keelysews... sometimes

Ugh! I am sick of studying. Even studying fuelled by pineapple lumps, jaffas and m&ms. I have definitely decided that dry, dusty, memorize-the-facts politics papers are not for me. BORING!!! It really does spell out how different DH and I are as he did an entire degree in this. At least this will be out of the way in 48 hours. Then just the exam on Sociological theorists Durkheim, Weber and Marx. Does it sound sad to say I find that more interesting? I'm actually looking forward to revising for that. I know. I've obviously been studying too much and have lost touch with reality, lol. Just to add to the geeky nerdiness look, I'll confess that when I was in the Uni bookstore the other day, I found at least 4 textbooks that I'm keen to read over the holidays. I soooo need to get a life!

Sewing time has been scarce as the semester winds down with the subsequent increase in assignments due and then exams. However, only three weeks to go. I'm still checking in at Spotlight to see if the melton goes on special, but no luck so far. Wish they'd get a move on because I do like that purple, although I've found it will fray a bit. I might have to think about finishing the edges. Meanwhile, I've succumbed to the joys of Trademe and bought fabric, plus I've visited Spotlight a few times ... - which I really don't need with the way my stash stats are going for the year! I will have to do some serious sewing in November and December to even this out a bit. Something stash consuming.... like bedsheets. Or a tent. Or a cover for the house. That should use up a bit, lol. I bought 3 pieces of knit off Trademe as a test to see what the quality and service were like. I'd have to say thumbs up! Reasonable prices, very quick service ( I bought on the Tuesday, p...

Cold, snowy days remind me that I need a winter coat. Of course it's officially spring, the plum trees are covered in blossom, and we've had a few weeks of lovely warm days to end winter on. But today is cold and raining with hail and snowy stuff at times, and did I mention cold? I know that some of you have colder, like if you live in Alaska (Hi Dawn !), but I'm a wuss and I'd let the warm weather lull me into a summer mentality. So I'm declaring it officially cold here. :) In the latest Ottobre Woman are a couple of lovely coats. I love this coat and I think it would be lovely out of the navy wool cashmere I have in the stash. But it would need a "little" bit of fit adjustment which requires time. In the same issue is this coat, which looks like it would be a quicker sewing project. And the sizing is closer. I even found melton at Spotlight. And in purple. It's so tempting..... but it's $39.95m and this coat takes around 2.6 metres. Maybe I sho...

First up - a big thank you for the kind comments and support after my last post. I guess my 'Mommy' panic gene kicked in big time for a bit. But, once I caught up on some sleep, had another chat with the doctor and been sent a whole lot of stats by a friend who works in oncology, I was much calmer. Now we're just waiting and seeing (and crossing fingers etc). Today I discovered why some people (namely, me) should not be allowed to own modern technologies like mp3 players. To understand why, you have to know some background - for instance, that I am tone deaf. Can't sing for peanuts. No really - I'm awful. Just ask my family. If I busked, people would pay me to stop. (In fact when I sing at home, my kids do ask me to stop - once they've stopped laughing). On a funny aside - I was in the school choir for years. How you ask? Well I'm also a dab hand at lip synching. :) Anyways, I like singing along with songs on the stereo,..... and the radio,........ and my mp...

This morning I took DD1 to the Doctors. Nothing too urgent we thought, but the only time we could get into see 'our' doctor. We ticked off the few things that needed checking and then DD thought to mention the 'stiff, lumpy neck'. Now the Doc is great and very calming, but even though it was preceded by "I don't think we need to do a...", the word 'biopsy' is one word that a mother does not want to hear mentioned in relation to her daughter! Rationally, I know he's not too worried, that we're on a monthly check-up for 6 months and often they go away by themselves.... but in my sleep-deprived irrationality, all I can think is that the possibility is still there that in 6 months if the lump is still there, or if it gets any bigger, there will be a biopsy to check for the big 'C'. I have been slightly freaked out all day. Luckily I had a paper to write to distract myself, although I'm not going to promote it as my best work. Tonigh...

Well, okay.... this post has been sitting, all typed up waiting for photos, for 2 weeks now. So, lets just call it 'Last fortnight....' :) Week 1: What does 15 minutes at a time get you? The sleeves got sewn into the check shirtdress. When DD tried it on I found it was a bit tight across the shoulders so I let the back armscye out a smidgeon to provide a bit more ease. It's still sitting on the desk waiting to be finished... Oops, you can tell this has been sitting 'folded' on my desk for a while. It still needs the hem done, belt loops, belt, and buttonholes. All those buttonholes. I dug out and hemmed a UFO - Jalie 2682, to wear out to dinner on Thursday a week or so ago. (Sorry, the photo quality is a bit rough. That's what happens when my photo helpers are all tucked up in bed.) This top was sewn over a year ago and I blogged about it then. When I looked at it I realised that I'd shaped the sides after I'd taken the original photo. It only took me...

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...