The Lost Crafter

A new blog

2011-06-06T12:36:00.004+10:00

Surprise it is me!

I have been gone for a very long time, mainly because I just never felt like this little blog was what I wanted it to be. In a very weird way it kind of took on a life of it's own.

So, I have started a new food based blog which I am hoping will feel more 'me', please come take a little look around, it is still brand spanking new but I will be putting lots of work into over the next few weeks.

Thanks for everyone who followed this little blog and commented, I really really appreciated it.

Anyway, here is the new link xxx

http://achaotickitchen.blogspot.com/

Trying to be less wasteful

2010-12-05T11:02:00.002+11:00

Firstly, apologies for the lack of posts, I have started working and had forgotten how completely it sucks up your time!

While I wasn't working I got into the habit of doing some baking each week for the man's lunch, and so far this is continuing. Mainly muffins, or things that are not to unhealthy, although every now and then I would throw in a batch of chocolate and raspberry muffins as a treat. Anyway, for the last couple of weeks I have been trying to combine this baking routine with the habit of using up everything in the kitchen. I have an annoying tendency to forget about things, and have to throw out food that is no longer edible. This goes against everything I try to live by, so I am trying to fix it and I discovered that by making myself use ingredients that are no longer at their best my baking has become a lot more interesting.

So last week we had banana bread, baked from the good 'ol Edmonds Cook Book, except I added some mixed spice and cinnamon to add a bit of interest. This was surprisingly good as I have never really been a fan of banana bread. My only gripe with this was that by Thursday it had gone mouldy. My muffins always last through the week. I am thinking about putting individual slices into zip lock bags and freezing them. Then putting the frozen banana bread into lunches in the morning, and hoping they have defrosted by lunch. Does any one out there have any experience with this?

This week I have just pulled a lemon loaf out of the oven, and have glazed it and am waiting till it cools to try it. It smells good so I have high hopes for it. I will let you know how it tasted. Again the recipe was from Edmonds (which I use so much as the recipes are straight forward and I normally have all the ingredients on hand. I find a lot of modern baking books ask for all sorts of odd and expensive ingredients, which to me defeats the whole purpose of making lunches at home to save money. Anyhoo.)

Thanks for waiting so long for an update!

My Creative Space

2010-11-18T10:06:00.002+11:00

Today I am finishing off a job I have been meaning to do for 6 months now, making placemats and coasters. These are just two bits of fabric with some thin polyester batting, but once finished they should look quite good, hopefully.

Also, I am still working on the booties from last week, I have a finished one here and it shouldn't take too long to complete the next one. Turns out, while I am quite blase about things I make for myself, when I am making something specifically for someone else I become very very anal. I have re-made these so many times I could probably do it in my sleep. I hope they are appreciated!

Lots more lovely (hopefully less frustrated) creative peeps over here.

Making a muslin

2010-11-16T11:26:00.003+11:00

Confession time. I. have. never. made. a. muslin.

There I said it.

I think I have mentioned my need for instant gratification before, and muslins just do not provide that. Why would I essentially want to sew something twice?

But, my latest project uses vintage fabric and a vintage pattern, if I get this one wrong I can't just run out to spotlight to get some more fabric. So, today I have started the muslin. So far I have it all sewn up but I do not have the correct size zip so can not finish it just yet but already I have found a couple of things that will need fixing. The most glaringly obvious is that the waistline is about an inch lower then my natural waistline, so that will need fixing. Plus it is way to big...

So, I may be coming around to this muslin business, if I hadn't have made one then the dress would have been ruined due to the waistline alone (this has already happened to me with a different project). But, I am going to reserve judgement till I see the final finished dress.

My Creative Space...

2010-11-10T14:45:00.007+11:00

Wow, I have not been a part of this in a few weeks and I miss it! I have started a jewellery course on Thursdays and it has taken me a while to get organised enough to produce a post. So here we go...

This week I am working on baby booties, some friends from America arrive here next week and she is 6 months pregnant with their first child so I wanted to make something little that is easy for them to take back to the U.S.

I found these crochet shoes from here and I think they are crazy cute. Plus I have not crocheted in a while as I ran out of potential projects, but these have got the ball rolling again.

I started trying to make them with some wool in my stash but it hasn't really worked out (I blame the wool, despite trying three different hook sizes I can't get them the correct size) so today I am going to go get some more. I am thinking red with bright green soles (they are having a girl) as you are never to young for your first pair of red shoes. Now I just need to get myself some red Louboutins and we can match...

Image from here

As normal, loads more creative spaces here!

Good things...

2010-11-09T10:18:00.004+11:00

Firstly, look what I won from the lovely Cath over at ChunkyChooky:

I never win anything so this was super exciting, and the book is really helpful. I don't know about you but even though you can find all the instructions you need on the inter-webby thing, I still like to have my reference books too.

Also, I planted some herbs a couple of weeks ago and check out my coriander, it is growing so well I think I will have to thin it out and re-plant it! The basil is poking its little head out too, and while there has not been a peep from the others I have high hopes.

Dreaming of Hawaii

2010-11-07T10:58:00.004+11:00

This is the dress I got at the Love Vintage fair, the colours really caught my eye, and the cut was really flattering. It is an 80's dress, but I had hoped that with the right accessories I could make it look a bit more vintage. I was thinking along the lines of meeting Elvis in Hawaii...

I think I kind of made it work, I curled my hair, put on some vintage earrings, a chunky bracelet and some vintage inspired shoes and I think I looked vintage. In fact, one of my male friends said I looked like I was from the 40's, without any provocation, so I must have done something right!

I wore this to high tea at The Victoria Room and felt very sophisticated, if a tad over dressed, I needed to be having cocktails really. But, life is always a bit more fun when you are overdressed don't you think?

Tracing my vintage pattern

2010-11-03T10:41:00.002+11:00

My lovely vintage patterns arrived from What-I-Found, and they are perfect. Both uncut, none of the pieces are missing and both have the instructions. So now, I have the fun job of tracing them (as I would like to conserve them as they are). I always find tracing a pain, but with vintage it is even harder! When I am tracing from, say, Burda magazine I just staple the pages together to stop them moving around but I can't really do that this time. I have looked at pattern weights before but they seem like an unnecessary (big) expense. So I am using the wish and hope method, going ahead and wishing and hoping that pieces don't move to much and cause to much distortion.

Wish me luck!

This week's thrifted find

2010-10-29T15:00:00.003+11:00

I swear I am still crafting, and not just shopping, but we have had people staying for a week so there has been a little hiatus. So, here are some shoes I found at my local Salvo's this week, aren't they pretty?? They are Italian, fit perfectly and the leather is so soft, all I need to do is get them re-soled as I wore them yesterday and was slipping and sliding everywhere!

My cardigan has me a bit stumped so I am taking a little break from that, I am still working on christmas gifts and next week I am hoping to finally get this dress fitting properly for a girls high tea I am going to next weekend. So that's it for me, hope everyone has a lovely weekend x

Love Vintage purchases

2010-10-27T11:53:00.003+11:00

Finally, a post on what I brought at the Love Vintage Fair! I am most excited about my fabric purchases:

The mustard fabric is destined to become a sixties wiggle dress, I have ordered a couple of vintage patterns so hopefully I can get started on that soon. The green material is probably going to be made into a high waisted slim skirt, but I need to search out a suitable pattern for that.

I am also happy with these earrings, I can't pierce my ears (I have had it done twice and both times had to give up due the continual infections), and I have quite fat earlobes so can't wear clip-ons either, so I am always on the look out for pretty screw-ons.

And finally, to further fuel my scarf obsession, a pretty scarf.

There was also a dress, but I think I need to do an outfit post for that, as it is, ummm, interesting :-)

Opps

2010-10-20T16:23:00.003+11:00

Well, grrr. Last stretch of the cardi has not gone well and I blame the buttonholes. The pattern has you mark where the buttons are to go, and then on the side of the actual buttonholes to knit till you reach where you have marked. This all sounds fine, except for the fact that the buttonholes are on a trim which you knit separately from the main body and then sew on, but to make this trim lie flat you have to stretch it a bit as you sew. So now my buttonholes are in totally the wrong place, and the bottom one is roughly where the top one should be. But it is all sewn up and is going to be a pain to undo and redo. I had thought that perhaps I could just sew up the top buttonhole and make it a one button cardigan. What do you all think? Is this a decent solution given that there is no way the cardigan works with the buttonholes where they are now? I'm thinking I will have to undo it as it will probably bug me forever but tell me, can you see the problem??

