Sunday, July 29, 2007
piglet
 According to my Chinese horoscope, the keys to my good health, serenity & riches are soup, oolong tea and candied ginger. As if I needed another excuse to eat more candied ginger! Lots of good things seem to be flying towards me at the moment - metaphorically speaking of course (except maybe cookie batter!). I keep hearing of job vacancies that I might actually enjoy, so I'm busting out my best resumé styles. The pea pod cardigan is so close to being done (just one more sleeve to be sewn in) and it fits perfectly. My mum is coming to visit for a few days next week, and on the weekend I am jaunting to Melbourne for the pure pleasure of a few hours of blues dancing and shopping. Inspiration is present in the form of beautiful historical costumes, fangirlishly fluffy gothic lolita dresses and a metric fuckton of vintage patterns I have yet to tackle. I am super keen on joining the Australian Costumer's Guild and seriously indulging my corset-sewing urges. Slightly longer-term goals? Get on the NEIS! Riches & serenity everyone, riches & serenity! |
Monday, July 23, 2007
multitaskin'
| Ever think you're a much less patient person than you used to be? Case in point, I picked up the last Harry Potter book a few days ago and still haven't finished it. I can't seem to sit down and read for more than 20 minutes at a time. When I was young I could sit for ten hours straight and devour a novel but now I can't even handle long reading stints of an exciting book. Another example, right now I am surfing four websites concurrently while writing an (admittedly distracted) blog entry, knitting the last sleeve of my pea pod cardi, watching my housemates play Burnout 3 on PS2 and singing along to german pop-punk. My attention span has been whittled away to a sliver, unable to withstand the rigorous regime of university I used to subject it to. No wonder I just got bored writing this blog entry. I'm off to play Burnout. |
Monday, July 2, 2007
words.
 My fingers are really dirty. I think it's because I keep rubbing my eyes and get eyeliner all over them and it doesn't wash off very easily. I'm in one of those moods where I really want to be crafty or creative or writerly, but I haven't got a specific focus for my energies and I just end up getting frustrated and don't do anything. If I could spirit my patterns over the sea to Tassie right now that would be so useful. I should probably order some more corsetmaking supplies so that when I get back to Adelaide I have something fun to sew. I want to go outside and run around in the cold; there is a walking track that goes around the peninsula just down the road with lots of watery rocks to climb and some sort of water pumping station to explore. It is, however, very dark, and I have no torch. Archaic and obscure skills are awesome. Like spinning wool, swing dancing, corset-making, horseriding, pincurling hair. I thought taxidermy would be fun until I read the bit about using the brainspoon, and just how to tell if a corpse was fresh enough to tan (rub the belly until hair falls out). I would probably get over the squeamishness but at the moment it's a little daunting. Also, making prosthetics. A friend made the point that skills in this area would probably help me to make better corsets. So much amazing art and craft comes out of niche talents. I intend to acquire more. Also, kraken:  |
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
the melancholy tale of someone else's unsecured wireless network...
| ....leechy leechy. Wow, I can actually feel my feet for the first time in a week. And all it took was the wooly hides of a herd of sheep and sitting directly in front of a radiator. Devil City Swing is now in posthumous repose, happily consigned to a hazy memory of blues dancing, eating too many gummi snakes and watching steam rise from your own skin on a frigid Tasmanian morn. Now all I have to do is recover the bits and pieces I seem to have left all over the state (shoes, sleeping bag, etc). What did I love about this exchange? All the little details - personalised candy, badges and patches. Copping Hall, which reminded me of a 1950's country prom. The fact that it was a gathering of friends rather than a gathering (or a gaggle?) of egos. What did I hate? The predictable Saturday night depressive slump I always get mid-exchange. Gotta remember that a night of blues goodness will fix that right up! Oh, and the cold. But I like snow! |
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Crafty post.
So it's been a while. Much has been said, done, considered, debated, ruminated, bandied about and/or achieved. In the meantime, here's a hot picture of me: Ha ha. I made that corset (and the skirt, incidentally) myself, and I'm fairly proud of it. I always thought this was something so out of my league of sewing ability that I was intensely suprised to find that it worked. One day I will make these things for other people, but I must get some madskillz first, especially in the 'fitting patterns to sizes other than my own' department. This particular model comes from an original 1880's pattern, has 24 spiral and spring steel bones, and closes completely at 21 inches. It was inspired by a mix of marie antoinette, the wild west and ikea fabric, and was triumphantly worn to a canadian-themed vintage ball last weekend. Pip pip, hurrah. More pix in Picasa, so do click on the photo and be transported. In other news, I am going to Hobart tomorrow for the Tassie swing exchange and also to visit the mater. Bring on the snow, bizznatches. |
Saturday, May 26, 2007
updateliness
| It's been a pretty mad week. I've been sleeping on a mattress on the floor surrounded by boxes and piles of clothes, getting used to the new sounds (construction of tramlines at 4am), the new smells (um, pee, anyone?) and the new flavours of having the market within walking distance. I still feel like I'm on school camp, all ready for pranks and hijinks and iniquitous acts. Thus far, my little office-grotto has been adorned with lashings of green paint, swathes of fabric pinned up on the walls, a curtain rail for the hanging of my finery, and my most prized possessions (books, sewing machine, various photos, boxes of lace, ribbon and buttons). It's beginning to feel like a place I like to hang out in, if not completely home yet. So far we have climbed up to the roof, 10 floors up, and explored the penthouse suite of our office block, dominated the rooftop and the pump room and asserted our sovereignty over the Adelaide skyline. I am so keen to get started on some sewing again, but at the moment my room is too disorganised and I have too much other stuff to think about. Half my stuff is still at my dad's place, along with my more specialised sewing accoutrements. Also, not having readily available internet cuts me off from so much inspiration. Okay, an angry rabble of footy fans is approaching down the mall, so I am going to beat a hasty retreat from... .... wow. it's a crowd of emos dressed as zombies, all chanting 'Jesus was a Zombie'. Mine is not to reason why. I'm going home, folks. |
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
i've got a new apartment, baby!
 Hey look, it's our new place. We got it! How do you move an entire life's worth of stuff out of one place and into one that is a quarter the size? I am having conniptions. |