thornberry

I have a relatively free weekend ahead, so am hoping to start (and finish) some sewing.  Maybe if I put my plans in writing I might feel compelled to follow through!  These fabrics arrived this week from the Amitie blog VIP club.  How incredibly cute!

I plan on using the fabric with the numbers to make a childcare bag for Stella.  There is a lot of stuff that a one year old needs to take with her to childcare!  I’ll combine it with a similar print that I bought from Retro Mummy, and I’m still deciding what plain fabric to mix them with.  I’m planning on using the Large Tote & Satchel pattern from Nicole Mallalieu, with loads of extra internal pockets, and I may incorporate some clear PVC over the exterior of the bag to protect it.  The delicious little red riding hood print will possibly become the bodice of a summer dress for Stella (which won’t be made this weekend - it’s way too chilly here in Melbourne to be thinking about summer clothes now).

This top is still cut out, waiting to be sewn.  Maybe I’ll get to it this weekend.  Clare also needs a pair of school pants - once again, fabric and pattern are all ready to go, and I can whip them up fairly quickly with the overlocker.  I’ll be embarassed if I don’t get at least that project done!

Speaking of school clothes and chilly Melbourne winter, I finished Clare’s school scarf and beanie.

The scarf was done without a pattern - it is just US double crochet (Australian treble) using two balls of Patons Superwash 8 ply.  The beanie is a modification of a pattern I found somewhere on the internet, worked entirely in double crochet like the scarf.  Easy peasy.  Elsewhere on the crochet front I have almost completed the Mossy Cowl, and hope to start on a scarf using the Pear Tree yarn.  There is also the matter of two June CAL blocks to complete (but I’ve got the rest of the month to finish them off, surely).

My fat quarters are all ready to send for the Vintage Sheet Patchwork Swap.  I’m looking forward to seeing what patterns I receive in return - and thinking of what I will do with them all.  Elizabeth has promised to have some great suggestions on her blog next month.

And to finish off - another op shop dress pattern.  This one is from 1977.

Wow ladies, bad hair.  And I’m still cacking myself at this post by Jodie of Ric-Rac.  So beautifully put (or should that be sung)?

Rather than go to Magnolia Square on Thursday and look at things that I couldn’t afford to buy, I decided to go op-shopping.  And the op shop gods were smiling on me!

A vintage sheet to add to the fat quarters I’m sending off to the vintage sheet patchwork swap; some buttons; vintage hand-embroidered linens that will become part of clothing or a bag; a pillowcase that will become yet another pillowcase dress; extremely old knitting/crochet books; and a girls dress pattern that I’m sure I remember from my childhood.  Mum, did you make me a dress from this pattern?  The one with the short sleeves?  But the most exciting find of the day was this:

A complete set of Golden Hands craft magazines!  Oh joy oh rapture.  They are from the early seventies - Mum had a set when I was a child, and it went off to an op shop somewhere about ten years ago after I reassured Mum that “no, I won’t want these”.  Well, fast-forward ten years and yes, I do want these!  I had a look through a set at Brown Owls last week and realised what a fantastic resource they are.  I was absurdly excited to find them in op shop number three (of six for the morning) for the grand total of $12.

Clare was most excited with my other (unphotographed) op shop find - a pair of Barbie roller-skates for $5.  She has barely had them off her feet since.  I am also very proud of her - she wore her patch at school for two hours on Friday.  It is proving difficult to get enough hours of patch wearing done with only before and after school, so I suggested that she could take her patches to school and wear them there too if she wanted to - and she did.  What maturity for a five year old.  Thank you also for the lovely comments about Clare’s glasses and eye patch - they are all very touching and much appreciated.

Look what we did this afternoon!  I read zephyrama’s post yesterday, and knew that Clare and I just HAD to have a go ourselves at making knitting needle bangles.

Before:  a pile of op-shop plastic knitting needles, and a how-to.

During: needles bubbling away in our old camping pan.  A larger or longer pan would have been good but this was all that we had.  They were a bit like spaghetti; as the end in the water softened, I could push the rest of the needle in.

After:  a whole lot of bangles!

They’re not perfect, but it was lots of fun!  With a bit more practice I reckon that we could do even better.  Longer needles seem to be more successful.  I’ll be keeping an eye out for long plastic needles in every op-shop that I enter from now on!  Thanks Zephyrama!  I vaguely remember people making bangles out of plastic toothbrushes when I was a kid - I suppose that it was the same process.

A friend told me recently about the Reverse Art Truck in Ringwood (a suburb of Melbourne).  They are a non-profit organisation which collects rejects, seconds and factory offcuts for distribution to schools, early learning centres, community groups and individuals.  I went there yesterday morning, and left with this:

An almost full green garbage bag full of bits and pieces for $20.  These are some of the craft things that I collected for Clare:

She’s had a lovely time with them today creating rockets and space ships - she’s just been to the movies to see “In the Shadow of the Moon” (a documentary on the moon landing) with her dad.  I picked up these bits and pieces for myself:

Two books of upholstery fabric samples, other large pieces of fabric, leather belts which will become bag handles, pieces of vinyl and leather, buckles, as well as pieces of card and old folder & diary covers which I intend to cover in fabric.

