All about me!

This week has been an exciting one for my blog! Natalie from Threads and Bobbins nominated my for a Liebster award, and Sarah from Fabric Tragic tagged me in the blog hop which is going around. Very exciting, thank you ladies! So this post is all about me. Its a big chunk of text, so I’ll break it up with some pictures of my cats 🙂

“The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Awesome! Blogging is about building a community and it’s a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about newer bloggers/blogs.”

The person who nominates you sets some questions for you(usually around 10), and then you nominate some other bloggers and set some questions for them to answer.

The questions Natalie set are the following…

What is your favourite thing to do in your spare time?

This year, sewing! I’m finding it really satisfying seeing my sewing improve garment by garment. I’m a big reader, I always have at least one book on the go, and I spend a fair bit of time dancing as well! I’m also studying part time, which takes up valuable sewing/reading/dancing time…

Would you blog for a living if you could?

I don’t think so. Blogging is something I do for fun, I think it would stop being fun pretty quickly if I was relying on it as a source of income! I like that at the moment there are no repercussions if I skip a week (other than ruining my one-make-a-week challenge)

What has been your favourite holiday?

In 2012 I took off to Europe for three months, it was amazing! Travelling alone was like total freedom, I loved being able to be wholly selfish! I started in Glasgow (with my mums family) and did a tour of Scotland, finishing up in Edinburgh. From there I flew to Paris for ten days, then got the train to toulouse and spent a week at a swing dance camp in the south of France. From there I went to San Sebastian, Lisbon, Porto, Madrid to Barcelona, then over to Venice, down to Florence and Rome and then back to London. It was the best experience of my life so far!

Is there anywhere you would love to travel to but haven’t yet been?

Iceland. Argentina, So I can learn to tango in Buenos Aires. Croatia and Morocco. Pretty much anywhere I’ve never been before!

If you could be a vegetable, what would you be and why?

At the moment, Asparagus! Its just coming in to season over here, and I’m eating so much that I may yet turn into a spear…

What is your favourite social media platform?

Facebook. Boring, I know, but it makes it so easy to keep in contact with my far flung friends!

What is the best free day out that you have had?

All of the days I spent poking around and getting lost in strange cities in Europe.

What is your favourite dish to eat?

Even split between pumpkin ravioli and some sort of Thai noodles

Do you like going in the sea and why?

Yes! I’m a Kiwi, I’ve never lived more than 10 minutes from the beach. I spent a lot of my childhood sailing around the Marlborough Sounds. Also, swimming in the sea is proof that summer is here 🙂

How often do you read other blogs?

Daily. I think I have a problem…

Ok, I’m going to nominate Bella from Bell Bird, and Katherine from See Kat Sew (…or try to), both of whom have awesome blogs, great style and sew amazing clothes that I would love to steal! My questions for you, if you’d like to take part, are…

Out of all of the things you’ve made, which is your favourite?

What is your favourite book/album/movie?

If you could time travel to any pop culture event, what would it be?

Still on the theme of time travel, which time period would you choose to visit?

Where is your favourite holiday destination?

Dresses or trousers?

Which super power would you choose, if you could only have one?

Tea or Coffee? And what sort?

If you could choose to live anywhere for three months, where would it be?

Which colour is predominant in your wardrobe?

Thanks for the nomination Natalie!

Below are my answers to the Blog Hop questions, if you haven’t already read enough trivia about me…

Why do I blog?

I started this blog because I was incredibly bored and frustrated with my job! I decided that I would try to make something every week, and blog about it as a way to keep myself motivated. I had been a sewing blog reader for about a year before I started blogging myself, and always found them hugely inspirational. I really like the sewing community, and I’d like to contribute a little bit!
The other reason is that I’m trying to push myself out of my comfort zone! I’m pretty reserved and a bit awkward, especially when I meet other people. Even commenting on other peoples blogs makes me a bit anxious at first! But I’m getting better at it…

What is my writing process?

Its pretty sloppy, a bit stream of consciousness really. I try to plan posts out as I’m sewing, which also reminds me to take photos of bits and pieces while I’m sewing, so that I can get things in the right order. Quite often what I write about is based around the photos I have, I try to have a good mix of text and photos. I really like reading about the construction process on other blogs, so I try to add in a description of anything I did differently, or anything I will change if I make it again. This helps me to remember for next time as well!

How do I differ from other sewing blogs?

Um…I don’t think I do, really! I suppose my goal of making something every week for a year is a point of difference? I think I probably make a lot more basic wardrobe staples than a lot of bloggers, partly because they tend to be simple to whip up in a week, and partly because I really like wearing tee shirts and knit garments! If I’m making something complicated which will take up two weekends, I can knock out a Renfrew in an hour to fill up a weekly post, and still know that its something I’ll wear all the time.

A current WIP is…

…my Schnittchen Malu coat. But I also have a stack of about 4 patterns and the fabric pre-washed and ready to go, and the lovely ladies at By Hand London have just announced a pattern hackathon competition, so I have to bump something up the list for that…

Thanks Sarah! Ok, I nominate Anna from Anna in Technicolour, Chantal from A Handmade Wardrobe, Natalie from Threads and Bobbins, and Nilla from Purple Pleats, if you’re interested in taking part! All four have really interesting blogs, and are seriously creative. Go check them out!

The other shake up occurring in my blogosphere this week is that I’ve been outed as a blogger! Up until this week, no one I know in real life knew about my blog (as far as I’m aware, anyway). It was only a matter of time though, and on Tuesday I got a txt from one of my friends saying she had just stumbled across it. I’m not too sure why I was still hiding my blogging habit, but its out now! She was very complementary about it, which was nice. Monsieur wanted to have a look, so I let him have a flick through. The only comment he made was that he wasn’t happy with his pseudonym! When I asked what he’d rather be, he said Francois (??) Boys are weird, i think I’ll stick with Monsieur! I hope he realises that now he’s going to be roped into photographer duties every weekend…