On my needles

All winter my craft obsession is knitting. When we hit October, I'm still in the habit of spending long nights on the couch, watching TV and trying to stay warm. Knitting is so meditative that it seems more suitable for my winter state of near-hibernation, while sewing (at least, in the slightly haphazard way I approach it) is much more active -  lots of leaping from my machine and running between tables and mirrors and the ironing board.

This year, I am proud to say, marked a change in my knitting practice - I started knitting adult-size garments in ernest. I’ve dabbled in the past, but it hasn’t been until this year that I’ve finally managed to make an item of clothing that I’m proud of and wear on a regular basis. I'm pretty stoked with this.*

As spring actually begins to get a toehold, this is what I currently have on my needles and what I’m planning vaguely for summer knitting. My knitting mojo has already lessened markedly so who knows if I'll make much progress before next June? I sure don't. It's a mystery.

Currently knitting

Still light tunic

I started knitting one of these tunic dresses with a hiss and a roar in August, but lost interest when I realised that I wouldn’t finish the tunic in time to wear it this winter - and that I'd have to frog the hem because I’d used single instead of double rib to finish. The only possible explanation for a fuck-up of this kind is that I was knitting drunk.

I’ve decided to finish the pockets and the other sleeve before I attempt to frog the hem, and I think I will make it longer and a bit more butt-covery.

As though knitting an adult-sized dress wasn’t enough, I’m using a very fine yarn. I ordered it from Anna Gratton yarns and didn’t realise that it was a very fine 4 ply (more a lace-weight than a sock yarn, I feel). It is pretty nice yarn though, lovely to knit with. Not super squishable on the cone but it has a nice drape in the garment.

Solis t-shirt

I picked up a bunch of purplish-silver-grey cotton from the op-shop, originally planning to knit one of the delicious Vasa tees. However it turned out that the cotton was the wrong weight for the pattern (8ply instead of 4ply). I threw the idea out completely instead of doing the maths to work out the new measurements - I still want to make a Vasa but I’ll do the thing properly with the right weight of yarn.

Instead, I’m knitting a Solis t-shirt with the op-shop cotton. The pattern has has a back panel of lace and tubular cast ons at the waist - two techniques that were new or a bit of a challenge for me. So far I’ve completed the back panel and am about halfway through the front. I must have knit that tubular cast on about twenty times altogether!!! (I wish this was hyperbole). The top though is only two pieces, so a pretty simple make, and I’m excited about the slightly tricky-looking neck band. My enthusiasm for difficult things leads me to conclude that I’m much more ready to try new and complicated knitting techniques if I’m executing them on something I really want to wear - rather than, say, a dishcloth.

Vague summer knitting plan

Featherweight cardigan mark II

I ordered a bunch of Madeline Tosh 2-ply yarn in Candlewick so I could make another of these very cute light weight cardigans. The last version I made was in a black 4-ply merino and I was pretty disappointed - I knitted the cardi too small, cast off my sleeves and waistband too tightly and the yarn pilled very quickly. I am still wearing it though, and every time I squeeze my forearms through the too-tight cuffs I curse myself for my haste in casting off.

Related adventure in yarn-winding: I tried to co-op Shannon into helping me wind FIVE SKEINS OF THIS EXPENSIVE YARN and it was a DISASTER. I spent almost as much time untangling as I did winding. Never again (he is very relieved).

Do you have something on your needles at the moment? Making anything funky? I am endeavouring to craft my stash for the rest of the year at least as I have a heap of fabric, yarn and vintage clothes, and am (still) trying to live within my means. I am also feeling the tug of the sewing machine, and I suspect my next project will involve the Scout T-shirt pattern and some apple-print fabric.

* A Trail Jacket, in case you’re wondering.

Wednesday List: three fave op shop finds, their histories, and where they are now

I have been quite the op-shopper in my time, and have bought many a fine and ironic garment. I went through a big animal phase, and developed quite a passion for embellished t-shirts at one point during the mid-2000s.

Op shopping is: the thrill of the chase, risking something strange and having it pay off, and persistence (especially if you're op shopping for jeans or oversized men's tuxedo shirts). Op shopping is also about the Story of the Find - where and how.

While I op shop much less these days because of my puritanical thrifty ways, I still think fondly of my best and most favourite purchases.

So - here are some good ones, where they came from, and their histories.

1. Black “Julia Roberts” dress

What: An early 90s black silk cocktail dress, with a drop waist and pleated skirt. It came with long sheer sleeves that I tore off immediately.

Where: An op shop in Perth. It was next door to the hostel I was staying in at the time.

History: I bought this during a road trip in the summer of 2005/2006 that took me from Adelaide, to Perth, to Melbourne. I was very excited when I bought it (you can read about it in a sort of stream of consciousness post I wrote at the time).

Shannon read that blog post in the very early days of our relationship, and commented that Richard Gere in fact drives a Lotus in Pretty Woman, effectively clearing up the mystery that features so strongly in that rambling bit of text. So, I feel as though this post/dress is intimately connected with our early courting days.

Most memorable wears: I wore it to a quite epic party on Waitangi Day eve in 2008. I thought I had a picture of this, but you can't see my dress in the picture.

I have hazy (drunken) memories of wearing it a lot during 2006 and 2007.

Where is it now: Dear reader, this dress was a size 10 - and as I became happier and better paid, I was no longer a size 10 myself and had to stop wearing it.

I hung on to it for a while, but at some point between (I think) the great declutter of 2010 and the present day, this dress was given to another op shop where it rejoined the great recycle of life.

It was a good dress though, and I’m pretty sad that I don’t have a photo of it anywhere.

2. Fawn cable-knit cardigan

A photo of a Polaroid of me wearing the cardigan and standing by a camper van. I was trying to do a sort of “American Gothic” thing.

What: A hand-knit cable knit cardigan in a delightful fawn wool. Features cream vintage-looking buttons.

Where: Either an op shop in Taranaki or in the far North. (I’m a bit vague on this as I did a lot of op-shopping in small towns the year that I bought this).

History: Two options

1. Shannon and I went on a road trip in 2008 and this was one of my many (so many) purchases on this trip. 
2. Or, I bought this during a lunch break while I was away in the far North working in that same year. 

Who even knows! Suffice to say I was spending a lot of money of second hand clothes at the time.

Most memorable wears: I found a photo where I’m wearing the cardi at Campus A Low Hum in 2010, and it was one of two cardigans I took on my trip last year (my list was very tiny).

