Street Camp

One of the best things about this year has to be Street Camp. 

Our street is just so fabulous, I can't even begin to describe. Each year we have a Christmas party, we have a street chat group, if anyone needs a cup of sugar (or, to be honest, the whole cake), it's only a few houses away. In summer we are so lucky to have open invites to people's pools. The kids run around together, especially when it's raining and they can play in the puddles. If you have leftovers that need eating, just let the street know to come round and suddenly it's a party. 

I honestly can not describe how full it makes my heart to live in such a beautiful place with such caring and available people who continually open their lives to us. Yes, we are part of that, but it's honestly a community that has been such a blessing over the years. It's possible (actually very, very probably) that I will never be able to leave this street. 

We've tossed around the idea of going away together before. I know lots of school families who regularly do this, mostly by camping together somewhere. While I know we aren't the camping kind, we'd still be up for it in the name of Street Community. Others on our street were less keen however, so at the start of this year, one of our neighbours started to really look into what other options were out there. 

It needed to be not tents, affordable, have enough space for us all to get together, but also enough sleeping spaces for people to have their own area. There was a preference for not more than a two hour drive, nature and water, but not the end of the world if not. We ended up finding a campsite at Lake Perseverance which was set up for school groups. It had all the usual things you would expect at a school camp - bunk beds in dorms with shared bathrooms and also a smaller room and ensuite (designed for the teachers). As well as big kitchen and dining areas, lots of outside and a lake to kayak in. 

The price was reasonable so we all put it in our calendars and booked it. Or so we thought. Unfortunately, the Hungarian Club of Brisbane had enquired and booked at the same time as us, and when it came down to who won the double booking, it was the Members of the Hungarian Club of Brisbane who came away victorious. 

The Seven Street Camp Families panicked for a moment and then held an emergency meeting at the bowls club on Friday night to solve our problems. There was no way we could find and book a similar place with the short time turn around (originally we had booked in February for our September holiday camp, and now it was August), so we looked on AirBnB for something that could work. 

There were some beautiful big houses available, but the hardest thing was finding one with enough outdoor spaces for us to not be living right on top of one another. I mean, we love being on the street together, but that's possibly because we can all go back to our own houses at the end of the day. This was the first time that we were planning this and none of us wanted it to be the end of the amazing community we had. 

After we shortlisted a bunch of places, we ended up booking a place about four hours away on a property out west. Calamity struck again though when the owners contacted us and said they had mistakenly not blocked out that availability. What were we going to do? Back to the short list and the next winning place was slightly out of our price range, so Kim contacted them directly to explain our situation and ask for a discount. They said yes and Street Camp 2024 was officially saved. 

Our new camp was a huge house on top of a mountain about 20mins outside of Gympie. Not on acreage by any means, but the yard was certainly enough for a group of kids to run around and kick a ball, and big enough for the grown ups to have several late nights by the fire. We decided to have each family fend for themselves for breakfasts and lunches. We all bought more than enough snacks to share and we just divided up the dinners between the families. 

I was looking forward to Street Camp so much. With seven families, we had 28 people coming - an even split of 14 adults and 14 kids. The kids naturally sorted themselves into roughly two groups - a teens and then a younger bunch. The house was pretty stocked with a massive kitchen (two actually) as well as decks and living areas. It had 21 beds, so there were actually enough for all of us (that 21 includes at least 10 double/queen types). 

The way the beds were organised in the rooms though did make things a little tricky, since the kids all wanted to be together (in their various groups and configurations) and aside from one family, most of the grown ups were preferring to be adults only. In the end, one of the dads set up his swag outside, and Sophie and Hadley decided to tent (the first night) and then camp in the living room the second two. Everyone else was comfortable in a bed, even James (our youngest kid) who I'm fairly sure slept in a different room each night - including the last night where he climbed in with Rachel. 

From the moment we got there, the relaxing began. I don't think I've ever been so switched off for a few days away. There were almost no plans. The weather was perfect. Everyone just got along. 

Our first full day, some of the dads decided to take the kids to the "Historic" Saw Mill in Gympie, and the two families with teens went off looking for a country bakery and waterholes to swim in. I was blissfully left at the house with two other ladies and we all enjoyed our time by ourselves. I read a book (Goose Girl by Shannon Hale), lay around, unstacked the dishwasher and basked in the serenity. 

