Dream Wardrobe, Awful TV and Trying to Make Stuff
Picnic Journal #32
Hello! My baby got his two-month shots today and is sleeping like a log which means that I don’t know what to do with myself. A sparkly clean bathroom and an empty laundry basket later, here I am typing away at another issue of Picnic Journal. There is a typhoon in Korea as I sit here and I am just hoping that everyone is safe and sound. It feels really peaceful staying inside (not that I go out) and listening to the rain. I hope you’re having a great August and keeping cool or keeping warm wherever you may be.
Current Thoughts: I want to start sewing again and work towards my dream wardrobe
This has been on my mind a lot lately and I’m ready to get crafty. I noticed that when I go shopping I am always drawn to the same styles of clothing and purchase different versions of the same thing every darn time. This has made me want to start sewing my own clothes and collecting beautiful fabrics that are high qual and long-lasting as an alternative to buying another white linen shirt or shapeless cotton dress.
I started sewing when I was around 7 or 8 years old. I mostly sewed cushions, blankets and clothes for my doll's house. That then turned into making bags and clothes for myself and learning how to follow patterns. I was also obsessed with making pencil cases because I am a lifelong stationery fanatic. After high school, my mum and I became obsessed with Nippori Fabric Town in Tokyo and all things Japanese fabrics. I made a few dresses out of the beautiful linens and colourful patterned fabrics that we collected in our travels.
Since moving to Korea, I feel like I’ve lost my sense of style a little bit. Melbourne and Seoul are very different cities when it comes to fashion. Melbourne is colourful, eclectic, a mix of everything, bold, and seasonless. Korea is simple, clean, minimal, trend-focused and pristine. In some ways, I feel like my wardrobe has morphed into a mix of the two cities, a blend of my favourite pieces that I brought with me from Australia and newer bits bought here in an attempt to fit in.
I think this new goal of mine will help me make sure I’m always working on myself and striving to be a better Johanna than I was yesterday. To achieve my goal, I’ve been saving links for patterns that I want to make. Saving links to different fabric stores here in Korea where I can order beautiful linens and cotton. I have a Pinterest board of inspiration for my ‘Dream Mama Wardrobe’. And I’m going to take things 1 item at a time, I’m not in a rush. I will let you know how it goes. I’m hoping that typing this will hold me accountable.
Recent Creations
I am challenging myself to enter some illustration/design competitions and spread my work around more. I’m trying. I drew these lil people for a competition that I worked really hard on only to realise that I wasn’t eligible to enter the competition… She tried! She really did her best and she won’t give up.
I’m just trying to remind myself that I am still a designer/artist/valuable human even when not making something. The quiet periods of a creative block are necessary to recharge and step back to look at what you’re trying to say to people. And then you get to keep repeating this process because it never really ends.
What I’ve Been Watching / Reading / Listening To
Sweet Magnolias Season 3 - Guys. This show. It’s so cringy that it takes me several hours to get through an episode because I keep closing my Netflix app to make it stop. But I can’t stop. Help. What are the people in the town of Serenity putting in their coffee? Is it legal? Do they all have daily therapy sessions? Humans aren’t this nice. I love it. I also hate it and hope there isn’t a fourth season. But I’ll watch it if they make one. But I won’t enjoy it. But I will.
The Retrievals Podcast - A podcast about a Yale fertility clinic where hundreds of women underwent egg retrievals without any pain relief because a nurse was pocketing the clinic’s fentanyl stash (this would never happen in Serenity!). I listened to this while breastfeeding and felt so lucky that I get to be a mother. The pain these women went through goes far beyond the physical pain they experienced.
Palm Springs - I watched this because ~ Andy Samberg ~ but I don’t know about this movie. I think that I didn’t like it.
The Kardashians - I watched the final episode of season 3 this week and Kris Jenner making little doll houses for all of her kids for Christmas is a MOOD. I love her so much. What I don’t love is Kourtney Kardashian trying to Kardashisplain (like mansplaining but almost worse) fast fashion and sustainability and greenwashing to justify her collab with Boohoo. Hi Kourtney, you are part of the reason fast fashion exists in the first place.
Latest Videos
Lol! I haven’t made any! I have one in the works but ugh ~ would it be rude if I didn’t post it? I think I’m not into YouTube anymore. Does anyone watch YouTube? I do. I love YouTube. Most of my audience is male and middle-aged which is NOT my ideal demographic!! I might pick it back up when we move house later in the year if I feel inspired! Thank you and here is a #tbt video of our trip to Da Nang in January.
I will leave you with this picture of Jeff Goldblum and his wife at the Eras tour
“Fever dream high in the quiet of the night, you know that I caught it…!” 🤩🙌🏼💋🦋🌺🌈🌸✨🍓🍦🎟️🌅💎🔮🪬🔑🎀🪄🩷🩵🤍
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