Hey also I am wearing it in this blog post about a knitted drink bottle cover.

Another very distant photo. I’m standing in front of Hampton Court Palace, arms akimbo

Where is it now?: It’s in my drawer (or possibly my washing basket).

It’s a little the worst for wear, but is has held up remarkably well given that it’s been in constant rotation since 2008 and was second-hand in the first place. The longevity of this cardi just goes to show that hand knits are the best.

3. Pink leather orchid brooch

What: A slightly pearlescent pink leather brooch, ostensibly in the shape of an orchid. Usually referred to as my “vag badge” because - yonic much?

Where: I found this in the better of the four op shops that were within walking distance of my house in the Melbourne suburb of Yarraville. I snaffled it immediately.

History: Basically I just like wearing this and pointing out that it looks like a vulva. I've done this now since 2006. You'd be surprised how tired Shannon is of hearing about it.

At one point one of the petals started flopping forward, so I stuck them to the leather back more securely. A++ accessory management.

Where is it now? Tacked to my brooch board.

Vag badge on the brooch board

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Brief life update

I have had a bladder infection since Saturday and it's fairly misery-making.

The one hundred dresses I made on my summer holiday

HYPERBOLE!

I love it.

While I have not literally made one hundred dresses this summer (or at least, so far), I have taken the opportunity given by long days with nothing to do to update a hefty portion of my wardrobe. Just before Christmas I read Tilly's post on sewing to your personal style, and it really resonated with the part of me that has been restless and frustrated with my wardrobe since mid-last year. It's a real issue, having an undefined personal style (#firstworldproblems).

Through no real intention but with fortuitous coincidence, I have made only two dresses this summer. Fortuitous because I already have a huge collection of summer dresses (is this the one hundred?) all of which fit neatly into my newly intentional wardrobe. My sewing then mostly coalesced around smartening up my top/short-sleeved blouse situation, and in discovering a new and exciting way of making bias binding in the process.*

In an effort to show the clothes looking like actual clothes and not misshapen cloth bags hanging on my door, I have attempted selfies of myself in two of my favourite recent makes. Note, these are taken after work and a glass or two of wine, using the camera on my computer. Bad selfies are the worst but people blogging about sewing with no pictures is the worst-er.

Firstly: this chevron print tent dress, an adjusted version of a vintage sixties Butterick pattern (4602 - the Turnabout Dress). I picked up the fabric, a navy chevron printed cotton, at the Arthur Toye closing down sale. Goodbye, Arthur Toye, I will miss you :'(

This wolf (!) print pencil skirt, using the basic pattern from Gertie's Book for Better Sewing (but with none of that mucking about with linings and underlinings and ridiculously huge waistbands).

The fabric was a souvenir from my travels in Berlin, I picked it up at a shop called Frau Tulpe's Stoffe which was stuffed with painfully stunning prints. I even tried to use my abortive German to communicate my love for EVERY SINGLE BOLT OF FABRIC. As I waved vaguely at all the fabric I remarked "sehr schoen, sehr schoen" like an 18th century courtier, while the perfectly nice fabric shop lady looked at me with bemusement.

Finally, my aforementioned blouse makes: I decided to be the last person ever to make a Sorbetto blouse or two. I am quite in love with this pattern, it suits my body shape and wardrobe intentions, and best of all it's free. I'd cut the pattern out so when I began to sew I didn't even need to muck around with sticky tape and tape measures before I could cut and pin and thrust it through the machine.

I made a version in a white and navy polka dot voile, and another in a vintage fabric that I picked up in Patea about five years ago on an amazing road trip with Shannon, like so:

Allow me to show you a fabric detail:

YES. Those are tiny green stick-figures playing in the water with their tiny green stick-figure children, and sailing their tiny green stick-figure boats.

I am very much an all or nothing kind of person, so I'm sure that once I have completed this phase of frenzied sewing I will return to my regular sloth. Or knitting. In the meantime, I have downloaded and printed a bunch of new patterns - the Grainline Hemlock top, this capelet, the Colette Laurel dress. I'm wondering if I can sew up the Laurel in a knit fabric, or if that would be a ridiculous and wasteful thing to attempt. Sewing readers, your thoughts please?

 

*Using this continuous binding technique and this cardboard ironing jig (which is mostly a pain in the arse to use but totally acceptable when suddenly discovering the need for bias binding late late at night). Although, this tip using a pin looks pretty good too, and I may try it next time.

 

In which I admit to making a pretty pathetic effort of participating in Me Made May

Me Made May finished on last Friday. I mentioned that I'd signed up to this sewing-blogger celebration of craftiness earlier in the month - and that I'd chosen the fairly modest aim of wearing two item of handmade or refashioned clothing per week, and making two items of clothing during the month.

Wearing the handmade bits was rather a doddle. I usually wear skirts to work, and of those I think that just one is non-handmade. Besides which most of my outerwear is hand knit or refashioned - scarves and hats and gloves, and I began the month obsessed with the trench coat that I altered. And it's definitely cold enough to pull out all of my deliciously warm hand knit socks.

I had less success with the making handmade bits to wear. I made myself a nifty fruit jumper, drafting up a larger size of Dixie DIY's Hot Cocoa sweater with some success, giving up on the neck-band part because my fabric was not stretchy enough and I just wanted to wear it, damn it. I like the idea of colouring in or outlining a few of the bits of fruit with embroidery thread, but I haven't put aside the time to do it yet.

I haven't completed anything else for myself, only making a teeny-tiny baby dress for Shannon's step-brother's new little girl, and two solitary socks - as in, two individual socks from different patterns, not a pair. This isn't my best effort, but in my defense I have been trying to spend a little less, and nice fabric is expensive, as is nice yarn. Once you've sewn or knitted with nice materials, it's really difficult to convince yourself to go back to using rubbish. It feels nasty on my hands, darling.

 

Lastly,I have been pretty dreadful at getting photographs of my outfits. For a while I had no memory card for my shitty camera, and as my computer faces a window it's difficult to use the camera on that without terrible glare behind me. I convinced someone at work to take a photograph of my outfit one day - and, with the exception of the one above, that's the only photo I have. 

So, Me Made May hasn't been a great success, but nor has it been a complete failure. If I do it again, I'm going to work on making a concerted effort to get some photos taken, even if it is kind of awkward and I seem incapable of posing non-hammily.

