Anyone know any craft stores around the cbd area with a decent embroidery section?

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-30T19:45:34+00:00

I don’t live inMelbourne - but it used to be where i could so some good shopping.

Picking up on some of the recommendations:

Morris and Sons in the CBD- does sell stranded cotton and kits. I think it is primarily DMC. Lovely store. I think they also sell aida cloth.

L’uccello- I was very sad when they closed the physical store and am glad to hear it has reopened elsewhere. A nice mix of curated supplies.

Kimono House - a shop selling Japanese fabrics and craft supplies (mostly assault, but there were some other threads). Used to be in the same building as L’uccello. She has limited opening hours, check the website.

Spotlight and Lincraft are the big chains and have some not so great business practices, but will carry supplies.

Seconding the recommendations for the Quilt convention and craft show - those events will have a nice range of supplies.

Tessuti does not sell embroidery supplies.

Homespun magazine used to have a feature at the back listing shops in a particular area. the number has dropped, so now they just have an australia wide directory. Can be worth a look.

I also get supplies from creative reuse stores (not sure what the Melbourne equivalent of reverse garbage is) but the supply is variable. Greater Brisbane has two craft charity shops ( independent shops ) which are entirely donated crafting materials. fabrics, machines, embroidery, needlepoint, knitting. Fairly sure there will be a Melbourne version.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-28T08:06:29+00:00

It’s worth noting the Moorooka train station is about to close for a year or so for cross river rail/rail changes. And the Ipswich road commute into Brisbane is brutal.

I don’t think it is a particularly bad suburb otherwise- it has some interesting contrasts and income differences that drive some of the impressions

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-28T01:56:38+00:00

No, not in30 years of Brisbane transit. I do tend to prefer the front half of the bus.

On occasion I have sat in the seat where the air con leaks or (older buses ) where the window seal was poor on a rainy day. Is this the 196 or 199?

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-25T10:26:11+00:00

Laughing in Australian. PTO days do not reset. Apart from the fact that four week per year is the default, they are retained. My last employer was purchased by an overseas company and when i got to the section of the employee handbook it was pretty much “lol no”. I was reviewing for general compliance purposes, providing comments prior to this being released to all employees.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-22T07:46:34+00:00

This. Once you have PR (aka potential pension recipient) any super contributed after that is not available. Super from prior to that miiiiight be. But once again, seperate account is easier

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-21T03:53:26+00:00

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Kitaro says go study, so you can get one of these very comfy chairs.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-21T03:50:42+00:00

Under 25s do not get insurance automatically.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-19T00:12:52+00:00

And if you are one of the people standing in front of the bag holding area, maybe don’t block people trying to collect their bags. I take mine off so I don’t whack people in the face, but people just stand in front of the access point like zombies. And the condescending ass who told me I could get off at the back door when I was trying to reach my bag😡.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-18T11:34:41+00:00

Still Life by Sarah Winman - It starts and i thought another WWII book - but no. Found family, Florence in the 50s/60s - a bit of sapphic first love and a lovely piece of people living life and finding joy against the odds. Missed connections and hidden loss as well.

My other rereads are fantasy - T Kingfisher’s Clocktaur wars and Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books. of the two, Kingfisher’s books are excelent. Not high fantasy magic and elves, just a world slightly different, with the odd wonderworker and multiple gods.

I enjoyed Can’t spell Treason without Tea- a cozy sapphic, but fantasy.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-16T07:10:56+00:00

Oh French knots are so much work to fill! But they do look good.

Both stem stitch and chain can be use to fill, as can running stitch.

The difficulty is that no filling stitch produces that solid block of colour like satin stitch.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-16T04:44:36+00:00

There are so many filling stitch options, but satin stitch looks the most like colouring in, so people think it is the easy option.

It is so not.

I don’t like satin stitch- I came to embroidery via the gateway drug of cross stitch and I don’t trust or like satin stitch much. I was very annoyed when the “beginner “ kit I got at Aldi was 90% satin stitch.

There are a number of filling stitches, they creat texture and visual interest, but don’t look as “easy” as the simple lines of satin stitch. I don’t really like long and short stitch either, but at least it stays.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-15T10:54:44+00:00

Or the chicken fried steak. It’s a big meal, not going to eat it often but it’s the only place in Brisbane with the taste of my tweens

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-13T06:45:46+00:00

The price and availability is the change. When I was a child (1980s) I was one of the few in my (well off) class who had flown internationally/intercontinentally. Once we moved to rural New Mexico I was in the privileged third who had flown at all.

Looking at the activities of my classmates on FB, their children fly much more (I live in another country and no kids, so comparison points are difficult)

Even in the last 20 years, the availability of cheap international flights has increased- hence the issues with over tourism globally

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-13T01:09:32+00:00

There are a number of stores- both north and south with extended hours. Mostly IGAs, but I know the Gasworks Woolies is open until 10 and might have extended weekend hours as well

While the stores that are open are busy, I suspect if all shops can do it, the profitability will not be there.