Sydney vintage clothing, jewellery and textiles show

2010-10-18T09:19:00.004+11:00

I went to this show on Saturday and it was awesome! So many vintage stalls, with some of the most breathtaking clothes you can imagine. Most of it was totally out of my measly budget but it was so fun just looking. I did come away with a few bits and pieces, some fabric, buttons, earrings, a scarf and a dress, which I will attempt to photograph at some point. I just wanted to do a quick outfit post today to show you what I wore. This was last weeks thrifted find from my local salvo's, and while not vintage I thought it had that feel to it and I didn't feel out of place at the vintage show.

So, the dress is thrifted, the cardigan is from Cotton On and the necklace is vintage (a present from my brothers from years and years ago).

Hope everyone is having a brilliant Monday!

My Creative Space

2010-10-14T08:46:00.003+11:00

I am getting started on christmas presents today! Luckily I really don't have very many to worry about - and I am not doing a 100% handmade christmas, just a little bit of handmade for each person. As I do not know who reads this little blog I can't show you what I am making but here is a little sample of some of the fabrics.

I must say I am feeling a tad pleased with myself to be starting in October, but when you aren't just running down to your local department store you need to be a little more organised. Now I need to figure out what to get the man, does anyone have any suggestions on what to make men?

Lots more creativity over at Kootoyoo!

Now it is actually the home stretch!

2010-10-13T10:47:00.003+11:00

It's almost looking like a cardigan!!

I am up to the last bit of knitting on my cardigan, yay!! Granted, I still have the blocking, assembling and sewing in of ends to do but we will just ignore that for now.

The last knitting involves a thin section of seed stitch that runs up both sides of the front of the cardigan. This section is knitted separately and then sewn with a mattress stitch onto the main sections. I have completed one side so just have the second to do. I think I have got the hang of the mattress stitch, it looks neat enough anyway but I don't think I pulled it quite tight enough as it is not lying entirely flat. However, I think I can live with it as it is... but if anyone has any suggestions for the second one please don't hold back.

I am now thinking about my next project and am leaning towards the vintage pattern on the right from here, in a lovely deep blue perhaps?

But there are so many options I almost begin to feel swamped!

Finally, a top!

2010-10-11T09:28:00.003+11:00

Here is the first item I have managed to photograph from my last sewing spree. I still need to get shots of the second top, skirt and belt, but baby steps...

I am pretty happy with this, although the fit is not ideal. It is ok with a belt, or tucked in but otherwise it is a little big. My measurements are all over the show with this pattern maker, I am literally three different sizes according to my bust, waist and hips which is a little annoying, but I know next time I make this that I need to grade down a size at my waist to get a better fit. But I think the keyhole neckline is really cute, although it was a tad fiddly.

This fabric is a really unusual colour, a really subtle lime green (??), that is really hard to photograph but that I think is lovely.

The pattern was the Colette Sencha and the fabric is from Tessuti.

My Creative Space

2010-10-07T11:01:00.003+11:00

What I should be doing is having a clean up from last weeks sewing spree. I don't know what anyone else is like out there, but when I get in the swing of things a trail of devastation is left behind. Nothing gets put away, everything gets pulled out, chaos ensues. And the really stupid thing is that I can not work in it when it looks like that so it is completely self defeatist. Hey ho. Please don't judge me, but here is a (carefully selected) picture of the wreckage.

In reality I am probably going to spend the day browsing blogs, knitting and every now and then checking the job websites to see if anything that vaguely interests me pops up.

Lots more people hopefully being much more creative over here!

My first cardigan - short rows

2010-10-06T08:46:00.003+11:00

Progress is being made! In fact I almost feel like I am reaching the home stretch (not really but considering the hurdle I have just crossed I feel like the rest will be a cinch). I have finally completed my last set of short rows, which proved to be a mission! The technique advised in the pattern is to "wrap and turn" and then to hide the wraps. I managed the left side of the cardigan without too many issues as the wrap and turn happens on the knit side, and there were plenty of clear instructions on the net for this. But, the right side was another story altogether.

The wrap happens on the purl side, and I struggled to find any information, eventually I made it up myself based on the instructions for the left side (which it turns out was the correct way) but I could not get the hiding of the stitch to work. My work either had big holes in it, or did not resemble a stitch, or just looked really, really crap. I literally spent a week, knitting and tinking that whole section over and over and over. Very demoralising, and had me want to throw it all down and damn knitting for all eternity.

However, after much searching I found this website and it was my saving grace. I don't know why (as I am sure I had been trying the correct procedure but with no luck before) but suddenly it all came together. So, last night I finally finished the short rows, so I am one happy knitter.

A sneak peek and a recipe

2010-09-30T10:36:00.003+10:00

So, here is a sneak peek at the outfit I blogged about on Monday. It is finished but needs a mighty good press. I am thinking of wearing the orange top today with a brown skirt, and hoping that I don't look like a reject from the seventies...

And this lovely (or terrifying) pink guck you see is actually a yummy beetroot hummus that I made. We LOVE beetroot in our house, in goes into brownies, salads, sandwiches, stirfrys, the list goes on. So, after seeing a jar of this for sale at some crazy price I thought I would give it a go and you know what? It kind of worked.

1 can chickpeas

2 teaspoons tahini (super easy to make yourself, just google it)

1 or 2 cloves garlic

1 beetroot (mine was roasted but you could also use canned)

1 or 2 tsps balsamic vinegar

olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a blender, and add enough olive oil to get your desired consistency.

Lots more creative spaces right here.

I got my mojo back!

2010-09-27T09:47:00.004+10:00

My sewing mojo that is. I have taken a rather extended break from sewing, after the last two dresses I made, neither of which are wearable at this point in time, I needed to step away from the sewing machine and reassess why I want to sew. And I realised that I was making life so hard on myself by rushing right into projects that are way to hard for me, especially after not sewing for such a long time beforehand. So I have been working on much, much simpler projects, using fabric I have found at op-shops, or that were already in my stash. I have nearly finished my version of this outfit.

The actual vintage outfit is available here but I have to say I like my version better. All I need to do is find some buttons for the top and then it is done so will try post pictures later on in the week. It was a much easier outfit for me to attempt, the skirt I have made before and the top is easy peasy (and of course the bow is not too difficult either). And now I am cutting out the fabric for another simple top, one that should be perfect for summer.

Plus, the most important part of it is, I am actually enjoying sewing these projects. I am not getting stressed, or angry when something isn't working, and am taking my time and enjoying the process, a new concept for me when it comes to sewing. So, yay for sewing mojo!!!!

(Now I just need to channel the same energy into finding a job I actually want to do... that might take a little more effort.)

Advanced Style Blog

2010-09-22T10:31:00.002+10:00

Has anyone out there seen this blog? The author roams the streets of NY taking photos and talking to stylish older people he meets. It is so sweet and inspiring and I highly recommend it as a pick me up.

Advanced Style

Vintage Sewing and modern bodies

2010-09-21T08:45:00.005+10:00

image from what-I-found

A friend is leaving Sydney in a few months and mentioned as her going away party she wanted everyone to dress up and go to some cocktail bar. I thought it might be fun to find a vintage 60's dress pattern and make a dress for this. So I started to search and I have to say have taken something of a blow to my confidence. On What-I-Found they have 6108 vintage patterns, but when I search using my bust size I get 46 results, most of which are from the 80's. That works out as roughly .7%! Most of the patterns from the 60's were for a bust size at least 4 inches smaller then mine.

Now, while I am not exactly small I am also not big, I am well within a healthy weight range for my height, I eat well and I exercise (mostly). But I feel like if I were to be transported back to the 60's I would be considered obese. Although interestingly, given one quote I found on the average size of a woman in the 60's, while I am taller my waist and hip measurements are right on par, but my bust is much bigger (although don't ask me how reliable these figures were, people can say pretty much what they want here on the internet can't they).

So, I wonder, how much have our bodies changed over the last 50 years. And is this fashion for vintage out of reach for a lot of us as we simply do not have the bodies to fit the clothes? One statistic I found (and have heard a lot) is that in the last 15 years alone the average bra size, in the U.S, has gone from a 34B to a 36C. If there can be that drastic a change in 15 years imagine how different women could have looked 50 years ago! And it is hardly surprising with the amount of drugs, hormones and chemicals have been introduced to our lives (but that is another post!).

I guess the best solution, for me anyway, is to take a pattern drafting course and to learn how to resize vintage patterns to fit my modern frame. Because at the end of the day I will take a wiggle dress over a pair of skinny jeans every single time.

image from what-I-found

My Creative Space

2010-09-16T11:17:00.003+10:00

involves looking at a large pile of glass and trying to decide if any of it is usable. This time I am thinking there is very little there, none of it has been in the sea long enough to get that beautiful worn look that makes sea glass so appealing to me. This lot might just have to go in the recycling, which is at least better then it littering out beaches! I'll be taking a second and third look just to be sure though.

I have been adding plenty more stock to my store if you are interested in taking a look at some proper sea glass.

And, as aways plenty more beautiful creative people here.