Can you even believe how much I have been sewing

So, did you notice that I have been One Track Mind woman the last few weeks? I am, what I like to call "very all or nothing", and other people might like to call "freakishly obsessive". Apols if you came here for something non-sewing related.

So, Wellington Anniversary weekend this weekend past, and I made two tops, both of which rated as milestones in terms of my sewing development.

The first top is this camisole from the book One Piece of Fabric. I've had this book for a very long time but have re-discovered it (see also: Cowboy Print Culottes). It could be called the "all French seams all the time" book because of it's emphasis on those most delicious of seam finishes. My later attempts have been much better than my earlier ones because I have learnt the value of a. cutting out correctly and b. of ironing the fabric before I cut. I am not even joking.

I don't know if the camisole is particularly flattering on me, but i am awfully fond of the polka dot print, and it is also my first (and a not unsuccessful) attempt at shirring. I am extra proud of myself because I had to adjust the tension on my bobbin case, and not only did I do this effectively, but I also successfully changed the tension back. I had the worst bobbin tension fears the entire time I was shirring - as in, worrying that I would never be able to return the bobbin tension to its earlier, perfect state.

Thoughts about shirring:

• Hey, so, it's a good idea if your shirring elastic matches the colour of your fabric. I used some shirring elastic that I'd been gifted, and it's pink. I thought this wouldn't be an issue and from a distance it's not really that noticeable - however, it's a little too obvious for my liking.
• I've never really liked the look of shirring, but now that I can do it I think I want to shirr BASICALLY EVERYTHING.
• Marking out your fabric before you start is totes key.

Top numero duo is my first attempt at the Scout Woven Tee.

I was very conscientious when it came to cutting out this pattern, but I still don't think I measured my bust correctly because the top is a bit too big. In future I will make it a size down, or resize in the shoulders at the very least. In saying that, the tee is completely wearable.

Thoughts about this pattern/make:

• Could you be easier to sew, Scout Woven Tee? No you could not.
• My first attempt at setting sleeves! Room for improvement (the sleeves are slightly gathered for insertion, and I over-gathered, very slightly on one side), but I really like the way the sleeve caps sit up a tiny bit, and I am very proud of myself for the insertion full stop.
• I think I stretched out the neck a little while I was sewing on the bias binding, because it doesn't sit quite flat. Next time, I will not pull quite as much.
• Finally, either the fabric is hideous or the top very well made, because nobody commented on it when I wore it out for lunch. And in my experience, people will comment on obvious makes.
• A++ Would Make Again.

Incidentally, this brings my yearly clothing tally up to

• Made: five (I've also made over two unwearable skirts into culottes since the beginning of the year)
• Bought new: three
• Op-shopped: zilch

Two successful re-fashioning projects

I've withdrawn from my sewing room for the time being as it doubles as the spare room and I'm expecting Bex and family to stay vairy soooon. While I'm super looking forward to the Family staying, I am saaaaaaddddd to vacate my awesome room. I have plans to swap things up a bit - on the cheap, of course - once I've banished the Debt Unicorn. I especially like the idea of cubby holes with all my fabric and potential re-fashioning bits and pieces neatly rolled up and stacked so that I can have all the potential at my fingertips. Also: huge jars of buttons and thread (I inherited a huge bag of thread in assorted colours and it's too pretty to hide away, I think).

The point being - last night was my last chance to get on the sewing machine before I packed everything up, and I didn't want to get myself embroiled in a big sewing project (like the epic pencil skirt that I'm intending to make). So, inspired by two recent-find blogs (Refashionista and Cotton & Curls) I did some re-fashioning instead - cut up some old clothes and made them exponentially more fabulous.

The first is a sleeveless sort of peplum-shirt-top that I've refashioned out of a man's shirt. Mostly I followed the tutorial given by Liz on Cotton & Curls to the letter, but I was a bit confused about the sleeves. In the end I cut them a bit bigger that I'd intended, so had to insert darts under the arms to prevent gaping and then just finished the sleeves with a simple narrow hem. Easy!

The second top was a re-refashion of one of two shirts that Shannon had made in India (thus: years ago). The fabric is AWESOME, but because he didn't specify the kind of collar he wanted, both shirts were made with collars that were too Seventies for his needs. I did a pretty shonky remake of this shirt a year or so back but I was never happy with how it worked out - mostly because I cut the neck too wide and the straps never stayed on my shoulders. Last night, though, I was inspired! I took the top in through the back on an angle - narrower across the shoulders and then wider through the rest of the back to make it sort of triangular in shape. I added in a few pleats across the neckline to stop any gaping, and then recut the hemline of the shirt. I stuffed this up - it was supposed to be longer in the front and shorter on the sides (like a man's shirt) but I had the sewing fever at this point and had also drunk a couple of gins. No matter - I'm much happier with the way that it looks now.

Finally - not a re-fashioning project but - I'm super into the way my hair looks after I swum in the sea yesterday evening, so I've made myself some salt spray for my hair. All the recipes I looked at had things like conditioner in them, but given that I use apple cider vinegar for conditioner, I didn't think that'd be much good (also I would smell even more like vinegar all the time?). So, I've fudged it a bit - used water, sea salt, extra-virgin olive oil and some 'organic setting lotion' that I used to do wet sets with when my hair was longer. Feeling pretty good about it at the moment, but I just added it to my already-salty hair, so that's somewhat misleading. I think salt spray is the answer to my current hair woes so I'm feeling pretty hopeful.

365DOP: A month of dressing the Peta Mathias way

Cross posted from 365 Days of Peta

It's been a very busy month here at Casa Ginger, with house moving and working flat out, and *also* the wedding of two of my favourite people.

However, for the first fortnight I approached my task with both diligence and enthusiasm. I have the pictures to prove it! I made a collage:

Most of these pictures were taken at work, and I'm pretty sure that there is at least one extra around: I seem to recall sitting in front of one of the orange walls during one of my shoots. Lovely Fran has been documenting my Peta attempts and I'm sure that we looked perfectly nutty with her taking snaps of me on her iPhone while we traipsed around the office.

As I've already mentioned, my attitude in approaching this part of my project was less to attempt to make myself a carbon copy of Peta, and more to try and listen to her philosophy and follow that. Thus, I found myself wearing more make up, especially lipstick, exhibiting FAR MORE topknots, and wearing more colours - or at least, trying to avoid the ubiquitous Wellington black. This also included me trying to wear more heels which is never easy for me given that I can fall off ballet slippers (not even joking).