We had bought board games, which were played by various people at different times. The kids got into making dragon puppets together. There were soccer games outside and sing-a-longs inside. One of the dads had bought a projector thinking the kids might want to watch a movie, but they ended up setting it up for a sports ball game (AFL?) that was apparently important to watch. Steve took the job of going for the opposing team so that everyone could enjoy a good bit of heckling while the watched. We had a fire every night. 

Mornings were slow; people got up in dribs and drabs. Ben had packed his coffee machine and made sure everyone got their caffeine fix as they came out to the back deck to sit under blankets and watch the sun climb higher into the sky. I cut fabric squares for a quilt I'll make one day. I sewed tedama out of kimono scrap fabrics while people chatted. 

Sophie and Hadley made a lemon tart for everyone. The kids spent lots of time in and out of the hot tub (even though some of the settings changed/broke and it was progressively colder as the days went by). There were cows across the road and a mulberry tree in the yard. Everyone else stayed up late, I got up early and made the kids pancakes for breakfast. 

We did "Paint and Sip", which was more just "paint what you want" with the subtext of "finish in time for the next sports ball game". We were on dinner with our lovely vegan neighbours and made some of the best burrito bowls ever. Healthy perfection. We watched the sunset every day. Steve and Daryl tasted and ranked all of the fancy fancy beers they bought. I tried most of them too, though I didn't like nearly as many as they did. 

There were lots of conversations; about kids, life, birth stories (:P), faith, and what cheese to eat next. Silly times like when Tom read the French kids book we found on the shelf about the ant who wouldn't share. Music times playing the Street Camp Playlist off Spotify, or asking the kids to choose the next song. Steve teaching the younger boys to use the cajon while we were jamming before dinner. 

Then suddenly, it was Sunday and we were packing up to go home again. It had honestly been the most beautiful time away and I couldn't have been more thankful to know these people and live with them. Even packing and leaving was fun - lots of "See you in three hours!" comments as we all loaded in and drove away. There are currently no plans for a Street Camp next year - everyone is busy and we know there will be other priorities, but I can see it being a semi regular event. I hope it will be. 

Until then, we are looking forward to the Street Christmas Party. Yes, we've already locked in the date. 

Athena

Time for a random side quest into gardening. This is our Kalamata olive tree, planted in the front garden bed. We've wanted one for a long time. I love their silvery leaves. We happened to be at a garden centre one morning and the girls were campaigning hard. 

They named her Athena Sharp-Spear in the car on the way home. For her silvery, pointy leaves. 

One Short Day: The Emerald City Dress

Excited to be going to see Wicked called for a new green dress! I was talking with a friend who I was going with and when my brain thought back to my cupboard and only two green dresses sprang to mind. This one, which is so well worn that it's been relegated back to a "home only" dress, and my Frog Doona Dress, which is a little too much of a statement piece for Wicked. 

Then I didn't actually check my cupboard when I got home, but just dove into the fabric draws. In hindsight, I could have pretty easily worn the Peacock Dress, which is very green. Calling me, in the fabric draw, however, was the perfect fabric. This I had picked up in Japan from our April Travels and is honestly so perfect for Wicked that the timing was just meant to be. 

I dug out my new go-to dress pattern (self drafted from a Princess Highway dress I love and most recently used to make my Onigiri Dress), and decided I would just swap the skirt out for a quarter circle (similar to my Christmas Skirt) instead of a gathered one. I had exactly two meters of this green cotton with lovely golden flowers on it, and I knew I couldn't get any more since it came from Japan and I had two weeks till the show. I cut very carefully. Measure twice cut once - more like measure five times then cut once. 

The dress itself came together easily. Not having any matching fabric for lining I lined it with some leftover cotton from the fancy pyjamas I made in 2022.  Unorthodox, perhaps, but when you are sewing your own clothes you kinda get to make the rules. The biggest adjustment I made (aside from the skirt style) was to lower the back to get away with a shorter zip. 

It was all going very smoothly, until I pinned the skirt in place and found I'd allowed too much and it was too big. Having already sewn the sides with pockets, I was reticent to unpick all that hard work, so I turned to the sewing community of Brisbane to ask their advice. My thoughts were to either use darts/pleats to take in the extra at the waist, or just cut out two sections of the skirt front so it would look like panels. Most people were either in favour of the dart/pleat suggestion or of gathering the skirt to fit the bodice. 

I hadn't thought of gathering because I didn't want it to look bulky and out of place on the circle skirt, but everyone assured me it would be barely noticeable. I figured that was the easiest thing to try and unpick if it didn't work, so that is what I ended up doing. And I loved it. Thank you sewing community of Brisbane for saving the day!

