Two in one day!!!!!!

My poor computer is going into hospital tomorrow, so in preparation for Internet withdrawals, I am posting twice today. Hopefully it will come back the same day, all fixed, with a new battery.....but I fear it won't...

The pic above is actually the detail on a bag I made some time ago. It is a gift I haven't given yet, but I'm pretty sure I can show it now and won't give it away. Anyway, here is the whole bag:


This bag is made entirely out of Op-Shop finds. The red cord and green knit fabric were just some remnants I found, and the green circle fabric was a pillowcase.

And here is some more of what I have been doing lately, and what I am about to start working on:

Another new bag - a gift for someone else.




Outside of bag is Amy Butler fabric from the Lotus range. Trim and inside is grey remnant fabric found in an Op Shop, and as always, buttons from my collection. The red pocket came from an old pillowcase (sounds romantic eh?).

Also been at the kiddie craft again. Lee made this Christmas decoration for his Grandma. I found the wooden shape at Bunnings, of all places. They had lots of cool stuff like this, letters, flowers etc. Good for keeping a three year old (and a thirty-four year old) occupied.


And lastly, I found this sweet little dress in an Op Shop on the weekend.


How great is this fabric! I was actually glad to find the top of it stained, as I would have found it really hard to justify cutting it up for a bag (and Kate probably won't fit into it until she is twelve - and will so not want to be wearing a dress like this...:P)

Well, in case it's a long time between posts (I've got everything crossed...my poor computer, I miss you already...) take care everyone, and may your own computers live long and fruitful lives!

Show and tell

It's an unfortunate thing that the more there is to blog about, the less time there is to actually do it. Well, that's how it goes with me anyway. Been so busy doing stuff I've had no time to write about it - plus we are having Internet issues at the moment which is making things very hard....gggrrrr....

So anyway, here is a quick show and tell of what went on last week. First cab of the rank is...what a surprise...bags!

Three bags for three lovely ladies I used to work with. I'm still enjoying trying out different shapes, styles, and methods of construction. It's just such fun! And all three are a mixture of new fabrics and Op Shop finds. There's something about the mixture of old and new that quite appeals to me.


Clutch in Heather Bailey fabric from her Freshcut range, with a beautiful glass button from my Grandma's collection. Lined with fabric from an old sheet.


Shoulder bag in Amy Butler fabric, from her Lotus range, and cuff, straps and inside in vintage denim remnants I found in an Op Shop. More old buttons from Grandma's button tin.


Shoulder bag in soft quilting fabric found at Spotlight, with vintage designer fabric found as a remnant in an Op Shop, and thrifted red cord remnant for strap. And of course, another button from Grandma's trusty button tin (going to have to start replenishing the vintage button stash soon - ebay here I come!)

Also whipped up a couple of things for Kate this week. First was a twirly skirt I made by following a tutorial at this link http://www.home.earthlink.net/~cornpatchcreations/twirlyskirt.htm



I also made some light summery pants from the same old sheet I used for the inside of the Heather Bailey clutch. The pattern was actually a pajama pants pattern that I had used to make pjs for Lee, and I just altered it to have more of a wide leg and funky cuff, rather than the tapered in look. I was quite happy with how they turned out, and they literally took me about 20mins to whip up. Yay! I love a bit of instant gratification.



And that's about it for the 'making' stuff. Poor kids had a lovely bout of 'hand, foot and mouth' virus (not to be confused with the deadly 'foot and mouth' disease you get from cattle). So a few days of fevers, crankiness, and awful foot blisters and mouth ulcers. Boy it's gotta be tough being a kid sometimes. But all's good now and we came out of quarantine on the weekend - whew!

Looking forward to a slightly more relaxed week this week. Yes I know, famous last words....

The gift

I'm feeling a bit sore and sorry today after having two moles cut out yesterday (ouch!) so just a very brief post today. Two days ago I sent off this bag for a friend. Hopefully she will receive it today, so on the off-chance she checks this space, I won't have ruined the surprise.



I'm very happy with how this bag turned out. I finally felt game to use new fabric (rather than thrifted stuff) so paired up some Amy Butler prints from her Lotus range, and I'm so happy with how they look together. I also refined my bag pattern, and I'm very pleased with that now too.

To make it look more professional and 'gift like' I also made a matching yo-yo brooch and some pretend tags. Boy I hope she likes it! Anyway, here is how the final package looked:







So there you go. Now I just hope the bag arrives safely and that my friend likes it.

Now back to feeling sore and sorry for myself.......