I was right about those pins

I was so tantalisingly close to finishing my tunic tonight. I only have the side seams and hem to do. It's probably just as well as I am almost out of thread. I'll pop into Spotlight tomorrow and hopefully have time to finish it off in the afternoon. 

Winter Treats

The bowl of warm Winter brooches (minus the bowl) will soon be making their way to Rose's Cupboard.  These brooches are just the thing to warm you up on a cold day. They are the perfect accompaniment to all manner of Winter goodies, like scarves and jackets and well as hot tea and scones (plus, they are fat free!).

Skirting the price

Tonight at my dressmaking class I am starting my tunic,but I have my next project all lined up. 

 

Inspired by these Anthropologie skirts ($US81 and $US117)

and using this quilting fabric ($AU12.95)

I'm going to make this skirt ( New Look #6872) for a total cost of $AU17.70 (plus, lots of frustration, unpicking and tantrums!). Wish me luck!

A few of my favourite things...

in my bedroom.

Flamingo lights

A handmade vintage green dress

The view from my window

My elephant brooch

My scarves

What are your favourite things?

My Friend Jane

Have you met my friend Jane? We first met just before Christmas. We had an internet friendship for a few weeks and then I decided that we should meet. So I paid her airfare to Australia and she arrived just after Christmas. Not long after she had arrived our friendship cooled (possibly because I put her in a box and locked her away in the studio). On Saturday I decided to let her out and cut her up! Yep, I finally cut into my Heather Bailey Nicey Jane fabrics.

Vintage Oranges

I love vintage fabrics and I have a penchant for orange, so it's not surprising that these gems caught my eye. 

These fabrics can be bought here. 

Damn, I may need to use pins for this one

The first item of clothing I'm making at my dressmaking class is a tunic. I knew that a tunic was a long, plain, sleeved or sleeveless blouse, but I didn't know that the word can also refer to a covering enveloping an organ (insert the sound of my Mum saying 'yuck') or part or a loose membranous outer covering of a bulb or corm, as of the onion, tulip, or crocus. For my tunic (the wearing kind) I chose this fabric. I'm not sure how it will look as a dress (or on me), but I love the retro-iness (yes, Mum, I just made up a word) of it. And the colouring should -in theory- work with my complexion. 

Loose Threads

image from here

Fancy A Cuppa?

image from here

Little Boxes

There's song that I often gets stuck in my head. I think it's called Little Boxes. It's about suburban houses. The first verse goes like this-

Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

When I saw these photos of London store Selfridges' new window display on Jilly P's blog the song immediately popped into my head and it just won't get out.  Little boxes These little cardboard houses are a great idea. And so simple. I'd love to have the job of making these. How much fun would that be? 

all images belong to Jill Phillips

Little boxes on the hillside.....argghhhh...stop it....get out if my head.....and they all look just the same.

More Pins

With the scraps left over from my secret sewing project I made myself this cute little pin cushion. Of course, it's unlikely that it will be used much, but it looks pretty.

My Creative Space...Pins & Needles

This week my creative space involved using a few pins. Now, I'm not usually a pinner, even when quilting I only use pins for the top quilting. I prefer free hand sewing. Apparently this is a big no-no in the world of 'real' 'grown-up' sewing. 

But the rebel in me couldn't help herself and when my dress making teacher was not looking I went commando pin free. Whoohoo...talk about livin' on the edge!  

I'm not quite ready for the big reveal just yet.

What's been happening in your creative space lately? Check out Kirsty's blog for more crafty creativeness. 

Fitting

The latest issue of Frankie magazine arrived on my door step this morning. This month's free art work is a lovely poster of a vintage sewing machine and the words 'make do and mend'. Little did I know how true those words would ring today. I immediately new that I was going to hand the poster on my wall. 'I'll make do by reusing a frame I've already got', I thought. How apt. So, I replaced the old artwork in a gold frame with my nice new crafty poster. It was difficult getting the backing board back in the frame, but with the help of a butter knife (yes, I am resourceful), I managed to squeeze the bugger board back in. A wash with the satisfaction that I had created a new piece of wall art for nothing I turned the frame around to admire my work only to discover that in the process of convincing the board to go back into place I had cracked the glass. Nonetheless, my Make do and Mend poster now has pride of place over the mantle piece, cracked glass and all. Makes it more authentic, don't ya think?

Vintage Voyeurism

Hello! I've been working on some new brooches for upcoming markets, but they're not ready to share with you yet (soon, very soon).

But today I have some more cute vintage goodness to share. All these products can be found in Bellalulu's etsy store. Enjoy!

A few of my favourite things...

from the latest Anthropologie catalogue.