Slow Week....

Well, it's safe to say that I have spent the last two days solidly reading the new Harry Potter, and holy shit, I'm still recovering! I know there's a few Potter fans out here in blogland, and we're all probably offline, reading and re-reading, but in between the pages, there have been a few bits and peices....

Here's the apron I made for my neice, who has taken to helping my sister clean the house, and of course, needs to look the part!

It's reversible, with a girly side, and a tomboy side!

and apparently she loves it, and I've seen some pretty cute photos of her wearing it....

There's also been a bit of leisurely breakfast eating...

And some experimenting with some new styles for my stuffed toys, none of which are worth showing below the neck.....

So tonight is going to be all about making patterns, and trying again. :sigh:

Still Standing...

Though it is a fabulous tree, huge and majestic, I was hoping it would depart with just one branch to do away with my crappy laundry; alas, the storm passed with no real drama in my suburb, though the beachside got quite a battering....

Today: Presents In The Post! Though coming from Ebay, it's not so much a present..... On sound advice from Shula, I am now the owner of a fucking GORGEOUS cashmere jumper....ooooohhhh my lord, this is by far the most warming, luxurious and divine garment I have ever owned. The fit isn't perfect (as usual, a little too big), but I swear, I'm never taking it off. Never.

Though cashmere is expensive, I managed to score this one for a great price, and even if I'd paid twice as much for it, as soon as you hold it in your hands, you know it's worth every penny.

In other news, we have some more additions to the Nong family:

I'm having a little bit of trouble with the stuffing....I know not to just stuff wads of it in, and to feed it in in a slow, contast stream, but I still seem to get lumpy bits.....any advice?

Nong #4 is a good example:

His legs just don't sit how I'd like them to.

But y'know...... imperfection = originality in my book.....

I've also completed a request from my sister for an apron for my neice, who has taken to "cleaning" the house....but I'll post photos of that once the package has been recieved.... don't want to spoil the anticipation!

xxxxx

If On a Rainy Night.....

There's a storm on its way tonight, causing King Tide in the Port of Adelaide and wreaking havoc over the Southern end of the state, a perfect night for staying in with the knitting, hoping that if the massive gum tree in the yard does, in fact, decide to topple over, that it will at least have the sense to fall on the bathroom and laundry, which I would love to have re-done!

In the meantime, some things I've been up to....

I bought this lovely grey pure wool jumper at the op shop the other day, but as with most things involving breasts and shoulders, it was a terrible fit.....Even on my gorgeous model, whose 50's waistline and fabulous pointy boobs still don't do the jumper any favours.....

Clearly some cutting and pasting was in order....

A bit of pattern checking,

A whole lot of pinning,

And voila! Jumper For Skinny Girl!

I'm terrible at taking photos of myself, despite having a tripod and timer setting on the camera....but anyhoo, you get the idea. It's finely knit, warm and fabulous, and that wee little moth nibbled hole on the front is for authenticity, y'know.....

My neckwarmer order has gone from this:

To this:

Amazing how quickly I can knit when I have a deadline.... plus I've been catching up on some dreadful TV watching, so it just seems to make itself.....brilliant!

And tonight? There'll be a bit of this:

And episodes of House and Medium to keep me happy.

Before I go, I wanted to send out a thankyou to all the lovely comments I got about the Nongs, and about my blog in general over the last week or so..... When starting out on a new endeavour, it's easy to poo-hoo your own efforts, and lose confidence in your making skills, especially when there are so many more talented people out there making things I couldn't construct in my wildest dreams.
So getting a little comment or two from people who are, essentially, strangers to me, and have no obligation whatsoever to do so, is gratifying and humbling in the extreme.
So thankyou, to everyone who has sent me a note lately, and if I haven't responded to you, please take this as your personal thankyou.

Cheers, m'dears..... xxx

Breakfast Sunday

Well, actually, it's Staurday and Sunday, posted on a Tuesday.....but I'm sure you get the idea.....

Saturday is weekend newspapers, the crossword, English Breakfast tea, and tahini and honey on toast....

Sunday is home-made oats, passionfriut, banana and honey....... notice - no eggs for a whole weekend!

If you'd like to see more of bloggers' breakfasts.... hop on over to Breakfast Sunday...

Things are little quiet here, but I hope to get some things done over the next couple of days....including my first order for a neckwarmer!
One of the best things about working in a live music venue is meeting some incredible musicians, and one such musician, the lovely Bob (Robyn) from The Yearlings, will soon be the recipient of a blue merino hand knitted neckwarmer. Lovely. It's so nice when someone you see as having a gorgeous personal style not only comments on something you're wearing, but asks you to make them one as well. So, I'd better get knitting!

xxx

Little Things....

