...and the Postman delivers new fabric!

I was supposed to go to work today, but I'm so glad I didn't, because I would have missed the Postie!

I almost did miss him as I had the music blaring and didn't hear the knock at the door.

Thank goodness for Mr Limpy Houdini dog and his incessant barking!

These two are now in the shop!

Because everyone should have a peacock top with matching curtains

I found this gorgeous peacock print cotton voile on the clearance table at Spotty a couple of weeks ago.

I've been looking for something to replace the curtain that screens off my workspace from the rest of the open plan living area for a while now. There was a little over five metres left so I bought all of it....

....and came home and whipped up two curtains.

 
There happened to be just enough left for a top, so I thought why not?

It's a little bit short, as I had an issue with the bottom binding and had to cut it off and redo, but I'm going to have to wear a top undeneath anyway as it's a bit too see through for my modest self.

I'll just have to remember not to stand in front of the curtains!

Proud Moment

I spent yesterday afternoon packing fabric for the upcoming Polly Pratt Pop-Up Shop this Saturday.

As I haven't been selling at any markets, I usually only cut fabric to a specific size as orders come in from the shop.

When I stood back and looked from afar, I have to admit to having a bit of a proud moment.

Fingers crossed the shoppers like them!


PS - this is post number 2000!!!

Spring Bouquet

It's only five more sleeps 'til Spring... and hopefully some much needed sunshine.

Sunshine arrived at my doorstep today when my new Spring Bouquet fabric arrived a day earlier than expected (gotta love that)!

Mr Limpy Houdini Attack Dog wasn't quite so amused by the knock on the door.

This is a Kona Quilting weight 100% cotton basecloth. 

It's a bit hard to see from the photos, but the design size is smaller than the Spring Bouquet Cushion Cover so that it's more useful for small projects and for my next A-Line Skirt of course.

I hope everyone else loves it as much as me!



  

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My Creative Space...

It's taken me a week of to-ing and fro-ing and some terrible indecision and procrastination and garnering of opinions from The Twitter and The Instagram.... but I finally made a fabric decision for my Lisette Sew Along dress!

Although this wasn't my favourite overall print of the fabrics that I pulled from the stash (and that I'm therefore classifying FREE just because they're not new), it was definitely the most appropriate weight for this type of dress.

Fingers crossed I'll get it sewn up on the weekend...

Did you see that we now have over 20 peeps signed up for the sew along? There are also some extra non-bloggy peeps playing along via The Twitter too. How darn cool.


In other news, I've been having terrible trouble commenting on blogs since Blogger introduced this silly CAPTCHA verification system. I manage to get through all my blog reading three times a day while I'm doing my nebs.  So, if you just picture this - I'm sitting in front of the computer, with my glasses off. with a nebuliser mask on, with a nebuliser haze in front of my face, trying to work out the CAPTCHA words and type them in. When I get it wrong three times in a row, I just give up. It's absolutely bloody impossible! 

So apologies if you haven't heard from me lately!



The home of my creative space

Sew-Along Sign Up
Link to Pattern
Sew-Along Flickr Group
Sew Lisette Flickr Group

The story of a fabric

I often buy fabric from the oppy and start to wonder.....

• Where did it come from?
• Why was it never used?
• How did it end up here?

and more importantly....

• What can I make from it?

This piece of vintage fabric didn't come to me via the op shop, so I actually had the pleasure of knowing a bit of the story behind it.

A friends mum (who is in her 70's), was helping to clean out the house of another friend, who had sadly passed away many years ago. The son was still living in the house, and hadn't thrown anything away.

My friends mum spotted the fabric stash, and immediately knew that I would love it (and she was sooooo right)! So, instead of going to the oppy, the fabric stash made its way to my house.

Of all of the bits and pieces, this is my favourite - there are two panels which have been made into curtains, and then another few metres of the original fabric with the selvedge still attached. The selvedge has '100% cotton Tahiti print' .

So this is my first 'Tahiti' creation....

Thankful

I'm always thankful when I collect the mail and there are no bills....

I'm even more thankful when I collect the mail and find crafty packages waiting for me....

I'm not thankful when the postie folds and then tries to shove those packages through a tiny mail slot instead of just reaching around and putting them in the mailbox from the rear.....

Luckily, there were no breakables - just pretty things.

