I rarely sleep well the night before an event. My friend Luke and I are running in an adventure race tomorrow, and I'm way too wired to sleep. I've run the City to Surf (14k) on about 3 hours of broken sleep and I tend to be fine - the adrenalin and fun of it pulls you through on the day. The race will consist of running, mountain biking and kayaking... and a lot of running round with a map looking for flags. It was an incredible amount of fun last year, so I can't imagine it'll be any different... Continue reading

Big day yesterday, followed by mostly disappointing day today, redeemed only by a LOVELY dinner with friends at my fav local Chinese restaurant tonight. I know it's Blogtober and all but... *snorrre* Continue reading

...that's the sound that I make every time I see ANOTHER thing I just wantwantwant. Yeesh. The idea of accruing desired purchases to the end of the month and *then* deciding what I'm going to get really does have some merit. So, the latest thing I'm dying to spend my money on continue to use my credit card on is: http://www.craftsy.com/class/design-and-sew-an-a-line-skirt/136;jsessionid=1C541AC937D757C982B11ABCB015176E.gnr Continue reading

Damn you, Buy Nothing New Month! *shakes tiny fist in rage* http://curlypops.bigcartel.com/product/you-sew-girl-beauty-case-pattern Nicole Mallalieu's latest awesome baggy pattern is up for pre order. Guess I won't be pre ordering it. Which is probably just as well, since I still haven't made the last 2 patterns I bought of hers, since I'm still struggling away at the pocket rocket handbag (I think my rocket ran out of fuel!) At this point today is all about: not being at work riding a bike (and getting it serviced) sewing a handbag going to yoga not being at work drinking nice coffee not being... Continue reading

Actually forgot to post pictures of the fantastic hat workshop I attended at Addicted to Fabric a couple of weekends ago... Here's a picture of me looking dorky. No one else wanted their photo taken. *Sigh!* This is it in action when I went kayaking with mum on the weekend :D Big day at work today. Definitely didn't spend anything! Also, discovered previously forgotten stash of pear cider in the garage when I went out to grab some other stuff. SCORE! :D Just one tonight, and off to bed a little early. You know you're tired when your clients point... Continue reading

It's happening!!! :D Slowly but surely the bag is coming together. It's literally taken me weeks - as a pattern tester I should have had it done within three weeks, and I'm now officially over time. Guess I owe the lovely Chris for her pattern. Well it's a win win situation because it's certainly worth paying for, despite it being ever so slightly beyond my current skills. Also... birdy cuddles. Not so bad with David away after all, finally they're paying me a bit of attention! :"D Buy Nothing New Month, day 15: asifIhadtimetospendmoneytodayanyways (success!) Continue reading

With my mum visiting for the weekend, and she being recently introduced to kayaking by her partner, we decided to give single kayaking a go. Her partner is a large, tall man, so when my tiny 5' mumsy was in the kayak with him, it was tough going, and she ended up just kicking back while he paddled, since her paddles hardly reached the water. Lol. So, an opportunity to actually have a go sounded like fun. We zoomed round a part of thd lake and had a peaceful little float out on the water, enjoying the still, clear day.... Continue reading

Today we went to Floriade and had coffee at one of the marquee cafes there. Despite Floriade's claim to "Environmental Care" (see more here http://www.floriadeaustralia.com/about-floriade/environmental-care), I was told that my Keep Cup was not able to hold the coffee that I had ordered and paid for. When I asked why, I was told it was an "O H and S issue, since we don't know what you've washed that in". I asked for their manager's name to give feedback and they refused, saying she was already aware of this, and that the problem wasn't management's decision, but rather a Health... Continue reading

Bikes. Pink helmets. Bookshops. Newtown. Late afternoon. A day well spent learning useful interesting stuff. Looking forward to dinner with mum and a friend I haven't seen in ages. Not bad for one day :-) And, despite numerous temptations in Newtown, bought nothing new. Though I do have that dinner planned. Lucky food doesn't count in Buy Nothing New Month, right? Continue reading

It's buy nothing new month, and although we are only 10 days on, I've lapsed twice. (I feel like I'm at confession! Lol) Since I did lapse, though, I thought I should at least show off my purchases. This is what I bought with this first lapse: an imaginary panda bear. With a stick. :-) cute, isn't she? I'm about level 25 by now and have reconnected with quite a few old WoW buddies. On the upside, day 10 was a SUCCESS, with no new purchases. Yey! Continue reading

Life is good. I know this. I really do. And I know my life is good. But sometimes I forget. I forget the most often when I'm depressed. I've been depressed for the past six months or so now. I've seen this black dog several times before, now, and I can tell you that while it still sucks, it gets easier every time you do it if you build your skills and remember that it won't last forever. Even though, at the 6 month mark, it feels like it will. I know this thought "it might be like this always"... Continue reading

I just had to pull over on the way to work this morning to take this photo! I would have gotten a much better shot of them right over the road, but I wasn't *quite* willing to break the law (not to mention follow that up by blogging about it! LOL) I love these cool mornings in Canberra when the bloons are out! Also, I gave myself a haircut. Yes, it's pale pink at the moment, but only *just*. I didn't want to go too heavy, and ended up going too light. On the upside, I think I'm really nailing... Continue reading

