Pockets, pockets and pockets

I made another dress last week.  It is 100% cotton, 3/4 sleeves with two front pockets.  At first, I was convinced the fabric was too thin but will all the sweeps and three layers for the big front pockets, it hangs very well and doesn't cling to parts of mine like my other two dresses that I made recently.  It's always a weird thing buying fabric and hoping it will conform to the ideas that I have in my head about how fabric should look and feel.  

I got an amazon voucher from my dear brother for my birthday at the end of March.  It was a truly lovely suggestion but I'm clueless what to buy with it.  I know fabric would be the obvious choice but I like to see a piece of fabric in real life and to touch it as well.  I need to see it and feel the weight of it to get some idea IF it will work for me.  I'm quite picky about fabrics.  Also, I find amazon's search features for fabrics, well, frustrating to say the least.

I haven't been as creative as I would like to buy as my dear son wants to go for long walks lately and really, it is England after all and when the sun is out, you really have to take advantage of it.  Yesterday's walk was just over 8 miles from Silsden to home.  We haven't done that walk before and it was definitely a winning walk.  Stretches of nice houses, woods and views of the countryside and very little people.  We definitely decided to include that on our list of walks for the future.

Apart from that, I had a job offer but I'm waiting for references still.  I imagine it will still be some time as it is the Easter Holidays now and my references I supplied are teachers as obviously, I was in education for 7 years.  SEVEN years.  I'm still desperately trying to escape that unhappiness.

I am now going to cut some pattern pieces for my next project, pictures will follow:

You can visit my Facebook page for more details on this dress:

Another Day, another dress

Lately, life has been a cycle of job hunting, working on my data collection for an upcoming website, food preparation, chores and walks.  I would probably be enjoying life if money wasn't an issue and I could enjoy this time off...however, the other day, I realised that I love dresses.  In the summer, I live in dresses but never really thought about dresses all year round...however, as I grow older, comfort is a big factor in my wardrobe.  I have to be comfortable in what I wear and I find I dislike some items of clothing more and more as I grow older.

Things I've discovered about myself...I dislike things around the waist, Just no.  I feel boxed in, suffocated, bloated so no.  I like something that I can slip and not have much more effort in wearing clothes.  Shoes have to be comfortable.  I have to look the feel and the look of the fabric.

That said, I made another dress for the slightly warmer weather.  I have a feeling that I will live in this dress soon.  I'm pleased with the results.

Dresses and Changes

I have many reasons for making my own clothes.  For starters, I was so disappointed in the lack of variety, poor quality material and fabric...it actually started to depress me going into clothing stores.  I wanted better, my own style, natural fabrics so I started to make my own clothes.  Granted some of my earlier clothing is still in great shape but my tastes have changed.  I feel like it has been a voyage for me, learning who I am again and what I like.  I've discovered that I am not a fan of trousers, that I love dresses, I love patterned tights, I love coloured shoes, that I love cotton...and more importantly that I love to sew and knit and I'm not bad at it either.

I have also discovered on my voyage of making my own clothes that my skills have improved, along with this, the quality of my own clothing has improved.  I am able to modify and adapt patterns to fit me now, I add french seams to my tops and dresses so I have no messy frayed edges inside, I have an overlocker that makes me feel like I have a finished, tidy object.  

For my knitting, I am understanding more about lace knitting, I am able to look at a pattern, dissect it and reassemble it into something that I love and this has been a wonderful thing.  I still feel like I'm growing older but happy with my new identity, my new look.  I've forgotten that I'm not defined by boundaries that other people put in place, that I am still me, I am still that individual that never fit in at 18 and now that I'm 50, why should that be any different?

This dress is for sell in my Etsy shop on special order.  I love the fabric and hope I can find it again as it is a beautiful cotton needlecord.  I wear it all the time and it has never faded or lost it's shape.  It is my favourite dress in my wardrobe at present and I plan to make more.

It has been a while

I haven't blogged for a very long, long time.  I've lost touch with the blogging world as my world fell apart around Easter this year.  I had to walk away from my job and completely just shut off for a while.  However, there was a silver lining in all this upset, turmoil and conflict in my life...I began sewing again and even sold my dresses.  

