Life Lately: Housewifing and the Normans

Much has happened since I last posted.

Firstly, we found our own place. We are now living in Sydney's Inner West, in a little one bedroom apartment with garden that we are slowly fixing up. I am loving it. I am able to unpack the boxes of homewares I have been saving for years, and begin to create a home and a life together. I love being a housewife, and am getting so much pleasure out of getting cooking, cleaning, and washing into a routine.

I am starting sewing again as well. My sewing machine sits in the bedroom, and I am keeping the sewing items I need in old suitcases. Much of my stash is still at my Mum's house, and i bring down what I need. Space is a premium, and I am slowly discovering how to make it work. My dressmakers dummy, Tilly, came to live with us the other week, and she gets moved out to the lounge room at night as in the dark a dress with no head can be incredibly off putting.

My other big change has been university. I completed my Bachelor of Arts majoring in History and Medieval Studies last year, and am now doing my honours year. This involves some course work, but mostly the writing of a 20,000 word thesis. As you can imagine this is taking up a lot of time and energy, especially as it is quite different in style and structure to my previous years of university. I am still finalising routines to ensure I get all my study done. I am writing my thesis on the Norman Conquest, looking at church chronicles. It is so exciting to me to be able to get my teeth into my favourite parts of history: medieval politics, historiography, and ecclesiastical affairs. It's a far cry from my love of mid century fashion, and Jane Austen novels, but I wouldn't have it any other way; I have always dwelt in history of whatever sort.

I have big plans for the blog this year as well. Many sewing projects are in the works, and I want to write more about vintage, sewing, and domesticity in general.

Have you got any plans for sewing in limited space?