I am loved. I think I take this for granted sometimes. Oh, not in the "my relationships are at stake" kind of taking-for-granted but in the "oxygen? oh, yeah, um totally awesome, couldn't do without it" kind of taking for granted. Something invisible and just... there. My partner is away for a while. I left for work in the morning and we said our goodbyes briefly, almost normally, as though I would see him that evening. Being on my own is challenging for me - growing up in a big family and then living either in sharehouses or with my... Continue reading

I'm a huge pattern hoarder. Like I did with knitting, I have the urge to buy ALL THE SEWING PATTERNS. The lovely Erin of Dog Under My Desk http://erinerickson.com/store/patterns/the-essential-wristlet-pdf-pattern/ released a cute new pattern the other day. I'm desperate to buy it. Her two zip hipster baggie was the very first bag I ever made, and one of the first things I sewed on my machine. Her step by step instructions are up there with Nicole Mallalieu and ChrisW - not just a pattern, in my opinion it's a detailed and confidence-building sewing lesson as well! So what I've decided... Continue reading

I'm doing some pattern testing for the lovely Chris W at the moment. She clearly states that this pattern is "advanced". I'm pretty gutsy when it comes to trying new stuff (as long as it doesn't involve a high risk of breaking bones). I'll eat just about anything, I'll attempt just about anything, I'll try to make just about anything with or without a pattern. This bag, however, has me very. very. very frustrated. Mostly it's about the small details. Firstly, it's small pieces (this measures about 6cm at the base and just over 3cm at the top, so this... Continue reading

So. You know you've become obsessed with sewing when you go to a hens night and you don't take photos of all the silly cock paraphernalia. You don't take photos of your girly friends in their cutest outfits. You don't take photos of the bride to be bouncing about looking excited and adorable (oh hai Michelle!) What you photograph instead is the heaps cool belt-purse one of the other guests has on. With a couple of close ups for detail. And you think... "ooh! I could totally make one of those...!" Buy nothing new, day 5: Success! Continue reading

Another handbag sporting a cute new zip from the zippers workshop on the weekend. How sweet is the little heart shaped magnetic clip??? Oh, and by the way? Nothing new bought today! :-):-):-) Continue reading

Yep! I went to a sewing workshop on the weekend, and in the spirit of not buying anything new, I went into the stash to get fabric out rather than buying more. We have a couple of cute cushions at home made of dinosaur fabric books, and I bought this panel with the intention to make another, but the idea of making it into an adorable tote bag was way too irresistable. :) I love it! I cut the pieces so that I had a deinonychus on the front flap, a trex on the strap at the front, and a... Continue reading

It's buy nothing new month... http://www.buynothingnew.com.au/ as well as being Blogtoberfest! :D So I'm hoping to combine the two in an orgy of posting. Woohoo! (sounds like more fun than it will actually *be*, I suspect.) First day - it's actually the 2nd of October but better late than never. Today I was planning on going to Kmart to buy more of these http://shopping.aol.com/articles/2010/08/17/wicker-baskets/ but have decided that they will wait. Or I might even have other options open up before then. So, first day (day 2) I'm gonna call a near miss at this stage. Spent a bit of... Continue reading

No, this isn't about green energy or peak oil or any of that stuff - much smaller scale here. This is a post about fatigue. I don't know if I have CFS. The diagnostic criteria are so utterly confusing that I just can't work it out, the disorder and its diagnosis is controversial anyway, and diagnosis is generally a throw-hands-in-the-air "I can't find any other reason" deal. Three times in my life: early twenties, late twenties and early thirties, I've had rounds of every blood test/screen and hormonal tests, and last time I did this I got sleep studies done... Continue reading

These are a few shots of the finished product. The Canberra Tweed facebook page has heaps more photos of all the lovely people there - go over and have a look! Continue reading

Once I had the basic form done and the decorative buckle on the back, I glued it on top, trimmed to about 1cm, and poked the edges down in between the foam and the hard helmet form with pointy nosed pliers. Not the tidiest job, but it worked. I trimmed the side panels into ear flap shapes, got some woollen wadding and sewed it into the flap shapes, just with running stitch. In hindsight I really wish I'd done this before I'd glued it on, as it would have taken 1/4 of the time if I'd done it by machine... Continue reading

Here's how I made my fabbo leather-covered bicycle-aviator's helmet which I wore to the local Tweed Ride today. First, I got a nice sharp pair of scissors and an old leather jacket. The leather was quite thin and supple, almost stretchy, and my sewing machine had no trouble with it. First I cut a strip as wide as I could while keeping it flattish across the top of the helmet, from the front of the helmet right over to the back. I kept it a good 5cm longer at front and back to allow me flexibility and some breathing space... Continue reading

how time flies. I've been a very busy squeak, but not very committed to taking photos of what I've been doing. Sometimes I can't post pics until a certain time has passed, for instance, the pattern for the lovely clutch I've recently finished (and spent quite a lot of time on) was not released until very recently, and I wanted to hold off posting pics until now because it's a gift for my mumsy. So... The Eve Clutch! (get the pattern here - it's a top pattern, and suitable for people who are only just learning to sew - the... Continue reading