Uncategorized Archives - Page 146 of 178

Going to the game

26/06/2010 5:29 am \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

Once again, soccer Mum mode… today I lucked out, got myself a nice sheltered spot sitting in the sun and managed to knit continuously throughout the game; bonus!! Yeah, I can finally knit without having to watch what my hands are doing and it’s wunderbar…
Our game was a draw so, m-yeah (shrug) better than a loss, no? Now the weather is absolutely freeeezing I’m well into the knitting swing once again. When I got dressed this morning we had just hit our minimum of 1C so I just threw on this blue-hued mishmash of garments and was out the door with a minimum of hemming and hawing half-dressed in front of the wardrobe… Oh, I did at first have on some little black knitted handwarmers too, but I’ve taken them off here after warming up in the sun.
Can you believe it? 1C!!!!! I can’t remember Perth ever being this cold before! I have clear memories of when I was a teenager and hearing on the radio the minimum one morning was 5C and my friends and I thought we were dying…! I’m kind of over winter already, my least favourite season; it’s too cold to sew much, or at least my way of sewing which involves lots of fitting to myself during construction, which necessarily involves undressing… brrrr! just can’t do it!
I’d much rather be curled up on a couch or in the sun with a pile of wool and a pussycat on my lap and a dog at my feet.
Can you tell I washed my hair today? For many years I’ve washed my hair religiously every second day, and for the past month or so I’ve been experimenting with leaving it until the third day because I felt it was looking a little frizzy. Later last night I took another look at yesterday’s blog photo (it was day 3 hair) and felt mildly revolted at the sight of my hair. If I hadn’t been so rushed yesterday I would have washed my hair and re-taken those damn photos! Too late! So I’ve made a decision; my hair is definitely two-day wash hair.

Details:
Jacket; Simplicity 4698, navy blue raw silk
Top; Metalicus
Jeans; Soon
Scarf; souvenir from Paris
Boots; Mina Martini, from Marie Claire shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fabulous fabrics, jacket, Simplicity 4698

Pattern Magic; page 50

25/06/2010 1:19 am \ 23 Comments \ Carolyn

I skipped ahead a few patterns to get to this jumper because I totally wanted to wear it this winter!!
This is of course drafted from Pattern Magic. by Nakamichi Tomoko.
This is an amazing top pattern for two reasons; firstly it is cut completely in one piece, and secondly the pattern is drawn all wonky and skewiff, which creates this amazingly interesting twist in the body of the top when you are wearing it. I love it!
I made two versions of this top, the first is pictured on Bessie below, made out of quite thin mauve-y grey jersey. This was made up exactly to the pattern and while I don’t have big arms by any means these sleeves are skin-tight on me. This isn’t going to stop me from wearing it as the weather warms up around here, but just a warning note to others wanting to make up this top…
The second version, that I am wearing today, is out of a lovely thick warm charcoal marle knit. I widened the sleeves by about 1.5cm and they are much more comfortable… Because the fabric is a little thicker the twists don’t show up as dramatically on the body of the top, but with the weather as cold as it is in Perth right now that extra fabric thickness is very welcome! I think it might have been about 3C this morning when I was taking these photos here, brrrr!

Details:
Top; from Pattern Magic, by Nakamichi Tomoko, charcoal knit
Jeans; Soon
Boots; Mina Martini, from Marie Claire shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fabulous fabrics, Pattern Magic, top

Blue cable socks

24/06/2010 3:05 am \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

‘Nother pair o’ socks.
These are made entirely of the Patonyle’s wool, but following the shrinkage disasters of the other socks made with this particular wool I’ve been a lot more careful in the laundering of this pair and they still fit me. Just. Looking at this photo I can see my heel isn’t really situated in the heel of the socks.. oh, well, may have to pass these ones on too… I actually originally bought four balls of this wool, in this colour, which looking back was a kind of insane thing to do. What was I thinking? The result is lots of pairs of socks in this colour and in this impractical yarn. I’ve tried to make each pair just a little different in some way. These ones have a row of cable up the sides.
When my kids were little I used to get them multiple pairs of socks all the same; the idea was that I wouldn’t have to pair them up after washing, or hunt about for that elusive missing half of a “favourite” pair. I reasoned that if they were all identical there would be no dramas, no wailing “but I have to wear my pink dotty socks with the bow!!”. And it was a great scheme, those heady days when I was in total control of the sock-choosing-and-buying. Oh how times have changed. Now they’re all grown up, and all of us in the house have our own sock collection, suited to our personalities, chosen as whim, fancy and fashion takes us. Matching up those gazillion unique pairs of socks is one of my daily chores. FUN!

