Sewing bloggers

I have found so many creative bloggers who are extra generous and share their patterns and tutorials online.  Just finished a skirt. x
Check out this great website if you want to be inspired by Jessica's creativity: running with scissors

Christmas in 1 month

Convinced my husband to climb a tree in our yard and saw off a branch as our Christmas tree.  Sustainable and no carbon emmissions on production, manufacture or transportand no petrochemicals used!  It does look a little creative, lobsided and rather odd, but I've put up some energy efficient LED lights from IKEA and a few wooden decorations.  There's a greener way to do everything! 

Precious junk

Purchasing a 50 year old house without intending major renovations and driving 1 small family car which is over 10 years old makes me feel very eco-friendly.

Until I calculated my ecological footprint.

Easy changes:
Growing veggies & herbs
Planting a lemon tree

Other changes:
Removing a dead tree by hand/axe/saw without electrical tools
Installing a heat pump solar hot water system (thankfully our house had this)

Really small changes:
Switching off electrical items on standby, even my husband is doing this now
Reusing toilet roll tubes as decomposable seedling pots
Washable in place of disposeable kitchen cloths

Biggest change: I'd planned to furnish my home with wonderful IKEA goodies, but found a perfectly great lounge set on council pick up day. Spent time recovering the seats and am enjoying the results.

Home made clothing

Found this cheap and easy skirt pattern and got to work making 1 for myself and 2 really girlie ones for my niece's birthday.
I used material scraps and have a fun new skirt to wear!

read up

self sufficiency : I NEED this book is what I told my husband yesterday.  This is why: it starts small with practical tips on how to make steps to improve your sustainable living even in the city.  Perfect start for me in suburbia.

My first steps when we get our house: construct a chicken hutch and buy 2 chickens.  Plant a fruit tree in the middle of my garden. Get a compost heap & rainwater tank. Save some bucks for a solar hot water panel. So looking forward to it

organic baby: I was shocked to realise that mattresses are so toxic, to prevent spontaneous combustion, they contain poisonous flame retardants: polybromiated diphenyl or polychlorinated biphenyl.  This book is an excellent eye opener and has loads of healthier options for the precious little ones.

Skipping five days instead of three for every hair wash has been altogether beneficial. Even though it took a while to getting used to, my hair has never felt healthier, plus it saves water, mula, time & stuff.

Made my first pair of trousers

WOHOO, I now have a pair of trousers to wear for work tomorrow. I have been inspired by some particularly creative friends, thank you Brigs, Beth, Ella & Eva, to sew.  Thanks mum for the sewing machine and your excellent seamstress example.  I took a pair of trousers I liked and fitted me well, turned them inside-out folded in half with the back bits on the inside, and cut 2 front pieces.  Then folded the front bits on the inside and cut the two back pieces.  I sewed of course the two wrong pieces together first, tee hee, and after unpicking that it was easy to see which ones went together. I was also extremely brave(I think so anyway), after reading the zip instructions that came with my sewing machine I attempted the zip and won! The best part was I didn't have to buy the material, it was something I wanted to use up from another project. Yay for reducing waste :)