A Nani Iro top for spring

There's a warmth just beginning in the air and I believe we are emerging from what seemed to me like the dreariest, rainiest winter since eleven years ago when I was stuck at home with two little boys ages zero and 14 months in a dark unrenovated cramped house but-let's-not-dwell-on-that!

I've just emailed off the first full draft of the last major piece of work I have to complete for my 'regular job' before I finish up. Yay!

Last Saturday there was a marked turn in business at the shop, with people buying summery fabrics. Yay!

The daylight is lasting longer. Yay!

I know that soon enough I will be moaning about the heat and having to water the garden and all that but for now... yay! I'm feeling all springy! And not in the least because I made myself a new top from some Nani Iro double gauze I've been eyeing off for a while.

It's such a statement fabric, I wanted to make something simple. So after lots of consideration, I settled on a pattern I'd made before, from a Japanese sewing magazine, Pochee Spring 2010. It's basically a wide raglan sleeve top with the neckline gathered up and the gathers sewn down with a long strip that also becomes the front tie. I love my first version of this shirt and still wear it often. The double gauze has held up very well to wash'n'wear.

The pattern calls for the neckline strip to be cut on the bias, and the layout shows an outrageous amount of fabric allowed simply for cutting this. There's really no need for it to be on the bias and I pieced it together from a couple of pieces cut on the grain.

However my fabric-miser tendencies bit back at me when I didn't have enough room to add seam allowances at the bottom hem. The top turned out a bit short so I headed back to my pile of scraps and eked out a little addition to the bottom, which was kind of on the bias so it kicks out a bit. Actually I quite like the effect! One of those 'happy accidents'. I would allow a bit more fabric next time though. Er, if I could remember how much I cut for this one, ha.

I also shortened the neck slit/placket thingy considerably because it was waaay too low last time - maybe a little too short now but no matter.

Thank you Jasper for the kooky-angle photos!

- Jane x

unintentional bonsai

One of the things I was drawn to when we bought our house twelve years ago was the number of large, mature eucalypts in the vicinity. The native birds love them and they provide good shade.

But... one of the things I love the least about our property these days is the number of large, mature eucalypts in the vicinity. They suck the moisture and nutrients out of the soil, overshadow our yards and make it very difficult to grow fruit and veggies in our garden.
Exhibit A: Blood orange tree, planted at least three years ago and fed continually with chook manure, compost and occasional conventional fruit tree fertiliser. Approximately 30cm high... more or less bonsai-ed by the effect of the neighbours' two massive eucalypts.

Exhibit B: Broccoli, grown from seed three to four months ago. And in our garden I'd kind of class this as 'vigorous':

It's a little disheartening. And wouldn't you know, I campaigned some years back to keep our large eucalypt street trees when the council wanted to replace them all with something smaller. This was before I twigged to the bonsai effect. So they are now replacing them in (very, very slow) stages and I guess the one out the front of our house will be the last to go. My own fault!

Anyway, enough on the sad garden front. I haven't sewn anything in the last week but Charlie has very quickly picked up the idea of making log cabin quilt squares.

I thought he might like to make a cushion cover out of the scraps from his quilt. With just a little basic instruction he was off and running. The idea is to make four 12-inch squares for a large cushion cover.

He's on the second square. How proud am I?

School had a 'pupil free day' yesterday (second one in three weeks right after school holidays? harumph) so I offered the boys extra pocket money to clean our car. They did an excellent job of the inside and to be fair, the outside was extremely dusty after a trip into the mallee scrub. This is after washing:

I'm choosing to regard it affectionately. That mess was made with a lot of effort and enthusiasm (and cost me $14).

- Jane x

and the velour madness continues

Velour + overlocker = lots of fine dust. However, velour + boys = happiness right now so I guess I'll just have to keep vacuuming more often.
These are some more Farbenmix Yorik hoodies.

I ordered a bunch of samples of this bamboo/organic cotton velour from the Bamboo Fabric Store and the boys chose the colours they like. Or rather, Jasper was most definite about his colour choices and Charlie ummed and ahhed and then said something agreeable when I suggested the stripe.

Isn't it boring having to trace off one pattern again and again in different sizes? I made a mistake tracing the sleeves in Jasper's size and they are a bit short: the perfect length for him right now but a little out of proportion with the rest of the hoodie. No big matter. Charlie's is the next size up (second-largest on the pattern). It's pretty generous but you know how these boys grow. Actually this one fits me perfectly... I almost didn't hand it over.

