gathered market bag

I made this bag last week for my sister in law's birthday. It was my first attempt at making the Gathered Market Bag pattern by Sandi Henderson. I love how the bag turned out! Hopefully if I get the time I might even make one of these for myself. Floral outside and inside fabric is from vintage pillowcases...thanks Claire! I was even brave enough to attempt the optional piping on the outside, and was so glad I bothered to do so. Next time I would make it slightly thicker though.

this & that

One very nice bag I found at the markets, for a special friends birthday.

Fresh macadamias from another market. Why is it that the shell looks like chocolate, and therefore you want to eat it more than the nut? After eating these nuts, I don't think I will be buying the packet ones in a hurry. These were so moist and buttery.

This is Charlie the Galah I found out the front in the bushes. He was looking rather friendly, and lost at the same time. Lucky for him his owner came looking, and he found his way home. They had been out looking for him all day, so he was showered with kisses. I think the girls would have liked to keep him.

And a sure sign that the seasons are changing...our lizard is back. We spotted him on the roof this morning sunning himself, and madly dashing around. This guy can run really fast and is actually a pretty big size. I really should find out what he is.

so you sew

I have an endless list of things to sew at the moment. The problem is it seems to grow at twice the rate in which I can sew...impossible to keep up with! I have patterns I have traced everywhere, that need to be filed away. Patterns of my own that I am busy making, so I can start selling some of my own creations. Another thing I really wanted to do this year is make presents for family and friends, instead of buying. So far, so good...however we barely have any family birthdays in the first half of the year...the real test is yet to come! Luke's mum recently celebrated her birthday, so I made her a tunic top with 3/4 sleeves and a bag. Grace decorated a piece of fabric with fabric crayons, and we stitched it inside the bag as a patch pocket (no photo, sorry).

And my first attempt at a sponge cake, mmmm...it was so tasty!

So, back to that sewing list, today is the perfect day for sewing. Its too wet to go out so I don't feel guilty about staying indoors. Not a minute to lose!

magnet swap

I just took part in my first swap over at Crafty Mamas. The challenge was to make a magnet with something on it that represented the start of winter. Lucky me got to swap with the very creative Melissa, and here's what I received.

A beautiful needle felted flower, and a gorgeous little gnome...which is very appropriate considering what most my friends call me!

Some very sweet little cupcakes- yum yum.

And the cutest little bee finger puppets complete with rhyme to sing along with! My girls totally love these! So thank you very much Melissa, for making my first swap so enjoyable.

The start of winter for me reminds me to eat up my citrus. Its usually in season and high in Vitamin C to help keep the winter nastys at bay. So here is what I sent to Melissa.

Four little citrus magnets, a lemon zip up case (that I was going to hand embroider around, but got lazy and did on the machine), a lemon tea towel and lime lip balm.

Here are the magnets that I hand stitched.

And a close up of the lime, because it was my favorite.

button bag

Things have been a little slow around here lately. The internet had painfully switched back to dial-up, thankfully its now back to normal. Dial-up is torture.
This is a bag I made a couple of weeks back. It was a present for my sister-in-law. I haven't really been into bag making, but this was really fun to put together.



I made up my own pattern which was very basic, and lined it. I really need too learn how to do the lining properly, I think my method was rather unconventional...but at least it worked. If I was making this for myself I think I would slightly enlarge the pattern and add a button/clip for closure.


And a close up of the covered buttons. The red fabric is some from my vintage surprise pack- very nice! The blue flower is from the lining fabric, and the other pattern is from a much loved vintage apron.


And what good is a present without a beautiful card to match? This one is thanks to my budding little artist who is swamping me with the cutest drawings as of late. The birthday girl is in red and she is holding a bunch of balloons. I am sure this will make her day!



Next on my bag list is a little girls hand bag for Grace. The current one has just had the handles re-stitched...thanks to one little sister who loves to grab and snatch. Her one specification is that it must have a zip, apparently snaps just aren't good enough fo keeping little sisters away from your special things. So the verdict on bag making...I loved it! There are many more patterns floating around in my head, some on paper and some yet to get there. Hopefully I will have more to show you very soon.

denim bag

We had a 5yr olds party to go to today, so I whipped up this denim bag for the birthday girl. Hope she likes it! My big girl certainly liked it, and had a little play with it before we gave it away. If you want the pattern its free here. I had some issues with the shapes on it being way too big, but managed to scale them down to fit. The colours on the top photo aren't so accurate, they were much brighter like the bottom photo.