Hurrah!

Old friends

I work in an office and I used to work in a bookshop.  Working in a bookshop was a lot more fun than working in an office - especially being surrounded by books!  Some customers were nice, others weren't that nice but wherever you work there tends to be some people you dislike, some you're ambivalent towards and others who become good friends.  My friend Jane is leaving work today to go on an interstate adventure and pursue some dreams.  I have today off work so I gave her the scotty dog above yesterday so that she can take a little friend on her adventures.  The pattern is by Jenny B Harris from allsorts and is the most wonderful pattern!  Jenny has created a Scotty Stuffies Group on Flickr, which is just lovely to browse through and see all the talent out there in the world - and so much love for scotties!!

Jane leaving today got me thinking of all the other lovely people I've met through my working life and how you can be such good friends when you're working together, as you share so many hours together, and then one of you moves on and you may stay in touch for awhile or you may never see them again or you may stay good friends.  Whatever happens, I'm grateful for the lovely people I've met along the way - Sam, Marina, David, Julie, Pam, Danielle, Kate, Stacey, Louisa, Natasha, Katy, Dana, Kristy, Vanessa, Jane J., Liz & Andrew, Andrew M., Margaret, Sue & Michael, Suzanne, Angela, Jean, Suze, Siew and all the other lovely people I've worked with - thank you for adding to my life.  And a 'thank you' to my 'newer' friends too!   At our last bookclub gathering someone mentioned the schoolfriends website where you can get in contact with old school friends.  I recently visited the site and ended up back in contact with an old friend from high school - Louise - and I'm looking forward to catching up with her again soon.  I visited the site and left a 'hello' message with a few people and got several responses back when I didn't expect any!  It's lovely to hear from old friends.

Golly Gosh!

It's cold! Two years ago I ended up in hospital with influenza developing into pneumonia, which was really not much fun at all.  Last winter, I had the flu vaccination and luckily managed not to pick up any nasty bugs.  This winter I've made up for last year!  I should have had the flu shot again this year, although it doesn't cover all strains, as I ended up back in hospital with bronchitis, which then became a head cold and then an ear infection...it hasn't helped living in an old house with no heating, high ceilings, bare boards and lots of renovation cracks (not that I'm complaining!  At least I don't have kids yet).  Next winter I am hoping to travel to the Bahamas or somewhere much warmer - and it's not even that cold in Perth compared to other parts of the world!!  ANYWAY, I didn't plan to share my ills with the world but I did want to explain my momentary absence from updating this blog.  One good thing about being at home sick is that it gave me lots of time to dream up some crafty endeavours...

I LOVE gollywogs!  I have a small collection that I've gathered over the years - they're all safely packed away though as I'm not really sure where to put them (it does look slightly obsessive when they're all grouped together).  One day they will all come out to play and find a possie somewhere...  This Golly was an experiment to test out a pattern before I made one for my niece.  As teddies and gollies are good friends and I made Amelie a teddy, she had to have a golly too!  I've just started drawing up my own patterns recently and I wanted to experiment with the Golly's head shape and the faux fur hair in particular.  The fur hair actually turned out better than I thought - after a bit of a hair cut for Golly as the fur was much longer.  If you're in Perth and you're after fur, The Teddy Tree has a wonderful selection of acrylics and mohairs and all the materials you need for bear - and Golly! - making and a good selection of quilting materials too.  And they're lovely people!  Golly's body is made from heavy-weight black cotton, his jacket and waistcoat are felt and his dotty pants are made of vintage polka dot fabric, an eBay find.  I wouldn't recommend making a golly from heavy black fabric - black felt works better.

Gollywog, Golliwog, Golliwogg, Golly?  Poor Golly has had some bad press in the past.  His history, from Florence Upton to Robertson's jam and Enid Blyton, is interesting.  I love him as a character from childhood and his happy face never fails to make me smile.

"As the Golliwogg has always seemed to me to be telling me his own biography, so in the same way he must have told me his own name….I picked him up from the table in my studio, and without intention of naming him, without the idea of a name passing through my mind, I called him 'Golliwogg'." - Florence Kate Upton (1873 - 1922)

Happy Aunty

I love having a baby niece to make dresses for.  Amelie Claire is the first grandchild for our family.  I have two brothers and three sisters - all younger - and hopefully there will be lots of future nieces and nephews to make things for... and maybe a mini-me one day too..

The pattern for this dress came from a Japanese craft book that I read about awhile ago on another crafty blog or two...maybe here or here but I can't find where??  or maybe it was here...

I can't read a word of Japanese but my youngest sister Verity is living in Japan at the moment and when she gets back I might have to get a few tips from her (at least that the symbols I think mean 'front' and 'back' on the patterns do actually mean that).  Thankfully, the book is fabulous and clear and the pictures are easy to follow.  I had the denim fabric from a stash of fabrics my Mum gave me many years ago when she had a big clean out.  Luckily it's not too heavy a weight fabric for a baby.  The trim is from the Freshcut by Heather Bailey range - stunning fabrics!  I also made this baby rattle for Amelie out of  a Freshcut fabric and a pattern from this book (a fabulous book for anyone who loves craft and cats but it's old now so may be out of print)...

