THANKS BUDDIES!

Arlee and Mary Anne, have I told you guys that I love you! I laughed at your pictorial vibes, MA. How I broke the shoulder blade? Well, I have severe osteoporosis - the bones (apparently) of a woman of more than 95. Something I have been informed that I am remarkably young to have at all. Just my luck, why couldn't it be something else, like (hmmmmmmmm???? started a bad analogy there - there is NOTHING good about old age). Anyhoo, I can fracture things at the drop of a hat, and frequently do - just ask Arlee. This time, some idiot acned teenage boy working in a supermarket came hurtling out of one of the aisles, glancing behind himself (for what? The boogeyman?) and slammed into me. I didn't fall, but I could feel something go uh oh. Lucky for me I am a very quick healer and am starting to feel a bit better. The worst part is not seeing my boys for ages, cos they just want me to pick them up all the time (and I am a big sucker, I know) and climb all over me and I'm really not supposed to be doing that. I am, however, going to do it next week because I had a miserable weekend missing them and telling myself not to cry every two seconds. The worst part about being a permanently depressed person is that, no matter how good the meds are, you still have to battle with that monster every now and then.

I felt sad for my kids too and I just wanted to go and punch their father's lights out for hurting them. The old mama bear isn't too far from the surface, no matter how old the cubs.

So to log on and read you guys giving me moral support just made me cry, to be honest. I wanted to get on the next plane to Canada and come and hug you to bits, but of course I can't as I haven't got a passport at the moment - but it is an idea that's been stewing in my brain awhile, so you never know.

Just to end on with a pleasant scene for you both with the chill of winter stalking up your driveways, and to brag just a teensy bit, feast your eyes on my best spring show yet of my (appropriately named) Double Delight rose climber:

STRANGE NEWS

Not only do I have a badly fractured shoulder blade (right) impeding my every breath with pain, but have just received an email from my ex to say that he is planning to marry at the end of the year (this will be his third wife). I couldn't give a rat's ass quite honestly, but he hasn't bothered to tell our children about his forthcoming wedding, although he has told them about her. Apparently she just wants to be "friends" with my Nat. Well, excuse me, but I'm afraid the position of mother was filled quite a long time ago, so don't even be letting that little idea in your tiny brain, love!

A FAIRY TALE (WITH A COUPLE OF MYTHS THROWN IN)