Today started with a bit of this:

Which came with these cute art cards for free!

And a little Sneak Peek at what comes next.....

I've run out of stuffing...so the bigger viewing will have to wait....

And now I have to give the Landlord a tour of the house, including the spot on the carpet where a log rolled out of the fire......uuurrrrgggghhh..... wish me luck! xxx

I'm as Warm as Warm Can Be......

Tonight? The fire is lit,the terrible Wednesday night television is on (Medium, anyone?), lots of tea, and this:

The Hand Warmers are coming along swimmingly....no pattern as usual, just making it up as I go along! They'll end up looking a bit mental, but then I'm a little mental, so I suppose that makes sense!

I also managed to invest in some good winter clothes today, a pair of yummy wooly leggings from Kookai in a charcoal grey, and I black hoodie from a teeny-bopper chainstore that I'm ashamed to mention....but I tell you, I'm much warmer (and far lees grumpy) today!

Thanks so much for all the advice on places to shop and ways to keep warm, I'll definately be shopping for a hat soon, and if I can track myself down some yummy cashmere yarn, my chilly bones will be very grateful!

The Lovely Rhiannon was kind enough to provide me with a list of her favourite online shops, so I thought I would share the love....

For lush, lush, jewel toned ceramics,

Cul de Sac

For the cutest skirts you'll ever see....

Made With Love by Hannah

For the most amazing, hand made books,

Black Spot Books

For weird and wonderful printed t-shirts:

Owl Movement

Lovely, lovely, lovely clothes....(someone please buy me this as a present!)

Laura Dawson

Wonderful, kitsch, tapestry bags....

Mokka

Phew! That PayPal balance won't be safe for too much longer!

A Good Way to Start the Day...

An email from my sister, introducing me to the newest addition to our family.......

Followed by some tea in the increasingly rare sun....

And some hand quilting practice.....

I read somewhere that there was a woman who set some new sewers a task: take two peices of fabric that are easy to sew together, and working from one end, hand sew the fabrics together working towards the other end; as you work, you'll be able to see your stitches go from being uneven and ragged, to fine, straight and beautiful, or so the theory goes!
Having intended to hand quilt the Patchwork number I have been working on, given that it is already paper pieced and ready to hand sew together, I figure, why not go the whole way and do the whole thing by hand???? (i know, I know...madness!)
Anyhoo, I found this hand quilting tutorial, and set to work with three layers of fabric, a layer of thick wool for the batting, sandwiched between two layers of cotton.
Well. I tell you what, this quilting caper aint for the faint hearted. As you can probably see, my stitches are freaking everywhere. Messy, ragged, uneven, and I tell you what....they're not getting straighter any time soon.

I think it might be time to go out and buy that walking foot and just machine quilt the thing. This is all beside the point that I haven't even pieced the bloody thing together yet because I can't for the life of me figure out a design I'm happy with.

But in the meantime, I'm enjoying playing around with this:

It's called Fabric Matcher, and it's an online qilting store that has a tool where you can match fabrics to a hex colour, a picture, by pattern, by complimentary or harmonious colour scheme, and more, and when you find the fabrics you like, they'll sell them to you by the half yard. Lots of fun.

And just to finish up, here's a quick photo of my finished "one-skein-cowl-project-that-turned-into-two-skein-bizarre-scarf-thingy-project"

I just took that picture on the webcam, hence it's terrible quality. It's a little bulkier than I wanted, but its two layers of knitting keeps my neck super warm, and in the end, that's exactly what it's for.....!!

Hope you're all having fun, wherever you are!

Today....

Woken up by the postman ( about the only thing I am ever happy about being woken up for) with a much anticipated package from Repro Depot

Containing five yards of all those building blocks fabrics I have been meaning to buy for ages....

Oooooh I am so impressed, the measuring tape is even better in real life, and after seeing snippets of it in practically everyone's projects, I can't wait to put that yard to very good use.....

Then, back to bed for a little while, then up again to get the car towed to the mechanic, and some eggs for breakfast...

Followed by a lift into town to buy even MORE fabric, I tell you what, the bank balance is looking a little poor......

So I'd better get sewing so I can open my shop soon and sell something to finance the next lot of fabric madness!

Before I go though, a question for my fellow Aussies - is there anywhere you can recommend to buy fabric online in Australia? At the moment I'm getting things sent from the States at an alarming rate, and some local suppliers for quilt fabrics in good, clean, modern prints (no pink country living florals for me, I'm afraid), and also dress fabrics like lighter weight cottons, linens, wool suiting, anything really suitable for dressmaking would be fine by me? Any suggestions, my lovelies?

Well, the patterns are calling to be cut..... see you all soon! xxx

Sewing At Last....

