This is....

Ooops! I almost forgot!

This week, I get to choose the theme for the This Is meme that's doling the rounds.....

This week, the theme will be:

This Is......"my collection"

I want a photograph of something you collect, either on purpose or by accident, physical objects or transient ideas, emotional baggage or silver spoons.... if you have more than one of it, and an active interest in it - it's a collection!

See you all with your collections on Sunday!


xxxxx

Thrifted Tuesday..

Thrifted Tuesday Flickr Group

This week, a good run at the Op Shops:

A cute vintage counting game....



A set of teak handled spoons, a handmade wooden spoon, and a cute orange placemat:



And pile of fabric and clothes:



From the top:

a cute red and white diamond gingham apron,
about a metre of sweet red and white floral fabric that feels a little like barkcloth,
a huge amount of embroidered gauzy sari fabric,
a shirt for refashinong with a great green, blue and white lattice pattern,
and a crazily bright acid green crocheted cardigan, which I'm still working up the guts to wear!

I also managed to score a bright red suitcase and an original 70's pair of high waisted jeans:



You get to see the suitcase - but there's no way I'm showing you my butt in a pair of high waisted jeans! I'm so not keen on the high waist myself, I think it's best kept for those curvy 50's Katharine Mansfield types, but these were so original I just couldn't leave them there!

I also spent a part of the afternoon with a blog friend - Bianca from Hollabee, and her partner Marcel were in Adelaide for the weekend, so we hung out this afternoon - and she gifted me one of her new stationery sets and some fabrics! What a sweetie! Thanks, Bianca!



You can have a look at Bianca's shop here: Hollabee.

Now I'm off to make a pot of tea, and get cracking on some Nong swaps I need to make!

Goodnight all!

xxxx



ps: thanks to all who sent kind wishes after my last post - Nicole was my cousin, and I wasn't able to attend her funeral, so I thought I would think of her on my blog instead..... thanks again xxxx

Reqiuescat In Pace - Nicole.

Sleep long and well, sweetheart.

xxxx

This is....

What scares me......



I know, I know, all you see is a dress, but what I see is a lovely dress that I found months ago at the op shop, a dress that doesn't fit me properly, a dress that I'm going to have to take in and modify myself, a dress with complex seaming and interlining, a dress that may, after many years of modifying my own clothes, may just expose me for the seamstress FRAUD that I am! It's been hanging on my model, seams pinned, for AGES.

Every time I even try to tackle a sewing project, (or any project) that is just a little bit beyond my current capabilities, I get scared. Scared that I'll fuck it up. Scared that I won't be able to take that next step in my learning.

Don't get me wrong; I LOVE a challenge, and will often go out of my way to seek one..... I just have to kick my own pansy butt before I can manage to tackle it.....

If anyone has some expert seamstress advice for dismantling this dress and reshaping the bodice to a slimmer fit - I'd love to hear it!

*******


I've been asked to choose the theme for next week; I'll be sure to post it on here by Wednesday......

xxxxx

New Things....

It's been an exciting week over here at Casa Hyena, with some new things making their way into our home:

Early morning visits from the postman, who has gotten so used to me opening the door in my robe, hair everywhere, and half asleep, that he now turns away politely and hands me my package without looking..... (!)

This week he brought me these:



It's been a while between internet fabric buys for me, and this little lot will add to the stash quite nicely.....

He also bought me some divine red shoes that I ordered off Ebay - but have turned out to be tragically too small...... I might post them later and see if anyone wants them.....


On a rather more expensive note, today, the man and I made a major purchase:



Oh my Lord....... it's a 1990 Rover Mini, and for you car nerds out there; it has a 1993 engine (from the California Moke) , auto transmission (meh), 35,000 kms on the clock, walnut dash, air conditioning, and was built to order and imported from Japan.....



I can't believe that we spent our hard-earned car loan money on something so pretty and impractical, but I must say - I LOVE it.