Today’s random picture below; I’m coming across smiley faces a lot in my life lately. Here is another where I didn’t expect it!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Knitted, Patons knitting book C11, socks

Black high-waist straight-leg jeans

23/06/2010 4:10 am \ 15 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made some new jeans!
After being inspired by some of the beautiful examples of other people out there making their own jeans, and the success of my own khaki stretch gabardine jeans I decided to give this a go. These new ones are made from black denim with only a little stretch in them. When I first bought this fabric I thought it had more stretch than it actually did, but now they are finished I’m glad they are not too stretchy, as they are more like real jeans in my opinion. So, even though the pattern envelope says “stretch fabrics only”, I would use this advice as a guide only in fabric selection. Mine turned out alright. I think so, anyway!
I used Burda 7863 again, and the only variation to the pattern I did this time was to add a zip placket, as seen in the photo below, to protect my tender tummy skin from those sharp (and in winter, cold!) zipper teeth. Also, I did originally have pocket flaps over the pockets as per the pattern, but removed these as I thought they looked a little “home-made” and not very trendy. The remaining half of the press stud is still there in the pocket, but I kind of like the look of this. If I get enthusiastic I might even add some sort of embroidered pocket decoration in the future… I also made the belt loops a little wider, to accommodate my black belt, but as the waist is so nice and high and because I went to the effort of fitting the waistband to my waist size, I probably won’t even be wearing a belt with these jeans. The pockets are lined with scraps of leftover patchwork fabric that I had used to line my autumn trench coat, and the topstitching throughout is a single row of long stitch in a deep ruby red; because I had some of this colour leftover from my Rosetta ballgown.
So I’m pretty happy with my new skinny leg jeans! They are a lot warmer than my khaki stretch ones, so will be great for those coooold winter mornings!

Details:
Jeans; Burda 7863, black denim
Top; Metalicus
Cardigan; Country Road
Scarf; Sportsgirl
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies in Dunsborough

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7863, Fabulous fabrics, jeans

Game of 8 questions

22/06/2010 4:36 am \ 7 Comments \ Carolyn

Thankyou ladies, for your sweet comments yesterday. Really lifted my spirits to read your kind words. I think it’s so wonderful that we have this new international community at our fingertips, where women can support each other in our creative endeavours. Don’t you?
The very clever Lily over at House of Mirth tagged me recently for the game of eight questions, thankyou Lily! It would be fab if we could spot each other at the fabric store one day, no?
So here they are!
1) If you could live in any time and place, when and where would it be?
Ooh, well growing up I read all of Agatha Christie’s books and her autobiography and had such a fascination for her life in England during late Victorian and early 20th century times, so it would have to be there. Must be the explanation for my unquenchable obsession for white lace… And my family and ancestry is all from there so I feel a very strong affinity for the place, even though I’ve never been there…!

2) Other than Mr Darcy, who is your most shaggable fictional character?
Have you ever come across Altaiir? Those of us ladies who have teenage boys and have seen the Assassin in action on XBox are all well aware of the mysterious sex-ay hotness of the spunkiest virtual man ever conceived… Watch this and be still my beating heart…

3) Do you have any hidden talents?
No.
4) Tell me something embarrassing about yourself!
Well, only that I have been known on occasion to take pictures of myself in my outfits in public, hiding from other walkers and often pretending to be taking photos of my dog! Lol!
5) What really gets on your nerves?
Well as I’m getting older I’m calming down and just the obvious biggies such as sexism and racism and age-ism are left… It used to be things like using a “k” instead of a “c”; there is a cafe on the way to my parent’s house called “Krazy Kow Kafe”, (rolling eyes) just too twee for words, no?… bad spelling like that used to really bug me but I’ve calmed down on that one, since nowadays I’m just as capable as the next person of punching messages into my phone such as “c u 2moz?”!
6) Do your family and friends read your blog?
Mum and Dad, my husband, my daughter Cassie, and my sister in law Sandi all leave a comment once in a while. Only a very few of my friends even know about my blog!
7) What’s your favourite movie?
I’ve not come across another movie yet that had such a big impact on me on first viewing as the Sixth Sense. The weary passion of the characters, the careful measured pace of it, the sombre colours with that significant splash of red, the atmosphere of fear and loneliness, the breathtaking climax. It was just perfectly constructed in every way. On a completely different note, last weekend I saw Kick Ass. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re offended by bad language, but I loved every moment!
8) What does your dream cat look like? (Mine is a big fat fluffy orange Persian with a squished face called Darren or Darryl. Not liking cats is not an option!)
I already have three dream felines in residence; but take a look at Missile Cat here! Funny!

Now I’m going to tag the following:
Trudy, from Sewing with Trudy
Ann, from Ann’s Fashion Studio
Shannon; from Mushywear
Angie; from Sew I Thought
A Sewn Wardrobe
Cassie; from After a Busy Day

And if they would like to play they can answer the following questions:
1. What is the first thing you made? Do you still have it?
2. If you had a daemon (an animal companion that best fitted your personality), what would it be?
3. In which country, other than the one you actually do live in, would you like to live?
4. What colour do you think is your “best colour”?
5. A movie is made about your life; what would it be called?
6. Who would you select to play you in this movie about yourself?
7. If cost and/or cooking ability were no object; what would you most like to have for dinner?
8. Has a song ever moved you to tears?