The hair thing has been rather fun too: after a long Twitter conversation about Peta's powers of the freaky large hair, I bought myself some Bumpits. Things to say about Bumpits: OMG. Amazing much? Yes they are.

They've also lead me down a rabbit hole of augmented hair styles, thus today I find myself with an augmented top knot: behold the sock bun! (note also the improvement in my fringe from above photos).

The dressing month has been rather fun - it hasn't been always easy to maintain given that I've got so many things going on but I feel like I've managed to stretch myself a little. Back In The Day, I was quite dedicated to "theme dressing" - for one month the theme was pantomime pirate - but I've really fallen off the band wagon with this over the years. I'm afraid that I haven't even been trying very hard with dressing in general over the last two years or so - just rolling out of bed of a morning, pulling on the cleanest clothes I can find and going out the door.

Having a theme has made me much more excited about getting dressed. How can I be more Peta-esque today? Also: has reinforced the fact I can't wear heels. I am terrible at walking in heels.
I've planned March as my month of growing old disgracefully. Eighteen days until I am thirty!

365DOP: Dressing the Peta Mathias Way

Cross-posted from 365 Days of Peta

In my second month of living 365 Days of Peta, I'll be approaching Peta's life philosophy through the medium of dress. Living in New Zealand and growing up with Peta on my screens means that I already feel I have a handle on what it means to dress like Peta: bright red hair, very loud clothes, lipstick and never dressing sensibly. I am more than happy to live this way.

Confession is that I am somewhat obsessed with not using anything synthetic on my hair - I gave up using shampoo about half way through last year and haven't looked back. I also don't use synthetic dyes any more but am completely obsessed with the henna that Lush makes - where the herb is combined with a bunch of spices and good oils.  I think it makes my hair look beautiful, but henna does tend to fade quite quickly. I'm doing my best here to maintain my Peta-like head of hair while living within my own rules!

In regards to her own head of fabulously red locks, Peta has written (and I can't find the reference just now, dammit) that she has always been an inner red-head. This is a philosophy very close to my heart. (In saying that, I seriously doubt that anyone has every described themselves as an inner "mousy-brown-head").

The loud clothes/never dressing sensibly thing is somewhat interesting: in the ScreenTalk interview I posted the other week Peta implies that she dressed inappropriately as part of the act, yet in some of the other books Peta's sense of dress is not only a comedic foil but also intrinsic to her experience. For example, in Burnt Barley (2000) Peta talks about attending a cultural fair in Tipperary dressed in a Zambesi top, leather skirt and gumboots. Life imitating art perhaps? Or perhaps these two points of view - the act and the experience - are not really that removed from one another. Could the real Peta please stand up?

Lipstick, thank goodness, is a far less meta concept for me to deal with. Peta unequivocally states on page 24 of Can we help if if we're fabulous that

I'm all for pathetic artifice - a slash of lipstick (not pink, thank you), a line of eyebrow, and a rondelle of blusher transform a woman from plain to sparkling in thirty seconds. No woman over thirty should leave the house without at least lipstick on - not even to put the rubbish out. Why frighten the dog? Keep your nails manicured, do your hair, and have pride in your appearance.

I'm not thirty until March, but am more than happy to commit to a daily diet of red lipstick. I love putting lipstick on in the morning, but I'm terrible at remembering to reapply, and so this month will be a challenge of maintenance. And remembering not to rub my eyes while they're coated in eyeliner and mascara.

Finally, Peta is very outspoken about the colour black: maintaining that if you're not Italian, a nun, a magazine editor, left-wing intellectual, in public relations or a manic depressive, you shouldn't wear black. And if you do wear black, you should accompany it with a fuck-off face and dyed black hair. I know for a fact that I look terrible with black hair, so I am encouraged here to avoid The Black emphatically.

All in all, this brings me to my first week of Peta clothing rules:

• Red hair, top knot or curliness optional
• Inappropriate clothing: no more pyjama pants in the house in the evening, I shall only dress like a fabulously lounging lizard
• Lipstick, and remembering to reapply it.
• Bright colours! No all black! Black at the last resort and no mixing of blacks!

FYI: I began my dressing project on 1st of Feb, and have a bunch of photos to share with you. Prepare to be amazed/horrified. Also, how can I do this thing that Peta's done with her hair up here?

Arohanui: another lovely week

The end of another week! As I write this I'm watching the RWC Scotland v Argentina game. The Argentinian players wear stripey shirts and socks and the effect is very strange; they kind of look like blue Tiggers.

Anyways, I had a very nice week, and here are some things that happened:

• I've spent all this weekend at a wedding up on the Kapiti coast. The wedding itself was lovely; the bride played murder ballads on the banjo; I saw killer whales breaching off Peka Peka Beach; and Jess Chambers and Rosy Tin Teacaddy played during the wedding and reception respectively. Shannon and I camped on the lawn which was not as cold as I thought it would be - but it did ignite a desire to spend all summer camping at the edge of the bush in DoC campsites.
• On the way back from the wedding we dropped into my Grandad's house in Waikanae and were fed by my lovely step-Nana Dorothy. My Grandad is always happy to discuss history indefinitely with me which I'm sure must be tedious beyond belief for Dorothy and Shannon. I was crazy tired from the wedding the night before, but it was very awesome to see them.
• This evening I made some baked oatmeal from the Budget Bytes recipe: part of my plan to be better organised in the morning and eat breakfast every day. My decision to make it was inspired by the Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal that Beth posted about earlier this week, but as we're heading out of pumpkin season at the moment, I thought I'd better use her earlier seasonal fruit recipe. S and I had some for dinner and it was delicious.
• It was my lovely Nat's 30th birthday yesterday. I had a drink with her at Little Beer Quarter on Friday night - the first time that I'd been there. Good beer selection, lovely atmosphere (much less crowded than the Malthouse), and the nuts were good too. I'm just nuts about nuts (lol, obv). The best thing though was Nat. She's such a legend - starting university after working and travelling and living in the UK for ten years, studying incredibly hard, and absolutely blitzing with her marks. Happy Birthday darling - super proud of you, Ms. Fabulosity.
• My flatmate Hayley arrived back from her trip to Burning Man and around the States - it's great to have a gender balance in the house again, and to have someone to cackle with.
• My other James bought a pig's head for his birthday on Friday. Did you know pigs have very human looking eyes? I discovered this as a pair of them peered out the the head on the counter top. However the food made with the pig head has been good so far (some kind of Brazilian bean thing with the cheeks). There is something that looks suspiciously like brawn in the fridge at the moment that's freaking me out a bit but I'm sure it will be fine - nay, delicious!
• I dropped in yet more books to the second hand book store and I think I've finally reached an equilibrium with my book shelves, and THAT knocks another of my resolutions from my list.
• My new raincoat from Wet and Wendy arrived and I love it. It's raining rather heavily at the moment, and I'm hoping that it will be again tomorrow - can you believe that? I figure, if I can't have beautiful sunshiney weather then I want a lot of rain to splash about in.

