So very very excited

Probably too excited. J and I are going to see the Doctor Who 50th at the Nova. I am more excited then I would be because I though we wouldn't be able to as the original sessions offered were either booked out, had shit seats left or were on too late. They added more sessions and I am most pleased. I actually bought tickets for my parents to go see it so I could live vicariously through them (of course I was still planning to watch it on the ABC but it wouldn't be the same).

In disappointing news I bought some bandelettes which I think are great but I have misjudged my thigh radius. Okay, not misjudged but they are flabby not firm and I am finding the outer side falls down. The inner side says up which is the most important bit but it is still annoying so I am giving these to a sister and I have ordered another pair. I hope these ones will be better.

I have assignments to do and tests to study for so I am going to work on a bodice fitting for the Red Velvet dress by Cake Patterns. It should be pretty quick. Well if it isn't I shall come back to it at a later time.

Checking out bilingual blogs and such I notice people tend to blog in both languages. I am not that brave or to put it another way my language skills are not up to snuff but I think I will start doing just small bits so I get over my great fear. I may have mentioned this before and not followed through.

So. . .in order to get myself started I shall now talk about something innocuous, the weather.

Crazy Melbourne weather what is going on with you? You have gone all four seasons in one day on me and I am not pleased. Although with that thought in my head please enjoy the wonderful Crowded House.

Il tempo di Melbourne è pazzo, che cosa ti è successo? Mi ha diventato quattro stagioni in uno giorno e non sono contenta. Sebbene con quest'idea nella mia testa prego gode la meravigliosa Crowded House.

These things are sent to try us

Glargh! I am currently experiencing extreme irritation on many levels. My uni timetable is ultra annoying for the next semester - unavoidable clashes. On the sewing front I decided to make a wearable toile of a McCall's shirtwaist dress and I thought okay I'll do a quick little measure up - made the 20 D top and then lengthened it  3cms through the side bust dart because there was no way that front length was sufficient I was somewhat distracted while I was doing this (probably watching Dangermouse or Doctor Who) and forgot to lengthen the button bands and have been doing some really ugly attempts at easing to make that mother fit. This of course is kind of working against my lengthening the thing in the first place. Grah I say. Grah! There is some very ugly stitching on the button band and the waistband and you know what? I don't care. I don't care I tells you!

Yes. I have lost the plot. Oh well.

Today's plan. Read some texts in Italian to practise. Do some French exercises and memorisation. Finish dress. Finish hem and buttons on another shirt that has been sitting around for a while. Clean bedroom. Oh, also walk down to the Victoria Markets and buy a cauliflower and sweet potato to make a curry.

On shirts and feminism

It is a painful truth that with my currently curved proportions some of my non changing parts get left behind and what I mean by that is I have short arms for a size 18. Probably short legs as well. Siiiiiiigh. Having made several of the StyleArc shirts (with various degrees of dodgy sewing and of which I will post photos of as soon as I stop being lazy) I have come to the conclusion that my arms are somewhat shorter than the expected length. I don't buy a lot of full length sleeved things so I had been living in blissful ignorance interrupted only by the occasional 'god (insert company name) makes the sleeves long on their larger sizes' and 'why are jumper's sleeves always so long?'. This is clearly something I will need to deal with before I make any more shirts.

I have been spending quite a bit of time reading Vagenda which is a very fun read, even when I don't agree with everything and far less angry making than Jezebel. It pains me to think that something like 16 out of 17 females do not identify as feminist. I read a totally stupid article on xojane (to which I followed a link from Vagenda) where a person of the female persuasion chose the title 'Taylor Swift doesn't identify as a feminist and neither do I'. After ascertained exactly who Taylor Swift is I still don't see why you would use this line. The article read as prejudiced and brainwashed and a kind of desperate justification. The rude and insulting stereotypes which were regurgitated within made me wonder why, just why? My younger sister J very sensibly advised me to stop reading the articles and I think I will (I believe her motivation was mostly to stop me bursting into her room to vent). There is nothing to be gained from reading such as that. It still pains me to think that rather than take back the title of feminist from its smear campaign young women (and probably old too) would rather disassociate themselves.

Oh Vagenda, I have to stop spending so much time reading you. This article you pointed me to is heartening however - Ditch the dungarees, it’s time feminism slipped into something sexy
Pay inequality is horrendous. How have we not moved past this?

