Project: TWENTY FOURTEEN

Ahhh a new year and so many new possibilities, not to mention so many resolutions made. Everyone whether they realise it or not gives themselves resolutions. The problem with resolutions is that when they don't actuate in the desired results you tend to get discouraged and give up. This may be because of a number of reasons. Most commonly people just set the bar too high.

So this year I have given myself 6 areas of focus: Family, Home, Friends, Health, Finances, and Work. I have broken my "resolutions" down into small quite do-able activities that have a flexible end goal. I am looking at these goals as an ongoing project that can and will evolve throughout the year and may even be transferred into the coming years. I have named this "Project: TWENTY FOURTEEN". I know original, lol.

Every couple of weeks I will be choosing 2 goals to report on through this blog and give you a break down on the positives and negatives experiences I have had. If there is something that interests you or you would like me to elaborate on please feel free to comment.

So what exactly am I working towards this year...

FAMILY:

1. Go on a family holiday outside NSW and show my kids something new.
2. Have more one-on-one time with each family member, especially my husband.
3. Introduce a family fun night once a month where we can make memories together.

HOME:

1. Create a unique outdoor living space. Even try to source recycled materials to do so.
2. Have a more sustainable lifestyle by growing my own fruit, vegetables and herbs. This includes making more things from scratch and not packeted items.
3. Organise my family day-to-day activities better, including having clear expectations on everyone's duties.

FRIENDS:

1. Arrange a get away with my girlfriends. Can be anything from a day trip somewhere to a weekend away.
2. Contact my close friends once a month for a chat or get together.
3. Randomly do something unexpected or thoughtful for each of them.

HEALTH:

1. Lose 20kg which equates to 1/2kg each week.
2. Join a sporting team or take up a new sport.
3. Do the City2Surf on Sunday August 10, 2014.

FIANANCES:

1. Reduce debt, specifically creditcards!
2. Set up bill schedule and stick to it to pay bills on time and ultimately be in credit.
3. Be more frugal on my living expenses and look for ways to cut costs of unnecessary items.

WORK:

1. Organise my work time better to have a routine.
2. Create and publish 2 patterns.
3. Use blog every 2 weeks to update on progress of "Project: TWENTY FOURTEEN".

Now some of these goals may seem a little vague to you right now but the above is just a brief overview of my goals. I will go into more detail when I do a blog focus on each of the topics above. If you have suggestions or links to where I can find information to help me through these tasks please feel free to contact me via comment or email: trimssosweet@bigpond.com.

I look forward to sharing my coming year with you.

Well well well it's been a while!

Ok so super slackness on the blogging front is quite evident as I haven't posted anything for a while. It's not because I don't like sharing but because there is so much social media out in the cyber (is anyone calling it that now-a-days or am I being a bit out dated?) world to interact through. You have twitter, facebook, instagram, pinterest, and many many more. Not to mention the interactive games you can play with friends too.

Some of these options are more fun that others and addictive... facebook and candy crush I'm looking at you!

Lately I have really felt like social media is sucking the life out of well, my social life!

By social life I not only mean drinks with friends but interacting with my family as well. So I ran a little experiment over the last week to see if I can break the bad habits I have unknowingly let myself get into with social media.

I am a big believer in limiting a child's exposure to electronic devices and have time limits for both my children along with the golden rule that if the sun is shining they need to be outside enjoying it. Obviously things like homework and chores need to be completely first but they are usually out of the way within 45-60 minutes of getting home from school. So I gave myself the rule that the computer, my iphone, TV, and other electronic devices are not allowed to be used while my children are awake.

This week I have planted a veggie patch, practised skipping in preparation for jump rope for heart, played with matchbox cars, used a hula hoop, and discovered a family of kookaburra's have moved into my back yard. All this and more while spending time with my children and seeing how in such a small amount of time so many fun things can be done and explored.

Not only that but my washing pile is looking reasonable in the lead up to the weekend, dinners have been more satisfying and yummy, and my house looks generally tidier. The unexpected outcome is that I feel calmer when I wake up in the morning and there isn't a pile of dishes waiting for me, or when I know exactly where to find the necessary clothes for everyone because they are washed and put away, or that there is no missed last minute homework to get completed for school.

I think my experiment needs to extend past a week or even a month or even a year so that I can get a bit of sanity back into my crazy whirlwind life and really enjoy the time I have with my children. You know before they become unruly teenagers and claim I am ruining there lives for wanting to spend time with them. But that an entirely different topic... rant over.

Pattern Review

I mentioned on my facebook site Trims So Sweet (www.facebook.com/TrimsSoSweet) that I was making my next project a 5Berries pattern. So I thought I would do a review and share with everyone who would like to have a crack but is unsure of things like difficulty, sizing, processes, and hints and tips I use to make things easier for myself.

So the pattern I worked with is the Amelia Peasant Dress by 5berries and can be found at http://5berriessewingpatterns.com/product/a-amelia-copy-pattern/ if you would like to have a crack at it. You get sizes 18 months all the way to 12 years which is rare in most patterns as you usually don't get a wide variety of sizes. So thats a plus.

Now to explain for those beginners out their that this pattern is purchased then emailed to you to be printed out and put together before you can use it. Having 25, yes 25! pages to the pattern pieces alone this one was one of the biggest I have tried so far. My tip if you have an iPad or can work near a computer is to print out just the pattern pieces and use electronic sources to read the pattern. Otherwise it can be quite a hit on your ink supply.

Once I had printed out the pices it took me an hour to put them together and tape up so they were secure. Each page is numbered on several sides to ensure you match it up with the right joining piece. I only had an issue with one area at the bottom of the back of the dress where it didn't seem to match up but was easily overcome using common sense. You also get a photo of how it all joins up for reference.

