More bags in my creative space

In response to all your lovely comments on my last bag I decided to make a similar one and pop it in my madeit shop.

I have also decided to make a couple of others and will put them in as soon as they are finished.

Here is the next one half way done.

For a peek at what other creative people are doing this week go here.

Another t shirt embellished and refashioned

 I hope I'm not boring you with all my refashions but I'm having heaps of fun doing them. 

This one is done with a simple $5 tee from K Mart.

Why?

Because I liked the colour. 

Specifically I wanted a colour I could wear with this circle skirt which was made a couple of years ago from an old tablecloth.

But a plain $5 t shirt isn't very inspiring so I decided to jazz it up with the help of some doilies.

Unfortunately, two doilies were hurt in the course of this job.

I used two squarish ones and laid them diagonally along the v neckline then simply sewed along the original seam line and snipped the left over pieces off in the back and zigzagged them neat.

The work didn't take much longer than the typing of this once I had made up my mind to do it.

Because the top was a little long and wide I took it in on the sides and ruched it up by applying ordinary 1/2 centimetre elastic along it using a largish zigzag stitch.

I found that the elastic needs to be stretched almost to it's ultimate stretch to give the effect I want.

And that's about it.

Except that I then decided to use the scraps I had cut offfrom the sides and make a little decoration for the centre.

Psst.

Thankyou to everyone who said to mow.

I did but it's rained heaps this week and it all needs redoing.

O dear.
Looks like I'm going to have to do it all over again.

What to wear for walking.

We stayed at the Falls Mountain Retreat in Wentworth Falls. 

We had a top studio with a rear outlook onto trees and the central courtyard in the front.
It was a lovely quiet place to stay

OK Here I am ready for a bushwalk in the Blue Mts.

I haven't been bushwalking in years but I did grow up doing a fair amount.

If there are any runners in my possesion I can't remember where they are so I donned these flat sandals.

Then we came to our first off-the-track spot.

The water was divinely cool and we took advantage of it by having a little splashing fun.

Next stop down the track and I still haven't returned the shoes to my feet.

I love walking barefooted.

Even through mud.

And over stones.

I've discovered (?) that my knees no longer have that old spring in them so walking without shoes helps me to get a better feel for the surface and react quicker than I would with shoes.

Maybe I am still just a little kid but it seems like my daughter enjoys the experience too.

She did end up putting her runers back on but I walked all the way home in my bare feet (except for the bits of hot tar on the final stretch!).

My blouse is a genuine, baggy $10 top from Millers that started with a full collar, longer length and rolled up sleeves secured with tabs. 

It's one of the few things I have bought new for a while but even then my intention was simply to use the basic cut and light material and transform it into my own product.

I've shirred about 2 inches at waist height between the back darts, shortened the overall lenth as well as the sleeves and replaced the collar with a v-neck. 

The crochet detail was originally a round doily. 

There was only enough for the front of the blouse so now I know that I would need a bigger doily or a smaller width from the outside of the same size doily to go around the full neck.

I simply cut it in half after removing the centre, sewed the edges down and bound the whole neck with a bit of bias made from the leftovers. 

The central crochet flower is to hide the fact that I've stretched the neck a bit in the making.

New Flower Brooch Tutorial

I just whipped this little number up after contemplating doing it for about the last half year or maybe more.

I don't know where todays' energy is coming from but I sure hope it holds for the next few days because my oldest daughter is taking me for a lovely holiday in the Blue Mountains for 5 days.

Five whole days of non stop action. Eek!!

Anyway, I thought I would just give you a quick run down on how this is made.

You need a fine doily ie, not heavy, thick fabric, about 12 cm across and shirring thread in your bobbin.

I used five pins to mark the petal divisions then started sewing each one.

If you can follow my diagram you should start at the big dot and follow the red markings up and down until all five petals are formed.

Then without breaking your thread you just start sewing in an ever widening circle till you reach a point that you are happy with. 

Because you are now sewing over already shirred fabric you will need to stretch the fabric.

Don't be too fussy though as all your mistakes will be hiden in the gathering.

Except if you don't sew your button on correctly.

Like mine. That's obvious and will need to be fixed.

OK. Once that is done you sew your brooch attachment to the back - I just used a tiny safety pin left over from some swing tag. Then a button on the front and you are done.

Enjoy!

I've been a good girl. Really I have!

Despite the fact that this November is my No-spender I am allowed to buy secondhand doilies and sewing necessities which are defined as things needed to finish projects. 

Taking advantage of this gap in the rules I visited three op shops today and was remarkably restrained in my spending. 

As you can see I picked up some delicious doilies and some very 'essential to sewing' things. 

I can safely say that all of these will be used to finish projects in someone's lifetime.

I did buy this non-essential record though, because my son is VERY keen on Beethoven and I just thought the cover was brilliant. 

Can you imagine it hanging on his wall amongst all those long haired, black clothed other musicians he loves?

O! I forgot.

I did buy one teeny tiny t-shirt for a friends son but that was only 50 cents so I don't think it really counts.

Another doily and beads T shirt

Well this one is finally done. 

That means I can put away the bread board that was holding it perfectly flat while I decided if I wanted to do it or not. 

That is, if I could be bothered to do it or not.

But moving the board around finally got to me so I ironed all the bits on and then machine sewed the large pieces. The rest is hand stitched down while the beading took place.

Wouldn't you love to have creamy white skin and a svelte figure like my model?