We pick her up on Friday, which I'm sure will be spend tooling around the hills in it and hoping like hell nothing falls off.....!

There's also a couple of little projects getting done around here:

A tea cozy that is turning out nothing like the fabulous one I had in my 'I'm so cocky, I can make anything' head.....



And another wee sneak peak at my secret project -



Other than that - there's not a lot else to share around here, so I'll leave you with some links instead......

Take care lovelies -

xxxx

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard - if you haven't seen this already, please watch it. A reminder that our consumer culture is getting way out of hand, and a call to arms for thrifty crafters if I ever saw one.....

Mom's World - an amazing photoset of vintage family photos circa 1950's, with amazing stories and commentary to go with them...... riveting stuff..... (found via SouleMama)

The World Clock - shows you in real time, based on statistical data, how much oil we are using, how many people are being born, dying, married, going to prison.... click on the NOW button - yikes!

(I am happy that we are producing more bicycles than cars though! )

Sociological Images - Seeing is Believing - one of the best thought provoking blogs I have found in recent times, showcasing found images that tell many stories about the human race, and what we do to each other, and the crazy shit we believe in. Worth subscribing to - take it from me....!

Can someone please buy This quilt? - If I can't have it, I really want someone in Bloglad to have it - it's a stunner......

xxxxxx

This is....

I'm joining in with Angela on her "This is..." meme.....

This week, the theme is 'This is my favourite Cup'.....



I found a pair of these at the Op Shop the other day for $3. The blue is perfect. They are covered in crazing which just adds to the charm.

There's a new theme each Wednesday if anyone feels like playing.....

xxx

Finished....

In the spirit of showing more finished products on this here blog, I give you:



Linen pillow cases with monograms. I just took the pattern from another pillow case I liked, and I made the band with the embroidery seperately, and top stitched it on to make the decorative band for the front.

Now just in case you think that this is some nouveau-romantic gesture on my part, I'll have you know that the whole point of the monograms is to avoid the inevitable argument over whose pillow is whose, and ensure a comfortable nights sleep for both of us....

In fact, all of the pillow cases in our house now have identifying embroideries on them to avoid this exact problem. So there. Solved.

*ahem*

Now, another thing:



The first two Nongs for the year, made for a baby shower.

(sorry about the crap light - I finished these at night and didn't have time to photograph them properly)

This is my final pattern for the Nongs (aside from the faces, which will always vary)- I'm sticking with this one for a while, because I needed to streamline the making process a little.... but to be honest, I may not me making many this year, we'll have to see...

But if anyone decides they really really want one, feel free to get in touch, and I'll make one for you, I just don't want to be stuck making only stuffed toys, so I'm freeing up the schedule a bit, that's all.

And before I go, here's a little bit of something in progress:



This one's a surprise, so you'll have to wait!

xxxx

(oh, and if you're one of the few people who doesn't visit this blog from Bloglines, please excuse me while I fuck around with my banner - I can't seem to decide on one so I keep changing it....)

Hello!

No, no, I haven't dissapeared off the face of the earth - though some days it really does feel like it!

I'm having a v-e-r-y slow January, easing myself gently into the New Year, and fresh and juicy blog posts have been a little low on the priorities list.....

In fact, I've been knee deep in this:



My studio has been in the spare bedroom for the last 8 months or so - the spare bedroom in which I think we've had a grand total of 2 visitors in that whole time. People just don't really come to stay at our house. All our close friends and most of our families are interstate, and visits are few and far between.

So, I made the executive decision to get rid of the spare bed that was taking up a third of my studio, and thus, a total rearrangement is in progress. (That's blogspeak for 'it's a huge fucking mess in there!')

If you're planning to visit, be prepeared to sleep on the loungeroom floor. And in case you were wondering, yes, my fabric collection is more important to me than your comfort. Heh.

Whilst taking the bed apart, I dropped a huge side beam on my foot, and have had to take a few days off work. Today was my first non-limping day though, and I've managed to get back into the op shopping......

