Sunday Stash

What happened to last weeks Sunday stash? Oh well, here's a little bundle that cost me a little bundle (shhh... ;) ), all the way from Germany care of DaWanda. I missed this green cotton knit sweatshirt print in the Craftymamas shop and had to scour the net to find me some. I was lucky enough to find it in pink also, and a couple of others things caught my eye while I was there.
The pink and green Hilco prints will be made into a birthday outfit for Pearl in the next few weeks sometime.

To Market, to Market

This Saturday will be my first market at the Fullarton Plant and Craft Market. I am way behind with my plans but have decided to go ahead anyway to get a feel of it all. It is likey to be wet and quite cold so I am not expecting it to be even moderately busy and if I sell something I will be happy.
Here are some of my recent creations which will be available on the day. Sorry the pics are nto fantastic, they were taken very late at night.
First, a Miss Madeline in brown floral pinwale cord with vintage apron, sz2























Next, a Farbenmix Olivia in printed velour. sz98-104cm























Lastly, my favourite. An Enid Gilchrist Pretty Pini from Play Clothes. I used a vintage tablecloth which I have been hoarding for absolutely ages, wating for the perfect project. I really love how it turned out with the print placement. This is a size 5-7 and I have another waiting binding in size 2-4.























I will try to update again with a few more items in the next couple of days. I will be stocking my Madeit or Etsy store next week with what doesn't sell on the day..

Enid Play CLothes shirred blouse sz 2-3

I finally finished one of the Enids. This is the shirred blouse from a Play Clothes edition. I'm not sure which one as it had no cover.
It is made from a light spotted blue floral voile with poly cotton poplin collar, resin snaps.
It has some issues but I just wanted it finished. It wasn't difficult, I just had to get a new machine half way through, and have been busy and not well.
The shirring was a lot easier than I thought but I am not sure how to adjust the tension of the bobbin in the new machine, then forgot to leave adjustment so it ended up being a bit tight for my DD across the front.
I used snaps at the back of course being a buttonholephobe lol. There is a small square of interfacing between the layers to reinforce the snap area. Being all muddle headed with a cold I put the snaps on before putting on the collar ribbon facing so it is not perfect above the snaps, but not disastrous, and just stitched the ribbon down without turning under. A soft binding would have been better but I was working with what I had. I shirred across the front instead of just using gathered stitches as I was worried they would break after I did it. I carefully unpicked it from the light voile before shirring 2 rows in the same position.
I will make this again however, I think I will make it a bit longer and maybe also use the basic pattern to do a simple peasant top without the collar and back opening. The collar is sweet though. It is sz2-3 but I think it is a little on the short/small side.
Excuse Pearl (23months old), she was grabbed straight from the trampoline for modelling. Lucky she loves having her photo taken.

Haiku

I enjoyed writing and poetry. In another life. The one that is a distant memory, between childhood and adulthood. These days I struggle to get words on to the page as fast as possible so i can get onto the next things needing to be done.
Today I passed by A Foothill Home Companion and saw her daily Haiku challenge. I can't promise daily Haiku but I love it's simplicity and it will be nice to stretch my brain with something different.
Last night I decided to sort buttons. The box I showed at the beginning of the month. I was up quite late, all silent except for the clink and rattle of buttons, their colours shining in the lamplight. I thought about all the fingers that had undone the buttons. the garments they had graced, where they had been, how they had been treated. And of course the people that had worn them.
So here is my first blog Haiku (five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables).

Sunday Stash

Meet my stash, well, part of it. As you can see, what started off as a book shelf is being gradually taken over by my stash. I recently took over the room I wanted to refer to as "the library" or "the study" but which was commonly known as "the computer room". There are 2 large desks opposite the shelving, which used to host 4-5 dusty crt monitors, desktops keyboards and mice. They now host my sewing machine, overlocker and coverlock, AO size cutting mat and desktop lamps. Now 3 of my favourite things are very close to each other. I love to read, I love to create and love music. The front "lounge room" which I like to call the "music room" is right next door and holds a piano, old reed organ, guitars, violin, saxaphone, keyboard and all sorts of other musical mess. This is now my happy zone ;)

This is most of my stash but it has grown since I took this pic. I am trying to create some sort of status quo, to use as much as comes in. It sounds like a good plan in theory.
Each Sunday I will introduce some of my favourites or newcomers to the stash.














This week let me introduce a whimsical newcomer found in a $2 bag at the local Opshop yesterday.
Just over half a metre of this very vintage cotton print. I have no plans for it, just thought I'd share. Isn't it funny that the prints and colours you grew up with and hated are now like old friends reminding you of good times?


















And I may as well show the rest of the treasure bag which included cord, seersucker, checks prints and all sorts. will my stash end up in bags at the local Opshop one day? I better get sewing!

Doily winner

Thankyou for those that contributed their ideas and links. I thought it would be fair to use the number generator to choose a winner, although I did have a favourite.

The winner is...... Jettas Nest! I loved her suggestion and this picture. Click on the pic to go to her blog and check out all her stuff. She does amazing appliques and things for sale too!









I love her new rocket boy. And of course the robots!