Dreaming

2010-09-14T09:54:00.003+10:00

Today I am dreaming of Africa. Dreaming of the rain that you could swear was going to engulf you. Dreaming of the elephants grazing on the side of the road. Dreaming of the children who were so trusting they would fall asleep in your arms. Dreaming of the smell of the plains at 5am. Dreaming of hearing lions outside of a tent. Dreaming of the sound of the Indian Ocean. Dreaming of the amazingly talented, crafty women, selling their wares for much, much less then I would sell mine. Dreaming of the sense of space and freedom. Dreaming of the feeling of a dream come true.

What are you dreaming about today??

Happy, happy!

2010-09-13T11:56:00.004+10:00

Wow, two posts in one day, it must be a miracle!

Today, I feel good. After months of dithering about I feel like things are happening. I have opened my store and have enrolled in a Silver Jewellery course (something I have wanted to do for years and years and years). And, while I am not yet earning money (which people seem to put a hell of a lot of emphasis on) I feel like maybe, finally, I am finding a direction.

Also, I have been a whiz in the kitchen this morning making things for the mans lunch this week. Chicken and chickpea balls anyone? Perhaps some homemade muesli bars?

Both recipes from this (rather excellent) book.

And the winner is...

2010-09-13T09:15:00.004+10:00

Kate, from Foxs Lane!

Congratulations Kate, I have sent you an email so if you could email me your address that would be great!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment, I really appreciated the feedback. My store is now up and running and can be seen here.

Have a great day everyone!!

My Creative Space - GIVEAWAY!

2010-09-09T08:54:00.007+10:00

After my last post and some encouraging words I have decided to just jump in with the madeit store, so today I am taking photos and setting it up. So, I thought to celebrate I would have a little giveaway and send one of my sea glass pendants to one of you lovely folk, the glass was picked up off various beaches so these are also good for the environment (recycling and all that)! All you need to do is let me know which of these necklaces you prefer in the comments and follow my blog, I will then randomly pick a winner on Monday. Easy peasy. Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing, but I have never done anything like this before so be kind, although you always are :-)

As always, plenty more creative spaces here!

Decisions, decisions...

2010-09-07T09:18:00.004+10:00

So, I haven't worked in about 18 months. My husband and I travelled for a year and then moved to Sydney so I spent time finding us a house, making it a home and generally trying to make life as easy as possible for my man who had to go back to work. But, that time is now well and truly up and I should be off looking for work again. But I just can't make myself do it. Somewhere along the line I totally messed up the career part of my life and the only work I am skilled to do I so do not want to do. What I have loved is spending the last few months getting in touch with my creative side again, and I don't want to give up my making. But, that is not fair for my husband. So what to do, what to do?

I have toyed with the idea of setting up a madeit shop selling embroidery and jewellery but it is hard to know if anyone would be interested in buying my things. Should I just jump on in and see how it goes?

I have also toyed with the idea of heading back to university to do another undergraduate degree but after doing it once (and still having the debt to prove it) I am not sure if I can commit to another four years and at least another $20,000 in debt.

Or should I simply suck it up, and start earning money again so my husband does not have to take the full burden of supporting us (he does stress, needlessly I might add, about our finances).

So, today I am filled with indecision and doubt, wondering what will become of this life of mine. So, here are some photos from our travels, just to finish this post on a high note. Thanks for listening :-)

Sewing for men

2010-09-03T07:12:00.004+10:00

This is a post I have wanted to write about for a while as the issue arose about a month ago. My husband doesn't really go for the handmade goodies (he still has nightmares about the super itchy homemade jerseys he had to wear as a child) but he did ask if I would be able to sew him some shirts. He is quite slim and so really needs to wear fitted shirts which are surprisingly hard to find (unless you want to spend hundreds of dollars, which we don't). He even went so far as to come into Lincraft with me and sit looking at pattern books trying to find something. And we came out with nothing, nadda, zippo. There was maybe five pages of mens clothing, with at least 2 of these being for scrubs, 1 for a halloween costume and the rest were for boxy shapeless shirts. It seems like the modern pattern companies have given up on the men, they seem to be able to stay on top of women's fashion, providing thousands of lovely patterns, but when it comes to the men there is very little out there.

So I have had a bit of a browse at the vintage patterns, but I doubt this is what he is thinking of:

Image from What-I-Found

So, is it because the majority of home sewers are women that this demographic is not catered to at all? I think we all know from experience that it is not because men don't care how they dress. I for one would love to find someone out there producing patterns that are modern and fitted and classic, all at the same time, so I can make something for the man I love.

Of course, I could just make him the always popular jumpsuit? What do you think??

Image from What-I-Found

My Creative Space - trying to be about the process not the product

2010-09-02T08:52:00.002+10:00

Knitting a cardigan has been a real learning experience, and not just for all the new techniques and skills I am learning. I have figured out that I am an immediate gratification kind of girl and tend to focus on the final product. I tend to make things that are quick, at the most a couple of days and that I rush things that should not be rushed (ahem, a dress that does not fit at all and that now needs the 3 hours of hand sewing to be unpicked is a good example...). So knitting a cardigan has gone totally against the grain for me, I have been working on it for weeks already and have still not finished the back (nearly there though!). I have found this quite frustrating, I just want it done. now. But, you can't rush knitting so I am having to learn how to just enjoy the process of knitting. Hopefully it is also teaching me to take my time on other projects as well, particularly my sewing.

Lots of other people hopefully enjoying the process here!

My Creative Space

2010-08-26T10:42:00.004+10:00

Vaguely inspired by this necklace from Anthropologie I am trying to use up some of my seed beads, purchased in a large quantity from the Rozelle markets. I had however forgotten how very boring it is to thread seed beads, especially in the quantity I am trying to do, need a good movie to watch at the same time really. My necklace won't look anything like the Anthropologie, but the colours are pretty similar and that was what drew me to that particular necklace.

Anyhoo - loads more going on over at Kootoyoo :-)

Cheering me up today

2010-08-25T15:16:00.003+10:00

I have some long put off big decisions to make, and it is not going well. Luckily I have these two recently acquired vintage brooches to cheer me up. The daisy is from a lovely vintage store and tearoom called Geordie Lane, in the Blackall Range, Queensland and the blue one is from my local salvo's. Got to love flowers!

What I've been up too...

2010-08-24T11:31:00.003+10:00

Well, it has been a while hasn't it?

My mum has been visiting so I have been taking a break from blogging (and crafting). We just spent a lovely weekend in Bateman's Bay, where the absolute highlight was seeing Southern Right Whales literally 5 - 10 metres off the coast, amazing!

My knitting is still going ahead and the dress I last blogged about here, is finished but I am not happy with the fit so needs a a bit of work before I will post about it.

Thats it for me really - what have you all been up too?

My Creative Space

2010-08-12T09:26:00.003+10:00

I am working on another dress at the moment, which is going to be very interesting. I don't normally wear a lot of colour, but have been trying to change that, and this fabric just caught my eye.

So I am going with a simple strapless dress with a big white sash to break up the colour a little:

This in itself poses some challenges, I have never used boning before so that is going to be an interesting exercise. Also the sizing of this dress seems very weird (I am using New Look 6773), as after cutting out the size I should have been given the patterns measurements, it appears that it is still about 2 sizes to big! So I am having to make some major adjustments..

I am of course still working on the cardigan, I have been having some issues with the increase stitches. My m1r leaves large holes, I have already undone a few rows and knitted them them again but there are still holes. They are not too big so I am going to have to put up with them. I am hoping once it is all sewn together they wil not be too visible...

Lots more lovely creative people over at Kootoyoo - have a lovely day!

The Parfait Dress

2010-08-10T09:12:00.006+10:00

My husband and I just spent the weekend on the Sunshine Coast which was lovely. We spent Saturday at the Blackall Range, walking, eating, singing along to cheesy songs in the car and on Sunday we explored the coast, played in the waves, explored rock pools and are lots of fish and chips, it was bliss.

I had been trying to get the parfait dress finished in time for this trip and I succeeded! So, feeling like a right twit I had my husband take some photos of me on the beach, so here you go.

This dress was a challenge, technically it is not that hard but for some reason nothing really wanted to come together on it for me. I documented some of the trials here. But it has mostly worked out, my solution to the brozen zipper is less then ideal, I am using a necklace clasp at the moment but I want to buy a soldering iron so will be able to fix it better then. I interfaced it with a silk organza to try keep it cool for summer, which worked really well so I might start doing that more. There are a few things I would change if I make it again, mainly, I would put the zip to the top of the dress (the pattern says to sew the seams for a couple of inches and then insert the zip) as I found it really hard to insert the zip with the dress already sewn together. I would also make some small adjustments to the way the midriff is constructed.

