2016 GEEZ LOUISE

BLOODY HELL. 

ONLY 2 BLOG POSTS THIS YEAR. THAT PRETTY SHIT

2016

You have been like that house visitor that you want to leave but they just keep on sitting on the couch drinking your coffee and won't take the hint to leave. 

2016 The year of the NON-STOP EVERYTHING.

SINCE MY LAST POST

I went to the Miss Fisher Season Three Costume Exhibition and Lawn Picnic.

I was going to do a whole blog post just on that but ..... 2016 happened and well...........

My date was the delightful and divine Sherry Knee.  

The exhibition was bloody fabulous (I know I overuse fabulous but it was). We wanted to touch & caress all the things but Mz Lisa was there to rap people over the knuckles.

Everybody looked INCREDIBLE.  The building (Old Government House) was INCREDIBLE.

I promise I will post more photos in 2017 or 2018 when my life slows down

=================================================

GOT CALLED UP FOR JURY DUTY for the first time in my life.

I only had to go in for one day & they DID call my name.

I had to go into the courtroom. 

Surprisingly, given my shady past this was my first time in a courtroom.  

40 of us lined up & then they called 12 numbers out of us to be the jurors.

The whole time I was standing there I felt so sick & thought I was going to throw up.

The case was a real yucky one involving young boys. HORRIBLE JUST HORRIBLE.

I was standing there sweating & trying not to hyperventilate repeating "please don't pick me Please don't pick me." Thankfully they didn't & I could go home. Phew.

Bloody missed out on the free lunch though. Bugger.

==================================================

GREAZEFEST

I REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY need to do a blog post just about my favourite weekend of the year.

As always, the bands were fucking fantastic!!! 

JOHN LEWIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GAWD. OH. MY GAWD.

THE RHYTHM SHAKERS lead singer made me question my sexual orientation . 

Oh MY pass the smelling salts did someone say HUBBA HUBBA!

The new venue took a bit of getting used to but the entertainment & the fact that my bunch of nut bag friends could have a ball in a blank concrete room made the weekend AWESOME as usual.

(FULL BLOG REVIEW TO COME)

==================================================

FINALLY GOT TO MEET THE INFAMOUS JOY TAYLOR!

I have been social media mates with Joy for AGES and we've often thought we were separated at birth.  Well, it's like we've 'known' each other for years. 

Funny as a fit. Mental. FABulous and gorgeous. So awesome. 

Did I mention funny?

==================================================

My FANCY DRESS CHARITY DISCO 2016 for beyondblue.

Yes yes yes I will do a blog post fully dedicated to this soon.

AMAZING BRILLIANT WONDERFUL CRAZY.

We raised $4900 and everyone had the BEST time.

The costumes were bullshit good. So so so so good.

(FULL BLOG POST TO COME)

==================================================

THE DOLLOP AUSTRALIAN TOUR AT THE POWERHOUSE

Went to see the live recording of one of my favourite podcasts The Dollop at The Power House with some of my special lads.  It was so great & hilarious. The subject was William Bligh which I already had a fair bit of knowledge about so I knew it would be good. 

They didn't disappoint.

==========================================

WE GOT AN AIR CONDITIONER INSTALLED AT HOME!

Anyone who knows me, knows that me & the heat do NOT get on. 

I LOATHE & HATE THE HEAT. A LOT.

The normally lovely happy Mz Vicki transforms into a bleached blonde albino version of The Hulk in summer. So Mr Hardly Normal was having one of his 500 years interest free things so I stomped my widdle foot and exclaimed "That. Is. it!" 

Besides the day I met The Big Fella, the day the air con was installed was the happiest day of my life.

It's so beautiful. So so beautiful

===================================================

THOSE DARN SEW AND SEWS MEET N GREET

A bunch of the Brisbane chapter of my FB sewing group got together for coffee and scones to chat all things fabric.  After a delicious brunch we headed to what I will now call UTOPIA or East Coast Fabrics where my brain exploded with excitement at all the fantastic fabrics at only $5.95 A METRE.

I almost had an anxiety attack because the choice was so overwhelming. I will never shop anywhere every again. INCREDIBLE.

