Darting with the Toyota

Today the sun shone, I played superwoman (not exactly, and no cape, but I did work for money all morning, come home and clean the toilet and sweep the porch and hallway and prepare dinner, pick up four children across one kindy and two schools, drop them all off and go back to work for a meeting involving lots of different documents and different people all talking and being discussed at once, collect husband and children, cook noodles and the prepped fish and vegetables and then read a lot of stories to a short child while the boy and man were at martial arts). At the end of all this homing-working-mothering stuff, I remembered all the compliments I had on my lovely skirt today, the one I made myself. I also knitted my cardigan and my boots and t-shirt are hard wearing items I bought nine and six years ago respectively in London, so I was feeling that perhaps I manage more ethical shopping then I thought (usually I fall back on the Sallies).

Which led to the thought that I could actually find the dress pattern and fabric which I started in January and maybe finish it then I could waltz around wearing a dress I had made my very own self. So I carefully poked around the pile of cloth and sewing pattern at the back of the computer monitor, rethreaded the machine and now I have made two darts. That'll be enough for one night - if I try more, things will be sewn back to front and upside down. I don't think they advise such a 'system' of sewing organisation as mine in the textbooks. The plain blue fabric makes up most of the dress, with the blue patterned fabric as the waist and crossover contrast. The second photograph is my Toyota, bought second hand at Onehunga ten years ago, just before we decided to head across the seas on our OE.

This, of course, has nothing to do with the knowledge that I have a pile of sewing to do for my planned small gifts for the C-word (this year we are spending it with the outlaws who are joyous consumers and Christmas lovers) which needs to be done in less than eight weeks. I can't bear to buy readymade tat which they don't need and so home made and thus hopefully personal and thoughtful is the only answer. Not quite, buying nothing is the other answer which is what we do when we are down here but given the shared consumer fest is to be attended in person this time...