WTFF: Cityscape

Today Edie and I went to a surprise Yum Char.  Yum Char of any kind is excellent but yum char of the  surprise variety is uber excellent.  It was a wee party for one of my mummy friends who is leaving us to return home to the States.  I really wish she wasn't going but I'll take dumplings as a small consolation.

The dress I wore today has absolutely nothing to do with yum char, or my friend, but I mentioned the story because I was a little nervous about wearing this dress to yum char.  No, I wasn't silly enough to wear a white frock to a place where there were likely to be slurpy things flying, it's just that I really can't breastfeed in this dress without pretty much taking it off.  And it's not a dress where you wear things underneath it to make it seemly when you do get undressed.  As mentioned in this post, tights are not pants, after all.  I have very low levels of prudishness.  By which I mean if I wanted to get undressed in public as it suits me, I would.  However, sitting in a restaurant in my tights is probably a bridge too far even for me.  I don't feed Edie that often any more but it was lunch, right across sleep time and knew she might be scratchy.  There's nothing like a bit of boob to ease scratchiness, I'm sure you'll all agree.  So by wearing this dress, I was depriving myself of a vital tool in Kiddy Management. I'm happy to say that Edie managed admirably so I didn't have to expose the restaurant to my mustard-covered midriff and I got to wear the dress I love.  It's exciting to be able to do this as tunic dresses are pretty much a dead wardrobe item when you're breastfeeding and I do love this dress so much.

My mum bought me this dress for my birthday a couple of years ago.  She bought it when she was staying with my sister in the Lakes District at a shop that sells many cool things (or so they tell me, I've not been there) and they were a wee bit nervous about buying it as it's quite different.  But I love it.  I love the crazy, fantastical print, I love the colours, I love the sleeves, I love the neckline... there's a lotta love here people.  I think my favourite thing, if I had to pick something, would be the hedgehogs floating away with balloons.  If that's not a whacky sentence, I don't know what is.  The dress is made from wool so it's perfect for Dunedin's cooler climes.  I put a long-sleeved merino underneath today that's pretty old and funny but it has lace cuffs so I think it ties in with the little splash of lace around the yoke of the neck.

Tights.  I bought some, hooray!  I normally wear this dress with black tights and I think I actually prefer it that way, but you have to try something new sometimes, don't you?  My thought process was that the mustard tights would pick out the bits of yellow in the buildings along the bottom of the dress.  When Phil saw the tights he said I had Oompa Loompa legs (no offence) and I can't help but be reminded of a costume I wore as a tacker that was the Ugly Duckling - a feathery tutu with orange tights and bird feet.  But I'm sure they're actually cool.  Right??

I bought these shoes on one of those online sale sites.  I've never heard of the brand, I'm sure they're made from the tears of small Sri-Lankan children that have been mixed with petrochemicals, but they look pretty.  Swell.  They're plastic so at least they're recyclable.  I have a love-hate relationship with the idea of plastic shoes.  Here's a quick run down.
Love:
- recyclable
- remind me of jellies from when I was 5
- waterproof
- shiny and a bit odd

Hate:
- don't breathe (although these ones do have little breathy holes at the side.  This however effects the waterproof thing)
- remind me of jellies from when I was 5
- don't mold to your feet like leather does

And because I bought these shoes online, they came with an extra surprise that I did not anticipate over the internet.  They are noisy.  I sound like I have a maraca on either foot.  Again, love/hate.  Love: party, fun, make an entrance; Hate: noisy, slightly embarrassing, no sneaking in anywhere (bad when you're a late person like me), no catching birds.
Overall though, I'm happy I bought them.  They're cute and they didn't cost much.

Mum bought me these earrings (man my Mum buys me a lot of stuff.  Love you mummy!) a few years ago, again for a birthday.  Super useful earrings as they go with so many things due to the array of hues.  Edie likes them too of course, but so far I've managed to get by with my earlobes still intact.

Hope you love my Cityscape frock, it's one of my favs so break it to me gently if you think it's hideous.

