More block printing

This is my new enthusiasm after the success of the test printing. I'm not sure exactly what you can use block printed fabric for - it has its own aesthetic - but bags are fine.

This is the fishies! Quite a nice tote bag. I lined it but it's still a bit flimsy. Very useful though, I put my knitting in it last week when I went into Canberra to join a friend's knitting group. They sit in the coffee shop in the lobby of the Hyatt, have coffee and knit. It was absolutely lovely and I think I will go in as often as I can.

Second project was a brush roll for my paintbrushes. I've been carrying them to art class in a paper bag and it's just not practical. So I made an enormous brush roll in yellow with flowers all over it. 

I measured my brushes and everything but it's not exactly right. Some of them fall out if I hold it upside down. But it works better than the paper bag and it is very bright and cheerful. I  sandwiched it with cotton quilt batting to absorb any moisture.

Third project was a monster tote. I like this pattern - variegated spirals - just the same thing over and over but I think it looks cool. I had planned to do another dot in there to give it some more dimension but it didn't look any good in the test print so I stuck with the spirals. 

I underlined it with calico so it has a bit more body, which I think works better. It also has a fancy magnetic closure which I didn't put in the right way at all but it's useful.

And fourth project was a silk scarf. It's the flowers again, but quite a different effect - almost translucent.

It is very pretty but I'm not sure if it works as a scarf. The silk is quite solid and the paint makes it a bit stiff, even though I've washed and dried it. 

I have had this silk sitting in a cupboard forever - it's from my work trip to India in 2018. When we visited the National Art Gallery in Delhi they gave us flowers and put lengths of white silk around everyone's necks during the welcome. All very lovely but travelling cabinet ministers don't want lengths of white silk so I quietly scooped them up. Like a good little underling. Hahahaha.

Block printing

On Saturday I did a one-day block printing on fabric workshop at the local arts centre. This is the kind of thing that I thought I would do in retirement, and after a year I've finally done it! Seen something interesting, booked it, did it without worrying that it would be a 'waste' of a weekend day ... and of course I had a lovely time.

In the morning we printed the fabric, and in the afternoon we sewed it into something. They had a heap of fabric there, various sewing patterns, lots of printing blocks or you could carve your own ... the tutor took an action shot of me putting little dots on my pink drill. It's a very forgiving style that looks OK even when your skills aren't up to much, and your ink is a bit uneven, and your spacing is a bit wobbly.

I made a bag and matching hat :) there were all sorts of clothing as options but I didn't think I'd wear any of it, but a bag I can always use. I do fully intend at some point to wander down the main street with my matching bag and hat ... or perhaps to garden club! There's a thought, the ladies at garden club appreciate a good colourful floral. Or floral-adjacent.

I printed a different sort of colour way for a contrast pocket (and alternate panels on my hat) and even block printed the lining. With dots. 

I can see this becoming a very addictive hobby but I can also see me ending up with metres and metres of hand-printed fabric that I have absolutely no use for. 

Finishes! sewing AND knitting

I went down the coast by myself for a couple of days last week and had a little sewing retreat. I love doing this - making a huge mess, doing nothing but sewing and the occasional walk - not cooking properly or doing chores or anything useful. It was too rainy to swim.

Some more linen three-quarter pants - I don't really need more but I'd had the linen-cotton blend fabric for ages so I thought it needed using. And I've worn them a couple of times already, which is good. They have a side zip and darts rather than elastic, very fancy.

Some corduroy shorts - the corduroy was from the quilter's donated stash (we were positively encouraged to help ourselves if we thought we would use anything) - and I had thought pants but there wasn't enough material. Corduroy shorts are a bit peculiar, but they've been great! I did a fly front zip and everything, so they feel like I'm wearing my posh shorts, rather than my casual shorts. This is my life now, my formal clothes are shorts.

The downside of the craft de-stash and sorting out the quilters' donations was this drying rack of shame ... a small fraction of the lengths that I squirrelled away without really thinking I was picking up anything at all. And that's not the half of it, I think I scored nineteen dress lengths of various bits. Slightly shameful, because I absolutely do not need any more clothes, but they were on their way to landfill, so what is a person to do? They mostly smelled like old lady though, so washing was in order.

And lastly but definitely not leastly is my first ever jumper that I knitted. Isn't it amazing? Thank you Florence for the free pattern, incredibly detailed instructions and the two hour youtube video that I watched on half speed, I could not have done it without you. It is 800g of pure wool so perhaps just for the deepest winter, but I am so impressed with myself, despite the many obvious errors. I was so impressed I got my husband to take a nice photo, instead of a mirror selfie.