But, other then all of that I am happy with the way it has turned out, and I felt very stylish on the beach. I have already started cutting out the next project, the fabric is a riot, but more on that another time.

My first cardigan - part 2 - unhelpful instructions for beginners

2010-08-06T11:41:00.005+10:00

I guess I should have expected it, but, every now and then I have run into some instructions which while I am sure the pro knitters out there can handle without a second thought have left me going down some very wrong routes. The latest example was when I got up to the ribbing and the instructions read:

K1, *p1, k1; reapeat from* to end. Cont in rib as established for 24 rows.

To the novice, this reads like you continue the exact pattern for 24 rows, which I started to do, and after three rows realised I was producing a seed stitch and not a rib. So I had to do a little research to realise that what I actually needed to do was:

K1, *p1, k1; reapeat from* to end. Next row P1, *k1, p1; repeat from * to end.

Seed Stitch

Ribbing

I guess I have to put it all down to the learning experience, but I am pleased I looked carefully at the pictures first, so had an idea of what each stitch needed to look like before beginning, otherwise I could have had a disaster on my hands!

Anyone else ever come across instructions that make no sense to a beginner?

My Creative Space

2010-08-05T11:39:00.004+10:00

Today I am trying to turn a rather uninspiring pink singlet..

into something a little bit special with some antique lace.

So that hopefully it looks a little like this.

Also, my cardigan continues to grow, slowly but steadily.

Lots more creative spaces at Kootoyoo.

Iva Rose

2010-08-04T10:26:00.004+10:00

So, my entire inspiration for wanting to learn knitting again was this cardigan Casey made. I just think it is gorgeous, so when she mentioned she got the pattern from a reproduction knitting book from Iva Rose I immediately looked it up and fell in love with about 6 of the patterns. My book arrived yesterday and I am very happy with it, although as I just started a cardigan everything in my new book will have to wait. But, in this post I just want to say how great the service was at Iva Rose. I dealt with Peggy, who was amazing. There was an issue with the payment which she dealt with straight away, and she even found me a link to see some other examples of patterns I had purchased knitted up. How is that for service?? If you are looking for knitting patterns I highly recommend checking out this website.

And I think that is why I love this world-wide crafting community, wether it is the lovely comments people leave, how open people are on their blogs, or the amazing one on one service you get from the online crafty retailers, you get a real feeling of community. It is such a shame that we have to go to cyber space to get that now... but I feel very lucky that I stumbled upon it x

Documenting my attempt at a cardigan - Part 1

2010-08-02T08:41:00.004+10:00

The wool has been bought, the needles have been bought, a tension square has been knitted and hours have been spent mulling over the size so it must be time to start.

The pattern calles for a cotton silk blend, but I have chosen a 100% cotton, as this little cardigan is for summer and I want it to be as cool as possible. I ended up with 10 balls of Jo Sharp DK cotton in the colour 'Carmen', which is a dark red, almost a burgundy. This photo shows the colour best.

The next issue was the sizing, the pattern had sizes for a 36" bust and a 40", while I am a 37". I hmm'd and haa'd and finally decided to just make the 36", my knitting is a bit loose and I would rather have something a touch to small then a top I am swimming in. Plus, you have to love ravelry where you can see so many versions of this made up by every different size.

And so, I begin. And up until about row 9 it was going very well. The first 10 rows are a seed stitch, which it took me 2 tries to figure out (turned out you have to move the unknitted yarn with each stitch, which makes sense). But then at row 10 (I think) I managed to do something very weird, I thought it was dropped stitches, but as I ended up with two extra stitches after attempting to fix it I now have no idea. Here is my attempt at resolving to the situation.

So now I am left with the dilemma, to tink or not to tink? Can I live with this little mistake, it is at the back after all, or is it worth the trouble to undo those rows and re-knit them. If you have any thought or advice then please let me know :-)

My Creative Space - learning to knit

2010-07-29T09:24:00.005+10:00

I have been doing a lot of rather unsuccessful sewing lately so thought I would finally try out knitting again, inspired by the always amazing Casey. I brought the Patons Learn to Knit book as this was what I used to learn crochet. So far I have made this hat, which I think needs a little explanation.

See, while I like the instructions in the book, I am not such a fan of any of the designs in it, plus all the patterns call for the use of Patons Inca wool, which is made with 7mm needles. I was not going to spend money making something I was never going to wear and I had a ball of 8ply wool in my stash that I have never used. So, I brought some 4mm needles and figured I would just make a little hat (it would fit a newborn) just to practise my stitches. And I have to say I think it went quite well, and I really enjoyed it. I have knitted before a long time ago (I made the worlds biggest yellow scarf) and was surprised at how easily I picked it up again.

So I am goingto jump right into a cardigan, I have brought this pattern and am off to get some wool today. I got the pattern from Interweave and it is called the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan. Wish me luck!

Heaps more cleaver people ato Kootoyoo!

A funk

2010-07-27T09:52:00.005+10:00

I have been having massive issues with the Parfait dress by Collette, and it is now languishing in the corner. I have talked about the issues with the fit here, but since then about 6 other things have gone wrong. Among these, turns out it is really hard to insert an invisible zip without an invisible zip foot, plus I really struggled to insert the zip when I had already stitched up part of the side seams, as per the instructions. After a long and arduous struggle I managed to get it sewn in, although it is not invisible...

Then, I was doing the buttonholes, four in total, and when I got to the fourth button hole my machine decided to have a grump. It got stuck so instead of making a buttonhole it just stitched a massive lump of thread. So I had to unpick a buttonhole, let me tell you, that is not a fun experience.

Finally, I got all this done, got two buttons sewn on, tried on the dress, and the zip broke, Yep, the actual zip, nothing to do with me but because apparently everything is total crap and zips are now made to last a day. So, I threw the dress done (after needing to use a pair of pliers to get it off!) had a cry and sat down to do some knitting. And immediately dropped a stitch.

So, how do you deal with a bad making day? Soldier on, take a break, go shopping?

Best porridge EVER

2010-07-23T11:00:00.005+10:00

Just a very short note to mention the yummiest porridge ever that I made this morning. A tropical porridge can you believe? My husband hates porridge, but I have been making him eat it as it is good for him, and a hell of a lot cheaper then any other cereal out there. But this morning he could not get enough of it, so I know I am on to a winner. Basically it was a total fluke as I made a curry for dinner last night, and had half a can of light coconut milk left over. So this morning I made porridge with half coconut milk, half water, and topped it off with honey and bananas. It was really good and I highly recommend you give it a go.

Happy breakfast everyone!

P.S. I didn't take pictures, so was tempted to find one online to use but being the good citizen that I am thought I would wow you all with my sketching talents instead x

My Creative Space - learning my lessons...slowly

2010-07-22T09:26:00.005+10:00

I am still working on this dress, mainly because I ran into an issue with the fit of it (which I stupidly did not photograph sorry!). Basically the fabric was bulging very strangely on one side of my bust, which I only noticed after I had overlocked all the seams, ahem. For some reason, instead of thinking the situation through I got it into my head that I needed to take in more fabric in the side seam, so spent two hours unpicking everything and sewing it all up again, two or three times because it was not fixing the problem. Finally, after much swearing and stamping of feet (yes I can strop with the best of them) I realised that I was trying to fix the wrong problem!!

It occurred to me, in a moment of clarity, that the issue was actually with the strap. See the dress is gathered at the strap, and I had simply not gathered it enough, thus the excess fabric sticking out. It took about 15 minutes to fix.

So, another lesson to add to the rather large list is to assess the situation before jumping in and trying to fix it. I do not know enough about constructing clothes to be able to instantly know what the problem is and how to fix. But, if I spend some time thinking it through I can usually come up with a solution, without the temper tantrums.

Loads more creative spaces here!

My recipe book

2010-07-20T10:53:00.004+10:00

This is actually a project I put together a couple of years ago, but as I have run into some annoying fitting issues with my current project (this dress), as a most welcome distraction I decided to share this with you.

I had a brilliant recipe folder, it was hot pink, and had room for everything but it got lost in one of my moves somewhere (I actually suspect perhaps it was kept by an old flatmate...) and I could not find anything similar to it. Now of course there are heaps of recipe folders out there but at the time I could not find a sausage.

As I am something of a stationary geek, I still dream about a particular stationary store in Vancouver, I knew I had to use a moleskine notebook for my recipes. I then found this post which had the very helpful downloadable labels, but I wanted my recipe book to be something special. So I went on the hunt for old food related postcards to use at the start of each section. I found this brilliant website, http://www.ansichtskartenversand.com/ , and managed to find enough food related postcards to fill each section of my recipe book. Their service is really good, all the postcards I received were in perfect condition, and I was very happy. Here are some of my favourites.

This project was really pretty quick and easy to put together and I am still really happy with my little recipe book, which is slowly but surely filling up...

