In between times

The in between times after Christmas and before everything is back to normal are a bit weird aren't they? With Mr Ric rac home I can't quite settle in to my sewing room hibernation routine (He would beg to differ) and even though there are new things brewing and patterns to write, I'm kind of ....meh...

but I also have this pressing need to do something....so I do comfort sewing, For me it is elephants so I spent yesterday sewing all those dark grey piles of fabric into elephants.Nothing ground breaking but satisfying in its own way.

In breaking news we actually have New Years Eve plans .....I still hope to be long asleep by midnight but just the fact that I won't be in my dressing gown by 6pm is cause for at least a minor street parade around these parts. Between that, and yesterday's "reclaim the washing basket" march.....I might very well need a Bex and good lie down by tomorrow.

bothered?

All of a sudden it was the last weeks of school and then a day or two of preparation and Christmas - like some crazy downhill race that cannot be stopped.
The day itself was very relaxed, there was lunch under the cherry tree, a walk with Finn and some fabric cutting in the evening.

I made these teatowels for Jemma and her boyfriend Gav, and just quietly I think they are a genius idea. I would have loved to have a drawer full of these when the kids were at the rotating dishes age and every night was a litany of "I did it last night" - "but we swapped" etc etc.

For the record, I did the dishes.

For the bursar

The school bursar (the chick with all the money and the magical order book) is an obsessive penguin lover, and I, being the librarian in need of monies to buy books, am an obsessive bursar lover.

So I printed her a teatowel (it would have been a set of tea-towels but my screen printing is still quite hit and miss and the others didn't work out)

yes I do realise they look a little short sighted but you can't look a gift penguin in the mouth can you?

If you have an inkling for the printing, get on over to the new blog of Leslie, where she shows you step-by-step how to build your own silk screen. And whilst your there, take the time to add her to your reader, blogrolls, sticky-note systems. You won't be disappointed - she rocks the craft.

fus ro dah

Apparently there is a computer game
and apparently in this computer game there is an awesome spell of infinite power or somesuch.

Apparently it allows you to push horses off cliffs ('cause thats a skill we all need)
So apparently these screen printed cushions for Jem's computer- game- loving boyfriend are going to be awesome - the best present ever

or the jokes on me and I have just printed some hidden geek language that reads "I'm a dick"
(I'll let you know)

Screenprinting

A couple of T-shirts for the vegetarian

because no matter what he says - I totally crack myself up.

12 kgs

Of lick
and fur

and bounce

I make toys 2.

Another day, another disembodied animal.

This is head four, five and six. I got sick of making a whole new head after number four, so I just un-stuffed it and tweaked it and re-stuffed it. The good thing about working that way is that it is faster, but the bad thing is that it is harder to exactly replicate those changes on paper...I inevitably make the next head from the paper pattern and it doesn't look the same - so this head, if it is OK will be destined to be unpicked so I can re-draw the paper piece from it.

Much narrower neck and higher under the chin. I do think I like it, but I am a little scared to call it done for fear the next toy will take 300 attempts. Six heads is a dream run !
Part of me wants to make this into a doll-styled toy complete with an olive green winter coat, with a fur trimmed collar.....but another part of me wants to make a more realistic looking animal- kind- of- animal.
I have tossed up the gusseted underbelly kind of look , but I find it hard to let go of my button joints . If I go with an animal- type- animal it might have to be a head and body with buttoned on legs - hmmmm. Join in guys - share your thoughts.
I went to sleep last night imagining how the back of the head can extend down into the body, without getting all weird . I also find myself thinking of the shaggy fur that these guys have on their chest. I'm wondering about colours and fabric , and tails and teensy spots on bottoms kind of Bambi style. I'm thinking the ears might need some tweaking. I also fruck myself out a bit with thoughts of vinyl.......
And as I get ready to bake birthday cakes for my (work) birthday partner that I blithely forgot about today , and prepare Finn for puppy school I can't help but wish, as always that the time between work and bed could be elasticised or gusseted or have its seams let out just a little.

