This month I'm reading...

ALL of the books that my new bestie delivered to me at 6PM on Friday night!

You gotta love an Aussie post fella that delivers a parcel that late on the last day of the week and gives a crafty girl her weekend, if not her October fix!

I'll post details about each of the books in due course, but let me tell you Amazon UK absolutely ROCKS! Ordered on Monday (Australian time), delivered Friday afternoon (also Australian time) - standard/cheapest delivery option. Amazon US takes approximately 3 wks to do the same!

Happy reading fellow bloggers...

Book Review

As promised a couple of weeks ago I would review Bright Young Things by MillaMia. Now if you read this blog regularly you would spot that I am a total knitting novice.

Did this deter me from purchasing this book? No
Did this deter me from starting to knit a jumper as my first EVER project? No

...and I think that is testimony almost enough for this book, but I will continue.

I have been desperate to knit since I took over the crafting obsession from my late mama 3 years ago. Crocheting came easy as I did do a little bit of that as a child, but I struggled with knitting and it was primarly because I steadfastly refused to knit a scarf as my first project.

After several attempts at other knitting patterns, this one has come really easy. I have made great progress and it should be finished within the week and ready for show and tell, which will be 3 weeks from start to finish for a beginner knitter!

So apart, from being able to satisfy the skills of beginner to more advanced knitters, this book is full of beautiful and quirky patterns...and the colours of the yarn and suggested pairings, be still my aching heart.

Have you gathered by now that I LOVE this book, and will be purchasing the second one toot-sweet!

This month I'm reading...

I just read the post at Kuka again and realised that I'm supposed to do this in the first week of the month...oh well, lucky I'm a fast reader so that I can have another book up and ready for the first week of October! Happy Reading!!!!!!!

Falling out of love with Sandra

Well I think it's fitting that tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I find myself falling OUT of love with Sandra Betzina! I don't actually celebrate Valentine's Day, never have - although I am smiling to myself to realise that the acronym is what STD's were once referred to!!! hahaha

Anyhoo...I already own her Fast Fit book, and I love it, so I borrowed Fabric Savvy (the link is for the updated version) from the library. She is right in saying that the hardest thing about learning to sew is what fabric to chose and how to sew it - seams, hems, needles bla bla. So I was prepared to be told EXACTLY what to do.

So I'm making a little camisole top, using silk satin and silk chiffon - sweet! Sandra recommends pre-shrinking the silk satin, but not to bother with the chiffon. I thought long and hard about pre-washing silk, as I will most likely dry clean the top once it's finished and from then on...but I believed her and it's WRONG! Although it's not water marked, apparently silk satin doesn't do that (Sandra says), it has lost it's luster and sheen, something that draws you to satin in the first place really. I made a test garment out of calico, but decided to use the ruined satin to try the design out, so now I just have a very expensive toile and I will have to go to Spotties today and buy some more....aarrrrgggghhhh!

New rule - if I'm going to dry clean the garment always, don't pre-wash. Does that sound fair fellow sewonistas?

PS - sorry for the hiatus - two week shock to the system - back to being a working mother!

Couture Reading!

They're here! I waited and waited everyday for my favourite aussie post boy to arrive, and he did. Amazon sometimes take FOREVER to get the books to you. I had to order a reference text for my other alias, professional suzy, and I let my mouse do the walking, and ended up ordering FIVE, yes FIVE, crafty books. I even got a shock when I opened the box, and had a momentarily guilty thought that I'd overdone it, but it was like a nano-moment. Plus I picked up my second BWOF (Burda World of Fashion) at Borders on the weekend. Trying to subscribe to BWOF is just ridiculous, my two emails to Germany still remain unanswered and I did find that you could get it through isubscribe in Australia, but at the newsstand price - nuts! I could subscribe but how would that give me an excuse to go to Borders once a month.

So on with the reading, I will post about each book as I complete my more thorough perusal. Two of them are general reference texts, which have already provided to be useful in some sewing completed yesterday. Although I know how to sew in essence, I think that a combination between how your mama did it, and some good reference texts will be good. Cos' sadly for me my mama isn't here anymore.

Don't ask me to show the sewing yesterday, it's just some more jocks for the man of the house - yawn!

Happy New Year!!!

Well I'm back, sorry for the blogging pause, but I know you will all forgive me with the constant distraction caused by very cute newborn in house. My mum always said "babies are great time wasters". Funny thing to say really, but I'm sure you understand what she meant.

Well what is everybody planning this New Year's Eve. The man of the house and I never usually go out, and this year is no exception. Honestly we don't even make it to midnight most of the time, and end up celebrating Fijian New Year or something crazy like that.

Tonight we will be enjoying another dish from my new favourite cookbook. This book is huge, some 700 pages nicely sorted into seasons and ingredients. It's the gospel according to Maggie! What's on the menu you say? Chicken breasts with rosemary, pine nuts and verjuice, accompanied with some creamy mashed tatters and fresh green beans courtesy of my vegie patch! Followed by the best 3 yr old desert ever - vanilla ice cream in a cone.

Sometime throughout the night and timed between baby feeds I'll sneak a glass of this.......

which believe it or not was a gift from my baby shower! Thanks AP!

Love to hear what everyone else is doing this New Year's Eve...........and Happy (Fijian) New Year everybody.