Bad Girl...?? Lol!

I don't really bother with making New Year's resolutions, although I sometimes 'toy' with changing some habits. But I'm never 'resolute'/set in stone about these...just deliberately vague aspirations that I think about. And so it was late in 2013, that I thought that maybe I had quite a largish stash of fabric and perhaps I should try to use a lot of it up in 2014 instead of buying more. The same went for the yarns' stash and sewing project patterns and kits. Use them up! So not buying new 'stuff' was sort of the plan...

Ahem...cough cough...3 balls of Red Heart SuperSaver in Royal Blue that I had ordered last year, arrived at Yarn Over last week, ready for me to pick up...

And in the mail this week...from that little shop at Maleny...

A little something for my 'Sewing themed' fabric collection...

And also in the mail this week; ordered online late December 2013 from a lovely little shop called Whatever, Where-ever...getting organised for Christmases in the future!

Pattern beautifully wrapped and tied with a bow by Helen who owns Whatever, Where-ever

By the way, Helen has a sale on at her store at the moment...she sent me an email to let me know...I'm not saying anything else! lol

What I've been reading lately...and the Tale of Two Skirts'...

When I retired I vowed to read more books and to vary the genres. So as well as the crime/mystery novels that have been my favourites for decades, now I also try to read non fiction books as well. The Frugal Girl blog often gives me ideas for books to read and that's how I heard about Elizabeth Cline's book 'Over-dressed'. I was able to borrow the book from the Brisbane City Council library and DH and I went over to Stones Corner library as the catalogue indicated there was a copy on the shelves there.

We were able to combine a visit to the Stones Corner Library with a stroll around the shops and a stop for coffee :-)

This is a book about how the fashion industry in the US (and most Western world countries) has evolved into a 'shop every week' for the latest trends of cheaply produced, poorly-made, poor quality clothes. (Cline commented that some of the clothing retailers can have anything up to 400 new items each week on sale in the shops, thus encouraging people to shop more often...not just once a season as in her parents' time.) The 'rise' of the 'Outlet' shopping malls as well as the 'Cheap Chains such as Forever 21, Dress Barn etc,  and the demise of both the department stores and the smaller boutique type clothing shops has been happening at the same time...

 This has resulted in the closure of US clothing factories and some highly skilled workers out of work. These cheap clothes are produced in other countries with the resultant environmental issues as well as workplace health and safety issues. Cline also visited US clothing re-cyclers and discovered that the shoddily made cast offs of modern fashion chains are not really suitable for selling in charity shops or even to be shredded and re-woven into new fabrics...so they go to landfill. Even the huge secondhand clothing market in various African countries do not want these cheap clothes when they are discarded by Americans.

Cline is a young woman probably about the age of my children. I was interested to read that after she had researched for her book and had also seen examples of 'vintage' clothes with the well finished and nicely styled quality garments, she decided to learn how to sew...and she did.

My mother used to complain about the finish on garments in the 1970s and onwards, where seams came undone or seams were just over-locked edges and buttons fell off after being done up once or twice. Well I thought of my mum's comments when it became obvious that a skirt that I bought in Sears in the USA in 2011, was not the best quality. Yep! I had firsthand experience of what Cline described in her book...

I must have re-sewn every horizontal seam in this skirt, since I first wore it ! I think the skirt was $19 full price but it was on sale so I possibly only paid $USD10...buyer beware, you get what you pay for obviously!

The next photo is a skirt which was sewn by my grandmother who worked as a tailoress for Fletcher Jones when he was just a small business in Warrnambool. Nanna made this skirt out of viyella in 1945 for my mum. My mum had been serving in the army and didn't have many 'civvy' clothes so Nanna made her some new ones. But that's not my mum in the photo, it's me! The skirt was still just like a new skirt in the 1960s and pleated skirts had come back into fashion. So mum shortened it for me and I wore it for years. This was a case of a quality fabric, sewn well and the garment cared for resulting in something that lasted well for years. (I grew out of it sadly...unlike my mother who was a tiny size 10 as an adult, I grew to a Size 14 in my early 20s)

There is an excellent article/review on the book here. I found the book easy to read and although the contents are rather sobering, I did enjoy reading the book. 

January 4...

Last Sunday was January 4 and on that date in 1967 my father lost his 11 month battle with leukemia. He was 58, and I can remember at the time, how people, when offering their condolences always said he was 'too young'. I didn't really understand what they meant, but as I have grown older myself and gone past 58, I do understand...
My dad was born in Sicily and at the age of 15 came to Australia to join his older brother, who was a canecutter in north Queensland. My father came out on the steamship 'Regina d'Italia'; he would have travelled from Sicily to Genoa to board the ship. I did not know any of these details when my dad was alive; I only discovered these things during a visit to the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. I have already written about this very emotional day in a post here.

Regina d'Italia

Many people associate migration from Italy to Australia with the post World War 2 years but history shows that many came to Australia in the 1920s (and even earlier,) as my father and his brother did. They were escaping poverty and hoping for a better life.

