Still Standing...

Though it is a fabulous tree, huge and majestic, I was hoping it would depart with just one branch to do away with my crappy laundry; alas, the storm passed with no real drama in my suburb, though the beachside got quite a battering....

Today: Presents In The Post! Though coming from Ebay, it's not so much a present..... On sound advice from Shula, I am now the owner of a fucking GORGEOUS cashmere jumper....ooooohhhh my lord, this is by far the most warming, luxurious and divine garment I have ever owned. The fit isn't perfect (as usual, a little too big), but I swear, I'm never taking it off. Never.

Though cashmere is expensive, I managed to score this one for a great price, and even if I'd paid twice as much for it, as soon as you hold it in your hands, you know it's worth every penny.

In other news, we have some more additions to the Nong family:

I'm having a little bit of trouble with the stuffing....I know not to just stuff wads of it in, and to feed it in in a slow, contast stream, but I still seem to get lumpy bits.....any advice?

Nong #4 is a good example:

His legs just don't sit how I'd like them to.

But y'know...... imperfection = originality in my book.....

I've also completed a request from my sister for an apron for my neice, who has taken to "cleaning" the house....but I'll post photos of that once the package has been recieved.... don't want to spoil the anticipation!

xxxxx

Back......(well, sort of)

Having a week or so away from blogging has been weird. Even though I haven't been doing this for very long, the habit of taking photographs, and planning little posts in my head has definately taken hold......

My computer is still in the shop, they haven't managed to find the problem, and are going to charge me through the nose for the fact that there is nothing wrong with the bloody thing, so I haven't been in to pick it up yet. In the meantime, I have dragged the old laptop out of it's retirement, happily playing music in the bedroom, to a more rigorous life as bloggers' assistant, and it's taken me this long to get all the software and bookmarks and such updated.

Anyhoo..... you would think that a week off with a newly repaired sewing machine would result in lots of things to show and tell, but I stupidly decided to do this instead.....

Namely, pulling everything out of the spare bedroom, and deciding that it will be the spectacular new home to all my sewing gear, now that it is winter, and the tiny little room off the front verandah is just not cutting it as a studio for me.....

Now, lots of furniture moving later, it's looking a little like this:

There's a distinct lack of colour in there, but I'm working on the more decorative features now......
But by far the most exiting thing is this:
This is part of my fabric stash before the renovation.....

And after following a Brilliant Tutorial, my fabrics look like this:

So so so so so much better........ I always wondered how Other.
People managed to keep thier fabrics is such good order....but now the secret's out! Not only is this an incredibly anal and satisfying thing to do when you're procrastinating, it does have some other bonus points as well..... When your fabric is folded this way, I swear, it takes up about a third of the space it did before. Those shelves were full to the brim, bursting out all over the place with higgeldy piggeldy piles of fabric....... Not Good.

The other thing is how such a process reaquaints you with your stash. There are fabrics in there I had totally forgotten about. And a whole pile of others I decided I didn't like anymore, so I'll probably send them back to the op shop from whence they came.... and while you're mediatively folding your fabric, you also subconsciously decide what you're going to make out of it.

Anyway, so that's what I've been doing. No, I haven't made a single fucking thing yet. But I'm organised at least. That's something, right?

Before I go, I must send out a thankyou to my sister, who sent me this in the mail while I was offline....

Another little pile of vintage brilliance, with a tote bag pattern to go with it.

She's the only person in my real world who actually reads my blog, for some reason I'm really shy about it, and I get embarrased when I talk about it. Most people know I'm up to something, but I don't share the details. It's weird, I know, but there you have it. So thanks Leonie, for knowing me well enough to not laugh at my weirdness, and sharing my love of making the best of what you can find.......xxxxx

I'll be back in full force over the next week - once I've put everything back where it's supposed to be......

Excuse Me?

What do you mean, Addicted. To. Fabric??????

This lot came in the mail today, from Z & S Fabrics....mmmmmmmm I don't really need to tell you how much I love new fabric, do I?
There's a bunch of half yards of Denyse Schmidt's new Katie Jump Rope Collection, plus a few sale fabrics........ I SWEAR this has to be the last fabric I buy before I get the sewing machine fixed. I took her in to be serviced today, so hopefully our Betty will be back up and running in less than a week.

Lucky for me, this wasn't the only present I got in the mail today!
I was lucky enough to be the 300th customer at Three Dog Party's Etsy shop, and I scored a whole bunch of stuff other than the Air Mail cards I ordered!

I LOVE their cards, especially these.....

And these ones crack me up....

Thanks guys!!!!

After opening all the exciting post, I spent about a thousand hours in the Laundromat, followed by a little bit of Op Shopping......the score?

This Old Royal teaset, a set of six.....

In these colours.....

It must have been a teacup day, because I dashed out to Ikea for some picture frames, and came home with this instead....