My Creative Space

2010-07-15T10:58:00.003+10:00

There is not much crafting going on today (surprising as I brought myself a new sewing machine yesterday, yay!!!!) as I have had the dreaded lurgies and now that I am feeling better I desperately need to clean the house and buy groceries so that is my day all wrapped up. But I did manage to finish the bag a wrote about last week so am sharing the finished product.

It mostly went very smoothly, I found the instructions a little confusing, they seemed to be very convoluted, but I managed to muddle my way through. I added a zip to the pocket for a little extra security, this bag does not close so I wanted somewhere safeish to put my phone, wallet etc.

I did make it expandable, but I am a bit worried about the holes for the magnetic buttons fraying as they wear. One blog recommended using a sort of anti-fray glue called Fray Check but I don't think I have ever seen anything like that here is oz. Anyone know anything about this product?

I am pretty pleased with it in the end, though it is very much a summer bag so I am not sure how much action it will see over the next couple of months.

Lots more lovely creative people over at Kootoyoo.

The hats...finally!

2010-07-13T10:39:00.005+10:00

So here are the two hats I made at my millinery class weeks ago. I have to admit that I am pretty happy with both of them. I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted for the hat, but I am not a huge fan of fascinators so found that piece something of a struggle. In the end I was inspired by this hat by Philip Treacy.

But as I am no Isabella Blow it needed to be toned down somewhat. So, with much less feathers, and some trims I created this:

We had to make the fascinators from scratch, so using sinamay we blocked the base of the fascinator, creating the shape we wanted and then had to add all of the trims and feathers ourselves. I have no idea where I will ever wear this but it is on display in my work room and I feel pretty proud of myself when I look at it.

Here, is the hat.

This was much easier to design as I have very clear ideas about the sort of hats I wear and the styles that suit me. This hat started life as an unformed piece of felt, that vaguely looked like a hat. Again it had to be steamed and blocked, the brim took two weeks to get it into that shape. Once the crown and brim were done they needed to be sewn together, stiffened, and beautified. I even made the flower, using french silk flower tools that I now really want but can't afford :-( The only major issue with this hat is that I over stiffened it so it could now pass as a helmet, but apparently the more I wear it the more it will soften.

So those are my hats, I really enjoyed this course, and would be happy to carry on making hats, just need to figure out how to fund such an expensive hobby...

My Creative Space

2010-07-08T10:06:00.004+10:00

I am now working on this Heather Bailey bag, I had had my eye on the pattern for a while but due to the fact that I have the worlds smallest letter box, and a post man whose solution to tiny letter box is to fold things in half, I was reluctant to order it online. So when I found it at the Kelani stall at the Sydney Quilt and Craft fair I decided totake it as a sign.

I am pretty happy with my fabric, The Remnant Warehouse here is Sydney is pretty good for fabric, especially if you are a quilter. They actually had the pink and red Heather Bailey fabric pictured on the back of the cover of the pattern, but tempted as I was, I went for this beautiful blue and green.

I have already fallen into a rather annoying trap with it, there are two pattern pieces that were meant to be taped together before cutting out the fabric...which I discovered after cutting out my expensive fabric. I can improvise a fix but it is still annoying. If anyone out there decidesto make this bag, pattern pieces A and B need to be taped together so that the fabric is cut out in one piece, not two...

I am also going to try a cotton interfacing that was suggested to me at the Remnant Warehouse to stiffen it. The pattern recommends using canvas but I am hoping that two layers of interfacing will give it the structure I am after. If not I am hoping a layer of calico will do the trick, its all a bit of an experiment really.

Lots more lovely creative folk over at Kootoyoo, enjoy!

Making pictures with stitches

2010-07-06T09:20:00.005+10:00

I have been trying my hand at embroidery, well, making pictures with stitches anyway. I have just been playing and have not tried to do any "proper" stitches. My first attempt was a copy of an old Golden Books book, as I love them and think the old ones are beautiful. But the last three have all been my very own designs. I have really enjoyed working in a little bit of sketching into my craft, and I think it suits my style.

I really like these on little bags, the turtle has become a pencil case and I made a little bag for sunglasses for my husband.

I am vaguely thinking of making some more and setting up a madeit shop, I think I need a few more prototypes though. I certainly have enough ideas! Plus I am not averse to spending a lot more time with my sketch book and pencils... :-)

My Creative Space - recycling!

2010-07-01T09:32:00.004+10:00

First up, to be honest, I made this yesterday but I think it turned out so well I wanted to post about it today. I picked up a pile of sea glass on the holiday my husband proposed (4 years ago now!), and held on to it for sentimental reasons without having a clear idea what I was going to do with it. Then a year ago I stumbled across this blog post and knew it would be perfect and FINALLY I sat down yesterday and got it made.

I think it was quite successful? Makes me wish I had hoarded a lot more sea glass from my travels, is there any rubbish that is prettier then sea glass? I'm also a bit of a romantic so like to make up stories about where the glass came from, a pirate ship, a message in a bottle??

I was expecting this project to be quite fiddly, but it turned out really easy. I ended up using a copper based wire that was super malleable. I only have two concerns, one is that the end of the wire on each piece of glass is a little scratchy, I'm thinking of maybe dropping a little wax on the ends, anyone out there have any other suggestions? I'm also not sure how long it will last, I have never used this technique before so will just have to wear it continually to see how it lasts.

As always heaps more lovely creative spaces here!

Making me happy today...

2010-06-30T12:57:00.003+10:00

is my lunch!

Homemade bread with Potato and garlic soup.

The soup was something I came up with when living in Alaska, having to cook for four men and suddenly realising no one had been to the supermarket in over a week. Literally all I could find was some old potato's (the ones that end up at the back of the pantry) and a few lonely gloves of garlic. So all you need to do when in a similar situation is boil some potato's and garlic in some chicken stock, puree this and then add some soy sauce and chilli powder (or I also think smoked paprika would be nice?). I then threw in some bacon and parsly. It makes for such an easy, filling and warming lunch.

Whats making you happy today?

When it all goes horribly wrong....

2010-06-29T09:33:00.006+10:00

A few weeks ago my creative space was about this hat which I was feeling less then inspired about. I could tell it was going to be way to small for me, and I was loathe to undo it and redo it. As I think I have mentioned before I live in Sydney, and though it gets a bit nippy, I really do not need a warm wooly hat. So it sat in my wool pile for a few weeks, sending off waves of resentment, when I finally decided the thing to do would be to finish it and send it off to New Zealand to one of my nieces. Lovely plan you might say, plus it would be the first thing I have made for someone else, so with much excitement it came out of the wool pile...

And is a complete and total disaster, really my first major one in this journey of re-learning how to make things. It is SO small, as in it might just fit a baby, plus it has no give so I imagine it would cut off the circulation to the poor baby's head. It is a torture hat, nice.

I think perhaps this is due to my somewhat laissez-faire attitude to counting my stitches, that and I think I made the puff stitches way to tight. I found them really difficult, not technically but physically, this hat made my hands ache. Which perhaps should have been my first sign that things were not as they should be?

But, trying to look at the positives, apart from being way to small, it is still a nice looking hat. I may even try it again at some point, perhaps after I have done a little more research on tension... which seems to be how I finish a lot of posts. Perhaps I am being really slow at learning my lesson?

Sydney Biennale

2010-06-28T10:29:00.007+10:00

It's not particularly crafty but if you are in Sydney at all during July can I please urge you to check out Cockatoo Island as part of the 17th Biennale of Sydney. My husband and I went yesterday and it was amazing! My husband is not particularly interested in art, usually managing to stay in a museum for half an hour before total boredom sets in, but we happily spent four hours wandering around. There were many highlights, in particular Static No. 12 by Daniel Crooks, which was a stunningly beautiful video of a man doing Tai Chi, where due to some time delay in the video, the mans movements all blended into one. I also loved Kasbah by Kader Attia which is a replica of the rooftops of a shanty town, one that you can walk all over, it is really interactive and I think it would be a great way of starting a conversation with child about poverty in other parts of the world.

Then there was Inopportune:Stage One by Cai Guo-Qiang, a series of cars suspended in mid air, exploding.

Of course there were many, many other exhibits but I think a major part of the appeal was the setting. Cockatoo Island is basically a huge abandoned industrial space, in fact it used to be a shipbuilding yard and all the mechanics, buildings and structures remain. Most of the exhibits are in these enormous cavernous areas, and all the fixtures are rusting and falling apart. I would have been happy wandering around without all the art, that was just an added bonus. But all in all it was a perfect way to spend a day and even better, totally free!!

Sorry there are no photos, I stupidly did not take my camera (although, I think sometimes its nice to enjoy things without also thinking about them as a subject for photography).

My Creative Space...