I make toys

Hi guys, I started a new make today and got to thinking about the whole process and thought maybe you would like to follow along. I'm not promising a series or anything (I'm sure to get bored and wander off into something else) but thought it might be fun to document some of the stages.....

I always start with the head, I guess it is the bit that holds the personality and it is the bit that (hopefully) makes a toy recognisable. This is Head 1, a compilation of heads past, a very basic 3 piece, as you can see the nose area was a disaster.

Front on, I quite like the curve in the lower part of the antler, but that's about it so its time to move on to another head - and yes that's an ugly ear, there's no denying it. I usually don't expect to be even close until about head 5 or 6 so don't stress-
I made a new head with two antlers and ears, pin eyes and some drawn on features....hmmm, its a little chunky isn't it? I usually do all my toy making with sheets. Locally I can buy them quite cheap so I never feel bad about how many botched attempts I make- oh and they must be white - colours confuse me at this point, I really just want to look at shapes and if I use coloured fabric I get a bit stuck on the colour . (anal or what?) Does it look like a toddler to you? The pins are like instant plastic surgery, a little nip here , a little tuck there.
Oh dear - this toy has mumps....
That under chin area is waaay too chunky. I also changed the back by adding a centre back seam so I could get a bit more roundness but then had to pull in the base of the neck so it looked less stump like. I have also decided the antlers can't be sewn into the seam- way too difficult and weird and floppy......felt ???? Maybe not, these were hard enough to turn as it was.
Head 3
What ??? Is anyone else seeing a unicorn here? Lets hope its a combination of bad angle and pins in the forehead... That weird under chin wrinkle is caused by a pin I promise.
OK - I am much happier with the line on the nose area (although I have pinned away a bit more on the chin as you can see) Also my tweaks previously led to some weird blobby forehead thing so I have pinned that as well. Not sure about the line of that side seam.... maybe I need to add a bit to the back and take some from the front to even it up. That will become important once I decide what kind of body I'm making.
Hopefully there will be some after-work-time for another head tomorrow. Look at the back of the head - too round ? Maybe I need it flatter after all - and then maybe to flare out a little at the base...
(its a long and winding road folks)

and they came

All the relatives and friends gathered and said goodbye, and then we shared our stories and we laughed- a lot. Granny wanted very little in the way of a service - she said to "just get that bit out of the way" She wanted a party with all her family , just like her 100th birthday, so that is what we did.
Like all gatherings of the clan, given half a chance the music will follow. Great grandkids sprang forth with guitars and bongo's and a little bit of didge. Aunts and Uncles and nephews and nieces sang quietly and then sang loudly. People fortified themselves with drinks and food and sang some more , and told funny stories, and those kind of weird happy/sad stories and even a few ribald stories. There were moments of quiet and moments of thigh clenching laughter. We all learnt new things about Granny and her amazing travelling life. and in the mix, somewhere in the laughter and the grief I think we all realised that we do quite like each other as well. We have years of shared history, the inlaws and the outlaws, we have rubbed up against each other for a pretty long time now. Those that we rarely see were greeted and hugged and welcomed and those familiar took up their roles and helped and served and moved things along and kept things flowing.

In her physical absence Granny orchestrated something wonderful

In the early evening as Jemma and Connor sang and played their own (crazy) rendition of Joelene I did think, that when the time comes, that this day in my house with its mess and crumbly bits and embarrassing carpets, would be as good a farewell as one could wish for.

(Thankyou)

Some real life

Yesterday morning Granny Boo passed away very peacefully. She simply drifted off , which I think is a damn fine exit after 103 years .

So for the next little bit its all about the family and arrivals and the guests and the catering and the details. Next Tuesday we will all be here, gathered to say Goodbye and to share her stories, and our stories.

I did wonder about telling you, but you know what, you're my friend and I wanted you to know.

I'll see you soon.

Today

I heard a strange noise,
and had to battle with the scary black thing. The scary black thing was very tough, but I wrestled it and I chased it and I dragged it through all the flowers...until I won.