So onto the important stuff - the first Thrifted Tuesday of the year. You can find the Thrifted Tuesday Flickr group HERE - feel free to join!

First up: linens.



I swear I nearly cried when I found this. Perfection.

And then, if that wasn't enough, a boxed pair of vintage embroidered pillowcases, too!



The embroidery is very cute, and ties in with a little project I have been working on ....



I have been seeing lots of gorgeous photos of French bedlinen with redwork embroidery, so I've been working on some handmade monogrammed linen pillowcases for the last few days....



I finished the first one today, and I'll have the second one done any minute....

The monograms are from an iron on transfer kit, though I am still experimenting with how to cross stitch on plain cloth - there were some fantastic suggestions in the comments on the last post, so thanks to everyone for the help!

On that note, I just have to say that I have been COMPLETELY slack in answering my emails - if I haven't replied to you, please accept my apologies - I've fallen so far behind I'm not sure if I will catch up..... but from now on I'm answering, so email away!

I also found this vintage game today - I have no idea how to play it, but I couldn't leave those playing pieces behind!



And to leave you all with something cute - my new Jack Rabbit from Dawn. He is so cute I want to carry him with me everywhere.....if you don't have one of these rabbits yet - I'm ordering you to go out and buy one. They're magic. Pure and simple.



Well, that's it for today - hopefully this post is enough to get back on the wagon again!

Take care,

xxxx

Yep.

As you can see, I have made no New Years Resolutions this year.

Well, none of the quit smoking/do yoga/eat better/drink less booze variety anyway. I figure, if I can't get my shit together in June, what makes me think January is any different? Right?


However, there are two things I want to do more of this year.

1) Baking. My mum taught me to bake, and I was always quite good at it, but I've been discouraged by my oven for so long that I've fallen out of the habit. But the only way I'm going to make peace with the damn oven is to use it, and get to know its personality quirks. So baking it is.



Only problem is, now that the festive season is over, I don't want to see another chocolate thing for at least a month - so the baking I have done over the last two days is destined to either go stale, or be taken to work to be eaten by unsuspecting customers. heh.

2) Number two is a blogging resolution. I've realised that I tend to show only works in progress on here, and that half the stuff I actually complete never gets blogged about. I only showed about half the Nongs I made last year, and I keep finding or using things I have made that didn't even make it to the blog. Weird when you think this is all supposed to be about making things in the first place!

So this resolution is to post more finished objects. Starting now.



It's just a hanky, with a monogram. (do we notice a colour scheme happening around here?) I'm all about the handstitching at the moment. In fact, my dream right now would be a huge pile of quilts to be bound, a pot of tea, and the complete season 2 of Grey's Anatomy on dvd. (I know I'm hopelessly behind - I've just got round to downloading it today).

Cross stitch on ginham is bog easy, too. I'm still trying to figure out how the heck people cross stitch on plain cloth. Is there such a thing as iron on graph paper? That would be a dream. If anyone can enlighten me, I'm all ears.

Well, that's that. I'm still too lazy to do any real sewing, so big exciting projects will have to wait. I'll be back on the wagon soon enough.....

take care,

xxxxxx

The Other Side...

Ahhh.... 2007.



It's been a big year for me, starting this little blog, and meeting all of you, and making things and finishing things and stuffing things into the box under the desk never to be seen again.....

I've learnt new skills (inseam pockets, anyone?), met some wonderful people, online and In. Real. Life, from places as varied as the next suburb or the other side of the world..... ( my reader from Kazahkstan, please feel free to say hello!)

I found a community that cares about the things that I care about.

Without getting all gushy on your asses, I'd like to say thanks. Thanks for all the comments, the silliness, the jokes and support. Thanks for understanding when I buy thirteen aprons I will never wear at the op shop. Thanks for giving me compliments on my work. Thanks for dropping by for cups of tea and some gossip.

'Tis a New Year, m'dears.... I'll put the kettle on.

...... now lets get back to normal, shall we?

xxxxxxxx