New pouch in stripes

New sugarloaf pouch - in Amy Butler oilcloth.

Pandora's (sewing) box

Isn't this divine?  My son Andrew scoured the vintage shops to come up with this beauty, a really thoughtful Christmas present for a sewer, I might add.  Here it is all closed up but with a promise of things to come, a Pandora's box if you will, only with beautiful things inside.

It looks definitely art deco, I'd say, and sooooo practical with it's clever design and easy-to-get-to compartments.  It is perfect for all my sewing threads and now they are mostly colour coordinated (did I hear the word "obsessive"?)  I will try and keep them that way, at least for a while.
Here it is in all its glory..

Opened up half way

Fully opened up - lots of room!



Oh, and here it is as a prop for my first new purse for 2012, a little make up bag using oilcloth fabric from Amy Butler.  Hope you like..

  I love Christmas presents!  Thanks Andy

It's a scorcher in Victoria today...

Would you believe it's forty (yes 40c) degrees in the shade in Melbourne today and the Ballarat temperature is climbing rapidly also.  Most people are sensible enough to stay indoors, except 2 of my children who will be sweating it out at the Falls Festival at Lorne (the Great Ocean Road on the coast for non-Aussies) on their last day of seven days working there.  Remember the sunscreen as you pack up your tents please Lyle and Jacquie.

And a big hi and Happy New Year to all.  It's been ages since I posted and I so apologise for that.  It's been a hectic year and I'm afraid I poured all my energies over the latter half of 2011 into devising a Christmas blog, and also sewing and preparing stock for a) the shop and b) the Ballarat Main Road market stall.  But I'm pleased with my efforts this year and now that I have had a lovely break of 10 or more days over Christmas, I can feel my enthusiasm coming back for creating new bags. 

It all goes on in my head of course and I'm thankful that I've inherited my father's brain in that I can work things out in my mind quite logically before it translates onto paper.  Unfortunately I didn't inherit the bit that is good at maths, although just good enough for all things bag-gy and creative.

So watch this space as I will be posting more bags soon...  Take care over the holidays

To market, to market..

...the Main Road Market in Ballarat, that is.   

Yesterday (Sunday 11.12.11) I shared a market stall with my friend Sarah who makes divine children's clothes.  I'm always happy to plug a friend's talent, given she was nice enough to let me share her stall.  We also shared fun, laughter  & coffee (lots)

    

We had half a table each, given neither of us had enough for one whole table.

And here is my contribution



My sugarloaf pouches & rectangular rings for bag-making



Me looking happy because I SOLD SOME THINGS !

The face-painting fairy lady was fantastic, what an artist!  The kids loved her.