Work in the Garden

This post is a little late in appearing, but when I think about it, it makes me so happy, so I'm posting anyway, late or not. 

We officially celebrated our renovation as done in August this year, and then really made it feel like ours by planting all the things in the new garden beds. That happened in September, but you can see in the photos the total lack of a front fence. Our fabulous builders had attached the metal brackets to the retaining walls for us, so all we needed to do was bolt the posts to them and put the fence up. But of course, these things take some time. What a builder could probably knock over in a day and a half was absolutely going to take us a lot longer. 

So we procrastinated for a while. Steve and I weren't too bothered by the lack of front fence, for all it kind of gave the house a somewhat unfinished look. Steve's mum, on the other hand, was missing the privacy that comes with a front fence. Since she was the one living on the bottom floor, with the street view, we started to feel we should actually take care of the situation. 

Steve did some planning, and 3D modelling (because why not?) and more planning. He really thought through everything we would need and did all the research on where to buy what. Wood was ordered and delivered, and we did a couple of extra trips to get the posts and anything else we might conceivably need from Bunnings. We did the posts one Saturday afternoon, and then waited two weeks (there was a huge rainy weekend which cancelled any out door plans) before we continued with the palings. 

Are they still called palings if they run horizontally? I don't know, but that's what we did. This is where our project became really special. I think the girls might have been off playing in the creek, or just reading in the house, (who knows!) but Steve and I just got to work. It was hot, but there was a breeze, and the work wasn't hard. We both settled into a rhythm of working together really quickly. Steve would cut the lengths, I'd be unwrapping the next bundle to be ready. Then I'd take them over and start clamping them up. We'd check the plumbness together, then I'd drill the holes and Steve would take care of the screws. 

It was work, but it was together. While it took time, was hot and we did end up a little sore at the end of it, it wasn't terrible. For me, it was a real picture of what the Bible talks about in Genesis. When God creates Adam and Eve and they are in the garden, they are there together, to work. The work is good, it's not oppressive, tiresome or something to dread. This is what humanity was supposed to be: side by side, working together to look after the beautiful land and animals that God had created. 

And as I worked, side by side with Steve, complimenting each other's strengths and weaknesses to do the work, I honestly felt like I had a glimpse of that. It was pretty special. 

Now the fence is done, and every time I look at it, I'm reminded of what humanity has the potential to be, and the moment that I got to experience a small part of it. 

We had another week with a temporary mail box before installing this one from Bunnings. Getting those numbers up really made it feel done too, even though we still had to lop off the excess post bits that were still sticking up. 

And we have indeed lopped off the post tops, after procrastinating for another couple of weeks - these things take time you know! And wow, do we now feel like the work is done. 

For all that we were very excited by the fancy looking new house we have, I was also a little sad, because if the original owners drove past now, I think they would instantly think: "Oh, they knocked down our house and built a new one," because it's so unrecognisable now. But hopefully, if they take the time to look, they will see that we did indeed keep the original house there, because we love it and for all that we've done to it, it was the beginning of so many memories for us. 

Look at it grow!

 Not sure I could be happier with this little garden bed! 

Lady Bug Shorts

After Rachel made her Lady Bug Jumpsuit, there was still quite a bit of fabric left over. Enter October, when there was the usual growth spurt from both girls and the subsequent cupboard cleanout that comes along with a season change. Noticing some gaps in the shorts department, I was inspired to quickly sew up a couple of pairs with the leftover lady bug fabric. 

As always, the Cover Shorts make some beautiful shorts, and because I've made so many of them now, they are quite a quick sew. Got to love Rachel's cool music vibes in the photo below. We were waiting for her piano lesson when we took this photo. 

Both girls are stoked to have pockets and like that the red lady bugs feel a bit Christmasy. I left off the cuffs in favour of getting both pairs out of the fabric, but I did make them slightly longer, since the girls have grown up and not so much out in the latest season.

Even though I don't love that they have matching shorts, they are still pretty cute. 

Cactus

This might have been the first thing I made with my housewife in tow. My current pin cushion was something that I made with random scraps after the previous one, which was in a ceramic bowl, broke one afternoon. Must have been years ago, and I really didn't take much time with it, so it wasn't much to look at, much less use as a pin cushion. 

Time for a replacement. 

