There have always been shifts in how I use this blog. When I started it I wanted to be part of a community of knitting bloggers. It was soon obvious that I wasn’t going to get the visitor numbers my favourite bloggers enjoyed, so I decided the blog would be a record of my creative projects. After a few years it changed from a knitting blog to an anything crafty blog. Later, when I got rid of my art website, I made a little gallery of art pics in the menus, which allowed me to show them to people on my phone.
I’m amazed that I’m still here nineteen years later. So many blogs have disappeared. I signed up to two blog aggregate apps to help me follow other blogs only to have them expire. I’ve signed up to various social media and whenever they turned bad or fizzed out I’ve always thought: “at least I have the blog”.
However, in recent years I’m finding the shine has slowly worn off blogging. For as start, I’m crafting less now that art is my main pastime. Then there’s the general enshittification of the internet, from unreliable email to AI data scraping that just make the online world a source of risk and frustration. I’ve been reducing and simplifying my online presence for a while, and that had to lead to me contemplating closing down creativefidget.com eventually.
There are some aspects of blogging that I won’t miss. Like the pressure to constantly make stuff worth blogging about. Like paying for a domain name and an ISP to host it.
I can keep a project logbook without having it public. I can keep a diary, if the urge to write regularly remains. I don’t need to have pictures of my art here when I can store them on my phone anyway.
The title of this post started as a question. As often happens, writing is the path to discovering the answer.
My attempt to arrange another sewing weekend failed, but I did get half a day in. That was enough to try a new pattern. Well, an old pattern but new to me.
It only went up to size 12, so I traced it and extrapolated the size enlargement for 16, thinking that would be plenty. I was going to do a test version but with time short and expecting it to be a bit big I decided not to. The fabric was rayon offcuts from an op shop anyway so no big deal if it failed. Well, the seam allowance was 15mm, and when I tried it on I was surprised to find it a bit small. There are no bust darts and by the picture it’s clearly meant to be loose-fitting. To get a bit more drape I moved the side seams, sleeve seams and arm seams out by about 5mm, which seemed to work.
Overall, I’m not delighted with it. It sits oddly. There is something strange about the arm-to-front seam (which you can’t see here because the mannequin has no arms). A bit like when you try on pants and the crotch just looks wrong. Maybe it’s because the pattern is from the 80s and there’s supposed to be shoulder pads. Maybe because I’m not used to wearing this kind of top. Maybe I’m the wrong body shape for it.
But I’m glad I tried it. It’s all practise. Not every sewing project is going to result in a garment I love.
Halfway through Summer, I’ve noticed that I’m wearing light pants more often than skirts, and that one of my favourite pairs is probably nearing the end of its life. Anticipating replacing it, I liked the idea of making the Style Arc Loddon pants again, but in a lighter neutral-coloured striped cotton fabric.
So when a friend and I did our usual check of the discard room at IKEA, a single bed sheet set caught my eye. It was wonderfully soft as well as meeting all my other requirements, and was on sale for just $14:50. The fact that I had a well-worn item of clothing in my wardrobe that it would replace overcame my determination to not buy more material. (Ok, there was also a white single bed linen sheet set for $49, which I failed at resisting buying, but who can pass up a fabric bargain that good?)
It being an item I’d wear right now, and feeling a bit guilty about adding to the stash, I decided that if I finished the I Heart My Sandhill Sling on Saturday, I would make the pants on Sunday.
And so I did.
Funny thing about stripes… I can never quite anticipate how they’ll look when sewn up. Thankfully, these look fine. I’d have preferred not to have the orangey lines between the stripe sections of blue and brown, but I don’t dislike them. Pattern matching wasn’t too hard because there was so much fabric. However, I recalled how fiddly the waistband was and made my life SO much easier by cutting the fabric along the stripes instead of across them. (I wear tops over pants these days so it wouldn’t be seen anyway.)
While I have enough fabric left to make another pair, what appeals more is a top of some kind. Maybe a long-sleeved shirt. I don’t have many of those. But there are other things I’d like to make first, and it might be a few weeks before I have time to sew giving me plenty of time to change my mind.
