The appeal of an Onion

I have a few Onion patterns in my stash

and a "wish" list for more.

They seem to be nice, simple designs

but sadly I have been disappointed to date

with the couple that I have made up.

Over the weekend,

I grabbed Onion 2022 and made it up using a Spotlight printed knit.

It came together really well

(all the unpicking that I had to do was self inflicted)

and suited the soft draped fabric that I had chosen.

But (yes, there is a "but")

there is a noticably low cleavage.

And we aren't talking the

"oooh-I-am-a-forty-plus-year-old-woman-should-I-be-a-bit-daring-at-dinner-out-this-week".

We are talking the "well-hello-sailor-my-name-is-Luscious-Lovelips-and-I-am-looking-for-a-good-time-how-about-it?"

I think I feel a bit more comfy with a cami underneath.

In fact, I love it (with the cami)

So the jury is still out on Onion patterns.

I will try a couple more and see how they go.

They are simple patterns that come together quite quickly and buying from the above site gives you free English translations with most patterns.

Good thing as my Danish sucks

and there aren't any pictures in the patterns.

Nb: the cropped photo is a consequence of trying to post with the camera on a timer and balanced on its side with a stuffed toy and a remote control holding it in place.

However, it was better than this one...

...don't you think?

Colette Sencha blouse

I love the Colette range of patterns.

The vintage feel to them,

the way that they suit curves,

the gorgeous styles.

The Sencha blouse is very sweet.

I used a vintage fabric

and it is hard to appreciate the pattern

but there are tucks at the front and back

and I made the keyhole neckline (version 3)

I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out

or how it would suit me

but I was very happy with the result

and will certainly be making other versions of this.

The pattern designer may well shudder at the "slipper" look

but what can I say?

On a sewing day,

it is all about comfort.

Getting ahead.

I can't believe how much sewing I got done over 2 days at our Adelaide meet up this weekend.
No computers, no interrupting children, no interrupting husbands, no domestic duties...

I got my 5 planned projects done

plus still had time to pick up a pair of circular knitting needles

and try to work out what to do with them.

Farbenmix Olivias are one of my favourite patterns.

Super quick to sew up

and a lovely line to the body of the dress.

These are the next size up-

for the little goddess to wear next year

as she already seems to have a lot of clothes at the moment...

Strawberry French terry and striped Campan fabric.

(Sleeves left unhemmed till she is ready to wear it)

Shortened the hood on this one.

The second is short sleeved with the knotted tail to the hood.

Brown floral is a Spotlight knit and the pink stripe is a Campan knit.

Lucky little ol' me.

I was blessed to win the latest Crafty Mama's blog giveaway.

The gorgeous and very talented Peta,

to be found hanging out over at One Little Stitch

knitted the Citron Shawlette from Knitty to giveaway.

And it is a good thing too.

As a crocheter and about-to-be-knitter,

I have never blocked anything.

So now I have to.

Thank you Peta.

A very generous giveaway

and an appreciative winner.

Heaven is...

...a weekend of sewing, crafting, chatting, drinking good coffee
and laughing a lot

with friends.

(and might I add, you can get soooo much sewing done when you don't have offspring within a 5km radius)

Mathematics for parents

Question 11:

If a child, aged 3 years and 3 months,

does a 3ml wee on the toilet

and uses 59 pieces of toilet paper,

how many pieces of toilet paper will said child use when she actually does a poo?

Bonus question for an additional point:

What is the best way of dealing with said 59 pieces of toilet paper

without stuffing up the sewerage?

(image from blogs.menupages.com)

Drink water with health benefits for millions of people.

(from mynewsletterbuilder.com)

I am not a person who buys bottled water,

that is, not unless the need arises on a hot or active day when I am caught with 3 young kids without anything to drink.

But apparently someone in Australia does-

given that Aussies spend $600 million dollars on bottled water annually.

Did you know that nearly 900 million people in the world

cannot just go and get a drink of clean water?

900 million is unfathomable to me.

A group of young Aussies started a venture called "Thank you Water".

It is simple.

You buy "thankyou" labelled water when buying bottled water.

100% of the profits go towards funding water projects in countries of needs.

(from watersecretblog.com)

At the moment, none of the volunteers are drawing a wage from the venture.

Visit their blog and their website.

Then, if and when you need to buy bottled water, buy thankyou water if you can.

(from givealittle.co.nz)

Purchase of a single bottle will provide at least one month's safe drinking water for another human being.

It's a no brainer, really, isn't it?

(from gourmetworrier.com)

Make them and it shall come.

...them bring summer pyjamas

and it being summer...

Having stocked up the little goddess' piggy piggy jam jam drawer for summer nights,

I have been procrastinating on making the boys' PJs.

As soon as it "has" to be done,

it becomes a chore.

