If On a Rainy Night.....

There's a storm on its way tonight, causing King Tide in the Port of Adelaide and wreaking havoc over the Southern end of the state, a perfect night for staying in with the knitting, hoping that if the massive gum tree in the yard does, in fact, decide to topple over, that it will at least have the sense to fall on the bathroom and laundry, which I would love to have re-done!

In the meantime, some things I've been up to....

I bought this lovely grey pure wool jumper at the op shop the other day, but as with most things involving breasts and shoulders, it was a terrible fit.....Even on my gorgeous model, whose 50's waistline and fabulous pointy boobs still don't do the jumper any favours.....

Clearly some cutting and pasting was in order....

A bit of pattern checking,

A whole lot of pinning,

And voila! Jumper For Skinny Girl!

I'm terrible at taking photos of myself, despite having a tripod and timer setting on the camera....but anyhoo, you get the idea. It's finely knit, warm and fabulous, and that wee little moth nibbled hole on the front is for authenticity, y'know.....

My neckwarmer order has gone from this:

To this:

Amazing how quickly I can knit when I have a deadline.... plus I've been catching up on some dreadful TV watching, so it just seems to make itself.....brilliant!

And tonight? There'll be a bit of this:

And episodes of House and Medium to keep me happy.

Before I go, I wanted to send out a thankyou to all the lovely comments I got about the Nongs, and about my blog in general over the last week or so..... When starting out on a new endeavour, it's easy to poo-hoo your own efforts, and lose confidence in your making skills, especially when there are so many more talented people out there making things I couldn't construct in my wildest dreams.
So getting a little comment or two from people who are, essentially, strangers to me, and have no obligation whatsoever to do so, is gratifying and humbling in the extreme.
So thankyou, to everyone who has sent me a note lately, and if I haven't responded to you, please take this as your personal thankyou.

Cheers, m'dears..... xxx

Sustainable Fashion?

I read an article recently by a fashion columnist who was flirting with the idea of Compacting – which is basically a philosophy of not buying anything new other than essential items like food, toiletries and basic necessities. Being a self-proclaimed fashionista, she found the concept pretty hard to grasp, but thought she would try it for a month, and was surprised at how easy it ended up to be.

At the time, I scoffed a little at this “poor” woman, who had to go without her designer bags and fabulous shoes and crazily expensive frocks for a month…..what drama!

But the column got me thinking about my own consumption habits, and I was pleasantly surprised…..

Basically, in the past year, things I have bought new include:

1 pair of black boots (Doc Martens, for work and everyday wear…)

undies

socks

1 pair black jeans

5 or so plain t-shirts and/or singlets (for work again- I’m a bartender)

one or two pieces of Ikea furniture.

On the other hand, the things I have bought from Thrift shops/ Op Shops include:

Various t-shirts/tops

3 – 4 pairs of jeans

3 pairs of shoes

about 6 or so frocks

various belts

lots of headscarves

lots of random bits of jewellery, brooches, necklaces, etc

beads/ sewing supplies

sewing patterns

fabrics – made into clothing/craft projects

loads of books

various bits of furniture

a record player cabinet

a lot of old maps/paper ephemera

various handbags

and the list goes on……

Looking at my wardrobe, I can safely say that 90% of it is thrifted or handmade. I love the fact that most of my shopping is done outside of the mass produced consumer mainframe. I love the thrill of the hunt that Op Shopping provides, and the sheer joy of finding something fabulous in a sea of dross can keep me going for days.

I enjoy fashion, and I love clothes, and buried deep inside me is a woman who would love a handmade Fendi bag that costs the same as a small house, but all in all, it’s not necessary. My wardrobe is all the more creative, fabulous and eclectic due to the fact that none of it cost more than, say, $50, and that almost every cent of my fashion purchasing has gone to charities in my local area.

Who would want to shop any other way?

Welcome to my blog. I am a twenty-something bartender and Art History student living in Australia, and I’d like to share a little of my life with you. I have been reading and lurking in many craft blogs for a long time, and I thought it was time to come out and play. I’m looking forward to sharing my time and projects with you.