Last Min Small Makes for 2024

As school was wrapping up at the end of last year, it came to my attention that Rachel's teacher was pregnant. Sophie actually had this teacher two years ago, and I'd already sewn for her a little something for her first bub then. It was a (un-blogged) Rachel Bunny, which Sophie requested we sew. 

Since I've an affinity for sewing things for pregnant people, I thought I would get to it, though I figured I'd make something slightly more practical this time. So I dug through the stash, found just enough leftover monster material and these great humming birds from Steve's first shirt to make a couple of pairs of shorts. 

Another of Rachel's teachers (from two years ago) was also pregnant at the end of last year and Rachel still talked about her as the best teacher in the world, so I offered to make her something as well. Ironically, her name was/is Miss Bunney, so Rachel was hoping for another furry friend, but with the tight turn around in time (first week of Dec) with all the other things going on then, I just didn't have it in me. So I just made two more pairs of shorts, nearly using up all the fabric perfectly. We gave the teachers the shorts with some fabric markers so they can enjoy colouring in the monsters together.

While I was digging through the stash looking for shorts fabric, I had yet another baby in mind - one of our friends from church was expecting a little girl in early January. I happened across this scrap of fabric (I think from a donated box from Aunty Sue) that was exactly the right amount to make this little tie dress.  

Just like I made Sophie for her first Christmas. Back when she was small. The skirt felt a little long, so I added a pin tuck and it's rather sweet now. 

And then, while I was doing that, and also wrapping Christmas presents, I realised I wanted to add a little something special to my nephew Archie's present, so I used the very last of the humming birds with a couple of blue scraps down the sides for stripes to make the fabric actually fit the patter, I whipped out one last pair of Sycamore Shorts for the year. 

That takes my total of Sycamore Shorts for 2024 to 11. Not bad. 

Visa

Part of me can not believe I'm writing this post. Actually most of me can't But here we are. 

Thanks to COVID-19, the world of business has changed, so much so, that now some companies are full remote. I guess this was starting to be a thing before the pandemic of 2020, but we can't deny that a pretty much world wide mandate to stay home helped speed things along. Now, since some people can do their work remotely from their homes, countries are starting to jump in on this idea. If you can work for your Australian company in your Australian home, why can'd you do it in Italy, or Vietnam. Then, you get paid your lovely Australian dollars but have every opportunity to spend them all over your new host country. 

Digital Nomads. It's the kind of thing that makes you think of hip, young people in a van, but really, it's anyone who is working remotely and can move around. And with countries all over the place deciding they want a piece of the action - the world is your oyster.

Last year, I think at the end of February, or start of March, Japan announced that they too, would issue a Digital Nomad Visa. Not quite as long as some countries, just six months, but that's Japan for you. They are one foot in the future and one foot firmly in the past. Can't change things too quickly there. We heard about the visa and were a bit excited, a little dreamy, but also cautious. Who knew if the girls would even like a two week trip to Japan, let alone a six month stint. 

Then we went to Japan for two weeks. The girls loved it. Suddenly, doing six months was a very real option. We brainstormed back and forth about how to make it happen, when would be a good time, and what we needed to consider. Much of 2024 was research, double checking the facts and the paperwork. We couldn't apply too early, since once issued, it was only valid for three months, but it also took three to four months to process, so we couldn't apply too late, or we'd miss our desired entry window. 

It's been a whirlwind to say the least. The emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows is still chugging along, especially now. Along with the "not too early, not too late" situation, there was the "the visa is so new there isn't a box on the application form for it" problem. And also the "write down your flight details and address on the application form, but don't book your flight before you get your visa" thing. Here is the chicken and there is the egg. 

Still, we pushed through and found ourselves officially applying on the 1st of November. It was September when I went to book the application interview, hoping for October, only to find they were fully booked for six weeks and November was the best I could get. The girls had to have the day off school to be there.  We were in the consulate for about two hours, but all the forms were checked, double checked, ticked off and submitted. 

Then we waited. Three to four months is a long time of waiting and not knowing. Even though they told us "everything looks good", there was still a question mark in our minds - would they accept it? Every day that we got closer to our hopeful departure date was another day I worried that we would need to find accomodation. Or that flights would get too expensive. 

In the end, we started booking things in faith. With good cancelation policies. Our December/January was more busy than usual, not because we were going away, or because of the Japan stuff, but also because of family members in hospital (extended family, all is well now), and Steve deciding it was past time for a new job and going through not only the interview process for two potential jobs, but then also trying to find a replacement for himself. Talk about stress. 

And we continued to wait for visa news. People we saw would ask if we were excited, but it was so hard to answer, because we were, but not just yet because caution held us back. Three to four months was the processing time. Three months from the 1st of November would take us to the 1st of February, so we were hoping to hear then. Waiting and hoping. Emotional roller coaster in full swing.