I published pictures online in a group on Facebook and received some orders for my dresses and sold about 7 items of clothing.  Then, I thought at last!  And it just fizzled out.  I don't know what to do next.  I'm not very good at promoting myself.  I know I need to improve this, but my self esteem took such a kick in the guts this year, I really have struggled to pick myself up.

I want to be positive again, creative and have a better work life balance.  I keep getting emails from former colleagues and my tutor asking me to return to teaching and not to give up.  I really don't think they understand what it was like me for me at my last school.  I just can't do it any more.  However, I am starting to job hunt again.  I will rebuild that confidence that I once had.  I will also publish another knitting pattern and hold more competitions to win prizes!  I will blog again and share my projects and create an Autumn collection of clothes to buy in the shop as well.  All of this will happen.  It has to because I realise now that if I'm creative I'm at peace with myself and my life does fall into place then.

I thought I'd post some pictures of dresses and tops I made.  Maybe it will inspire people to buy something from my shop!

My friend Carol looks stunning in my change of hearts dress

A simple wrap dress, the fabric is 100%

I have two versions of this top, one with little sleeves and one that is sleeveless

Simple Knitting

After I knitted my cardigan, the feedback I got was that it was beautiful but some of my friends found the idea of knitting a cardigan quite daunting.  They requested that I make something more simple that they could knit for themselves.  

I thought about this and remember how I began knitting and how I made scarves.  I found scarves allowed me to experiment with different textures and designs without having to worry about tension and blocking.  I used to have a large collection of hand knitted scarves, but gradually over time, some of them have been donated to charity and gifted to friends.  I remember one Autumn, I made four scarves as Christmas presents to some of my closest friends.  However, I wanted to design something a little different from just a plain scarf, so I decided upon a cowl.

I wanted a cowl with texture.  Originally, I was going to do a mock cable cowl but upon research, there was several already out there with that same idea.  In the end, I did something that I made up on the spot, the includes a moss stitch and a basket weave.

This was the end result:

I'm quite pleased with this and the pattern is available to purchase here.  I hope that people will buy, especially those that requested something more simple and manageable.  I think it is pretty and versatile for someone with some experience with knitting.

I will put it up for a competition at some point as well.

When Times Passes

I've wanted to blog again and yet, it hasn't happened for a very long time.  It is too long of a story to talk about what happened to my time.  The short story is I had a job and it was too consuming, too overwhelming, too upsetting and I left.

So now, I'm at a crossroads yet again in my life, wondering what to do next and what will work for me.  I was so unhappy for so long that I don't want a repeat of that experience.  I had days when I cried and just felt so utterly alone, desperate to have something, to feel more positive and it wasn't happening.  I had moments when I felt like I was suffocating, just alone with my thoughts.  I would come home, be surrounded by two other people and still feel utterly empty.  Days turned into weeks and then months.  I realise that is deeply personal, all of this but maybe you'll understand...sometimes you just have to walk away.

However, out of something bad, something good came out of it.  I knitted a cardigan, I designed it myself and I live in it.  I wanted something that would be a classic style that I would just treasure for years, that would be me.  

Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

I am going to write up the pattern and have it published on raverly where you can buy the  pattern. Not the cardigan as that is my labour of love, it was my sanity, my quiet time away from all the demons in my heart and in my head.  I will give you the link when I finish the pattern.

From now on, between jobs, it will be my creative time, MY time, doing the things that make me remember there is more to life than stress and emptiness.  I feel like I've been stuck in a loop for so long, just going in circles, chasing my tail and I'm just exhausted so wish me luck on my next venture.

Summertime and Creative Pursuits

I haven't been blogging for a very long time.  Real life and my teacher training commitments zapped any energy I had for anything creative for almost a year.  I had zero energy and for the winter, life was literally, teaching on my teaching placement, preparing for my lesson, doing university and little else.  My teaching placement was also a regular pain in the backside to get to and it meant I was out of the house for 6:15am five days a week.  I had so much to work to do that none of my school holidays felt like holidays, just extensions of lesson planning, preparing my teacher training portfolio and working on university work...the only difference was I could do it from the comfort of my own home.  However, there was a light at the end of the tunnel and I am now officially a computer science teacher in Secondary Education.  Hooray!  

