though I can't say that I didn't derive much pleasure from the decorating. No doubt it is that inner child in me.



Does your inner child come out at christmas too?
Do you enjoy the christmas decorating as much, (if not more!) than the kids?
Is your tree up?

in the evening

Summer finally arrived a few weeks ago in our little corner of the world. Daylight saving, which had seemed a little odd mixed with cold weather, has now given us extended warm evenings, and if we're lucky a sea breeze makes its way through our valley. Odd, I know, considering we don't live anywhere near the sea. But there you have it.

So we've been eating a little earlier in the evenings. Cleaning up quickly because nobody likes to come back inside to dirty dishes (I know I don't). We've been watering the garden, planting seedlings in the vegie garden, and filling up some old pots that have been sitting around empty forever.

Last night when the kids went to bed we made a coffee and sat on the verandah. We watched the moon, the stars and listened to the frogs croaking.  Sometimes it's the simple, quiet moments, the few still moments in the chaos of everyday life, that make you realize that life is indeed good.

now we are two

I may have said it before, but I think my very favourite way to celebrate a birthday is to keep things as low key as they possibly can be. Which I think could be said of Violet's simple birthday celebration yesterday. A little evening gathering of the five of us. I'd made a cake the night before and wrapped up her present (a smaller sized handmade doll from Dragonfly Toys) in preparation. Julia was very keen to be involved, from choosing the cake (a ginger cake with caramel icing from the ever reliable, often used, Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices) and decorating it with sprinkles, to setting the table with colourful plates and picking a few roses from the garden.

I can't quite believe it's been two whole years since we welcomed Violet into our family. Time has flown by, and yet at the same time it feels like she has always been with us. Two means saying goodbye to those baby years, while appreciating the emerging little personality that right now is growing in leaps and bounds. There is no in between with this little one. Though the days are not always easy, sometimes far, far from it, those special moments of the very uniqueness of being two, the ones that make your heart melt or erupt into laughter, it is these times that I don't want to forget.


Happy second birthday Violet.