Today Edie wore a dress I made her.  That's right, I sewed it.  This is momentous for me because it represents a completed craft project and it was me who completed it, not my Mum (read this if you're not sure what I'm on about).  It was a Butterick pattern and I figured the cord would be useful in the cooler months and the rough and tumble lifestyle of a 1yr old.  The material for the wee bloomers is obviously cotton and I just thought it was so cute with all the Parisian things on it.  Her onesie is a Pumpkin Patch number.  The flower and the shoes are the same ones Edie wore in this WTFF.

And so another Friday passes in Frockdom.  Mad props to all my ladies who wore frocks today.  You are all foxy bitches xo

PS.  This was written on Friday (hence the tense used) but I didn't get photos until today.  The bonus for me in this is that was a frock for Friday and also Sunday.  Double wear.

WTFF: Pastoral Pretty

Today I felt very smug about the fact that I bought local, whole produce and I actually made some sort of effort beyond picking up a product with a "locally grown" sticker at the supermarket.  Terry (of Meet the Foodies fame) and I took our kiddies and went for a drive out to a little dairy out by Port Chalmers (we even car pooled so I we can feel smug about being environmentally conscious).  I'll take some photos the next time I go as it's really very cute and worth a story of its own.  Plus Phil plans to make cheese with the milk I bought so hopefully that's story-worthy too.

But what has all this to do with What the Frock Friday?  Not much actually but I'm stretching it so it does.  The dress I'm wearing today is another Voon number, appropriately called the Meadow dress.  Get it?  Meadow, cows, milk, pasture... I'm really clever ay?  Ahem.  I actually think this dress is a perfect Spring dress - floral, short-sleeved, mid-length, wool.  All excellent things in Spring.  But it's not Spring, it's the middle of Winter.  The Winter Solstice actually.  So today I paired it with some tights (not my ideal tights/dress combo but they were what I had in the draw.  I mentioned the tights shortage in last week's WTFF), and a cute wool blazer just to make a little more Winter-friendly.

The Meadow dress.  This dress is a work horse (did you like that one Harriet & Sam??).  By this odd turn of phrase, I mean to tell you that I bring it out over and over again and I still love it, it's still in great nick, and it keeps looking good.  It's the dress that keeps on giving.  As mentioned, it's woolen so is perfect for Dunedin's chilly climes.  I like the innocence of it - the high scoop neck, the short sleeves, the mid-length skirt, and of course the demure satin bow at the neck.  I think it all suits the beautiful floral perfectly.  The colours in this dress have always appealed to me.  The coral red of the roses with the golden yellow flowers and deep blue background.  Classic colouring that works well on me (not that you can tell it by the time we took the photos at 6pm in our crap lighting).  As the wool has stretch, the dress is obviously fitted, but the texture and pattern of the material mean it's forgiving.

A much better representation of the material

The coat is also a Voon number (can you tell I loved that store??) and I'm pretty sure was called the Cotton Candy Jacket.  It also came in a fuschia pink and black too I think.  I always loved the classic cut of this blazer and the cute collar (it looks great done up).  And true to Sophie's impeccable styling it is adorned with gorgeous buttons.  Should this jacket ever give up the ghost (no sign of that yet) I will definitely be salvaging those buttons.  Sadly, this little jacket doesn't fit me as well as it once did and it's a bit big in places (it hasn't stretched, I have).  If I was to be picky, I would say that as a result, the shape of the jacket doesn't allow the shape of the dress to work it's magic.  Compare the pics with and without and decide for yourself.  However, I've always liked picking out the red in this dress and the jacket obviously does a great job.  Since that mustard colour has come back into fashion I've had a few more options with warm layers but I'm sticking with the demure jacket today - I think it fits my pastoral/fairy tale idea better.  It's like a Little Red Riding Hood outfit.  For an adult.  With no hood.  You know what I'm getting at...

Tights.  Don't want to bang on about it, but if I were to style this ideally, I would probably go for no tights (the Spring thing comes back again) as I feel it suits the simplicity of the dress more.  And failing that, I think block colour tights would be best so as not to detract from the pattern of the dress and also compliment the block colour of the other accessories.  But these tights will do today.

