I’ve seen this type of thing come around once before and I really enjoyed reading some of the replies and finding out a little more about bloggers I follow, outside their “sewing life”. It’s a nice little bit of fun I think!

So I’m very touched to have been nominated by both Andrew from mensew and Wis from What I Sew, who are both bloggers I HUGELY admire, to give you a few details on my extra-curricular activities away from sewing. Ahem. First the official stuff:

Mystery Blogger Award is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging, and they do it with so much love and passion.” Created by: Okoto Enigma

Here are “The Rules” to the “Mystery Blogger Award”:

• Thank whoever nominated you and include a link to their blog
• Tell your readers three things about yourself
• Answer the questions from the person who nominated you
• Nominate 10 – 20 bloggers you feel deserve the award.
• Ask your nominees 5 questions of your choice, with one weird or funny one.
• Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog.

So there we are! First things first – three things about me that you don’t already know…

• I met my husband over in Germany when were both working there – me in the videogame industry, him in the techie industry. We had a fun first date and ended up staying out until 3am or so. Now that I know him better, I can understand how difficult that must have been for him – he is NOT a party person unlike me – but he managed to prop his eyelids open and then had to get back to the city he was living in. I think he didn’t get home until 6am, poor guy, but I guess (hope) it was worth it.

• I love theme parks! I wouldn’t class myself as a total adrenaline junkie, but I do love rollercoasters and all the theme park…well, theming. I’m a huge Disney fan and animation fan and they totally bring out the wide-eyed child in me. My husband and I did the rounds of German theme parks when we were first dating and there are some WEIRD little parks over there. There was this one where you pushed a button and all these babies rose out of a well quoting German idioms. Really odd (although less so if you could understand all the German, I’m sure)

• I lived in the Middle East (Qatar) during the first Gulf War. It was a very interesting experience that definitely had an impact on the way I think about the world, and not always in the obvious ways. As an example, we carried gas masks to school, but only the Americans had them at first, and then the Brits. There were over 31 nationalities at my very small secondary school and it posed a real dilemma for us kids and the teachers (who were mostly British). What would you do in the event of a gas attack? My 3 siblings and I all slept on our parents’ bedroom floor for a while, which had the fully taped up windows and food and water supplies, but eventually gave up and decided the risk of an attack was worth getting a bit of privacy and sleep (teenagers, huh?). We had thousands and thousands of troops swarm into our small country of residence – Americans, Canadians, British, French soldiers, to name a few. I could tell you who were the nicest, who were the stand-offish ones and who were the most badly-behaved, but perhaps I’ll let you guess and save some stories for another time. 🙂

Andrew asked me these five questions:

Summer casual or winter formal? Haha – what does this meannnnn? If I had to choose between the two (I guess that’s what it means) I would choose winter formal. That’s because I prefer winter to summer, so tailored coats, woolly jumpers and cosy tights make me think of warm pubs and holiday season. In reality, I’m much too slobby for this idyllic picture.

Most made garment? I guess that would be the Plantain t-shirt. It’s quick, a free pattern and has a flattering shape for so many figures, with a scooped neck and a slight flare at the hips compared to a classic tee. If you haven’t downloaded it, what are you waiting for?

Favourite fabric shop? Hmm, a toughie. There are lots of stores I like for different reasons, but the one I get most excited about overall is probably Miss Matatabi. I know the quality will be consistently amazing and they wrap the packages so beautifully. Sigh.

Dogs or cats? Cats are much easier to look after, but dogs are excited when you get home. Hmmm… I think I prefer cogs. I mean, dats. 

Flatfelled or french seamed? French seams for the win!

And Wis asked me these five questions!:

What is the first thing you ever sewed? Unfortunately the first thing I ever sewed was a white linen bolero jacket (it was the 80s, what can I say?) and a flowery gathered skirt when I was about 13. They were both WELL beyond my skill level and I had to get my mum to do most of it in the end. I thought I was just rubbish at it and it put me off sewing for the following 26 years. I recently found the book that assured it was an easy sewing task and bought it off ebay to see if it was as hard as I remembered! Note: it was indeed fairly advanced!

What was your favourite garment for dress-up parties when you were little? As a child, I was much more into magic and ogres and Enid Blyton than I was into princesses, so my normal dress-up costume would have been an old sheet and my imagination.

What is the strangest thing you had under your presser foot? Oooh, great question! I guess it would probably be some shaggy fake fur when my kid dressed as William Wallace from Braveheart for Halloween one year. It shed everywhere and made my eyes water until I got the hang of how to handle it.

Where is the furthest you travelled? That’s a really hard question to answer, as I was brought up in the Middle East (Qatar) and Far East (Brunei), so it’s all relative. I guess the longest journey I did in one fell swoop was when I was around 7 and moving back to the UK from Brunei. My dad was given open return tickets that allowed a large number of stopovers and he decided to take advantage of it. I forget the exact route but I know we stopped off in other Far East countries, then went to Hawaii, west coast of the US, Canada and the east coast of the US, before arriving back in Scotland. My parents had three kids under 8 at that point – they’re braver souls than I!

What is the funniest movie you have ever seen? I would say… Shaun of the Dead made me laugh a lot.

Alright! Hopefully that was vaguely interesting, hah. Now I’m going to nominate a few of my favourite bloggers who haven’t already been nominated (that I can see at least). Please don’t feel pressured into doing this. As I say, I find it all a bit of frivolous fun, but if it’s not your thing or you don’t have time, I won’t take it personally! 🙂

Life in a Mads House

Stuff Jo Has Made

Designed by Danita

Sewchet

PsychicSewerKathleen

Here are my questions:

1. If you could recreate any garment from movie history, which would it be?
2. Do you indulge in any other fibre crafts? Or any craft, really.
3. What would the title of your autobiography be?
4. Indies or Big 4 patterns?
5. What’s your favourite sewing tip?

Cheers guys! xx