Once upona time, there was a young girl who loved to sew. She purchased a brand new sewing machine with her first paycheck and things went along superbly for 30 odd years (some more odd than others). She rarely cleaned her machine, or had it serviced or oiled it or changed the needles, but Old Faithful kept plodding along taking the girl on many journeys through complex dresses made out of silk, fat bulky curtains, over blobs of painted surfaces, foil and did every single task she asked of it.
Then the girl grew up, married a bad tempered old toad, cunningly disguised as a charming Prince, had four babies and sewed and sewed on Old Faithful throughout. Sadly, the girl (woman now) had a nasty accident at her work, but she did receive some money for her injuries. So, she thought "I think I will buy a new sewing machine, a bit fancier than OF, but probably the same make as OF has been remarkably reliable for over 30 years."
The woman bought a fully computerised version of OF which automatically cut her threads, calculated her button holes, had thousands of embroidery patterns and a memory to record them, could work three different alphabets, needled up and down and basically could almost cook dinner, feed the dog and clean the house.
The woman loved the new machine - BUT within a month, something strange started to happen. Now and then, for no particular reason the machine would start to stammer and stutter and then - the bobbin case would lurch out of its position, frequently causing the needle to jam down into the case itself. This was very scary, especially when a message on the computer display screen would say Stop For Safety Purposes. So, the woman marched the machine straight back where she had purchased it (for over $1800!) and explained her problem. To cut a very long and ongoing saga to its nuts and bolts, the woman was made to feel that this had never ever been experienced by any other purchasers of that model (a lie, it was later discovered after a careful internet search), that the problem only occurred for her (maybe she was being too rough?) and after the 79th return to the store, it was sent to the mechanic, who (surprise) found it faultless. Next time the problem recurred the woman was shown how to jam the bobbin case into the machine in such a way that it would be less likely to escape its casing.
That seemed to sort things out for a while, but occasionally the problem crept back, which caused the woman to name the machine You Uncooperative Bitch. Every time she sat down at the machine, she felt nervous and frequently sewed at very low speeds to avoid hiccups. For the next three years, the woman persisted with the machine - carefully cleaning it after every use, changing needles at the drop of a hat and so forth. YUB was handled with kid gloves, but the problems persisted and started to multiply - now YUB would just keep sewing after her foot was removed from the pedal, sometimes for a full minute or two. The woman had very crumbly bones that kept breaking all the time and sitting at the machine became an arduous and painful task for her.
Finally, she reached the limit of her patience and marched into the store, determined to get a satisfactory outcome - i.e. agreement that the machine was a lemon and should have been replaced under warranty in the very first place. The toffee nosed madam who owned the franchise recommended she "upgrade to the next model" (HMMMMM - why would she not suggest a replacement of like for like) that she explained cost over $2000. She looked haughtily at the woman's machine and said she could only offer $400 as a trade in value as YUB was well worn by now (and had problems that would hinder its resale). The woman drew a deep breath and explained that was unsatisfactory and that she felt the company should honour its warranty. Toffee Nose said that warranty issues were handled by the mechanic, offered to call him but said that the company would just want to "fix" the machine. She phoned the mechanic who was busy but would call her back and disappeared into the back room. The woman waited, resisted the temptation to either burst into tears or pick up the nearest heavy object (and there were several close by) and implant it in Toffe Nose's brain. Luckily, the anti-depressant medication was working well that day or another ugly scene may have ensued, similar to one several years back when a clerk threatened to call the police. The woman was the only customer in the store and she noted that the other two retail assistants were making a huge production of looking extremely busy with "stuff" and avoided eye contact. Finally the woman said very calmly but very loudly "Well, I have things to do. I can leave that matter with you, can I? You will call me and let me know." Toffee Nose miraculously appeared from the depths of the back room and tried not to seem too relieved that the woman was going. She even offered to send the machine to the mechanic for an opinion and offered the woman the loan of a machine - a version of OF, no less! A plan was forming in the woman's head. She had lost faith in the company (let's call them Company X) and decided she would inform them in writing about this and the reasons for her extreme disappointment. In the meantime, she might just see what Company Y could offer, as Company Y had been recommended as being a work horse.
The woman has been delighted by using the newer version of OF which does everything she asks of it, even though it has not been oft cleaned or serviced either. Also, despite having a brand new fracture of one of the larger ribs at the upper back, she has been able to sew for quite lengthy periods and even to write a longish posting on her blog - something YUB rarely permitted her.
Notice, dear reader, no names, no pack drill - at this stage. HOWEVER, if the response to the woman's complaint is poor - there will be plenty of naming of names for sure.

LITTLE THINGS THAT ARE DONE

Ta da!! I have finished hand embroidering the burnt piece I was working on, mounted and framed it with an old frame I hotglued some shells from Broome onto.

This is just an indulgent photo of my youngest grandson, Kieran, who thinks it hilarious to crawl away from his grandmother as soon as he is removed from the bath. Look at those gorgeous curls!
Now, my news and what has kept me from this blog. I have had some baddish news from the bone specialist that they have not managed to stop the deterioration of my skeleton. I kind of knew anyway from the level of the pain. God help me, I appear to have now passed the skeletal age of 95!!! So, it now becomes a matter of priority for me to move into a much smaller residence which means this house must be sold. That of course means that I have to carefully remove any trace of personality and (shock horror) colour and neutralise to appeal to the mass buyer market of bland loving home owners. I have started by painting out the glorious purple with pearlised swirls in my bedroom and have replaced it with a pale green, actually not so bad, almost a duck egg blue. Today I painted the back toilet and the laundry room in the same colour. Both were pains as there was so much to be taped out. Anyway, I have given myself a year to get this done and a year to find a new place. I am in discussions with my daughter and son-in-law about possibly building a "granny flat" at their place. Maybe, we shall see.

SPECS CASE

Here are images of the spectacles case that I promised to post. I bought this in Broome at the Monsoon Gallery - no idea who the artist is otherwise I would acknowledge, but I got rid of the packaging. The website is :www.monsoongallery.com.au and I am sure they could give more information about the artist. The middle photo shows the front, right is the back and to the left is the inner workings part that shows lining and a large thingo (press studs we sometimes call them). Pieces of monotoned shiny/sparkly fabric have been joined diagonally into a rectangular shape, with some embellishment in the form of yarn and beads. Some of the individual pieces have been irregularly ruched to give texture. Pics don't do it justice, really. Do go to the website, she (the artist) had some stunning pieces in the gallery - it was a question of what I could afford really.

YES - IT'S OFFICIAL!