I have bought a new pattern and some new wool is being shipped as we speak! New hobby unlocked!!!!

Bicycling ensemble

I have been biking about in any old thing, which is fine, but skirts tend to whoosh up at the front and flash your underwear at people, wide-legged pants get caught in the chain, shorts ride up your bum and I am far too fat to do my errands in leggings. Actually I am think I am just far too old to do my errands in leggings; nobody under the age of about 35 seems to worry about body shape, which is good for them, but I cannot revisit my ideas on showing the shape of my fat arse at this late stage.

So I made some knee-length culottes! Bloomers! Bicycling pantaloons! They are very practical and comfortable and they have flowers on them.

I bought the cheap rayon at Rathdowne fabrics in Melbourne last July and it was easy to sew and is lovely to wear. My pantaloons even have pockets. 

Coast days

We went down the coast for a couple of days - not entirely sure why but we certainly found enough to do when we got there! The weather was cold and windy and rainy everywhere, so we figured we may as well be somewhere that was closer to 15 degrees than 5. It's only 59 kilometres as the crow flies but the weather can be wildly different. Much excitement on the local facebook page because a seal was having a nap on the beach.

Mostly very chill creatures, seals, but they have sharp teeth and are surprisingly large. Everyone was avoiding it, but that part of the beach is off-leash dog exercise, so there might have been a cavoodle or two in danger. Or a white crusty dog. No great loss. 

I made a couple of dozen library bags for the local school which is a quilter's group endeavour. Nice mindless sewing - once I got into the swing of it - and a good way to use up odds and ends of fabric. If the kids don't mind random colours, which I'm sure they won't. 

I also meant to do a day's errands in Bateman's Bay but got trapped at the first hurdle - changing my driver's license over to NSW - which turned out to be unnecessarily complicated. So I didn't go to the hardware, join the library or buy some thread ... just had a bacon and egg roll to soothe my shattered nerves and came back home again. And it's still not sorted, I will try again this week. 

I should have a photo of a finished quilt to show you but this was the attempt today - the horizontal quilt!!!! It was so windy (a cold wind too) that I gave up. Perhaps tomorrow. I came back up for the quilter's group AGM on Saturday afternoon. I am now secretary, which doesn't seem to be too much work, but I guess I will find out ..... There were six ladies at the AGM, so most everyone got some type of position :)

Made another shirt

 There's not much painting or anything interesting going on at the moment in Canberra - although I did go to Urban Sketchers yesterday, I'll have to take a photo of what I did - so the sole light of creativity is shining at the coast, where I made another cotton top. Nothing very exciting, and I've made the pattern before, but I thought it was pretty.

This is the outfit for someone about to go and spend two thousand dollars at Bunnings on a kitchen bench type thing. That we have to put together ourselves. I nearly cried at the moving guy when we realised that the quote was for us packing most of our stuff into boxes and that if we wanted them to pack it would cost double. I HATE packing but also LOVE money. It's a conundrum.

The cutest thing about this shirt is that I had some fabric left over so made a pair of matching shorts. I could wear them together, but I will not. It would look silly, but inside my soul I like the idea of rampaging around town in a cotton checkered set. 

Number two has gone back to Melbourne so a fleeting but very welcome visit .. including the new house finally! I don't know if it made a positive impression but that's where all their stuff is going so I'm sure we'll get a visit or two...

Made a shirt

I finally wore the shirt I made last time I was at the beach - nothing terribly exciting but should come in useful. The fabric is a fairly heavy viscose twill, so I originally thought it would be too dense for a shirt, but it has a lovely soft drape ... and there wasn't enough for a dress so shirt it was! A nice oversize shirt that's easy to wear with anything.

I didn't wear it anywhere exciting, just to the shops. Which is the most exciting place I go these days, except for my farewell drinks on Thursday, which was a lovely catch up with my colleagues. It has been such a nice group - we used to have regular drinks around covid time (whenever it was possible) because so many of us were working from home but it's faded off a bit since. 

Another shirt shot. It's been super hot here the last few days - more typical February weather than what we've been having. I've been doing some early morning nostalgia walks around the trails by my house - reminds me of lock down because these are the walks I used to do then. A two hour walk without a mask even though we were only supposed to exercise for an hour at a time with a mask ... how naughty and rebellious of me. I figured that the three people on average I saw on those walks who I avoided by at least ten metres did not pose a substantial risk to my health (or me to theirs).

T-shirt dress

I wore this to work the other day - very comfortable if perhaps not entirely professional. It is a t-shirt dress made from a 1990s jersey knit I bought at one of the church de-stash sales. 