This took a couple of weeks and is so stinking cute. There is really not much to say about it. Made of felt and lots of hand sewing. The bottom is filled with rice so that it sits up nicely on my sewing table. 

Cactus pin cushion for the win. 

Housewife

I have recently been doing a lot more hand sewing. All the kimono that I've made this year, have been actually entirely hand sewn (see here, here, here and here). Which is kind of fine when I'm sitting a home sewing in front of the TV and I can just leave my little stash of fabric and supplies in a corner, but for that last kimono, I did a stack of travel sewing, from our winter holiday, to church each week. 

When I did this, I just threw everything into a brown gift bag, which worked, but was pretty average. Towards the end of it's life, it was also falling apart. I was toying with the idea of finding a better solution, or making something to pop all the supplies in, when I stumbled across this video from Sewstine on YouTube, about the 18th century sewing kits known as a "Housewife". 

Lots of information there, but suffice to say, these little sewing kits were well used by males and females throughout history. I loved the idea of having all my gear in something that could just roll up and out with everything easily accessible, so of course, I made one. 

I used the measurements roughly from the one that Sewstine does, though I didn't bother to embroider all the panels. I did consider some embellishments, but in the end, I just wanted to have something I could use and didn't want to take extra time. 

Maybe I'll make another one that's fancier, but this one is pretty great. I used up material from my stash for it. Rachel actually commented to me the other day "Mum, how come when you want to make something, you have everything already?" which I thought was pretty funny. You might recognise the outer fabric from this skirt, these skorts and this dress. The inner lining (and binding on the edge and the tie) was just from my stash, probably from my mum or even my Yia-yia. 

The watermelon pockets are actually some fabric I salvaged from taking apart a pencil case. A pen had leaked on the outer fabric, but the zips were still good, and the inner fabric was this beautiful watermelon print. There wasn't much, but I'm glad I saved it, because it was perfect for this. The scissors pouch was lined with a scrap of wool from my cape, and the outer fabric is a final remnant from my mum, which I used for the purple skirt in this post. 

On the inside, there is a big pocket at the bottom for threads, the scissors pouch, with a ribbon to keep them from slipping out and a scrap of felt (from Vulpix) for needles. Going up there is another little pocket and a pin cushion next to it. Then there is a little loop of elastic for my unpicker. Made it slightly fancier with a little silk flower. 

When I was sorting out the layout, I thought the small pocket near the pin cushion was a bit silly, but I didn't want a bigger pin cushion and I also didn't want a gap, so I put it in anyway. I'm actually really glad I did, because it's great for storing any little scraps or bits of thread that I cut off when I'm sewing until I can get home and pop them in the bin. 

I hand stitched most of the inside bits on, and even secured the ribbon with a bit of fancy embroidery. I think it kind of looks like the rose/flower that I was going for. I did stitch the first round of the binding on with Sally, but then I did finish it by hand. 

There's the other side, just so you know how it looks. The tie is only stitched on near one end, and it all folds up so nicely. Pretty chuffed with this little housewife. 

Yes, Again

 

We did Halloween again. Monday night made it much less of an event compared to last year. I told the girls they needed to put on something they already had and was quick, since they were coming home from jiu-jitsu and piano lessons. 

Sophie had been angling for face paint in the likes of Macavity the Mystery Cat. Luckily she was satisfied being Doreen Green again, and Rachel threw on her Bertha the Bee outfit which still fits from two years ago (and grabbed her nature bag for the lolly collection). 

Belated Baby Quilt Squares

The only thing belated about this is my blogging of it. I'm excited to do so now, because the baby in question has arrived safely, and that is always joyful news. 

For both of my girls and for Hugo, my mum put together a quilt where special people who had been in our lives for long and short times contributed a square. I didn't blog about Sophie's, but Rachel's is documented here, and you can see both of them in use in this rather funny photo recreation post. 

My younger sister was expecting a (now arrived!) little one and so the girls and I contributed a quilt square for his quilt. It was really cool to have the girls old enough to really add some sewing to this one, rather than the drawings they have donated to quilts in the past (see here and here). 

Rachel, the more sewing minded of my girls, was quite dedicated to the different embroidery stitches and had lots to say about how her square would look. 

Sophie was happy to do some decorative running stitches and let me do the rest for hers. But she was committed do giving it a good go. Good on you Sophie. 

We took a lot of inspirations from the squares on the girls quilts, and added our own flare. I hope this little baby loves his quilt just like my girls love theirs. 