The variety and volume of materials available was astounding.  I thoroughly recommend it as a place to source materials for children and for any crafty person!  I assume that other cities may have similar schemes.  Materials available include timber, dowel, fabrics, pointed cones, fluoro paper, matt board, card, rubber, foam,  containers, silver & gold foil paper, rope, cord, elastic, sandpaper, cardboard, drums, wooden blocks, sheepskin, vinyl, leather, small and large reels, wrapping paper and ribbons, plastic tubing and hose, boxes, wire, twine, polystyrene, and more.  I imagine that the stock changes often as different materials become available.  If you are thinking of visiting, go without children - it’s fairly crowded and everything is tightly packed together.

Along with all the Melbourne women aged over sixty (or so it seemed), I went along to the Stitches and Craft show today.  Taking a baby in a pusher is a great way to have an economical time at a craft show, I must say!  It makes it quite difficult to get close to the stalls.  People either stop and coo and chat to bub, or they see the pusher and glower threateningly.  The Living Creatively stand was a highlight!  There is the most gorgeous crafty garden that has been created, complete with real grass and real rabbits!  I briefly met Kristen, Angela, Bianca, Kristine, Justine, Fiona,  and there were other crafty gals there too I didn’t get to chat to but whose names seemed very familiar.  It was a bit of a blogmeet!  My friend Nikki was demonstrating how to make bags (very professional with the microphone, I must say) and all in all it was the best stand there.  There were also some beautiful yarns available (Pear Tree Yarn was especially gorgeous), but I restrained myself from buying and instead took their business cards with those all-important online store addresses.  Some great felting stands, loads of beading/scrapbooking/cross-stitch/needlepoint/quilting (none of which interests me at the moment - although I did get a little excited about a super-duper fancy schmancy iron and ironing board - what am I for that to be a thrill?), lots of the same old same old, so it was great to have Living Creatively there to freshen things up.

So, back to shopping!  I have done a little bit of online shopping over the past month or so, and thought that it’s time that I shared it.

Lots of beautiful crochet patterns, great skirts (it’s about time that I learned to draft my own simple skirt patterns instead of relying on commercial ones), yet more crafty bags, scarves, placemats etc in the Simple Gifts book, and Style Rx is a terrific guide to dressing to suit your shape. 

Clover crochet hooks, from the USA.  Once again, it would have cost me more than double the price to buy them here!  Online shopping must really be doing some Australian retailers out of some business.  I can’t wait to give these hooks a try.  Maybe with my other new book, Vintage Crochet.

Oh, so many lovely things to crochet!  Like these:

among many, many others!

A week or so ago I also managed some successful op-shopping - fourteen old Top Kids magazines for 50c each:

and the Spencer & Rutherford handbag outlet sale had these trims:

As you can see, I had no need to go spending money at the Craft show after all!  I’ve got loads of lovely goodies to craft with and inspire me as it is.

Although while getting my sewing machine attended to again yesterday, I did spot this:

Well, I do have a major birthday coming up … maybe I can dream a little …

Crafty bloggers consistently amaze me with their kindness and generosity in the ways that they share their information and inspiration with others, hold giveaways, contribute to their communities and generally support one another.

I received a parcel in the mail today from Floss from Another Day In Paradise.

Beautifully wrapped in cute fabric and tied with a ribbon, with a lovely card attached.  Inside were these:

Vintage girls clothes patterns, all in sizes 5 and 6.  She’d seen them in an op-shop in NZ, thought of me and Miss Clare, bought them all and posted them to me here in Australia.  What generosity!  When I explained to Clare that a lady who we hadn’t actually ever met had bought these for her, she replied “wow, that’s REALLY nice”!  They’re gorgeous - and there’s one for every couple of years from 1964 to 1980.  Many have hand-written notes about who they were for, in which style, which fabric, etc.  Thank you so so much Floss!  We love them!

On the crochet front, I have been swatching to make the Empress Baby-doll top from Interweave Crochet for myself, but can’t seem to get anywhere near gauge in the cotton I’m trying to use.  I’ve asked the gurus on Ravelry for help.  I’ll possibly end up using the larger hook, but make the top in a size smaller than I’d originally anticipated.  Hopefully then it will fit me!

In the meantime I may need to find something to do with some of that Jet yarn that will be quick, satisfying and not need to be terribly accurate with size.  I think it’s going to be the “cold shoulders” capelet from Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Happy Hooker (thanks for the inspiration Michelle)!

