Mimi and the cool cats…

Once again it’s raining cats and dogs here in Tamaki Makarau, but I do promise to stop torturing animal idioms long enough to tell you about my latest sewing project which as you can see…is a bit catty!

I brought this fabric from The Fabric Store a while back, it’s a light shirting fabric with a really nice, slightly crisp finish, perfect for giving some drama to my sleeve. Who doesn’t love a bit of sleeve drama? Well me actually. Don’t get me wrong, I love those massive sleeves , and if I ever fell out of a plane some of them look like they would probably keep me airborne for hours. But in a predominately computer desk based desk job , acres of fabric flapping around will quickly get on my last nerve. Ditto chunky bangles and bracelets.

The pattern is the Style Arc Mimi top, which as you can see I have altered somewhat, mainly because I seem incapable of buying sensibly coloured shirring elastic , I currently have fire engine red and nothing else. No idea what I brought that for either.

I really like the relaxed dropped shoulder and the volume in the sleeve, so I played around with the sleeve head, adding approx. 8 cm extra width either side for gathering , and instead of shirring I gathered and bound the sleeve hem. For me anyway, this is the Goldilocks’ sleeve, not too little, not too much, just right.

The construction is super simple, no darts , a bound neckline and a keyhole back opening, which I don’t actually need to open to get over my head so you could probably omit if required. The hemline is gently curved which I think looks cute over slim pants.

Of course what could accessorise feline fabric better than a bird brooch?

So what else has been happening around here besides terrible cat puns?

Some new reading material! I’m quite enjoying this, as a long time Christie fan I love all the references to her books the authors have used, it’s a little “aha” when you pick up a name. I especially enjoyed meeting the Vicar and Griselda again, Murder at the Vicarage is one of my favs. The quality is probably a tiny bit uneven for me (I truly struggled with the idea of Miss Marple in Manhattan) but I think that is a personal thing , aren’t all books to a degree? My BFF & I share VERY different taste in books, so I’m always careful with my criticism. If you enjoy Golden Age mysteries, you will enjoy this.

A very early birthday treat to myself, some fabulous new pans. I love to cook , and I’m quite hard on my equipment. I like to buy stuff that is built to last (I still have the Chefs knife my parents brought me for catering college 30 years ago) , and I find cast iron, unlike non stick coatings, can put up with the treatment. Also a good arm workout for my bingo wings!

The Ironclad Pan Co is a local company who were hit pretty hard by the recent flooding here in Auckland. A colleague received a couple of pans for Christmas and was raving about them so I was already thinking over a purchase, making an order to help them with the rebuild seemed like a no brainer…when the universe talks, I spend money. Now , rare or medium rare?

When not hoofing around heavy cookware I decided, in a moment of I Don’t Even Know What that hand rolling the hem of a metre square scarf would be a grand idea for my Mum’s birthday. The silk is a Liberty print , isn’t it glorious, a bit Hermes I thought? The colours will go with so much in her wardrobe, and silk is light but warm, prefect for a spunky 87 year old.

But handrolloing a hem is …long. Even with wine. I used this tutorial and it is a bit of magic when the hems “rolls itself up” won’t lie. But it’s still long.

Its Feijoa season here in NZ, and look at that for a first haul. A rather unusual fruit, native to Brazil, I can’t even describe the flavour, tropical yet slightly musky? A friend from the UK trying them, for the first time described it as “disgusting, like eating perfume” so not to everyone’s taste, but I love them. Which is good as growing up, every garden I knew had at least one tree. We haven’t yet reached “you’re not allowed to leave until you take some Feijoas” part of the season yet.

I have to leave you with this , Tommy couldn’t bear not to be the star cat in the pic, so decided some gymnastics was in order. At least I think that’s what he was doing?

Have a fabulous week friends.

Kristina xxx