And now I figure that it must be my bed time. Goodnight, lovelies!

The image above is from Simply Breakfast. The recipe the Simply Breakfast lady used is a different to Beth's, but Amazon has hosted a little preview that includes the recipe. Keen to try it out!

New glasses, the extended family, and a delicious Steak and Kidney Pie

Hello my darlings!

Did you have a good - nay, LOVELY long weekend? I did. I rushed most of the time but managed to get some serious luxuriating in on Monday morning. Also on Monday, I made the black cotton lycra skirt that I intended to make before I began the Six Items or Less Challenge. As promised (in an effort to make myself feel better about my flakiness), I swapped out the woollen place-holder skirt for the Lycra one, but I had  tweaked the pattern so much when I made it with the cotton Lycra so it wasn't as much of a fair swap as I'd earlier imagined. On the other hand - NEVER MIND. This is my arbitrarily imposed challenge and I can do what I like! (I can do what I like in my own house!)

And other than that, SIOL had been going really well. I've become very fond of having a kind of uniform, and having hardly any clothing to choose from saved my neck on Sunday when I only had fifteen minutes to get ready for a family lunch at Shannon's Dad's house. If I had had to make a decision there would have been no way that I could get dressed so quickly - however, because I had only two things left that were clean I just grabbed and ran.

The topic of arbitrarily imposed challenges brings me to - the delicious Steak and Kidney Pie that I made on Saturday night. It was my last week's challenge (from the list of Fifty-Two) to make something delicious with kidneys or liver but the week seemed to hurtle past and it was Saturday before I'd had a chance to do it - 24 hours after the self imposed end of the challenge! I still count it though, because I'm like that. Did I mention how delicious the pie was? It was AMAZING. I am fully planning to make it again, because there were too many people around to fully gorge myself.

The recipe was a mash up of the Edmonds cook book recipe and a recipe for Steak and Kidney Pudding in a book called (imaginatively) Beef, so I feel totally entitled to share the love around.

crazy delicious steak and kidney pudding that will make your skirt fly up


Filling:
800g - 1kg steak and kidney (which I bought combined, from the butcher)
2 tbsps oil
2 onions
4 sticks of celery
1 tbsp plain flour
1 cup stock
400g can tinned tomatoes
bunch parsley
3 stalky twiggy bits of sage (our plant looked really sad so I just grabbed whatever I could)
salt
pepper
Soooo... heat up the oil in the pan and quickly cook the steak and kidney so it's sealed on the outside. Remove the meaty bits with a slotted spoon, throw in the onions and celery, and cook the lot until the onions are clear. Stir in the flour and cook for 30 seconds (I'm timing you). Gradually add the stock, stirring constantly, and bring the pan to a boil. Return your meaty bits to their happy home. Add the can of tomatoes and the herbs. Cover the pan and simmer for an hour (probably longer - closer to two?) until the meat is cooked. It's best to try a bit of steak in order to make absolutely sure that the meat is cooked through. Badly cooked cheap cuts suck the most. Also, you'll want to check the seasonings at this point, so it's imperative you try it, really. Then try it again because it's too delicious for words.

Pastry (adapted from a basic lard pastry recipe):
200g butter, at room temperature
400g self-raising flour (or 400g plain flour with three tsps of baking powder)
1 pinch salt
180ml cold water
Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and mix to a dough, then rest for 20 minutes.

Assembling (the business end of the pie):
Roll out the pastry 1cm thick, and line a 30cm pie plate. Carefully scoop out the meaty bits from the filling and put the meat and vegetables into the bottom of the pie case (you might want to fish out the bits of sage stalk though). Carefully spoon over 1/4 - 1/3 cup of the liquid the filling was cooked in. Roll out the pastry lid until about 2cm thick and put over the top of the pie; pinch the edges of the base and the lid together. Make a wee hole to let the steam out and brush the top with a mixture of an egg yolk and a tablespoon of water. Bake in the oven until the pastry is golden (about 40 minutes). You'll probably want to let it set for a bit before you cut in.

Serve in enormous delicious slabs with the reheated cooking liquid. Amaze and astound your friends and family.

 

Which brings me to: the topic of my extended family, as they were the people who were eating my pie! My Uncle Terry and Aunt Sue came over from the UK to visit my cousin Michael who now lives in Auckland, and they all came down to Wellington to visit us (the NZ branch of the fams). This was the first time I'd seen them since I was tiny. Dad and my littlest brother Luke joined us for dinner, and then Michael went out to Bea and Chap's goodbye party with Shannon and Jo and me. Apparently he fell off the bed the next morning due to hungoverness. Lightweight? Or having two tiny children?

The new glasses that I have been 100x excited about have finally arrived. I am wearing my favourites right now but I'm also getting that weird thing you get from new prescriptions where you a bit ill as your eyes adjust. Also, when I'm walking around my legs feel all long and stretchy which is a bit weird, and when I rode my bike home I felt like the tallest bicycle rider in the world. WOOOOOOOOO.

Here are the glasses, in all their many splendoured glory. And no, I can't keep my mouth shut. Why do you ask?

A Lady of Leisure Speaks

via tweexcore

Hello my lovelies,

I'm writing this on DAY FOUR of my Lady of Leisure week (I'm including the weekends, doncha know). Life's been pretty quiet. I've been luxuriating in my surfeit of time by mostly reading. I've just finished a book about Natalie Clifford Barney that was quite fantastic. Yay for that book! Also I am going to see Harry Potter tonight which is super exciting. And (my) Natalie and I are having Mexican food before hand. YUM!

I'm quite stoked with my look today. I think it's quite Katherine Mansfield-esque, mostly due to the waist on this frock and the enormous shawl collared hand-knit cardigan that I'm wearing over the top. Oh, and also this brand new bob that I'm sporting.