So construction of the dress is easy as. You essentially have four pieces, so you really can't go wrong. You get step by step photo guides for construction but I think it could have used a better written guide. Given this pattern is labelled beginner I think more details was needed like explaining that you can use an overlocker to finishes the edges or an alternative is to use a zig zag stitch along the raw edge of the material. Instead they have "finish them with overlock or zig zag".

Once the main component of the dress construction is complete and you have to put on the finishing touches to the wrists and neckline. I generally like to double fold to you don't see any stitching but I followed the instructions and it actually meant it was less time consuming and less fiddley and doesn't look too bad. I did leave out the top stitching as I was being lazy and I didn't think it was neccessary to get the desired look.

Ruffles. I hate ruffles! Well I like the look but hate the work to get them looking nice. First of all don't let the pattern pieces confuse you as you have to take notice of the sizing written on the piece and not the piece itself as you won't have enough. I used to hand thread and pull ruffles but I strongly suggest using the longest stright stitch on your machine and setting it at the longest length then pulling it until you get the desired ruffles.

The belt is optional and you don't actually have to make it for the dress to be finished. Or you could make multiple ones in different coordinating colours to get different looks. I went a bit longer in my measurements only by mistake but it did turn out lovely as it hangs the length of the dress now. Once I had it on my model/tester, Miss G, I didn't like the belt slipping down as I wanted it to sit higher than her waist. So I added two belt loops under the arms and in the same material as the dress to it can be worn without the belt too.

Overall opinion: Please remember this is my opinion and I have been sewing for 11years.

This is a great pattern and I am already planning the next dress to make. It leaves a lot of flexibility in being able to incorporate your own sewing techniques which is great. I did get this pattern on sale and think it is great value, just needs to be reworked so that the instructions and pattern pieces are a bit nicer to my printer. All in all am recommending this to anyone that wants to try out a full dress, plus it has options for a short sleeve. So great for summer or winter.



If you have any technique questions I am happy to answer, or would like to purchase a custom made dress in the Amelia Peasant Dress style, just contact me on trimssosweet@bigpond.com or at my facebook page www.facebook.com/TrimsSoSweet.

Method of madness

Firstly I would like to state my least favourite job to do around the house it the laundry, I will avoid it if I feel I can get away with it but it is always waiting for me. Unless my dear husband decides he will help (that term is used very lightly).

So I hate how my husband hangs clothes on the line, folds them, and in general when he touches my laundry pile. Now don't get me wrong I do apprieciate the help, but, and there is a big BUT, it just seems his helping creates more work for me.

I have a method of madness when it comes to my washing pile. Firstly I separate whites, towels, and linens from my colours. He puts in anything he can get his hands on. Next I always soak my whites, as I have messy children. He chucks them in without even a spritz of stain remover.

I always hang my washing in groups (of who they belong to) making sure darks are hung inside out (to avoid fading) and they are all straight so they dry evenly. He hangs them as he picks them up out of the basket and randomly around the whole clothes line.

When getting them off the line I fold as I go and since I have already grouped them they go straight into the draws and cupboards as I walk through the house. He will grab them off the line when one item is dry, chuck them into the basket and put it someplace out of the way.

All his "help" results in me not knowing where the clothes are, having creased clothes from sitting in a basket for several days, some of the clothes are still damp from not being straightened before hanging on the line, whites still have stains, towels and washers are randomly found, and I have to spend more time resorting, rewashing, rehanging, and folding. Making things so much more time consuming then they need to be.

There are other things that my husband does that get on my nerves but this tops the list. What does your husband/partner do that peeves you to the max?

Customer Satisfaction

Whenever I create something unique for a client I am constantly second guessing whether what I have come up with, based on their vision, is going to be good enough.

As I'm cutting fabric up, pinning in place, sewing seams, adding trims and making those final touch ups I am all the while thinking, OMG they are going to get this and then contact me saying what the hell is this that you sent me.

Even as I am placing that parcel in the mail box I am secretly wishing maybe it will magically transform while in transit or get lost and the client will forget they even ordered it. All from that fear that trying my hardest isn't going to be what they want.

I am by no means a perfectionist, in that I require every stitch to be perfectly aligned or every loose thread trimed. I hold my work to a very high standard so I make sure I don't rush through an item and that I take the time to get things right.

But who out there doesn't secretly want people to love the hard work they have done to create something specifically to their requirements? My hands up!

Even though this creating processes I have is plagued with second guessing, the moment I hear "wow, my item arrived today and I love it", I take a long breathe and reassure myself that I can continue to make great things and send them out into the world.

Please share what goes through your head while creating your clients items.

Do I Have To...

Of late I have been finding myself frequently asking the question do I have to?

Do I have to...

Get out of bed!

Break up another fight between Miss 4 and Mr 6!

Make dinner again (I swear I did it last night)!

Wash more clothes!

Go to work!

And the list goes on.

The answer is always going to be YES.

And it's because of these two gooba's

I am the mother of two very unique human beings. On top of that I work part-time 5 days a week. Have a 4 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom, always messy house. A husband that works extremely long hours. And not to mention have been trying (unsuccessfully) to launch a hobby business.

I know this sounds like a typical situation for some, but I am constantly amazed how I get through the day and that I have not taken to regularly drinking. Mostly my life is boring but once and a while I have moments where I cannot believe I have been so lucky to make it out of horrible situations with all that I have.

So here I am adding blogger to my list of things I have going on at the present time.

I am going to try and share the little things that make up my existence some maybe boring or completely irrelevant but I hope you take something away from the other stuff and think "yep I know where she is coming from"

-Melinda

 Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant - Robert Louis Stevenson.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Trims-So-Sweet/147648205339077