Public Health Warning

So. Grab your SARS masks and have your immunisations ready: I'm a walking communicable disease.

Whooping Cough is on the warpath.

I knew it wasn't bronchitis. The whole not-chesty-ness of it all was a bit of a giveaway. Not to mention I felt fine and non-feverish and nothing at all like I do when bronky. Not to mention the dreadful, terrifying, whooping gasping choking can't breathe need air thing after a bout of coughing.

Who knew immunisations wear off? I can expect a few more weeks of the cough, and a 'relapse' whenever I get a cold in the next 12 months. Joy.

But it's OK - I'm not contagious now.

Info: Whooping Cough.net (some of the soundbites sound just like me!) // Wiki

Charlie Brown I am NOT!

We spent yesterday at the beach. Picture a still morning, with warm sunshine, gentle (very gentle) waves lapping the shore, and balmy litle zephyr of a breeze. Heaven. Or, it would have been if I'd have gone into the water: I'm still fighting off this bug (I suspect it's not bronchisaurus after all, because never when I've been bronky have I been like this), and didn't feel safe enough to go swimming in case a fit of coughing came upon me and I drowned.

So while N dove in search of dinner (he caught a leatherjacket and we were given four massive trout from the fish-shop), I entertained myself on the shore with my camera and my book and my kite. Charlie Brown I am NOT! (My fluoro bag stood up exceptionally well to the rigours of lugging all my stuff from pillar to post, too)

We spent the whole day on the beach (as testified by my lobstered legs - ouch!), and as evening drew in, it grew still as a millpond:

And we saw the Dreaded Dredger, WAY too close to shore for comfort:

Yik.


Because I had so much stuff with me: kite, poi, books and stuff, I decided to create a dedicated beach bag, in which to leave them (and a bottle of sunscreen), ready to be grabbed for a spur-of-the-moment outing/picnic/etc. Voila! One beach satchel with pockets (and finally a use for the orange velcro)

Latest creation

OK, this is my first foray into reversible fluoro bags. Not very good, and I know lots about it I want to fix (not least being the style - not too keen after all)... but it's still something. Thoughts?

Lookie: It even has a pocket!

OK, now that you've been blinded enough, here's a nice soothing Rizz-pic to rest your eyes.

Update

Remember all that fabric? We got it out of the bungalow to check it out last weekend, to see just what we had.

(Clicky for details)

EEK! There is some good stuff in amongst the safety fabric and shiny polarfleeces: some silvery knits and pretty coloured bemsilks that will be fun to play with, along with the fluoro lycra and other interesting stuff. It's a good bargain, even if less than half turns out to be useful.

I've been sewing again. I made another bag from a pattern I got off Etsy:

I bought the "bellydancer" fabric and was going mad trying to find something that would complement it appropriately. I think the swirly pink works well, don't you?

It took me about a week of stop-start, sew, unpick and all that jazz, and I ommitted the clasp because I wanted it finished *now*. It's a bit smaller than I hoped it'd be, and there are a few bits I'm no 100% happy with ( ), but I'm still really proud of it.

We also got our summer-veggie garden happening today. Tomatoes, peas, snowpeas, watermelon and strawberries all happily (hopefully) growing in a new garden bed:

And basil in pots on the kitchen windowsill:

Hurrah for summer flavours! And there's still room in the 'old' garden bed for even more!

And finally.....Laser cat is armed and dangerous:

Ambitions: I haz them.

This will all depend on my patience (and sewing prowess), but I have plans for the twelve rolls of fluorescent safety fabric lurking in the bungalow.

I'm thinking bags. It seems to be pretty heavy-duty stuff - after all it is safety-fabrique - and should be durable enough to survive everyday, and (if I'm really lucky), will be washable. I'm thinking if I can get them looking halfway decent, I might even try and sell them.

Messenger bags, duffel bags, totes in various colour combinations - fluoro yellow, orange and red/pink plus black/white/fluoro accents, coloured appliques and overlays and all sorts of funstuff.

I'm putting out feelers on some messageboards and forums I'm on as to whether there is actually a market for fluorescent stuff, and so far most of the responses have been positive.

Now to (a) finish a bag I was making for myself in different fabric (that's tonight's task) (b) make up some samples in various colours/patterns and (c) not get bored/frustrated and lose interest when they're not instantly perfect.

Do people want bags for Christmas?

Fabric a-go-go

We got a shedload of fabric recently.

There was a mixed lot of rolls for sale on ebay cheap, and we decided we'd keep an eye on it. We forgot about it (and were gallivanting around the city enjoying stage shows*) until N's mum rang us asking if we wanted it, because it ended in [x amount of time].