I won a giveaway over at Willy Wagtail - and hilariously (given the rate at which I seem to lose these) - the giveaway was for A whole weeks supply of seam rippers. There are actually seven of them, and Cherie also included a lovely Bendigo tea towel (where I used to live), and a sweet little doilie. Thanks Cherie!

The next package contained all of these lovely tea towels and a beautiful handmade owl card.
Ngaire contacted me and said that she had these left from a garage sale of her hubby's grandmothers things. Ngaire doesn't have a blog but she liked my aprons, and so she generously offered to send them to me. Isn't that sweet? Thanks Ngaire.

....and then this little suprise package arrived in the mail from Amy at Badskirt - it's the perfect floral print for me! Thanks so much Amy. I'm going to whip myself up a little zippered purse, using the trim as a wrist strap - perfect for hands free shopping..... adding it to the list in my head as I'm typing....

In my mailbox

I was lucky enough to recieve two amazing packages in the mail this week!


On Thursday, the postie arrived with this wonderful pile of goodies from Amanda at Krafty Panda - beautiful tea towels and sweet little cat doiley (putting my thinking cap on to work out what do with that one)!

....and then on Friday, another package from Linda at Two Pink Possums. This one has tea towels, lovely fabric, and some new sewing needles (just what I need actually).

Thankyou so much Amanda and Linda - as usual I'm completely blown away by the generousity of all the crafters out there. I've received so many lovely things in the mail - I'd love to know what my postie thinks I do with all my packages!

Have a happy Saturday...

Farewell Cardboard Box

The drawers are finished and I finally have a bedside table again..... the cardboard box has been banished from my bedroom forever

I even managed to make the bed thismorning (with the cat still asleep in the middle).

The colour isn't exactly what it should be, but somebody picked up the wrong stain from the shelf at Bunnings. It was supposed to be more dark brown and less red, but it still looks good.

The funniest thing is that when we moved the huge cardboard box out lastnight (which had been labelled Hats and Scarves), and opened it, we found that it was actually full of fabric!

I have sooooo much fabric that I didn't even miss an entire box full........ and now I need to find room to unpack it. What a problem to have....oh dear!

Greenolive Goodies

I've been meaning to show and tell this lovely mixed pack of Greenolive fabric that I received from Martine at the Stitches and Craft Show earlier this month.

I've been dreaming about little projects that I'm going to make with it.....

My little nephews would love some appliqued t-shirts with the bike print. I've run out of vliesofix, so a trip to Spotlight is on the list for today.

I want to make something for myself with the butterfly print... but I'm not quite sure what. I'm thinking a zippered purse, a handbag panel, a cushion cover, a covered canvas for the wall.... so many options!

All of these lovely fabrics are now available in the Greenolive Textiles Etsy Shop.

One more sleep

In the last couple of weeks, this is the one little crafty thing that I've managed to create.
It's a market apron for Tinniegirl to wear at the Stitches and Craft show that begins in Melbourne today.

You may recognise the gorgeous birdie placemat that I've used for a pocket. It's one of the set of three that Lynsey from Swirly Thoughts and Cuteable sent me all the way from the UK.
I'm going to make myself a market apron using one of the other birdie placemats.

I can't find the presser foot for my Janome (it's packed in a box somewhere), so I had to use my sisters Husky to whip this one up. I've never tried a Husky before, but I liked it! I might just have to borrow it at some stage so that I can send my poor overworked machine in for a service.

My new house settles today so I should be picking up the keys sometime after 11AM. I'm extremely excited! The moving van is bringing back all of my earthly possessions tomorrow (including my bed), so it's only one more sleep and I'll be back in my own place once again.

I'm daydreaming about unpacking all my fabric.....

PS - There's a great giveaway over here at Badskirt!

Sunday Stash

I'm taking a break from the packing.... perfect timing for Sunday Stash!

This is a fat quarter that I bought from Amitie last month. I'm using it as a panel on a bag which is nearly finished. It's much more orange than it looks in this photo. I have no idea who it is by, but I just saw a red version of it over here which is absolutely gorgeous. If anybody knows, please enlighten me so I can buy it again!


More Sunday Stashers can be found by visiting Tamara at Quarter of an Inch.

Honest opinions needed - more options added

I have a dilemma.

One of my girlfriends is due to give birth to her second baby at the end of next month, and she doesn't know whether she's having a boy or a girl.

After she had her first baby (a little boy), she bought this Michael Miller clown fabric, and the red spots, and some blue checks with the intention of making something for him.
She never got around to using it, so she gave it to me instead, assuming that I would use it to make something for my nephews.