It is quite unflattering with no seams or any kind of shaping ... which of course makes it lovely to wear, and if you put a cardy over the top who would know.

And it doesn't need ironing. I made it ages ago and haven't worn it, so it was on its last chance, but it was so comfortable and easy to wear that I will keep it.

1970s maternity top

Here is one of the things I sewed on my last beach trip - not exactly a 1970s maternity top but definitely giving that vibe! It is very flowy and wide, and possibly not long enough, but that is easily fixed for next time.

This is a rayon that's been in the drawer for a while - I was thinking a dress originally but it might be a bit much. So a top it is. 

The pin tucks were interesting - they can be quite fiddly, especially around a curved edge. So what this pattern did was have you cut a square for the front, then sew the pin tucks in, then put another pattern piece on it and cut the curved neckline through the sewn tucks. So much easier! The neck is still quite high, I might drop that down an inch or two next time. 

This is the whole outfit with work-appropriate cardigan and lanyard for Pride Month (although I wear it all the time tbh).

The pattern was McCalls 8325, nothing fabulously adventurous but well-written and did what it said on the tin.

And this is the drawing I did with the urban sketchers. I was so worried about running out of time that I cracked on and took even less care than I usually do - so it's a bit rough and ready! But not bad for sitting on the ground. 

Beach and sewing

I spent the weekend at the beach - swimming both days and also doing a bit of sewing. There are many lengths of fabric in the drawers that are really only going to be good for workwear ... so given I only have perhaps a year of working left, I thought I should try and use up whatever I can and get some wear out of it.

This is a very unsatisfying photo of black pants, but trust me they worked out quite well. They are perhaps slightly too wide at the bottom but the fit around the waist and bum is excellent - there is minimal shaping, just two darts at the front, two darts at the back and a zip up the side. I am a bit nervous of limited fit options given the blubber rolls but it was great, the fit at the back in particular is excellent. I will definitely make this again - it was Vogue 9336. I made the skirt as well, in a grey drill, but I haven't worn it yet.

I also turned some very light striped georgette into a top - I bought this material ages ago and haven't found a use for it - too light for pants or even a dress but the stripes make it hard to do a shirt. So I used a very very old Burda pattern for what is manifestly a fat-lady tunic ... nice and long to go over your hips with a bit of a tie to give some shape definition and the rest just hanging like a sack. Perfect.

It was super comfortable to wear. My overlocker is behaving beautifully after I had it serviced (and took some lessons!) so both of these are nice and neat on the inside.

And the beach was lovely too.

The beach and another blue dress

It was a bit rainy on the weekend but I still went to the beach and had some lovely swims. Friends came over for a swim and lunch, and I did a little bit of sewing. Nothing much to report really! 

My summer project is doing a bit of urban sketching of my little beach town, so I took some photos of suitable candidates - the old beach houses that are slowly being replaced with much fancier places. They're not super architecturally interesting but I am happy just to draw simple squares! In fact it's probably better if I stick to simple squares.

Here is another blue cotton dress I made - too short for work but perfect for the summer. Box pleats at the waistline this time, it is a reasonably heavy cotton so I didn't want to gather it.

Very basic top

This is something else I sewed at the beach - I am trying to use up all the material in the drawers even if it's not particularly obvious or easy to sew! This is a pretty but extremely lightweight polyester that was not going to co-operate for anything but the simplest of patterns... which is what I did. Seams across the shoulders, seams up the side, hems, thanks for coming.

It is nice enough, if a bit baggy. 

And it matches the orange cardy so that's something. It was a hot weekend and I did virtually nothing ... some house chores, some errands, some painting and some vague thinking about christmas. No actual doing or planning, just thinking.

The beach and some sewing

Whoof, it's Thursday already - this week has been busy as anything. I had a lovely extra Friday down the beach last week and it was tough to come home on Sunday - the weather was warm and the surf was great and I sewed a few things and it was altogether delightful! Except for the quest to get a sprinkler for our 'lawn' (mostly dust) - hose fittings are the devil's work. How can we have two taps and three different sets of hose fittings, none of which fit each other or the new sprinkler I bought? I bodgied something up eventually but it was quite frustrating.

As well as lovely swims I sewed a long skirt from some red scuba knit I'd had for ages. I think I originally intended it for a jacket but it is very thick and wouldn't have been easy to sew for anything complex like lapels. This is just a four-gored skirt, no pattern, with a stretchy waistband from the same fabric. It is so heavy that it drapes nicely and is swooshy to wear.

It is very red though, and perhaps a bit much overall, but I wore it anyway - this is the ensemble. At least you can see me coming.