5 years ago
I am thrilled to send you all greetings... from Australia! We have (finally) relocated, after what has been a (very long) rollercoaster of a journey. As a matter of fact, we are still on that journey -- we managed to get to Sydney 3 weeks ago, but are actually are Brisbane bound and cannot get in for the moment due to interstate border closures.
But we are really counting our blessings for having been able to reach Australia, when so many others have not been so fortunate. Plus, Sydney is a great city for an extended stopover. Our first visit a few years ago gave us a great first impression, but now, 3 weeks in, I can firmly say that I have fallen in love with the city.
One of the things that we absolutely loved last time was Taronga Zoo, and we were keen to take Freya there this time. It's such a great family day out: you catch a short 12-minute direct ferry from Circular Quay, before swiftly finding yourself at the gate. There' a cable car (aptly named Sky Safari), unlimited entrance for which is included within the tickets, lots of pram friendly routes, playgrounds, seal shows, as well as all the amazing animals to see of course! Speaking of the seal show, we actually recognised one of the performing seals, Murphy, from last time, too, which was a lovely surprise (in the sense that we remembered him, as opposed to Murphy still performing, because he is brilliant at it!).
I knew that the views from this day trip would be fantastic, so decided to wear my new Greenstyle Spark Leggings and make this a "location shoot" 😄 I even teamed it with my merino wool Grainline Hemlock Tee as well. I love a totally homemade outfit!
Aren't these leggings eye-catching? The fabric is the stunning Airlie swimwear jersey by Lady McElroy, which features abstract prints of coral reef. Having "sampled" the Lady McElroy swimwear jersey in Batlow print for my toddler swimsuit project (https://www.minerva.com/posts/1105163), this fabric felt a little bit thinner, less brushed and slinkier. In my opinion, this is more your typical swimwear fabric, whereas the Batlow was more like an activewear fabric.
Whilst I did consider using this beautiful reef print for some bikinis, I had been meaning to try out the Spark leggings by Greenstyle Creations (https://greenstylecreations.com/products/spark-tights-pdf-pattern-sizes-b-m?variant=40401638064281). Just when I thought that I owned all the legging patterns that I could possibly need, Greenstyle released the Spark leggings, which basically contained all my favourite leggings features all in one, and without the centre front seam. I tried resisting but failed! No centre front seam? How would that work?
Well, let me assure you that it really does! All the features work together so well. I used a contrast back yoke in some leftover navy supplex, but all the rest, including a super-G style (but slightly shortened) gusset, were made in this lovely swim fabric. I cut my usual size in Greenstyle - a size C graded to a D for my calves, and between C and D for the waist. I also made the mid-rise waist on this pair. Instead of reverse coverstitching, I coverstitched with 2 cones around the seams. I did this mainly because it was a bit quicker, as this was my last project as the house was packed up (from buying tickets to flying, we had just over 2 weeks to pack up!) I actually really like the effect though - more subtle than the reverse coverstitching, but still really good for relieving pressure on the seams and keeping them flat.
I really love how these turned out! I adore this print -- it's bold, dynamic and contains so many cool details. For a multicoloured swim fabric, it also gets a high score for opacity. Now, I really want to see if I can squeeze out some bikinis from the scrap, but I'll have to patiently wait to be reunited with my sewing machines in a few months' time.
For now, stay safe everyone, and I'll be back once we are all settled in Brisbane, with all our household belongings (including all my sewing stuff!)
#minervabrandambassador #minervamaker #minervamakes #sewsewsew #sewingproject #sewingpatterns #isew #sewingblogger #sewinginspiration #minervabrandambassadors #greenstylecreations #sparktights #sparkleggings #sewingactivewear #sydney #australia #greenstylespark #sewyourownactivewear #ithaspockets #ladymcelroy #seated #wornseated #shownsewnseated #shownseated
But we are really counting our blessings for having been able to reach Australia, when so many others have not been so fortunate. Plus, Sydney is a great city for an extended stopover. Our first visit a few years ago gave us a great first impression, but now, 3 weeks in, I can firmly say that I have fallen in love with the city.
One of the things that we absolutely loved last time was Taronga Zoo, and we were keen to take Freya there this time. It's such a great family day out: you catch a short 12-minute direct ferry from Circular Quay, before swiftly finding yourself at the gate. There' a cable car (aptly named Sky Safari), unlimited entrance for which is included within the tickets, lots of pram friendly routes, playgrounds, seal shows, as well as all the amazing animals to see of course! Speaking of the seal show, we actually recognised one of the performing seals, Murphy, from last time, too, which was a lovely surprise (in the sense that we remembered him, as opposed to Murphy still performing, because he is brilliant at it!).
I knew that the views from this day trip would be fantastic, so decided to wear my new Greenstyle Spark Leggings and make this a "location shoot" 😄 I even teamed it with my merino wool Grainline Hemlock Tee as well. I love a totally homemade outfit!
Aren't these leggings eye-catching? The fabric is the stunning Airlie swimwear jersey by Lady McElroy, which features abstract prints of coral reef. Having "sampled" the Lady McElroy swimwear jersey in Batlow print for my toddler swimsuit project (https://www.minerva.com/posts/1105163), this fabric felt a little bit thinner, less brushed and slinkier. In my opinion, this is more your typical swimwear fabric, whereas the Batlow was more like an activewear fabric.
Whilst I did consider using this beautiful reef print for some bikinis, I had been meaning to try out the Spark leggings by Greenstyle Creations (https://greenstylecreations.com/products/spark-tights-pdf-pattern-sizes-b-m?variant=40401638064281). Just when I thought that I owned all the legging patterns that I could possibly need, Greenstyle released the Spark leggings, which basically contained all my favourite leggings features all in one, and without the centre front seam. I tried resisting but failed! No centre front seam? How would that work?
Well, let me assure you that it really does! All the features work together so well. I used a contrast back yoke in some leftover navy supplex, but all the rest, including a super-G style (but slightly shortened) gusset, were made in this lovely swim fabric. I cut my usual size in Greenstyle - a size C graded to a D for my calves, and between C and D for the waist. I also made the mid-rise waist on this pair. Instead of reverse coverstitching, I coverstitched with 2 cones around the seams. I did this mainly because it was a bit quicker, as this was my last project as the house was packed up (from buying tickets to flying, we had just over 2 weeks to pack up!) I actually really like the effect though - more subtle than the reverse coverstitching, but still really good for relieving pressure on the seams and keeping them flat.
I really love how these turned out! I adore this print -- it's bold, dynamic and contains so many cool details. For a multicoloured swim fabric, it also gets a high score for opacity. Now, I really want to see if I can squeeze out some bikinis from the scrap, but I'll have to patiently wait to be reunited with my sewing machines in a few months' time.
For now, stay safe everyone, and I'll be back once we are all settled in Brisbane, with all our household belongings (including all my sewing stuff!)
#minervabrandambassador #minervamaker #minervamakes #sewsewsew #sewingproject #sewingpatterns #isew #sewingblogger #sewinginspiration #minervabrandambassadors #greenstylecreations #sparktights #sparkleggings #sewingactivewear #sydney #australia #greenstylespark #sewyourownactivewear #ithaspockets #ladymcelroy #seated #wornseated #shownsewnseated #shownseated