The shoes are an old I Love Billy pair that I have trashed but I love the colour and the pattern of the material.  With a skirt of this length, I would generally opt for heels of some sort to balance my proportions better but something in this dress often makes me head to my flats.  I think it's something to do with themes previously mentioned - youth, innocence, fairy tales...  Am I sounding a bit mental?  I sound like I've tried to pretend I'm 12 by putting on a flowery frock.  I hope you're following my thinking here.

My shoes and Edie's shoes (in case you thought I have a bound right foot)

Aaaand just to compound the issue, we'll move onto the hair ribbon. I put it in because, well, it's young, fresh, innocent... I'm not having a mid-life crisis I swear.  I went through a phase in my early 20s of wearing hair ribbons often.  I don't do it as much any more as my hair is short and I don't think my hair cut always works with a ribbon in (it's longer than it's been for ages).  Plus I can't be bothered.  I also harbour a fear that I will turn around and find out that I'm a 65 year old woman with loooong greying hair who wears hair ribbons.  It's just not right.  But I'm not there yet so today I went with a ribbon.

This dress is not the one to wear a necklace with (neckline and ribbon - don't need a necklace in there over-crowding things do we?) so today I added some earrings.  A good option also as the ribbon means they are seen a bit more.  These gorgeous specimens were given to me by my sister.  I have a feeling she bought them in Scotland.  And yes, they have real daisies in them.  Cute, huh?  And very in theme.

And there we have my Pastoral fantasy.  I just needed to be carrying some of the milk I bought today in pails, or taking a basket of baked goods to Grandma's house.  But that's all a little much when also carrying your child.

Today Edie was also wearing a dress meant for another season: Summer.  I'm not a totally neglectful parent, I did "Winter" it up for her.  The dress came from Pumpkin Patch and she wore it to Bianca's wedding and not again.  It was really a little too big for her at the wedding and there hasn't been another occasion since that I could bring it out for.  So if she was ever to wear it, I needed to do some serious layering.  I put her in a white long-sleeved onesie from Frugi and some white tights.  She has some cute little slipper mary janes from Pumpkin Patch also, so I put those on them picked up the red by giving her a red hair-clip and little flower brooch I made using red ribbon and some broderie anglaise (super easy - just used a gathering stitch around a long edge, pulled the cotton tight and voila - flower).
Of course she also had her ultimate accessory, her glasses.  I need to get some more purple things to match them.  Just bought her a cute pair of purple boots today so that's a start.

Edie and Charlotte - straight out of a fairy tale and onto your computer.

Craft Files: Do the Robot

I thought I'd do a wee post tonight to show you some of the cool crafty stuff that has come across my radar in the last week or two.  By far the most impressive things come from my Mum and my Aunty Phil (no surprises there, these two are craft goddesses after all) but I've thrown in one of my projects just so you can see that I do actually do more than crap on about how useless I am.

My Mum recently finished knitting a cute cardi for my nephew, Marcus, who has just turned two.  She brought it with her when she came to visit for Edie's 1st Birthday.  She was trying to decide whether to add a subtle monogram or to cover the thing in robots.  Sounds a bit random, I know, but there was method to her madness.  Marcus has a pair of PJs that have robots on them and he loves them.  So much so I believe it can be a job to get him out of the PJs and into other clothes.  Other clothes are only able to surpass the robots in desirability if they have Thomas the Tank Engine on them.  I often feel the same, don't you?  Anyway, Mum figured that without the robots, the cardi had a classic cool to it that would appeal to adults admiring his cuteness.  But plastering it in robots would mean that Marcus would love his cardi and want to wear it.  So the decision was clear cut really: robots it would be.  Mum made sketches of the pajama robots and transferred these onto a grid so she could design how they would be embroidered around the knitting stitches.  Then she chose complimentary wool colours to embroider with and went to work.  A few googly eyes for good measure, and voila - a robot cardi.  I especially like that she still went for the monogram but just gave it googly eyes as well so it was in theme.  I love it so much I'm tempted to get Mum to put a few robots on some of my knits...

Note Mum Photography - finger over flash, slightly blurry.  In fairness, it may have been my Dad or my brother who took these.