I am definitely in love with this whole thing! And thanks so much for the boost Arlee! May good things come your way (tee hee).

Here's where I am at, having had to FORCE myself to stop this afternoon. I am doing a bit of mulling about embellishment and I feel it needs a frame of some kind.

Now, just a little tip for any would be pyros out there. Of course you know that the fumes are somewhat toxic and one should of course wear a mask. I was evah so careful about this, but annoyed to find that every time I did this I got an instant migraine from the chemically pong. Determined not to let this small hazard deter moi, I approached a friendly gent at the hardware and divulged some (but not all) of my dilemma. He said I should be using a P2 rated face mask, which are a bit more expensive than the cheapie ones at the supermarket, but still paper and so worth it if you suffer like me. Bit of a shame in a way really, I used to get the same side effect from using chemical oven cleaner - hence abandoned the practice of cleaning said oven entirely. I also pretended not to know thing one about green cleaning, which of course I can do and I think is way better. Now I really cannot profer this excuse any more.

Appropos of nothing, weird dream last night that the nun who taught me Art and English in High School had left a comment on my blog abhorring my spelling! All I was scared about (and I was scared) was the swear words she had come across. And of course now I am getting paranoid about my spelling!

I THINK I'M SERIOUSLY IN LOVE.....

...with this technique! Early days, I know but I'm loving how the burning process intensifies the depth of colour and of course turning these strips of sheer into crispy critters is satisfying in a creepy way of itself. This is the jump off inspiration for what I am creating:

LOVING THIS? - NOT SO MUCH

I don't know what it is, but I cannot seem to fall in love with this piece (hence the pins that might be visible in the outside trim will most likely stay there!) The other night, unable to sleep, for some bizarre reason I frenetically worked on this the whole night and by the end had the most hideous migraine. I even had taken it outside, pegged it to my clothesline and, with a cigarette lighter, set fire to the layered sheer pieces that I had sewn on. Whilst a great deal of fun, I just keep getting that Nyah feeling. A good outcome, though, was that my brain engineered a new set of ideas, partly inspired by that piece of arson and fanned by reading through a back issue of QA (number - do you think I can find that sucker? It's probably under my bed!) Anyway, it's the one about using strips of sheer fabric abused with a heat gun and attached to a background to form a kind of picture or scene, heavily embroidered and embellished as appropriate. Aha! Perfect methinks for my Broome series (?) as I have been enamoured of sheers for yonks and often fiddle with em. My latest preoccupation with layering even had me creating all kinds of trendy ruffles made out of spirals of sheer fabric. I like that effect too, but I am pretty keen on this newie! To the relief of one and all I even splurged on a gas fuelled heat gun today at the hardware store, where I also had to purchase mulch as it was so warm today that it would have been criminal not to be in the garden and we are expecting rain tonight, so my decks will be cleared after my babysitting duties of the day. I am also labouriously attempting some silk paper creating. I say labourious because I am literally deconstructing pieces of silk fabric down to the thread. It is perfect zoned out work at the end of the day.

PS I found it. The QA issue is 24 (it was sitting face down right in front of me!) and the article is called "Sheer Landscape" by Inche Berlyn.

VERY SLOW WIP

These are the very beginnings of a work focussed on the amazing geology of Broome.

As I am experiencing God awful pain sitting at my sewing machine for lengthy periods (hope this is not a taste of things to come), I am hand sewing the layers. It is very tedious and at this rate I will finish in about 25 years, so I need to start rethinking how I work - more heat and burning, more painting and perhaps using paper?
I have a shameful admission. I spent most of the morning howling my eyes out while watching the early morning TV news which has been tragically focussed on the fate of a baby humpback whale whose mummy abandoned it in Sydney Harbour. Poor thing, named Colin, has been trying to suckle from larger boats in the harbour. As Australians, we are very sooky la la about whales - we tend not to see them as main course as in other cultures. Our experience in the West is of them frolicking off our coastline as they migrate up and down from the Pole. We consider them beautiful, amazing creatures - not pests. Hence, there has been enormous public hue and cry about the fate of poor Colin. Vets have been called in to see if they could try to keep him alive by artificial feeding - a bit like what they did in the States with a similar species. Apparently, the difficulty for poor old Col is that he would need krill in his diet, especially at weaning time and that in massive amounts daily would need to be obtained from the Antarctic. Also, there is no way to know why his mum abandoned him in the first place and so, ideally he should eventually join another pod as he gets older, but scientist think it highly unlikely he would be accepted and more likely that he would be attacked by other whales. The worst part, I think, is that the media seems obsessed with showing us endless footage of this poor baby suckly dead old boats and of course we watch it with inevitable horrified fascination. Anyway, the decision has been made to end his suffering as he is starving to death, weak and in a lot of pain, having been attacked by sharks when they tried to take him out to deeper water. Oh my nature is certainly harsh sometimes.