Which brings me to - OMG I got my hair cut for the first time in forevs and it was SO incredibly stressful. The woman who was cutting my hair did not understand the following concepts: blunt, severe, cut into the back, side fringe. I feel this hair cut is a compromise (it's textured, gag). It's also the first hair cut I've had done professionally in something like four years and suffice to say I'm NOT STOKED. Shall Not Trade With Again. For serious, I came home and had a little anxiety release blub because the process of sitting there and having my hair cut into something I didn't want was crazy stressful. I need to find a good hairdresser if I'm going to commit to the whole concept of "having a hair style". Wellingtonians: HELP ME.

Must fly, HP calls.

Love love

What is Ginger hiding in her bag?

If you've been following me on Twitter then you'll know that all week I've been obsessing about my new bag. This is my FIRST EVER GROWN UP BAG (that is: one that hasn't been found in the op shop and is beautiful and not made of PU or canvas). For serious, it is some kind of gorgeous. I tried taking photographs of it but they were pretty naff, so here is the one from the Saben website so you can see it in all it's glory - is it not actually amazingly beautiful? Observe the stunning clasp, the way the leather falls in folds. I'm having a bad romance with this lovely.

Anyways enough of my borderline bag pron. I thought that this was the best opportunity I've ever had to do a post about what's in my bag. It is For Serious one of my favourite blog genres. Is there a website dedicated to what is in people's bags? If there is, I want to see it. If there isn't, I want to know why.  I love reading about what other people have hidden away in their (admittedly, inferior) handbags.
This is what I have in mine:

1. My lovely Filofax with vintage felt transfer. I love this bad boy so much, and may I comment on how my life has changed for the better? I am way more organised. 

 
2. Maiden Voyage eelskin wallet. This feels amazing, and is the perfect size for all my bits and pieces. I upgraded two weeks ago from a big lumpy leather clutch I have had for about five years. It's so satisfying being able to find anything. This photo doesn't show it very well, but the wallet is a gorgeous shade of turquoise green - green being, apparently, the most auspicious wallet colour. 

3. This is my sunglass case. It only occurred to me after taking the photograph that I should have taken the sunglasses out. They're rip off Ray Bans with a plastic mother of pearl trim; Shan brought them back from India. This is me wearing them in the kitchen (the poster is in the kitchen).

4. Asthma inhaler

5. Lip balm (Blistex Silk & Shine) and a pink lipstick that snuck in to my old bag a couple of weeks ago and managed to get transferred over.

6. My phone (Nokia E63). It's sitting on a little felt case that I made for it.

7. Snack box with Tamari almonds.

8. Minimalised keys and bottle opener for picnic beer emergencies.

9. Pill box containing Kava herbal supplements - or, as I like to call it, "herbal Valium". Good for my inevitable anxiety days.

10. iPod and ear buds, also sitting on a felt case that I made for it (and that is falling apart due to overuse!)

Notable absences: water bottle and a paper back in it's knitted cover. Also, did you note the lack of a halfway acceptable photograph? My photography really is execrable. 

The Great Knicker-Making Mission, Part the Second (big girl knickers are mine)

I've successfully made BIG GIRL KNICKERS. It's taken me about fifteen pairs to get it justright, butI have learnt oodles about sewing in the process. Namely, I have learnt: patience, elastic sewing techniques, how to use my overlocker and basic pattern making. I feel pretty damn pleased with myself all in all (smuggy smug smug).

I've tried out a bunch of different fabrics and elastics during the sewing process, and I think I've finally found the perfect combination: t-shirt fabric for the main body of the pants, as it holds it's shape best, and lacy lingerie elastic trim for the legs and waist which looks tidier, is much easier to sew, and is generally more comfortable than the thin white knicker elastic.

The pattern that has been the most useful to me is the Cheeky Panties pattern on Burda Style (= free). The first time I used the pattern the pants turned out far too small (they were about the size of one of my thighs. I "tried them on" in front of Shan. He laughed a lot). The epic failure of this first pair was, I think, a combination of an existing sizing issue and the fact that the pattern was printed out smaller than it should have been. On my second attempt I blew up the pattern as best I could on my computer at home. This pair was better fitting but cut across my butt very strangely - as in, my butt was threatening to slide out, while the pants slid up.

No.good. I adjusted the pattern so that it sat more flatteringly and more comfortably across the butt cheeks, and divided the main pattern piece (originally one long piece to be cut on the fold) into two pieces - a front and back. This allows the pattern to be fitted on to t-shirts. Having accomplished all this, I made another two pairs, one of which is the pair below. On this pair I found that that the fabric was a bit too soft and stretchy to work with, and the elastic was all wrong (it stretched out the waistband of the pants). The other pair were pretty damn good though, despite being a little higher than I'd like. I was stoked.

The not-so-good ones

After all that missioning I was struck with a severe case of knicker-exhaustion and so I put the whole lot aside until this weekend - I think about a three week hiatus in all. However, I WAS GOING TO SUCCEED. I am, after all, a CRAZY OBSESSED KNICKER LADY.

The first pair I made this weekend totally highlighted the existing issues with the pattern, issues that I'm pretty sure have been caused by the "blowing up" process. Firstly, pants were too high (not very flattering) and the gusset was far too wide and pouchy, which gave the impression that I was (ahem) missing an appendage. Thus, they were not only comfy Big-Girl undies and inherently unsexy with that, but also wildly unsexy through their bizarre crotchy-largeness. And although I wholeheartedly recommend the wearing of comfy panties, I do have something of a reputation to uphold as a sex kitten, thus:

No indeed. There was TOO MUCH big girl undies going on for my liking.

So after much tweaking (removing two centimetres here and adding a centimetre there) and reading of my overlocker manual (finally! amaze!), I finally succeeded in making The Perfect Undies. They are comfy, not overly sexy perhaps, but certainly I feel as though the pattern is (finally) finalised. Which brings me to a conclusion: Underwear Making is not a Science. It's mostly trial and error, and in my case, mostly error.

My finished products! Very lurid.

Some HOTT underwear making tips for you:

1. The best way to sew on the elastic lace is to stretch the elastic while overlocking the lace to the edge of the fabric. Sew right side facing right side (i.e. the right side of the lace faces the right side of the underwear fabric). Then flip the lace upwards and sew the seam in place: this is me attempting to take a picture of this final step (sewing the overlocked edge to the inside of the knickers).

2. The best time to sew on the elastic is while the undies are still unseamed at the sides - that is, while they're laying flat. There is a good demonstration of what I'm trying to explain here on this underwear tutorial. I saw it, didn't think that much about it, and have only just discovered that it's by far the best way to apply elastic.

