Letting go

My Messenger for Mary bag sold has found a new home. I am all happy and sad at the same time. I loved the way this bag came together - a little baby almost. I am sure it will be well cared for with its new owner.

Oh well I shouldn't be too sad as I made one for myself too!

Well I'm off to make doll's nappies for baby Annabell.

Messenger For Mary

This sweet little cat purse has a home currently in my etsy store. Pippijoe's fabric is much to lovely to be relegated to the scrap bag, so I fused a cut out of one of her designs onto a denim purse.

This purse makes me giggle a little as last weekend at my Mum's there was a rather large cat stuck up a tall gum tree that the fire brigade couldn't rescue so the RSPCA had to come and get it down. The poor love. Every time I look at the print it reminds me of it. Why do cats do crazy
things like that?

Above is a picture of the latest bag I have made. It is a very simple denim messenger bag, but with the delightful Pippijoe orchard fabric on the flap it came up a treat. The off white of the flap with the rich red ink on the denim looks so lovely. I liked it so much I was a little naughty and made one for myself.

Just a quick note

Just a quick note to say that I have my etsy store up and running. If anyone wishes to have a look please click on the link in the next collum. I think I have a lot of learning to do but I am enjoying the challenge.

Lovely Finds

I had the most wonderful pleasure of attending The Hearts for Africa fabric sale at Greg Hayes Upholstery on the weekend. Wow, there were some of the most beautiful fabric, many pieces for just 40c. The girls, my Mum and I had a fantastic time. I have now been able to add a whole 90 litre container full of fabric to my stash. Some of the finds were unbelievable, I even managed to snag the end of a roll with 2m left of lovely Osborne & Little fabric for only $5. The girls loved going through the 40c pieces (some were up to 2m in length and still full width!) and selecting some very vibrant colours and textures to make clothes for their dolls.

But I have to say that the best parts of the sale were the lovely ladies that volunteered at the sale and the fact that the proceeds of the sale go towards The Hearts of Africa charity that helps fight poverty in Tanzania. It was such a lovely treat to go fabric shopping like that. Now I just have the hard job of deciding what to do with it all! My head is certainly swimming.

Yesterday's bags

Miss Cait's gym addicted bag.

These are the bags from yesterday's efforts. Unfortunately it is pooring rain today and I had to use the flash to take the photos. (I hate taking photos with flash). Oh well serves me right for bragging about our beautiful winters. Off to the beach today - yay! Even in the rain it shall be grand.

Monday Musings

The weeks roll around so fast. The girls have had a sleepover at Nanny & Pops for the first time in forever, which has allowed me to spend some quality time at the sewing machine. I have to say though that it is a little lonely sewing all on my own. I kind of miss the dive the girls make for the scraps and the interuptions to sew a seam here and a seam there to make their much loved cloth dolls an endless stream of clothes. Their imaginations amaze me with the designs and colour combinations they choose. To look at them I often think that there is no way they can work together but somehow in the girl's uninhibited way they make it work. It is lovely seeing them get excited about colour, texture and design. I just hope that they are able to keep their creativeness into adulthood and the pressures of conformity don't dull their drive to make and explore through trial and error.

So all on my own I managed to make a sling bag made with a beautiful green background and white flowers, which I then lined with a pink gingham. It turned out very bright and cheery. I also made a small purse to match. I also made my eldest daughter a new bag for gymnastics. It is a very simple drawstring type bag made out of calico but it turned out very funky. I used a heat bond iron on adhesive and cut out in red gingham "I heart gym" which I then placed on the front. I hope she likes it when she gets home. I always seem to worry more about what the girls think than anyone else. I shall post some photos with my next blog post.

We're off up to the Sunshine Coast tomorrow to our favourite beach - Kings Beach. I can't wait. I just hope the rain holds off long enough to get some decent walks in and some exploring in the rock pools.

Wonderful Winter

Winter in Brisbane is gorgeous. The days are warm but with a touch of freshness to the air. Perfect for trips to the park. The girls are all on school holidays so there isn't a lot of sewing to be done but lots of time to spend in the park as you can see from the picture above of my two little ones.

I'm starting to get all my bags and purses ready to try and sell on Etsy. Very exciting. I'm lucky to have three harsh critics on my side!