Laura Morrigan

Original post here I finished my M7977 blouse at the beginning of the year and still hadn't worn it. There were a couple of things I didn't like.  The first was that it was a purposefully oversized pattern and I maybe went a size too large. The fabric I had used was very stiff and didn't like to gather in nicely at the waist when tucked into a skirt. I don't think this would have been fixed by gathering the waist as in the original instructions, as the thick material just didn't like to fold.  The second thing was it just felt too plain (to me anyway). I wanted it to have some kind of ruffle as on the original pattern. I was thinking of a smaller ruffle or some gathered lace, but I didn't have any black lace ribbon in the house so that would have required a long trip to the nearest sewing supply store or ordering online and hoping it worked.  So in the end I decided to just cut out the original ruffle from the pattern in the same lace fabric as the yoke and see ...

My lovely friends Yasmin, Caite and I had a hat decorating day last Wednesday. We took old hats and made them fabulous with fake flowers, leaves and other things from our craft stashes. My hats: Before After This was a secondhand hat. I wanted to do a hat with lace around it and Yasmin had some lovely pre-gathered lace. I just did a simple look for this one. The idea was to look like I belonged in a Studio Ghibli film. Before After Another secondhand hat. The purple roses were foam ones I bought ages ago. I added lots of pieces from Caite and Yasmin's fake flower collections to fill in the gaps and add interest. I had the butterfly for a long time and it is happy to get used.  I like my hats to have the decoration slightly offset to the side so this is what I did with both my hats.  I feel like the hat looks like something you would pay for if you saw it in a store and am very happy as this is my first time decorating hats. Caite's hats Before Another secondhand hat. Afte...

Panorama shot of the Jasmine vine in my yard. The main plant is on the right but it has climbed all the way across to the left.  Yes, I wandered out of blogland again! Spring is here and I've spent most of my time sitting outside smelling the abundant jasmine and reading a book. I have also been walking down the road to look at a cluster of freesias that have a wonderful nostalgic spring vibe to them.  I don't have a cat.  I don't know whose cat it is. Very sassy looking. I've been noticing how much better I feel if I'm not doom scrolling or looking up things on the net all the time and how much having my phone always with me breaks up my already short (except when reading) attention span. I want to try and balance writing and blogging with spending less time at the screen but I'm not sure how long it will take to strike a good balance.  The freesias down the road.

Sorry I was absent last week, I wasn't feeling great. I'll try and catch up on commenting soon. Here, continuing my outfit retrospective, are my outfits from February this year. Chinese New Year outfit: red is lucky Hairclips: free gift with another item Top: eBay Dog bandana: sewn by me, post here Blouse: Dangerfield Skirt: old dress adapted by me Dress: Dangerfield Dress: Dangerfield Shoes: Hot Chocolate design- I wear one of my two current pairs with most outfits Tiny teapot pendant: from a market stall Blouse: adapted by me. Post here Skirt: Dangerfield. Lady and the Unicorn inspired from when the tapestries came to Australia. I saw them and they were wonderful. Hat: Kmart Necklace: Secondhand Shrug: secondhand Dress: secondhand Top: secondhand Skirt: Dangerfield secondhand Dog: secondhand  Fairy wing earrings: I can't remember, sorry Butterfly necklace: hand me down from mum Dress: Sakkas online