3. Patience is a virtue. Remember: you will always win against the machine, because you know how to love. However, you will win even more if the knickers look like something you might actually want to put near your butt.

4. Your boyfriend/girlfriend may not be as enthusiastic (ahem) as you are about wearing their old t-shirts around your lady parts.

ANYWAYS: I am planning to Start Again, and see if I can also make some wearable sexy undies. I had a go at making the string undies outlined in these two blogs, but ended up making the knickers faaaar too small. I threw them out before I took a photo because I was kind of embarrassed. I'll upsize the pattern this weekend and try again I think.

In other Sexy Homemade Knicker News, I had a look around for French knicker patterns again. I love the idea of wearing French knickers under my skirts all summer long - sexy and practical - so I am absolutely.determined to make myself (at least) A Pair.

Dudes, half the fun in this business is getting the pattern justright. I love the feeling of accomplishment!

Summer Style Direction: in which Ginger takes stock of her "Look"

Hello hello my darlings!

This kind of thing has not particularly enthused me in the past as a blogging topic, but I've adored Alexandra Franzen's take on the whole thing so much (as in: also with concepts) that I was INSPIRED.

My direction then is

A Summer of Genteel Poverty

Inspiration:  The books I Capture the Castle and Greengage Summer, the film version of Sense and Sensibility (the colours, the sunshine and Kate Winslet) and the 1997 film version of Lolita (the colours and this spaced-out dream-feeling you get when watching).

I imagine: vaguely 1930s/40s/50s style skirts and dresses, Liberty print cottons, rose pink, navy blue, fawn-coloured cable cardigans and peach-coloured hair, and general thriftiness.

I'll be making: everything. I'm going to knit myself a fawn That Girl cardigan, and will make a bunch of cotton skirts and tunic-style tops. I also like the idea of making myself a dress from some pretty pillow cases, something like this (mmm, rick rack):

Also: bicycles, picnics in the countryside, pink champagne, Pimms, Shandies, not overspending, making my own pickles and preserves and bread, gardening, clean-smelling and well worn linens. Oh, and SUNSHINE. Did I mention sunshine?

Wednesday list: ten MORE things in 2010, part the second

Update! It's the first of the month, which means that I am reassessing my list of things I want to achieve before the end of the year.

I think the second list has been more successful than the first, the decision to list only finite things is working for me. Also, it helps that I am on a super self-control binge at the moment. (Can one binge on self-control? I'm giving it a whirl).

So, updates!

1. Spend two hours a week putting the photos back into the SCP blog archive, and otherwise generally tidy up the archive so it looks more consistent. It's super hard to be enthusiastic about finding and uploading the missing images, because it's quite tedious and rather a chore, but I'm slowly getting there. I've also decided to make my blog headings more consistent; that is, no more dashes, only colons.

2. Make my bed everyday. Because I spend so much time in S's bed this doesn't seem to be that much of a problem and has been a lot easier to keep on top of than I first thought. I can only think of one time where I've really lapsed in this over the last month or so, and I guess the answer is just to get back on to it again as soon as I can.

Having a well made bed makes walking into my bedroom so much nicer and less cluttery. J'adore.

3. Have at least one "Buy Nothing Day" a week. I've been awesome at this, I'm super proud - in fact, this weekend I was spend free entirely. How cool is that!

4. Pay back $4000 of my credit card. I'm just short of paying back $1000 at the moment, because of STUPID CRAPPY BANK FEES THAT ATE MY MONEY. Credit cards suck so much and I hate them.

Anyway, for your delectation, here is le Debte Unicorne. Two different colours! This can only mean one thing: I am uber successful.

5. Take part in the Six Items or Less Challenge. I've been looking for updates on this and it looks as though the start date has been pushed back to late September. This is all good, at least the weather will be a bit warmer and it'll open up my wardrobe opportunities a bit. I have already decided on my six items, and I'm thinking of trialling the Challenge during my trip to Christchurch. I love the idea of only having hand luggage on the plane.

6. Spend a month identifying and wearing clothes I never wear, and decide whether they're keepers or biffers. I've been doing this vaguely over the last month, and I've decided to make it an ongoing project (so: to be finished at the end of the year). So far I've worn my leather jacket (not sure), my grey knitted chain scarf (love), my tutu (I think this is actually really unflattering on me and I'm going to get rid of it), my velvet puff sleeved jacket (unsure) and a polka dot skirt I made forever ago. I have big plans to declutter my wardrobe this weekend, and I will get rid of anything I'm really unsure about.

So many unflattering photos. Also, who knew I wore so much red and grey?
(L-R) Tutu (under skirt), grey knitted chain scarf, polka dot skirt.

7. Either use the hula hoop or get rid of it. I feel exceptionally pleased with myself because I've finally listed the hula hoop on Trade Me. You can see it here. (ETA: this is now sold. YAY.)

8. Clean and maintain my crafty machines. I've cleaned my sewing machine and the difference is amazing. It's so so much easier to sew with and it's working really well. Also, oiling and wiping down my spinning wheel has made a big difference to the way that it's working. I'm crafting to a deadline at the moment (Shannon's birthday) so I haven't had a chance to use if for a while.

9. Get rid of the knitting machine and table in the garage. I've committed to give this to a girl I used to skate with when she arrives back in Wellington in November. I'd rather that it goes to someone who really wants it so I'm happy to leave it in the garage until she gets back. It's a weight off my mind knowing that it has a future.

10. Eat my food more slowly. This is so hard and I must concentrate on this more. Sometimes I get so hungry, find myself thinking CHEESE MUST EAT ALL THE CHEESE NOW MMM CHEESY CHEESY, and realise I've eaten most of my toasted sandwich without breathing.

1a. Make a budget and stick to it. I'm stoked with myself! Still going strong with the way of the budget, although some non-necessary shopping urges are sneaking back in again. I'm re-establishing the List of Want and I'm going be more committed to it. I'm also going to start writing down what I'm spending my money on. I think this two pronged attack will work really well.

2a. Unclutter my life and maintain a clutterless environment. I had yet another declutter of my books this weekend, and I also had a good go at CDs and my old organisers. Things are looking better! My next plan is to clear through my papers, scan what needs to be saved and chuck what doesn't.