When I tried it on though, the bodice was too gape-y at the top! I'm thinking it's because I lowered the back neckline and somehow failed to compensate, but the front was big too. Anyway, I solved the front with a gather and then umm-ed and ahh-ed about fixing the back. The simplest but certainly messiest (and ugliest) solution would be some darts. The other option was to unpick the zip, move the back seam and then sew it back in.

I left it sit on the dress form while I went to Street Camp, secretly hoping that some small animal friends or magic would do the work for me while I was away. When I returned however - no such luck. Time to try plan B. 

As always with unpicking, it didn't take as long as I feared and resewing the zip in took hardly any time at all. The dress was finished with some self-made bias tape for the hem and hand stitching the bodice down on the inside. It's beautiful, the gathering at the waist is barely noticeable, and the pockets are excellent. 

I had just enough fabric left to cut and make Steve a matching bow-tie, because bow-ties are cool. 

It was pretty lucky that I actually got to wear the dress though, because I was admitted into emergency for some surgery on the Wednesday night. Though all the pain while the surgeon was telling me what was going to happen, I was mostly crying because I thought it would mean I wouldn't get to Wicked the next day. Luckily, they did the straightforward (and pain relieving) operation at 7pm, and I was discharged at 10:30 on Thursday morning. I went home, took painkillers and got dressed to get to the matinee performance. Needed a big lie down afterwards, but it was worth it. 

Hakama Making

When we were in Japan in April, I picked up my first hakama. I gave you an introduction to it here, but it is honestly very quickly becoming a favourite addition to my kimono wardrobe. A hakama is a split side skirt (or pants) that you wear over your kimono. They honestly transform the kimono so much, from a rather slim-line dress to one that is flowy and free. 

The hakama I bought is 100% wool, so I'll be wearing it in the winter months, but I could see a light cotton one in my future to add to the spring/autumn kimono wearing. As it was, after wearing my purple hakama a few times, I was sure I could make my own. They are made from pleated rectangles of fabric with two waist ties, so very straight forward sewing. 

I did watch a handful of YouTube tutorials on hakama sewing to get a bit more of an idea about how to make them, though to be honest, what I was really after was a bit hard to find and a lot of the English tutorials were focused on cos-play versions, not authentic historical garment versions. Still good background knowledge to have. Everything else came from examining the hakama that I had on hand and trying to replicate it. 

I actually knew as soon as I decided I wanted to make one that I had the perfect fabric on hand already. From Ikea, of all places! I had bought two metres of this Japanese-looking maple print fabric a long time ago. It was so perfect for this project. I did some measuring though and found I would need at least another half a metre (for the ties), but I'd bought it so long ago it was no longer available! I did find it on the internet (Esty Canada) but paying what would work out to be $40 including shipping for a half a metre of material (that originally was $6/metre) just wasn't worth it. 

I ended up taking it to Spotlight and finding a matching plain fabric that worked for the ties. In the end, I actually think that was good anyway, since the hakama print combined with a yukata print can be a little overwhelming to look at; having the plain section in the middle to break it up is helpful. 

Deciding to just sew it on the machine, this was honestly the quickest article of Japanese clothing I've ever made. The pleats were the hardest thing, but otherwise, just so so straightforward, barely any seams (literally side seams, hem and then the ties - so minimal!) and all straight lines. If I ever need a quick palet cleanser again, this would be the garment to make!

I did about 80% of it (everything except the final sew of the ties) in a night and then left it with some heavy books on it to really help the pleats set in. It lay on the floor like that for a few days before I got around to finishing the ties. When it's all folded (in traditional origami-like Japanese style) it looks pretty dang cool. 

But even better wearing it to school. 

So hard to get a photo, so I waited until I came home and had these lovely girls help me. 

You can really see the split-side skirt nature of the hakama here. It was almost like having pockets to slide my hands into, and really, you could easily make some hidden ones to sit on the back of that front pannel with not a lot of hassle. 

I will say too, that a hakama is very "zero waste" sewing, since it was rectangles, the full width of the material, just cut to length and then sewn on to a waist band. Honestly, love this thing so much. The Ikea fabric was 100% cotton, but a heavier weight of fabric. Still, lighter than the wool one. I'd still like to make an even lighter cotton one, but for now, this is good. 

Happy days!

