Fatherhood

Whatever flaws he has, I have never seen a gentler or more attentive father than the Panda, sitting for at least an hour grooming Big S with a nit comb, after having shampooed and showered him.  Sometimes people shine, in the silliest of circumstances.

A Bad Day

Here I am, trying to clean glue out of the carpet, having a pathetic little sob because the spawn have been HORRIBLE ALL DAY, and the big spawn said a boy at school is mean to him, thinking poor me I've had the shittiest day EVER!
  But then I go online and check out one of my favourite blogs and I realize that many, many people out there are having a way worse time of it than me.  Like Notchka from the Wardrobe who is faced with replacing her whole studio!  I am going to go to her online store (click the link) and score myself one of her beautiful and calm little babushka dolls, she has lots of lovely things so head over and check it out!

One Woman Late Night Applique Party

 You know sometimes you get on a roll?

 A derby friend asked me to make her a skirt, and let me design it!  So, fitting with her derby name, it had to be fiery.  I combined an op-shopped skirt, with a t-shirt from my $1 shop (printed on the front was 'Condom Kingdom, Official Tester', I was very happy to chop that one up!) 
All I did was to pin it on flat, draw the design with removable fabric pen, sew around design using a small zig-zag stitch, and then cut away the excess fabric.

Same with the yellow layer.

 

It's getting later, but now I'm on a roll, a few snacks to keep me going!

 Finished?  Hmmnnn... not quite right yet, I think the yellow dominates, so one more layer

 Designing the pattern first, the following the same procedure as for the first two layers.

Yes, finished!  I hope she likes it, and if she doesn't I'll have it!

Derby Derby Derby

This is me reffing at my first ever bout! 

I only made three calls, fell over three players, and once all by myself.  I felt awkward, bright red and drenched in sweat.  And I loved it!

 

 I finished off the helmet panties for the juniors, the brief was "purple, white, black, something a bit special", and I think they turned out pretty darn special indeed!

 I re-fashioned some old t-shirts into cushions for re-sale, and thanks to some old halloween ribbon they turned out alright too.

 And whilst I only sold three items from my stall on bout day, in the week since I have sold five more pieces!   I love seeing the girls wearing my things! 

And last but not least, the hooligans that look so adorable, can exhaust all my patience and energy in the space of 5 minutes, but be forgiven in the flash of a smile.

ChillOut Bout Checklist

Okay, so the big bout is tomorrow.  Huge crowd, my first reffing at a 'real' bout.

Gear aired out, new skate laces put on - check.

Re-read rules, got whistle and a spare - check.

 

Stall all ready, tablecloth, float, signage, and tags (old recycled calender) - check.

 

Loaded up with snacks, water bottle and panadol - check.

Freaking out a little bit - CHECK!

ChillOut Bout Sneaky Peek!

So... I have been putting a fair bit of hardwork into making, refashioning and upcycling things for my ChillOut bout stall.  I was unsure at first but I thought I'd just "give it a stab".  And despite exhausting myself, I have really enjoyed playing around and making cute things that I couldn't possible have the time to wear all by myself!

Stretch velvet skirt with suspender detail.

Lycra and taffeta mini ruffle skirt (HELL to work with!)

Cute love heart bottom shorts.

Bloomer style

Drawstring sides

Classic stripe (refashioned ladies t-shirt)

 

One of my love skate t-shirts, done with my home-made screen print.

The PussySkate dolls- Mean Puss, Miss Hellcat, Moggy Oh'Kneel, Apocalypse Miaow and Kitten DeCapitate.  (These are all terrible puns on the skaters names!)

Fingers crossed it all goes well!