2010-06-24T14:38:00.003+10:00

involves a big pile of dress pieces that need tailor's tacks. Enough said I think ;-)

Lots of lovely creative spaces here!

Little beribboned pouch

2010-06-18T14:21:00.004+10:00

I saw a lovely clutch, somewhere, can't for the life of me remember where, which had some ribbon detailing on it which just took my fancy. I figured I could probably make something similar, so here is my version.

Naturally, I didn't bother looking online for patterns and tips and just ploughed ahead, making it up as I went. I was not being too precise with this one as it really was just a trial run, and the fabric is stuff I picked up for $1 from my local op-shop so I didn't feel to compelled to make it perfect. In general I am pretty happy with it, although next time I make it I would be a tad more mathematical with the ribbon placement...

Oh and did I mention this is my first time putting a zip in a bag? Turns out it is much easier then in a dress! Although I did run into a little problem with the lining, attaching it to the zip before sewing it up, resulting in my seams being on the inside of the bag, instead of between the layers. I improvised with a bit of fabric, made like bias tape, but not actually bias tape as I did not cut it on the bias, sewn over the seams. I probably need to do a little research to see how the linings should actually be put in.

I think next time I will make pattern pieces out of tracing paper, so that all bits of fabric are the correct size. Even though I was measuring everything I found when it came to sewing it all together, none of the pieces actually fit...

So, to sum up, in hindsight I might have found it easier to make a more simple bag before jumping straight into this one, but it mostly worked and only took about an hour to make so I would be happy to whip up some more because after all, practise makes perfect, right??

My Creative Space

2010-06-17T08:28:00.004+10:00

Today there will not be too much making going on as I am off to the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair. I have no idea what to expect as this is my first Australian craft fair. The last "craft" fair I went to was in New Zealand and was more of a market place for candles and jam, and not too much crafting. I am hoping I will get some new ideas, and some more supplies, I would love to find some decent felt as I am yet to find any in the shops here.

Hopefully though I will find some time to put the finishing touches on this.

It is surprisingly cold here at the moment and in an attempt to keep our power bill down I am resorting to carrying around a hot water bottle. Was getting a little sick of the rubber though, so once this is finished it should be nice and cosy. I made up the design myself, but I think I would make a few changes to it if I were to do it again. That is a totally different post though!

Lots more creative spaces here.

The true value of handmade

2010-06-16T09:53:00.004+10:00

I went op-shopping yesterday, just to one store that had been recommended to me, the Anglicare Shop in Summer Hill. This is basically the depot where all clothing donations get taken before being sorted and distributed to other shops. As such it is literally just bins of clothes that you need to dig through, so it is really cheap, $6 for a kg of clothes. There is also a store there, but this seems a little pricy to me. I found a few bits and pieces, a couple of simple dresses, scarves and a shirt (which is ugly but I liked the fabric so will see what I can make of it). But then I found this.

Now, I do not have children, and I am not even sure if I will ever have children but this caught my eye. For one this is one of my favourite colours, and secondly the styling of it is adorable. So, I hmm'd and haa'd and eventually put it back thinking I should leave it for someone who has a daughter. Then I thought about it some more, because I am pretty sure that this little dress was handmade. Beautifully handmade I might add, but the lack of even a hint of a label, and just how much work has gone into it leds me to believe that someone put a lot of time and effort into this dress. And that made me unspeakably sad. That this beautiful dress was made for someone, someone poured love into every seam, pictured a little girl wearing it, and now it is at the bottom of a bin of clothes, most of which came from Target anyway. Then, I felt like a hypocrite, as I am lucky enough to have friends and family who all make things, and when I think of all the things I have got rid of, that someone made especially for me, I feel sick to the pit of my stomach. So, I brought the dress, for about 50c, and decided that I will show it the care no one else deemed it worthy of. Who knows, maybe one day I will have a little girl to wear it, or it will make a lovely gift for someone who will appreciate it. I don't know what I will do with it, but it will not be sitting at the bottom of a bin. I have the feeling that whoever made it had hoped that it might become a family heirloom, so I hope that I will do the best by this dress, and maybe make up a little for the lack of care I have shown all the beautiful things others have made me. Because, now that I am making my own things again, I know that something handmade is so much more valuable then simply the fabric it was made from.

Sping time skirt

2010-06-15T09:26:00.007+10:00

This skirt was inspired by the fabric, I found it at Tessuti, and I loved the spring time feel of it. I guess it was a nice antidote to winter? I used McCalls 5591, which was a really simple pattern to follow. I made the skirt A version, without the contrasting fabric. Excitingly this was the first time I have ever made pockets, and it turns out they are actually pretty easy! I was very proud of myself and my poor husband had to listen to me stating over and over again, I made pockets!

Pockets!!

There really isn't to much to discuss with this skirt, I think it is a really flattering style, and while looks a bit complicated with the pleats and pockets it is actually pretty easy to sew up and really does not take too long. My only gripe is, after making it I saw someone selling a similar version in the same fabric at a market here is Sydney, but it was just a simple aline skirt, with out any detail. But still, someone out there has something very similar, grrrrr.

Also on a side note, it is very difficult to do a full length self portrait! I even have a remote and it is still tricky so please excuse the poor photos!

Today I am off op-shopping and hoping for some exciting finds, so wish me luck!

My Creative Space...

2010-06-10T09:35:00.004+10:00

involves a little bit of this:

And a hell of a lot of this:

The crochet pattern comes from here and in theory is nearly done but does not seem nearly big enough so I think I have to unravel and add more rows. Always annoying I find.

The elephant is part of 1000 photos from Africa that I need to edit, (the joys of shooting in raw) but in doing so is bringing back some pretty amazing memories so is a pretty enjoyable way to spend the day.

Plenty more creative spaces here!

Refried Beans

2010-06-07T14:51:00.007+10:00

Not much crafting going on today, although I have my last millinery class tonight so will hopefully be able to post some pictures of my creations soon. So today I thought I would share my recipe for refried beans, which are 1) delicious 2) better the next day so 3) the perfect meal to make when I will be out in the evening.

2 cans of drained kidney beans (for the record I have tried using dry beans but they are such a hassle to soak and cook)

1 can diced tomatos

2 cloves garlic

half and onion (diced finely)

half a cup of chicken stock

1 teaspoon of my super hot sweet chilli (see this post)

half a green pepper, diced

Salt and pepper

Fry the garlic and onion in a little olive oil until tender, add both cans of beans and the chicken stock and fry until heated through. Then using a potato masher, mash the beans until you get a somewhat goopy texture (you will be able to tell when to stop mashing). Next add the tomatos, chilli, green pepper, salt and pepper and stir through. Allow this to simmer uncovered for about half an hour or until most of the moisture has evaporated.

Have this with tacos, or nachos, or rice, or even on pizza (with tomatos, peppers, cheese and rocket- mmmm).

My Creative Space - White on White on White

2010-06-03T12:05:00.000+10:00

Ohhh, my first ever creative space. Today I am making these beauties. Goodness knows what I am going to do with them but I am sure they will find a suitable home. Instructions via Portobella Pixie.

More Creative Spaces here.

Queen Anne Lace Scarf

2010-06-01T09:26:00.000+10:00

After taking a small break from the crochet hook I recently picked them up again to attempt the Queen Anne Lace Scarf, which struck me as being the perfect Sydney winter scarf, not to big, not to flimsy, for those not to cold but not to hot days. I used this pattern, found via Ravelry. This was a really nice project to work on as you saw progress very very quickly, and it took less then a week, when I only spent about an hour a day working on it. I also felt like it would be a really nice piece for a beginner as you are using three distinct stitches (chain, double and treble - or for the Americans chain, single and double) over and over again so they really get cemented in your head. Rather annoyingly I forget to jot down the wool I used, but it is really soft and I love the colours. My only issue with it is that I think for this project it might be a little to thick (I think its a 10 ply) which means I have lost some of the detail of the stitches. But I would be happy to make this scarf again so, when I have finished the sixteen other projects in my head I think I will try it again with a much finer wool. By the way, I am reading way to many US blogs and keep wanting to refer to wool as yarn! Here are some shots of the detail, no photos of me wearing it yet though sorry!

The Great Sweet Chilli Sauce Disaster

2010-06-01T03:07:00.000+10:00

So, I thought it would be a fine idea to try making my own sweet chilli sauce, ha! All was going well, it looked lovely, the consistency was good, the very first taste was lovely, and then a freakin' bomb went off in my mouth! Holy cow! And now of course I am kicking myself as I was thinking as I was cutting up the chillies that I should remove some of the seeds. However I wasn't sure if all the sugar was going to dilute the heat (or something) and didn't want to end up with an insipid sauce. So, note to everyone, the heat stays!!! You can see from this shot just how many seeds there are in the sauce, and this shot was taken after it had been blended.

