red_swirl

... and some elves to sew it for me !?!

I've been wondering why I've stalled so long on this sewing adventure. Partly, of course, it's all the exams and assessments I've just done; but partly it's that light cotton fabrics just can't inspire me when the temperature's less than 10C each night and the rain & wind are howling; and partly, yes, apprehension about actually sewing ... I guess everyone moving towards self-sufficiency / sustainability feels a bit this way.

However, I've got myself some strong Winter fabrics from Tan Hung Fabrics and Jonathon Enterprises, Marrickville and Spotlight, Bondi Junction. I've copied 2 Burda World of Fashion patterns and I'm sitting here now slowly, cautiously, grading it up to the next size; slowly, carefully, adding seam allowances; and slowly, worriedly, reading the instructions. Expect a calico (test) version of either this jacket or this skirt in the next few days ... if my elf-bribes work ;)

Posted by red swirl at 17:20 | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found a newsagent that happily stocked foreign language sewing, knitting and fashion magazines. They weren't disconcerted that I can read languages other than English. And I found a great Italian sewing magazine in the style of Burda World of Fashion, Patrones or Knipmode with multi-size sewing patterns and instructions sandwiched between photos of the great clothes you could make. And I truly like the clothes... simple, stylish, I'd love to wear them.

But. (You knew there'd be a 'but', didn't you?) But the magazine is from 2005, and the distributor can't / won't get any more issues, maybe because it's no longer published. And I'm having a tough time finding any recent information about the magazine online, making me think the distributor's right. The only possibility is this, it looks like a totally-French-language version, reasonably recent. Is it worth ordering it all the way from France, I wonder... sight unseen?

Mood: Sometimes I like German more than English. Although 'schade' covers a somewhat different range of meaning than 'pity', I think. 'Pity' is more sentimental, 'schade' can also relate to damage.

Posted by red swirl at 15:50 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last night, Lster helped me make a duct tape dressform, following these instructions. It took about 3 hours, 3 rolls of tape, 2 garbags and 2 ordinary shopping bags (for the arms). A huge effort by Lster, as someone insisted in staying in the frontpack most of the time.

So, there is some slow progress towards sewing here ... although it revealed a lack of progress in other areas, like getting back to my pre-pregnancy shape. Hrumpf. I'm kinda hoping the dressform doesn't prove very durable, I'd like to need to make another smaller one soon ;)

Posted by red swirl at 18:11 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Street art, some night recently, on my way to buy dinner after Uni. And speaking of Uni, it's exam time again ... so no fun craft to show you.

If you live in my area, it's the Marly on King Street, Newtown. (And if you don't, Marly = Marlborough Hotel, ie. a pub. Do other countries call their pubs/bars hotels, I wonder? Probably not.)

Posted by red swirl at 12:35 | Permalink | Comments (0)