Connection through time.

On the way home from our summer holiday last week we popped in to Canberra. As you do - the nation's capital and all that. We took the kids for a quick one hour walk around Government House, and on our way out of town we decided to take them to the Australian War Memorial. We weren't surewhether it was the right decision as my kids are still young. We've talked mental illness, disability, homelessness.....but we haven't yet got to war in any detail.

And so we were looking through the exhibits in a pretty superficial way - one that was keeping them away from photos of things they weren’t yet ready to understand. But I kept coming across craft made during the war that I didn't want to leave.

The jumper in the photos is one such item*. I don't know anything about the facts of this jumper. All I know is what you see in the photo below and what a quick internet search will tell me. It was made by a soldier called Duncan - Sergeant Duncan CarseIdine - his Red Cross Wounded and Missing record is online and shows he was a prisoner of war in Limburg, Germany from 1917-1918. I don't know any details about it's making other than that I can see it was made from scraps. It has colourwork and cables and a saddle shoulder. There is at least seven colours of yarn.

What I do know is that as I stood there in front of it I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. And I've thought about it and Duncan ever since.

It made me grateful that I make. Grateful that I understood what was involved in making it. That I could feel the stitches in my hands. That I understood that to design and make what Duncan had made, it would have provided him with comfort and respite from whatever else was going on in his world. It would have given him that feeling of flow one enters when one is manifesting an idea into a tangible product. I was grateful that he had the chance to make it, and grateful that I could recognise the feeling.

It's the collar that really got me. Maybe it was the fashion at the time (?), but it felt to me like he just wanted to go on knitting.

Seeing pictures and exhibits at a War Memorial for me is often a disconnected, almost distant experience, as I don’t have a personal experience similar to the people whose stories are being shared. But the craft makes the exhibition something alive and deeply human.

Felicia x

*Photos were taken with permission.

Slow Fashion October : Small

So I tried to write this post earlier this week. And I wrote a whole other post about my plans for my frocks - but it didn't sit right and so I didn't post. I talked about my goals for Slow Fashion October last week on the blog and they remain the same. Focus and frocks. But how they fit into the bigger picture .....well I needed to give it some thought. 

So from Karen's setup post - this weeks theme is Small. 

“...we’re talking handmade / living with less / quality over quantity / the capsule wardrobe / indie fashion / small-batch makers / sustainability in every sense. ”

— Karen from Fringe Association

The more I thought about it the more I wanted to spend this month focused on the bigger picture. Not just making frocks at a frantic rate (I'm sewing faaaassst this week!) but sewing frocks that fit into the bigger picture of a quality wardrobe that will last over time. 

Before embarking on this process of making my wardrobe a few years ago,  I often used to go to the cupboard and find nothing to wear. This is no longer my reality.  I've slowly created my larger-than-necessary capsule wardrobe, in complimentary colours, and it works really well. I fell good about it. So now it's just a process of filling in the gaps. Which means not making lots of frocks but making frocks the right frocks.

That said I think part of the problem of desiring more and more is that I don’t think I’ve ever felt that good about my wardrobe. I’ve looked into it and  many/most of the clothes haven’t made me feel that good. I haven't put that much thought into them. I've impulse purchased and not planned. I've had that "I don't have anything to wear feeling" often.  Moving to a place where most of my clothing “sparks joy” Konmari style, and throwing out those things that don’t, has me feeling more grateful and less needy. Which means that I’m less focused on acquiring more (from a place of not-having-enough) and more focused on being joyful for what is there (from a place of gratitude).

I’ve talked a bit about my changing relationship with the idea of “enough”. A tricky concept to be sure. So while I’ve been meaning to make frocks for forever, when I’m finally about to make, I find myself wondering if I actually already have enough clothes. Eek!! So I want to be careful. Careful that I am making things that I really want to wear, will wear often, will be part of my everyday and that won’t date. 

I read this line in Women In Clothes this week when one of the editors/writers talks about how she believes that each person has a “deep style”, even if they don’t know it. I’m thinking a bit about what mine might be, so that I can make sure the things I’m making fill the gaps, and then last me. I’m hoping the formula leads to something like this.

Less + better* = Satisfied for longer and grateful

*Where better is something that fits me, my lifestyle and makes me feel joyful. Because joyful clothing is where it is at - non?

There is this other line in Women in Clothes (I can’t find where ) where one of the women says that her purchasing line is “will I like this in five years?” Isn’t that an ace yardstick with which to measure a purchase?

So I have a revised plan for my wardrobe - to fill gaps with deep style items I will like in five years. 

And the thing I was at risk of doing at the start of the week was planning on making a lot of things. Four frocks was my plan. And in time four might be a good amount - I already have a few. But after a few days of thought about enough/capsule/style/consumerism/responsibility/desire I am scaling the plan back to include the two that I most want and am most avoiding because I'm a little scared. Scared they won't turn out as beautifully as I want them to. I've been dreaming about them both for so long that making them into a reality comes with the risk that I'll screw them up..... Slow Fashion October to the rescue! Let's focus on the things that will make us happiest in the long term in order to kick the fear to the curb. 

Without further ado, they are...

The everday boxy tunic - in a gorgeous fabric

Over jeans, over tights. Loose box tunic with a stylish shape in a gorgeous fabric. Lou Box again – but altered to be more Georgia like. So a bit wider and with the cuff on the sleeves. I can’t remember how I came across Elizabeth Suzann originally but like many others before me I'm a little obsessed with her style. Timeless, fashionless, forever clothing that suits my everyday*. I want to make a long tunic kinda knee length frock in my favourite ever linen that I have been saving like the hoarder I am. It’s going to be simple and smashing. I've cut it out already and am very nervous that I made the neckline too big. "It's only fabric, it's only fabric, it's only fabric" is the mantra of the day.

