The wide ranging experiences of someone who lives in the Australian bush in a knocked together tin shed with a heap of animals and still manages to hold down a job, study full time and raise a family.
Lately I have been thinking about the everyday things that I use and wear, in particular my clothes. I have a general philosophy of use and re-use which leads me to find or make my belongings or if that is not possible to buy second hand. This tends to be viewed as strange behaviour by people I meet, but most people also think it's a great thing to do too. Clothes are one of those things that people are willing to spend piles of money and time on without viewing it as an extravagance, but here is a hidden cost in buying new clothes which needs to be considered; from the environmental costs of producing the fibre and materials to the ethics of sweat shop production and importing from other countries.
When it comes to clothes I mostly rely on hand-me-downs (or more accurately hand-me-across'), make my own or buy second hand. The thinking behind this is that the 'hidden cost' of my clothes is halved if they have been used by someone else before me. If I were to re-use these second hand clothes to make more clothes I have reduced the cost of these items even more. Using this justification I have decided to challenge myself to make a totally hand made and up-cycled wardrobe...
The overview: make enough clothes to last me a week, make every garment I will wear (from the skin out), use at least 90% up-cycled materials and include at least one day out in the 'big wide world'.
To that end I will make;
7 pairs of underpants
4 bras
4 pairs of socks
3 skirts
7 tops
3 pairs of long pants
1 pair of shorts
2 pairs of shoes
Look forward to a series about the triumphs and frustrations of making an up-cycled wardrobe.
Happy Yule to everyone. The winter solstice is here again, and so much faster than last year (I must be getting old). This year we decided to break with tradition and go on a coven excursion to the Lismore Lantern Parade for the solstice. There was a Viking recreation village set up in a convenient park to visit and a hunting party drifting around town (looking for boar and elk no doubt).
We started the celebration with lunch and an exchange of Yule gifts then went off to tour the Viking village where we felt right at home. I gathered lots of ideas for building and making things and admired the leather bound warriors who drifted by occasionally or could be seen sitting beside their fires making socks and sharpening axes. Finally we found ourselves a prime spot beside the road to watch the parade go by once night fell (we took thousands of really blurry photos but I have included the best ones below).
Yule gifts
More Yule gifts
Even more Yule gifts
A Viking tent with straw under the canvas floor, what a good idea.
Warriors beside the fire making things with a pole lathe. The seated warrior is naalbinding a pair of socks (more on that later)
Sleeping skins in a tent
A game of chess (sort of) set up to play when the women are finished cooking.
A pegged bed (no nails) I loved this tent, so neat and tidy. The shield by the door tells everyone who's tent it is.
Some traditional Viking tools: nallbinding needles, sewing needles, card looms, needle holders, spindles and the essential drinking horn.
An old friend who used to come to circle as a child, who knew there was a Viking lurking in there.
Some of the beautiful lanterns at the parade.
The Viking ship sailed by accompanied by a crowd of fur and leather dressed villagers. The smell of leather and wood smoke in the air and the sound of a marching chant and drums just made me goosebumps all over.
Where the wild things are is one of my favourite books.
Gaia in person
The Green Mand was there to welcome the sun back.
A better shot of the long boat.
I have decided to try naalbinding this year as it looks amazingly complicated. I watched several people making socks and pouches at the Viking village. Apparently the Vikings didn't know how to knit, they made woollen clothing using a sort of macrame with a needle: naalbinding. Check out the video below for a quick explanation and a demonstration...
Look out for a post about naalbinding in the future.
I've been quiet for a while, mostly because I use this blog to chart new things I'm doing or learning and I haven't been doing anything new. Instead there has been a lot of knitting, crochet, spinning, book making, underwear sewing, etc going on, but nothing new.
A cardigan knitted and embroidered for a niece (home spun alpaca yarn)
Some little cloth covered journals for my Etsy shop
A little memory book for a gift
Some envelope note books made from recycled materials
Inside the note books. I'm selling these too.
An itty bitty cardigan for a new baby in the family.
Except for my new interest in crystals and gems...
My optical calcite necklace
The quartz piece in a pouch for one of the dogs, who tends to get into trouble (protection)
A beautiful turquoise necklace for a daughter
A Herkimer diamond for my Kabbalah collection
It all began with my Kabbalah learning; I have been exploring the correspondences of each Sephiroth (points on the Tree of Life), each Sephiroth has one or two crystals associated with it, so I have been slowly collecting examples (mostly from this shop) of each one and meditating with them to 'get to know' them.
In the process I learned to make pendants for my daughters (and one for the dog) as little presents.
One daughter wanted help with study (I can so relate to that) and she noticed that I had an optical calcite necklace which I wear when I study, so I went and found one for her. Then I had to figure out how to make it into a wearable item. Good old You Tube came to the rescue again with this clip...
Making these little pendants proved to be so easy that I now have a little pile of crochet covered stones in bowls around the house, oh and I made one for my daughter too.
The necklace I made for my daughter
A little lump of orange calcite
My interest in crystals is still new and I don't know very much about them. Do you have anything to share about crystals? What has been your experience with them?
Anyone who knows me (or reads this blog) knows that I hate to throw anything out if it can be used again, but the supply of old clothes and sheets is just getting beyond control. When my youngest daughter left home to go to uni' this year I found myself with extra cupboard space, which I immediately filled up with crafting supplies (what else), old sheets and t shirts from my mother-in-law among them. However, I feel a bit guilty and dismayed by just how much space my crafting takes up, so I have decided that the answer is to do more crafting and use up all those supplies (or at least get them down to a decent size so I don't feel like a hoarder). One of those projects is to try making underwear from old t shirts.
