keelysews... sometimes

As I've alluded to before, I'm studying full-time. On top of family life this means a lot of my time lately seems to be timetabled. Not rigidly hour by hour; more in a structured must-do list type of way. Along the way, as I feel stretched every which way, things get shoved to the bottom of the list. I've realised lately that two of my joys in life (and sanity savers), my special group of friends and sewing, have been getting ignored. Shame on me! So, having had this insight, what's a girl to do when her husband generously shares his tummy bug and it leaves her unable to focus on academic readings over the weekend? Well, I was selfish enough to keep my bugs to myself, lol, but I did risk a bit of sewing. Rated 'Easy' of course - no point in pushing my luck. The sacrificial garment in question is a shirtdress for DD1 in checked 'poly rayon stretch suiting' from Spotlight (and which melts impressively to the iron if you let it get too hot....). Both the pa...

Well, my holidays are over and I don't seem to have got any of the sewing done that I'd planned. It seems my mojo packed and went on holiday too. So, in an effort to kickstart a sewing spree, I started to tackle my DD2's woeful lack of clothing. First up was to use a piece of Mickey Mouse themed sweatshirting I had acquired from my mother. This was apparently purchased in the mid to late 80s, so it was certainly time it was sewn into something useful. Everytime I looked at this fabric all that came to mind was those really baggy 80s jackets. I started with hoodie pattern #36 from Ottobre 04/2007, added extra length to the body and sleeves and used the ungathered pockets, sleeves and hood from #34. I made a size 146 so there is plenty of growing room. Next up was the 'Emo' sweatshirt as it has been titled in our house. I had a small remnant which was not big enough to allow the hoodie DD2 wanted. A bit of digging in the stash and we came up with some white sweatshirt...

You may have noticed changes in the look of my blog over the last couple of days. I decided I was bored with my old blog colour scheme. After spending an evening playing with almost all the Blogger templates, plus having a look online to see what was available, this is what I came up with. What do you think? Any suggestions? Is the type easy enough to read? While I'm picking brains, any idea on how to change the colour of the little arrow markers that still show in green? :) TIA for any suggestions!

Yesterday we woke to snow to sea level here. As we're fairly close to sea level that meant we actually got some at our house. :) The kids were pretty excited as school was cancelled - which was good because there was no way we could get the car out of the driveway and no buses were running. Instead the kids put the drive slope to good use and had a great time sliding down on old skateboard decks. Then it was down the road for a snowball fight at the park. This may look like a pathetic amount of snow to some, but for us it's a big deal as normally it's the hill suburbs who have all the fun. Snow this low, that actually settles, only happens maybe once or twice a year at the most. It snowed on and off for most of the day - Luckily we didn't have to go anywhere. DH kept in touch with work by phone, not that many others had managed to get in. Fortunately, my exam wasn't until today or I'd have had a problem because the University doesn't cancel exams. Speaking o...

I have a lovely clean bathroom. Nothing like exam time to get that house sparkling. :) Oh, and fabric came home with me from Spotlight. Nothing too amazing - black tricot and a printed satin with skulls on. Both have been bought as linings. Yes, I'm shamelessly copying inspired by Judy's idea. I'm sure she'll forgive me. [Insert big cheesy grin here :) ] Hopefully there'll be some sewing in the next few weeks.

It's been a while since I posted hasn't it?! I've been busy studying and getting serious sewing withdrawal. Chocolate just isn't cutting it as a substitute, darn it. Shame too, because I have, ahem, had fundraiser chocolate bars sitting on my table, so you'd think I'd have been home and hosed . (as a side note, if you munch away on blue M&M's, be sure to check the mirror before leaving the house.... cyanosis is not a good look at all!) I've managed to squeeze in dribs and drabs of sewing, but nothing great. I whipped up a 'quick and dirty' tunic for DD2 to her own design. When I say 'quick and dirty', I mean it. Take a remnant of printed satin, fold in half and cut out a neck hole, fold in a small allowance and stitch, sew up side seams to armhole height, finish armhole edges and hem. It looks like a pillowcase with holes cut in it, lol. Then DD1 was in the school musical and naturally needed a costume. Luckily the only thing we coul...

It's nice to get rewarded for something you were going to do anyway. :) Mmmm, chocolate. I resisted the urge to drive around the block and go through the checkpoint again, lol. The pen I was given for having multiple passengers (my kids, lol), thereby being ecofriendly, was much appreciated too.