And the winner is....

Thankyou everyone for entering the sewn blog giveaway and for all the lovely comments. I have entered the number of comments into the random number generator at random.org. (1-63)


And the winner is.......Comment number 2 by Krousegirl

krousegirl said...

Congrats to you on a new blog...your dress is just lovely. Thank you for such a wonderful giveaway, Im excited about SEWN also!!

May 20, 2009 3:32 AM

Krousegirl, please contact me with your email address so I can arrange postage of your prize.

Everyone else, I hope you are having some wins on the other Sewn blogs! Thank you again, it's been fun. And now, we can all share the excitement of the new Sewn site tomorrow sometime!

Giveaway Day for Sewn TODAY

That's right, today is the day that all the 150+ blogs signed up for the new Sewn website draw their prizes, so like you I am busy commenting on all those blogs I missed and all the new ones that joined up the last few days.
My prize draw for the Modkids Frida dress (link to the right) will be drawn at around 4pm SA time. As long as I don't get too absorbed in the stack of sewing I have planned this Queen's Birthday Holiday.
So if you havne't commented yet, have a go! If it doesn't fit your child, I am sure you must know someone who it will fit and you get the joy of passing it forward :)
Have a great day everyone and I will be back later with more exciting stuff.

Actually Laura blog giveaway

I visited Actually Laura's blog today. Put 2 words together such as "vintage" and "crafty" and you have me hooked! She is celebrating her first blog birthday and giving a great prize to some lucky person. I would love to win a fancy schmancy vintagey looking blog layout for my new and rather plain and boring looking blog. Take a look and comment to win!

Embroidery is fun

I have a small collection of vintage childrens picture books. I love the old pictures and stories found in them. This week I found another use for them. I found a few simple drawings to trace and embroider. I am a novice with the floss but I enjoy it and practice makes perfect. First I traced this cute little fluffy duck called Dilly. I just love her shoes and they HAD to be red ones !

















Sorry about the picture quality, I really DO need a new camera and to take pics in natural light. Blogging late at night is not good!











I'm not sure what she will grace as yet and isn't perfect but I am pretty pleased considering it is my first bit of embroidery in years. It was very relaxing stitching her in front of the telly in the evening. A bit more social than stuck at the computer or in the sewing room :) (at least I was watching something with the family lol) I took the pic late at night and so it was very dull so tried some tricks to lighten it but I think I need a few more skillz in that department lol.

Doilys and Buttons and another giveaway.

I know, how many posts can I fit into one day? I'm on a roll and have had lots of posts planned but not happened. I will try and space them out in future :)
As I have been busy here my two littlies have kept themselves occupied and mostly out of mischief, which is pretty good for them! However when you hear what sounds like a thousand small hard objects hitting the polished floor of the sewing room, you know it won't be fun. My first thought was dd10s bead containers. They had already been hit last week, luckily minimal damage but I am still treading on strays here and there. But no, it was my box of vintage buttons, hidden in a vintage turkish delight box. Hmm, maybe not such a good choice? Luckily one handful sounds like a thousand so the damage was minimal but while I was there I thought I would show you my buttons :)



















What is a vintage suitcase good for? Why, for keeping all the vintage crochet and embroidered doilys you have collected of course!


















How lucky am I to have such a lovely collection? I have these grand plans to use them in many different crafty ways but need some inspiration. For the next week (winner chosen by me next tuesday the 9th of June, South Australian time) there will be a prize for the best comment with a link to a tute or pics or instructions for using vintage linen. This is what you can win: 5 of my prized crocheted and embroidered doilys, including postage to anywhere in the world. :) I hope I get lots of ideas because I have lots of doilys!

Enids coming soon...

Keep an eye out for these Enid Gilchrist patterns soon to be materialized.

This one looks nice and simple although it has some shirring which I have never attempted before. I guess I have to start somewhere!














This one I want to turn into a dress and cut the front panel on the fold. It has a real fifties feel to it. But look at the shirring on the back. I guess I like a challenge :)














This is the one I have already made up though made a few mistakes (not critical) that I have now learnt from, like which way to sew the elastic casing fold. It should be ready to view soon.














I would like a simple pattern I can embroider onto and this looks good. I will probably make it reversable as I have about had enough of patterns that need binding lol. I might also draft a simple shift dress for the same purpose.














OK OK OK yeah I get the whole Village People Brokeback Mountain thing. lol Still for crawlers how practical would a pair of chaps be? Or boys who put holes in their knees. Not sure if I can get over the associations though... WDYT? are you ROFLOL like my sis when I told her? __________________

Mmm Orange Cake! I need a recipe please..

I have been craving orange cake for months. I kept hinting to DD15 that she should make me one lol. Finally, with all the yummy citrus in season, and with all the family continuously nagging me, I did it! It was good, with orange butter icing, but didn't quite hit the spot or invoke the memories of the sweet moist fragrant cakes of the many potluck dinners and basket suppers of my youth. The middle took too long to bake so it was rather well-done and a bit dry :(

If anyone has a guarranteed never fail yummy moist orange cake recipe to share I will be very grateful.