03 January 2013

bit of this, bit of that

I haven't posted here for a while mainly because I haven't finished anything, despite having many projects on the go. Got a couple of pics of some clothes I've made over the past few months: 
~ dress made from Japanese lawn fabric, using a dress bought ages ago as a base pattern
~ cotton canvas jacket made using a vintage 1950s pattern
~ bright floral shirt made using a Burda pattern (love that fabric!)
~ grey jersey top made using a similar top as base pattern, nice drape...





Here are are some projects I'm working on, some new, some have been going for a couple of years... not that I have issues with completion or anything...
~ couple of embroidery things
~ a quilt, my first ever....
~ crochet granny hexagons (variation of granny square) which will combine to form a blanky, once I've made 144 of them...sheesh....



26 September 2012

Cushioned

Yes, I could have made my way to a local home furnishing shop or browsed online stores, but instead, I made my own cushion covers. This is a much better way to work my creative glands. I found a great website called spoonflower.com that specializes in printing custom fabric (and they now do custom wallpaper too!). I chose some great prints and got them printed on linen-cotton canvas. Check them out.





11 September 2012

How does my garden grow

My veg patch is going great guns. A couple of days ago I harvested my first ever broccoli. Needless to say I took great delight in this and have been watching the other broccoli plants with an eagle eye ready for the next chop down. The veg have been slow to grow over the cooler late winter weeks but now the weather is warming they are coming on strong. I'm so ready for a glut of vibrant organic backyard veg.









06 September 2012

Restoration chair

A few months ago we bought a couple of beat up retro style armchairs from a recycle centre. We have successfully managed to turn one of them into a nice and clean, fully functioning, aesthetically pleasing piece of furniture. Really must get on with the next one.

After



Before





11 August 2012

Anyone for cake?

Okay, it's not very crafty but +some+ skill is required. Today was freezing and rainy, a horrible winter backlash after days of mild weather and sunny days. Excuse enough to do some baking. This is a twist on a standard banana cake, with added lemon juice and zest, polenta for texture, and almonds on top for crunch. Yum.


02 August 2012

Power tool Friday

The man of the house busted out his power tools today and knocked together this wooden wheelbarrow. He used wood from scavenged pallets and a few other bits of detritus knocking about the place. Recycling at its best.



Embroider me

Recently I came across an embroidery technique called 'sashiko'. I got a bit excited about this and decided to use it for purse project. Lately I've been dashing out of the house without a bag, stuffing my purse and phone into my pockets, but my purse is too big for this kind of carry on. I made this purse only slightly larger than my phone to comfortably contain phone, cash, and cards in 3 internal pockets. It's a bit rough around the edges (zipper was tricky) but it functions well. The embroidery was fun and now I'm planning more sashiko experiments...