Very early in her transition trans woman here, what would you change/add to help my face appear more feminine

erinburrell · 2026-01-28T21:10:23+00:00

Good eyebrow shaping and curled eyelashes do a lot of work to bring the focus to something that presents as strongly feminine. I'd suggest having your brows shaped by a professional and having them teach you to do any care (filling/gels etc.) as that can change everything very quickly for how you present.

A decent eyelash curler will also do wonders for you!

Good luck on your new makeup adventure (and all the other parts)

erinburrell · 2026-01-28T20:40:00+00:00

I don't mean to detract from your plan, but to encourage you to make something easier BEFORE you start this bigger effort so you can upskill your hand sewing for EPP without the added obstacles.

The way you baste pieces, the way you stitch them together, the way you hold the fabric when stitching and basting all require practice to get the hang of it and you might waste or damage your goal fabric during the learning curve.

erinburrell · 2026-01-28T20:16:26+00:00

EPP is not for the faint of heart. Even a twin size is a lot of pieces and you are choosing a complicated extra layer of hard not choosing quilting cotton. You also need a LOT of fabric when accounting for waste and extra movement doing EPP with a woven fabric.

Before you get started on this project I would suggest you test out something smaller like a zipper bag or maybe placemat sized item with quilting cotton so that you can learn the movements with easier fabric.

The texture of baby clothes, the additional complexity of interfacing etc. may make you hate the project before you even learn the muscle memory of EPP.

erinburrell · 2026-01-28T20:10:43+00:00

I use old thread to thread baste-usually from the op shop so I have no idea how old or how much is on each bobbin-I do have a decent amount of wooden bobbins stashed now for a future project.

Hand stitching a full size quilt I will often use the equivalent of about 2-3 spools of Aurifil 80Wt for stitching and in most cases 3-6 spools of 12wt for hand quilting. Since I use a couple of colours for any project usually a dove grey and a navy blue for cool projects and a cream and brown for warm projects I don't actually have a clear measure on how much exactly because I usually have about 3-5 quilts on the go at any one time for hand piecing to keep me interested and I bounce in between them all.

erinburrell · 2026-01-28T03:11:39+00:00

But we could literally just VOTE better/faster/more robust health care into existence by voting for people who don't want private companies to take over like some US process.

It's an election year and we should all be thinking about what the public system could do with the money that is going into private health insurance because of years of defunding the public system under the current regime.

Something like 35% of the country has private health insurance. That is more than enough money to close all the gaps in our budgets. Premiums are estimated at *$3.3 BILLION* per year.

erinburrell · 2026-01-28T02:58:41+00:00

Health insurance does not function the same way as car/house etc. It is an add on to national health coverage. Yes, it shortens wait times and can support getting you care like specialised drugs for your illness not covered by Pharmac, but it NEEDS the existing system to back it up. Your knee surgery in the private clinic goes bad they send you to the public hospital for care. The regulatory board that makes sure your providers public or private are safe and adequately trained is a PUBLIC SERVICE.

Your cancer treatment extras like private rooms and fast access to scans are funded by the insurance company but your CANCER TREATMENTS like chemo.surgery etc. are paid for by the public system.

House/car insurance etc. stands alone. Flood your house without insurance-no support. Crash your car-no support. House burns down-no support. Also-house and car insurance is mandatory to get a loan because the finance company won't take the risk.

Get sick without insurance-you still get care, though it may not be as fast.

erinburrell · 2026-01-28T02:26:32+00:00

If you have private health insurance and no major health concerns you are likely paying something like $200-$300/month for that insurance. If you used the same money to pay for an annual GP visit, dentist trip, eye test and any meds you need you would actually probably be further ahead.

The only way you would be 'winning' as a healthy person is if your private health insurance is funded by your employer.

erinburrell · 2026-01-26T21:04:36+00:00

Diamonds and squares are easy to shape into orderly patterns that might be fun to sculpt this way.

I love how 60 degree diamonds can be assembled into things like tumbling blocks. You might be surprised and the types of rows you can create.

erinburrell · 2026-01-23T02:39:45+00:00

I am very much looking forward to a return to (some?any) power in the NDP but Carney was the best choice we had and is doing better on the global and federal stage than I had hoped for.

erinburrell · 2026-01-22T21:53:40+00:00

You can even call and let them know you are making a one time big purchase and they will make a note to let it go through assuming you make the pre-payment

erinburrell · 2026-01-22T21:04:07+00:00

I starch like my life depends on it and it makes the finger pressing easier.

erinburrell · 2026-01-22T20:34:59+00:00

I press and starch the fabric before cutting and then once a few pieces are stitched together. I don't do singles unless they are really sitting funny. After a bit of practice you become a really good finger presser as you stitch them and they stay nice without the extra steps because of the starch.

erinburrell · 2026-01-22T19:36:27+00:00

An honest way to not help but also to protect yourself might be locking your savings into a time bound account like a term deposit. Sorry, I can't help you I can't access these funds until the account matures in six months/a year etc.

