• Yacht rockin’ New Year’s Eve

    Yacht rockin’ New Year’s Eve

    Happy 2024! We spent the evening at the Marrickville Bowlo with our friends Jody, Alayne, and Meredith watching Smooth Sailing ring in the new year with yacht rock classics of the 70s and 80s…

    Smooth Sailing band

    Of course, I had to make us special outfits for the occasion. I’ve been wanting to make Rodd a matching short set for some time (inspired by Taika Waititi’s pineapples), and I happened to have the perfect fabric in my stash (courtesy of my mother): Robert Kaufman’s Seersucker Coastal Print with tiny pink flamingoes. For the shirt, I used my tried and tested Seamwork Negroni pattern, just straightening the side seams and grading out a size at the waistline for some extra roominess. For the shorts, I used the Trigg Shorts pattern and modified them to have a full lining (because the seersucker was a bit see-through). I used some plain white cotton to sew a version without any pockets, and then inserted that into the seersucker before joining on the waistband. Worked great!

    Rodd in his flaming short set

    For my outfit, I decided to go literal with the Charm Mariner Top. This was my first time sewing princess seams, so I wisely opted to make a muslin first with an old bedsheet. I’m glad I did, because the fit was Not Great. Turns out that Charm revised their sizing a few years back, and they have two separate ranges now: the old one from 2-20, and the new one from 18-34. I happen to fall in the overlap. My first muslin was using the new range, so I decided to try the old one for comparison. That second one was better, but still needed some tweaks. I ended up removing half an inch at the top of each shoulder, and half an inch in width at the underarm as well. Not gonna lie – it was a fiddly pattern and I felt clueless as I tried to figure out how to improve it. Happily, the end result more than justified all my efforts:

    Sailor Suit Kris

    The fabric for the top is a navy cotton piqué I got at the Fabric Store, and I LOVE it. It’s woven but had a lovely thickness and drape to it. For the collar, I used white cotton lawn (sandwiched with some interfacing). You’re meant to use ribbon for the decoration, but I realised I had some navy bias binding that would work perfectly. I simply folded it in half and then edge stitched two rows around the edge. Here’s a photo halfway through, when I realised it was going to look awesome…

    Decorating the collar

    The red knot tie is a piece of actual silk that we found in the remnant box for $10. It was quite sheer so I used a double layer of it. Once I knotted it, I sewed a safety pin onto the back so I could pin it to the shirt. That way I can take it off for laundering. I paired the top with a pair of navy shorts from Uniqlo.

    Aren’t we cute?!

    Selfie of me and Rodd


  • Photo Post

    Did I mention there was homemade tiramisu? (Yes, I know exactly how lucky I am.)

    Did I mention there was homemade tiramisu? (Yes, I know exactly how lucky I am.)


  • Photo Post

    Beers and watching the cricket… 🍻🏏

    Beers and watching the cricket… 🍻🏏


  • Photo Post

    We made Christmas Cubanos! Mojo Pork, ham Swiss cheese, mustard, homemade pickle. YUMMMMMMO. 🤤

    We made Christmas Cubanos! Mojo Pork, ham Swiss cheese, mustard, homemade pickle. YUMMMMMMO. 🤤


  • Photo Post

    Happy Boxing Day! 🍷🧀 (I saw the wine label and couldn’t resist…)

    Happy Boxing Day! 🍷🧀 (I saw the wine label and couldn’t resist…)


  • Photo Post

    Merry Christmas from Down Under! ❤️🍷🧀

    Merry Christmas from Down Under! ❤️🍷🧀


  • Photo Post

    Our nephew @kurt_sss is visiting for the holidays so we caught up for a very beautiful Christmas Eve brunch at @woodcutrestaurant. We even had a visit from Santa! ❤️🎅🥂 (Outfits: mine is a @made590 Vera in @riflepaperco fabric; Kurt’s is the @barbie Double-Breasted Suit from @zara.)

    Our nephew @kurt_sss is visiting for the holidays so we caught up for a very beautiful Christmas Eve brunch at @woodcutrestaurant. We even had a visit from Santa! ❤️🎅🥂 (Outfits: mine is a @made590 Vera in @riflepaperco fabric; Kurt’s is the @barbie Double-Breasted Suit from @zara.)

