weekend of sewing

I had a lovely day of sewing, cups of tea, and nice music.

Little p.j.s for my grandson - polar fleece to keep him warm.

A little girl in care has been asking me to make her an apron so she can cook with her mummy

reverse side "Little Bo Peep" she chose the material! Can't wait for her to see it.



A bib for a friends newborn grand daughter - I will run up a few more

, backed with polar fleece.

Happy birthday Dendra

Dendra modelling the apron while out for a coffee

Reverse side to keep the good side from getting too stained!

D for Dendra

The cloth before

My dear friend Dendra celebrates her birthday tomorrow so I took her out for a coffee. She had given me an old tablecloth her Mum had hand stitched many years ago and I made it into an apron ready for her birthday, double sided so she can save the "good side" and just wear the reverse side when cooking. She absolutely loved it and as you can see it did indeed bring a smile to her face. The cloth would be approx 45 years old! Now it won't just sit in a cupboard any more.

Pinny request

I have an order to transform this lovely bright yellow old cloth (screen printed) with cute crochet edging into a pinny. keep watching for the end result.

Aunty Em's old sewing box

This beautiful box belonged to my husbands dear old Aunty Em who was given this as a young girl. She lived to be 103 and died in the 1980's. I remember visiting her and seeing this lovely timber box sitting on a shelf. Imagine our delight when my husbands Grandmother passed it on to us to keep in the family. It became my sewing box and I have never done anything to it other than polish it with marveer. It could probably do with re-lining but I like to remember it the way it came to us. It is a lovely reminder of the past.

From Eileen

This lovely painting was done by my cousin Eileen from England after spending a few weeks touring Tasmania and visiting us all. It was indeed a beautiful time spent together back in October 1999 and one we will always remember. On the back is written "With lots of love and Thanks for a great holiday, Eileen, David, Vic, Mark and Nerys" I still treasure it Eileen and I think the candle lights it up beautifully. xx The doiley it is sitting on is one that my dear old mum did for me when I was first married (and that was back in 1977)

Can she be rescued?

This dear old dolly is around 65 years old and belonged to my then brother in law. Many years ago my sister gave her to me and thought maybe I could have her put back together. Sadly she is in pieces (arms and legs not attached) and has a few cracks. Do you think she could be rescued? She even has her original shoes, how cute. She sits in a pillow slip in pieces in my cupboard waiting!

On the back it is stamped BND (I wonder what that means) and I think London?

Look at her cute little face. Her eyes open and close and by the look of the thing in her back I would imagine she used to cry or make some sort of noise?
Maybe I need to do a bit of research into dolls hospitals in our state.

A kiss from France - lest we forget

In my box of trerasures I have this beautiful cross stitch sent to my Great Aunty Elsie from my Great Uncle Levi during World War I. The ladies in France did them and the soldiers bought them to send home to their loved ones. In the picture here to the right of the page is my great Uncle and next to him my great aunt to whom he sent the card. It is indeed a family heirloom.
My Uncle George (mothers brother), then Great Aunty Leah, lady unknown, Great Aunty Elsie and Great Uncle Levi - no date on photo. But would be maybe early 1930 ish..

A kiss from France - Lest we forget

In my case of treasures I have this beautiful cross stitch sent by my great Uncle Levi to my great Aunt Elsie who lived in England in 1918 during World War I. Apparently the ladies in France used to do these cross-stitch post cards and sell them to the soldiers to send back home to their loved ones. With ANZAC day tomorrow I though it fitting to put it on my blog. It is in perfect condition and was given to me by my mother many years ago.

Vintage re-cycled for my friend Dendra

Starting

End result.

Reverse side

A little pocket to pop things in.

D for Dendra.

I put this little patch on to hide a hole.

The cloth before

My dear friend Dendra loved my apron from an old tablecloth, so she asked me to make one for her out of a very old cloth her Mum had hand stitched, Dendra remembers her mum sitting and hand stitching them when she was a little girl - so this cloth could be roughly 45 years old. I turned it into a full apron and backed it with stripey blue, this way she could wear it on the blue side - display the cloth side. I even attached a D for Dendra on the front. It is her birthday next sunday so I will surprise her with it then when I take her out for morning tea. Hopefully it will bring back many happy memories of her dear old Mum who is no longer here.

Pinny from old tablecloth

Well ladies I have finished my tablecloth apron this morning, I tried to use as much of the tablecloth as I could making a pocket and then a little sewn on piece to the bib too. I backed the apron with the pretty blue just to give it a lift. I think it turned out ok do you? I wonder who this lovely old cloth belonged to, I bet there were many a lovely afternoon teas around this cloth. Can you spy my cat at the door thinking let me in now and stop taking pictures of yourself!!!

craft sack

I was asked could I make a craft sack to carry goodies to a sewing group, here is the before and after. A good start to the Easter week-end.

Re vamped re-cycled 80% wool coat for winter

A recent thrift store hunt found this 80% wool coat (Myer store brand) with hood, but I felt the plain grey was a bit drab, so home I went - had the ideal buttons in mind to brighten it up. I unpicked them from a shirt and sewed them onto the coat - now I think it looks a lot brighter - don't you?

this is the before.

New project

This is my latest project ladies, I am going to turn this lovely old piece of cloth into an apron,I just love the little flowers on it, stay tuned over Easter for the finished project, I have lots of thoughts running around in my head, can't wait for week-end to get it underway :)

Happy Easter

In my little child care business at home I decorate a window where the children enter each day for care. They always get very excited to see the display and then we count down the sleeps till Easter bunny comes.

I love farmers market mornings

For me farmers market mornings are great as I live a three minute walk from it! My little red cart goes down empty but sure is bulging when I return. Fresh vegies and yummy home made bikkies - what isn't to like about that?

It's a great atmosphere and lovely to see everyone enjoying shopping! My walk sure beats the supermarket car parking!

I'm off now for a cuppa and a scrummy home made monte-carlo. (gosh I'm going to ask the lady for the recipe!)

Sewing books giveaway :)

Hi ladies - I was having a clean out and came across these two books

Quick n Easy Sewing Machine Quilts (step by step instructions and ready to use templates for nine quilts) by Rita Weiss

The Crafty hands collection of Simple projects in Patchwork (simple and inventive projects to make)

I would like to have a giveaway as you crafty ladies out there may find something to make!

To enter drop me a line on the blog and I will pop all your names into a bowl and pick out a name on Good Friday :)

Eiffel tower apron for Chris

(Surprise) My dear sister Chrisartist is celebrating her birthday tomorrow (14th) seeing as she is so in love with Paris I jumped on ebay found this fabulous Eiffel tower material and put to making a half apron out of one fat quarter, I think the orange looks stunning with it and I'm sure Chris will just love it - Can't wait for lunch on friday Chris xxxxx