Scraps ready to go....

 

my favourite daywear-to-dinner frock style - in a gorgeous fabric I made

Anna by By Hand London is the base pattern of the top of this frock! Again I’ve been wanting to do Anna for-ever. This dress shape is one of my favourites - but it needs a lightly gathered skirt like you see in the examples here that pair it with the Emery skirt.  I plan on doing a slightly gathered skirt as per my favourite ever Gorman frock and will lower the neckline a little. And the fabric.....well I can't wait to show you but I have plans for a masterpiece…..that is where the slow fashion comes in. It may not work but I'm going to finally give it a shot.

And then there is the dress that I don't get to make yet but may make before the summer.

the summer perfect summer frock - in Nani Iro 

Lisa by Tessuti. Frocks like Lisa would be my everday summer uniform if I had one. I have a jersey fushia number (I can see your shocked faces) that I’ve worn quite a bit. But I've worn it not because I like it, OR because it fills me with joy, but rather because it's there. Lisa will be joyful. She will be made from that gorgeous Nani Iro in the photo above, with a lower scooped neckline and possibly no buttons. I need to lower the neckline as I think Lisa suffers a little bit from Waist Boob on me. I tried the sample on in Tessuti's Melbourne shop. If only we could do that with all sewing patterns!  

Can't wait to see what you have all been up to this week.

Felicia x

*In time I plan on purchasing some of her sensational Clyde pants.

Rogue photography and Squam.

I just got off the phone with my dad and he mentioned that he had had a look at my blog (Hi Dad!). I'm not sure he has ever visited before so that's pretty ace. But then he told me (with his usual cheeky tone) that he had wanted to leave a comment saying "depth of field, depth of field, depth of field" - as in, he is a little horrified by how I use depth of field in my photos.

And it's not like it's the first time he's mentioned it. He worked as a photographer way back in the dark ages and is, y'know, trained at this stuff. He knows what he is talking about. On the other hand, I'm a self-taught* dabbler who breaks quite a few of the photo-taking rules set down in the photo-taking bible. To be totally honest, I know that he is totally right about my depth of field issues, and I'm glad he reminds me to think about it more carefully. I'm still learning. I know I'll get better with practice and mistakes, because mistakes are how you learn right?

When I got off the phone, (because I know he has a valid point and knows what he is talking about) I scrolled back over the last few posts to figure out which photos in particular were really annoying him. And I came across the Aragon photography post. Excitingly eleven of you had clicked on the "Like" button for the post! Eleven of you like my photographs enough to tell me! Made my heart feel very happy - even if some of them would have annoyed my dad's eyes. So in honour of my dad, I'm going to pull the post I was planning for today and give you a few more I took on my trip away!**

Anyway I took these photos at the ever lovely Squam this year. It was my second time going and it really is such a warm, welcoming and renewing experience. Elizabeth is such a gorgeous, generous host. I talked about my experience at Squam in 2013 in this post called The Magic of A Craft Retreat and it was really more of the same magic! I feel very lucky to have got the opportunity to go again.

Photos start out on a grey day in the forest, before moving onto the Boro class run by @agatheringofstitches. They finish with the perfect golden light on the last day of the retreat. Happy days. 

Grey day at dusk.

Some of my lovely cabinmates. 

And some cabinmates on our dock.

I totally agree that this has depth of field issues - BIG ones. But look at the pretty light Dad!! :)

I also have a really dusty filter that is leaving red splodges everywhere. I kinda like them. 

Enjoy x

Felicia 

*  except for a couple of day-long workshops

**  I'm such a juvenile :).

Natural dyeing in the Basque Country.

To ease on back into blogging I thought I would post some photos from a market we happened upon in the Basque country near Bilbao in Spain. I previously showed a photo or two on instagram of a stall of naturally dyed yarn and socks. They were dyeing at the market in these gorgeous massive copper pots. Our language barrier means that I know nothing about them except what you can see from the pictures. Enjoy and I'll see you in this space as normal later in the week. 

Felicia x

That pile of white wool was wet and ready to go.

Nettles one side and onions the other.

And just because they were so pretty, here are some photos of the mushroom stall from the same market.

Around the traps - Simple Sewing 101

Alrighty then Simple Sewers. I haven't had enough wifi or computer time to do the next alterations post but I did want to show you some pretty pictures from a few weeks ago that I took of my friend Christine wearing a couple of her Simple Sewing 101 - Tops. In the photo above she is wearing her Alice Top which is Step 4 in the post and then in the photo below she is wearing a gorgeous version of the Califaye Basics Tank which is an alternative to the Wiksten Tank which was Step 2. You can get all the details (and loads more gorgeous photos) from the post on her blog about them. 

What is winding me up as I'm writing this is that I really want to try the Cali Faye Tank - and rather than buying the pattern, piecing it together, cutting it out and then trying it on, I could have just tried Christine's on..... rid-ic-ulous that I'm only realising this now. We had the whole weekend together!

Other Simple Sewing 101 superstars you should check out are my lovely friend Karen on Instagram who has been sewing up a storm - a few weeks ago she made the Cali Faye Tank as well as some gorgeous Nani Iro and Linen numbers I know you lot will love.

And while you are wandering the halls of instagram you could also have a look at the other tops with the instagram hastag #simplesewing101. There are so many alterations popping up like this gorgeous number! Or this. Or this.

Hopefully they have inspired you to whip out your scissors and get sewing? 

Felicia x