tiny happy

week's end

I've been feeling quite 'down' this week for no apparent reason- as though I'm waiting for direction even though there's plenty to do each day. I'm not sure what that's all about, so instead I thought I'd write a list of good things from the week, since it's Friday. Here is my list:

- I discovered this song, by Sigur Ros (to whom I've never felt much of a connection before) and am enjoying its dramatic emotional heartwrench.

- Walking along by the muddy river each day to take Keira to kindergarten then home again. There are lots of ducks and a swan and flax bushes dipping into the edge of the water.

- Favourite lunch: ciabatta and handmade cheddar cheese, bought at the market.

- Beautiful new stationery from here that was a present from Tom when he returned from a trip to Wellington a few weeks ago. The perfect invitation to write proper letters to friends.

- Our funny new kitchen, which is painted pale pink, but has little shelves and nooks for making displays. Which is quite a fun thing to do.

Wishing you a good weekend. x

seedlings

I couldn't resist digging over our tiny little garden yesterday and getting started with some vegetable growing. Because it's still winter, I just planted a few different herbs and some salad greens. I can't wait until other plants come into the shop though- like rocket and pumpkins and zucchini. We only have a small space but I think we should be able to cram lots of things in.
Another great thing about living in the middle of town is being able to buy a few fresh things for dinner on the walk home from school with the kids. So I decided a new shopping bag was in order- and I popped a couple in my shop too. To make the pattern, I made a few changes to these bags I made a few months ago- namely making the pieces a bit smaller, and adding interfacing to the base for a square-ish shape. The last bag shown above is made from some vintage linen fabric from Amelia- I love the earthy colours and the design reminds me a bit of Marimekko.

p.s. have you been following along the 'Month of Handsewing' at Sew, Mama, Sew? Such great stuff every day...

greys and yellows

Here are some new things I made for my shop update this week. I seem to be thinking about greys and yellows a lot right now. The sky outside can probably be blamed for the grey (I wonder if spring will arrive soon?) but I think the yellow can be pinpointed to our rather fabulous new (but very old) lounge suite. We found it online second-hand: a mustard-yellow, fake-leather, wooden-legged combo from the late 60's. I think. She has seen better days, but I hope to sew some new seat covers soon, maybe from a cream-coloured linen type of fabric. In the meantime I thought some new cushions were required- this vintage rose fabric is left over this project.

roses

There's something comforting about sitting on the sofa in the evenings, working with thread and felt, and that's what i've been doing over the past week or so, crafting these little roses from wool felt. Tom and I are re-watching The Wire, one episode late each night, and I like to have a small project to work on while doing that. No slacking off around here, you know.
I've been experimenting with a pattern for these for quite some time now, so it's satisfying to have figured the petals out finally. (I bought my felt from here.) I sewed silver brooch-backs to them, but I think they would be nice strung on a garland as well. Or for decorating packages, maybe.

babes

A few of my friends are having babies this winter- and so I've been trying to dream up new little garments to give as gifts. For a long time I've always wrapped up a pair of handmade baby shoes, whenever a new baby arrives-  which have been fine, but I thought it was time for a change. Last week I made this little fleecy baby jacket, based on a vintage Plunket pattern from the early 70's. I love the crazy cover on the package of patterns, with the wierd super-imposed babies. All the garments are designed for fine wool clothes in cream, with little lace edgings. But I resized the matinee jacket to be made from a soft wool-blend fleece, and edged it in blue gingham bias tape and finished with two hand-carved wooden buttons. Hopefully it will fit for a while.
I also think it's quite nice to have something that will fit in 6 months or so- so I used a freezer-paper stencil to print the pine tree onesie, and made a little stretchy-neck top from cotton lawn. Do you have a favourite gift to give a new baby?

useful things

When I unpacked my trusty old ironing board this week, I found that its cover had seen better days. It had burn-marks and rips, and holes from where I strongly suspect rats and mice had been feasting. Hmm, not so good. So I used an old, worn tablecloth - cream linen with yellow roses - to make another one. To make it, I traced around the top of the ironing board, added several inches to that pattern, then cut it out and sewed a casing for some narrow elastic. I did the same with an old woollen blanket and laid that underneath the linen layer.

And another little project this week was a hot water bottle cover- cut from a felted cashmere vest and blanket-stitched together. The back has an envelope-type opening, utilising the ribbed hem of the garment to hold it closed. Easy and cosy.

on the street

Here are a few pictures of our new house- carefully cropped, obviously, to spare you the sight of empty boxes and suitcases. It's quite exciting, living right in the middle of town like this, because there seems to be something going on outside at all times- even if it is just people walking by to spy on. I suppose I'll get over the novelty soon and actually do some work- at least, I hope so. We're also lucky enough to be close to school and kindergarten so we're back to walking everywhere, the kids and I.
One of the best things about moving house was unpacking our belongings which had been living in a barn. I'd forgotten what our plates and cups and pictures looked like. Old friends waiting in boxes.

moving house

We've just moved house (again) but this time it's longer-term. It's a lovely old house in the centre of town with a tiny little studio on the front of it, for me to use. Well, I might have to share it, but I do seem to have a lot to put in there...
We'll be without an internet connection for a couple of days, so I'll be back blogging again later on this week. Ciao!