Back in 2010 I bought a bag at Supanova featuring an anatomical heart, from a new shop called Jubly Umph. I loved that bag, and made the fatal mistake of only using it for special occasions, because after a decade or so the main fabric disintegrated. Sad to be throwing it away, I cut out the heart design and lining in the hopes of reusing them in something.
Fourteen years later, while looking through old bits of salvaged bags, I found the heart scrap and lining (including inner pockets) and realised both were just the right size to use in another Sandhill Sling. I also had a salvaged double ended bag zip and matching pocket zip, and a red velvet knitting bag that I’d been looking for a new use for, and some black destash denim.
So last weekend I got snipping, ironing, cutting and sewing and came up with this:
Which I am totally in love with. The cat-themed version is still high in my affections and a more practical colour for day use, but this one came together faster (thanks to practice and the lining having the original inner pockets), looks fabulous and feels so luxurious.
And totally justifies me hoarding old bits and pieces in case they come in handy one day.
I bought this pattern by Noodlehead in early December as a treat for myself, after having wanted it for probably a few years now. International postage isn’t kind these days, but I figured that if I was still keen after all this time it wasn’t a passing fad. Also, I had a bag made from the same pattern, and while I liked it the colour (red) didn’t match the majority of my clothing).
Whereas this cat themed canvas with a black background definitely would.
Christmas and New Year distracted me for a while, but last weekend I finally got around to making it. It took me about a day to sew: an hour or two cutting the pieces out on Saturday, then from morning tea to late afternoon sewing it up.
I could have bought the pdf, but I needed to get the webbing, zippers and hardware anyway so I bought the paper version. There’s a series of ‘sew-along’ tutorial videos that are packed with extra tips and tricks, that made following the instructions easier.
There were two other fabrics in my stash that I was considering using. I have webbing, zippers and hardware for two more bags, but I don’t really need four sling bags. However, I would like a hip bag. The classic crescent bum bag has always bugged me because it’s not a great shape for stowing the sort of things I want to carry in it, so I’m thinking I might adapt the Sandhill Sling by cropping away the bottom half to make a smaller bag, or turning the bag 90º, and attaching the strap to the top corner of each side instead.
I’ve also located some lining I saved from a couple of handbags that fell apart, which already comes with zippers and pockets attached. Stash busting and recycling combined.
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning Margareta Magnusson We Dream Of Gods Devin Madson Memories Legion S A Corey Until the Coffee Gets Cold Toshikazu Kawaguchi Beneath the Floating City Donna Maree Hanson Secret review read The Safe Place Anna Downes The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne Jonathan Stroud The Notorious Scarlett and Browne Jonathan Stroud Red River Road Anna Downes The Bone Shard Emperor Andrea Stewart Gideon the Ninth Tamsyn Muir The Masquerades of Spring Ben Aaronovich Lotas Blue Cat Sparks The Shortest History of Japan Lesley Downer
Sixteen books, of which two were non-fiction and two were short story collections. I was hoping to reach twenty or more, but there were some long stretches where I just didn’t feel like reading. Favourite reads were the Jonathan Stroud books, The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne and The Notorious Scarlett and Browne, which were adventurous romps with heart. The Anna Downes books were a welcome diversion from my usual speculative fiction reading, and The Shortest History of Japan was the perfect non-fiction book to have on my phone for waiting rooms, etc.
My motto for the year was “Make it Easier”. It seemed like half of what I did to make life easier was hard work. We should reap the benefits in the future, though. And it was a good habit to stop and think: “will this make life easier?” or “is there an easier way?” when faced with a task, rather than my usual habit of sprinting down a path without considering my limits.
January
The second month of the Summer of Quilts, in which I attempted to use up all the strips of flannelette I cut to weave floor rugs out of four years ago by sewing quilts. It was like a madness came over me.
It wasn’t all quilting, though. A return to crocheting in the previous year led to me making the Granny Square Jumper from stash and (of course) yarn I purchased in order to complete it. I love it and was wearing it as I typed the early version of this post.