The velour, after cutting, is a bit curly at the edges and with right sides together can slip and slide around. I learnt a useful tip when joining three or four layers: baste in twos first. E.g. at the bottom front, I basted the pocket edge to the front edge, and basted the two edges of the bottom band together. I used a long zigzag stitch very close to the edge so it pretty much just got eaten up by the overlocker in the final seaming.

During the week Andy took five roosters to a 'poultry processor' that welcomes backyarders. He said there were small batches of ducks and geese and all sorts there. So now we have a freezer full of rooster  and might even feel capable of a roast this weekend. We also have one remaining rooster, on probation, dependent upon no crowing before sunrise. He's such a beauty, and taking to his new role as king of the chookyard with impressive pomp and bluster. So please, watch your beak, Blue Roo.

- Jane x

how to pluck a rooster twice

1. Mentally steel oneself for the chicken 'processing' by reading many websites, watching lots of River Cottage and YouTube videos.

2. Select bird that has been crowing from the flock and capture it quickly and calmly for a minimum of stress.

3. Talk gently to bird as it is swiftly and cleanly dispatched by husband.

4. Place bird in old pillowcase and pluck feathers by hand, capturing all feathers in pillowcase. This takes a fair while but keep going.

5. Clean bird according to instructions found on the internet. Decide can't cope with feet, liver etc at this point and bury together with head and entrails in back yard.

6. Agree that husband should barbecue bird right away to get it all over with. Be unable to eat it just right now.

7. Tie end of pillowcase in double knot and throw in washing machine with intent to perhaps eventually stuff a cushion with feathers.

8. When washing cycle has finished, discover pillowcase has come undone.

9. Spend next week plucking rooster feathers from washing machine drum, filter and subsequent loads of washing. Pluck, pluck, pluck.

10. Summon nerve to taste rooster next evening. Discover it is almost inedibly tough because we did not 'rest' the meat for a couple of days.

11. Decide that is enough 'connecting' with chicken meat raising and the earth and universe and all that and resolve to take the rest of the roosters in a batch to be professionally 'processed'.

- Jane x

Andy's 40, how about a new dress?

Today is Andy's 40th birthday, but right now he's in Texas for work so there's not much I can do to help him celebrate. Which is a bit sad but we'll make up for it later. He's bought himself a pair of cowboy boots; very fitting for turning 40 in Texas I think. I wish he was here. Happy 40th my lovely. We sure do love you.

We have one last week of school holidays coming up here. Charlie decided he wanted to make himself a new pencil case for school. With the pick of my stash he chose some Heather Ross Owl & Pussycat fabric and some Tammis Keefe reproduction with cats and birds.

He decided on the dimensions he wanted and I followed this tutorial to help him. He did every bit of cutting and sewing himself, even on the zip. I just instructed and pinned. Somehow I got the zip teeth pointing the wrong way in the final construction and Charlie was so amazingly patient and unpicked it all so we could re-do it. His calm persistence amazes me. At his age I probably would have thrown the project on the floor a few times and maybe never finished it.

It takes some effort to hold myself back from my desire to jump in there and do a lot of the sewing for him. He's really becoming quite confident with the machine and obviously, the more I let him try, the more he'll learn. I guess I'm learning as a teacher, too.

Maybe dear Charlie is also teaching me a few things because these days, I sew with far more patience. I cut this dress out in early December... and finished it just this morning. I've grabbed small moments here and there between kid-projects and everything else. It could wait. No hurry.

Yes, it's my third Miz Mozelle. In Spoonflower organic cotton knit that was part of my Spoonflower binge late last year. Charlie was my photographer.
As with each of these dresses, one of the most difficult things was choosing the one perfect button!

oops, spot the stray thread

I actually sewed most of the bias tape on by hand. Since the hand-quilting I did, I've appreciated more the meditative nature (and satisfying result) of hand stitching. I used some Japanese linen bias tape that I've had sitting around for a while. It's wider than I've used before so it became more of a feature.

I took the time to add pockets in the side seams. I love pockets. I used scraps of voile so they wouldn't add much bulk.

Since I eked this out of two yards I ended up with a much narrower belt than the pattern calls for, but I don't think it matters at all.

lots of summer swimming means Jane is more toned and tanned than she's been in some years!

