mid century suite

with my sewing inspiration at a stand still, I've had the time to devote to other things, such as, finding the ultimate mid century lounge suite for our house. This is it! an all original 3 piece 'Don' lounge suite from 1964 in truly timewarp condition. The fabric is a textured earthy-toned boucle with a silver weave that sparkles in the evening light. I'd love to say that I'll be busy making new cushions for the suite, but somehow I can't see myself getting started any time soon. Any hints to help me break my sewing drought would be much appreciated. Cheers!

still no inspiration

still no sign of my sewing inspiration. The pressure is on for it's return! I need a party frock as my gran turns 90 at the end of this month and is having an afternoon high tea. Which means dressing up and I don't even own a dress that fits properly! so I'm searching the horizon in the hopes of finding it...

the no sewing update

I'd hoped to show something sewing related this week but there's nothing - not a single iota of sewing. So this post is the 'no sewing' update. Even though I'm in desperate need of clothes having lost 16.6kg (that's about 36lbs) & I've got patterns and fabric ready to go,  I just don't have a single scrap of inspiration/motivation to get sewing. So for now I'm doing other things like having afternoon naps and doing some long overdue reading. Hopefully it comes back soon!

crown lynn swans

the Crown Lynn swan vase is an iconic piece of NZ kiwiana history. It was in almost every New Zealand home in the 1950s -60s. However in the early 1970s it's popularity was at an all time low, so it was phased out. Now it's a highly sought after collectible (hard to find pristine) that looks beautiful when filled with huge fresh flower blooms. Dear hubby, surprised me with these CL swan vases and the little Gobbles / Humell swan as an early birthday present. He knows I've been wanting one for ages. I'm looking forward to our garden roses blooming so that I can fill them with flowers.

not much sewing or crafting at the moment. I've been busy with children home for the school holidays and helping collect items for the Samoa Tsunami relief aid. Hopefully next week I'll have something 'sewing' related to talk about.

holiday op shop

a holiday for me isn't complete without checking out the local second hand/thrift/op shops. Top of my list was Mrs Jones , in Warkworth. It proved to be a fantastic store full of antique, retro and kiwiana items to look at and buy. There's even a whole wall of crown lynn crockery, just the thing for finding that elusive piece to complete a collection.

at the Warkworth hospice shop, I stocked up on retro bedsheets, vintage/retro sewing books & patterns and a neat ballet print by Carlotta Edwards.

we also visited Matakana which is a surprisingly funky, trendy village with a very popular Saturday farmers market. Definitely worth a visit if you're into food, arts and crafts.

then leaving Matakana, the public toilets caught my eye. What an incredibly striking visual work of art!

back from the beach

a beach holiday in September always seems a bit dicey - especially with unpredictable weather. It was a real mixture of rain and sun. Lots of long walks on the beach collecting shells, building sandcastles and generally enjoying nature. Mr 10 was the only brave one amongst us to swim in the sea brrr! Our first morning started off with a pod of dolphins cruising up and down the bay feeding, which was an amazing sight.

Miss 13 celebrated her birthday with 13 blazing chocolate cupcakes and lots of presents. As I watched her blow her candles out, I was a little teary thinking about how quickly the 13 years has gone. She is our 1st 'miracle' baby, after years of waiting & hoping, failed treatments & disappointments.

being without the internet, phone and tv was relaxing to start with. Then on Wednesday I turned the radio on to hear of the local tsunami warnings and that Samoa had been devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. My mother, sisters, brother in law and nieces were holidaying in one of the worst affected areas so it was a very anxious time waiting for news, thankfully they're all safe. Sadly many have lost so much...

ps: the sewing machine went on holiday but never did any sewing although I did rethink my wardrobe concept. I'll save that for the next blog post.

sewing plans

next up for Miss 12 is Burda 7913. Initially she was going to sew this herself but after one look at the pattern instructions, she decided to hand it on to me. I'll be making view B (but without the frilly sleeves). Miss 12 celebrates her 13th birthday while we're away which will be really exciting. But I'm also sad to think that my little baby is growing up. I'll officially be the mother of a 'teenager'... I'm sure it will be an interesting journey!

my changing shape is still playing havoc with my sewing plans. I've continued losing weight and have gone down almost 4 dress sizes. I've abandoned all thought of sewing for myself at the moment as I think that I need to rethink the direction of my wardrobe. I've been swimming and walking a lot and I finally had a personal bra fitting. All this has resulted in 'shape shifting' presenting a real challenge as my personal sewing is focussed mainly on flattering my shape. So while I'm away, I'll be pondering my current 'wardrobe dilemma'

take a plate

 from late September to early December our family calendar is filled with school and sports club prizegivings, shared morning teas and lunches, school trips and outings. Most of these functions ask for the parents to 'take a plate.' I'll be working my way through my favourite recipes, making and baking lots of goodies to fulfil the 'take a plate' requirements. I like the challenge of making something different every time. It's the school netball prizegiving tonight and I've made a yummy no-bake chocolate fudge slice. The recipe is from Alison Holst's "Best Baking" book.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE SLICE