Now I'll have plenty to contribute to Cup of The Day!

All in all, a satisfying day.........

On the Perils of Winter....

So, it's Winter. Here, it's getting colder and colder by the day, and my coping mechanisms have started to fail. First of all, you need to know that I am one of those Skinny Bitches. I weigh less that 50kg, I've always been thin, with no bosom or hips to speak of, and I seem to straddle that strange line between underweight and TOO skinny. My family is full of wiry, thin little grandmas so I suppose it's genetic. Anyway, the problem with having practically no body fat is that Winter becomes a Serious Fucking Issue.

I am cold. All The Time. And no amount of long-john wearing, knitted scarving, granny blanketed sitting in front of the fire will cure me. I get so cold sometimes that I want to cry. Seriously. Apart from drinking thousands of cups of tea a day, my next plan of attack is this:

I got a package from Superbuzzy yesterday, in more detail below, and I've already got the wool on the needles, for some hand warmers. No pattern, as usual, and I know I should knit them in the round, but I can't find the bloody double pointy ended needle thingies, so squares will have to do. And really, squares are what I knit best!
I know you can't really see much knitting in the pic, but once my hands thaw out enough to manage the needles, I'll rip into it and post more photos soon.

Anyhoo, on the the postman.

I love Superbuzzy, I really do. They are one of the main shops that recieve most of my PayPal balance. I am rather distressed at the sudden doubling in International postage rates, though, so I'll have to shop in larger lots now to justify the cost, which really just means more fabric! Woo Hoo!

So the latest package is this:

Ooooohhh....la la la.....

I fell IN LOVE with this Graphic Flowers print, which was the impetus for the order....

Supplemented by this Hard Boiled Egg print in red....mmmmmmm...

And just to top it off, some Make Make yarn in Charcoal, which is gorgeous and soft, I think 80% wool and 20% mohair, lightly variegated, lovely! Though I thought it was coming in 50g balls, and they arrived as 25g (tiny little things!) but I still love it.....hence the hand warmers!

But from now on I'll have to order a bit more than this to justify the $25 it costs me for postage.....what happened to flat rate envelopes?

This brings me to something I want to ask advice about.

Whenever I sell something on Ebay, and I get paid via PayPal, rather than bank deposit, I use the money to fund my internet purchases. Right now, this is usually Ebay and Etsy purchases, as well as Superbuzzy. But I'd love to know if anyone has any other favourite online shops that post internationally, that accept PayPal? Anything really, from clothes to accessories to vintage to fabric, whatever. I am in the VERY unusual position of having a bit of a balance to spend, and nothing to spend it on! Ha!

Well, that's it for me, it's Saturday after all, and the newspaper crossword is calling my name.....

I'll leave you with one more picture, for the gorgeous Shula, and my friends over at Breakfast Sunday, as proof that I dont always eat eggs for breakfast!

Have a great weekend!

Today....

Woken up by the postman ( about the only thing I am ever happy about being woken up for) with a much anticipated package from Repro Depot

Containing five yards of all those building blocks fabrics I have been meaning to buy for ages....

Oooooh I am so impressed, the measuring tape is even better in real life, and after seeing snippets of it in practically everyone's projects, I can't wait to put that yard to very good use.....

Then, back to bed for a little while, then up again to get the car towed to the mechanic, and some eggs for breakfast...

Followed by a lift into town to buy even MORE fabric, I tell you what, the bank balance is looking a little poor......

So I'd better get sewing so I can open my shop soon and sell something to finance the next lot of fabric madness!

Before I go though, a question for my fellow Aussies - is there anywhere you can recommend to buy fabric online in Australia? At the moment I'm getting things sent from the States at an alarming rate, and some local suppliers for quilt fabrics in good, clean, modern prints (no pink country living florals for me, I'm afraid), and also dress fabrics like lighter weight cottons, linens, wool suiting, anything really suitable for dressmaking would be fine by me? Any suggestions, my lovelies?

Well, the patterns are calling to be cut..... see you all soon! xxx

Thrifted Tuesday...

It's apparent that I seem to go thrifting on Tuesdays, usually because it's my first day off for the week, coupled with the fact that it's payday....so here's to a new category - Thrifted Tuesday!

But first, this was waiting in the post box for me on getting up this morning....

My new kimono and Yukata panels from kimoYES, a fabulous, and well priced online store for vintage kimono and Yukata panels. It's so good to find somewhere in Australia to buy fabric, much of my online shopping comes from the US, and I'm always lamenting the exchange rate from Australian Dollars to Pounds- terrible!

Anyway, so onto the thrifting part.....

Today, a whole stash of vintage sewing patterns, 20 cents each!

Plus, a big shoebox full of vintage cottons on wooden spools, sewing threads, notions, and LOADS of linen thread, which I love.....

