Balance in practice
8.41am Tuesday 3rd of March
Sitting on my bench I realise it’s not dissimilar to a runway show. I see the ‘models’ coming from both directions and manage to steal glances once they have passed.
A German Shepard on lead just sauntered past. Is that the word?
Elegant, almost a prowl. Head up, tongue out, happy and approachable.
Owner was in a navy shirt, tucked into pants, with open toed thongs. It’s 15 or so degrees right now and the shirt in seasons can be noticed within each outfit.
Singlets with pants and a jumper tied messily over shoulders, or a raincoat and sandals.
I very excitedly pulled on my denim Harvey’s, with a lilac singlet, then a yellow long sleeve, then a blue jumper - the long one. Silver merino socks and birks on my feet. Old favourites.
Frilly hat back on my head, it’s been a while. I often prefer it in cooler weather. It’s best the small window of time before i have to wear a scarf and coat too.
One of my pant legs is rolled higher than the other. From a previous time wearing on the bike I guess. Maybe even from Christmas.
A German Pointer drops a slobbery ball on my knee and grins at me. His owner smiles and says “he wants you to play ball”. I’m honoured because it’s our current dream dog.
Was just passed by a woman in a long floaty dress, black long sleeve underneath -there are those in between layers again.
I wonder how it will go this year, if I’ll resort back to black over the winter. It is easier; my sewing uniform.
Over the weekend at a friends gig, I was complimented for looking “ethereal”. Cream Daise dress with cream drill CBS. Yellow scrunchie in my hair.
The next day as I often do, I wore a similar thing. A mix of clothes packed to be appropriate for a 30 minute cycle, an hour car ride, a 2 year old birthday party in a park where it would be 5 or so degrees cooler, and finally! a walk in nature.
Lightweight Jimmys, a yellow long sleeve, a yellow short sleeve, a raincoat, navy jumper and my cream frill CBS got me through. Merino socks, Felo and Vessel Cap as always. 6 separate pieces that I managed to swap and wear together and apart across the day. Decided quickly, and complimented for “wearing colour”.
I wonder how I can carry through the lighter calm colours. It’s probably through making a pair of Harvey’s in Natural (again.) and if I can find a silver or light blue jumper, preferably merino.
Soft colours feel good.
Perhaps it’s introducing a few jackets into the rotation. It will be fun seeing how the wardrobe needs to transform to be appropriate on the bike over winter.
A woman passes for the second time, she’s all in red. A worn raincoat, old trackies, well-used bag, crossed over body. Her clothes look part of her, so I appreciate it, even when I’m craving a more calming shade.
It is a little gloomy… and so maybe I just dress for the weather, the FEELING of the weather, more so than the rain that is threatening.
voice to text
10.31am Saturday 7th of March
“Walking to the gardens and all I’ve been thinking about this morning is how I can use my offcuts to create new things.
I realise when I did a pocket conversation with Julia… well actually, she realised that if you look at it a certain way, the garments I make are technically the offcuts because The actual offcuts from the garments are often the parts that I want to work with first. But I have to cut the garment in order to have smaller offcuts ready to do the fun intricate potential waste management stuff.
In yoga this morning I had the idea to make a giant cube. Drawings pixelated, translated and patch-worked back together (with offcuts).
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