The vow of “no online fabric shopping in December”, that is.  But it’s been so difficult!  Lara Cameron of Kirin & Co has/had some beautiful new fabrics for sale, and those online fabric stores keep on having discounts!  Lucky for me, some of the November shopping has just arrived.

And up close:

These four are from a range called “Full Moon Forest”.  The bottom two are destined to go into another dress for Clare.  If you look closely, you can find owls, rabbits, fish and bees.  And just check out these beautiful ribbons.  Sigh!

The patterns below arrived as well.  The centre pattern is the dress I’m going to make for Clare from the Full Moon Forest fabric; a couple of Frenchy bags are in the works for gifts as well.

And the local op-shop came up trumps, once again!

Baby crochet patterns!  Yay!  I’ll add these to the ever-expanding project list.

And for this weekend: after a heavy day of socialising today (picnic lunch with friends and dinner out with family) I’ll be back into it tomorrow trying to complete Christmas gifts - four capes, a bag, Christmas dresses for the girls - oh my goodness!

We went out for brunch on Saturday, and luckily for me the cafe is right near two op-shops!  I had a little bit of success, which is unusual for me.

Two lovely old sheets, nice and soft and colour coordinated - these will be become some pyjamas for me, and possibly some dresses for the girls.  Two matching embroidered pillowcases - I will use these for the embroidery, and plan on making matching outfits for the girls with embroidered bodices.  I also found another pink embroidered pillowcase, which I will once again cut up and use for the embroidery.  And Clare liked the two little wooden toys!  All up (including a couple of novels) it cost me $12, so I’m pretty happy with that. 

If only I’d read Ric Rac’s tutorial about knitting needle bracelets before I went op-shopping - I know that I passed some knitting needles by!  Now I’ll need to go back (and with a new baby, that is no easy task).  Luckily for me though I have an uncle who loves to frequent op-shops - I think that I’ll suggest a new mission for him!

At the newsagent I picked up these two magazines.

I had been looking for “Adorn” for ages, and was amazed to finally spot it.  I’ve only browsed so far, and it seems to have some good projects, as does “Crochet Today”.  But with both of these I’ll see how much I actually do from them before I purchase the next issue.  My craft and sewing magazine stash is getting a little large now!

I did a little refashioning on Sunday morning - Miss Clare’s floral top was once a size 1 romper from the local op-shop.  I cut off the bottom and hemmed it with some pre-gathered lace.  I also made the skirt - it’s a beautiful soft fine baby cord, with elasticised back waist and pleats around the bottom (the pattern is McCalls M5169).  There were another couple of variations in the pattern, and I think that I will definitely give them a go some time!  The styling is entirely by Miss Clare . . .

I’ve really got on a roll with the pillowcase dress / pillowcase nighties - how about this one?  The pillowcase concerned was also from the op-shop.  I use a combination of the above two tutorials - I prefer that the neck casing is elasticised, rather than a drawstring for both the neck and ties (a safety issue, I suppose - I’m not terribly keen on drawstrings the whole way around the neck).  Reading the two tutorials in combination gives a nice mix of instructions and measurements though.

I think that this one would be a lovely summer dress rather than a nightie.  I used pink bias tape for the bindings and straps, and pre-gathered eyelet lace around the bottom.  Miss Clare loves it!  That makes three pillowcase dresses now - and I suspect that there may be more in the works.  Looks like every small girl that I know will be wearing these in summer!

Maybe I’ll think about joining Wardrobe Refashion!

The Sherbet bag from the Melly and Me pattern is finished - I rather like it!

It’s a nice size, great shape, has a magnetic closure, and is a terrific way to use some coordinating fabrics (although the ones I used don’t match entirely - here’s a close-up).

And a photo of the other side:

Next time that I make it I’ll need to put in some interior pockets.  Because of the pleats, it might be a bit difficult to position them properly, but I prefer it if I have a separate pocket for my mobile phone. 

I need to figure out a nicer spot to take photos of my projects!

A little more successful op-shopping this afternoon while Miss Clare was at kinder - two nice pieces of John Kaldor floral fabrics, a great blue linen-type piece of fabric, a green floral lawn and an embroidered wool, all for the grand total of around $12.  Then I went and beautified myself at the hairdressers - quite a relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

Two of Clare’s winter skirts were a little too big around the waist, so I unpicked the elastic that was there, sewed a new wider casing along the back of the skirts, unpicked the side seam of the lining, and inserted some of that marvellous elastic with buttonholes into the new casing.  Once I’d sewed a button to the inside, I was able to adjust the skirt waists so that they now stay up and can continue to be easily let out as needed.  I sewed the other end of the elastic into the other side seam, so only one side needed the button.  Very practical - I think that I might use the same technique with most of the elastic waisted things that I make for Miss Clare (I wonder if I should use it for my clothes as well . . . )