Mischief of one kind...

The night Screamstress wore her wolf suit and made mischief of one kind...

and another... an idea grew...

and grew...

 

until her walls hung with fabric...

and an amazing dress came about!

Who doesn't love the wild things, with their recklessly mismatched textures and body parts.

This season I am rejecting the ideas of fashionable, tasteful and new.  

I am embracing a new aesthetic, one of making new from old, reusing, mending, finding your own style, and having fun!
Check out this wonderful site, www.thesustainablestylist.com.
I would absolutely love to see what everyone else is doing this party season too, so add your comment and I'll come and have a look!
(And please excuse the photos, my 5yr old son took them because no one else was home!)

 "Let the wild rumpus start!"

Summer Ruffled Apron

 This year I am deliberately rebelling against mass produced gifts.  My good friend's birthday has just passed, so I've made her this apron from a retro sheet.  It hasn't cost me much money, but it did take time and thought, and I really do hope she likes it.

  All I did was to cut two aprons from the edge of the sheet.  I used one of my aprons to cut around.  For the ruffles I first calculated the length I would need if the ruffles were flat, then multiplied that number by 1.5 for fullness.  So, in the example below (ha ha I really need to learn computer graphics properly!) I would need 4.5m of fabric strip for the ruffles.

I measured 10cm intervals along the side of my fabric, and then tore the strips off.  Then all you do is hem one edge.  The other edge you press with an iron, and then do a long straight stitch.

 

Pin the centre of the strip to the centre of the apron (because my apron was 60cm wide, each of my strips were 90cm long) and pull up the straight stitch to gather.

 

 I made the apron ties out of the fabric, but you could use ribbon or twill tape to make it easier.  Pin them in place, making sure the head of the pin is on the outside.

 Place the second apron shape (remember we cut two?) on the ruffled apron with right sides together, stitch and turn out.  You could bind the edge as well, but I just find it easier, and it means that the apron is thicker and all the rough ends are nicely enclosed.

Happy Birthday!

Sunny Days

 The weather is slowly improving, and the grass is soooo green!  The White Cloud entertains the spawn old-school style, which I love (and so do they).

 

Big S loves his 'Lightning McQueen' jumper, which cost his Nona $30, and he is forever trying to pick it out of the washing.  When I found this plain black jumper for $3.50 I had the idea to applique it with some offcuts from the quilt I made for him, and Voila!  A second favourite jumper. 

 I tried to get a good picture, but everyone had to get in on the action, as usual!

When I have a scattered brain, I find a good rummage soothing.  It must be the primal drive to forage and gather, but it does help me chill out when I have too much on my mind.  I'm lucky that the op-shop down the road has everything $1 in big bins, perfect for rummaging.

 Today I got a green top, and Astro Boy t-shirt, and a 100% wool hand crocheted retro poncho.  I don't know where I would ever wear it, but I couldn't resist all that hard work for only $1!  I might find a friend who would like it.  I also got a big bag of covered coathangers for $2, I'm not sure why.

Wouldn't it be Luverly!

I'm sitting in front of my heater all alone, thinking and knitting and drinking ginger tea, feeling like Eliza Dolittle, and wishing I had someone's head resting on my knee, instead of watching a horror film in the next room!  

I found a beautiful printed velveteen skirt for $3, which was so long I was able to make two skirts from it, one a-line, the other gathered into a waistband.

 But now that I look at the photo, people will probably think I'm just wearing the same skirt!
And I have yet to figure out what shape an elephant is. 

 I was trying to make an elephant 'blocker' in classic derby stance, but without the orange..

She looks like this, resting on her trunk because I've made her arms too little!  I don't know what to do with her, I haven't the heart to tell her she's not going skating anymore!

Happiness is ...

the wind in your 'kite'

 and a good friend popping over with her op-shop bag for me to rummage through!

And, yes, they are plastic shopping bags with yarn tied on.  The panda was taking out his fancy aerobatic kite and I grabbed some bags and yarn as we ran out the door, just to stop the spawn hassling him.  But our bag-kites worked much better than his, and were played with for the rest of the day!  Its true about appreciating the simple things.

The Fabric Whisperer

Yes folks, I am a fabric whisperer.  Fabric speaks to me, sometimes it tells me to make it into something I hadn't even thought of.

The pink fabric is saying "Grrr I'm a tiger", the grey fleece is saying "Love me, I'm an elephant".  You'll never guess what the green fabric is whispering to me - tune in tomorrow to find out!
  The printed t-shirt is saying I have a wonderful brother who brought me a t-shirt back from the Roller Derby Nationals!