The sketches (that Mum went over with a sharpie so we could see them :o)

Robots on the back

Robots on the front

This piece of gorgeousness arrived in the post for Edie last week.  Aunty Phil knitted this jacket and bonnet in 2 ply.  If that means nothing to you, knitting in 2 ply is like knitting with dental floss (except snugglier).  Basically, you need to do twice the work to get half the distance.  The pay off is that you can do fine work and it looks beautiful.  For a slacker like me that's not enough incentive, but for a seasoned pro like Aunty Phil, it's worth it.  And you can see where she's coming from.  It certainly is impressive.  Plus the colours on Edie look so cute.  I will be doing my best to keep the chocolate/marmite/weet-bix fingers away from this one.

And this is my contribution to the Craft report.  Bianca sent Edie a gorgeous apron smock for her birthday from Chick Pea so when I needed to come up with something for the 1st birthday of one of Edie's besties, I thought I would make my own version.  I found some cute fabric at Spotlight and then went to the manchester department and bought some plastic table runner to make the spill-proof front.  I traced the Chick Pea smock and went from there.  I thought I'd add a personal touch by putting the birthday girl's initial on the front.  It's far from perfect but it should still be serviceable for all the baking and art adventures she and Edie will embark on.  Don't you just love how parents force friendships upon their children?  You are friends so surely your kids will like each other.  It's quite a ridiculous concept.  But in this case, it will work because I say so.
Anyway, after paying my Mum out about the photos of the robots, the photos I took of the smock are pretty hilarious.  This was about the third go to get Edie to play ball.  What's the famous adage about never working with animals or children??  The previous photo shoot resulted in her passing out with tiredness and I had to peel the smock off her so she could sleep without plastic crackling sounds.  You'll get the idea anyway.

Lastly I saw this on a blog I enjoy, Prudent Baby.  I don't own many t-shirts as they tend to look bad on me but I thought I could probably find something retro-cool at a second-hand store and easily whip up one of these in the summer.  So simple and potentially awesome.

Why I Never Finish What I Start

I've made reference to the fact that I often start things but don't complete them.  Especially when it comes to crafty-type things.  This is wholly and completely my own fault and I think comes from being the youngest and therefore most spoilt child - there's always a big person to help you when you get stuck.  But today I'm going to ignore this and give you another four, completely separate reasons for why I start crafty things and don't finish them.  When you are a quitter, like me, you get really good at making excuses that sound valid, and this is one of those.  The four reasons are, in fact, people.  I could go with the obvious and say Edie is the top reason for not finishing craft projects (who has time to be crafty when you are kiddy wrangling?), but the reality is she is currently roaming around the lounge right now while I type this blog, so if I can blog, I can craft.  Actually, she just fell over and hit her chin on the table and I continued to type.  I did ask her if she was ok.  I couldn't see any blood from here.  She's clearly fine.  I'm not going to give the old "blame your child for the end of your life outside of them" excuse.  So passe.  No, my top four reasons are more to do with "why finish it when there's someone cleverer than me who can do a much better job?".  This has the added of advantage of being able to claim the project as your own (you did start it after all) as the other person just put the finishing touches on.

Some families have lost the last old aunt who used to crochet, or the Granny who used to sew those dresses for everyone.  Some families are probably quite grateful for this - let's face it, just because it's handmade, doesn't mean it's good.  In fact, some crafty stuff is downright revolting; the ultimate in tack. My family is doubly blessed as not only are there an abundance of crafty-types, but they have the good taste to know a macrame owl when they see one and leave it in the 70s where it belongs.  All my aunts are blessed with creative talent - my Aunty Mary's house is a monument to home redecoration of the highest calibre (I'm pretty sure it's been in a magazine or two) not to mention her artistic skills.  But the four ladies I'm choosing to mention today get the nod because they have helped me in the crafty stakes somewhere along the way.

Talented family member #4: my cousin Bianca.  I have a lot of love for this girl for many reasons but her creative productivity is truly impressive.  As well as being one half of Liana Raine Gourment Artisan Pops (I mentioned those in Cool Shit Monday) and working her butt off to make delicious icy treats for the good people of Sydney, she also manages to find time to crochet and knit the coolest projects, like OB (short for One Ball - a reflection of the wool content, not it's genitalia) bunny here.  Edie LOVES that bunny and it's easy to see why.  Bianca does know how to chill out (our marathon sessions of Will & Grace back in the day are testimony to this) but these days she just does it with some needles in hand.  She has shown me that you can knit when you're under 40 and make it cool.