Finally, after the turmoil and organisational stress of the past two months, I have started sewing again. The studio isn't finished, I still haven't taken that patternmaking course, and I'm still VERY much self-taught, with slightly crooked seams and a bit of a disregard for rules, but what the hell.....

Right now it's little girls' dresses. Tomorrow it might be patchworked tea cozies..... who knows? But for now, I'm planning to stockpile, sew and sew and sew and sew, and eventually have enough to open my little shop. I hope those of you who take the time to look at this blog ( and I know you're there, cause the counter keeps on counting!) will have the patience to bear with me while I get this haphazard show on the road.

Thanks for reading, and I'll keep you posted with the results of my new determination......

Wardrobe Remix and Other Pursuits.....

wardrobe remix, originally uploaded by paperstringcloth.

As mentioned before, I have joined the Wardobe Remix group over at Flickr, hosted by the fab Tricia and Jenny. This is my first contributuion to the group......

I'm wearing.......

Mustard cardigan from thrift shop, accented with vintage cloth covered buttons by me....grey jersey button down henley top from Cotton On (chain store), handmade black cotton wrap skirt with red pinstripe lining, made by me..... and my new fabulous $3 thrifted brazillian woven leather slingback wedge flats! Also included; A Concise History of Modern Art by Herbert Read, my vintage suitcase collection and my partner's vintage Apple Mac collection!

It's amazing how difficult it is to take a decent photograph of yourself, I am actually not very photogenic, so I have to take millions of shots before I get one where I'm not pulling some kind of pained-looking expression....!

In other news, I managed a great big trip to the Op Shops today, with some good results:

A big haul of vintage buttons, which will help me when I go to send off my button swap package this week!

Plus a bit of a renovation project; this 50's corner unit with one cupboard and three shelves, cute etched glass door, and pink laminate...$10! I think a coat of paint and a good clean will have this one ready for installing in the hallway, where we need somewhere to dump our keys, the mail, etc etc.

I also bought a whole stack of other things, knitting needles, some plastic beaded necklaces, some fabric remnants, but I won't bore you to death with ALL the photos!

I've been doing a bit of work on my studio, which is looking much more organised, but somehow I don't think I'll be satisfied until I convince myself that I really DO need that fabulous big, roomy white bookshelf I saw in IKEA the other day.....It really would look perfect with all my new jars of sewing notions, my neatly folded and stacked fabric collection, and the storage boxes now stuffed full of vintage dress patterns........ la la la la ......the ways we justify spending money we don't have!

I'm also working on some listings for the Ebay store, but here's a sneak preview, just for you.....

Sustainable Fashion?

I read an article recently by a fashion columnist who was flirting with the idea of Compacting – which is basically a philosophy of not buying anything new other than essential items like food, toiletries and basic necessities. Being a self-proclaimed fashionista, she found the concept pretty hard to grasp, but thought she would try it for a month, and was surprised at how easy it ended up to be.

At the time, I scoffed a little at this “poor” woman, who had to go without her designer bags and fabulous shoes and crazily expensive frocks for a month…..what drama!

But the column got me thinking about my own consumption habits, and I was pleasantly surprised…..

Basically, in the past year, things I have bought new include:

1 pair of black boots (Doc Martens, for work and everyday wear…)

undies

socks

1 pair black jeans

5 or so plain t-shirts and/or singlets (for work again- I’m a bartender)

one or two pieces of Ikea furniture.

On the other hand, the things I have bought from Thrift shops/ Op Shops include:

Various t-shirts/tops

3 – 4 pairs of jeans

3 pairs of shoes

about 6 or so frocks

various belts

lots of headscarves

lots of random bits of jewellery, brooches, necklaces, etc

beads/ sewing supplies

sewing patterns

fabrics – made into clothing/craft projects

loads of books

various bits of furniture

a record player cabinet

a lot of old maps/paper ephemera

various handbags

and the list goes on……

Looking at my wardrobe, I can safely say that 90% of it is thrifted or handmade. I love the fact that most of my shopping is done outside of the mass produced consumer mainframe. I love the thrill of the hunt that Op Shopping provides, and the sheer joy of finding something fabulous in a sea of dross can keep me going for days.

I enjoy fashion, and I love clothes, and buried deep inside me is a woman who would love a handmade Fendi bag that costs the same as a small house, but all in all, it’s not necessary. My wardrobe is all the more creative, fabulous and eclectic due to the fact that none of it cost more than, say, $50, and that almost every cent of my fashion purchasing has gone to charities in my local area.

Who would want to shop any other way?

Welcome to my blog. I am a twenty-something bartender and Art History student living in Australia, and I’d like to share a little of my life with you. I have been reading and lurking in many craft blogs for a long time, and I thought it was time to come out and play. I’m looking forward to sharing my time and projects with you.