Monthly Archives: June 2011

Yeah, so inwardly I was cheering as I set up to take my last daily photograph for this challenge.  I might look kinda calm and faraway here, but on the inside I’m throwing a party!
(for those who like to know: 10C-18C and quite quite windy today…)

Details:
Top; (just the end of the sleeves can be seen) the top part of Burdastyle magazine 08/2009, dress 128, charcoal marle wool-mix details here  (I have since removed the zip as the fabric is slightly stretchy and the top can just be pulled on…)
Skirt; Vogue 7303, bottle green cotton velveteen, details here
Coat; McCalls 5525 view B, charcoal wool, details here
Tights; Metalicus
Socks; handknit by me, details here
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

So, as promised I do have a few thoughts on how this month-long challenge went, which I shall now attempt to summarise in a clear and coherent manner, ahem…
Firstly and most importantly, I think the Me-Made challenges that Zoe organises are a fantastic idea.  On a roughly seasonal schedule, she sets up a Flickr group where seamstresses, seamsters people who like to construct their own clothing can all join in wearing their own creations for the month and share in the creative inspirational aura of “the group”.  I have found everybody involved to be constructive in their comments, and very supportive of each other’s efforts.  It can be difficult to make oneself wear one’s own clothes… often people feel their stuff isn’t “good enough”, or that other people might judge their (real or imagined) less-than-expert construction or finishing details on their handiwork.  So any plan to get us out and proudly wearing our own stuff has to be a good thing.
However, there are some negatives… I’m not going to dwell on the eventual exhaustion of taking one’s own photograph on a daily basis, everybody who has tried to do this challenge will be well aware of that.  For me the honeymoon was over at about the middle, when I had a few very busy days and found it hard to get into it.  Then I got a new little burst of enthusiasm for a few days, which then waned, then waxed, and waned again…
Another negative was the creeping suspicion that I was turning into a fashion blogger, an unsettling thought.  I never set out to be a fashion blogger, and have very little desire to become one.  True, I love fashion with a passion (hehe, I’m a poet, etc…)  I love playing about with my clothes, and trying out new and different combinations of matching different pieces together (simply because it is fun)  and the picture-taking process has proved an unbeatable tool for seeing how an outfit really and truly looks.  Everybody who has tried taking their own photos in this way knows that the outfit you dreamed up in your head doesn’t always look super wonderful when you actually put it on.  Even your own image looking back at you in the mirror might appear pass-able, but then when you look at a photo of yourself, walking out and about in the real world, you might suddenly notice some problem that you didn’t before.  You have a sudden flash of insight; hmmm, those jeans; way past their use-by-date, or what?!
So taking your own photo can prove useful in this way…  But still, fashion blogging doesn’t sit super comfortably with me and I lived in fear that I would be spotted taking my own photo and mistaken for one.  One can only hope the fact that I made all my own clothes with my own hands somewhat alleviates the shallowness of documenting one’s outfits…  and ups the interest factor just a touch?
As far as my wardrobe went, I coped fine with my all-me-made pledge, and only resorted to RTW tights, and most days a camisole or a scoop-necked Tshirt underneath, for thermal purposes.  And one particularly windy and cold day I wore gloves.  Yeah, I do have me-made gloves, but I had a lunch and shopping date with my son for his birthday, so I wanted to look smart, and my me-made gloves did not fit the bill.  Occasionally I had comments noting that I was not dressed warmly enough for winter, but I wasn’t sure if those commenters realised that A. I was limiting myself to all me-made clothes and couldn’t just pop on a few extra (visible) layers without breaking my pledge; and B. winter in Perth probably isn’t as cold as people might think.
The usual lack of me-made tops made itself felt; if I am going to do this again I should concentrate on making more tops.  And especially white tops.  I wanted to reach for one of my small collection of white tops, like at least three or four times a week.  What can I say?  I’m a white top lover… so I am going to get onto that one.  I also wanted to wear my little brown hand-knit cardigan a lot, and I wore my trench coat on a daily basis as a dressing gown substitute, as my real dressing gown is not me-made.
My favourite, bar none, aspect of the challenge turned out to be that I chose this spot to take each and every photo.  I just love that I have this little daily snapshot of the winter weather; reflected in the sky and the river.  So glad I stuck with that plan…  The light might not always have been great (like today) for taking a good photo and I am usually a perfectionist in that respect, but meh.  That’s the nature of light.
So that’s it.  Would I do this again?  Hmmm, dunno.  Right now I’d say no, but ask me again in another few months…

So going by the comments I received yesterday on what I assure you was a really really winter-y day for Perth, I guess it is true that I am a terrible weather wuss (hangs head in shame)  But I was glad to see a few corroborative comments from fellow Aussies, agreeing with me that yes, 18C is cold.  Thank you, ladies.  It probably will get a bit colder here as winter progresses, and we may get a low of 5C for a few awful mornings, and it is possible there will be some whinging.  Fair warning.
But it was nice for us to get the rain.  Unfortunately for our water supply’s sake, a typical winter’s day in Perth looks more like today.  Although I did see a few grey clouds hovering in the distance, so we may see a few drops today, if we’re lucky.
To give some weather perspective to this outfit for the penultimate day of Me-Made June, 11C-18C is our expected range.

