My Little Red Bag

 I can't believe I went out looking for a vintage suitcase...

 and came home with this beautiful little red bag, in excellent condition, for $3!

 It even has the little key still!

 Perfect for taking my wares to bouts.  

These are the shorts I made from my last op-shop finds.

 The new batch of singlet prints turned out great.

And these are some more great fabrics (op-shop, of course!) that are clean and waiting on the rack to become more shorts.

And to top it off, I found this 'naughty gangster' two piece costume at the op-shop, for half price!  

Best day ever!

A Piece of Quiet

Yay!  School holidays are over!  So what did I do with my first 'piece of quiet' (as Big O says) time in 2 1/2 weeks?  Well, I vacuumed a hole in the mess just big enough to lay out some fabric, and started cutting.

Orange booty shorts ($1 cotton lycra from the op-shop) with fluorescent paint splatter ruffles (a re-fashioned 50c tank top), and a cupcake mini ruffle skirt.

 More shorts from this cool random fabric, a secondhand men's t-shirt.

 A sample of all the ruffly shiny stripy glittery derby shorty things I have been working on for sale at bouts.

And because I have to rush out to start work at 4, a cold platter for the kids dinner, anything to make it easier for the White Cloud!
  Check out more creative spaces over at Kootoyoo :)

Happy Easter!

 My kids told me Easter was a celebration of lollies.

So we went back to basics and made easter biscuits (3 eyed rabbits, flounders, chickens - less confused yet?)

 And we decorated some hard boiled eggs with crayons and food dye.

And we were lucky, because the Easter Bunny came and 'laid' three chocolate rabbits in our lounge room!

  Happy Easter to everyone! 

xo Screamstress

In Appreciation of Old Men

I got this hideous cardigan for $1.  

100% lovely soft wool, and hand-knitted as well.

It reminds me of old men.

Old men who have worked hard their whole lifetime.

My father, who didn't get enough time to enjoy being an old man.

My Pa, my Grandpa. 

The Panda who works away, works on the weekend, comes home, helps with the housework and spends on-on-one time with each of the kids.

 

I hope my boys grow up and enjoy being old men surrounded by their families.

In appreciation of all the men we love, go give your Dad a cuddle, phone your Grandpa, squeeze your son, kiss your hubby!
(Thanks go to Big S for taking photos for Mum!)

My World

 

I have been enjoying adventuring, and dreaming of quiet.

It is autumn school holidays, and the Panda has been working non-stop.

When I reverse the car, the acorns roll across the roof.

 A raw prawn, requested by a friend.
An odd co-incidence, the fabric told me to make a seadragon, and send it to a dear friend.  So I did, with such haste I didn't even take a photo.  I found out afterwards that she was in the midst of a personal upheaval at the very time I was sewing it.

 Ruffly superstar derby knickers, one idea finished, many more waiting for a hole in my time and space when I could actually sew.

A bonfire rages over my team's new logo and uniform, and it seems all the rats are running in different directions.  Fabric does not make a team.

Football Day

Today was "Football Day" at Big S's school.  It made me frown a little.  All the boys were dressed up in their team colours, aspiring to be a famous player one day.  Many of the little girls were also dressed in their family's team colours, aspiring to be... what?  A supporter?  A footballer's girlfriend?

  Women's football exists no doubt, but I have never seen it in our local or national media.  There are very, very few women's sports that have equal billing with men's.

  Maybe that's why I love Roller Derby.  I think I've just realized why my reaction to men's roller derby is "Buggar off.  Let the girls have their one sport."

  So next term, let's have Roller Derby Day!

Fatherhood

Whatever flaws he has, I have never seen a gentler or more attentive father than the Panda, sitting for at least an hour grooming Big S with a nit comb, after having shampooed and showered him.  Sometimes people shine, in the silliest of circumstances.

A Bad Day

Here I am, trying to clean glue out of the carpet, having a pathetic little sob because the spawn have been HORRIBLE ALL DAY, and the big spawn said a boy at school is mean to him, thinking poor me I've had the shittiest day EVER!
  But then I go online and check out one of my favourite blogs and I realize that many, many people out there are having a way worse time of it than me.  Like Notchka from the Wardrobe who is faced with replacing her whole studio!  I am going to go to her online store (click the link) and score myself one of her beautiful and calm little babushka dolls, she has lots of lovely things so head over and check it out!