Did I buy any fabric?  hahahahahahhahahahah

==================================================

AND LASTLY WORK

I have had the two gals I work with off (one honeymooning and the other really crook) so it has been just me & the boss lady.  It has been full on.  I have surprised myself though with how much I have handled it all. I'm pretty proud of myself but I've been getting home so mentally exhausted that I just don't want to think about ANYTHING. 

I even watched ONE episode of the Bachelor. That's how zombifried my brain has been.

Ewwwwwww.

Only 3 months left.............

2016 - SETTLE DOWN .

Ok so it's been 5 months since my last post. I know. I know.

But 2016 has decided to be a real doozy and I am only JUST feeling back to my NORMAL zany self.

HERE'S MY SUMMARY OF 2016 THUS FAR

=========================================

I finally left my job of 8 1/2 years and started a new job in a very different working environment than I am used to. 

A MULTI-NATIONAL CORPORATION!!!!

A friend alerted me to a Seek job ad in the same industry I had been working in but instead of it being an hour drive to get to work, this new job is about a 3 MINUTE DRIVE!!!

It was a super terrifying decision to be made .....you know comfort zones and all that ...

The interview process was bloody weird. Phone interview then interviewed by a computer. 

YES A COMPUTER. Then face to face.  Talk about nerve wracking. Considering I've only been to two job interviews in the last 16 years.

Me after my phone interview. Yes. I have no shoes on. I'm surprised I'm wearing pants.

The last 3 months in my new role has been....... well.......... challenging.

To be honest I started having panic attacks again and wasn't coping very well with the stress of it all.

They must have thought I was amazing & super woman because they gave me the workload of about 4 people. HOWEVER, sanity finally prevailed and I think they finally noticed the nervous tic in my temple and my constant hand wringing and possibly my hyperventilating and they reduced my workload from INSANE to just Stressful.  I am finally finding my mojo there and are settling in.

I'm very lucky though because the chicks I work with are bloody rad. Thank goodness.

My previous workmates were sad to see me go but not surprised. I hope my replacement is coping OK since my boss only gave me 4 DAYS to train her. Poor bugger.

Never have to walk up these steps again.

==================================================

My father passed away after battling dementia for the last 4 years at the age of 65.

Even though we knew the path he was headed, the disease took him very swiftly in the end. In the last 12 months he went from knowing who we are and still being able to function albeit with help, to being a walking (shuffling) husk of a man. It is simply devastating to see. In the end he could no longer swallow or really walk. The light really had vanished from his eyes.... literally a case of the lights are on but nobody is home. Pneumonia took him (which is apparently very common with dementia as your brain literally forgets how to fight infection). 

My brother & I were with him. It was terrible and at times strangely humourous. We played him Billy Joel and gave him shit. I hope he knows that he wasn't alone and that he was loved.

The funeral & wake were very sad but also wonderful. He was a bit of a local personality and the Grand Hotel was filled with laughter (& tears) as everyone recalled funny tales of Spike (my Dad's nickname). A group of wives of his mates donated all the food and prepared and served it. 

I cannot thank them enough.

I'm not sure when you stop grieving. If ever.  But I'm happy that Spike has escaped his awful prison and is up on the big golf course in the sky

-===============================================

I was bitten by a white tail spider and my leg erupted into a volcano of bright egg yolk yellow pus.

IMPORTANT NOTE; Do NOT Google image search white tail spider bites..... especially AFTER being bitten by one. The doctor said I was lucky to be bitten on the calf muscle where there is lots of muscle of for the flesh eating poison to go into. Awesome. It actually didn't hurt much at all. It felt kind of like I had been burnt. It was fucking NASTY though. 

2 months of some serious antibiotics and it's all good now.

================================================

I went on a big family holiday for Mick's dad's 60th birthday to FIJI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so great and so much fun! I had a ball! The Warwick hotel we stayed at was like something out of a movie. Just beautiful. And the Fijian people are so friendly .

Massage, mock tails by the pool, yummy food, crazy driving Fijian jungle men!

LOVED IT.

=================================================

Saw CHRIS ISAAK with the girls at Sirromet Winery. It was freaking fantastic. 

That man.... oh my ..... he is just so handsome & dreamy. 

James Reyne who supported him was also brilliant.

Thanks to Mz Sheri and her VIP insurance we scored a freaking rad spot too! 