Bunting and Cake

Steve and I have entered the phase of our lives where the people around us are all having mile-stone birthdays. Turning 40 and stuff. I guess our turn is soon enough, but it was definitely a moment for consideration. 40? Really? 

Anyway, as with any big party, while most other people are thinking "Who do I invite?" or "What do I wear?", I'm thinking: do we have bunting for this? (Well, firstly "What food will we make?" of course, but the bunting is a very close second.)

Sarah was turning 40 and obviously needed bunting for her party. Even though I'd made bunting for her 30th, they were going for a "fancy cocktail theme" this time, so wanted some matching bunting for it. I didn't promise, given the "middle of term" nature of the party, but when it came to it, I did find six hours to sit at the sewing machine and make a new batch of bunting to suit. 

Bunting. So great. 

Our local Spotlight was actually closing down (just relocating) so I managed to get a good bargain on the fabric which was good. When you are trying to make specific themed bunting, it's much harder to source the material from stuff you already have. In the end, I was going for a black/gold look and I think I achieved it? 

Sarah liked it in any case. 

Ironically, when I asked her what cake she wanted me to make, she asked for the same one she did for her 30th - the Black Forrest Cake. I didn't think to look for that recipe at the time, but I still managed to find and use the exact same one, but with a few adjustments to make it more "actual cake" and less "goopy mess of cream and cherries". 

The little mini cupcakes were actually vegan friendly. I made them with the usual Shadowlands Cupcake recipe from Sophie's Bluey Cookbook, but added some of the cherry mix for flavour and then decorated to tie it in. Actually delicious and the fresh cherries were pretty sensational. 

Success for cakes too! 

Happy Birthday older sister! I guess if you are now 40, I'll definitely be there soon. :P 

The Flip Side

I feel like this should be a really excited kind of post, given that it is largely about Book Week and sewing, but alas, it is not. Sometimes I love sewing things. Most times, I could not be more excited when someone asks me to make a costume. But it turns out that there are times where I just couldn't care less; this is one of those times. 

It's been a pretty up and down kind of year. I was plugging away at the start of Term 3 feeling actually ok about life, but when it came to making Rachel a Nanny Piggins costume for Book Week, I somehow found  I had no real interest in it at all. 

The costume itself was quite straight forward, and I picked up a blue business shirt to Frankenstine into a drop-waist dress from the op-shop easily enough ($7 - bargain!) But actually sewing it was... let's say different. I didn't put it off, I wasn't lacking motivation. I got the job done, but I had about zero interest or excitement for it. It was honestly so weird. 

Rachel was so keen for it, since she loves Nanny Piggins, and I thought her enthusiasm would be infectious, but it was not. I made the little blue jacket out of some leftover fabric from the stash, so I didn't even have to brave a trip to Spotlight to make it happen, but I was so disconnected from sewing it that I didn't even bother to hem the dress or the jacket. 

I didn't know what it was then, and I still don't know what it is now, but I was absolutely meh about the whole thing. Weird. 

My take away from this is, that for everything in life, there is going to be a flip side. Times when you love it, and times when it's meh. And in those times, you just do it anyway. 

So I did it anyway, and, even if I never finished the hems, Rachel does love it. I knew I'd be off to work early on the day of Book Week, so I got the girls into their costumes on the weekend before to take some photos. Rachel couldn't find her book on that day, but was happy to pose with the chocolate wrapper since Nanny Piggins always has three types of chocolate stashed in her bag. 

On the actual day, not only did Rachel find her book, but also improvised pig ears out of balloons. Crazy child. Sophie went as Tilly from Tilly and the Book Wanderers, in a costume that I didn't sew anything for but did contribute to by making the bee necklace. 

Sweet Book Week Reflection

I would usually highlight a Japanese book for book week, but this year, I went in a saree. We have a large population of Indian students at our school and I wanted them to know I see them, and that their culture and language are respected and valued in our school too. The number of Indian parents who took the time to thank me for wearing their dress made the hours of practice putting it on worth it. 

What I do at school as a teacher is more than just my passion for Japanese. How are you seeing and recognising the various languages and cultures represented in your school, workplace or community?

The book, Amma’s Sari by Sandhya Parappukkaran, also perfectly encapsulates why I wear my yukata and kimono etc, as often as I can. Such a simple yet moving book for people who are representing one culture while living in another. 

My other Book Week posts will no doubt be late this year, since I've been swamped at work and quite overwhelmed with life at the moment, but reflecting on this beautiful saree and the choice I made to wear it gives me hope of a brighter future.