"OK, put the minimum bid on it," we replied. Long story short, we won the fabric, at some ridiculously inexpensive amount for the quantity.

All well and good ... until N went to pick it up. He got half of it crammed to bursting point into his car before he had to make an emergency call for his brother's ute, which likewise got piled high and strapped down with fabric rolls.

When I got home, all I saw was fabric. They'd just started unloading, and it seemed like a neverending haul of materials. Stretchy, woven, patterned, embossed, and (best of all) eye-twisting fluoros. Plus rolls of polo-shirt collars. And a bag of elastic. And a box of slippers.

(These fit me, believe it or not. We have a box full, all European sizes, so place your order!)

I have no idea what we're going to do with it all. A new cover for our swing, perhaps, but that won't make much of a dent. Once we've sorted out what we want, we might put them on the lawn and have a free-for-all before selling off the leftovers.

I was thinking of maybe using some of the yellow lycra (not so eye-burningly bright under the big roll of check in the top photo) to make a dance costume:

but we'll see how motivated I get. (Photoshop just doesn't have bright enough colour schemes!)
~~

*We went and saw Wicked. Fabulous, wonderful show! Recommended to all! (N spoiled me rotten for my birthday.) I wanna see it again. Can we go see it again? Canwecanwecanwecanwe?

Bag Lady

I need another bag like I need a hole in the head. But I made one anyway. From scratch (no pattern).

I had all this cool fabric lying around that just screamed "BAG".

Isn't it pretty? So shiny and colourful, what else was one to do with it?

And what's even better, it's reversible!

It's not much, but I'm proud of it.

Busy bee

Well, the 365 photos thing never really worked, did it? I guess there are only so many flower/beach/cat photos you can share before everyone gets bored, right? And then when winter hits, how much of interest is there to take indoors?

Oh well.

I've finally got an update for you, though. I've been busy! And not just the usual busy: sewing busy! And dancing. But sewing is the exciting part.

First, lets backtrack a little to June, when an insane amount of hand-sewing, infected fingers from needle-wounds and so on was finally finished, with this outcome:

(No, Amy Winehouse wasn't my makeup inspiration... why do you ask?)

So far so good. That costume has survived a couple of performances with only one or two last-minute sequins falling off.

And that got me to thinking (shocking but true). Why can't I make my own costumes rather than buying them? I have a whole sketchbook full of designs and ideas just begging to be made.

I decided to start small: finally wrestling the waistband onto a skirt that has been half-made since I started bellydancing. That worked, so I decided to make a practice top. If it worked, and was wearable, then I felt I could be let loose on the sewing-crafty world. Bwahahahahahaha!


HA! It did work! And what's more, it fits!

I like the elastic "waistband" - it stops the top riding up, and gives it a neat line while I pretend I didn't forget to cut out a proper band to finish it. I did botch the sleeves a little, in that I cut the stretch the wrong way, but as long as I don't put my arms above my head, it's all good, right? It survived an intensive Turkish workshop in one piece, so I can't have botched it too badly.

Next project, I got a little ambitious. Nat's birthday was coming up, and while I had something for him, I wanted to *make* something, too. The success of the top went to my head. So I ordered a pattern/kit online, waited anxiously for it to arrive and when it did, exploded in a flurry of green faux-fur.


Not bad for the first time ever making a 3D toy, eh?

An upcoming performance requires yet another different costume: harem pants and an overskirt. I've got the pants, but the overskirt? I can make that! I raided my fabric stash and came up with an old veil from when I tried bellydancing with Sal (however many years ago that was). Pretty, shiny, let's cut it up!

OK, that was easy (I'm still debating whether to give it another layer or not), but it's still something I've made!

My latest project is another gift. I think I'm nesting-by-proxy, because I had to make something for Sal's new babies (Charlotte Joy and Makayla Jane, born 28 June, 2008). What to make that's going to be useful? Blankies! Patchwork and polarfleece - how can you go wrong?
I agonised over the order of colors and patterns in the patchwork top, and finally came up with these:



I'm really pleased with how they turned out (blanket binding frustrations notwithstanding). They're only just finished, so I want to wash them to get rid of any stray cat-hair before I give them to Sal-the-allergic. I really hope she likes them and they're useful!

Next project? Well, I want to make a bag, and some more tops, and skirts, and, and, and..........

February 1 and 2

February 1

First (decent sized) mantis of the season. Where are all the bugs this year??

February 1

Nothing quite like a sunbeam....