I think this is when the spider bit me but I was too busy jumping up & down screaming 

"I LOVE YOU CHRIS!! COME OVER HERRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEE! I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. CHRISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!" to notice.

==================================================

OTHER NOTABLE MENTIONS

Joey & Juniors wedding reception

Melly's 40th gangster party. FO SHIZZIL

My faux son Tom's amazing fundraiser night -

The DV DDT is a wrestling themed punk show that will be raising money for DV Connect- a QLD state-wide phone support service offering assistance, advice, support and counselling to females, males, children, and pets in households affected by domestic violence. 

Did the 5km walk to raise money for Alzheimer Australia

Tiki Day at Outre Gallery West End

Film Noir Swing dance night the the Old Queensland Museum

And of course, I have also been sewing up a storm.

I wonder what the next 6 months has up it's sleeve eh?

It's all fun and games 'til the Bobbin runs out

 

This will come as NO surprise to my husband but I'm afraid that ........

 

I AM COMPLETELY ADDICTED TO SEWING.

 

 

 

Unlike all the other crafts I have started, been enthusiastic about for a month and then thrown in the back of the cupboard, my sewing obsession is just growing & growing with each thing I sew.

 

I've become rather boring and I think that this blog will more than likely slowly grow into the Vicki Sewing Blog rather than the Vicki's Blathering About Random Shit Combined with A Hundred Selfies Blog.  

I make no apologises for this.

I took up sewing when I gave up the grape and I think this addiction is a lot more productive than having weekly panic attacks and clutching my head on a Sunday morning moaning about my hangover.

 

Sewing is not without its side effects though.

 

Where before I didn't want to exercise after work because I bone lazy and just wanted to get home to watch MASH, I now don't want to exercise after work because I desperately can't wait to get home to sew!

 

Where before my hard earned cash went to paying the shareholders of Dan Murphy's now my moola pays the mortgages of CEOs of Spotlight and Lincraft.

 

And you've heard about golfing widows?

Well my poor hubby is a dressmaking widower. 

His pleas of "come to bed honey so we can snuggle" are now met with me yelling "Hang on! Just 5 more minutes!! I just gotta iron this bias binding, hem the skirt and top stitch the blouse bit !!"

1 hour later I sneak into the darkened bedroom like I've been having some sort of sordid affair with my overlocker.

 

I cannot explain the feeling of excitement I get when I see a particular fabric, and the image of what it will become forms in my grey matter or ,the sense of accomplishment that comes from wearing an outfit that I know nobody else has and that I have made with my own two little chubby hands.

 

The other problem is I want to

MAKE EVERYTHING AND I WANT TO MAKE THEM NOW!

 

I literally have to get my calendar and organise my sewing in order of priority. 

"Ok so I have to make the shirt dress for the 28th. The Tiki dress for the 6th. The tie-shirt dress for the 13th and the kimono jacket with rayon pants for the 17th"

I cut them all out and put them in shopping bags and I cannot start the next one until I finish the one I'm working on now.

 

So now I present you with my latest projects for 2016.

 

MADE THIS AMAZING 1940s frock out of vintage rayon only to find I didn't measure the bust properly and it is about 2 inches too small for my giant bazoongas.

 





I thought I would try and sew something "different" and thought this smock looked cool. I LOVE pockets on anything.  It is basically a humungus t-shirt with NO shape.

SEWING FAIL.

 

Bought some JERSEY to make some "Bree" blouses (peasant gypsy tops) and some lovely cotton voile to make a noice light summer frock from (added to the stash )

FAVOURITE PATTERN VINTAGE VOGUE V8789 . I LOVE THIS PATTERN.
It is really easy to sew. I make it with a half circle skirt instead of the big foofy one in the pattern though.
(this is now finished....... photos to come )

I have also since finished this frock Vintage Vogue V9000 (view B) in this super cute fishy cotton.

 

 

PROJECT ONE:  
ANOTHER FAVOURITE PATTERN VINTAGE VOGUE V9000 (view A with the pointy cuffs)
Making this for an event next Thursday.  It will be a nice classic dress that can be dressed up or down.

 

 

PROJECT TWO:
A frankenpattern Vogue V8789 top half with Butterick B5880 bottom half
Awesome fishy print fabric.
This is for a TIKI event next month.

