Proper beach week

It was Australia Day on Tuesday and I took a couple of days off the previous week - plus the Monday along with everyone else in Australia - to give myself a proper beach week. My husband had to work Monday, number two son was exhausted from volunteering all week at a drama school holiday program and number one son had a shoot in Sydney for Hong Kong Vogue that meant a fourteen hour day ... so no-one was interested in coming with me and I had THE BEST TIME EVER.

But took absolutely no photos! I didn't go for any walks, just swimming twice a day, and I don't take my phone. So you will have to take my word that the sun shone every day, the waves were crackingly good, I sewed, read, swam and didn't drive anywhere or do anything useful at all. I caught up with friends a couple of times and dusted the hallway bookshelf ... but mostly general laziness. The water temperature was beautiful and the swims were always over an hour. 

The town was packed but in a family beachside kind of way. I was a bit outraged at the number of people on the beach because I am quite accustomed to swimming on my own but honestly I didn't get nearer than ten metres to anyone at any point! I don't think Australia has any covid in the community at the moment but I could be wrong. Certainly none was coming anywhere near me. I think my cells were 90% salt water and 10% pinot gris by the end of the week anyway, not much scope for a virus.

However a post needs a photo so here's a beachy cotton top I made. Unflattering but super comfy and cool. It is a green stripe on cream, you can't really tell in this dodgy light.

It was easy to sew and a bit different to usual things and I think I'll wear it a lot for the hotter days. New Look 6284 View C if anyone ever googles it - seems true to size and went together easily.

So now it is back to work and it has rained solidly every day since I came home. Which I am pleased about because if it was beautiful weather I would be even more sad about not being at the beach than I currently am. Which is very very sad.

Another summer skirt

Here is another skirt I made over the break and have worn to work - this is a bamboo/cotton/linen blend also from Rainbow fabrics. It has a lot more body than the other one, and a coarser weave, but was also lovely to sew and a pretty design ... reminds me of the 1980s!

I was a bit perturbed because I couldn't find just a plain skirt pattern that I wanted - no darts, just four gores and no yoke. Until I realised that I didn't need a pattern if it was going to be so basic, just a tape measure and a pencil. And some graph paper that came with a pattern ages ago and I had put aside just in case.

It was super easy and worked well. My measurements weren't right so I had to take the waist in a bit before I put the waistband on but that's easy enough, and I put in a lining too after holding it up against the light! It was a bit see through, and the lining makes it hang better anyway. I didn't do pockets because patch pockets aren't very elegant, and I suspected that the seams were going to sit better at 10 and 2 rather than in the centre front, which rules out in-seam pockets, and I was right. Perhaps if I make it again I'll do a single small patch pocket because pockets are practical! I enjoyed wearing it to work as something a bit different. 

The crafting pendulum swings back

It's happened again, the crafting urge has swung - I was starting to miss quilting, and thinking about quilting, and dyeing fabric - so on the weekend I finished up everything weaving-related and started in on some quilting again. In theory I could keep both hobbies going at once but that's not really how I operate; I liked to blast ahead at full speed, so it's better to have clear decks. I finished the scarf that was on the loom, twisted all the fringes, wet finished every scarf and hung them out to dry.

I tidied up my sewing room, looked through my books and thought about what I should start with. I like to start with something scrappy and not too difficult to work my way into it. I thought about doing yet another scrappy trip around the world, but then got distracted into doing something scrappy with a white background. I played around with some patterns and drew up some blocks but couldn't quite find the right block until I saw this on Kerryn's blog - perfect!!!! 

I think it's bigger - 9" finished - and I've done the triangles already, watching Bridgerton. Soooo good to be back at the machine.

A summer flowery skirt

 I'm taking advantage of January to wear pretty skirts into work - I suppose I could do it all year round but I tend not to - boring public sector worker and all that. It seems to call for black polyester. This is a cotton-linen blend skirt that I made in December and I think it's nice.

This is me showing how pockets work.