One Woman Late Night Applique Party

 You know sometimes you get on a roll?

 A derby friend asked me to make her a skirt, and let me design it!  So, fitting with her derby name, it had to be fiery.  I combined an op-shopped skirt, with a t-shirt from my $1 shop (printed on the front was 'Condom Kingdom, Official Tester', I was very happy to chop that one up!) 
All I did was to pin it on flat, draw the design with removable fabric pen, sew around design using a small zig-zag stitch, and then cut away the excess fabric.

Same with the yellow layer.

 

It's getting later, but now I'm on a roll, a few snacks to keep me going!

 Finished?  Hmmnnn... not quite right yet, I think the yellow dominates, so one more layer

 Designing the pattern first, the following the same procedure as for the first two layers.

Yes, finished!  I hope she likes it, and if she doesn't I'll have it!

Derby Derby Derby

This is me reffing at my first ever bout! 

I only made three calls, fell over three players, and once all by myself.  I felt awkward, bright red and drenched in sweat.  And I loved it!

 

 I finished off the helmet panties for the juniors, the brief was "purple, white, black, something a bit special", and I think they turned out pretty darn special indeed!

 I re-fashioned some old t-shirts into cushions for re-sale, and thanks to some old halloween ribbon they turned out alright too.

 And whilst I only sold three items from my stall on bout day, in the week since I have sold five more pieces!   I love seeing the girls wearing my things! 

And last but not least, the hooligans that look so adorable, can exhaust all my patience and energy in the space of 5 minutes, but be forgiven in the flash of a smile.

ChillOut Bout Checklist

Okay, so the big bout is tomorrow.  Huge crowd, my first reffing at a 'real' bout.

Gear aired out, new skate laces put on - check.

Re-read rules, got whistle and a spare - check.

 

Stall all ready, tablecloth, float, signage, and tags (old recycled calender) - check.

 

Loaded up with snacks, water bottle and panadol - check.

Freaking out a little bit - CHECK!

ChillOut Bout Sneaky Peek!

So... I have been putting a fair bit of hardwork into making, refashioning and upcycling things for my ChillOut bout stall.  I was unsure at first but I thought I'd just "give it a stab".  And despite exhausting myself, I have really enjoyed playing around and making cute things that I couldn't possible have the time to wear all by myself!

Stretch velvet skirt with suspender detail.

Lycra and taffeta mini ruffle skirt (HELL to work with!)

Cute love heart bottom shorts.

Bloomer style

Drawstring sides

Classic stripe (refashioned ladies t-shirt)

 

One of my love skate t-shirts, done with my home-made screen print.

The PussySkate dolls- Mean Puss, Miss Hellcat, Moggy Oh'Kneel, Apocalypse Miaow and Kitten DeCapitate.  (These are all terrible puns on the skaters names!)

Fingers crossed it all goes well!

DIY Silk Screen Success! and Tutorial

 My previous efforts at printing on fabric were successful, but because I applied the stencil directly to the fabric, I could only use it once.  After a bit of research I came across this blog which has a great tutorial on how to make your own screen print using an embroidery hoop and an old nylon stocking.  I have done mine a little differently though.

First you get your design, you can make it a positive or a negative.  I made mine a negative because I wanted to enclose the skate in a rough heart.  You then trace your design onto a piece of contact.

Put a piece of stocking into the embroidery hoop, and pull it as tight as you can.

Cut your design pieces out of the contact.

Peel the backing off and stick them onto your frame.

Put a magazine, cardboard or a box inside your t-shirt, just make sure it is flat and reasonably heavy, because the paint might stick to anything too light. 
I chopped a piece off my kitchen sponge to use as an applicator, and lightly dabbed the paint onto the stencil in the frame.  (You can see the frame sitting on the t-shirt in the background.  You can also see that I have little stubby fingers.)

Gently remove the stencil, and allow to dry.  Check the instructions on the paint, I heat set them by giving them a spin in the tumble dryer.

Get carried away, I managed five t-shirts before the adhesive began to give up, but I'm sure if I let it dry out I could re-stick it.
  Last step, leave wet t-shirts and paint all over the lounge room after realizing you have three minutes to get to school to pick up your oldest son!
  Happy printing!