I am currently trying to dilute it, but honestly I do not see that happening. Rather then wasting some preserving jars I might just make it again, and this time, LESS SEEDS!

By the way if anyone is interested the recipe I used is from Jo Seagar's book The Cook School Recipes.

Books I am reading

2010-05-26T09:53:00.000+10:00

This is a quick post to let you know about a couple of the crafty books by my bed at the moment. The first one is called Bread Matters: How and why to make your own by Andre Whitley. I have been making my own bread for a while, mainly because I find it a little terrifying how long a loaf of store bought bread will last, staying as soft as the day you brought it for weeks. What are they putting in there? This book is particularly good as it has an extensive section on how modern bread is made and why it is not good for us. Two big things I took away from this was, that you can not trust the ingredients listed on the packaging, as enzymes do not need to be listed. Now apart from the emerging science that some of these are bad for us, some enzymes are derived from animal products, meaning vegetarians aren't able to make informed choices about what they are eating. Secondly, to get the full range of vitamins and minerals that bread used to provide, we need to stick to stone-ground wholemeal flour, as the other 'wholemeal' flours have had many of their ingredients removed. What I like about this book (apart from the pages and pages of lovely recipes) is that the authors claims are backed up by scientific research. I am very weary of people who make claims without proof, but Andrew Whitley has really done his research.
The second book is a very new one that I am already loving, Sew It Up by Ruth Singer (this appears to be called The Sewing Bible in the US). This is full of tips on how to create really good finishes on your sewing projects, from zips to hems to buttonholes to pleats. I will find this very useful as I know the basics of sewing, but I lack the skills to finish off my garments so they look really professional (particularly zips, mine look terrible!). So far I have only read a few pages, and flicked through to see what it covers but I am impressed and am looking forward to using some of these techniques on new projects.

Both these books are avaliable from Fishpond

Dahlia

2010-05-24T11:21:00.000+10:00

Today I feel uninspired, which means I am not making the most of my photography, being uncreative and trite. So, here instead is post about another project I made a few weeks ago.

I found a tutorial for a lovely Dahlia brooch on Holidash, and suddenly I was obsessed, and while I knew I would never wear it as a brooch I saw many other opportunities. First up, as we have just moved into a new flat, a new very very white flat, I have been trying to add a little colour. My idea had been cushions, covered with dahlias, I worked it out as each cushion would need nine flowers. But, as I had three cushions to do it didn't take me too long to do the math and realise I would need to make 27 flowers, and as each took me about 2 hours, this simply was never going to happen. So I have made two big dahlia's and stuck them one smack bang in the middle of each cushion, which I also quite like.

Next up was one in a beautiful blue, which I also had some matching vintage buttons. I have decided to usethis one in one of my millinery projects, possibly the fascinator with sinamay leaves. I think this could work quite well?

One small adjustment I made to the pattern was instead of glueing the petals, I hand-stitched each one on. This was mostly because I could not find a decent glue here in Sydney, but also I suspect that for cushions stitching might be a bit more durable. This was also one of my first times working with felt and I really enjoyed it. I think it might have opened up a few more creative doors for me. But, we will see.

The Pin Cushion

2010-05-20T14:19:00.000+10:00

This is a project I made about three weeks ago - as you can tell I am still getting used to blogging, and blogging regulary...

The two fabrics that I had, when looked as as a whole both seemed very green so I thought it would be fun to make an apple pincushion, who doesn't love apples right?

Well after looking on line at other peoples pincushions, (did you know there are whole groups dedicated to pincushions on Flickr), I thought I had it sussed, so with all the confidence in the world I started cutting and sewing. This was the result.

As you can see, while this is very convincing garlic, as an apple, not so much. So I spent a bit of time figuring out what went wrong and I came to the conclusion that each piece was to wide (it is made from six pieces). So I tried again...and still no apple! At this point I gave up on the apple, stuck a button to the top and now I think I have a perfectly nice non-fruit (or garlic) like pincushion.

Who says giving up is for losers? Worked perfectly alright for me :-)

Tomato relish

2010-05-06T17:03:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I made a very yummy tomato relish so thought I would share the recipe, which my sister-in-law gave to me while we were in Papua new Guinea. She thought it was so good because of the tomatos there but I think it is just as good with any other tomatos.

Ingredients:

8 tomatos

3 Onions

25g salt

1 cup sugar

white vinegar

Chop the tomatos and onions, sprinkle with the salt and leave to sit overnight. Then add the sugar and vinegar, just pour enough vinegar in so that you can just see it through the tomatos. Simmer for 1 and a half to 2 hours. Let it cool and enjoy. I highly recommend it in a toasted cheese sandwich ;-)

Hats, hats, hats

2010-05-04T10:40:00.000+10:00

One of Catherine's beautiful hats

I had my first millinery class last night and it was so much fun! My tutor is Catherine Kelly, a Sydney based milliner, who as you can see from the website makes some amazing hats.

http://www.embellish-hats.com/

I was lucky enough to get a peep into her studio and I was just like a kid in a candy shop. We make two hats, a fascinator and a felt or straw hat. Catherine believes in teaching traditional techniques so every thing is going to be hand done.

Last night we started blocking our fascinators, which is a lot easier then I could have imagined, and now I want to run out and buy a block! We also had a play with the sinamay, a banana leaf based product, that we use to make out fascinators. It turns out that it is really easy to work with and create some amazing shapes.

We also choose the base for our next hat, which we then use to mold into the final product. I have chosen a beautiful red felt, and I am picturing some giant silk flowers on it. But I will let my imagination run free and see what I come up with.

My new Colette pattern arrived

2010-04-30T09:03:00.000+10:00

My new pattern arrived! Here is a picture from the Colette website.

http://www.colettepatterns.com/shop/parfait

I'm thinking that I will make it in a a soft pastel colour, I am leaning towards pink but will see what is out there. I also think I am going to have a go at making crochet buttons, Casey being my inspiration:

http://blog.caseybrowndesigns.com/2010/04/an-ode-to-crochet-buttons/

I think this, with perhaps some lace on the pockets could look very cute. Plus, as I am now living in Sydney I need a much larger wardrobe of summer clothes because even in mid autumn here it is hot! So this winter will be spent sewing clothes for next summer...

The Giraffe

2010-04-28T16:38:00.000+10:00

So, I have finally finished my amigurumi giraffe!

I found this project a bit of a struggle, and I have been finding it hard to explain why. I have been telling myself that it is because it was so very monotonous, but then surely all crochet is? Doing the same stitch over and over and over...

However, I don't mind that, so I am not sure why I didn't enjoy this as much as my other crochet projects. I have been dreaming about sewing so maybe I was simply keen to do something else?

Anyway, there were not too many dramas with this one (unlike Mr Elephant), I used a much smaller wool (8 ply, while my elephant was 12 ply) which I think helps make it look slightly more like it should. I do suspect I still have my stitches a little incorrect. One of the instructions for this one was "working through back loops only" which when I looked up seemed to be what I was doing normally anyway. I need to look into this a bit more, but overall I think it looks ok.

My pattern is another Lion Brand freebie, again please remember that you need to register to view the pattern:

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/90231AD.html?noImages=&r=1

Next up, my aunt has very kindly lent me her sewing machiene so I am working on a couple of projects. More soon.

Millinery Course

2010-04-15T14:14:00.001+10:00

Yay! Just enrolled in this course and it starts in 2 weeks. Super excited!

http://www.sydneycommunitycollege.com.au/course/artf9

I'll be creating hats like these beauties (by Stephen Jones) in no time I'm sure!

Brand spanking new header!

2010-04-14T14:29:00.001+10:00

Just created this new header, this blog is starting to look a little professional I think. Just thought I would say thanks to pixalsandicecream, who very kindly put the background online to download for free:

You can see it here:

http://pixelsandicecream.deviantart.com/art/quot-GypsyGarden-quot-Seamless-tile-94990354

Thank you!

Also, thanks to my lovely hubby who helped me put together the borders and text etc etc, thanks hubby!

Photos, photos everywhere...

2010-04-14T10:31:00.000+10:00

So, I have literally thousands of photos that need editing so the crafting has taken a little bit of a backseat this week. I have been travelling for 10 months and am slowly working my way through them.

They are going up here if anyone is interested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jscottnz/sets/

Also, just to have this short post a tiny bit relevant - I love this skirt by Casey over at elegant musings:

http://blog.caseybrowndesigns.com/2010/04/potting-shed-skirt/

Can not wait to have a sewing machine again as that skirt is going to be copied (after I have got through my back log of other ideas, of course)!!!!!