250g packet Super wine, Malt or Digestive biscuits (crushed)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
3 Tbsp milk
75g butter
approx 1 cup chopped sultanas or 1 cup chopped walnuts (or mixture of both)
1 tsp vanilla

Crush the biscuits evenly inside a large, sealed plastic bag.
Mix the sugar and cocoa in a medium sized pot, then stir in the milk, and add the butter.
Stirring all the time, bring to the boil.
Remove from the heat, add the crushed biscuits, chopped sultanas and/or nuts and the essence. Stir together.
Press mixture into a lined slice tray until it's the depth you like. (you don't need to spread the mixture over the whole tin). Using the back of a spoon, flatten the surface fairly smoothly. Ice with chocolate icing.

CHOCOLATE ICING

1 Tbsp cocoa
2 Tbsp boiling water
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup icing sugar (sifted)

Put cocoa into a small bowl, add the boiling water and mix into a paste. Add the butter, vanilla and sifted icing sugar. Beat until smooth. (Adjust consistency of icing by adding a little extra icing or water if needed).

Cut into pieces when firm. Store in the fridge in hot weather.

Makes 12-32 slices depending on size.

burda 8179 overalls

just finished view B, short overalls for Miss 12 to wear on a school trip to the Waiwera heated pools tomorrow. The fabric is a self striped mid weight denim/lycra mix.  Generally speaking I prefer the big 4 when it comes to patterns. Miss 12 likes burda mostly because the 'teen' patterns are funky, edgey and fun, so I agreed to make them. Despite the fun style, this was not a fun sew.

I found that this pattern had some quirky design features that completely killed the fun factor for me ie. the front and back 'short' pieces didn't match up (the front was larger than the back), the tabs for the buttons are completely separate pattern pieces that need to be taped to the main shorts pieces before cutting (very easy to miss this!), the back and front bibs should be lined to give the bib weight (otherwise it's too floppy), the button size suggested by the pattern are too big (given the size of the button plackets).

Despite all that, the end result is a very cute pair of overalls, just perfect for summer!

burda 8179 overalls

just finished view B, short overalls for Miss 12 to wear on a school trip to the Waiwera heated pools tomorrow. The fabric is a self striped mid weight denim/lycra mix.  Generally speaking I prefer the big 4 when it comes to patterns. Miss 12 likes burda mostly because the 'teen' patterns are funky, edgey and fun, so I agreed to make them. Despite the fun style, this was not a fun sew.

I found that this pattern had some quirky design features that completely killed the fun factor for me ie. the front and back 'short' pieces didn't match up (the front was larger than the back), the tabs for the buttons are completely separate pattern pieces that need to be taped to the main shorts pieces before cutting (very easy to miss this!), the back and front bibs should be lined to give the bib weight (otherwise it's too floppy), the button size suggested by the pattern are too big (given the size of the button plackets).

Despite all that, the end result is a very cute pair of overalls, just perfect for summer!

marie antoinette keeping it real award

thanks to pinkbuttonflowers for the "Marie Antoinette Keeping It Real" award. It's given to blogs that tell of the good, the bad and everything-in-between. It's great to know that others are finding something of interest in my little corner of the blogging world. Have a great day folks!

being mid century

dear hubby surprised me today with this lovely mid century dining suite circa 1960s, that he'd secretly bought on Trademe. It's a great combination by - Jon Jansen & Danske Mobler - made up of a set of six, triple slat back "Mobler" dining chairs and an extendable table by Jon Jansen. Can't wait to have a dinner party so that I can take out all my crown lynn crockery...

then while dropping off clothing to the local hospice shop, I saw this retro bedroom stool. So of course it came home with me. Our bedroom has an inbuilt dressing table and this stool is just the right height and size for the space. 

and then there's my favourite vintage doll, Madame Alexander Cissy Fashion doll from the 1950s  that I bought some years ago from another lovely NZ collector. Of all the dolls that I collect, vintage Cissy has the most appeal. She's elegant and timeless. Her genuine 1950s fashions are beautifully made and are very sort after by doll collectors, who are willing to pay a lot for her clothing. Just search ebay's completed listings for 'vintage cissy' and you'll see what I mean...