As it has previously, the dress turned out a bit long for me. So I turned up a nice deep hem and finished on my (ridiculously indulgent purchase) coverstitch machine. I even bothered to change the top threads to match. See, patience!

I wish I could find a bit more saintly patience over wanting Andy to be done with his work trip and be home with us. I'm a bit worn out and battling some sore throat thing. Only two-and-a-bit more days though.

- Jane x

growth

This won't come as any news to anyone over the age of about, ah, two. But we're a bit excited. Gardens grow!

First Sunday in November

three weeks later

today

We've grown a few straggling veggies before. We generally manage at least an abundance of basil over summer, thanks the lovely Herb Fair at our local Community Centre on the first Sunday of every November. But we have a lot of neighbouring gum trees, and limited time, and water restrictions, and enthusiasm that rapidly tapers. Things haven't often thrived.

Then we looked afresh at this patch down the side of our driveway. Fabulous sun. No overhanging trees to shade or suck out the nutrients from beneath. Just begging to be composted, built up and planted with productive plants. And on the first Sunday in November, we were ready for the Herb Fair, which also does a great trade in exciting vegetable seedlings.

We have eggplants, zucchini, capsicums, chillies, loads more tomatoes we grew from seed, a random marigold (companion planting) and of course, basil. Out the back we've planted more tomatoes and zucchinis, plus two varieties of pumpkin.

Every morning Andy does a little tour of the garden and usually invites me out to view some momentous unfurling of leaf or bud. We've been watching a lot of River Cottage on DVD (we discovered this fabulous series only about 10 years after the fact!) and he's fancying himself as a bit of a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Well, they both wear glasses and have a penchant for really bad puns. Yay, I say.

More 'growth' also probably inspired by Mr F-W is our incubating eggs. Right now we're on Day 18 out of 21 and I'm so very excited. I've snuck some away from our broody chooks a few times to 'candle' them (i.e. shine a torch light through them). As far as I can tell, things are looking promising. It's all I can do to stop myself cracking one open for a look-see. But I read somewhere that you must not handle the eggs after Day 18 so it's all up to nature now.

And lastly, how about a bit of personal growth? Yesterday I had a small road-ragey incident. I didn't let loose any rude gestures or words, but I'm positive the lady concerned had a fair idea how I felt. Well, about an hour later I sat down in a meeting with some important new clients and it dawned on me. It could have been one of them. It wasn't, but it could have been. And I could have royally... messed it up for everyone. (I was wearing a dress in a fairly unmistakeable floral fabric!) So, I hereby vow to the world at large that I will never express anger or frustration to other road users again. No matter how bad my day, no matter how difficult it was to get the four-year-old to eat breakfast and get in the car, no matter what other drivers may do. I'm in charge of me, and I will be better than that.

Oh and I should probably add, no matter how hard it now is to reverse the car out of the driveway with the addition of our awesome new garden bed.

- Jane x

the muslin that made me go "yeah, nah"

I may finally have to face the awful truth that I am not an illustration of a groovy young thing in the sixties. Boo-hoo.

yeah! hey that's me in the centre with the red hanky isn't it?

nah. I don't hate it but wouldn't buy it, you know?

Let's ignore the one sleeve thing and the safety pin 'buttons' and the random fabric belt for now and look at the shape.

The fit was not bad; I loosened a little into the seam allowances around the hips but that's all.

I was slightly concerned about the shapeless bag potential of this pattern on me and I think, suspicions confirmed. Not dreadful, however not flattering enough to bother with making 'for real'.

And didn't they like their 'short' sleeves long in the sixties? Modesty or fashion I wonder?

There are better dresses out there for my shape. Like something with an actual waist. Lesson learnt!

Yay for doing muslins then, however dull it might be. I think this means I have to muslin up another pattern. Oh well, silver lining: it's a great way to use up odd coloured threads left on bobbins.

