Sewing

A boat necked tshirt for a two year old's birthday, with felt squirrel hand appliqued on. T shirt fabric from op shop stash! pattern from ottobre magazine.

Textile addiction

To add to my long list of textile obsessions, I've added spinning! (i'm not very good), but I found a spinning wheel at a local op shop about 3 months ago, and now i'm finally spinning a yarn that i can knit with! Its a single ply something, which mimics a felted yarn that I love ( if anyone knows how to do that, drop me a line!). I'm using it to make Anoushka a cardigan from the latest Living Crafts mag . Now i've discovered that people sell a lot of carded wool on trade me ( new zealand's version of ebay) and i've been spending hours looking at it all....

for a friend

A dear friend from my first baby days (we were introduced by our very wise midwife) came to visit today. it is a rare occassion when friends from Auckland pop in! i made her this bag, also from carefree clothes for girls (see previous post). A doily from my collection, the outer is an old tablecloth bought yesterday from a second-hand shop, the inner, a remnant of upholstery fabric from a friend, the handles, an offcut also bought at a second store.

Carefree girls

Thanks to the generosity of a crafty friend I have been able to borrow her copy of  carefree clothes for girls , and have been inspired!  I love the aesthetic of it  but haven't got the money at the moment to go and get beautiful linens etc.  So in the spirit of use what you have I whipped up these creations, the chemise (on Anoushka, right) the blouse with crochet doily trim ( on maaike, middle ( thats my monkey son in his grubby pyjamas, I'll get around to new clothes for him later)), and the quilted bodice dress  (below).  beautiful, now to customise some of my clothing in the same vein....

The fabrics I used were old cotton sheets, scraps of pink linen from the op shop, a remnant of the princess and the pea fabric, an old  tablecloth and some doilies from  my stash. buttons , a gift from gill .

and the winner is....

tracey from new south wales, australia. enjoy your weekend everyone!

crafty days

A Tiki brooch waiting for an owner.... Susan,  I cant retrieve any contact details from your comment. If you do not contact me by Friday  12 noon( nz time), I will redraw giveaway.  There is no malice  intended, but I want to give stuff to someone!

crafty gifts

So far, so good... the children don't ask to buy presents for their friends birthdays ( or for any reason actually), they start looking through their and my craft books for ideas. This is how with short notice a special friend of Anoushka is still getting a gift and a gift straight from her heart too!  Anoushka received a fairy craft kit for christmas and decided to make her friend one of these. I only got a picture of fairy-in-progress because things got a bit chaotic in the meantime! (Toddler found glue, three year old wanted to sit on my chair with me , and said three year old has permanent case of ants-in-pants, so bumped toddler, who sent hot coffee flying onto Anoushka, and fairy was left behind in chaos!)

She also chose to make the artsy clutch from Bend the Rules Sewing , choosing the fabric and buttons herself. She sat with me at the sewing machine and lifted the presser foot and hit the reverse button for me.

 So forest fairy and artsy clutch (pencil case) are on their way to special friend, with no money spent, but lots of time, family interest, a bit of chaos and love instead!

toothpaste/powder

as i mentioned yesterday, we are making as much stuff ourselves  and supporting local businesses. I have to really promote this stuff, struan and the kids made it and he has the link to the recipe here. I REALLY  like it! Im sure my teeth were whiter than before,and the super clean feeling lasted till morning.    now to find eco toothbrushes.....

sayonara supermarket

We are going to make a real commitment to spending as little as possible at big supermarkets and instead use the dollars we do spend at local businesses or  road side stalls. This includes cost cutting measures like trying to make our own eco friendly cleaning products etc.  Struan is dedicating his own blog to the cause here , and no doubt I will blog it too. struan is on teachers holiday (lovely) and is developing his own creative pursuits. I do find it hard to share my sewing machine and garden but maybe this will one day lead to a shared business venture! look at what he made to replace the falling apart cheap plastic peg basket. much cooler dont you think?

Giveaway results: Congratulations Susan: said...Lovely! Happy Birthday and Happy New Year!

DECEMBER 27, 2009 5:38 PM  

Susan could you get in touch with me with your choice of items and mailing address. thanks!

Giveaway

Hi I'm back! I was given feedback that it was too hard to leave a comment, so ive edited my settings and will extend giveaway for two more days to allow those who couldnt leave a comment to be able to. Thank you for all the lovely comments received so far and I will draw the winner on wednesday the 6th of jan nz time. Good luck!