I can see clearly now

that the old specs are gone & these have arrived to take it's place...

nostalgic nz recipe books

I love to bake! and I love to read about baking. My favourites are the nostalgic, story telling baking books full of interesting recipes, stories and tid bits about the makers and bakers of the recipes. Here's the latest 3. First up, was this really lovely book called 'Gran's Kitchen' full of recipes from the notebooks of 95 year old Dulcie May Booker. A lot of love and care had gone into the presentation of this book. The hardcover reminded me of the old 1970s school maths textbooks. Reading it, I felt as if I was in Dulcie May's kitchen on busy baking days...

next up was the long awaited second book "A Second Helping', written by Alexa Johnston of 'Ladies, A Plate.' Again more great recipes with lots of notes and stories. Just as impressive as her first book. As always, lots of historical facts that detail the cultural and social aspects of the recipes.

then finally this gorgeous book simply titled 'Home Made.' More NZ based recipes filled with stories and comments from the cooks and bakers. In this book is the well known 'donkey drops' recipe by Nanny Oakes as well as other equally interesting, attention grabbing recipes (even a dead possum recipe urgh!)

simply put, great reading for the baking soul!

out of print patterns

sometimes when the new season's pattern books are released, patterns that I've had my eye on for a while are 'discontinued.' On occassion I've gone on a pattern finding expedition, using ebay, etsy and the pattern companies websites. At times it's been a frustrating and costly process.  

lately I've discovered that a couple of my local sewing shops are now selling oop patterns for $5 each, which is something totally new.  Yesterday I managed to find 9 patterns that I'd been interested in. Will I ever get to sew them all? probably not straight away but at least I'll know that they're on hand if I need them.

bespectacled

sometimes it's easy to put things off until it's a necessity to get to them. Today was the day! an optometrist visit for a long overdue eye check as well as sorting out some new specs. My favourite ones in the photo above, were getting very loose and kept sliding down to perch on the end of my nose, giving me a quirky 'peering over the glasses' granny/librarian look.

I opted to visit Specsavers (their celebrity spokesperson is Gok Wan) and paid $10 for the eye exam. The tests were thorough and efficient and I'm happy to report that my prescription actually needs to be weaker than what it was previously, yippee! no wonder my eyes kept feeling strained and tired.

then it was on to the awfully hard job of choosing new frames. Despite the sales assistant's best efforts to channel some fashionista vibes (pink? orange? green? gold? stripes??), I resisted hard and chose a pair of black specs (similar to my old specs) and a pair of tortoiseshell specs again, in a similar shape. See, I'm keeping my wardrobe in mind. Anyway it'll be 2 weeks before they get here, can't wait! 

pyjama pants

Miss 12 has grown over the winter and now her pyjama pants are far too short. She likes her pants to be long and slouchy. I've joined the Pajama sew- along over at http://www.sewmamasew.com/ for motivation and inspiration. My last pants adventure for Miss 12 was the burda wof skinny pants that I blogged about last month. They weren't a success. The front of the pants looked great if she stood still however when she moved around the front tended to puff up at the bottom of the pleats in the crotch area. The pleats are long and deep adding an unwanted fullness. Sorry no photos. I couldn't convince Miss 12 to model the pants for posterity's sake.

moving on to the pyjama pants, here's the pattern that I've chosen to use. Yes it's another easy peasy pattern that's been lurking in the pattern box for a while. There's plenty of knit fabric in the fabric stash, oops, I mean collection, to make her up a couple of pairs.

banana cake anyone?

for Fathers Day today, dear hubby enjoyed his favourite moist banana cake. This family favourite is easy to bake and tastes absolutely yummy. The overripe bananas that lurk in the fruit bowl are just right for this cake. Here's the recipe:

Moist Banana Cake

125 grams softened butter

1 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

3 bananas (mashed approx 2 cups)

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 tablespoons hot milk

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mix well after each one. Stir in the mashed banana and mix well. Next, stir the baking soda into the hot milk and add to the mixture. Lastly, fold in the sifted flour and baking powder.

Pour mixture into a greased/lined 20cm tin and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Use a cake tester if you're not sure. Cool for 15 minutes in the tin, then turn out and cool completely on the wire rack. Then ice with the lemon icing.

Lemon Icing

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon butter

2 cups icing sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Heat the butter & lemon juice and stir until the butter has melted. Mix all the ingredients together until it reaches a smooth, spreadable consistency. If it gets too firm, just add a few more drops of water.

how about this photo of my little cake lover who swiped a chunk of icing off the cake just after I'd taken the cake photo! love her smug expression!

new mccalls palmer/pletsch patterns

the new McCalls winter/holiday collection 2009 email was opened this morning with great anticipation. I wasn't disappointed. Among the 49 new pattern designs is one 'possible' and one 'must have' palmer/pletsch pattern that will eventually join my sewing queue. First up is this 'possible' pattern for 'the perfect wardrobe.' I'm intrigued by the jacket although it's too boxy looking to be flattering on me. However, I love the inverted pleat in the back and the a-line trapeze shape. 

then there's the 'must have' pattern for 'the perfect knit dress.' The main picture featuring the very busy red/black/white print almost put me off and I would have scrolled right on by if I hadn't read the description. I'm on a mission to find the perfect knit dress pattern for me and this could quite possibly be it?

1st blogoversary today

today I'm celebrating 1 full year of blogging fun. When I started this blog, it was "a means of documenting all the different avenues that my journey into sewing, arts & crafts will take." 282 posts later, this is definitely happening.

anyway, thanks to all of you who take the time to read, follow, link, leave comments and email me. I really appreciate it. Don't forget to have the traditional blogoversary cupcake. It just wouldn't be a blogoversary without one!