February
Though I’d decided this quilting obsession had to stop at the end of summer, I knew that I couldn’t possibly get all the quilts done, so I prioritised finishing the tops. Binding and topstitching would have to happen later, maybe one quilt a month. For that reason, I have no finished projects to show for February even though there was feverish making of quilt tops.
March
The Blue Quilt, which was the hardest and biggest, was finished.
And the Purple Quilt.
And then I got around to doing what I’d intended to do when the quilting thing started: sewing clothes. First, the Cascade Skirt.
April
Then lots of knits.
May
Then the Colour-Blocked Corduroy Jacket.
And crocheting continued with the Gradient Slouchy Hat
June
No projects were finished in June, because I was reorganising three and a half rooms of our house in order to reinstate the guest room and divide my hobbies into a room for textiles and a room for art. And was THAT a project. Utterly exhausting, but worth it.
July
But in July I finished three quilts First the Rainbow Cat Quilt.
Then the Art Quilt.
And finally the last quilt, the Cats In Squares Quilt.
I was introduced to slow stitching.
And I wove off the dishcloths on the Jane.
August
Another month of no finished projects, but I did start two big slow stitch ones. Slow means longer gaps between finished objects, which is probably why I bought some kits at the Craft & Quilt Show and was suddenly very inspired by small project tutorials online.
September
I hand stitched a cute pentagon bag.
And made fabric birds.
And made a triangle bag.
I made microwave bowl cosies.
And a pencil case.
By then I’d finished one of the big projects: a kawandi made from old men’s shirts.
October
I sewed some pinstripe pants.
And a harvest apron/bag from cotton canvas scraps.
November
I made (or covered) some sewing tools.
And I made a shirt from some very old organic cotton remnants.
December
When a friend wanted the Desperately Seeking Susan jacket I’d put together fifteen years before, I decided to attach the collar properly and fix up a few things on the back.
That inspired a new jacket transformation, the Moon Raven Jacket.
Also…
It was a year of quitting. First Instagram, after I couldn’t sign in to my Creative Fidget account any more, then Twitter, which I’d barely touched in years. I also stopped my Sketchbox subscription. It was fun for the year I had it, and I still enjoy using the mediums I discovered through it, but there are only so many kinds of art supplies and they were bound to start repeating themselves.
It was also the year I got hooked on YouTube, watching art, sewing and thrifting videos. At its best it’s informative and inspiring, at its worst it’s a distraction. I’d rather be making art or sewing, but both require a certain amount of alertness and energy, and sometimes I have neither. And now I remember that slow stitching was meant to be my ‘dull brain’ activity.
In the next year I plan to keep on making art, sewing and slow stitching. I’m sure there’ll be other creative rabbit holes to explore, or revisiting of familiar territories, but (to keep the analogy going) no I have no destination in mind and will dawdle along at whatever pace suits.
I’ve barely thought about what my motto for 2025 would be, or if I’d have one. Then today I remembered this weird little habit and got to thinking about how I might approach it. There are activities I used to do that I’d like to dip my toe into again, but there are reasons I haven’t done them in a while and I need to proceed carefully. At first combinations of ‘revive and restore’ and ‘review’ floated around, but they seemed too vague. Finally I came to the conclusion that I wanted to be two opposite things – brave and cautious – but those two words didn’t quite fit. A quick search of synonyms and I had the ones I needed.
So, what am I hoping to do? Firstly, tackle a few work projects. Secondly, go on our first overseas holiday in 9 years. Thirdly, try learning a language.
I have no big craft aims for 2025 other than to relax and enjoy making things. The WIP list is made up of mostly sewing projects, the To-Do list is long but the most immediate items on it are gifts. Some are projects I intended to make as Christmas presents, then realised I wasn’t going to get them done in time, so will be birthday presents instead.
As I said in the last post, the Desperately Seeking Susan jacket gave me a whole lot of ideas for embellishing other jackets. At first, I thought I would do an op shop search to find the jacket, but I really don’t need more jackets. Then I pondered whether any of my exisiting jackets would be suitable, and immediately I thought of this one:
It’s a vintage velvet jacket that I re-lined with beautiful blue damask satin several years ago, which I liked but wasn’t that excited about any more. Immediately I knew the main colour of the back embellishment needed to be blue, and I knew there were some large pieces of blue felt in my stash that used to be yarn bins. I’d sewn most of the DDS jacket pieces onto red felt, so I would do the same with the blue.