I do have things to prepare for over the course of the summer but for me, there is something ever so nice about having free time.  I almost forgot what that was.  So far, I've made 4 tops for myself, done a vine lino print and I'm currently sat here with a nearly complete cardigan on my lap.  I'm currently piecing it together and I will no doubt have to watch some youtube tutorial on how to do the neckline. How did I ever learn anything before the days of youtube videos?  They are my problem solvers videos to any things that don't make sense or I do not understand in sewing or knitting patterns.

Owl top number one.

Flowered top number two

Here are two pictures of two sleeveless tops I've made.  They only took an afternoon to make.  I have also made a long sleeved and short sleeved version, pictures should eventually follow.  One of the things that has transformed my bad attitude to pattern cutting is a rotary cutter.  How on Earth did I manage before?  It is so much easier and more precise.  I don't think I could ever go back to using scissors to cut out a pattern.

Normal life has been fairly stressful.  I have a new teaching job in the Autumn but it is the most awful place to reach by public transport.  We are currently house hunting and you know what stress that brings.  We are also on a time scale, no pressure there.  I wonder if we are being too picky or if we got lucky with this house (apart from one set of neighbours).  The houses I see are either too small, wrong location, out of budget, no parking, fixed furniture, kitchen with not enough room for our fridge.  Then when I see a suitable house, bham!  It's gone, let already...so I continue to look.  I feel like I spend far too much time trailing through houses to let...I see the same old houses with stupidly high rents still sitting there because someone won't lower the rent and the rent is just too expensive for most people.  There has got to be something out for us...

Back To School

I have been very busy lately, adjusting to my new life of being a student again.  I'm doing my teacher training to be a Computer Science teacher in Secondary Education.  As it is a postgraduate course, I hit the ground running.  There is tons of reading, assignments, lectures, observations and countless other stuff.

It has been a whirlwind and I'm trying my best to maintain some kind of work/life balance thing.  Of course, this is no easy task as it's hard to know when to stop, how much to do, etc.   However, yesterday I was very focused and spent the entire afternoon doing subject based knowledge revision so tomorrow I only have to modify/update/proof-read my final version of my coursework that is due on Tuesday.

Which means today I have a FREE day!  Woo hoo!  I'm actually very excited about this.  A guilt free day to indulge myself however I see fit.  I am going to go out shortly with my son for a long walk, possibly to Salts Mill.  Salts Mill is definitely one of my favourite places in Yorkshire.

Books, books, books!

Hopefully, I'll have a bit more free time to do some sewing as well.  I had a sewing frenzy two weeks ago and completed two nice tops as well.  I need to post images of those but every time I remember this, one of them is in the laundry basket or the ironing pile.  I promise to post pictures of those very soon.

I also want to watch the Matthew Collings show on Abstract Art on the iplayer later today. I find what Matthew Collings has to say about Abstract Act absolutely fascinating.  It is so hard to believe that art was once so influential and had such an impact on society.  Today we seem to be immune to the messages of art or numb or something.  It makes me sad as I find art so inspiring, it leads me to different paths and trains of thought in how I feel about life and myself.  Art should never be ignored.

Tops!

Last week, I went to the Hepworth Museum in Wakefield with my son.  I wasn't overly impressed (beautiful building with mediocre exhibitions) and we both saw everything there was to see in 45 minutes so we decided not to eat in the cafe there (who pays £8 for a BLT sandwich???) and go to Leeds instead...especially since it was on our way home.

It turned out to be a worthwhile trip as we had a super cheap lunch for £4 for the both of us and I got some lovely fabric for £6!  It wasn't enough for anything big and exciting but just enough to make a sweet little top.  Here are the results below:

Lovely soft cotton

It only took me a day to make, in between various jobs around the house (heaven forbid I stay focused on one activity at one time...that just seems to be beyond me.  I get so easily distracted.) ...so I'm pleased with the results.  I hate tight fitting clothes on me but equally, I have this fear of things looking like tents on me.  Yes, I'm closer to fifty but that doesn't mean I have to wear clothes that make me look shapeless and without any personality!  I'm starting to gain more confidence with modifying patterns to suit me more.  A nip here, a tuck here, etc.  It's been a process but a worthwhile one.  I have another top I'm making and will, hopefully, finish today.  Then I can post those results as well.