    Our nephew @kurt_sss is visiting for the holidays so we caught up for a very beautiful Christmas Eve brunch at @woodcutrestaurant. We even had a visit from Santa! ❤️🎅🥂 (Outfits: mine is a @made590 Vera in @riflepaperco fabric; Kurt’s is the @barbie Double-Breasted Suit from @zara.)

    Our nephew @kurt_sss is visiting for the holidays so we caught up for a very beautiful Christmas Eve brunch at @woodcutrestaurant. We even had a visit from Santa! ❤️🎅🥂 (Outfits: mine is a @made590 Vera in @riflepaperco fabric; Kurt’s is the @barbie Double-Breasted Suit from @zara.)

    Our nephew @kurt_sss is visiting for the holidays so we caught up for a very beautiful Christmas Eve brunch at @woodcutrestaurant. We even had a visit from Santa! ❤️🎅🥂 (Outfits: mine is a @made590 Vera in @riflepaperco fabric; Kurt’s is the @barbie Double-Breasted Suit from @zara.)

    Our nephew @kurt_sss is visiting for the holidays so we caught up for a very beautiful Christmas Eve brunch at @woodcutrestaurant. We even had a visit from Santa! ❤️🎅🥂 (Outfits: mine is a @made590 Vera in @riflepaperco fabric; Kurt’s is the @barbie Double-Breasted Suit from @zara.)

    Our nephew @kurt_sss is visiting for the holidays so we caught up for a very beautiful Christmas Eve brunch at @woodcutrestaurant. We even had a visit from Santa! ❤️🎅🥂 (Outfits: mine is a @made590 Vera in @riflepaperco fabric; Kurt’s is the @barbie Double-Breasted Suit from @zara.)

    Our nephew @kurt_sss is visiting for the holidays so we caught up for a very beautiful Christmas Eve brunch at @woodcutrestaurant. We even had a visit from Santa! ❤️🎅🥂 (Outfits: mine is a @made590 Vera in @riflepaperco fabric; Kurt’s is the @barbie Double-Breasted Suit from @zara.)

    Our nephew @kurt_sss is visiting for the holidays so we caught up for a very beautiful Christmas Eve brunch at @woodcutrestaurant. We even had a visit from Santa! ❤️🎅🥂 (Outfits: mine is a @made590 Vera in @riflepaperco fabric; Kurt’s is the @barbie Double-Breasted Suit from @zara.)


  • Photo Post

    Not only did the Purls of Wisdom win the final @philterbrewing pub trivia of the year, we took out the top spot in the annual rankings as well! Thanks @thevoiceofneil for being such a great trivia master. 🏆🍻

    Not only did the Purls of Wisdom win the final @philterbrewing pub trivia of the year, we took out the top spot in the annual rankings as well! Thanks @thevoiceofneil for being such a great trivia master. 🏆🍻

    Not only did the Purls of Wisdom win the final @philterbrewing pub trivia of the year, we took out the top spot in the annual rankings as well! Thanks @thevoiceofneil for being such a great trivia master. 🏆🍻


  • Photo Post

    Two vintage sewing machines means I’m officially a collector now, right? Fun trivia: while both machines date from the 1950’s, the blue Pinnock Sewmatic weighs more than 2x the cream Elna Supermatic! (19kg/41lb vs 8kg/17.5kb) By comparison, my fancy new Janome Skyline S5 weighs 10kg/22lb. 💪😅 #sewingmachine #vintage #retro #sewing

    (Note to self: no more teasing @darkosubotica about his retro computers. 😂)

    Two vintage sewing machines means I’m officially a collector now, right? Fun trivia: while both machines date from the 1950’s, the blue Pinnock Sewmatic weighs more than 2x the cream Elna Supermatic! (19kg/41lb vs 8kg/17.5kb) By comparison, my fancy new Janome Skyline S5 weighs 10kg/22lb. 💪😅 #sewingmachine #vintage #retro #sewing 

(Note to self: no more teasing @darkosubotica about his retro computers. 😂)


  • Photo Post

    Celebrating one year since we got back to Australia. How is that possible?? 🍸

    Celebrating one year since we got back to Australia. How is that possible?? 🍸

    Celebrating one year since we got back to Australia. How is that possible?? 🍸

    Celebrating one year since we got back to Australia. How is that possible?? 🍸



ABOUT

My name is Kris. I’ve been blogging since the 90’s. I live in Sydney, Australia, and I spent most of my career in the tech industry.

No AI used in writing this blog, ever. 100% human-generated.


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