• Silk organza press cloth

    Silk organza press cloth

    I was reminded while I was sewing the other day that I really do need a press cloth. This is a piece of fabric you put over your work when you are pressing seams, to keep the fabric from potentially getting scorched. We used them in my sewing class with Gertie a few years back, and I seem to recall they were silk organza. I’ve seen this recommended in a few places because silk has a high burn point and it’s transparent enough to see your work through it. I looked them up recently online but couldn’t really find any for under $20 AUD. Then today I found myself at Spotlight and realised I could make my own. They had one bolt of silk organza at $47/m, so I bought 30cm of it for $14.10. Then I cut it into three pieces of roughly 12″ x 18″ (31cm x 46cm) and overlocked the edges to keep them from fraying too much. I also cut a tiny bit of ribbon and put that in the corner so you can hang it up. That’s one for me, and two for friends for < $5 each!

    Overlocking silk organza on a Singer overlocker

    Overlocking a ribbon loop into the corner of a piece of silk organza


  • AI: The New Aesthetics of Fascism

    Ahhh, yes. And it’s all over Facebook. I had to unfriend a former colleague this week for posting a shitty image of a Muslim man walking a British police officer on a dog leash, who actually tried to defend that (as somehow being related to child abuse?) when I called him out for it. It’s awful and dehumanising and racist. Leni Riefenstahl would’ve loved Gen AI.

    AI imagery looks like shit. But that is its main draw to the right. if AI was capable of producing art that was formally competent, surprising, soulful, they wouldn’t want it.


  • Love this.

    From Meanjin to Warrane, Apple Maps adds more than 250 Indigenous placenames in Australia. Hey, this is pretty good. I just checked on my iPhone and I was able to see Warrane now included for Sydney Cove, as well as a label for Eora Nation. Apple have done something similar in NZ, and they have shared details on grants and partnerships with indigenous groups in both countries. I’m still salty with Tim Cook for that inauguration bribe, but this seems like an unambiguous Good Thing, and we need those these days. (I switched from Google Maps some time ago.)


  • Sydney Royal Easter Show 2025

    Three Craft competition entries delivered – two knitting, one quilting – and my volunteer uniform picked up. April’s going to be a big month!


  • Botanical block prints

    A block printed image of brightly coloured "bird of paradise" flowers on black paper, created by liliarnold.com

    How gorgeous is Lili Arnold’s work? As soon as I saw this Colossal post, I fell in love with that Strelitzia print. A few minutes later it was ordered and on its way to me, exchange rate be damned. (She features several native Australian plants as well, which made me wonder at first if she was Aussie. Alas, Californian.)


  • Quilt binding

    Quilt binding

    It’s been a while since I experienced the Easter Show craft competition deadline finishing frenzy! Looks like I’ll be done with about 48 hrs to spare. 😅


  • “Conversion therapy with a side of ranch”

    Why Dads Take Their Gay Sons to Hooters (NYT Archive.is link) – This is actually a really lovely little essay, and I’m glad I read it. 🦉 (Link via Mefi.)


  • The Garden of Early Delights

    We saw Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Early Delights in the Prado three years ago in Madrid, but this episode of Smarthistory is like having your own guided tour through the weirdness. Definitely watch it on the biggest screen you have! There’s just so much to look at, and they do a good job of explaining why it’s unlike every other painting done at this time. Plus it’s really funny listening to art historians trying to describe things like “a bird man on a toilet pooping out a water balloon filled with the people he’s just eaten”. (Link courtesy of Colossal.)


  • Martha-tini?!

    Note to self: next time (if there ever is a next time) I’m in Vegas, definitely go to Martha Stewart’s restaurant. I love the conceit that it’s just a super-sized version of her kitchen, with dishes she makes at home… like that dessert sprinkled in 24kt gold. 😂


  • New homebrew setup

    A beer fridge in a storage closet

    The Snook has put his new mini kegs to good use, setting up a dedicated beer fridge in the storage closet. His first pour from it is a Golden Ale that he made collectively with his homebrew club, which they aged for more than a year in an old Lark whiskey barrel. A little bit sour, but finished smooth! 🍻

    Golden ale



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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