I go now, to work on assignments and then dine on Taiwanese Street Food (or at least that is what the shop promises). I will be aiming for spring onion pancake and dumplings because I am that cool.

Sewing Machine has returned to the fold

I am so pleased that my sewing machine is back already! I got a call yesterday to go pick it up and within the hour I had arranged for a friend to meet me after he finished work to pick it up. Yay! I love my Bernina dearly but it is heavy and I didn't want to have to catch either 2 trains or 2 trams in order to get it home. Damn you Camberwell, why do you have to be so difficult to get to.

Now, to be honest I haven't managed any of the cutting I was planning on before my darling was returned to me (to be fair, I expected it to be there for another couple of weeks. Less than 2 weeks for a Bernina service, fantastic). I have traced out the StyleArc Melissa Blouse and I have some vibrant Blue/Purple lawn to cut it out with (which is cheap lawn from Spotlight, and according to Wikipedia it's characteristics seem to be of lining/utility lawn). The main reason I traced the pattern is because I thought I would end up with the cut pieces sitting for awhile, however there is also the fact that after making up the pattern as is I intended to make a few changes. Draft a convertible collar rather than the shirt collar and stand, make a short sleeved version (perhaps with some puff in it, I have yet to decide). and, because this one has darts I may actually spend some time fixing up the back/front width ratio if needed. It has been a long time since I have sewn a fitted shirt.

In other news my mummy arrives tomorrow. Woo! as my dad would say. We are going out to dinner for Balinese which should be lovely. The place is fully licensed and no BYO which they always make sure to emphasis, which is fine, we are intending to have pre-dinner drinks, dinner, followed by after dinner drinks.

Council elections are upon us, la sigh, must remember to send in postal vote so I am not fined. I much prefer going to the voting booth but that is just me.

Politics

The Coalition annoys me. My how they annoy me. I do not consider Julia Gillard's response yesterday let down the women of Australia. There is a court case in process, it was clearly a highly political (and hypocritical) move by the Leader of the Opposition to try and remove Peter Slipper from the position of Speaker. Most of the bad publicity has come from him and his party. I notice none of the party are addressing the accurate portrayal of Mr Abbot as a misogynist. No, we wouldn't want to do that. Wouldn't want to address our own shameful action, let's abuse the Prime Minister. Bah.

A Proud Day for the Prime Minister

I am just so impressed by Julia Gillard in Parliament today. Video found on the ABC HERE. It was well delivered and directed and fully deserved. Very heartening. Sexism should always be unacceptable.

I am still sorting my fabric, will this hell never end? I know I will be happier once I am finished but at this point I just want to give up. Blergh.

I have been reading that spraying your slippery fabric with starch assists cutting and sewing, to this end I have been looking up home made starch spray. I decided on a cooked version and I have to say after spraying 2 different chiffons they have dried nicely stiff, hopefully cutting them out will be significantly easier than my previous attempts. I confess that my past experiences has put me off cutting chiffons and georgettes.

My intention is to make the  blouse from portrait blouse from Gertie's New Book For Better Sewing, let's see if I get to that point.

Spring! All is forgiven

Well what a delighfully dazzling day it has turned out to be. Crummy 15 degrees but glorious sunshine. Melbourne, keep this up and it could be the start of something beautiful.

So, as previously stated, I have been procrasting by way of sorting my fabric. This has been a good exercise, yes I feel crushing guilt because I am not working on my assignments however, I now have 5 plastic containers of various sizes filled with fabric and a piece of paper at the front which lists what fabric is in there and the dimensions. I feel this is going to work well. I still have 4 containers plus various extras to sort through but I still feel this is a positive move. I also successfully refrained from walking into Lincraft and its 40% fabric sale. Yay me! Willpower, it is all about the willpower.

How cute is this t-shirt from sportscraft? I feel I need to make one, sans the breast pocket, of course. I love polka dots, I also love those neutral colours. Regretfully I do not own any (I was about to say in cotton jersey however I think it would be more accurate to say I don't own any neutral fabric at all). I did own some cotton voile in this kind of colourway but I donated it to my sister for her future wardrobe of awesome (which I will be making, so clearly awesome to the max).

On a completely unrelated note I love this outfit Dalida is wearing.
Yes it is completely ordinary but I love it. I must make it. I cannot find an actual video clip for the Italian version, it all clips of women wearing bikinis. Bah. Humbug!