keelysews... sometimes

I'm heading into exams over the next 2 weeks but afterwards I have 3 weeks off. Yayyy !! My "in the holidays" list has grown to ginormous proportions. Luckily I didn't specify which holidays I was going to do it all in. ;-) Anywhoo - whilst clearing the decks a bit and putting the covers on my machines, I unearthed the ever growing UFO pile. I figured I could give one last night to tackling a couple. Any excuse to procrastinate a bit more. First up was the mesh Ottobre Rose top I started a few weeks ago. It was sitting here waiting for the hem to be done. I'm not entirely happy with it and I obviously need some better support with those floobies at the side! The side seam easing from the fba is also off even with taking the side seams in. What the heck - it'll be fine under a jacket. Or, I could just never lift my arms. Of course then I could never do anything. That appeals. See, there's always a silver lining - sewing mistakes mean you can get a hous...

Seeing as Judy and the twins caught us all by surprise, I didn't have any baby presents prepared and on hand. Luckily, I had these embroidered polarfleece pieces in the stash along with some velour which will be lovely and soft on little preemie skin. We're going into winter here so I think a nice cotton velour backed by polar fleece should be toastie warm. Hopefully it won't be too long before they get to use them. And this is why I have a stash!

Yesterday my best friend, Judy Williment, had her twins. A bit early at 33 weeks but all are doing well considering. (And yes, that's decaf, lol) This is Isabella - 2.42kg (5.3lb) And Nicholas - 1.78kg (3.9lb) CONGRATULATIONS JUDY !!!

Or how to score Mommy points..... Yesterday I handed in the last assignment of the semester. As I dropped the last week of my life through the slot I felt like celebrating. Naturally there's only one way to do that - I went shopping! No surprises when I say for fabric, lol. I actually went to Spotlight for a specific piece - some parka nylon to make some quick curtains for the bathroom windows. When you combine dark mornings requiring lights on, the screening shrubs having been cut down over summer and neighbours potentially going past whilst people are having showers....... Some curtains are in order! I was happily minding my own business walking to the corner I needed, when this fabric screamed out "Look at me! I'd be perfect for (DD2's ) disco tonight! Buy me, buy me, buy me...." (Well, you all know how the refrain goes.) I didn't even hum and ha for long. One metre of spotty fabric had to come home with me. It insisted. :-) There was only one problem. By t...

The new Jalies are up on Patternreview . And next week some will be winging their way to me! They should arrive around the time my exams finish - great timing. I couldn't blog about this until I broke the news to Judy that Jalie 2787 was also winging it's way over as a present for her. I think she's happy. ;-) On the way are 2805 - A good basic tee. I can see this getting a lot of use for my 2 DD's. J 2806 - This one's for me. And maybe DD1. J 2795 - I can just see this on my two DD's . I'm intrigued by the 'Hoddie' title. and J 2794 - I really liked the top Debbie made so I've decided to give it a go. And just to make it fun, the stash contest will be running again at Patternreview so I might even get to enter something. :-) Does anyone else do this? You can't sew, but you keep thinking about sewing so you end up buying fabric and patterns instead. I need to sew something and soon - otherwise I really will be keeping the economy going!

It looks like winter has decided to make it's prescence felt with a vengeance this week and while I have a practical, warm coat, I'd like a 'nice' coat. It seems everywhere I go, coats are calling my name. Today I saw a lovely jacket and I was tempted to buy it but, it was a short jacket, not a coat. Then there was that voice saying "I could make that.... it's only a simple jacket.... that denim jacket pattern I've got at home would do....". (At least I don't say it outloud, lol. Well, I don't think I do...) I also saw a really lovely fabric made into a coat shape. I hesitate to call it a coat with it's unhemmed, overlocked edges. Hmmm, it would look good for all of about 5 minutes, then the fraying and pulls would start. So, I need to think about making a coat. Although thinking about it isn't the problem. Making it however is another story. :) In my stash I have navy cashmere and a satin lining put aside for a longish coat. I don'...

Oh dear. I was let loose in Spotlight for my Mother's Day pressie. I didn't buy too much - just some brown Bengaline for trousers and a large remnant of a knit for a top. Pretty restrained I thought. But over the last few days I've been thinking..... and that can be dangerous to the stash figures. Anyway I thought it might be nice to have a jacket as well, so I popped back today and bought another few metres of the Bengaline. I think I have way too much now, at least I hope so. :) As Judy pointed out, I'm not really a suit person but something about it appeals. Besides, it might be handy to have a 'suit' of sorts. One day I'll finish studying and I'll need a job. At the rate I'm sewing this might even be finished by then, lol. While I was there I also found some chocolate Valencia, the same fabric as my red Ottobre tee. I love this fabric, it is so soft and comfortable. This will be..... well, I'm not sure which exact pattern, but I have it for w...

Last weekend was our family day and Mother's Day. We had a lovely day out at the Tropical Forest/Butterfly House. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera so no personal photos. I'll just have to go again so I can get some to share. :) There are 3 levels, all kept at a very tropical (30 degrees Celsius) temperature and about 80% humidity. The paths wind around, and going under the waterfall was pretty cool. There were butterflies everywhere including landing on us. The girls were in the supposedly 'right' colours of pink and reds but the butterflies seemed more attracted by hubby's cream and green shirt. One of the helpers said it could be because the butterflies are attracted to sweat. (snort, lol) This is the glass swing bridge. It's certainly interesting going over that! There are also turtles, goldfish ponds, tarantulas (in cages, thank goodness!) and although we didn't see it, they often have a giant moth with a 30cm wingspan. I think I'm very glad we di...

Vicki (aka HongKongShopper) and Jemima bean tagged me for this: 1. Pick up the nearest book. 2. Turn to page 123 3. Find the fifth sentence 4. Post the next three sentences. 5. Tag five people and acknowledge who tagged you. Well, if I'd responded to this yesterday, you'd have had an excerpt from Discourse as Data and been subjected to Coding schemes. (Shudder) But, today is today, so instead the featured book is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice . The nominated lines fall in Mr Collin's self-congratulatory speech when he finds they are to dine with Lady Catherine the next day. "I confess," said he, "that I should not have been at all surprised by her Ladyship's asking us on Sunday to drink tea and spend the evenings at Rosings. I rather expected , from my knowledge of her affability, that it would happen. But who could have foreseen such an attention as this? " Hmm, who to tag..... Charity who has an incredibly generous heart and has done the...

Where has the week gone? Well, ok, I know where my week went. Somewhere in there I watched Mel Gibson in Hamlet (research can be such a chore sometimes don'tcha know, lol) and managed to get totally sleep deprived turning out an assignment. My DSis checked it via email to make that I hadn't written anything horrendously stupid and then I drove through the hail to deliver it. Something strange is going on when I'm reading blogs from the other side of the world talking about snow storms and a week later we're getting snow on the hills. Where's all that global warming? (asked facetiously) After that amazing dedication (it was cold outside people!! I even needed my coat!) I took the evening off. I managed to catch up on all the posts on Bloglines, which took me a couple of hours - you're all so good about posting, (looking very shamefaced here) then I sewed! Two whole seams. On a neck-binding. Not great progress then, lol. But I did do some of the mending in the w...