sewing, the Great New Year's Cull, Lughnasadh

New Look 6674 looks like this on the pattern:


I am aiming to do the style on the model. But with plain fabric with patterned contrast as that is what I have in my lovely stash from the lovely Susan. So far I have spent masses of hours on this project and to date I have cut out all the paper pattern pieces for style C, cut out the main fabric and tonight cut out the contrast fabric. I have yet to cut out the interfacing and then, then I can have a crack at the sewing part. Hmmmmmm. Not sure if I'm big enough for this project.

In other totally riveting news, I have extended the Great New Year's Cull to the outside of our home. Broken buckets, the stolen orange road cone from several inhabitants ago, the plastic packaging for the bed we bought four years ago, furniture which is in rotten pieces and utterly unfixable, rose clippings (too ruthless for my compost) - they and more flotsam went to the dump today. Most satisfying and later this week there will be more.

I finally sewed the paua buttons on Lyra's baby jacket this morning and posted it. No photo as another exciting job today was to take the camera back to the shop to get fixed. This means I am finished knitting but that's good as I clearly have to spend the next hundred evenings sewing New Look 6674. Not sure where I will fit in writing for writers' group. And hosting the outlaws.

Another thing I bought in Golden Bay was a pagan wheel of the year arranged for the southern hemisphere. When I was pregnant with my daughter and we chose the name Brighid for her, I was reading as much as I could find online about the goddess Brighid (later St Brighid and later still some pope took the title off her) and that is how I found out about Imbolc, which is on February 1st and for some time I was convinced I would have her on 1 Feb, right up until I had her several days earlier that is. In southern hemisphere terms, we are nearly up to the fire festival of Lughnasadh, which is also a harvest festival.

Of course, modern work timetables don't fit in with a pagan wheel of the year (I tend to think of it as a Celtic wheel but the poster calls it pagan) and so just when I could be tripping merrily around a bonfire and feasting on the bounty of our summer harvest, I will be back at paid work for the first time in many weeks. Still thinking about this though - I like the idea of a harvest celebration.

Comments

Sharonnz said…
We always used to have harvest festival in our church growing up, something the modern evangelical churches miss out on. Will have to read more about the celtic festival as we incorporate more things like this back into our somewhat "churchless" faith;-)
Sandra said…
I'll be interested to know how your journey goes - I'm keen to create some meaningful rituals around the seasons into our family life. Mid-winter never works as some one and usual plural is always sick at the winter solstice. The summer solstice already has an overkill of activities around it. So I'm looking more at lughnasadh-samhain-imbolc-beltane for inspiration.
Mary said…
You're right, someone is always sick in the middle of winter....I like the sound of a samhain celebration timing-wise. Unless that clashes with Easter? (not having a celtic calendar handy!).
Anonymous said…
Oooh, I want one of those dresses too! It's been an incredibly long time since I was in front of a sewing machine though, and even longer for a pattern.

I like the idea of a harvest festival too for the start of Feb. But how do you combine that with kids going back to school (which seems like a downer)? Is that why you are starting work again at this time Sandra?

Mary, lughnasadh-samhain-imbolc-beltane are the cross quarter dates i.e. they fall between the solstices and equinoxes. So samhain is between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice (April 30/May 1). I think the old way was to go to the nearest full or dark moon (like Matariki does, and Easter!), but now it's more a set date.

Easter is tied to the autumn equinox (the Sunday closest to the first full moon after I think).
Sandra said…
Wildcrafty, I have seen in my reading that celebrations around Lughnasadh go for two weeks either side of the date, so thinking of doing something the Saturday before (30 January). Not sure what and our harvest is a big thin this year. But a favourite treat at our house is a barbecued sausages cooked over wood coals in a corner of our side garden. Which would meet the fire element. Still thinking.

Mary, Samhain is April 30 and I'm keen on some pumpkin lanterns then.

Thank everyone for the comments - loving the engagement/feedback.

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