Some Sydney craft stores

2010-04-10T14:28:00.000+10:00

I moved from London to Sydney a few weeks ago and am very slowly trying to find out where the craft and sewing stores are. I have so far visited 4:

Tessuti

http://www.tessuti.com.au/Tessuti_City.php

Morris and Son

http://www.morrisandsons.com.au/catalog/main.php

Spotlight

http://www.spotlight.com.au/

Lincraft

http://www.lincraft.com.au/

They are all chain stores, which I am a little disappointed about. But they were all perfectly serviceable, Spotlight and Lincraft I would only use for basic supplies, pins, zips, thread etc, while Tessuti had a reasonable selection of fabrics, although I believe there is a much larger store in a different area of Sydney. I did pick up these fabrics:

Morris and Son is a wool and embroidery store and have a pretty good selection of wools. Although I was not overwhelmed, and found a lot of the colours quite dull, especially as I was looking for a bright yellow. These are my buys from Morris and Son:

So, I feel like Sydney will offer all the essentials for sewing and crafting, but I need to search out those special little independent stores, the ones with character, I'm sure there must be some here and I am looking forward to searching them out!

My amigurumi elephant

2010-04-09T13:55:00.000+10:00

Yay! I have finished my elephant, which is actually my second!

I found this amigurumi business a little hard to get my head around, firstly I really struggled with counting the stitches, especailly when I was increasing a row. Having to think of how many stitches in the row, how many times I had to do two stitches in one loop, how many single stitches between each double, phew! Luckily I have a wonderful husband who says that his job is to make the complex simple, so he sat down with me and got me to come up with a way I could keep track of it all. So this was the pattern I ended up working from, crossing each section off as I completed it:

Row 3: D 1S, D 1S, D 1S, D 1S, D 1S, D 1S

Row 4: D 2S, D 2S, D 2S, D 2S, D 2S, D2S

Row 5: D 3S, D 3S, D 3S, D 3S, D 3S, D 3S

And so on.

This really helped me keep track of what I was doing, and stopped me getting into a complete muddle.

The next issue I had was that my decrease stitches left huge gaping holes, I was using the sc2tog stitch and was really unhappy with the result. However, as my previous post mentioned I found a different technique which I used on my second elephant and got a much better result. Thanks June!

First elephant Second elephant

Finally, and perhaps the biggest (and stupidest) problem of all was that I was using totally the wrong stitch in my first elephant!!!! I had managed to make up one of my own, which I think makes it all the more impressive that I completed an elephant (no matter how demented) in the first place. I keep learning lessons about doing your research properly before starting.

Here are the two side by side so you can see how wrong my first elephant went.

Overall, I enjoyed this project, even though I had to do it twice, and I am looking forward to trying a different project (which is going to be a giraffe).

Here is the original pattern from Lion Brand although please note you need to register with them before you can view patterns:

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70582AD.html?noImages=&newreg=1&r=1

On a side note: I realise my choice of grey is highly original for an elephant, but this is a recycled wool of which they only had grey, so I felt like doing my bit.

Amigurumi

2010-04-07T09:52:00.000+10:00

So I have been working on an amigurumi elephant, this little guy from the Lion Brand website, this picture is not my elephant, just a picture of what it is meant to look like:

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70582AD.html?noImages=&newreg=1

I will write a longer post about it once it is finished but I just discovered this post:

http://www.planetjune.com/blog/amigurumi-help/invisible-decrease/

Which I am very excited about as I was very disappointed in how my decrease rows looked, there were huge holes and the decrease stitches were very obvious. So I am going to give this method a go and see if I get a better result. I will post up the two examples once I am done. I knew all I should have done was a little research!

Raiding my grandmothers patterns

2010-04-05T17:22:00.000+10:00

A few weeks ago my mum found me browsing vintage patterns online (oh those full skirts and waspish waists!) and suggested that we go take a look at my grandmothers old patterns as she had distinct memories of seeing all the sorts of patterns I was looking at. So off we went...

We pulled out a large box and a big bag, full of patterns, however....it appears that a whole heap have been lost (sob), apparently at one point they had a lot of things in storage and a lot of it got water damaged. My grandmother then told me about some of the patterns she had had, and they sounded beautiful. One in particular, a ball gown with criss-crossed fabric across the body leading to a full skirt, which in my head I can just imagine in a beautiful pale sea green. Despite this there was the odd treasure, especially two original patterns from the 1920's, these would look terrible on me so I left them there but it was still interesting to see. Most of the patterns that survived were from the 70's and 80's, which was a bit of a laugh, and it was interesting to see how my mother and aunt dressed when they were young (they are also sewers and when younger made a lot of their own clothes as well). I did however get my hands on these three patterns, and a really good sewing book that covers everything from drafting a pattern, to how to iron as you sew, to all the different sleeves, collars and darts. Really, really informative and hopefully will help me in my sewing.

So now, as these patterns are only on loan I have to learn how to trace and re-size patterns, that will be a steep learning curve, but I am looking forward to the challenge!

By the way, if you are looking for specific vintage patterns this website can be a good starting point:

http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

My Very First Crochet Hat

2010-04-04T10:42:00.000+10:00

A few weeks ago I was looking for a knitting pattern, but my mum suggested I try my hand at crochet (I think she was having flashbacks to picking up all my dropped stitches when I was young) and so I brought the Patons Learn to Crochet Book, a 5.5mm hook and some wool and tried my hand at crochet. All in all it was pretty successful, it took a while to figure out the instructions, for a while I thought 2ch meant start at the second chain, and not chain two, but once I figured that out it was mostly smooth. The only other massive setback was when I got to row twelve, and realised that it was way to big, and had to undo to row 6 to make it smaller, that was demoralising! But in the end I figured I might as well put in the effort to make a hat I would actually wear. My husband was amazed that essentially all I was doing my tying knots and yet that was creating a hat.
The other change I made was to the flowers, as the hat was made from a grey, almost purple wool, I thought a dusky pink flower would be a nice contrast. So off I went to get some more wool, and pearl beads to sew into the inside of the flower, by now I figured I was hooked. So here is my hat, which I have to say, I am quite proud of. My husband was amazed that essentially all I was doing my tying knots and yet that was creating a hat, and I continue to be amazed at what I can do with my own hands. No more china made, run of the mill hats for me!!

Crafting with children

2010-04-02T11:09:00.001+11:00

Well, this blog has not started too well! In my defense however, I have moved country so things have been a little bit all over the place. I still do not have pictures of my recent creations but wanted to post a short piece about crafting with children.
While I do not have any of my own, I have been lucky enough to spend some time with my young cousins (girls, 2 and 8). One day I was wearing a lovely necklace that I had picked up in Uganda, made with rolled paper beads, that the local women had been taught to make so that they could earn an income. My cousins loved it and were intrigued when I told them it was made with paper, so we sat down with an old magazine, scissors and glue and made two cute bracelets. It was so much fun teaching this old technique, one that I used as a child, to two wee people who had never seen it done before. And it was so easy, you cut out long, thin strips of paper, glue one side, and roll up, starting from the fat end. And while the 2 year old is not quite old enough to make her own she was happy sitting on my knee and 'helping'. Plus the 8 year old did it all herself so can really call her bracelet hers.
But then, if that wasn't enough crafting, the 8 year old asked me if I knew how to knit, as she wanted to learn! How exciting that such a young person wants to be able to create. Sadly, I do not knit but I have been teaching myself to crochet, so we sat down and together made a cute pink flower. She enjoyed it so much she also sat down and made a little bracelet for her little sister. We then played a game, where we had to list (from a group of objects) what our favorite, second favorite etc were. So, we both put the flower and the bracelet as our two favorite things. I was so happy to be teaching a little person the value of crafting, and the sense of accomplishment you get making your own things. The next day she even took her little flower to show and tell at school, maybe even inspiring more kids??

Musings on creativity in craft

2010-03-21T14:37:00.000+11:00

So, my journey to re-enter the world of craft has led to a dress and a hat (posts and photos to follow) but has also got me thinking about the creativity of craft. I come from an art background and remember discussions at university about art vs. craft. The basic premise that people seemed to have in their heads is that art is creative and craft is not. However, the resurgence in the craft world that has so inspired me is inherently creative. I don't think anyone can argue that creating an embroidery, or dress or cake, from scratch, without a pattern etc is creative. But, where does that leave me? I have always created from patterns, wether sewing, knitting, crocheting and always considered my art and photography to be the creative element. But, my mind is slowly changing. I have not crafted for a long time, at least five years, but I have found the creating process, even using a pattern, to be so creative. Making decisions about fabric, colour, embellishments, sleeves, hem and so on has been incredibly rewarding, my hat is my own, my dress is exactly what I envisioned. I have not felt so fulfilled in a long time. My photography is no longer my only creative pursuit. In saying this though, I do want to get to a point where my knowledge is such that I no longer need to follow a pattern, that I can turn the ideas in my head into reality, I just need to hone my skills first. But in the meantime, making, even if following a design or pattern is making me very very happy.