- Jane x

sometimes learning is exciting and cool, other times it sucks nasty stuff

What kind of thread should be used for which kind of sewing?
This is a mystery that I've been working through by trial and error. Surprisingly I've found rather little information about it. Today however, this free download popped into my email inbox and has shed some light on the matter. (It's quite a good little e-book of sewing tips.)
Wish I'd seen it before some of my recent sewing with knits.
See, I've been drawn to cotton thread. I love me a natural fibre, and no-one seemed to be giving me compelling reasons to use something else. Besides, mightn't polyester thread potentially melt under a hot iron?
So anyway I sewed this with cotton thread:

Fig. Aaargh

That's twin needle stitching on the bottom hem of this top, which despite the wonky stripes and thanks to some encouraging comments - thank you! - I finished up and have been wearing a lot.
However. A couple of times in the putting-on or taking-off of this top I've heard that dreaded snap! of a thread being stretched to breaking point. See Fig. A above.
And now I realise that cotton thread has a lot less strength than polyester, and is not really the best option for sewing fabrics with stretch.
Silk thread is apparently very strong and has some natural give in it. I've always wondered what silk thread might be for. My local store doesn't sell it but I've seen a large bank of Gutermann silk thread at Spotlight. Is it really pricey? The hedonist in me rather likes the idea of sewing with silk thread.
Also in the sucky department is the fact I used cotton thread for my beloved Miz Mozelle, and when I was reaching around in the car to strap Clem into his seat, I heard that horrid snap! again.

Fig. Bummer

I guess the bias tape has more give in it than my cotton thread. (See Fig. B.)
What kinds of thread do you use? I'd love to hear some other opinions and advice, especially since I am keen to sew a lot more knits.
To end on a less frustrating note, here is a photo of some gingerbread, decorated entirely by Clem and his friend Summer from across the road. I was rather proud of my calm restraint in standing back and letting two three-year-olds slop coloured sugar about.

Totally worth it.

- Jane x

PS - I'm adding this a few days later in case anyone reading may find it useful - I just found this which suggests using woolly nylon thread in the bobbin when doing a twin needle stitch on knit fabrics. I will have to try that, along with polyester thread, and maybe I'll have better luck with my hems.

more from the haphazard dyepot

Experimenting with the theory that an aluminium pot can act as a mordant. Same sad old (formerly) white cotton top as before.

 Once again, lacked time and patience to pre-soak or really follow the instructions in the lovely book, like soaking overnight in aluminium-pot-water.

 Dumped loads of coffee grounds in with cotton top and water and brought to the boil for half an hour or so. Partway through, thought hey, maybe I have a source of iron-as-mordant too.

 Who knows? Worth a shot. Normally used in the garden on things like my yellowish macadamia tree.

So yeah, cooked it up for a while, let it sit for a bit. It looked to be going a fair bit darker than the first time. Then I went to rinse it out. Which is where I found...

 Our source of mordant-rich water! Yes, the rusty old rainwater tap in the laundry. The orange-tinted water that comes through the rusty pipe is exactly what was called for! I could actually see colour processes happening as I rinsed: the rust-coloured water became quite a dark grey.

 I will spare you any further gruesome underarm shots - suffice to say that the aluminium content is still working away and the top is no more wearable than before.

 But what a cool experiment!

Um, here's our pretty cat Elodie, and some weeds. Happy Thursday.

- Jane x

more Sydney

outdoor iceskating

needed to be carried a lot (we chose not to bring the stroller - mistake)

that landmark as seen from ferry (Dadda's show was in the Studio theatre on the bottom level)

in the skyrail heading uphill at the zoo

Sydney Aquarium - just fabulous, unless you are three, overstimulated and only interested in your next sugar fix

dugong + lettuce

exactly

Miffy enjoyed all of Sydney with us

post-Aquarium meal - we ate seafood, what else?

Small kids and big cities are an interesting combination. By the end of the first day (including first ever plane flight for all three), our boys were rather overwhelmed and full of questions.

We hadn't actually planned our time a lot and the boys were desperate to know what we would be doing, when. I remembered something I'd read about in the book I wrote about here, about grounding and calming kids with a sense of predictability. So Andy and I sat down on the first night and worked out a basic itinerary, and once we had laid out these plans to the boys, they seemed a lot happier. It made life easier for me too when I could quickly and confidently answer Clem's questions: "when are we going ice skating?" "two o'clock today".

I think since having kids I've become less and less of a planner. Alright, I never have been much of one. But as parents we have so many best-laid-plans go awry, I find it best to have very few expectations. So it's a fine balance. Give the kids plans to look forward to and have a sense of order... and deal with their devastation if it doesn't happen because someone's sick/overtired/takes too long/misbehaves?

We also spent a bit of time just chilling out in our apartment to give the boys a sense of a 'home base'. Er, and to give Mama a break from dragging three boys around a city while Dadda worked.

It was a slower pace than an adult holiday, but in four days we took in a huge amount.

And the good memories are the ones that linger, aren't they?

- Jane x