Under the Surface

People ask me how the holidays were, and I honestly struggle to answer. Sure they were, on the whole, good; restful even. I got time at home, time with the girls, time with Steve. We had day trips to South Bank, and park play dates with friends. I made a table, oiled the deck, sewed a jacket. There was delicious dinners and fun lunches. 

But there were also moment of discontent. Of frustration and annoyance. Of feeling like things were not quite right. On top, we were doing fine, but under the surface I was feeling unsettled. The truth is, when someone asks how it was, there is never a good way to bring this side of things up. 

I think this feeling is pretty normal, and I'm happy to say that even though I have felt like this before, I know it will pass. The sun rises and sets, the days turn into weeks and if I keep my feet moving forward, somehow, I walk out of this unrest and into feeling content again. 

This is part of life that reminds me that what I have here and now isn't perfect. It's not what we are made for. What I'm experiencing is brokenness. Like I've turned the bowl and discovered a chip on one side, reminding me that I'm not always patient and kind or gracious and self controlled. 

The difficulty is expressing this discontent in a way that isn't complaining. That isn't morose and depressing. It's just a part of life, but for some reason, it's inexplicably hard to engage with or share. 

So yes, the holidays were good, but I was also not quite right for most of it. And that's ok. These moments remind me that this life will always be a little less than what we are dreaming for. My heart is longing for the day of perfection which is yet to come. In the mean time, Jesus tells me the kingdom is here and now, and that if I come and lay my burdens down, he will give me rest. 

Made a Table

What I've learnt from this blog post is that I am absolutely terrible at documenting things with "before" photos, and that my life would be so much easier if I got better at it. That said, let's dive in for the post for today!

My kids have had this little table that they use all the time. It actually was originally from my childhood and my parents passed it on to me when I was running the Family Day Care in the early years of life with Sophie and Rachel. The original chairs had died, but the table was still solid. A quick trip to Ikea sorted some new chairs and we got on with our little table life. 

This is the best, most recent photo I have of it, early 2021. Solid frame, but the table top bit was just chip board and had started to lift where the chip board was swelling. It did not get better, but we just kept using it. I was convinced however, that if we just replaced the table top, the table could continue to live a long and happy life. 

Enter the day that Rachel's dressing table drawers finally gave up. Rachel's dressing table was also a relic from my childhood, again, sturdy wood construction, but the drawer bases had popped out and the plastic runners they were sliding in on had started to split and fall off. When I took out the drawers to move the whole thing out of the room, what I saw was a whole lot of wooden potential for a table top. 

My original thought was to reuse the drawer fronts, but they were all nicely bevelled, and in the end I wasn't sure the three of them would fit nicely across the table. Also (I'll be honest), I couldn't get the handles off easily. But, there was an excellent surplus of wood in so many other places, that I figured I would just need to take it apart and make it work. 

So that's what I did. Holiday time came around and I started with the table, and then I unscrewed everything I could on the dressing table, and we borrowed a circular saw to do the final dismantling. The two side panels of the dressing table put together, fit perfectly across the table top. 

I sanded back the old table and cleaned it up. Then I put the new top together, with some extra support wood also salvaged from the dressing table. Rachel helped putty all the holes, even the ones no one would see. 

Steve did the final secure of the top to the frame with some brackets underneath, and I added one more extra support under the top just in case. Then I sanded the whole thing back some more and varnished it up. 

This table lives again. It's heavier, but it looks good, and I feel good knowing that two things that were previously destined for the tip have had their lives extended just that little bit more. 

Maybe one day I'll be better at before photos too. 

Jacket Adventure

At the end of my reflections on Me Made May this year, I realised that one item of clothing that I wear all the time and love, is a black, Calvin Klein, jacket which my sister gave me as a hand me down. I wore it heaps in May, but almost every day through winter this year; all the time. I don't think I could love this jacket more. So what became a passing comment at the end of May, stuck in the back of my mind: could I make a copy of this jacket? 

Enter September. The weather is warming up, and I'm using my jacket less and less. To be honest, recreating it was not high on my priority list given the weather change; if I did make a second one now, I likely wouldn't even get a chance to wear it until next April at the earliest. Still, the thought of doing it niggled at me such that one night I just decided to get on with it. 

