A Little Bit About Me...

Kat, from Diary of a Flutter Kat, is hosting Nosey Parker in the Neighbourhood and I thought I might join in so you could find out a little bit about me and my little corner of the world.

I live in a semi rural district on the outskirts of Sydney, NSW, Australia.

We are close enough to Sydney, to allow us to conveniently travel in when we want to, but far enough away, that we can enjoy the lifestyle that a semi rural district offers. Here are some pics showing the views from both the front and back of our property, taken at different times of the day and in different seasons.

The houses where we live are detached, as the properties are on acreage, so there is plenty of room. Our block is just under an acre, but it is not uncommon for home owners to have 5 or 10 acre properties. The farms, as you can see in the photos, are of course, much larger than 10 acres. We are fortunate, in that our neighbours to the front and the back, live on farms. They take care of our magnificent views. 

The house blocks that are closer to, or in the actual town, are smaller, but most of the houses are still detached. There are some that are semi-detached. In the next town, there are a few flats with three storeys, but these are in the minority.

We built out of the town, to enable us to have a little more land. We like the space and this also enables us to have lots of gardens. I divide most of my spare time between sewing and gardening. Here are some pics of our garden.

We used to keep chooks to provide us with eggs.

Clearing weeds to create new gardens.

There is no shortage of things to see and do if you live in or near Sydney. Here are a few pics of places we've visited. 

Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens in the Blue Mountains...

Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens in the Blue Mountains...

Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens in the Blue Mountains...

Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains...

Remains of convict built road between Sydney and Newcastle...

Hunter Valley Gardens about 2 and a half hours north of Sydney...

Terrigal Beach about 1 and a half hours north of Sydney...

Grand Pacific Drive about an hour south of Sydney...

The view from our accommodation on an overnight visit to Sydney...

We depend on cars to get around. We are too far out of the town to walk and the public transport system is not very good. There are buses that go between the towns, but they are few and far between. Closer in to Sydney, public transport becomes more reliable and is therefore used more.

I've enjoyed sorting through photos, choosing the ones to show you. I hope you've enjoyed your little glimpse into my world...

Solids Only Tote Challenge ~ Voting...

Head on over to Sew la Vie! to cast your vote for the Solids Only Tote Challenge.

Thanks to Rikka, from Ricochet and Away and to Keren, from Sew la Vie!, for once again hosting a fabulous challenge. I'm looking forward to their next challenge in January.

Shirred Pocket...

After finding how easy it was to do shirring on Lucy's Little Flower dress, I'm now hooked!!! So, I've added a cute, little shirred pocket to the original dress. Here's how I did it...

I cut a piece of fabric that was wider at the top, than the bottom. The bottom has slightly rounded corners. The top has 1/2 inch that is straight to allow for the hem.

Hem the top by turning under 1/4 inch, stitch, turn under another 1/4 inch and stitch.

Turn under the side and bottom edges 1/8 inch and stitch.

• Change the bobbin thread to shirring elastic.
• Wind the elastic onto the bobbin by hand.
• Make the stitch length 3.
• With the right side facing up, stitch 1/8 inch from the top edge. Backstitch at each end.
• Stitch a 2nd row 1/4 inch from the top edge. Backstitch at each end.
• Stitch a 3rd row 3/8 inch from the top edge. Backstitch at each end.

To shrink the elastic, press using a moderate iron with a damp cloth over the shirring.


To shrink the elastic on the dress, I held the iron over the dress and pressed the steam button. Because the pocket was small and I didn't want to burn my fingers, I used the damp cloth instead.

• Turn under the side and bottom edges 1/4 inch.
• Pin the pocket in place.
• Baste (long hand stitch) and remove pins.

• Topstitch as close to the edge as you can.
• Stitch a 2nd row 1/8 inch from the 1st row.

That's all there is to it.

After doing some reading, it seems that machines with top loading bobbins are the ones most likely to have problems with shirring. My machine has a front loading bobbin, so it looks like I'm lucky.

Keren, from Sew la Vie! has told me another way to do shirring.....
You place the shirring elastic along the "seam line" and carefully zigzag over it without catching the elastic. Then you pull the shirring through the "zigzag tunnel" as much as you like and secure the ends (in the seam allowances). This is how Burda Magazine explains it. This way you have more control over the level of gathering and you don't need to use elastic in the bobbin thread.


Thanks for the tip, Keren. Next time, I'm going to try Keren's method.

 

Finished Projects for November...

Here's everything I finished and crossed off my To Do list during November.

Lucy's Little Flower Dress  ✔

Flower Hair Tie  ✔

30 minute Shorts  ✔

Faith, Hope, Love Skirt  ✔ 

Appliquéd Singlets  ✔

Solids Only Tote Challenge  ✔ 

Applique on a Child's Tote Bag  ✔

Fabric bags for wrapping Christmas presents  ✔

Frame Purse  ✔  

Wedding dress to day dress  ✔

I was very pleased with what I was able to sew. December will be just as busy as November; probably more so.

My To Do list continues to grow at a fast rate; much faster than I can ever hope to keep up. The more time I spend reading sewing blogs, the more I add to my list. This month I'm exploring lots of new blogs over at Lily's Fresh Sewing Day and Thursday Think Tank.