Dreaming in technicolour

Last night I dreamed about bags. The night before, when I couldn't sleep, I was thinking about bags. It all started with my mum. On the weekend she gave me a tablecloth that had belonged to my Grandma. The next day, it became my tote.



Working with Grandma's old fabric also sparked lots of lovely childhood memories of fun times spent with her when she was still around. She always encouraged my imaginative world, and we often collected 'treasures' on our walks together. Then early in the week I visited an Op-Shop and found the hugest stash of great fabric, with lots of 60s and 70s style prints. Ever since then I have been madly drawing and sewing, trying out new shapes and designs. The main problem is that I don't really know how to sew - properly that is. A lot of what I do is trial and error, so I'm sure I am doing many things the hard way, construction-wise. But what the hey! I'm having fun. These are the two latest bags:





And I've realised what it is about these great fabrics that has me all excited and inspired. Somehow they remind me of the rich imaginative world I lived in as a child. For years I was obsessed with Enid Blyton's Fairy Stories, The Magic Faraway tree, and the Naughtiest Girl in the School stories. And I loved movies like Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as much for their saturated colour as for their story. So anyway, it is these types of worlds that the old fabrics remind me of. At least it's keeping my head-space colourful!

On a much more mundane note, I took some time out from bag-making and made a pair of pants for Kate out of some of the Heather Bailey fabric I had left over (after making the hat that was too small). Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo before they got washed (and I am too lazy to iron them right now) so they're pretty crinkled. But you get the idea...



Looking forward to the weekend. Somehow I think there may be more bag-making. Lucky Christmas is coming (guess what everyone will be getting...he he...). Here's to a fun weekend!

Super Monday

What makes a Monday super? Well, to start with - a cape!



Now we can play "Super Lee to the Rescue" in style. And hopefully there will be no more stealing damp towels from the bathroom to turn into capes (just lovely after they've been dragged around the floor and then put back on the towel rail - yick!).

Then for me, another handbag. This one is made from a tablecloth I found in an Op Shop - I think it's maybe from the 60s or 70s. I've been a bit obsessed with developing a pattern for a handbag that I am happy with. I would love to be able to make them for people as gifts, but they've got to be good. This one is getting closer to something I am happy with, but I think it could have done with a more rigid interfacing. This was the first time I have used the 'One Step Buttonhole' feature on my sewing maching (yes, after three years I finally felt confident enough to give it a try). And boy do I feel silly. It was SOOOOOO stupidly easy. I've a funny feeling I'm going to find reasons to add buttons to many more projects now!

Anyway, here it is:



And the inside view:



After a morning of sewing (and just the bare minimum of housework) we then took off to the local kid-friendly cafe (still wearing the cape), then to the park, and then to the train station where we met Matt getting off the train from work. Lee was so excited to be at a train station, and the train driver even waved at him - how can anyone resist waving back at a boy in a cape bouncing up and down and waving like a maniac!

All in all, a super day!

Things that are making me happy...

Still settling into our newly renovated house, so no time as yet to get back to my sewing (and I have a bag all cut out and ready to go, so I'm absolutely itching to get it finished).

However, I have made time this week to quickly take snaps of some of the things that are giving me a little lift every day - once I started looking around, I realised that there are so many things....but here's this week's top picks anyway:

Finally I have a big bare wall on which to hang my prized painting (before renos it was on a very small wall that was painted blue - not the best backdrop for it). It is by Alesha Cox, an artist who lives on the Sunshine Coast, and it is called "Inner Peace". It reminds me to slow down and be calmer every time I look at it.

This is a small and slighly scrappy bunch of jonquils, I know. But I LOVE jonquils - I love the way they pop up out of the ground every year down south, I love the smooth stems, and the delicate star shape of the waxy flowers. But most I all, I love the smell. Most people I know either love or hate the way jonquils smell, and Matt insists they smell like wee, so we never have them in the house....usually. But this week at the market, the lady we buy flowers from gave this little bunch to Lee. So this week, we have jonquils. And I'm loving it!!

And lastly, a sneak preview of our kitchen:

Ok, I know it's not much of a picture, but I don't want to take any photos of the whole kitchen until it is all finished, and we are still yet to tile the splashback. So in the meantime, just a small picture of the island bench. Actually, this picture incorporates two things that are making me very happy at the moment. For one, the corian benchtop was a big splurge, that Matt and I are SOOOOO happy we indulged in, as it is every bit as lush and tactile as we had hoped. And the green bowl was a Mother's Day present from the kids (and Matt) this year, and I finally have somewhere to show it off. It is by Dinosaur Designs, and is another deliciously tactile object made of an almost luminescent swirly green resin - yum!

Here's to happy things!