Latest school Project

3 days ago I was asked to help out with making a prop for the End of Year play. This was my brief, They wanted a football sized golden apple that could separate into 4 segments. This is what I made. It is cardboard and fabric with stuffing inside. It is white but will be spray painted gold. All the segments are attached with press studs and velcro. It has the pips inside too, just outlines so that the kids could paint them on.
I had fun making it, I hope they like it. The stem and leaf will be sewn onto one of the segments.
I am very excited cos I have been asked to do more for the school, but no info on what it could be yet, I just love being challenged to make stuff.

Aussie Hero Laundry Bags.

 These are the Aussie Hero bags I have sewn up so far, Just waiting for the cord I won on ebay to arrive and they are ready to go. The Spiderman fabric was a cotton curtain remnant from Spotlight and I think everyone likes a superhero.

There was enough fabric to make 7 bags with, I like the fish prints too.

My Daughters Sewing Machine

 This is the sewing machine I bought from Savers Greensborough over 10 years ago for my daughter when she first left home, It sews like a dream,

I still think it is super cute.

Aussie Hero Laundry Bags.

This is what I have been doing today, Cutting up fabric for Aussie Hero Laundry bags. That lovely heavy weight cotton fabric that was $20 from the op shopping the other day is enough for 37 laundry bags. How cool is that! The outer covering of the bags is from Spotlight, This fabric was a real bargain at $2 a metre and I bought $40 worth so I know what I will be sewing for the next couple of weeks, I am looking forward to start sewing.

Christmas Pin Cushion Swap

 This is the tin I bought the other day when I was out op shopping with Melody. It gave me the idea for the pincushion swap for our Christmas Party for A.C.D.A. http://www.clothdolls.asn.au/

 I decided to make a Christmas Cake pincushion.

A Yummy Fruit Cake. I hope whoever receives it will like it.

Out and About.

 Yesterday I had the most exciting time with Melody, this is her blog, http://thehouseonthesideofthehill.blogspot.com.au/
We knew each other years ago and recently caught up to each other through blogging, Just wonderful! We arranged for an Op shopping day and she picked me up and off we went, I am sorry to say that it was all a bit of a whirlwind experience and I did not write down what the names of the op shops we went to but we went as far as Bayswater. Love this street artwork on a telegraph pole.

 We went to at least 6 op shops, This lovely roll of heavy weight cotton fabric roll was a real bargain at $20 and was the last thing I bought with Melodys help, (I was down to my last $10 and Melody very kindly gave me a $10 donation for Aussie Heros so that I could get it. The orange cotton curtain also to use for Aussie Heros at another store, The round tin is going to be for a pin cushion swap, I finally know what I am going to do for this swap, I am going to make a Christmas Cake pin cushion and it will be in the tin, Some fabric flowers to make a decoration out of, a couple of double decker tins for my sewing room, (I have a thing for tins!) a large roll of thread, ( love craft supplies), 4 bamboo table mats, Perfect for the kids when we do wet felting later on, some craft and art books and some quilting patterns. What a wonderful booty, all for $50 in total.

Patchwork with Gail B on Canterbury Road, Bayswater was a super surprise, this shop is in the back of a tile shop
202 Canterbury Road
Bayswater Victoria 3153
(Inside Keith Fagg’s Tile Shop)
(Melways 50 K 12)
http://www.patchworkwithgailb.blogspot.com.au/
I bought a rotary blade sharpener, this is going to be So very handy, Jodie Carleton Teeny teapots Creative Card, I love Jodies work, and some pre cut paper shapes hexagons, totally cool!

We also went to Spotlight and I got some leaflets on a charity drive they are having, we ate our packed lunch in the park surrounded by trees and birds, We had such a wonderful time that we are planning on doing it again in February next year, So Thank you Melody for such a wonderful time it was a blast!

Mini Break.

 We stayed the night at Hill End, this is the view of the most magical place I know, I really love it there. I have  copy of the book written by Peter Adams about the people who live there with history and folk lore about the place, a really wonderful coffee book I think should be in everyone's library
this is the link about it.
http://peteradams.com/orewhat.html

This is my daughters two wonderful cats, Leah and Wis. Don't you just adore their feeding station?

Mini Holiday.

 I have been visiting my daughter for 4 days, a mini break. She lives outside Bathurst NSW and this is her view from her back yard. Just wonderful.

 We had a lovely time and I love to sew as you know and one of the things we did was make over her couch and cushions. This is a before shot.

This is after, Leah loved the new cushion from Target and they had a bit of fun with her. The couch originally had 4 separate seat cushions that kept slipping and we decided to make them into 2 by adding a wool blanket slip to hold them together then we covered the seat in linen/cotton fabric bought from Spotlight which is now removeable for washing. All the back cushions were individual originally but are now all in one in their own pockets, also removeable for easy washing. It looks much neater, no slipping, fresh and modern with a classic twist.
I had the best time and cannot wait to see them again. 

This Afternoon Dyeing.

 This is the dye batch that was in the glass jar that I posted earlier.

 I love all the greens and pinks in this, lovely shades.

It even brought out some yellows in it too. It is all washed and ironed and in my stash.

More Fabric Dying

 This is the first batch of dyeing done today in a large glass jar. I used orange and green and i got this lovely browns with it too.

Currently brewing up is this green and pink batch.

Fabric Dyeing.

 I have been dyeing white cotton sheets I bought from Savers. I used 2 colours, pink and blue and it gave me some  lovely greys and purples too. (Can you see Tilli?)

 This lovely group of fabrics were given to me on Saturday to make some Aussie Hero blocks with. Lovely!

Meggie on newly washed fabric that was about to get ironed!

Hand Dyeing.

 This is the hand dyed wool fabric that started off a hot pink called fuchsia. some of the fabric was just washed, some of it had the original colour muted and some had more vinegar added to it, very experimental and all except for the top two had different times in the colour solutions, The top two were done on the stove top in a pan and was dipped in hot and cold to felt. 

These 3 colours were from the yellow fabric, one was just washed, one was lightened first and the top one was just as it was without treatment first. All were in the same dye on the stove top for the same amount of time.

Kitty Bunk Bed.

 Tilli in her bed.

 Meggie on her bottom bed.

They are both very happy kitties in my sewing room.