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: random life stuff

Except the boots…

21/06/2010 5:27 am \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

Today my outfit is completely handmade by me!! Doesn’t happen with extreme frequency, especially during winter when jumpers and cardigans are in constant appearance, so feeling pretty pleased with this outfit! And my socks are knitted by me too, although they’re clearly not visible here…! I really like the mix of blues and khaki combination, muted but strong; a colour scheme I really wanted to wear this winter.
Sigh, one of the factors causing me angst at the moment is whether or not to join up to Wardrobe Refashion again. I’ve noticed that it is not going to cost us to join up, which is a good thing. But I keep coming across new Metalicus tops in yummy colours which when I spy them am immediately convinced will fill a gaping hole in my wardrobe… But do I really need new tops? No. Want? Er, well, yes…. (shamefaced) Yesterday I got out a woolen Tshirt from winter last year and it had big holes in it, a victim of silverfish (sad face)… so some new tops should be on my to-get list. And I have a big craving for some Metalicus. It’s like a drug. I must resist.
As well, in the West last weekend Rob Broadfield in his restaurant review penned a particularly scathing (and kinda nasty) comment on a certain type of woman who hails from the western suburbs (which I don’t) and who wears Metalicus (er, guilty). My friend D once described the type as a latte-drinking, western suburbs airhead. I think I’m safe on the latte issue, the western suburbs issue, and the airhead issue. But I am failing on the Metalicus front… And I definitely do NOT want to be lumped into that, or any, category of women. I like to think I have my own style and am different from the herd. (As we all do!) So teetering here, on the whole Wardrobe Refashion issue…
I did some more sewing over the weekend and have some new things to show you, but much better suited to a chillier day than today!
Today’s random picture below; cute droplets of water on my benchtop, must be a “sign”, no?

Details:
Jeans; Burda 7863, khaki stretch gabardine
T-shirt; refashioned from husband’s old T-shirt here
Cardigan; refashioned from husband’s old jumper here
Scarf; refashioned from husband’s old tank here
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies in Dunsborough

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7863, cardigan, Fabulous fabrics, jeans, scarf, top, Wardrobe Refashion

Lounge room curtains, 1

20/06/2010 3:17 am \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

One set of my lounge room curtains! There is another set, which I will post pictures of next week. I do try to limit my blogging in some ways, as in, yes, I do post every day which may be excessive but there may come a time when my enthusiasm wanes and you will be left in relative peace from my random sewing onslaughts… For now I’m steadily working through all the stuff I’ve made, both past and present and with a smattering of my fashion ideas as they occur to me… I hope this is not too boring.
This is the window facing onto our courtyard and all the flowering plants in it are red, raspberry or pink in colour, so I went with this cheerful and cosy crimson chenille fabric for the curtains to complement the outlook. Just a simple (huge!) rectangle of fabric two and a half times the width of the window, with curtain tape sewn to the top and triple pleat hooks inserted in the appropriate places… nothing fancy, but simple curtains are my preference. These have been up for about four years now. I love the subdued gloss of the polished steel curtain rods at the top and like to see them exposed. Thus no pelmets.

Unfortunately, being winter there are not many flowers here on my flowering plants, but in spring and summer it is a lovely rosy red view from here! I didn’t time this post very well with the seasons, did I…?

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: curtains, home wares, Spotlight

Spicey Rose chenille scarf

19/06/2010 4:26 am \ 10 Comments \ Carolyn

Here I’m in soccer Mum mode again… we lost…
Not to worry, my scrummy scarf is to be talked about here today. I’ve possibly worn this before on the blog but not mentioned anything about its province, so today it gets a post of its own. I wish I could remember the name of the Colinette yarn I used; I bought and knitted it up about four years ago and it’s since been discontinued and I can’t find any old tags or any info on the net to enlighten me. The best I can do is to tell you it’s a chenille in a beautiful array of toasty, spicy, berry-preserves colours guaranteed to start warming you up before you’ve even wrapped it around your neck…
I bought 3 balls, cast on 80 stitches and just knitted in garter stitch until all three balls had gone. Now usually I prefer not to use garter stitch in a scarf as it has a sort of “first scarf” look about it, but it this yarn’s case I think it works all right.
Sorry about the slightly blurry close-up. I didn’t notice how bad this photo was when I looked in my camera’s viewfinder (I think I might need spectacles!), but no matter as you can still get a feel for these lovely colours and generous dimensions of this scarf which have made it such a “nice” component of my winter wardrobe. Inverted commas on the rather lame usage of “nice” there, because I couldn’t think of a suitably rave-y-type adjective that perfectly encompasses the versatility of a scarf that works just as well as a casual scarf, as here, and yet capably transforms into an evening stole when I want it to… if I wasn’t so lazy I would get dressed up to show it in evening mode, but that will have to wait for another post.