The photo that was used for my father's temporary passport

My dad on the left with his older brother Sam

My dad is holding the enamel mugs and teapot; when he arrived he was too young to join the 'gang' cutting cane so it looks like he was the 'teaboy' until he was 17

From books that I've read, being a canecutter was very hard, dirty, hot work but my dad's stories of those times didn't reflect that. The money was good and the season was only part of the year...

Dad's on the right 

 He told me stories about his beloved motor bike; the photo below isn't him but one of his mates. He described riding the bike along the long beaches up north...my staid 'old' dad sounded a bit of a rebel! lol

I believe he was in his 20s when the next photo was taken...in Australia he was able to learn the violin; many of my memories of him feature him playing opera tunes on his violin.

In this photo he would be in his 30s and the hairline has 'gone right back'

In his mid to late 30s my dad started farming in the Stanthorpe district, but after WW2 ended  he moved to Brisbane...

One of a set of studio photos my father had done to send to the woman who would become my mother...

When dad first arrived in Brisbane, he worked at the Wunderlich factory at Ferny Grove, but luckily not for long as the Wunderlich factories were producing asbestos sheeting. After having had a share in a fruit farm at Ballandean, dad started working in a fruit shop in Brisbane city...
Needless to say the workers in this shop seemed to have some fun times...about 13 years ago, Jimmy, the man on the front right of the photo, gave me the original but damaged photo. Jimmy's parents owned the shop...the shop was called The Why (or Y) Worry and it was in Edward St.

I don't think my dad ever expected to be a father. His first marriage had ended in divorce and with no children. Then when he was 42, I was born. 

He was a very 'hand on' dad, changing nappies, bathing  and feeding me...

My dad would go to Symphony concerts and the opera and would wear his suit and a bowtie to these occasions. The photo below was taken in 1963 at my cousin's wedding (an arranged marriage for her :-( )   and dad is wearing his 'concert outfit'; because my uncle went back to Sicily to live many years earlier, my father was the Patriarch of the family here...a role he took seriously. 

The last photo I ever took of my dad; in 1966 working in his garden.

I like to think that even though my dad died when I was only 15, he lived long enough to influence the type of person I became as an adult. 

Mrs Martin's Celebrations Swap, 2013

I thought I would post the photos of what I sent my partner Lynne for Christmas in the year-long swap...
Started in September and finally finished in early December, the long hexagon table runner...after my op in late October this project got put aside when I suddenly lost interest in it. I'm glad I picked it up again a month later :-)

 A little Christmas wall-hanging...it was a kit but I didn't like the suggested finishing of the instructions...so went my own way and was happy with how it turned out...

A Christmas pudding...but Lynne won't be eating this one...it's soap! (bought from Eumundi markets)

But the next parcel contained something that could be eaten...

 A packet of selected quilting cottons; I love the way Fantazia at Tweed Heads South does up these packs.

 The back of the package...

So I wonder what Lynne might make with all those pretty fabrics :-)

Some more Christmas 2013 Swap goodies...

I thought it was about time that I got back to writing posts. DH and I were delighted to have some house guests after Christmas when DsD1 and her partner came to stay for 5 nights and also one night where Dan's sister also stayed over. Having guests stay  means many things, but an important one is the need to tidy up my craft rooms (yes, I have more than one room of the house filled with projects and 'stuff') as these rooms just happen to be 2 spare bedrooms. The table that my older sewing machine sits on is now tidy...unbelievable as it must seem! lol

Despite writing 2 posts about those Christmas swaps already, I still have more to show. This post is devoted to the huge number of lovely items that Pat sent me. Pat (no blog) was my partner in the swap organised by Maree.
I was thoroughly spoiled by Pat...
'For the Tree'...

A closer look at the lovely decorations that Pat put on each parcel...

 For the Tree continued...

Pat also made this tree bauble for me...

 Notice the letters, 'm a'

Turn the bauble just a bit...and the letters 'r i a'...a very personalised Christmas ornie...how lovely!

 Next parcel was 'Something that smells nice'...

 The goodies in this parcel included a fragrance candle (complete with a candle mat), beautiful body lotion, fragrance sachet, lavender for a heat bag, and a beautifully embroidered heatbag...

The sweetest candle mat!

 Now the next parcel (yes! there is more! I guess it was an understatement to say that Pat spoiled me) was 'Something for the Sewing Room'...
An amazing bundle of sewing notions...

 And this would have to be the swishest knitting needle gauge that I have ever seen...
It's wonderful!

And some lovely fabric!

The next parcel I opened was 'The Something to eat'...look at all those goodies :-)

 A close up of the wreath filled with silver wrapped sweets...

The parcel for 'Something for under the Tree' had the sweetest little box...

 And in the box was some more surprises...

 Including this cute Santa who changed colours when you flicked the little switch underneath...I love items as they colour change like that...

 Pat had also made a beautiful bag for me...

 The bag featured some decorative seaming which was so classy....

And inside the bag was a knitting needle roll...

 And just look at the lovely bright knitting needles inside...I'll have fun using those!

Thank you just doesn't seem enough but of course I did send my thanks to Pat and I will say it once again here in this post; thank you so much Pat, your generosity is just amazing and I appreciate all the items that you sent me.