tiny happy

rose-tinted

I found the old folksy rose painting at my local opshop and decided I needed to hang it above my bedside table. It inspired a set of rose-pins, like the ones I made a couple of years ago now- from wool felt gathered and folded. I was drinking tea with my mother and grandmother at the time, and they suggested the addition of some glass beads in the centre of each rose. It's funny how I never would have thought about adding anything to these, but I'm glad i listened to them. Half have beads and the other half have embroidered French knots in the centre of all the petals. Sometimes a little extra bling is okay.

wild horses

Okay, so they're not really wild at all, but I do much prefer the thought of horses running free across a plain somewhere. I decided I had to make this dress when I found the vintage horse fabric in our local Recycling Centre. It's a drapey sage-green cotton, with horses galloping along under a cloudy sky. I didn't have enough of the fabric to make a bodice so I bought some fine linen in a similar green- it's not an exact match but I'm not too fussed. I used a New Look pattern- number 6457- which I was happy with, although I probably should have lined the bodice for comfort reasons, but it's nothing a slip underneath won't fix.

I do love making dresses, even if they end up overpopulating my wardrobe, somewhat. 

Enjoy your Monday.

letterbox

Three blue things arrived in the letterbox today. 

A beautiful vintage fabric curtain, from Angela. It's the perfect size for my sewing-room window (how did you know?)

Some fresh Heidi and Clara yardage.

And a postcard made from one of Liivia's photos. Thank you all. 

Happy weekend, lovely blog-readers.

winter sweet

Good afternoon. It's been a very long week here, but this afternoon the sun is shining through the living room window and all is okay with the world. My friend S brought this little jug of waxy-yellow wintersweet branches, aren't they delicate? Their scent is pretty divine, too.

I'm feeling inspired by this beautiful painting I found on Pinterest- it's by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. 

And thank you to the beautiful Liivia for this post on her blog.

Hope you are well and the sun is finding her way through your window-panes today.

hat pair

I sewed up this pair of winter hats from the Japanese book I wrote about last week. (The top photo above is from the book.) The kids love hats with earflaps though it's rarely cold enough here in our winters to necessitate them, unless we venture up a mountain to find snow. I used some dark grey wool fleece for A's hat, and a felted cardigan from a friend to make the pink one. I lined both hats in cotton jersey fabric. 

I can't wait to make more things from that book- I have a dress pattern cut out so far in the hope that it will be made up soon.

I discovered these amazing quilts via Pinterest the other day- Ian Hundley Studio. I love the way they make you feel as though you're flying over fields and towns in an airplane.

Hope all is well where you are.

little rose

I found this vintage tablecloth in a nearby antique shop. It's drapey cotton, printed with little red roses. Keeping all the original hem-seams intact (which made it super-easy) I made K a new skirt to go with her red winter tights. Quite a handy garment to wear whilst watering the pot-plants, as it turns out.

I discovered this new song by Bon Iver today. It's beautiful.

Happy weekend to you!

green gold

We've been eating a lot of these lately, they're feijoas from my parents' orchard. They really are 'green gold' to us- the children can make their way through a bag of them in an afternoon, if I don't intervene. In all my years eating them with a spoon, I've never cooked with them. But this morning I tried making muffins with some that were past their best- and they were delicious. I'll definitely be doing that again. I used this recipe with about two cups of mashed feijoa pulp inside. The flavour of the fruit diminishes somewhat and becomes less acidic, while making the muffins like small moist cakes. I reckon they'd be great in the school lunchboxes, too.

colour-by-numbers

On the weekend I received a box full of lovely old textiles from my friend Helen who lives in the North Island. Once my heart had stopped beating so loudly (there were some amazing pieces in there) I had a look through two British magazines she sent me: Needlewoman Needlecraft' magazine, from the mid 1950's. There are some hilarious things in these publications, starting with the politically-incorrect descriptions and fanciful outfits. There's also a pattern for a large wallhanging featuring appliques of Shakespeare's greatest tragic characters. I wonder if anyone finished that project back in the 50's?

I found two transfer sheets for floral embroideries and fell in love with those immediately. I transferred them to some antique linen I had and have used them simply as prints - reminiscent of colour-by-number books. The pouch above is part of my shop update today.

Hope your Wednesday is going well! See you tomorrow.

quick flick

I bought a copy of this Japanese book: Lovely Girls Clothes by Akiko Mano from this etsy shop a little while ago. I fell in love with the patterns and styling of course - I mean, come on, look at those gorgeous little models! In truth it was a bit of a cruel tease as I have a serious shortage of time at the moment and other Pressing Matters that don't include making wool capes for my own children. But I will make them, for sure. And one of those coats. And a bubble dress.

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy a quick flick through the pages too. 

P.S The book's reference number is ISBN978-4-579-11289-0 and there are a few more photos on my flickr page.

in miniature

Some small colourful things were brought into the house from the garden to inspire a little bit of stitching: these miniature plant portraits (brooches) on wool felt. I'm getting ready for the upcoming Auckland Art and Craft Fair. 

A new favourite blog: 44 ways of looking at an apple, by Sarah Laing. It's sweet and crunchy.