Hey Dollface!

Spending a weekend home on my own was meant to be fun - it was something I've been looking forward to for weeks. But then I got a miserable cold (it is the end of term...) and was bored and lonely without my two boys home.

I managed to get a little bit creative between nose wipes...

Recently I was reminded of the joys of drinking tea from a teapot, however I was desperately in need of a tea cosy. A pot of tea drunk by one goes cold mighty quick!

I used my favourite patternmaking technique (plastic bag and masking tape) to make a rough pattern for my favourite teapot and voila!


Without the flowery covering, it looked a lot like something a hobbit would wear, but I am pretty pleased with the final outcome. And, best of all, it works.

During last week I also had a go at making a Black Apple doll, having seen some beautiful girlies made by some of the Brown Owls. Thanks Tracey Brown Owl for the link!
I love love love Emily Martin's illustration style!!

I really like leaving dolls with very simple features, so just went with eyes for this one. Her name is Tsubi, and she is going to be our next Toy Society drop. Not too sure where she'll be left yet - maybe outside the local Community Centre.

Busy, busy, busy!!!

At our first Adelaide Brown Owls meet last Wednesday (which was terrific!!!), I finished this little matroyska brooch, with a whole bunch of other designs in mind. I really enjoy working with felt - it is so forgiving and has that lovely folksy feel about it.
One of the Brown Owl prefects had brought in an old owl embroidery design for us to work on...
I decided I would love it more if it was tiny, so this is my little fella!


Anyway, it would seem that I truly have the felt brooch bug (better than swine flu anyday!)...

I made some of these flowers-

and some of these flowers-

and have now started making a series of these silhouette brooches- a little bigger than I normally wear, but I love the drama of them!!

...and I also bought the book, Sew What! Skirts for work ;) and spent the weekend
being inspired by it (and this great fabric!!)

The book is aimed at beginners, but has some lovely ideas about design details, and really simplifies the pattern-making process, which is perfect for my students at school. They want fabulous-looking, but without having to learn too many skills... this is perfect!

And finally - today I bumped into this sweet book. The Kitchen Linen Book.
It not only has lovely references to all types of linen and the history of these things, but people's stories about their favourite pieces, recipes, tips on inviting friends for lunch, how to make the perfect cup of tea, and so on! And one image features a pair of turkey salt and pepper shakers which I just happen to own as well! See - fate made me buy it!!!

Bloggerama!

So here it is... the new blog! Just one more place I can rant on about stuff no one here at home really wants to listen to!!!

For a month now, I have been a member of the Toy Society... Thinking of toys to make is almost as much fun as finding somewhere special to leave them. Playgrounds and libraries have worked well for me so far. L had the idea that it would be nice to leave them in places where refugees might find them. Thoughtful for one so young! Anyway - the squishy friends so far:

Luna

Cato

Sol

We spent some time today browsing through lots of people's trash and a few people's treasures at the Fisherman's Wharf Market. It tends to be my fallback market when nothing else is on!

There are a couple of stalls we always do well at - a little old lady and her daughter sell old linen, aprons, patterns, 60s coats and other sewing odds and ends, and I always manage to find somethere there I need!

No exception today - she had lots of bad 80s patterns but tucked amongst them were these two beauties...

Simplicity 4670 is a little the worse for wear, but complete.

McCalls 7366 is definitely being made - the yellow version for starters, I think. In red!







It has been remarked upon that I actually just collect collections. Thanks, Legs!! Just because I collect Barbies, aprons, old patterns, rhinestone brooches, birds, salt and pepper shakers, leaf-shaped plates, etc etc doesn't mean I'm indiscriminate about what I buy!!!