A SMALL VENT

Here are some experiments following my inspiration from the remarkable colours and geological features seen in Broome. These prove to me and the world that I have not just been sitting on my bum this last week and a bit. In between my usual babysitting commitments and dabbling in the garden, I have been doing some stuff!
And, of course, our winter in Perth seems to be officially all but over. It is supposed to rain today, but the past week has been gloriously spring-like. Lovely temps in the low twenties and
everything bursted into full bloom already. It has been so ideal for gardening that I just had to get out and remove the 20 bazillion weeds that sprouted whilst I was away and it had poured. (Hah! Good timing, what?) I also lumped over 2 tonnes of black mulch over the garden beds which just about killed me, but looks fabulous and will really help if we end up getting not so much more rain. (Meteorologists are so excited that the dams are at 35% capacity for the first time in yonks and yonks, but looks a bit like follow up is going to die in the arse.)
Now, be prepared for a scorching blast at communications companies! A few months ago I changed my ISP - a general hoo hah in itself - and, as directed by the new people, filled in and sent back a form to have the monthly bill for my broadband direct debited from my bank account. Fine. Next thing, I get back from Broome to discover ALL the mail from that week stuffed into my letterbox and completely soggy despite the fact that my youngest daughter was staying at my house, supposedly to collect the mail each day. But that's another story in itself about her irresponsibility etc. Amongst the wet mail was a nasty letter from said ISP to say they had not received money to pay account and unless they did within seven days, service would be disconnected. Needless to say, that seven days had passed by the time I got the letter in my hands and I had no phone and no internet. The letter went on to note that if I had any questions, I could call a number - BUT FROM A LANDLINE!!!! or I could contact them through their website. HOW????????????????? So. that day (a Friday) I was busy doing 59 loads of washing that had to get draped all over the house because it was still raining, re-stocking my pantry and fridge that had been completely emptied by said daughter and changing my bedlinen after removing all the WET towels off it (every single towel in my house was draped somewhere around the place in some kind of damp state) - all of which led me to a strong suspicion that this young lady had not been here on her own!! (Hence the urgent need for fresh bedlinen) On weekend, no phone, no internet and no way to contact company who keep 9-5 hours weekdays only. On the Monday, I had to drive to my daughter's house (the eldest, married one) and sit on her phone in a queue for 45 minutes until I got some person who really copped it from me, as in "I have done all the right things, blah blah, what the hell....?" She calmly stated that everything was now sorted - the direct debit had been processed and I should go home, turn everything off for 10 minutes, turn back on and everything would work. Which it did. For four days. The next Friday, I try to ring someone - no phone. Try turning on computer and accessing internet - no go. Furious, I go next door and sit on neighbour's phone for 30 minutes in queue and finally have to give up as she had to go out. So this process of using other people's phones and sitting in queues for periods up to an hour at a time continued all week long. Finally, yesterday (Monday) I decided I was just going to wait on my daughter's phone (all day if necessary) until I got hold of a human being. Being cheerfully informed at constant intervals that they were experiencing high volumes of calls and if my call was non-urgent, perhaps I could call back later or maybe try contacting them via their website, was more than merely annoying. Hence after close to an hour when I finally got hold of some poor soul - did he cop it!!The worst part of the whole thing was that he tried to lie to me about the reason for being disconnected. He said it was for non-payment of my account. I explained that was just so much bullshit because of my previous contact with the company. Then he tried to tell me it was probably the fault of the bank. I told him that I very much doubted that, as we were talking about the biggest bank in Australia and I have never had a problem with other direct debit arrangements through them before. He got quite snarky with me when I told him to inform the accounts people that they better not have the audacity to charge me for the week and a bit they had cut me off. "Why is that, madam?" he asked. Because, you moron, none of this is my fault and you did not even have the courtesy of telling me before cutting me off the second time. He insisted it must be a bank problem. I think steam was emanating from my brain by then, but of course, I just wanted my phone and my world back again, so I told him I would be writing to the company about the atrocious customer service, etc, etc. and hung up. At least I have my lifeline reconnected, I suppose and realistically, I guess they probably will charge me and I will get furious and that will take another year off my life expectancy. This might sound melodramatic, but I said to my daughter "Sometimes, I just feel drained by the fact that every single aspect of my life seems like a huge struggle. Why does it have to be that way?" Let's hope there's a payoff somewhere in the future.