 

 

THERE YOU HAVE IT.............. FOR NOW :)

 

 

VINTAGE PLEDGE 2016

IT'S ON AGAIN !!!

Thanks to A Stitching Odyssey I have a fantastic excuse to sew even 

MORE outfits this year!!!!!

MY PLEDGE

I, Vicki of Rayon Dreams do pledge that in this year 2016 I will sew my little stubby fingers to the bone whipping up more vintage inspired frocks, skirts and blouses than I will ever hope to wear in a lifetime.

I pledge to always favour the rational choice of fabric when confronted with the decision between saving money for 'important' things like food or bills or getting that 50% off sale cotton sateen.

I pledge to spend copious amounts of time surfing Pinterest for inspiration thus increasing my FABRIC LOVE board from 311 pins to 3000 pins.

I pledge to constantly drive my husband bat shit crazy by babbling about new Michael Miller, Cotton+Steel and reproduction feed sack styles.

I pledge to anger all of my friends & family by continuing to ignore their pleads to mend or sew them any clothes because I am making YES ANOTHER shirtwaist dress.

I pledge to practice voluntary deafness when my husband wails "How many novelty print skirts can you have?! Are you only going to wear your things ONCE?!  You don't NEED anymore fabric!!"

***************************************************************************

If you want to join in just go to 

www.astitchingodyssey.com 

REFLECTION . THE YEAR THAT WAS 2015.

JANUARY 2015

NEW YEAR'S EVE

BRONCHITIS

LOVE INTIMO PARTY

'STRAYAR DAY

FEBRUARY 2015

"EVERYONE LOVES LUCY" AT QPAC

MARCH

" Costumes from the Golden Age of Hollywood" private tour and meet n greet with the owner of the beautiful collection Nicholas Inglis.

LOS STRAIGHTJACKETS WITH BIG SANDY LIVE AT THE ZOO.

SURPRISE WEDDING OF MICHAEL & SABENA

Junior's 50th birthday with surprise appearance from Bluesfest guitarist Kipori Woods.

APRIL

Quarterly Binge

MAY

May 1st - 6 HOURS TO GET HOME FROM WORK DUE TO FLOODED ROADS

Bianca Birthday lunch / dinner

The Pink Patooties BUST A MOVE for Breast Cancer.

JUNE

Did Catherine Deveny's GUNNAS Writing Class

JULY

MOVIE PREMIERE OF "Women He's Undressed - the story of Orry-Kelly 

with Q&A with Gillian Armstrong

FABULOUS FUR NIGHT AT LEFTY'S

Brisbane Museum tour date

Night in Redcliffe Hospital due to exploding ovaries.

AUGUST

GREAZEFEST WEEKENDER !!!

MOVIE PREMIERE OF "IRIS"

International Geocaching Day

 SEPTEMBER

My Fancy Dress Disco supporting beyondblue

which raised $2000 !!!!!

R.I.P GREG

My sister came home from America for a visit :)

 OCTOBER

My Facebook sewing group "Those Darn Sew n Sews" meet n greet

Brisbane Craft and Quilting Fair at the Convention Centre

Who Needs a Reason? Gender Swap party

My birthday and I got a Dressmaking dummy from hubby!

"The Dressmaker" movie premiere.

NOVEMBER

QUARTERLY BINGE

Chelsea's 40th "Disco is Dead" 1970s Zombie party

Underwater World

Mick's work WINTER WONDERLAND Christmas party

DECEMBER

Brisbane Vintage Mafia Christmas lunch

Mick made me my own labyrinth

Christmas with my looney clan

Another HUMUNGUS year for the ole Vickster.

I was going to say that I think I might slow down in 2016 but who am I kidding!!!

LOL

2016 will bring the same old stuff:  

Facebook sharing of funny animal videos

A gazillion selfies

Numerous photos of Harvey in various sleeping positions

Inappropriate memes containing way too many swear words for a nice lady such as myself.

Buying an absolute shit load of fabric.

I am just so grateful for my wonderful insane friends both physical & cyber, my wonderful insane family and extended family and for the light of my life my husband The Big Fella who is my everything and my best friend. Thank you for making my 2015 totally brilliant.

I found this pic on the interweb and I think it sums up any advice I might have for everyone for 2016.