I didn't even know I was so brave.

Merry Christmas (No, really)

Little Red

I don't mind, you know, going to grandma's.

but the basket of treats just hasn't been the same since Grandma joined weight watchers.

Some things..

grow slowly

(how absolutely zen of me...next thing you know I'll be writing grateful posts )

and just so know - grateful posts are fine...just not me. Although I am grateful for every millilitre of dog wee that occurs outside the house.

in the buff

Nude, naked, hairy, spiky - in all his glory.

Baxter is finally a pattern

and the first 5 people to purchase him online from Ballarat patchwork will get another of my patterns absolutely free . (chosen at random)

How cool is that ? Of course if you miss out you can check out the stockist page and visit one of the lovely shops listed there, or you could even ask your local craft emporium to get it in for you. (hint hint).

Tomorrow I have the day off, and I thought of putting my to-do list on here to make me more productive - but I'm kidding myself. I am a craft-sloth at the moment it seems, so I'll probably just hang upside from my branch, blink a few times and pass wind.

Don't look at the tights

because these were the third set of legs I have made, (having tried a grey/white stripe and a red/white stripe) and of course these were the ones where I forgot to tell myself to be extra careful and match up the stripes....so they are embracing the wonk a bit.

but you can look at the shoes with their little Hook and Eye faux lace up thingo's, cause they are pretty cute.

(Just so you know- no amount of cute little doo-dads is taking away from the fact that all I can see is those bloody mismatched stripes.)

I thought I was done

I really did.

After maybe a month or more and half a zillion attempts, I thought she was super duper ready to share,

But that anal gene tells that the almost finished dress needs one final tweak, (and different binding). So I'll cut out another dress and lining, which means I have to cut out and sew and french knot all those mushrooms (again) .


and just when you don't need it - I had an idea



Which led to another idea ,which means everything will take a bit longer than I first thought. So finished once again turns out to be a relative term.

yeah Ok... and she still had a pin in her brain -obviously I was going to deal with that .

"Not-blogging" or yes there are giant pink strawberries on my pyjamas

• When I am "not-blogging" I'm usually at work. Four days of the week are spent at the day job, hanging with the kids and the books. This week I spent time drying out and destroying books damaged by last weekends crazy storm. I will never be someone who can blog everyday, and really, I'm not that interesting most of the time.





• This week a lot of my "not-blogging" has involved spending time in the garden with Finnigan (Dog of Wonder) and also spending an inordinate amount of time mopping! How such a small dog can turn one bowl of water into 25,000 litres of piddle is beyond me. Does he have a super-power?





• Some "not-blogging" also needs to be blamed on the newly vegetarianised Master Connor. I have had to put a LOT more effort into meals, and we are all eating vegetarian every second night to make it easier. The worst thing is spending hours making something that looks great and is full of great ingredients...only to find it tastes like crap. (If you have a go-to , fail safe vege recipe that you would be happy to share, please email).





• Yesterdays "not-blogging" involved visiting Granny Boo in hospital - and all the awfulness of a very deaf very old fragile person in the medical system. Mr Ric Rac's dad is also in hospital at the moment, in the next town from Granny, so there is all kinds of family-crazy going on , as you can imagine.





• A tiny bit of "non-blogging" has been spent sewing.





• Some "non-blogging" has involved donating to this Auction over on the book of faces.





• Todays "non-blogging" has involved me swearing at bloggers inability to upload photos. I tried approximately 30,000 times but some weird internal error is preventing photos...and I realise this probably makes the title of this post redundant - but I don't care. Blogger can disapear up its own backside today for al I care.





• I'm going to boil the kettle and get on with a bit more "not-blogging'.

Just lie back on the couch and tell me where it all began

I'll understand.

Your fancy ?

After an impromptu "staff meeting' with Annie today, I got fired up and back into the sewing room.
I fiddled with a few frocks in between Finn-play and took some photos.

and dreamt undersea dreams .