I don't know about you but I resent paying $10 for a pair of panties that will last only six months and don't fit very well. The cheaper underwear packs don't even last that long. So the logical thing to do is to learn to make my own which will wear for longer and can be tailored to fit me perfectly.
Of course the internet provided inspiration and instruction...
Of course the bralette will need to be modified to be useful for me as my needs tend more towards support (OHS issue magnitude) than simple cover, but I do think it gives a great place to start experimenting from. For this post though I will stick with the panties.
My first step was to make a pattern template, I used some wrapping paper to make mine.
Then I found an old t shirt that wasn't too decorative or thick as I wanted to make a prototype first and tweak the pattern until I got a comfortable fit. Don't panic, I won't be modelling; I don't feel comfortable putting my face on here, so any other bits of anatomy are out too.
I had to dig out my old electric sewing machine for the sewing up bit as Prudence the treadle machine is a straight stitch only girl and stretch sewing needs a zigzag stitch.
I sewed them up as per instructions in the panties video.
The final result is a comfortable pair of knickers. I will definitely be making more of them.
The only changes I will make to this pattern is to expand the sides a little bit and narrow the crotch.
Stay tuned for a report on making the bralette next time.
Three days ago my partner greeted me at the door with a grin and the words "I've got a present for you", I was immediately suspicious as 'present' has become a code word for 'lots of work' in our relationship. I came inside to find an ominous looking box on my desk with a tiny bit of fabric sticking out the bottom. When I opened the box I found the little fellow below nestled on a t-shirt (begging questions about Kev' driving around shirtless).
He (I'm assuming his gender) is a noisy miner; a bird native to this area, although not around the humpy. He coped with a close up inspection fairly well and I discovered a slightly damaged wing on the left side and a slightly more damaged hip on the left side. As he was picked up on the road (sitting like a stunned mullet, according to Kev') I assume he has been clipped by a car.
He can grip a perch with both feet, but sits with one leg off to the side. I am hoping he has no broken bones, and after three days he would be dead by now if he had any (gangrene sets in fast).
Noisy miners in the wild eat nectar, pollen, fruit, insects and occasionally a little lizard. I am feeding him a mix of fruit smoothie with added insectivore mix that we keep in the cupboard for emergencies, I also add one drop of pentavite (liquid vitamin). When I can, I will add some nectavore mix (lorrikeet food), but at present I have none in stock. He seems to love the mixture. I went out and collected some white ants for him too, which he had fun playing with, but didn't eat.
When he can put all his weight on his leg and fly around we will begin the long process of re-assimilating him into the wild; probably at my parent's house where there is a family in residence, although their complicated flocking behaviour means that he will not be accepted if he is a she; apparently the females maintain fairly rigid territories which do not overlap while the males wander about in gangs, joining new gangs on a random basis.
This little man needs a name for the (hopefully) short time he will be with me; any ideas?
Some time ago I found another old Singer 201K at the Tender Centre...there were spider webs and rust every where and she was fairly filthy. I couldn't just leave the old girl there (these old machines are as hard to walk away from as puppies at the shelter) so I bid on her. Of course I won the bid, nobody else seemed to see the potential behind all that grime, so home she came. I squirted sewing machine oil into her inner workings and wrapped the machine head in oily rags while I carried on with life, sparing her a glance and a thought now and then as I hurried by.
Now, months after I bought her home, I have finally found the time to restore her, thanks to an enquiry from one of my readers. First I needed a name, it always seems so rude to call these grand old ladies 'it'; two of the neighbourhood kids who came to visit, and were conned into helping me move her out into the work area, decided to name her Lilly...so Lilly it is.
Lilly was made on the 5th June 1946 in Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland).
Her serial number is ED815331
She is a model 201K Singer in a model 46 cabinet.
A blurry picture of Lilly before I started working on her.
After the first oiling and wipe down
The accessory draw was a mess. Sorry for the blurry photo
The treadle assembly was neglected too
A Facebook message from a lovely lady who was interested in giving Lilly a home spurred me into action. I checked her over (the sewing machine, not the lady) and ordered a new drive belt, new beehive tension spring, new stitch control nut and a cleaning brush. Then I gave the filthy cabinet and treadle assembly a good clean with kerosene (for the metal bits) and home made furniture polish (for the wood bits).
Much better after a good scrub.
A good soaking in kerosene for the inner workings of the machine head had Lilly turning freely again and a scrub with a toothbrush over any dirty external bits had her as clean as possible. Lilly has several areas of staining on her and the black japanning (over the head and base) are worn in places, indicating that she has had some adventures in her long life.
The new parts finally arrived and I put her together in a lather of excitement; then it was time to test her. I found a really useful site with tutorials and manuals for Singer treadles.
All ready for a test sew
Trying her out on thicker materials
And on knitted material
The finished project, a lined pencil case with a zipper
A close up of Lilly's serial number
The inclusions she will come with
She's a strong and proud old girl.
So now Lilly is ready to go to a good home and make beautiful things. I have enjoyed getting her going again and I'm now on the lookout for my next project.
I have an old Singer 306 machine in the cupboard, these old girls use cams to make fancy stitches and are powerful enough to sew through leather. Maybe my next project will be to make her functional again.
