November, busy. Melbourne Frocktails and the launch of the Spoolettes t-shirt freaked me out (commerce! panic!) along with the usual and ever growing recognition that my work is completely out of step with the times. But Ive done a fair amount of sewing over the last few weeks and its been wonderful. I now have some really nice new clothes and lessened the stash, so much so that I’ve bought new fabrics after maybe two? years of No New Fabric Purchases. But look, this and this …and this. Theres always more & I’ve committed to making three new Fremantle Pants for the fellas. The trouble with that, is that they’re all very tall now & it takes a lot of fabric to make three pairs of pants and if I’m buying that kind of quantity of linen & it costs that kind of money…I seem to resent that hang on, its ok FOR THEM to use that kind of money for linen but what about me?? Where’s MY 6 meters of linen?? Such is the burden of privilege, that I spend thinking time on bitchings such as this. There are more pressing matters around the house than me & my entitlement and that I have time & means is the message I’m missing here. I am making three new pairs of Fremantle Pants for my fellas. Really, really looking forward to Christmas holidays, the air-conditioning, afternoon swims and cake. And sewing, all day long. My life is good. I am so lucky to have all I have.

Work, well, Ive been maniacally turning out these Heartsease ornaments. I’m possessed by a need to make more and more and more of them, I have 4 molds on the go, pumping out 4 different sizes of them in stone plaster and resin with gold leaf bits embedded, every day. I seriously, very seriously, love these things. There’s this big polyptych artwork of mine that’s been trying to get finished for months and months and now, I cant work on that, because I’m busy casting and cleaning up the casts. I’m so content, just filing & sanding. I’m so happy doing it. I’m not doing anything else.

There’s not actually a lot of cleaning up because my molds arent too bad but I am prone to over-filling (story of life etc) so I make work of it. The main thing to remember is leaving them sufficient time to cure before de-molding. This Hydrostone is ceramic like in hardness but only when well enough cured; it hardens up fairly quickly, as plaster does, but with a thickness of under 3mm and in this openwork design, they’ll crack easily unless you do leave them be overnight. So frustrating. Which is why I made many molds, so I can harvest a goodly number at least, if its only one pour per day. Two if I start early finish late. Sometimes I flip the light switch on in the studio around 10.30-11pm so I can demold/clean mold/pour casts/clean casts & dick around which can take until …2am? Something like that

Then there was this

See that beautiful woman smiling away, on the left? That is Nic, who has become a great friend, supporter, nay, champion and collector of my work & we met through sewing world. There you go.

Spoolettes Tiger T, I’m so glad you’ve found your way into the light and that you’ve made some people smile. Sewing is a fun hobby and while you can make it complicated & even competitive, its a pastime which has kept me company - and in nice clothes, that are all mine and not like anyone else’s - and saved my headspace from introspective madness and brought me wonderful friendships & opportunities. If there’s anyone in Sydney in need of a sewing friend, go here and find them!

Still not finished with sewing: this is Nita-Jane, a truly unique sewing pattern designer and look: its me! on the screen words! I wrote this some years ago when it was a start-up and she deserves every success. Having relocated to Ho Chi Minh City, shes now producing RTW & I cant wait to get my Olive Calyx in the mail. Look at the red version in gorgeous silk-linen fabric

Resin, leaf & mica pigment. These resin ones do take a bit of cleaning s there a layer of clear epoxy with the leaf in it then some opaque white Ezy cast to back it up. That epoxy is really a pain, its softer than the ezy cast & takes 24 hours to harden before that goes on. Its taking up too much time for a kind-of-ok effect. I vastly prefer plaster so I wont be making more resin casts, for now. Or will I???

Amazing storm in Sydney, just after I took this photo. I was sitting by the studio window, filing some Heartsease casts, when suddenly this furious wind ripped through & I watched all the bark being stripped off the trees & flying up through the air. It was a very specific storm, it took a narrow, vicious path through two or three suburbs & lasted about 5 minutes. There was a lot of damage, in fact I just had a friend here today doing some washing as they won't have power back on until Sunday. The storm hit on Tuesday. Mad.