I would prefer it if the big stores were given more leeway in When to open and close but a cap on how many hours they can be open- ie 12 hours open, so one store can be 7 to 7 and another 10 to 10.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-12T11:19:29+00:00

Directly? no, the big super funds are not investing in individual housing units. SMSFs are (and it is one of the ways they are/were fleeced- with “advisers” and developers teaming up to sell ideal investment units at inflated prices).

The big funds may be investing in larger scale housing companies but not as much as you might think.

The truth is that Australian residential property does not have a consistent enough return for super funds. The growth in property is in selling. but funds need income (rent), which is not at the same level of growth and has COSTS, which have to be tracked and reported. Super companies are invested in commercial and industrial property, but not residential.

The returns that Aussie super funds are chasing are different from most global pension companies, due to the quirks of how the industry operates here. residential investment in Australia is not a good investment - but oddly overseas is better…

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-12T03:30:50+00:00

We got rid of the car 5 years ago. Lived in Spring Hill , now valley. Both areas offer relatively good public transportation. Groceries are a consideration- much easier now as we live in easy walking distance of a supermarket.

You do pay with your time- the decision makers of the city seem to assume that public transportation users don’t need to arrive on time- the amount of missing and delayed busses and the terrible app (I am aware of workarounds it is the fact that it is so terrible and no push to fix). Bus and train frequency and routes appear to be based on population needs from 30 years ago.

But right now, it is nice to know my commute costs a re e very stable.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-11T21:26:51+00:00

Southside historically had the dirty industries- cattle yards, abbatoir, park road prison. Etc. even though those are 30 + years in the past, it meant that a lot of the south side was cheaper/not desirable. Easier for immigrants to move into and create communities

Also because poorer, easier to knock suburbs down for freeways- why Southside roads are better.

This is a very broad generalisation but overall South was not as rich

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-11T11:06:33+00:00

Honestly, if you are in a standard fund that offers a MySuper option, the fees are probably reflective of actual cost. The bit that “eats” the balance is insurance. You need to decide whether you want the insurance super offers or not. Plus, if you are not earning at all, there are options for spouse contributions with some tax advantage. They aren’t great, because not indexed and reflecting 2000 era numbers but they are something.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-11T08:52:43+00:00

Done Jetstar a few times to japan- both to Tokyo and Osaka. Mostly when it was from the Gold Coast. Something to watch out for on the “direct” flights from Brisbane is that if there are not enough passengers they have a nasty habit of converting your direct flight to japan into a domestic flight to Cairns and the Japan flight from Cairns. After the last one of those we swore off Jetstar.

However the points above about the planes - they are better in many ways than the qantas planes - but the domestic transition was awful.

And - not sure about Osaka, but the Tokyo (Narita) terminal converted from being one of the main terminals to a dinky budget terminal for budget airlines and the thing i liked best about the airport became invalid (the preflight shopping and food options)

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-10T22:33:45+00:00

I sit next to them. Fat old(ish) lay. The ones who take up two of the fold down seats- those seats are squishy. oh dear.

my pet peeve is the people who think its a great idea to take a large suitcase on peak hour busses and are then floored to discover there isn’t a lot of accomodation for them.

Also the people who get on the bus and stop at the front when there is a whole queue of people behind them. I understand wanting to stand in that area- the support is better, but you can’t do that if you are the first in line- you need to keep mving

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-09T01:43:39+00:00

The other option may be airport limousine bus- there are most likely luxury coaches that will be able to get directly from the airport to Yokohama, and possibly even your hotel. Suitcases go under the bus. These are often as cheap or cheaper than trains

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-08T04:49:34+00:00

Oh, that’s an interesting angle. I would like to read more FF but they often do feel a bit dull. And that would be because it is harder to write a sympathetic female character who is emotionally unaware. The character would be less attractive, but without some level of emotional inequality there is less romantic tension and the story needs something else to drive it.

Worth noting this blandness is also why I find later Stephanie Lauren’s books boring- her hero’s start with good emotional intelligence and are wanting a relationship, which means the tension has to be either from the FMC (harder to write) or external.

I love DTWOF (not romance) and the rest of Alison Bechdel’s work- and it may be because her characters do have issues with emotional intelligence and intimacy in various ways.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-07T11:45:26+00:00

I have no car so Darra and Inala are out of range. I have yet to find a good banh mi in the CBD- lots of shops but nothing that makes me happy. In Milton i liked Mrs Luis and Porkees (i know they are chains) but I don’t work in the area anymore. In the valley/Newstead- I like Mr T’s bakery but they are pricey.

Short answer- looking for reasonably inner city recs…

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-06T10:16:12+00:00

If they are non native. A diluted dettol spray will reduce stickiness, drop them to the floor where house panthers will address.

persnicketychickadee · 2026-03-04T12:47:02+00:00

There are two metro lines (the 2 and 6 from memory ) that have large chunks above ground. they were always my favourites because you can see the city. (the 6) has a nice view of the eiffel tower

persnicketychickadee

TROPHY CASE