All stitched up

How has your week been? I haven’t really done that much but this week seems to have flown by. I thought I’d just do a Self-stitched September update.

Tuesday 14th September: really wanted to wear a dress I’ve been working on but despite some frantic stitching I didn’t get it finished by the time I had to leave the house so had to go with this little number instead (more here). I went to visit my friend and her baby (the one I gave these presents to) and then met friends in the city for hot chocolate and a free talk by comedian Anh Do who was launching his book, The Happiest Refugee. He’s hilarious and I am in awe of the hardships he had to overcome to get where he is. Makes me want to actually do something with my life rather than just whinge (although if I stopped whingeing, people would probably start worrying that an alien had invaded my body).

Wednesday 15th September: job interview and other function plus translating work during the day kept me on my toes but I don’t have a pic of what I wore … got more casual and wound down in the evening at a trivia night to which I wore my newish clogs.

They’re Funkis and I bought them a month ago but due to rain/cold/not having worn them in I haven’t worn them much.

Originally they were the colour of the shoe on the left, but I was told to rub olive oil all over them to protect them. Who knew olive oil would change the colour so much (shoe on the right is the ‘after’)? Quite happy to discover an eco-friendly way to protect leather though, and I think I might use the idea for some upcoming projects. Of course, having spent half an hour on the olive oil thing, I wore them to take a short walk to my local polling booth on election day and it started drizzling, just enough for the rain to leave permanent marks in the leather. Yet another thing to blame politicians for!

My SSS contribution to this outfit was this necklace which I made out of threads I bought in India for 10c each. I joined them by winding red embroidery thread around the bundle of threads and making a loop and attaching a button which fastens the necklace. I’m not sure exactly what religious significance the threads have but hopefully I’m not committing sacrilege by wearing them like this!

Thursday 16th September: writing job at a flashy advertising company, which presented a challenge as most of my wardrobe is either strictly for around the home or fairly fashiony and not really suited for an office. Luckily they were fairly casual so I got away with what I had already. I made most of this outfit – the high-waisted skirt and sash are from the same material (vintage ikat kimono which looks African to me) and the cardigan I made out of an op shop jumper (more here).

I haven’t been doing too well with getting decent photos as I’ve been out all day and then can only take these crappy shots inside which are too dark for much detail to show… I’ll have to make a bit more of an effort!