I've been looking on pinterest for sewing and knitting inspiration as well as tumblr.  I have to say I like the look of tumblr better than pinterest but pinterest wins hands down for dress inspiration.  I found a wonderful clothing designer with lovely timeless dresses in Liberty fabrics and my head was spinning with ideas for clothes for the Autumn.  I really need to be on the ball for the Autumn.  I keep reading up on my dress code and course expectations and I really, really, really do not want to be in bland, awful, dull clothes but still look smart!  I want colour, I want timeless, I want dresses, not plain black trousers, black cardigans and plain shirts.  Oh my.  I do have a lot of work to do, don't I?

Finished Dresses

As promised, two photos of the finished dresses.  Both are pink flowers.  One is a lightweight fabric and the other one is a sturdy cotton.  I added belts to both of them to stop them looking like tents.

For your viewing pleasure, I give you dress number one:

Yes, I make a rare appearance in this photo

And now for the second dress (minus me):

A pale pink but heavy sturdy cotton.

I have to say I like the second one better than the first.  I think that mainly because the second one the fabric is a good quality cotton while the first one, I'm not sure what the material is but it is very lightweight and feels flimsy in comparison.  I'm sure that both will grow on me.  I'm getting there with my hand made wardrobe...slowly but surely!

Sewing Project Update

I've been busy with life and sewing.  I'm currently in the process of making some dresses for the Autumn.  I spent time researching and looking for a dress pattern that I would like and finally bought what I thought was the best pattern.  However, there is still a lot of trial and error going on with the sewing process.

The first dress I have made is with some fabric my mum bought me from Liberty.  She says its a cotton but it has a strange silky feel to it and I can't find it any where on Liberty's website to verify what it is.  I did wash it first before sewing as it stank heavily of perfume!  The fabric is a little too light and floaty and creases incredibly easily.  I still have the edging to do on the little capped sleeves and make a belt for it.  I took it in yesterday to stop it looking tent-like but it still seems that bit too wide.  I need to find a balance between it looking too floaty and clinging to the wrong parts of my body.  We don't need to emphasize some aspects of growing older!

The second dress is made of cotton, 100% woven cotton.  This dress already feels much nicer and since the cotton has some weight, it hangs much better.  I only have the sleeves left to do on this dress.  Both dresses are actually pink flowers.  I am not normally a pink person, I'm trying to step outside my comfort zone and have more of a variety of clothes in my wardrobe.  We'll see.  I prefer my blues and greens.  This said, my next dress will be a pale blue with Paisleys.  I think this dress will have more of an appeal to me.  Who knows?

But for now, there are no pictures as they are works in progress.  But I promise to post them as soon as the dresses are finished.  It won't be long now as I spent all of yesterday sewing and plan to continue today.  The weather forecast is wet and overcast with grey skies so it is always encouraging to do my sewing.  Also, my other half has taken the PS3 down to London with him while visiting his family!  Noooo!  I was playing "Dishonoured" and loving it....so yeah, no distractions so I am being on the ball with my sewing.  Of course, you all knew that there had to be some hidden factor behind this sudden burst of "motivation", didn't you?  You know me all too well.

Bags and Fun

I finally finished work for the summer last week.  It was, without a doubt, one of the best weeks I've had in a seriously long time.  I had a friend visiting from the States.  I haven't seen her in 25 years!  She's currently touring around Europe and I was on her list of people and places to visit.  I was hugely flattered she took time out to visit me.

She was sick of cities so we went on day trips out to surrounding towns and little villages.  We went to Saltaire, Hebden Bridge and Heptonstall.  The weather was gloriously sunny and warm.  It was fabulous to catch up with everything that has passed over the long period of time.  I knitted her a lace scarf on her visit as well.  I really should have taken photos of it but I completely forgot.