OB Bunny.  He's a cool dude.

Talented family member #3: Also making craft cool for the under 40s is my sister Natalie.  But what I have learnt from Natalie is that having a young child is no excuse for not completing artistic endeavours.  She has a particular talent for embroidery (I know, so nostalgic and 'Little Women'-ish!) which totally overwhelms me - too much fiddly stuff.  I have a cross stitch in progress actually.  It's been in progress since I was 15.  I shit you not.  Approximately every 3 years, I pick it up, do 50 little crosses then remember why I put it down last time.  It has rust marks in it from where the needle has sat in it for so long.  Natalie knits, sews, and embroiders (plus bakes a plethora of delicious morsels on a weekly basis) while maintaining a demanding full-time job and being mum to a gorgeous 2 1/2 year old.  It sounds like I'm trying to promote her on a dating site for 1950's goddesses, but "sorry gents, this little lady's taken!"

Cushion cover Natalie made for Edie

Talented family member #2: my Aunty Philippa.  Aunty Phil is a freak.  In all the positive senses of the word of course...  She is responsible for a production line of beautiful handmade items that she distributes to any family member or friend she thinks needs one of her creations.  I have been the recipient of so many of her artworks (that's what they are, no mistaking it) so many times it's almost embarrassing.  Perhaps my aura of uselessness works in my favour here?  Aunty Phil has turned her expert hand to such a variety of crafts I probably couldn't name them all (although I'm sure macrame's not in there).  I think my most special gift from Aunty Phil, however was that of my wedding dress, that she created with my Mum.  And all the bridesmaids dresses.  And the flower girl's dress.  And the cardis they knitted to for all of us in case it was cold.  Which leads me nicely to...

Detail on some of the embroidery Aunty Phil made for my wedding.

My number one reason for not finishing what I start, is my mother.  She is one of those people who you can never complain to about not having enough time to do anything as she seems to discount this as a valid reason in her own life.  She is exhausting - sleep seems to be optional at times for Mum.  My whole life has been filled with the many things she has made for me - dresses, costumes, toys, cardis... the list is long.  Mum and Aunty Phil and my Nana passed on their appreciation of handmade goodies to me.  Mum has indulged all of my attempts along the way and has had more than a small hand in most of them.

Bianca & Natalie doing up my wedding dress

So I'm blaming these four formidable ladies for my lack of progress with craftiness.  They either do it so well that there's little need for my feeble creations, or they are so productive that they finish a project 4 months before I've got further than buying the materials.

Having said that, I do seem to still insist on starting projects.  And actually, I have been having a little more success with my conversion rate lately (I'm watching the rugby right now, can you tell??).  I think it's fairly safe to say that any of my crafty accomplishments are also due to the significant influence of these four ladies.  I might be using them as an excuse for my poor track record, but I can't deny their enthusiasm and encouragement any time I announce a new project.  Like this blog for example...

I have to give props to Bianca, Natalie, Aunty Phil & Mum, not to mention all my other family members for their unfailing enthusiasm with all my many and varied endeavours.  I have truly tested the limits of their support with all the crazy shit I've announced to them over the years.  Hopefully I'm able to stitch together my own life a little more successfully these days but it's good to know their helping and capable hands are always there.

A Sewing Machine's Disillusionment

Now I'm not my sewing machine  ("WHAT?!", I hear you all exclaim), but if I were I would not have been able to predict the uses I would be put to in the short time living in this house.  I imagine my sewing machine may have been thinking along these lines:
"Oooh I have just discovered consciousness!  What am I?  I appear to be inanimate (bummer) and I am shiny and white with moving parts... could I be Keanu Reeves?  No wait, I'm a sewing machine!  A pretty nice sewing machine if I do say so myself.  I'm not exactly the Porsche of sewing machines, but I am a reputable brand and a nice basic model.  I'm probably not going to be used to sew the next haute couture garment to be wrapped around Kate Middleton's shapely rear, but I might make some nice things for a keen sewer.  A nice dress or two, some cute children's trousers... that sort of thing.  I'm feeling quietly confident.
Hey!  I'm being packaged up!  This is it!  I'm being shipped to someone's house!  My owner awaits, full of enthusiasm for creating garments of originality and style and I will be a central cog in this process.
Excited hands are unwrapping me... And there is my owner!  She looks pleased to see me, this is a good start.  Yes, there is a small child who lives at this house so no doubt I'll be making cute children's clothes.  I wonder what I will make first?  It's being discussed already!  So industrious!"

