Toastandcupcakes.

I finally think my sewing ‘groove’ might be coming back. And not a moment too soon.
I made this last night and this morning. In between eating too much tofu and talking to him. ( I thank both of those things for inspiration to get back into sewing.)
I have a list the length of my hallway of things I need to sew. Custom orders, shop orders, craft 2.0 stock ( I realllly hope to make it!) and of course possible fashion show stuff. I have no idea which category this hoody fits into, but it’s one of the best things I’ve sewn in months and months and months. I’m so pleased with it.
I drafted a new hood pattern, its bigger and pointier than ever. And the little buttons and divider bit in the front make it sit so much nicer, and is perfect for people like me who don’t like to have too much bulk around their necks. Close ups:

The only one problem? It took a long time. I would need to get at least $60-$75 to make it worth my time and materials, which really pushes the retail price up if it goes to Dandylion or somewhere. That said, for the first time ever I actually think it’s made well enough, and is unique and pretty enough to almost be worth what they’d price it at (!?).
In other news: I’m going to plant my garden at the end of this month. With a little help from said distracting boy. And well, being the picky eater that I am I don’t really like any of the usual vege garden type things very much (Tomatoes, green beans, spinach etc). But good news for me, I found the most amazing website that sells seeds for beautiful wildflowers, and different vegies! Gardenstuff is a wonderful little business, based in Christchurch. They seem so down to earth (no pun intended), and delightfully Diy-ish. And the best bit? You can pay for your order by bank deposit, credit card Or Paypal. Which is so unusual for a New Zealand business, and great for those of us without credit cards!

I got round carrots (round!), pakchoi, Tokyo onions and globe beetroot seeds. They send loads of information about planting and all in gorgeous small business style with no glossy packets, not plastic wrapping and everything looking like its printed out of a home computer! I love it!

I’ve been sewing! Well.. sort of. Mostly I’ve been brainstorming. I’ve been thinking about patterns I can alter and blocks I would have to try and make to get what I want.
My mind is still basically on the track it was on last time I mentioned the possibility of a show.
Do you mind if I let it babble over a little? :

I’m thinking skirts with inserts, similar to the one above, but in bright wools and linens, with more draping bright patterned fabric in the insert. I’m also thinking of really detailed machine appliqued plant life creeping up the side of the insert. (Although that might be too much?)
I’m thinking gloriously mismatched ever-so-slightly cropped hooded tops in hounds tooth and plain knits with ribbing bands and extra long cuffs.
I’m thinking little bloomer type shorts with ribbing bands, also in bright linen and wool, over bright coloured leggings. with big vintage button details.
I’m thinking relatively plain long sleeve tops in duller colours. Perhaps with matching super long cuffs, or with the super detailed plant life appliques, but in patterned fabric.
I’m still thinking over-sized sound of music type bags. With really big stained wooden handles.
I don’t think any of these things will fit together in any sort of theme, or collection. Perhaps they’ll fit together because they’ve all come out of my crazy head? Either way. I should really get to work!

Now for the tops part:

I’ve made seven tops so far to send to dandylion. I graded my pattern so now they range from about a size 10 to a 16. I’ve had a few people e-mail me asking about the possibility of buying one outside of dandylion, and well here’s your chance (although I’ll email you tonight rach.).
I’m a little low of fabric colour choices, but if you’d like a top like this, and we can come to some sort of agreement on fabric, then  I’d love to make you one, (and sell it to you at the wholesale price.). Just let me know and I’ll fill you in on what fabrics I have available. (and measurements of sizing if you need them!).