However, I have some photos to share with you of a finished project that was a collaboration between me and my other half.  Its a bag for a friend in the States:

The exterior shot

The interior with pockets and lining

Isn't it sweet? I'm also working on a light weight summer cardigan but I'll save that for later.  Hope your summer is as lovely as mine has been.

Cranberry Cardigan Update!

Sometimes life gets busy and its that routine and work and home and other commitments.  The positive thing is my son has finally finished his GCSE exams, all 24 of them.  It meant endless days of revision with me asking him questions from his revision guides, going through past papers and trying to be supportive.  But its finished and he is home for the summer, just relaxing.

Now that he has finished...my cardigan is nearly complete.  Here it is with the front and backs attached:

Hey, hey its taking shape.

And here's a shot of it with the sleeves attached:

Nearly there!

There's still blocking to do and the button to add on top but yes, its nearly complete.  Obviously, I would not wear this fitted cardigan with the clothes I'm wearing in the pictures.  They just happen to be the clothes I was wearing at the time when I took these photos.  I have plans to make two dresses to compliment this cardigan and I have two tops that would go nicely with this cardigan.  

I also need to write the pattern out and post it to raverly as its my own pattern.  Yup, I designed this cardigan myself.  I promise more artistic and better pictures when its complete.  But I'm pleased with it immensely.  Next project is well, I haven't decided the truth be told.  Stay tuned.

Two New Dresses

I'm hoping that the weather will be reasonable enough to wear two new dresses I made this past week.  I can hope.  They are both 100% cotton and from the Stylish Dress Book, one of my Japanese pattern books.  I got the book from Salts Mill and I've made two tops from it last summer.  I made them "large" even though, I'm hardly what I'd call a large person.

First off, the blue flower dress:

Pretty blue flowers

This dress should have been so simple to make but the neckline caused me no end of grief.  I kept getting confused which way to put the pieces and I had to unpick the neckline twice.   The original pattern called for five pleats in front but I opted for a gathered neckline instead.  I'm glad I did.  It hangs much nicer this way.

The second dress is fabric my son picked out.  Its a box style dress.  If I was to make it again, I'd make it a little smaller but live and learn.  Here's a picture of the end result:

It has two pockets on the front as well.

I figure I could actually wear this in slightly cooler weather with some tights and a long sleeve t-shirt underneath.  I'll probably wear this on weekends and when I'm not working.  Remember, stupid dress codes and other people's ideas about what you should and shouldn't wear.  I might be accused of having too much fun in this dress.  Enough of my whining.  Two dresses completed.  Oh how I love time off from work!

Digging and Thinking

Yesterday it was actually sunny out.  A much needed sunny day to get me out of that dark hole that is my mind.  Sunday I ended up being one of those tedious moods where it just rained, the whole house felt damp and with that, my mood was definitely damp, cranky and impatient with myself, my life and especially, the weather.  I don't mind one day of rain that I'm happy to stay in and do my knitting or sewing but when it goes on and on...well, I feel like I'm climbing the walls quite literally.

So the young man and I went out for a blissful walk to clear our heads.  We found a £5 note on our travels so our drinks and chocolate brownies cost £1.20.  Always a bonus when you live on a tight budget.  When we got home, he settled down in a better mindset for revision, while I finally got stuck in with the garden.  I cut the grass, pruned some bushes back, weeded the garden and tidied up the edging.  Here are the results:

I spent hours doing this but you wouldn't think to look at it now

It looks much tidier but in need of more colour.

I want to get some snapdragons or something...something to brighten it up a bit.  Anything would be an improvement.  This year I said no to sweet peas.  Every year my parents get me some and its this search of find some suitable sticks to tie them to and then I lost interest in looking after them.  I prefer my old house and its brighter garden.  This one has too many trees over looking it and its ALWAYS dark.

Today, the young man and I went out for lunch with my parents.  It was enjoyable and afterwards, they went home and we went out browsing.  I got fabric to make something else.  Just as well because yet more rain is forecast for tomorrow.  Because clearly we haven't had enough of it this year.

