What I've Been Up To

Growing up as a kid, i was always surrounded by creative people. My mum has several crafts under her belt - she sews, knits, does amazing headrest crochet designs, she sometimes caters to weddings and also decorates the venues, she bakes, makes amazing ice cream by hand [it's the reason why i'm real picky with ice cream]. But she doesn't do any of these as a full time job because she's actually a lecturer. All these mini projects stop her from getting bored and aid with her creative side. As for my dad, i think the only creative side in him is revising a car engine to suit his needs after he's purchased it as he's a nutter for engine details. I must admit i never used to get what he found so fascinating in spending his weekend entirely covered in engine oil while he looks for a way to custom-make an already perfect car engine. My mum's brothers turned their attention to electronic items such as radios and VCRs and also making items out of metal. Home was always bursting with creativity and there was always something new to see and 'destroy'.

I managed to pick up on a few skills from my mum - i cook, knit a little bit past beginners level, i think i do a pretty good job with crochet as long as i have a book to guide me with the patterns. But i think my best skill is with a needle; i'm still a beginner when it comes to sewing machines but when i have a needle in my hand, i can pretty much make anything i want. I've successfully made a dress and a skirt just using a needle and thread; true to form i wore it till it fell in pieces and then fixed it again until my mum took it upon herself to throw it away. I'm yet to perfect my cutting skills though because it was my mum who finessed the pattern i used when i made them. It's been over 8 years since i last did any of these things so out of boredom and frustration, i decided to make my own diary for 2010 and i must say i'm impressed with what i've done so far. After binding the pages, it is over an inch thick and i'll take pictures of it later and post it so you can see. I know making it wasn't that much of a stretch as it involved me printing out the things i wanted in it and compiling the pages together but i think its a good start for me.

The next thing i want to try is knitting/ crochet. I still know the basics so that's good as i don't need to learn anything. All i need to do is just get a knitting book, wool and some pins so i can get my creative juices flowing. The first thing i want to make is an oversized beanie hat. I've always been fascinated with large beanies and how they just flop and add a bit of boho-chic to your look. I once made a beanie hat in dark brown which i think i made during my holidays in 2004 as i took it with me to England and wore it all through my first winter. But one of my friends ended up taking it because she liked it and said i should go make myself another one...ha! That one was a fitted beanie hat which could almost pass off as a beret i guess, i made that with my mum's supervision so it would be interesting to see what it'll look like when i make it on my own. The best thing about all these is that i can get all my supplies from Spotlight.

For the past month, i've been collecting pictures of items i'd like to make from scratch. My mum is so excited about it that she's even offered to make detailed patterns of some of the things i'd like to sew and scan it to me so i can print it out to scale. I'm excited and nervous at the prospect because most of the things i like to wear on a daily basis or clothing that i think defines me tend to have clean lines. The fact that i can be particular about what i want usually irritates me because on most occasions i can't find the exact item i'm looking for especially when i have no idea of the brand or if they aren't stocked in Australia and don't ship to Australia. But right now, i plan on taking everything one step at a time so for this month i'm just going to collect pictures and ideas of the things i'd like to make. I'm currently on a shopping ban up until February so i really can't make any purchases now. Here are some sewing blogs to get your creative juices flowing: lesbabouchkas.blogspot.com, angrychicken.typepad.com and heatherbailey.typepad.com