My very, very late Creative Space

So late I’ve missed getting my link in over at Kootoyoo! I have been busy working at my mummy job, working at my housekeeping job, working at my paid job and dealing with the result of a run in with a Holden Rodeo on the freeway (we lost but everyone is okay). I have though managed to make some stuff!

Do you know how hard it is to photograph 8 hanging birds in the fading light with a slight breeze? Just as hard as it is to photograph a 12 month old! These are the only photos I got of these Christmassy birds before they flew off to their new home at the Ecotoys store in Burwood. This is a much better photo of the birds settled in their new home and you can check it out over here at the Ecotoys store facebook page.

Hopefully I’ll be on time for My Creative Space next week!

Shadow Shot Sunday

Maya's birds in the gorgeous winter morning sunshine.

More shadows at Hey Harriet's.

Ecotoys

Have you ever visited the Ecotoys online store?
Now you can visit them in person! Ecotoys are about to open their new shop in Hawthorn.

Eco Toys & Baby Grand Opening
Sat 8th May 2010
9am - 5pm
651 Burwood rd, Hawthorn East 3123
(next to Auburn Village & train station)

If you haven’t heard about Ecotoys before, they sell a beautiful range of eco friendly, ethically made and locally handmade toys and they are now expanding their range to include natural baby products.

So pop along this Saturday for the grand opening. You might even see some spunkee softies flying about!

My Creative Space

I need some advice. Yesterday I found some Levi's Red Tab jeans my size and they fit perfectly, except they were too short! TOO SHORT?!?! How can they possibly be too short?!?! I have never ever had this problem before. In fact I have always had to take my pants up! I hate taking pants up which is why I usually buy and wear skirts. Anyway, like I said these jeans were a perfect fit and the price was pretty good too. "Ladies slacks half price" the sign said. That included jeans. So I bought them for all of $2, thinking that I could find some way of lengthening them or if that didn't work I could make shorts for next summer. After rummaging through my fabric stash, I found some paisley corduroy that I sewed as a cuff to the bottom of the jeans.

What do you think?
Do they look okay? Or are they a bit daggy? Sean says I have prettied them up but he doesn't really care. When I tried them on I kinda thought they looked a bit pyjamary. I'm not sure. Would you wear them in public?

What else do I have in my creative space this week? I should have been sewing new spunkee stuff and preparing for the Sugar & Spice Cildren's Market in Woodend in June, but I haven't been doing that.

I did finish an old Work-In-Progress for my grandmother though.

This bird is made from reclaimed wool fabric and I used the pattern I designed for these love birds.

As you can see by the photos, I finished sewing the wings in the car on our long drive up to see my grandmother. Last minute as always!

What else? Oh yes, I packaged up and sent my retro swap parcel - thanks for your very encouraging comments last week,

and yesterday I received my swap goodies,

with a pretty card from Little Wise Owl.

A handy calico market bag and a cute little fabric covered notebook. Thanks Beckie!

Oh and of course my pincushion is finished and will be packaged up and posted today. I'll show the pics next week.

Check out more creative spaces over at Kootoyoo.

My Creative Space

This is where I spent most of my day today – in my favourite part of our garden.

I find it very peaceful here and it’s so nice sitting on the cool grass on a warm day. I blew bubbles for Maya who has never seen bubbles before and she was fascinated by them!
Then while Maya slept I finally completed this tiny babushka brooch that I had started at christmas time.
The pattern is from this book that Sean and the kiddies gave me for Christmas.
And I also photographed some of my spunkee softies in the garden. These softies are bound for my new etsy store and for the Ecotoys stall at the Baby Show in Melbourne next weekend.



Head over to Kootooyoo to visit heaps of other great creative spaces.

Another market already

I haven't even reported on the last market and the next one is nearly here already! I have been so flat out cutting, sewing, stuffing and stitching the last couple of weeks that I have not had time to blog.

The November market a couple of weeks ago went really well again. I was a little on edge all day thinking it was going to rain, but it didn't rain until after the market had finished. This coming Saturday I will be back in Gisborne for the twilight market.

My poor old husqvarna sewing machine is back home but not fixed. But I did buy another new machine - well it is old - 38 years old.

I got it for $20 from a garage sale on the weekend and the woman who sold it to me received it from her husband when they got married 38 years ago! It also has been well looked after and is great to sew with. But it is a really, really heavy machine and is a pain to lift up onto the table when I want to use it.

New things I have made lately are:

this little forest of trees including a couple of christmassy ones,and these strings of birds with buttons and bells,

plus more elephants, teddies and soft woolly balls.

Don't forget the market this Saturday evening from 4-8pm at Gisborne. Tell all your friends! See you there!

August Market

The market on Sunday went really well and there was a lot more interest in my work. I think it was a combination of things that made this more successful than the last market. Firstly it was warmer than in July because there was no bitter wind. (But don't get me wrong - it was still cold with only 1 degree at 7am!) As a result there were more people at the market. Also I was in a better location. A site that everyone walked past. I also made my stall a bit more interesting by stringing some flags up over the stall and hanging the birds (see previous post titled "tweet, tweet") from the flags. The looked great and the breeze made the flags gently flap and the birds dance! I had planned to take a photo of the stall but I was so busy I forgot - next month.

It's funny what attracted a lot of attantion was Khye's high chair and his teddy that were used to demonstrate how the portable chair harnesses work. I could have sold the high chair and teddy five times over, but they're not for sale.

The teddy was a gift from Khye's uncle for christmas and he loves his teddy, giving him lots of kisses and cuddles! The high chair is a family antique that Khye's grandfather grew up with. Some where along the line it got painted silver, then blue and then came to us a bright yellow. Khye's dad stripped the paint off (that was a huge and fiddly job), refinished it and made a table for it.

In the beginning we were using belts to strap Khye into the chair, but that was fairly unsuccessful. Then a friend gave me a pattern for a harness which I have since adapted and refined to suit us. And we haven't looked back. We use a harness for Khye every meal and they have been fantastic. It beats using belts!

The harness has a symmetrical design and is fully reversible making it easy to use as it doesn't matter which way it goes on the chair. It can be used on most chairs and folds up small into the nappy bag making it perfect for going out. They are also machine washable. To use:

1. Simply tie one set of straps around the back of the chair.

2. Sit your child in the chair.

3. Lift the harness up between the child's legs.

4. Bring the straps around the child's waist and tie at the back of the chair.

Voila!

tweet, tweet

The last couple of weeks I have been busy making some birds. They are soft and woolly with heart shaped wings and just the right shape and size to fit neatly in your hands. And they look great hanging too!

I adapted the design from a pair of birds I designed and stitched for my friend's engagement. They turned out beautifully but took forever to make because they had to be hand stitched. So I redesigned the pattern to make it suitable for machine sewing and continued to use the heart shaped wings.

These birds are perfect for babies and children (and adults!) as there are no small parts, buttons or beads that could be a choking hazard. My 16 month old son Khye loves them, but he has his own birds to play with.

We have a very noisy house with all the clucking, quacking, tweeting and squawking!

The birds will be available for sale this Sunday (August 3rd) at the Gisborne Olde Time Market along with a range of other softies. See you there!