Now I just need to get my hands on one of those wooden spool holder racks that everyone in Blogland seems to have.....suppliers, anyone?

The rest of the day was spend clearing out the shed, so now all the boxes that up to this point have been stored in my studio, have been moved, and I've got a whole lot more space in there now.....ready for what I plan to be a full day of sewing tomorrow..... brilliant!

Back.

I'm freshly returned from my short trip to visit my family....a bittersweet mix of new pregnant bellies, gorgeous neices and nephews, and the sad loss of an old friend...

Having never lost anyone close to me before, I am reeling a little, but now that I am back in my own house again, it is clear that everything still goes on, despite the part of us that would live in the past and mull over memories......

And so, my first Completed Project, for my neice that heals my heart....

Unfortunately, getting active little girls to pose in new dresses is pretty much impossible, so you'll have to just take my word for it that she looks VERY cute wearing it....

The other benefit of family visits is country op shops..... of which I take full advantage when in that part of the world.....

Thrifted vintage trim - yards and yards of it, for $5 a card.....

A big haul of 80's enamel earrings, probably destined for Ebay....

A few books to expand my collection of Golden Hands - brilliant craft books from the 70's with kitsch instructions for all sorts of macrame, patchwork, applique, and knitted delights....!!

A handbag that gives true meaning to the term Plastic Fantastic!!!!

And then, on arriving home on a cold, rainy night, there was a much anticipated package from Superbuzzy, containing my Japanese Straight Stitch Dresses book.....

Full to the brim of lovely frocks I'm dying to make......

If only I can figure out the instructions..... all in Japanese!

Perhaps it's the last few days, being immersed in loss, but I find I have a huge desire to create something, to make something new and beautiful to put out into the world, I am always amazed by the way a realisation of mortality can motivate in ways that no other feeling can.... it's a strange mixture of recognising the futile and embracing the terribly important - a rearranging of prioroties, if you will....

I think that in our regular, busy lives, the time to reflect on such matters can be all too easily lost, and it's times like these that offer us a chance to reclaim that.... Without wanting to sound like an Oprah-esque self help guru, the last few days have made me realise that I am lucky, that my life contains a lot of special things, and my regrets are few and far between.... a good place to find yourself, methinks.....

More presents in the Post!

Today I received my Vintage Button Swap package!
The lovely Jen, from New Jersey, sent me this gorgeous package FULL of goodies!

There was so much beautiful stuff in my package, all picked out with so much care and thought, that I got a bit teary!

The buttons are all gorgeous, in red, black and white, which are my favourite colours....

Along with two divine vintage embroidered linen teatowels, one with a bottle and two glasses because I'm a bartender, and the other with a teapot and cup, because I love tea, and collect teacups....

A pile of beautiful scraps of fabric, because I am attempting my first patchwork quilt...

PLUS: a whole lot of paper ephemera, for collages, and a brilliant kitschy craft book on how to make clothes, because I am starting my own clothing business!

What a fantastic way to start the day......Plus I got the great news that my Dad has had his kidney operation, and everything went really well, the surgery was sucessful, and he is apparently sitting up and chatting, though still uncomfortable...

It's been a difficult week for me being apart from my family (they live in a different state), but I have organised to fly home next week once Dad comes home to recover, so I'll feel better once I'm at home, helping and giving support, instead of pottering around waiting for phone calls and progress reports!

So all in all, a good day with good news + presents! What more could a girl want?

Presents in the Post.

Today a package arrived from my sister.....

A huge parcel of vintage cotton fabric she had been given, and decided to share the love with me!

Which works out well, because I'm in the process of making a dress for my niece (her daughter), which, once I have the sewing machine up and running, should be in the post within the week....

As it's getting cold here, I've decided to make it out of a brown wool, in kind of a flecked tweedy weave, lined with bright red cotton. The patchwork will make the pockets, and I'm in the process of hand stitching the binding around the edges (again, no sewing machine.....hand stitching is HARD)

It's going to be a little pinafore dress, made from this vintage pattern, the one without the frill...

But again, waiting on The Machine.......

The Machine was given to me by a wonderful generous friend and his mother,when they found out I had to return the machine I had been borrowing for the last four years! It's a bloody heavy thing, but I'm sure you'll agree, it's gorgeous! Two stitches, straight and zig zag!

The only problem is, when my friend gave it to me, he forgot to grab the presser foot as well, so I've been waiting for him to go and visit his mum again so he can pick it up and I can play with my new toy! OOOOooooooh I can't wait.....
Hopefully that will happen this weekend, and I can finally start making some things, and have some work to show on this blog that I set up for, well, that very purpose!
Also: if anyone knows ANYTHING about these kinds of sewing machines, can you leave a comment? I can't seem to find any info on the net about it, and I'd love to get my hands on an old manual or something..... Cheers!

Hope you're all having a brilliant day!