Tuesday 5 September 2017

Jumpy and grumpy

The first days of September….and the wind came up yesterday. Technically Spring started at the beginning of this month and lovely seasonal bulbs are pushing out of the ground and revealing themselves….daffodils, anemones, muscari, irises. But the wind makes any stroll around the garden to enjoy the blooms too unpleasant. It is cold, whipping and turbulent. It makes me even more irritable than usual.

A few weeks ago I quietly published “Pheenie” without any fanfare announcements. It is in the Etsy and Shopify stores if anyone wants to check it out. It’s a pretty versatile dress with ¾ length sleeves that could suit hot or cold seasons depending on what type of fabric it’s made in. I’m a huge enthusiast for pockets and this design has 2 big and deep ones at the front. They aren’t just practical but also make an interesting feature the way they droop and create folds at the sides of the garment. 

Like most things I design there’s no fiddly zips or buttons – just pop it on over your head and you’re dressed for the day in 10 seconds….heh, I’m not one for extensive grooming routines or taking 15 minutes to get dressed….The last time I wore lipstick was 6 years ago on my wedding day and I had to buy that one specially because it was 20+ years since I last bothered to apply it to the visage. It’s not that I’ve “let myself go” the fact is I’ve never had myself together enough to be able to let anything go.


Duhhhh, enough being cranky, heres some pictures of Pheenie
   


 A couple of weeks before Pheenie I published this little top - Aurana


Currently I'm working on “Theodora”. Initially it was just going to be a tunic then I decided I really liked it as a jacket with a zip down the front. Adding this zip front option has doubled+ the amount of time to write up the pattern and adapt the PDF patterns. I hope to have it ready to publish by the middle of this month. I haven't done the cover page yet and only took these pictures only this morning. Fortunately I found the verandah and front door of my house was a sheltered spot out of the horrible wind where I could get pictures that weren't of fabric being whipped horizontal.

Theodora, lace tunic
Theodora jacket, heavy stretch denim

More about the Theodora Tunic and Jacket as I get closer to finishing it. Except this little aside, I was really tempted to call the jacket version a "jerkin". This is a really old fashioned word for a sleeveless vest type coat that opens at the centre front. I googled the word jerkin and was surprised to find it really is a hundreds of years old word. But I decided to use the description "jacket" instead and not confuse people by using that slightly odd word.....anybody out there familiar with jerkin?
Lastly, I'm going to vent about my hopelessly inchoate outrage with that megalomaniac psychopath Kim Jong Un. Its bad enough having the orange clown in charge on the other side of the Pacific. These two crazies combined are taking up way too much time bothering my peace of mind. It infuriates me how these kinds of nutbag individuals get into political power and can then threaten the wellbeing and future of our whole planet. What a sad species we are when leaders of nations control weapons that can potentially kill hundreds of thousands of people in minutes and poison the environment for hundreds of years. I really feel despair that millions of ordinary people like me - people who go about their daily lives doing seemingly insignificant tasks like going to work, preparing meals, paying bills, sending our children to school, cleaning the bathroom, grooming our pets - are the apparent "hostages" to the fragile egos of people who are obsessed primarily with staying in power. What is it about the political systems we create that absolute unhinged mongrels can rise to the top and wield that kind of power?

I hope the future brings a world govt that is organised on an algorithm that is designated to each individual person at birth that is designed to maximise every opportunity for education, health, income, home, community and comfort to be available to everyone.

I am sick of living in a world in which military might and mad despots dominate and the rest of existence just has to hope tomorrow will arrive without the rest of us being trampled in their battles.