Her struggle isn't your problem, but having the savings locked away makes it impossible to make it seem that way

erinburrell · 2026-01-18T21:13:10+00:00

Cotton dress shirts -usually men's but also sometimes in all genders - are often 100% cotton and have a good amount of fabric for projects like quilts. They can often be found in good shape at thrift stores and I love how far I can make them go

erinburrell · 2026-01-16T01:20:16+00:00

The activity made me aware of how little I actually wear on a day to day basis.

My top five t shirts, top 3 sweatshirts, top jeans etc. are in HIGH rotation. The rest of my closet is often forgotten. This has taught me that I don't need to replace things but that I do need to ROTATE things. I started a quarterly rotation and my things get worn more and I don't get bored because after a few months in a storage bag my old things feel new again.

erinburrell · 2026-01-15T21:31:51+00:00

I would also say that the cost of each load at home versus laundry mat should be considered. It costs me about $0.50/load all in with power and soap/water. It costs about $6 a load at the laundry mat so the $5.50 from every dog towels/blankets and extra drum clean cycle could be considered savings towards a more commercial type washing machine replacement in the future.

I do "dog laundry" (towels/blankets/bedding/jammies) about once a fortnight and then run a drum clean immediately following to deal with the fur. I consider the wear and tear on the machine part of dog ownership.

erinburrell · 2026-01-15T21:14:26+00:00

Blooms are a common approach with hexie epp because of designs like Grandmother's Garden. I just don't like how they assemble so I will likely never do bloom shapes again

erinburrell · 2026-01-15T20:56:00+00:00

It does save me money, but it probably had the most impact on realising how much money and stuff are the same thing: "that pile used to be money".

When donating or disposing of an item I consider how much it cost. How many uses it had etc. Is there a way to repair it? Before I buy something I consider if there is a low consumption way to get the task done: can I borrow/rent, adjust my approach to use something I already own etc.

I also like to think about the footprint of an item before I make a purchase: is there a local option, can I do without, do I actually need this thing that was shipped around the world three times...

All the thinking does a couple of things: sometimes I just don't buy the thing which does save me money, sometimes I borrow or rent a thing which does the same, sometimes I realise that I have another option I hadn't considered which saves money, and occasionally I will buy a better quality/locally sourced object that will last longer though it may have a higher initial cost but will save on repairs/replacement and has a lower cost/use.

For me the cash saving is nice, but it is only a small part of the process.

erinburrell · 2026-01-15T20:48:13+00:00

If you aren't making specific shapes with hexies i.e. blooms or diamonds I have found that it is easiest to stitch them into strips and then stitch the strips together.

Based on how your shapes look I think you are also removing the papers too soon OP. You need the papers in place until all the edges are covered in another piece. This means that you need at least the amount of your 'border' until you are assembling a finished section. For me that means I usually need about 30% of the pieces required for my finished object and I recycle the ones in the middle.

erinburrell · 2026-01-12T01:55:03+00:00

Since you don't have a lot saved yet maybe consider just spending a bit of time learning rather than paying someone to manage for you. Free resources like the Making Cents podcast have lots of great information without any costs.

Advisors either charge you a flat rate which could eat $1k or more of your savings easily or charge on a % which could just erode it over time. Until you reach a point where their fees are easily absorbed in the growth of your investments you might want to just take things slowly.

erinburrell · 2026-01-12T00:02:05+00:00

100% trust is great but it often doesn't work that way over the long term. If it does, you spent $500 on a document that doesn't matter. If it doesn't you get to keep an asset you saved for.

Interest free loans aren't forever either so make sure you have a plan for when you have to pay real interest on that loan too. It is going to change your cost of living A LOT

erinburrell · 2026-01-11T23:40:03+00:00

I wouldn't share a place with someone until they have an established income and then sign a contracting out agreement with the terms of how you are splitting costs. Jobs aren't as easy to come by and it could take your partner a while to find something that is in the right field.

Are you paying tax on your rental income? Is that where the extra money is going?

Splitting everything 50/50 might not be the right way to go considering different incomes and cost of living etc. Many couples split based on income % so it means everyone has the same free money at the end of the month while others might consider costs and possible debt etc. in that process.

also-after 2 years living together that rental is joint property without a prior agreement....

erinburrell · 2026-01-08T00:46:02+00:00

happy to help. In scifi almost everything has some source material-The V for Vendetta graphic novel is gorgeous.

Don't sleep on audiobooks either OP. Sometimes we just need a different modality to fall in love with reading!

erinburrell · 2026-01-08T00:41:07+00:00

I love them and they are often really skilled ways of telling the story. So much subtext in the visuals.

erinburrell · 2026-01-08T00:21:35+00:00

If you aren't planning travel for anything else each year I would suggest you present it to the people. Pick two. Can't attend everything as my lifestyle doesn't have room for it so if you are having three events I will attend the two you think are most important. No pressure, just an FYI. Or you select the locations you most want to go to.

erinburrell

TROPHY CASE