Luckily for me, she doesn't read the blog as she's not much of an internet gal, so I'm safe in blogging about her surprise pressie..... and what I'm really planning on making with it.

My dilemma is making fabric selections for a baby quilt that is gender neutral. I have absolutely no problem in co-ordinating fabrics for boys or for girls..... but when it comes to making it unspecific, confusion sets in.

I'm starting with the clowns, the red spots, and the green checks.

Then I added a blue and green spot.....

....and then a really light blue check

Would this really suit a boy or a girl, or does the addition of the blue make it too boyish?

Updated:

This is what I love about the internet. I've got some fantastic suggestions.... and quick as a flash!

So this is another option - Clowns, Yellow, Blue & Red

Or Clowns, Yellow, Green and Red

or Clowns, Yellow, Black Stripes, and red.

Thrifted Tuesday

I finally unloaded last weeks op-shop finds from the back of my car.......

I headed straight for the fabric and linen section at my local Vinnies only to find an older lady had just pilfered all of the good fabric right before I arrived......

But lucky for me.... she didn't spot this roll of fabric that was hiding in the corner. I don't know how much there is as I haven't unrolled it yet, but it's pink, it has flowers, and it was only $10. Now that has to be a bargain!

I also found a lovely vintage floral sheet set which is now in the washing machine....

....and a huge bag of bias binding and twill tape for $4. Oh Vinnies, how I love thee.

Lessons for today

Carefully check the pattern on the fabric before you cut out the pieces for the shorts!

Love Fridays

I had to go and pay my car registration today, and Vicroads just happens to be a few doors away from Spotlight so I decided to take Amy's advice and headed off to spend my discount voucher.

I stocked up on some good quality thread.....

....and a stack of fabric.

Now I get to go and play with it all..... and that's a perfect reason to Love Friday.
Don't forget to head on over to Big Cat's Emporium to check out who else is playing along.

Love Fridays

Today I'm lovin' Friday just because it's not 34 degrees and humid!

I'm also lovin' all these Golden Hands magazines that Belinda gave me on Wednesday. They finally made it out of the car today!


My mum has been down to the country this week to help my sister out with some gardening.
The stash above is what she bought back from the oppy for me....

I popped into an oppy on the way home from pulmonary rehab today to find my myself some shorts for summer. I've lost a bit of weight so everything I own is falling down and I'm getting really sick and tired of hitching up my pants.

I found the peacock pillowcase above, all of the fabric below, a pair of shorts, and a skirt for $10.
So much for decluttering the house and the fabric stash.

Now that's definitely a reason to Love Friday....

.....and if you haven't been over to visit Big Cat today, then you definitely should, because there's a fantastic suprise in store!

Resting

I'm having a rest day at home today. I've been out and about all over the place in the last week and it's been so much fun...

I ventured back into the city again yesterday (three times in a week is an absolute record for me). I met up with Cathy and Belinda and we tootled off to have a lovely lunch at one of the cafes in Degraves St. We also had a chuckle about our internet / blog dating....

Belinda had to head back to work after lunch so Cathy and I headed to Magnation to drool over the wall of craft magazines. But then we realised that it was only 2pm and there would be op shops still open until 4pm, so we zoomed off in the car to go bargain spotting.

On the way home, we were about to drive past GJ's discount fabrics, so we made a little pitstop as I had never been there. I picked up these sweet little fat quarters for $2 each.

Then it was time for a delicious home cooked dinner and a trip to the ice cream shop to finish off a wonderful day / night!

I also borrowed this past issue of Frankie from Cathy on the way out as I've never read it before. Now it's time for a cup of tea and a biccie with Frankie.

Oops! I forgot to mention that the beautiful collage at the top was my prize in the Big Cat Blogtoberfest giveaway. Florence is going to look lovely on my wall....

Found....

I was having a quiet day at home yesterday so I thought I'd sort through last weeks mail that was still piled up, and pay some bills.

I'd somehow completely forgotten that amongst the pile of mail was some sweet fabric!

Little Red Riding Hood print from The Retromummy Shop.....
I'm going to make some baby bibs with this one.

Just for me.....some Birch on Fuschia from Lara Cameron.

Hmmmm decisions, decisions on just what I'm going to make. My photo doesn't do justice to the actual colour which is a really deep pink. It's gorgeous!