Obviously my sewing machine is yet to understand that I *am* enthusiastic about starting projects, not so great at finishing them.  We'll leave it happy in it's ignorance at this stage of the narrative.  I am interjecting to tell you a little about the kind of mother I am as it's relevant to my First Sewing Project.  I've always been quite into dressing up.  I mean this in both the "making myself look a bit fancy" sense of the word and also the "going all out for a costume party" sense.  So it was only natural that when I had a baby, I would take full advantage of the fact that I had the power to dress someone else and, at this stage, they have no ability to argue about what I dress them in.  Excellent parenting stance, I know.  You'll quickly discover that I am a Top Mum in many ways.
I have this fabulous group of friends who were all having babies around the same time as me.  Instead of forcing myself into relationships with a group of women simply because they turned up to find out about labour at the same time as I did, I just gathered my lady-friends around me.  Not that you can't make great connections with the women who turn up to find out about labour, it's just that I didn't need to.  This fabulous group of friends, who I will tell you more of at a later date, share my enthusiasm for costumes so when it came to Halloween, we jumped at the chance to dress our progeny in ridiculous outfits.
But while my friends did "cute little giraffe", "cute little All Black", "cute little pirate", I walked a slightly darker path.  I figured that it was Halloween, you're supposed to be scary (I confess that a pirate could be scary, but Mae is so delicious it was never going to be anything other than cute).  I also figured that I must be able to create something from Edie's existing wardrobe.  As it turns out, it's quite tricky to make a scary costume from the wardrobe of a 5 month old baby.  Babies don't generally wear many knives, hockey masks etc.  They don't usually even have that much black.  But what Edie DID have was a double-breasted thick cotton jacket with no collar.  So I made the obvious costuming choice: I dressed her as Kim Jong-Il.  No brainer.
Dressing your little baby as a North-Korean dictator is not a "no brainer" for most people as it turns out.  In fact, it causes quite a lot of... comment.

This reveals a lot about the workings of my mind and leads the way for my sewing machine's first project.  So back to the narrative...

"A COSTUME PARTY!  Oh brilliant!  I will help make a cute costume for a little girl.  That's such a *lovely* first project for a sewing machine.  The theme is 'favourite book character'?  Oh all the possibilities for adorable outfits; what will my new owner do?!  No, I suppose it doesn't have to be a children's book... no I guess a 10 month old doesn't really have a favourite book character... yes I guess she won't really know what she's wearing... strictly speaking I suppose she doesn't have to be a female character...  Hmmm..."

At this point, I imagine my sewing machine was getting a little worried.  And it had good cause to feel this way.  The first project I attempted on my brand new shiny sewing machine was hobbit feet.  Not a dress, not a simple repair; a pair of fluffy slipper-like objects with hideous faux hair attached to the top.  To dress my child as Frodo seemed like a perfectly logical decision - she has hobbit-like curls, she's small, she owned a pair of knickerbockers.  Hello Frodo!

I did make a little cord pinafore dress and matching pants for Edie as my next project, I do have some idea of propriety.  But I'm sure my sewing was equally dismayed today when I used it to repair Phil's car cover; a huge blue sheet of waterproofing that seemed to fill our entire kitchen & dining area (admittedly not that difficult a feat).  It had holes.  They needed fixing.  I had something that would do the trick.

I'm sure my sewing machine waits with bated breath for the next endeavour.  Will I make a cute outfit, a lovely skirt, a nice blouse?  Or will it be a bizarre amalgam of fur and frill designed for some crazy one-off wearing that will reappear in my daughter's 21st photos?  I'm hoping that my sewing machine is coming to terms with life in my possession.  I think it will come to value the eclectic life it's destined to lead in my hands.  It's a roller-coaster ride but it's not boring.