Lace Borders

The weather in the UK has been typical for a Bank Holiday weekend.  Cold, wet and dark.  It is pretty miserable to say the least.  However, being indoors has allowed me to crack on with on-going projects.  When I say on-going, I mean ones that are taking longer than they should.  I don't really know why this is anything new.  It happens in life.  I have all these ideas and inspired ideas and then I come home from work...drained, lifeless and unmotivated.  Ugh.  I really need to kick that habit.

However, I've had a few days this week where I've been knitting while watching telly on a night and cracking on with my projects.  So work is actually progressing and MOVING forward.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I feel that inner peace again.  Yes, yes and yes.  I need that.  I'm tired of feeling like its just work and home and just that blah feeling from life.  That feeling where you are not feeling content within yourself.  Just restless and unsettled...but nothing you can put your finger on.  I hate those times. 

So here is one nearly completed side of my cardigan.  I'm being ambitious (for me) and knitting a lace border.  This side has NO mistakes...unlike the first side which has one or two and I'm seriously thinking about unpicking it back to those mistakes now.  Before I was going to leave it...but well...it will bug me if I leave them now.  So, for your viewing pleasure:

One side of a cardigan.

This is not normally a colour I'd normally wear but I'm trying to step outside my "comfort zone" with regards to colour.  I think for the past few years, I have to conform to a dress code at work and my sense of style went completely out of the window.  I can't even begin to tell you how sick I am of my work wardrobe.  Its drab and makes me feel older than I am.  Enough of that crap.  So what if I'm getting older, we all are.  I can still have my sense of style and individuality.  Clothes can be beautiful and make you feel good about yourself.  I don't have to resign myself to cream blouses and black trousers for work, do I?  I hope not...

Made Me May

I didn't know this as I'm always a bit slow on trends, events, fashions, etc. but its "Made Me May" month.  I found out about it in Ysolda's blog and read more about it here.  I had no idea but anyway, I decided this week to dress in something I made at least three days a week.  And you know what?  I did it.

On Monday, I wore my mandarin shirt.  Tuesday, I wore my paisley and roses shirt and Thursday, I wore my olive green cardigan.  Tomorrow, I will wear my owl top or something else.  I still have great lengths to go with regards to producing my handmade wardrobe but its a three day weekend so time to sew a dress!

I have great ideas for this dress I want to make.  I've been looking at Pinterest for ideas.  One of the things, oh it pains my heart....that I actually fell in love with was this tunic dress.  Lisette 2245.  Oh its so my style but sadly out of print!  NOOOOO!!!!  I even discovered a pinterest board with admirers of this dress.

Oh how I wish for this:

Tunic Perfection
 

Awww.....how could such an unique and timeless pattern as that be out of print?  Its a real shame.  I even looked on ebay.  Yup.  Still, more pictures to come of more sewing inspired ideas and a some works in progress knit-wise.

Cream, short sleeved top

I spent most of Saturday and a little bit of Sunday sewing another top for myself. This one doe not have the mandarin collar but just a simple round neckline. I was supposed to put some lace around the sleeves and the bottom of the shirt but I think it would have looked too busy. Also, I only had bit of one cream lace in the house and I didn't really want to venture out just for a bit of lace.

Here are the results:

I decided against the lace in the end but it looks fine.

I have been enjoying this creative time sewing tops but now I need to focus on skirts and dresses. I have 2 lots of fabric left. Actually 3 lots of fabric. I have one pink one with lots of flowers, a blue and green flower one and finally an olive green one with leaves and vine patterns on it. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

I have found it very therapeutic sewing as of lately. I've been very careful with my sewing and making sure to iron pieces to get a neater finished top. It has been working. While I sew, I find I stop beating myself up about life in general. I feel just calm. Isn't that what everyone needs?

Cost Effective and Long Overdue Update

One of my friends recently asked me an interesting question about my sewing. I was sat across from her and I was feeling pleased with a top that I sewed the other week. I told her I made this top and then she asked me if sewing was cost effective. That was it, no other questions, just that. Was sewing cost effective?