I hacked a culottes pattern that I already had into a skirt because I wanted pleats at the front, with pockets, and elastic at the back. It was a super easy hack (turning the crotch curve into a straight line basically) and I knew it would fit around the waist because I'd made the pants before. I just did a basic placket at the front with buttons and bob's your uncle.

The fabric was one of my trial purchases from Rainbow Fabrics in Sydney - just a random on-line shop found by googling but inexpensive and I'm really pleased with the quality. It was lovely to sew although will wrinkle a bit, as you can tell the photos. Very satisfying all round.

Finally a summery weekend

The forecast was for heat and sun so I went down the beach Friday after work and came back as late as possible on Sunday; and it was glorious. Perfect beach weather and decent waves. Crowds of people of course, but that's OK, it's nice to see everyone out and about enjoying themselves. 

The South Coast continues to sit in a covid-free zone ... even though it could change overnight I felt comfortable to go down there. I'm not actually worried about catching the virus, given I don't go out at all, it's just being forced into self-isolation in Canberra if Bateman's Bay suddenly flares up as a hot spot. I have a few friends who were caught out by the sudden Brisbane lock down and Canberra's imposition of a iso period - a quick holiday turns into a sad fortnight at home. Or a happy fortnight at home, depending on how you look at it. 

I went for a lot of swims, caught some big waves, got completely dumped by waves, did a bit of sewing and read some books. I laughed at a lot of memes inspired by the storming of the capitol (yes, I know it's serious, but it was also a gift to the humorists of the world). The rest of the family stayed at home and went to the water park with mates / shopped for a new bed / bought the promised Christmas present / did a lot of washing. And now back to work....

My christmas shirt

Here is a shirt I made in December and wore for Christmas-related celebrations. Not many of course - especially not big work ones, thank you covid - but I did wear it to work on Christmas Eve where there may have been a little morning tea for the few remaining workers.

It is yet another Deer and Doe melilot shirt without the collar but with sleeves. It is a heavier cotton and I think the pattern works better in lighter fabrics, but it was still an easy make and it fits me fine. I thought the little deer were reindeer but they don't have antlers, so it could just be a deer shirt that has nothing to do with christmas at all ... I will call them reindeer and so they shall be. Gosh I look a bit pale and tired in this photo - I think the week before the break we were all starting to wear out a bit. 

The sideways deer on the pockets was definitely a conscious design decision, and not just randomly how they turned out. No no no.

Happy New Year

And welcome to 2021! It has certainly started well with an extended beach break .... I set an early alarm for Boxing Day and hurtled down the hill (no traffic, it was great!) and stayed there until my early alarm this morning to drive up and straight into work (no traffic, but driving for two hours then working is a bit exhausting). So that was nine days of uninterrupted beach time - unplugged and unstressed - and it would have been perfect except that IT RAINED EVERY DAY. 

It has been (and is still going!) the worst stretch of weather I can remember at this time of year - cloudy and cool. I think the hottest day was 22 degrees which is ridiculous. I know I shouldn't complain remembering last years hellfire but I was expecting something slightly more summery. The nicest day was the 27th which was sunny and lovely until the late afternoon - and that was the day the rest of the family drove down, so they got half an hour of sun before the clouds rolled in.

I swam every day because the mornings were usually dry, if cloudy, and I have a full length wetsuit dammit! The waves were good and of course swimming in the ocean is delightful, no matter the weather. The families were out in force of course - three year olds don't seem to feel the cold - and it was lovely to see crowds and life again after last year. 

We were a bit on edge that the region would become a sudden hotspot and we'd have to do a mad rush up the hill before they closed some inter-state borders, but it didn't happen. Victoria closed the border to NSW at one point so all the Victorian number plates disappeared in about two hours as people raced back to beat the midnight border closure ... not really a closure, but a requirement to self-isolate for two weeks, which most people would rather avoid. Greater Sydney is still looking a bit dodgy with a dozen or so new cases every day, but the lockdown seems to be working as planned. 

I will risk the beach again I think for a weekend or two later in the month, it's so worth it. I did a lot of sewing, read lots of books, ate a lot of toast-based meals and drank a lot of sparkling wine. It was lovely.