And another Amelie project was this baby kimono, courtesy of a Martha Stewart pattern...

I used some fabric fat quarters from my stash, which work well for baby clothes cos they're so small but the use of two colours came about because the fabrics were too small to get a whole pattern out of - I like the effect on the back and front though - the back reminds me of an obi.  Ironing is obviously not my best skill...

And now it's another Friday and another weekend full of potential to do some of the things I love - crafting, sleeping, eating and catching up with friends and family.  Enjoy!

Rusty browns, sunny spots

It was my Dad's birthday yesterday and we went up to York to celebrate his birthday with him on the weekend.  York is a lovely, quaint historic country town north east of Perth - lots of old buildings and a main street where the original hotels stand with their gorgeous old verandahs and the old town hall looks proudly down at people coming and going.  There's a river flowing through the middle of York and a big park with a swinging bridge across the river.  One of the things I love best about York (aside from the animals that are everywhere - dogs in utes, cats lazing in sunny spots, chickens, ducks, sheep etc) is the Jah Roc Gallery that's just over the railway line as you enter the town...

It's filled with exquisite jarrah and other wooden furniture that is crafted at the gallery and is simply stunning.  A lot of it is quite contemporary and the mixture of woods and the finishes are just devine.  The gallery also has some beautiful artworks and photography on display and giftwares and local produce.  Well worth visiting if you're ever headed that way.  We went there on our last visit about 18 months ago and I spied a lamp that I have continued to obsess about since.  So the first thing we did on this visit to York was to head straight to Jah Roc and the first thing that greeted us was the lamp sitting on a bookcase!  It wasn't the exact same lamp as that one had since sold but it's the same lamp restocked just two weeks prior to our latest visit.  It's now with us at home, wrapped in bubble wrap and waiting for renovations to be completed before it's given a new spot to sit in.  Hurrah!

My sister Megan and her hubby and my beautiful bubby niece Amelie joined us in York.  Megan mentioned how she was looking for some heavy weight dresses for Amelie for winter... I remembered this yummy corduroy sitting on the shelf waiting to be made into something...

The Scotty dog buttons are from Happy Squirrel and were already sitting there waiting for a future project.

I used a pattern from this Japanese craft book and added some rickrack trim...

I like how the dress has adjustable straps, to suit Amelie as she grows, and it can be worn with warm winter jumpers and tights underneath.  I also had some not-so-heavy denim fabric and used another pattern to make a denim dress with trim from the Freshcut by Heather Bailey range of fabrics, which are just gorgeous...will post photos shortly.

So, the weekend was very relaxing - spent with family and sewing.  When we arrived at my Dad's place in York, this gazebo he built greeted us beyond the front fence... so peaceful and relaxing in the winter sun.

Play

I haven't had a chance to do much crafting this weekend - yet! - there's still tomorrow... but I did do some clearing out of old clothes and things I don't wear anymore or that shrank in the dryer... and I've kept a few things for their fabrics with the idea of cutting them up and re-using them, which I like the idea of giving them a new life but I also feel kind of guilty chopping up clothing, in case someone out there could get more wear out of it... or maybe I feel funny changing what the item was first but then it's nice to re-use fabrics from clothes that I've loved and if they're really not suitable as clothes anymore (out of shape/shrunk) then I guess it's ok to chop into them and create something fresh...  I buy things at second-hand stores with the idea of just using the material and it seems to sit better with me when I buy something knowing from the outset that I'll be cutting it up.  Hmm...

I went to see this play the other week with my bookclub. It was brilliant.  I spent most of the night looking at the costumes and the delicious linen fabrics they used.  Beautiful colours too that reminded me of an Amish quilt.

And, I just read this story at Craftapalooza and now I can't stop laughing!!

A fox in the garden

Finally Friday.  This week seemed extra long, probably because I'm still getting over bronchitis - someone told me it took them three weeks to get over it and they still weren't 100 per cent...at least there's only one week left to feel so tierd!  I did manage to attend the opening of ceramicist Amanda Shelsher's exhibition at Form Gallery in Perth tonight, thanks to an invite from a lovely colleague and friend.  Amanda's work - entitled Garden of Curiosities - was just beautiful and quite humble.  A lovely way to calm down after a hectic week and start the long weekend.  I'm not sure what 'sgraffito' is, which she used in some of her works, but I will check it out...

 

I loved her etchings and the small houses and the picket fence details and the little nests and eggs too.  Such lovely detail.

And... while I was sick in bed, my latest Georgie Love purchase arrived, which made me feel much happier!  This pendant's by talented jewellery designer, Northey.  Of course it features a fox - I love foxes and have been dreaming and pondering different patterns to make a fabric fox shortly.  Stay tuned...

A lovely start to the long weekend and thankfully we don't have much planned except sleep, which leaves some time hopefully for crafting....aaaaahhhhh, happy.