What imagery to use? I wrote a list of objects that interested me, and an astronomy theme emerged – a phases of the moon, telescopes, planets, etc. A strong image of a bird with wings spread also stuck in my mind, with batting behind to give it body. Framing everything would be a, well, frame. A quilted gold frame.
I let the ideas sit for a bit, to resolved into something I could see in my mind’s eye. In the meantime, I began gathering fabric, buying some shiny gold satin, then spotting some stretchy iridescent silver stretch dance fabric – which hopefully wouldn’t fray – for the moons. Looking through old fabrics to repurpose, I pulled out a black and silver bustier I’d made in my teens with a pattern that suggested feathers.
I sketched out the design, then got to work. Most of the piece came together over a week or so. The latin phrase was tricky – the internet is both helpful and unhelpful because it suggests a whole lot of phrases but then you find the forums where people discuss latin translations and it turns out everything is wrong and nobody can agree on the proper translation of anything.
However, the probably wrong internet translation of “to the moon and back” fits really neatly on the ribbon shape I’d cut, so I figured I’d just go with that and if any latin experts ever point out it’s wrong I’ll say it’s fake latin.
Once the panel was done I pinned it to the jacket, took photos and shared it with friends. And kept putting off sewing it onto the jacket. Initially because all the hand sewing parts had given me a very sore back. But also because hand sewing felt to velvet without catching the lining was probably not going to be much fun. And it wasn’t, when I finally got around to it. A couple of sewing YouTube videos got me through, and then it was done.
Unfortunately, it is waaaay too hot in Melbourne to be wearing this, even indoors. In the meantime, I have it hanging up where I can admire it.
I would like to add more to it. Something like telescopes and other tools of astronomy overlapping the gold frame. But I don’t intend to embroider them. If I find a nice print fabric featuring them, I might appliqué them on.
Back when I did my Spring wardrobe cull, I included my costumes. I used to have an entire wardrobe’s worth of them, many hand made, but I’ve grown out and culled most of them. In my most recent cull I finally had to acknowledge that I was never going to fit into the Desperately Seeking Susan costume I put together for my 40th birthday.
But what to do with it? On a whim, I posted a picture on FB. A friend immediately asked it she could have it. I was delighted, but also embarrassed. You see, I’d forgotten how impermanent the adaption had been. The text was written with pen and I’d taken a jacket with no collar and tacked one on very loosely over the top in a way that didn’t even distantly resemble real clothing. Yet at the same time, I realised that I now had the skills to attach the collar properly. So when I next saw my friend, I got her to try it on to make sure I wasn’t wasting the effort, and I admit I was excited when it did because I really did want to fix it.
So I got to work – taking off the collar, adding some interfacing, reshaping the neckline and attaching the collar properly. It’s not perfect, but it’s a whole lot better than it was.
When I made it, I had only a very low resolution photo of the design on back to go from. Since then the original jacket has sold at auction there’s now a good photo of it online. I was amused to see that the text on the ribbon had been written with pen (and had blurred with time) just as I had done, so I left that as it was. The text on the pyramid was stitched as part of the quilting, and there was nothing I could do to match that. The writing I’d done had bled into the gold fabric. So I just embroidered over that and dabbed a bit of gold paint on in a few places.
The last big difference between the original and mine was the eye at the top of the pyramid. It had been very obscured in the original reference. I could now see both the design and what it was made from, and decided to completely remake it. I didn’t have any of the gold fabric any more, but I’d bought some for another project inspired by the DDS jacket, so I used that. I also didn’t have any bugle beads like those used for the radiating lines, but I did have the gold embroidery thread I’d used for the chain around the ribbon.
This was never going to be a close duplicate because the original jacket is made a gold and black fabric and the shape isn’t the same, but I’m happy with the update. And I’ve been inspired by it, and a few other decorated jackets I’ve noticed in craft and thrifting videos, to embellish one of my jackets with something entirely my own design.