Now, that's a tricky question because it is all relative with regards to what some people consider cost effective and what isn't. How do you measure cost effective? Price of materials? Time spent sewing? Quality of items made? What specifically? Also, other questions such as it depends upon how much money people spend on clothes, what they consider to be quality and how important are clothes to them? Do they spend hours looking for the “perfect piece” or just buy something cheap and cheerful but disposable?

Olive green cardigan.  Isn't it sweet?

First off, sure I could actually buy myself a mass produced, cheap generic top from certain stores for cheaper but is that what I want? The answer to that is no. I have realised as I grown older, I'm tired of cheap, mass produced, poor quality clothing. I want something that is unique to me, something that I could consider good quality, made with love and care plus attention to detail. I don't mind spending a day or two making something for myself. I find it hugely rewarding. I like that by making my own clothes, I have choices about style, colour, patterns, quality of materials and type of material. It is my way of expressing myself uniquely. I do not have to follow a fashion or a trend, rather clothes that suit me, my body shape, my personality and my sense of style. Why does that have to end at my age? I used to pride myself on being an individual when I was young. Now that I'm older, why should that change?

Green Dragon Fly Top. 

Secondly, dress codes. My past three jobs have all had dress codes. You have to look smart and professional. I hate that. I'm not going to lie, I hate having to conform to a dress code. For the past couple of years, my wardrobe has been bland, mainly blacks and generic tops. I do not look in my wardrobe and look forward to wearing something. I wear the clothes for work because I have to, it is expected of me. Blah. Well, that has to change. How you dress does affect how you feel. I can still look smart and professional. But the clothes do not need to be outrageous or bland. That can be just me. 

Owl Top with kick pleats in the front.  Hides a multitude of sins.

In the past couple of months, I've made 3 tops and knitted one cardigan for myself. I have enough fabric to make 3 more tops and a dress. I'm currently knitting another cardigan for myself. I have an A-line skirt pattern for myself. I intend to make some skirts as well to coordinate with my new tops. The range of colours is blues, greens, pinks, rose reds and creams. Patterns are varying from purple owls to flowers to simple spools of thread. My cardigan I'm knitting is a deep shade of cranberry. Yes, there will be some black in my wardrobe but not as much. 

Blue top made with fabric that was a gift from my son.

 So there has been much progress in my life with my handmade wardrobe. Its high time. I should have done this years ago. So it is cost effective? Yes to me. You can't put a price of feeling content with life.

Winter Blues

I haven't been my normal self lately.  This usually happens in the winter when I go to work in the dark and when I get home, its getting dark.  This winter is no exception and what's worse is the lack of sun.  I am so sick of rain.  I appreciate that they have been having terrible weather in other countries, but the rain in this country gets rather tiresome.

I am looking forward to brighter and sunnier days.  However, with it only being January...that really is a long way off.

On a more positive beat, I've sewn myself another top.  Its in bright greens, creams and browns.  Wonderful shapes, almost like vines and stone staircases combined...or that's what my imagination says to me.  I have some more fabric that is of vines!  I got three metres of it so I'm really debating what to make with it?  A tunic dress, another pleated blouse, maybe combine it with other fabric?  Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure:

Green and browns!

I am still knitting my cable yoke cardigan.  I am currently on the yoke itself.  Its taking a while as its a 14 row repeat and I have to do that sixteen times.  Its not the kind of thing I can do while I'm watching telly...well I do, but only if its a programme that doesn't require my full attention.  I don't know where people get this idea about multi-tasking...it doesn't really pan out for me that well.

I did have several days over the Christmas holidays of knitting and listening to music on 8track.  Is anyone else there? I love that you can create, share and listen to other people's mixes.  I have found some amazing mixes featuring some wonderful Icelandic bands and singers.  Jonsi is just wonderful.

Music is a curious thing.  For me, as I've grown older, my music tastes have mellowed considerably.  I used to be into punk and new wave as a teenager and some trash.  Now that type of music makes me feel edgy, uptight, irritable and just plain uncomfortable.  Yet, surprisingly, I have wonderful memories of that time, of places and of people.  But as for the person I was back then...well, I'm happier now.  I think its been a long journey for me to feel comfortable in my own skin as well. 

Feel free to say hello to me sometime too.  I often wonder what kind of people read my blog.