afternoon

Driving home at 4pm, I glanced up at the sky and saw the warm, radiant afternoon sun nestled in a soft, blanket of white cloud that spread across the sky.  I think that sometimes we're so busy looking ahead or behind, that we forget to look at the now or even look up. Definitely a moment worth capturing!

red sky

Red Sky at night, shepherds delight

Red Sky in morning, shepherds warning...

Sometimes doing the most mundane of things has it's own reward. Taking the rubbish bin out this morning - I caught a glimpse of a beautiful red sky. Luckily I got a photo of it before it faded. 

Owen and Satine

Owen and Satine are my newest bjd sewing models. They're both Iplehouse EIDs (aka Akando & Jessica) in the normal skin resin (which is very hard to photograph if the light isn't good) and they're substantial in size and weight compared to my other bjd models. (I've posted about Owen earlier before Satine arrived.) I've had lots of requests from customers for EID sized clothing so I'm sewing to stock up the etsy shop as quickly as I can.

vintage textile fair

something to look forward to!

auckland netball

The 2010 college and club Auckland netball competition season ends today. I'm really pleased about this as the rainy weekends haven't been the best for playing outdoor netball. My daughter's school team is placed well in their grade of the school competitons. Her club team hasn't fared too well in the club competition, coming in at last place. It didn't help much that the team lost 2 great players half way through the season. Despite this, she's had a brilliant season, learned lots and is now in player development. Anyway it will be nice to have the leisurely Saturdays back!

tapa cloth

This tapa cloth measure approx 3 metres x 5 metres, is at least 25 years old and kept in a wardrobe. It was once on display but had to be taken down when it started to come apart in places. I don't have the know how to repair it, so for now it will just have to stay where it is.

Tapa cloth is also called bark cloth and is widely produced throughout the Pacific Islands (both Polynesia & Micronesia). In Samoa it is called Siapo, and is made from the bark of the mulberry tree. The bark is stripped and then pounded until it is flat and is cloth like in appearance. The tapa cloth is then dried and bleached by the sun before the designs are applied with printing type plates or drawn freehand. The patterns on the Samoan siapo depict various aspects of the Samoan way of life. It's uses include clothing, burial shrouds, bed covers, ceremonial garments and so much more. You can read more about the making of tapa cloth here.

While in Samoa, I'm attending an official chief (matai) ceremony, so the pressure is on to make an appropriate traditional inspired outfit (puletasi) to wear. After weeks of indecision, I was thinking about tapa cloths and patterns when I came by this tapa styled polyester cotton mix fabric. There's 3 metres of 90cm wide fabric in teal, copper & black and it's enough to make a top to go with a long, plain, black wrap around skirt.

muu muu dress

the muu muu is a unique, loosely fitting dress associated with the Hawaiian Islands. The muu muu was introduced by Christian missionaries, who for the sake of modesty wished to cover the bodies of Hawaiian women, who often wore only grass skirts. Then it was a very fashionable item of womenswear particularly in the 1950s -1970s, where it was worn for relax/lounge/sleep/beach wear. Imagine paying $1.89 for a dress?

The muu muu embraces colour and patterns. The brighter and bolder, the better! You wouldn't feel out of place wearing the loudest colours and brightest, boldest patterns in the Pacific Islands.

I've had McCalls 2250, a modern muu muu pattern, sitting in the pattern drawer for almost a year. I bought it at a closing down sale (it was $2) along with quite a lot of cheap & cheerful, bright, bold island prints from a retiring dressmaker. The shorter version would make a nice coverup for wearing over a swimsuit after a swim. Hooray for the muu muu - it's a true timeless classic!

being aware

In early June 2010, I had my first mammogram as part of the NZ national breastscreening programme. All seemed to go well and I didn't think about it again. Then 3 weeks later, I got a phone call that I needed to go back for further assessments. After an ultrasound and more mammograms, the doctor's opinion was that the area that he'd seen on the mammography was nothing to worry about and recommended that I go back on to the standard screening list (2 yearly cycle).

The next day, another doctor called to ask me to have some biopsies done as he wasn't convinced. So a week later, I had both fine needle aspiration and stereotactic core biopsies performed. The results came back 7 days later, stating that the area showing up on the mammograms was a lesion with areas of radial scarring and lobular carcinoma in situ.

The very next week, I had a hook wire put in and I was in surgery to have the area excised. The surgeon confidently told me that the success rate was 95%. At pre-op, the surgeon breezed into the cubicle with the biggest smile and said "Kia Ora girl..." 

After another anxious week of waiting, the results came back that the lesion was benign but that there were as expected, noted changes of radial scar and lobular carcinoma in situ. These had been successfully removed but because of the increased tendency to grow a cancer in either breast, increased surveillance was recommended. I now need to have yearly mammographic screening. I really believe that early detection gave me the best outcome possible.

This 2 month journey has both frightened and empowered me. I was shaken by the roller coaster speed within which everything was taking place. I'm thankful for the peer review system, where doctors could review my inital & subsequent mammography and recommend the biopsies. Who knows, what 2 years down the track I could have been facing? For now, I'm just glad to be alive! I am changed forever...

Please read the comments attached to this post for updates on this journey.

rainy day

the photography task for today was to capture rain at work. All the elements were present: light drizzling rain, ok natural light and a somewhat mobile photographer. After making this post, I'm heading back to rest as per doctors orders. 

vintage dress patterns

these are the 4 patterns that I bought the other day from etsy and ebay. I'm now waiting for them to arrive in the post. Apart from 7120 (which is a 1960s pattern, in the top right hand corner) the rest are all from the 1970s. All 4 patterns will need to be graded down to fit along with my usual adjustments.  As you can see, lately I've been thinking about dresses, especially A-line shifts and smocks. Just the sort of thing to wear on an island holiday. Once I'm feeling more like my normal busy self, I'll be back to work on my 'island sewing' plan.