Actually, our family has survived short experiences in colder countries.  We visited Japan earlier this year, but I did not find Japan to be bitterly cold, like some other places we have been.  Japan has a pleasant kind of cold.  I think it is related to the lack of humidity, or something…
So, for your amusement I have here some photos of our family being incredibly brave about the cold.  These particular photos are from the coldest places in my memory…
The first was taken in Pennsylvania, USA, in early to mid December (I can tell that because my children and I are standing in front of a tree decorated for Christmas)  In case you can’t see, because it is an old, poor quality photo, you can barely see a square inch of bare skin showing.  Our US friends often joked, “spot the Aussies!”

The second photo is of my children and me in Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territory, Canada; January.  We are each wearing at least three pairs of thermals/jeans which is why our legs look so bulky.  We are all begging Craig to hurry up and take the photo, dammit, because we were all seriously DYING!!, and could only stand still outside for mere seconds.  Like a split second after this photo was taken we all dived into Tim Hortons to thaw and revive. Our friend K, who lives there, thought we were hilarious.

Me-Made June, Day 26
I mentioned my son’s 21st birthday yesterday; perhaps a background explanation of what that means in this country would be helpful, sorry.
The simple truth is… not very much any more, actually.  The age of 21 was once upon a time considered the age of adulthood, and the age that one “received the key to the door”.
I say “once upon a time” because those concepts have gone in Australia, and even before my lifetime… When a kid hits 18 they are an adult in Australia.  At the age of 18, Aussies can vote, drink, smoke, get married without parental consent (allowed at the age of 16 with parental consent) and are considered to have achieved legal responsibility independent from their parents.
Even the key-to-the-door idea is completely outdated now, when kiddies as young as 14 often need to have a house-key for various reasons… so the age of 21 and its subsequent big party are just one of those hoary traditions that have been kept up in Australia for no more good reason that it seems a good excuse for another party.  And Aussies need very little justification for keeping another milestone on the agenda that requires another party…

Re today’s ensemble; I know I look terribly unstylish, but for explanations please see previous Me-Made June Sundays and attached musings on not caring about looking tres fly on those days…  I almost threw out these jeans after I saw how awful they looked the last time I donned them.  But then I wondered whether they could still function as a leggings-substitute for casual winter-y days… well, the colour!  I do so love this light neutral stone colour (petering out lamely)  So at the last moment they were saved from the Salvoes bag.  But I can see this outfit is somewhat… strange.
Hmmm, thinks; have definite problems tossing old and unflattering stuff out…  the explanation for my too-large wardrobe becomes all too apparent.

Details:
Dress; Simplicity 3745 with modifications, white dotted cotton voile and crocheted lace, details here, and to see this dress styled in 6 different ways go here
Cardigan; self drafted and part of a twin set, leopard print slightly fluffy jersey, details here, and to see this twinset styled in 6 different ways go here
Jeans; Burda 7863 with modifications, details here
Socks; not seen but hand-knit by me, details here
Shoes; Country Road

below: we found this salutation on the beach today

Me, that is.
We have been planning our eldest son’s 21st birthday party, and the big event was last night.  He took the modern step of sending out initial invitations via Facebook which, me being a Facebook ignoramus and having heard stories like this, sent a few chills down my spine.  Tim assured me there were safe and locked ways of doing this… but still.  I’ve been stressing out about it all week.  Not just the invites, but … everything.  The food, the booze, the music, the glassware, the guests, the weather… everything.  At 6.30pm last night, with the guests due to arrive in an hour, there was a massive stormy downpour, including hail, and Perth received 30mm of rain in a half hour burst.  The papers this morning called it a one-in-every-10-years event.  You can imagine how we felt…
Thankfully the storm blew over, and all went extremely well and there was no antisocial behaviour, no gate-crashers, and no horrible kids.  Everyone seemed to have fun, even us olds!  I think my favourite part was the slideshow we had put together of Tim’s life, all the photos of him we could lay our hands on… scrolling randomly through his life.  Pictures of him as a baby, as a toddler, as a little boy on his first day of school, winning a tennis trophy, receiving certificates at school assemblies, graduating.  Holiday snaps.  Birthday parties, with all the birthday cakes, Christmas Day’s, and all the special photos of all our family.
(sigh)
A very special evening…
…and it only took about three hours to clean up.  I’m thinking das ist gut.
On a sartorial point, I wore this outfit for the party, thus keeping in with my Me-Made June pledge.  Not that I actually have much choice in the non me-made department any more.  But just saying…  I did.
And above is today’s effort.
Hope everybody has a wonderful weekend, I’m off to have a cuppa and relax!

Details:
Shirt; my own design from several patterns, black cotton, details here
Skirt; self-drafted, charcoal jersey knit, details here
Hooded cardigan; self-drafted and handknit by me, Jo Sharp Silk Road DK Tweed in Ambrosia, details here
Scarf; made by me from an old Tshirt, details here
Tights; photo too gloomy to see, but they are charcoal, and textured, Metalicus
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes