Vintage McCall's remake

I stumbled across some vintage McCall's patterns in Vinnie's last week.

They're a more preppy style than I usually like, but fell in love with the angelic McCall's children and decided I couldn't possibly leave them behind. And as Carissa pointed out if you make them out of some funky and interesting fabric they won't be so 'preppy'.

So for a little sanity project on the weekend I thought I'd give one of the patterns a go. I had one meter of gorgeous Robert Kaufman fabric which I'd bought ages ago from Bargain Box (best fabric store in town!) and stashed waiting for the right project. Here's how it turned out:

It would have been nice to get a proper photo of Miss B, but at the moment she's a little uncooperative so you'll have to make do with this one of her hiding in the hibiscus. I think she looks almost as sweet as the McCall's girl.

x Bec

Testing, testing, 1, 2

Having just saved enough to buy an iPad I am now officially part of the cult of mac. This here is my first attempt at blogging from said device - my rainy day girl.

So fingers crossed this will work

x Bec

Global Fiesta

Miss B and I had a lovely day out yesterday at the Global Fiesta at Queens Park. 

I ended up with a painted face too but there's no photographic evidence (hurrah)

Lucky for us the rain held off most of the day, just a little shower every now and then. 

I was really excited to check out this fantastic installation by local artist Donna Davis - Green houses:

Donna's work always has a really interesting environmental under current. The thought and effort behind each piece is astounding and the end product beautiful, thought provoking and stunningly executed. You can check out more of her work over here.

Here's the artist statement:

Green houses.... is an ephemeral installation which explores our relationship with the natural world: reflecting on our sense of 'home' in an ecological context.

The work, constructed from ice, reflects the vulnerability of our 'home' to climatic conditions, evoking contemplation in relation to our symbiotic connection with our environmental 'home': Planet Earth.

11:00 AM

2:00 PM

A true 'green thumb' (and fingers)

There were plenty of other great things to check out including speed weaving:

weaving - mesmerising to watch

this reminded me of a yarn bomb -
perhaps a palm bomb?

And in that delightful small town way we kept bumping into old friends (my godmother here on the left in Colonial garb),

and some wonderful new friends who we ended up spending a relaxing couple of hours with, eating ice cream, jumping in mud, drinking coffee (not the kids I promise).

All in all a great way to spend our Sunday together.

A morning walk with Bella, Axel and Frank

I've been working on a little range of teeny circle skirts made from a beautiful light weight vintage flannelette with embroidered doilie pockets and a wee bit of tulle for a little bit of added girlyness. I gave one to Miss Bella for a test drive the other morning and we took a walk with our dog and our guinea fowl (who thinks he's a dog).

and

my patient model in the latest Little Brown Dog winter skirt for tinies.

Also having a bit of a play around with a very old tablet and pen I realised the hubby had stashed away. What do you think? Do you like a bit of writing on pictures? There's a lovely tutorial for it over at Stars for Streetlights if you fancy giving it a try or just checking out a rather delightful blog.

Raindrops on roses...

Ever since stumbling across this beautiful tutorial on Green Wedding Shoes I've wanted to give it a try.

Giant Paper Rose Tutorial

I found some crepe paper in my stash of random craft supplies and here's how it turned out:

I LOVE IT!! Unfortunately it is now trashed, but this is because I only used cheap crepe paper (next time I'll try and find the Doublette paper as listed in the tutorial) and Miss two and a half carried it around on her adventures for half an hour, so it was a bit loved to death. Nevermind now I get to make more. Hurrah!

DAY the last - 30 days of handmade

Wow, I made it. Thirty consecutive days of blogging (well almost). I must admit it's been much more challenging than I thought it would be. I would start each day with a great post idea but struggled to actually get to the computer until after Miss B was asleep (at nine YIKES) and then found myself staying up till all hours blogging, pinning and mooching about craft websites, this was kinda fun but has resulted in a distinct lack of sleep. 

For my final post in '30 days of handmade' I thought I'd share some pics of my work table at the shop. Sewing remains a cathartic exercise for me. The shine has not worn off despite having the shop to run, in fact it really helps me get through the day if I can spend even just a little time at my sewing machine. I know the pics a little dark but I love the halo of my machine.

And now onwards with the crafting:

I've decided I need to really focus on making my products more cohesive and on putting together a small 'range' of items before I put them on the rack. It's so easy to just make one and then not make anymore but I've finally learnt that I need to provide options if I want to sell more lovely wares. Over the last month I've been working on the tunic tops first seen here on day thirteen. I prepared a load at our Brown Owls session and today I spent a few hours sitting on the floor cutting up old tablecloths and vintage fabrics so I can have three of each in sizes 1 - 5. I'll see whether this theory pans out and will be sure to show you some pics once they're all stitched up.

Hope you stay tuned.

Bec

DAY twenty nine - 30 days of handmade

Apron Love. 

I've long dreamed of adding some sweet aprons and pinafores to my wardrobe so today I went on a little internet hunt to see what I could find.

Etsy abounds with gorgeous handmade pinnys. These were my favourites:

malphi

victorian bird

mamma 190

I also stumble across Tie One On a blog dedicated to aprons  - 'make an apron and join the fun'. Every few months there is a different theme (examples include story book, on screen, alice, autumn leaves).  You make an apron, send some pics and it's added to the gallery. You can check out the flickr stream here.

If you're keen to try your hand making vintage aprons there's plenty out there:

Free Vintage "Charming Hostess Apron" at Sharon Sews (she found the pattern inside a vintage packet of seam binding).

Or check out the incredible So Vintage Patterns:

1950s Cinderella apron pattern

1950s Clamp on apron

Ladies and Gents BBQ Aprons

1960s side buttoned apron

Could you do with an apron?

Bec

DAY twenty eight - 30 days of handmade

Today I was invited to hold a screen printing demo for the Ipswich Arts Council at Rockton. It was a gorgeous day and a perfect opportunity to print a few more beetle things and mingle with some delightful people who are incredibly passionate about the arts in Ipswich.

Rockton is an Ipswich landmark, an enormous historic house and we were lucky enough to have a wander around it with owner and artist Angela - a sort of combined house and basketry tour. All these beautiful pieces are made from natural materials, many foraged from Angela's garden.  

Egg basket

teepee

coil work

vase

DAY twenty seven - 30 days of handmade

Does this count do you think? This is how Miss B and I spent a couple of hours today - building and racing lego cars at the fantastic Built for Speed at the Ipswich Art Gallery. If you fancy building your own then you need to get in quick!! This exhibition finishes tomorrow (it's worth it just to watch the Dad's getting involved).

Team Lewis racer

Ready, set, go