On the 31st of January, Friday, at about 4:30pm, Steve got a phone call from the Consulate (well two, but he missed the first one since he was filling up his water bottle) to say that yes, our visas were approved and we could pick them up. Relief, joy, laughter, disbelief and determination for the tasks ahead. We celebrated with Japanese whisky.

For now, and for the most part, we are excited. With the flights and accomodation already booked, the only really big thing to do is find a school for the girls. It is a big thing, but I'll save it for another post. Visas are here and we are really going on this adventure!

Christmas Sewing: Luke's Shirt

I lament that I didn't take better photos of most of my Christmas makes from last year, but I still want to blog them. It's important to have some memory, something to show that work was done.

Anyway, another shirt for my brother in law, Luke, who I drew in our secret santa. I also bought him some additional stuff, but the shirt was a large part of the present. Used the same pattern as Dad's, this time, making the same size Steve wears, since he, Luke and our other brother in law, Stephen, all wear the same size. Mum jokes that it makes presents easy. She's not wrong. 

Again - pocket placement - is there anything more satisfying? I did buy buttons that I thought would work, but then when it came to sewing them on, I hated them. Luckily I found a suitable replacement after digging through the button box that I have. Whew! 

Sophie: 12

I was fine with Sophie growing ever upward - the knowledge of the inevitable "kids will be taller than me" was something that I knew from day one. But when I drew her new height line on the wall and it sat just two and a half centimetres under mine; wow was it suddenly all too real. 

Celebrations for this girl were a little strange this year. She did have a friend sleep over the night before her birthday, but woke up in the morning with a very runny nose kinda cold that Steve was sharing. So we cancelled the afternoon family gathering and just lay around the house, watching movies, playing games and generally being lazy. 

What we did get Sophie for her birthday though, was two tickets to see Six the Musical. So two weeks later, she and I hopped on a bus to the theatre. 

She was so excited to be seeing the show and I was excited to share it with her. Since I took her to see The Tiger Who Came to Tea for her third birthday, I have dreamed of many more such outings. We enjoyed the pre show hype and photo ops. She went halves with me in some merch (check out the shirt change below) and just generally got progressively more excited. 

Suffice to say, when things started she was grinning from ear to ear. It is fabulous show and so much fun to see it with her. Afterwards, we went to South Bank. Steve and Rachel drove in and we met some friends for a swim and BBQ dinner. It really did feel like we were finally having her birthday. 

Cake requested was chocolate with pink and green swirly icing. Yes, she really does love musicals. 

Christmas Sewing: Dad's Shirt

Here is a short post about sewing a fun shirt for my Dad for Christmas. My Dad loves lots of colour and birds and though I was bummed that I couldn't get something with cockatoos or rainbow lorikeets, the fun willy wag tales print was still great.  

Not gonna lie: the pocket placement is perfection. 

Just used the men's shirt pattern I have from making Steve a couple of them.

It was a little stressful to sew this, because I really wanted it to be great quality. Dad's happy face when he saw it was worth it. I did have to do some adjusting since you can only get so accurate on the fit with just numbers, but still a total win. 

Happy New Year!

Here we are again ready for another year travelling around the sun. The incredible busyness that was the end of November, all of December and the start of January has finally subsided and this last week has been full of much slower paced days, family time, reading and rest. 

I did read a bit last year, but there were a number of books that actually languished around the house for weeks (or, in some cases months (I'm ashamed to admit!)) before I picked them up. It is completely irrational and almost inconceivable to me that starting a book feels like such an effort that at 8:30 at night it's often a more palatable option to doom scroll or watch junk food TV. The reward of reading is always so much more than the former options will give, but despite knowing this, I'm still hesitant to reach for the book. 

In any case, I've kicked off the year with Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, The Dressmakers of Auschwitz by Lucy Adlington and Bottchan by Souseki Natusme. An eclectic list, but for the most part enjoyable reads. The Dressmakers of Auschwitz was moving (to say the least!), informative and engaging, but did leave me feeling the privilege of being in Australia, while so many other parts of the world, where countries are right up against their neighbours, are dealing with much more conflict than we can even comprehend. 

Still, I move on, since we must, and I have a list of posts to write thanks to all the sewing I have done. Not one or two, but three Christmas presents this year were handmade, and post Christmas there was a slew of small sewing things that just got done as well. I also noticed as I reflected on the year of 2024, that of the fabric I purchased in Japan, the three pieces that were intentionally for me, were all made into dresses (here, here and here). 

There is a huge sense of satisfaction knowing that I actually used the fabric that I bought for its intended purpose and it didn't just languish in the drawer. This year I'd like to continue that trend and intentionally sew up some fabric that I have. Not sure if I want to go the whole Make Nine, but definitely planning some sewing projects wouldn't go astray. First though, I need to get Sally serviced, since the amazing sewing that I've done would not be possible without her and she's now needing a bit of TLC. 

Until I get going on those posts, here is a sneak peak at some Christmas sewing to get you excited. 

Happy 2025!