I took some pictures of our little house. I’m so desperate to make it less grandma-ish, but I just can’t think what to do. I guess maybe it will just take time for us to overcome it.
It’s a lovely little house, it just really has no character at all. (Or as Jason tells me, it has the bad type of character.) It’s quite new, it has terrible wallpaper, awful light fittings, carpet in the kitchen and bathroom (?!?), a burglar alarm, a waste disposal unit and a whole bunch of other things we don’t like or need.
The plus points are : it has the most amazing internal access garage to use as my studio (see last post), it has a heat pump, which despite being really ugly will be so helpful in the winter, it’s close to the shops, its a good size and the large section is fully fenced and perfect for Aesop to run and ride bikes and be a mad man.
Any suggestions for de-nana-ing (without painting or doing anything too permanent..) Are most gladly appreciated.
You can see the rest of the pictures here,( although I did really miss out the taking of photos in the rooms I like the least! and mostly just took pictures of our stuff. ha): http://www.flickr.com/photos/wearmystuff/sets/72157594464155595/

I’ve finally started to get my ‘studio’ organised. I’ve gotten half of the room ready so I thought I’d share some pictures, to hopefully make up for the misery that was the last post!


To the left (out of the photo) I have my overlocker and my cutting table. On the other side of the room I have two sets of shelves full to the brim with fabric, a cupboard with more fabric, boxes of unfinished projects, my pattern blocks, screen printing stuff and shelves and containers full of ribbons and haberdashery. I’ll try to take pictures of all of that in the next few days too.
It’s not perfact by any means, but it’s shaping up to be okay.
Now if only Aesop hadn’t filled the water part of my iron with pins last night while I made dinner…. I might actually get some sewing done!

I’ve never kept a New Years resolution in my life. Never ever.
So I’ve sort of gotten to the point where I don’t bother making any in anticipation of failure.
But I’ve decided, a week too late that perhaps I will make a few goals, or at least jot down a few thoughts for this year. They’re mostly the same things I hope for every year, and mostly things that don’t really get to a point where I can tick them off, more things that I will work on forever.

*Not to gain weight. Ideally I’d like to lose another 6 kilos, bringing me to the middle of my healthy weight range. But I will be happy to just not gain.

* To eat and cook better food. I want to get enthused about cooking again. I want us to eat more vegetables, less meat and certainly less baked beans or spaghetti on toast! I want to start really cooking again rather than just throwing things onto a plate.

* To spend less time online. My life long ambition that for some reason I just cannot manage.

*To communicate more. Especially in ‘real life’. I want to send more cards, write more letters. Make more parcels. But I also want to actually reply to e-mails, espcially toast related ones, which lately I really haven’t been doing at all. (sorry.)

*Sew, sew ,sew. Start sewing at a decent pace again. Stock Dandylion. Do craftwerks. Give the website a bit of a break and focus on loval and national sales and becoming more ‘known’.

*Pay off my computer.

*Be a nicer, happier person.

*To be honest.

Wish me luck, I have a feeling I’m going to need it if I don’t get out of this emotional ‘rut’ soon. I really feel like I’m not achieving anything at the moment and life just sort of passes me by without me finding the motivation or energy to do any of the things I want to do in a day. I’m trying so hard not to spew all my problems all over everyone, but if I’m being honest I’m not really coping too well.
So thank you so, so much for your comments on my very sporatic blogging, and your beautiful e-mails (which I need to reply to.). It really means a lot to me.
I really hope this year is better than the last one.

Happy new years sweet blog friends!
Sorry I’ve not been around, but I went to Hamilton for a few days to have a little holiday with some old friends, and a few new ones.
I had a delightful time. (I’m sure those of you who snoop enough will find out why. And i’ll answer questions soon enough.)

I DID give Nick his hoody, as it was. And unfortunately for you (and me!) noone quite guessed what the image actually was, although Amisha came the closest with her guess of irises (I’ll e-mail you about your goodies Hun!). They were in fact meant to be Coryanthes Orchids. Taken from this picture here:

I guess they just don’t like right without the incredible colours and markings. Nick did like his hoody though, I believe. I’ll try to get a photo of him wearing it. But in the meantime here’s a picture of us hanging out in the glorious Hamilton sunshine, which lasted all of ten minutes. ha.

I’ve come home feeling inspired to sew and design, but due to my lack of sewing machine (even the borrowed beauty had to be returned), I think I may very well just spend the evening tidying and organising my sewing space instead. A fresh, clean sewing space ready for the biggest year of sewing yet. Sounds good to me.