I'M BA_A_ACK AND INSPIRED

I returned from Paradise on the weekend. What an amazing place Broome is! I am so inspired by everything I saw and did there that I can hardly wait to get organised and start creating.

Where do I start? The brilliant saturation of pure colour in the northern region of this vast state is breathtaking. When you see the photos it's hard to believe they have not been manipulated - but that is the true colour you are seeing. Flying up the coast it is astounding to see thousands and thousands of Kilometers of vast white beaches with not a living soul around - with the rich redness of the iron laden dirt kissing the beachfronts that extends so far. I couldn't help but be staggered by the geology and the fact that there is so much potential wealth in that soil that you could never imagine it all being tapped. And all those thousands of islands off the coast like little gems in the aqua and turquoise ocean. How many wealthy millionaires would give their eyeteeth to own just one of them? It's all protected of course and I guess we must be grateful about that, but I would love to be down there exploring the magic of it all. There are dinosaur footprints that you can go see in Broome as well as fossils of so many types, so just imagine what is down that vast coastline that no one knows about. I think I remember from school days that Australia is the oldest continent and looking at that part of the country, it is so believable.

As for Broome itself, laid back to the extreme. People just shamble through the town (we call it Broome time) in the glorious sunshine - perfect summer weather at this time of year - low to mid 30s during the day and quite cool at night. Everywhere you look there are magnificent old native boab trees, relics and memorials from Broome's early days as a pearling harbour using first Aboriginal and then Japanese labour. There are also awful reminders of the fact that Broome was bombed by the Japanese during WW2 (that I had forgotten about). Mango and coconut trees abound throughout the town, maginificent beachside resorts butt up to the coastline and there are some astonishingly opulent homes being built. Everywhere businesses are desperate for workers as a lot of people have moved inland towards Newman with the huge resources boom the State is experiencing. There are a lot of casual backpackers working in the restaurants and shops. There are lots and lots of shops selling pearl jewelry and mother of pearl items. Some of it is a bit ho-hum, some horrendously expensive and some is just stunning. I came back with quite a few items myself and a couple of gifts for my girls. I wish I could describe so much more for you, but if you ever geta chance you must go there. Avoid the "wet" (November to March) as apparently it is revolting weather and people have been known to kill themselves at that time due to the oppressive humidity, constant rain and heat. Here's a taste of my inspiration.

FEELS LIKE SPRING AT LAST!

Today is such a gorgeously warm sunny day in Perth. You can feel Spring is je-e-e-e-est around the corner - but!! tomorrow it is going to pelt down with rain again - apparently. I don't care because I am off to sunny Broome tomorrow - YAY!!!!!! My first real holiday since Jesus was baptised. So, although this post is just boring text, next one should have loads of inspirational pics. Also, have only done boring stuff today, like cleaning, packing, shopping, internet snooping as I cannot sit bottom to chair for too long with excitement. Yay! Summer for me tomorrow and by the time I get back - well you might as well say winter here will be fading fast.

LITTLE THINGS.....

These are a couple of examples of the felt book I made for the boys of "Our Family". No one is allowed to complain about how they have been depicted. As you can tell, my fabric
portraits are very realistic!
And here's what happened when I let little Kieran feed himself some Petit
Miam. What cannot be seen is the highchair tray and my floor also generously coated in strawberry goo.

LOOK AT MY WORK!

See what I made today??/ No mean feat, putting those wretched Ikea thingies together, as everyone knows. So I feel justifiably proud of my effort. I am also working on a little cloth book of family faces that I will have pics for shortly. This is all for my gorgeous little grandson, Kieran who turns 1 tomorrow (where the hell did THAT year go?). I minded him and his bro on Friday (yesterday) as mummy had to work, mainly to pay for all the medication needed for poor sick little bubbie. Kieran has bronchial pneumonia, two ear infections and asthma. Luckily, as is the way with tiny ones, just spoke to Nat and he is back to his happy little self today, although still coughing badly. And, joy of joys, I get to have them overnight tonight because mummy and daddy are going out and it is wa-a-a-a-a-ay too cold to take sick bubbies in and out in this weather. I know, I sound pathetic, but it is honestly the highlight of my life to get to spend so much time with these little boys - I actually consider it a privelege to babysit them. I love my littlies to bits and pieces.

