Sweet Fabric:
Op Shop

I was actually looking for blue stuff for my sister but this DIVINE set of mixing bowls had my name all over them.

Op Shop visits have been few & far between over the summer but I was well rewarded on my sneaky stop over the other day.

I confess that the red kitchen collection is getting a little out of hand but what's a girl to do?

Happy weekend lovely folk. Hoping that the Op Shops are good to you & Camberwell's Trash & Treasure is good to me. I do love a bargain.

PS: If you'd love a bargain of the fabric kind you'd better quick click here. It's the very last day of Aunty Cookie's super sale.

I've eased myself in slowly.

The style was was limited by my fabric choice (just one flour sack).

The bag is lined for strength. I had a bit of fun with the raw edges and the stray threads & an Op Shopped suede belt was hacked into & fashioned into a bag strap.

Slouchy & casual & fun.

I'm without a car for a couple of weeks.

I've noticed just how much I rely on the car. Today I walked and caught the tram into the city with the girls for a doctor's appointment and then rode my bike to visit my sister...I'm shattered.

Much as I love living in the leafy green suburbs (where not even a coffee is walking distance) today would have been much easier if I lived in Fitzroy.

This map is from an old street directory picked up at the Camberwell market yesterday - so good!

I can barely contain my excitement.

I opened a box that had simply been relocated from house to house. I'm embarrassed to admit we moved over a year ago.

I had thought the view master slides had been lost along the way so imagine the thrill when I uncovered these yesterday!

The view master has been in constant use since ... viewing the 7 wonders of the world in marvellous 3D & delicious desaturated, scratched 70s style.

Happy weekend lovely folk.

The wedding on Saturday was a real group effort.

Friends of the bride & groom shared their talents and helped out with cake decorating, invitations, photography & personalised chocolates as place settings!

I had a hand in the centrepieces for the tables. They looked beautiful and created a lovely romantic ambient glow. These are just perfect if you're planning a DIY wedding because they can be made well ahead of time.

The glasses were picked up for 50 cents a piece at local op shops. We chose to wrap in bamboo which had a lovely sheen & looked very pretty in the daylight.

wrapped tea lightView more presentations from kootoyoo.

Obviously these can be used and reused for different events & as either tealights or vases.

Perfect for your holiday table too.

Despite the week long threat of rain & thunder storms, Saturday was the perfect day.

We all trundled out to the Yarra Valley for the wedding of my gorgeous cousin & her gorgeous fella.

My smallest was not officially in the bridal party but she's got a fair bit of spunk & kind of wangled her way in anyway. She did actually look like she belonged which was a happy coincidence.

The little dress was picked up at the Op Shop a few weeks ago. It's raw silk & still had the tags on it. OK so it's a size 4 & she's so not 4 but I think she looks super cute.

It's actually the party skirt from Pip's book.

I'm calling it my beach skirt. I plan to flog it over summer. I'll sling it on over bathers when we are down the beach or at the pool.

The skirt is a really pretty shape & suits my little waist/big bum shape nicely. I did make a few modifications ... I've added press studs (snaps) instead of the tie up waistband. Perhaps that's what has taken it from party to beach...but I'm pretty chuffed with it regardless.

Absolutely everything used in the making of the pony skirt came from the op shop. Feeling pretty good about that!

It's just one of the many beautifully presented quick & easy projects in Sew La Tea Do.

feet
& fowler
& friend
(& for fraught too).

I had a LOT of issues with this little footstool. In the end I think I overcame them but not without fairly liberal use of that F word I can tell you.

The fabric was crocheted by me in 8ply on a 3mm hook and then cross stitched using organic cotton.

They've been out of the house for fully 3 hours & I'm already noticing how much I miss the rest of the team (& not just because I've had to take these pics myself).

This slouch beanie is totally ripped off a store bought one that was purchased for the big girl yesterday. It's reversible but I think maybe the red side is a bit too "Christmas elf". You be the judge.

Made from entirely thrifted materials. Both the cream & the red fabrics are pure wool. It's lovely & light & incredibly warm.

Noticed elsewhere:
tips on sewing leather

We saw a lovely knitted shrug in Sunspun. Of course, I'm more a fan o' the hook & decided I'd have a crack at my own.

I've been doing a bit of sampling with the hook but before I wasted time on the crochet version I refashioned from an Op Shopped/thrifted Pashmina type thing to make sure I had the measurements right.

Very much in the same vein as the slashed number.

I had planned to use the circles as a neck treatment but it seemed a bit too much.

& of course it can still be worn as intended.

Our house is (hopefully) not going to require much in the way of heating. We're trying not to turn the heating on & have instead been snuggling under blankets in the evenings.

Whilst the granny blankets are excellent, they do make it hard to change the channel on the Teev or play playstation games or hook/stitch/knit (the plot thickens). I've got the little guy & the big girl ahead of me in line but I'm totally making myself one of these!

The first shoulder blanket fashioned for the smallest from the same old blanket used for the slippers & 1/2 a ball of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino which was lounging in the stash. I think it's a left over from when the big girl was granny squaring. I'm feeling pretty good about my $2 outlay at the Op Shop (& there's still enough for 1 more pair of slippers).

I wasn't sure if the yarn was going to make it all the way around the blanket & maths really isn't my strong suit. Luckily my brother in law was at our place, we did a quick calculation & figured I should just scrape it in. Just scrape is right...I think there's about 2 metres left.

Note to self: Figure out a much better, faster, less painful way to make the holes.