And while making 4 pairs at once,

a few thread colour changes aside,

is a quicker process,

it smacks of production line

and that seems to kick in a persnickety little "boredom" gene.

The bottoms are from Favourite Things Little Jammies pattern

modified to a completely elasticised waist.

The top are from Kwik Sew 3234 pyjama pattern.

These are a slim top so I made a size 10 for my boys.

(one is 5 and he...shall we say, takes after his mother;

the 7 year old is a beanpole...they share the same waist measurement)

These are loose fitting but a good size and if they don't get trashed through stretching tops over their knees and playing "hey I have a great idea let's see who can pull and stretch whose pyjamas the most"

(as happened with last year's pairs)

they might get more than a year's wear.

Fabrics: plain knit is Stella. Various patterned knits from the stash.

Embroidery: both from embroidery library,

embroidered onto felt

then sewn onto the tops.

And *ahem* I might just have made one more pair for the little goddess.

A bought tee decorated with embroidery and bottoms using a knit from my stash.

Embroidery from designs by juju

Just stop to think of the power that you have as a parent.

With all the non-stop political flurry a few weeks back,

my 7 year old quite insistently and repeatedly asked who I was going to vote for.

Not that he had any knowledge of what any of it meant.

(from seoconsultants.com)

I remember finding out who my parents voted for when I was a teenager.

Only partly due to political apathy,

that decided my vote for a long time afterwards.

It was mainly due to the influence my parents' view had on my own.

Do you ever stop to think about that?

The huge power, the amazing responsibility that we have on influencing our children's attitudes and their future points of views?

Each and every day.

Whether you are talking about the weather,

the awful driver who just cut you off

or your favourite colour,

your children are listening and absorbing.

I always think how sad and scary it is that to perpetuate bias- racism, sexism, homophobia, religious intolerance

(and much more)-

 in the next generation is so easy,

simply because children get to hear what their parents may have to say on the matter.

When hubby and I travelled around Europe 10 years ago,

we visited some Holocaust museums.

One of the most heart breaking things I remember seeing

was a young child's reading book in a display cabinet.

It resembled a normal children's reading book,

lovely bright pictures and large text.

But it was propoganda that was written to teach children how horrible Jewish people were.

I can't remember the specifics

but children were being taught, being indocrinated to believe that Jewish people
were "ugly" and "smelly" and inferior.

(from www1.istockphoto.com)

How could any young child grow up thinking any different

when this is what they were taught to believe?

At this point Goole images offers up photos of young children,

the same age as mine,

dressed in Klu Klux Clan costumes or in homophobic tees.

You can find them if you look.

But I don't want to put them on my blog.

I do hope that I bias my children.

I want them to believe that cigarettes are bad and will kill you.

That acting like an idiot when you are behind the wheel of a car is beyond stupid.

That dirty socks are for the washing basket, not to pile up under the bed till they are in such numbers that they could start a civil revolution.

But I also hope that I can instill in my children the knowledge that,

 deciding to like, respect and love other human beings

 based on their personality

or their sense of humour

or their morals and attitude,

will make them far better human beings than they could otherwise be

if they made the choice based on by someone's race,

socioeconomic status,

religion,

physical capabilites or appearance

 or sexual preferences.

(from http://www.kitsapsafeschools.org/)

A knowledge that it is isn't about tolerating people's differences;

it is about accepting them as the norm.

That is what I hope that I can use my power for.

Sew Liberated Sunday Picnic blouse

I have been struggling to get going of late.

The longer my "to do before the school holidays" list gets,

the more time I seem to spend contemplating cloud formations out the window with a hot cuppa in my hand.

I need to find my sewing mojo

which I suspect has sneakily burrowed away under the messy pile of fabric on my sewing table.

I cut this blouse out more than a fortnight ago.

See, that just wasn't a good start...

I don't do well starting a project

and then trying to get back into the right headspace to continue with it weeks later.

There were lots of pieces that I had to familiarise myself with again.

I used an old sheet for fabric as I need a lot

and didn't want to buy anything given I haven't used this pattern before.

In spite of a good result,

I didn't enjoy sewing this up at all.

You  know how some projects are like that?

I also didn't love the instrucitons or the way it was put together.

That is probably just me.

It isn't a hard pattern.

I just didn't like it.

I like the result but don't love it.

I am not a prissy person so I wasn't sure about the bow.

But it is actually much less fussy because of how big it is.

It will get a fair bit of wear over the heat of the Adelaide summer.

Meanwhile here is my best "hurry up and take the photo it is late I am freezing the camisole is the wrong length I want to get rid of my bra and get into my pyjamas and make a nice hot cuppa by the way remember I hate posing and having my photo taken" look...

And here is the back view while I scowl at the blinds...

All righty then.
Off to try and sneak up on my mojo and give it a good shake.
I have 4 pairs of PJs to make for the boys
and need to stop staring out the window.