This will show you how much enjoyment Kieran gives me.

ALIVE AND WELL.......ALIVE!!

Hello poor little abandoned blog. I am truly alive and I think of you often. Having just woken up at 3:30a.m., I decided to grab the bull by the horns and stop watching Fabulous Abs and just get down and boogey on this thing. Sometimes, with a block, you just have to "have at it" and do something to get out of the endless nothingness.

Small explanations for lengthy absence is required:

1.) Wedding of Nat and Dan in late April. Such a glorious and wonderful day in the vineyards. Everyone looked beautiful, especially my gorgeous girl and those two little babies in their Mafioso tuxedos were just cuteness on sticks.

2.) Rapidly followed by the 2 week honeymoon, during which poor old Dan came down with pneumonia. Looking after those wee treasures left zero time for the frazzled grandmother to create or to blog or even to spit.

3.) So, of course the frazzled grandmother's resistance to germs dropped and I came down with a ghastly flu - you know the full blown version with the aches and pains, sweats and chills, vomitting, coughing, blah blah. For several weeks, I could barely lift my head off the pillow.

4.) Endless battling with my ex's superannuation firm culminating a three year paper warfare escalation to the point of my own (almost) capitulation in sheer exhaustion. Thank God I did not and put in the final push as I finally got the half I was rightfully due. I have been busy clearing lots of debt and doing necessary things, like replacing my dying car and booking a holiday to Broome (my first holiday in more than 5 years, closer to 10).

5.) Just to put the icing on the cake, two more flu episodes - the last of which I am still coughing and sweating with. God, I hate winter.

Also, I have to admit, I am a Leo, ruled by the Sun and tend to suffer terribly in the short Perth winter weeks - pathetic as that may be. I really don't understand it - I love rain and that's what it does here in winter, it rains and rains and it's not really terribly cold. You cannot go outside in the middle of winter at 4:00a.m. for a smoke with just your jamies and slippers on, can you? It may be that I am a sufferer of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) which would not be surprising since I have been on anti-depressants for longer than I care to remember and if I should miss a morning dose, wonder why I feel like fainting by lunchtime and howling my eyes out over some stupid documentary about the baby dinosaurs being eaten by their parents.

Well, I feel I have broken the long evil dark spell (maybe). Inspired by the archangel Arlee, I am determined to write something daily if at all possible (maybe). No, I must be firm and positive, I can do this. After all, how inspiring to have blogged for 4 years! Happiest blogaversary to you, happiest blogaversary to you, happy blogaversary dear Arlee, happy blogaversary to you.

Have I achieved anything? Well, yes - I have been sidetracked in the dressmaking arena for quite a while, making several little numbers for myself and a couple of things for the grandsons. I ventured into a small frenzy of getting myself organized better and designed and made some magazine holder thingies. I was a tad cross with myself when I found they were a bit too tall to fit into any but my lowest shelf and also that Ikea has perfectly formed and sized cheap little card numbers that I could have simply covered and saved myself some angst into the bargain. Nonetheless, it were some'at, weren't it? Here are the magnum opi:

(A wonderful way to use up scraps and oddments of UFOs).

HAUT COUTURE

Here tis! The finished dress. It blew around a bit in the fan whilst I was photographing it, but it is lovely and fits me beautifully. I am inspired to go on with another idea I had for a LBD, as I have never owned one and feel I might have reached the age where I should own one.
I am also hard at work on this month's TIF challenge that I must do, because I am worried that April, being the big wedding month, might see me having to miss the challenge.

SIDETRACKED IN SEWING LAND

Having a bit of difficulty getting this to show the detail of the vest. But here it is buttoned and finished and I am loving it. The side fastening is also shown below. Love that unusual finish.

I also got very excited and started making myself a dress based on something I spied in a fashion magazine. (Above)
I have been in love with that colour pink as long as I can remember and I had a flash of inspiration to incorporate a skirt that I have had since 1985 which is a silk designer thingie and I have never been able to part with it. So I found the perfect hot pink silk chiffon and I am off and away. I already had a pattern very similar to the style in the book(Simplicity 4996) - which is really just a fancy sort of shift. Alls I had to do was make the skirt straighter and add a pleat insert (in this case, my designer skirt fabric).
I also shortened the width of the shoulders. I am thinking of possibly putting a few little pink roses on the base of the neck maybe as the bodice of the dress I have cut out of the designer silk. I have included for your viewing pleasure a pic of the front of the skirt with the inserted pleat.