I have a new decluttering system too - I read it on one of my new favourite blogs, Miss Minimalist. The idea is that the best way to declutter is not by going through a shelf and picking off what you don't want, but rather pulling everything off the shelf and just putting back what you do want. This has worked well with my books, and I can't wait to have another go and getting rid of some of my clothes. The difference in decluttering when using this technique is massive.

Moments of Sunshiney Inspiration

Sunshine, I think, is my other boyfriend. On Monday I went for a long walk in the sun, and I felt enthused and inspired for the first time in ages. It was a wonderful feeling.

What did I feel inspired about? Mostly I felt inspired about my summer wardrobe. The sunshine made me think sunshiney things about dressing in pretty dresses and cardigans. Big plans for the summer wardrobe now include sewing some tunic-style tee shirts (I'm going to cut them off a bunch of 80s tee shirts I picked up in various op shops) and knitting a "That Girl" cardigan in black sparkly cotton. Also, I'd like to sew some more super Ultra Minis in weave (as oppose to stretch-knit) fabrics.

I made a lovely blouse in the weekend from some op shop voile and some vintage crochet lace I've had forever. I'm planning to make another with some linen voile floral fabric that's in my now overflowing stash container at home, but before I can start I'll need more lace trim. Such a hardship shopping for lace trim.

Two things I am undecided about: sheer stockings and clogs. To clarify: I've kind of developed a crush on the idea of clogs, but I'm not sure where the crush came from and if it's misguided. Bex has already shared her opinion (which is, succinctly: "No") but my mind keeps wandering back... specifically I am interested in these clogs via Trade Me. I think I'd like a red and a brown pair. What do you think - am I seriously misguided here? I need help.

Also: the sheer stockings. What do we think of white sheer stockings? With shorts? And boots, but probably NOT the clogs. Probably.

I've never been inside the caravan store called The Princess's Bedroom, but I was stoked to see that there is a cute little food caravan that's opened up next door. I think I shall head there for a sausage sizzle sometime soon.

I also like the Kreuzberg Summer Cafe, which is at the other end of Cuba Street. Roll on summer, and eating outside in front of cute little temporary stores!

On Sunday night I had a conversation with my flatmate where I offered Sensible Advice about money (specifically - about using a credit card to pay for travel). I am notoriously much better at giving advice than I am at taking it, so I'm trying to do a better job of listening to myself when I'm telling other people what to do with their lives.

I am proud of a couple of things I said. The first was "If you are prepared to get yourself in debt and spend years paying it off, then you should also be prepared to save the same amount of money". The second was "If you have to get yourself in debt to do it then it's not really an opportunity."

I am ready to follow both of those pieces of advice, and Oh So Ready to be debt free.

Last bit: I am getting myself a Filofax. This is a direct result of reading two other blogger's peans to their Filofaxes and my slight exasperation with my poorly chosen diary for this year. My flatmate's response was "Will you get some shoulder pads to go with it?" but I laugh (ha! ha!) because I have big plans to use some blue check Swandri fabric and a cute 70s felt transfer that Liz gave me years ago to give the Filofax some serious pizzaz.  I'm also quite in love with the idea of my increasingly epic organisation.

The Great Knicker-Making Mission, Part the First

I want to make my own knickers. It's like, an obsession. I can't tell you when exactly the urge to make knickers began, but I began sewing mid-July-ish. This is a little journal of what I've done so far. I'm strangely enjoying myself in this project, despite the amount of frustrations I've had so far, and I have big plans for redrafting patterns and trying other patterns and even *gasp* shopping for patterns. I am determined to make my own knickers. DAMN IT.

Tee Shirt Knickers - Mark I

My first attempt was making knickers out of tee-shirt fabric. Mixed results with this one, mostly a result of my iffy elastic sewing skills, and my lack of experience in drafting. I can make casings and thread knicker elastic through without any problems, but sewing on pretty lacy knicker elastic has been a dreadful mess. Thus:

I felt a little disappointed after these initial attempts and put everything aside for a few weeks. A lot later, I dug out a bunch of half finished tee-shirt knickers and took the advice on The Zen of Making; sewing elastic around the top opening only and leaving the legs holes merely overlocked. Better, but again my poor elastic sewing skills let me down. This particular attempt made some undies that are a wee bit big around the top. I shall unpick the elastic and sew some more on. Perhaps, in future, I will measure myself first? It's crazy, but it just might work.

I'm not yet done with this concept. I think the pattern needs more work, but.

French Knickers - Mark I

Weeks after the tiny crabbed knickers disaster, I spent an entire weekend working on The Perfect Pair of French Knickers. My drafting abilities seem to have improved since the original Tee Shirt Knicker attempt, so that's a blessing. Unfortunately, the patterns I've been working from are vintage patterns cadged from an infrequently kept website called Frilly Bits and I was kind of working in the dark when I was making my first pair. Pour example: the first pair I drafted had allowance for a placket, yet I had no idea what a placket was until I looked it up on Wikipedia. I kind of just bunged something in to make the placket worthwhile. The something I bunged in isn't awesome.

After making my first pair of French knickers I decided they while the pattern was pretty cool, the knickers weren't particularly practical (given the height of jeans etc). I tried drafting another pattern for a lower slung pair and almost cut myself in half!  So, back to the drawing board on this one. I think I'll try the other pattern referred to on the site and see how that works out.

Knitted Knickers - Mark the Only. I SWEAR.

The same weekend I started sewing I also began knitting some lacy French knickers but after knitting laboriously for three or four days I discovered that my lace knitting skillz haven't yet reached the heights needed to make these bad boys. So. NO TO KNITTED KNICKERS, unless, I suppose, my butt is really cold next year and I find a really good pattern that doesn't involve me losing my mind over complicated lace panels.

I'm having some serious fun with this, and I'm determined to get this right. The sewing machine/construction of garments will NOT get the better of me. I have not yet begun to show what I am capable of making.

There will be more, completed and epically awesome.

Or. There Will Be Blood.

Here is a list of underwear making references for yooooooooooou.

The Zen of Making (tee shirt undies)

Rachel, on Instructables (drafting your own pattern)

Belle and Burger (my original inspiration - tee shirt undies)

Supernaturale (which I've used most often - tee shirt undies)

Marmadaisy (string knickers)

One Hour Craft (smaller string knickers)

French Knickers (guide to a draft - with the mysterious "placket)

Haslam French Knickers (scanned instructions for drafting on Flickr, here and here)

Also, I've just found this list of patterns on Whip Up (some of which I've already listed).