My thinking was that recreating it would take at least one, if not two draft attempts, to get the fit right, so I may as well start now. I took an evening to trace out the shapes from the original jacket. Lots of shapes. It had seams in both the front and back, as well as darts in the back. The sleeves also had strange extra seams, but I ended up not bothering with those. The original jacket is unlined, but with facings, cuffs and welt pockets at the front, and an extra fake pocket flap on one side too. 

I went through my storage tubs looking for what would need to be a substantial amount of fabric to make an entire draft jacket with and stumbled across this wrap skirt. It was 100% cotton, but also quite heavy, I guess similar to what you'd want in a jacket. I thought it had come from my friend Megan down the road, but she can't remember it. Makes me think it might have come from Carrie, which means it's been in the stash for at least 12 years. Time to do something with it. 

I unpicked the waist band and lay it out with all my pieces. It looked like I would get most of the jacket out of the skirt, but I realised I needed to unpick the trim on the bottom edge to get the facings out of it too. An hour or so of unpicking later and we were ready to cut! 

Putting this together was mostly me making it up - I mean, in some ways, it's straight forward; darts, seams, sleeves, side seams, facings. But on the other hand: cuffs? Lining? Pockets? A second time round, I would absolutely do some things in a different order. It didn't help that after the first time I put it on and found it was fitting really well. 

Given that I didn't actually need to adjust anything major (just cut a bit off the shoulder seam at the armhole), I decided I may as well make this jacket a wearable toile. And then I figured I may as well attempt to line the whole thing too. Pro tip - adding lining to already stitched on facings is not the way to go. 

Mostly done, just going to add lining and buttons now.

Back to the box for lining fabric, I found this blue stripe which I had nearly enough of, and then added the remains of a Lorraine Lea pillowcase for the sleeves. 

Since you can't see the sleeves at all, it's almost like it's all the same lining fabric. 

The cuffs on the sleeves were the trickiest part. (You can see me contemplating different cuff length options in the photo above where I'm wearing it. The verdict from my sisters was the non-watch arm length.) I wear the original black jacket with sleeves rolled up all the time. 

Since I never roll them down, I wasn't going to bother make a replica with long sleeves, which to me translated to a total waste of extra fabric. But then I wasn't sure how long to make the sleeves, or how to do cuffs, or if I should make them able to roll in case I thought they were too long. In the end, I'm happy with the cuff length, but I did face the inside of the sleeve lining with another strip of the outer fabric so that if I want to, I can roll it up. 

I watched a tutorial or two on YouTube to get an idea of how to do the welt pocket with a flap. I've done welt pockets before, but you have to cut into the actual fabric, so it's not something you want to accidently get wrong. 

A couple of finishing things - loop at the neckline to be able to hang the jacket off and lastly, the tag from the original skirt, stitched into the lining on the inside. Just for a little bit of history. I only had two black buttons that would have been the right size, but mum had three lighter coloured ones, and Fiona advised to go with that, so I did. 

Couldn't be happier with the finished trial jacket. I actually love that it's got a print, even though I feel that's not usual in a jacket. I'll definitely be keeping this to try out in May next year and I'm excited to make another with some more serious jacket fabric. 

Rachel's Lady Bug Jumpsuit

Just want to keep a quick record of Rachel's latest sewing feat. 

For her birthday, she was given some lovely lady bug print denim from her cousin, Hugo. We talked about what she wanted to make out of it, and she decided on a jumpsuit. 

It was actually kind of fun brainstorming it with her, and finding out what she liked in her clothes. She wanted shorts, but no cuffs. Zip and elastic waist. No sleeves. Pockets on the pants, but not in seam, and none on the chest or back. 

We also talked about how to achieve it all, and what sewing features it would need given what she wanted as an end result (things like facings vs linings, for those sewing people playing along from home). We traced a jump suit she currently has and then made a quick mock up in some random fabrics to check the fit.

 

Success, so on we went to the real deal. Rachel wanted to wear this at a family event that was three days away, so I did way more of the pinning and cutting than I would have usually, but we were under a tight deadline. Rachel sewed it all like a champ on the little sewing machine - even the zip and the elastic. 

The pockets are lined with some lady bug silk from a tie of my dads, and I had just enough of it to use for to bind the edges of the neck and arm holes. Zip came from the stash too. 

Rachel is super happy with her fun jumpsuit, and I'm pretty proud of this little sewer.