Christmas Sales

Well its that time of year again, where did our year go it seems just like yesterday we were celebrating the new year & now Christmas is upon us again. As mentioned i have a few things for sale if you want to have a peek you can head on over to Nicole's Flickr there are a few goodies for sale, more will be added this week.
We have had so much going on over the past couple of months i haven't even thought about Christmas let alone buy any gifts. I feels like we are

going to be on the last minute gift buying roller-coaster, NOT looking forward to that i can tell ya. Hopefully all of you are much better prepared than i am this year.

Grocery Bag Tutorial

Christine's Bag

this is part of a gift for son #1's girlfriend, a bag to carry her books to uni. 

i saw a bag like this a while a go on a blog,[ i cant remember where]. so i thought id give a tutorial a go. it seemed easy, till you have to do it that is. please be kind :o).

if you want to make a lined bag like mine you will need to cut the body piece & the two side gussets for the inside lining in a contrast fabric. cut all pieces pictured above for the outside of the bag. all measurements are in inches, bigger numbers on my tape measure = good for tired eyes. all seams are double stitched.

Picture#1

my bag has lined paper sewn on it, if you do not wish to do this then skip this step.
5" from top edge of the body of  the bag draw a line across. you can use a water washable pen, I just use a pencil. sew a blue line over the pencil then a second line close to the first.  then using the foot as a guide for spacing continue sewing down the bag front. i went down about 12"
Red Line [see picture #4] sew a red line 3" from the side down the bag to the last line.

Picture #2

for the making of the bag i will be showing the inside lining.

fold the Body of the bag in half top to bottom,[long ways] now pin the Gusset from the top of the bag to the end of the gusset on both sides. making sure right sides are facing each other.

sew down both sides leaving the bottom open.

Picture #3

Sew along the short end, this has now formed the bottom of the bag
repeat for the second gusset on the other side of the bag.
now do steps from pictures #2 & #3 for the outside of the bag.

Picture#4

Red line stitch. this is the bag once it is stitched with gussets in. 

Picture #5

turn bag right side out. if you want to stitch something on the front now is the time.

i wrote on it with a lead pencil & then stitched it with black embroidery thread, also added a felt heart as one of the i' dots. 

Picture #6

now place the lining inside the bag making sure it is still inside out.

pin & stitch around the top.

Picture #7

Picture #8

to make the handles fold in half length ways & iron. sew down the long open edge.

Picture #9

now turn handle pieces right side out. this can sometimes be a bit difficult, this is the method i use.

2 nappy pins & a piece of scrap cloth. pins in either end of cloth.

Picture #10

pin one end to the opening of your handle.

Picture #11

now thread the other end half way through the tube & then start to work the pined end in after it.

Picture #12

now just pull all the way through, do the other one & then iron them both.

Picture #13

turn the bag inside out, fold down the top about 3/4" & iron.

Picture #14

fold over again about 1 1/2" iron & pin.

Picture #15

insert handles under fold, 4" from side seam.

Picture #16

fold the handle forward & pin. do the same for the other 3 ends. after you have pined one handle & one end of the second handle line them up & measure to make sure they are the same length then pin. now try the bag on to make sure the handles are the right length.

Picture #17

sew along the top edge first.

Picture #18

now sew along the bottom edge.

Picture #19

for the handles i always like to reinforce with a box cross.

now its already to go off to school.
you can make these bags any size you like, they are super easy & quick to make up.
if you have any questions please let me know.

Place Mats

new place mats for the table, machine quilted & hand stitched pictures

this one is A's

son #2

son #1

this is mine

A's breakfast mat

my breakfast mat

the last 2 are spares

they all came together pretty quick, i have a couple more still in progress. think they would make real nice christmas gifts. i have a few sets of coasters for sale that i will put up in a couple of days.

Bath mats

6 new bath mats from 2 towels.

fold your bath towel in thirds & cut, then just lay out your chosen off cuts & sew together. place the font side down & machine stitch around the outside leave an opening to turn right side out. stitch around the outside & along both sides of the seams if you like & your done.

 these two towels i purchased about 20 years ago they are very good quality towels made in Australia. we could still have used them as bath towels as they are still nice & thick, however as they are just a regular size towel they are a little small for my boys now [perfect for when they were children]. we now use bath sheets. [imagine how many mats i could make out of one of those].

some of you may remember the blue, green & white fabric from this post, it is the left over fabric from the curtains i made using a sheet from the op shop.

these ones the brown check fabric came from a friends throw out {thanks Carolyn} & the surfboard fabric is left over from some PJ shorts i made for summer.

Vintage Collection

Kodak Six-20 Brownie model- C

The camera takes 6x9 pictures on 620 film (hence the name, "six-20"). This is about as simple as a roll-film camera gets. it's just a metal box with a winder for the film, a window in the back for a frame counter & a fixed-aperture lens with a single- speed shutter operated by a simple spring. It was made between 1946 and 1953 & was made in London. 

$15 at the local school market, it is well used & is missing the leather handle on the top.

i will not be limited to just cameras. this is the second item in my collection the other is a slide machine. everyone knows 3 items make a collection so the third item is the glass jug above, it is also made by Kodak [Kodak Australia] & was used in a dark room.

Shutters

i saw this & decided i wanted to make some thing similar on a smaller scale

started out with lengths of rough sawn timber that i picked up from out the front of a crate/box place in their throw out bins.

cut 10 the same length

cut 4 cross pieces

cut 2 angled pieces. glued & nailed the cross & angled pieces to the backing boards. punched & filled the nail holes & sanded the putty.

gave them one coat of white paint. at this point i thought i was going to top coat them with the blue from the dinning room, distress sand & mount them on either side of the kitchen server opening but after looking at them for a few weeks i decided to leave them the way they were & instead lean them against the wall. the good thing about that is i can put them any where

;

so this where they will stay for the time being

Anniversary

15 years ago today A & i were married, boy time flies when your having fun

this beautiful basket of flowers & box of chocolates arrived this morning to my surprise :o) it is amazing how happy flowers can make you feel esp when you dont get them very often

cute card i made for A with his favourite "summer rolls"

thursday next week 2 tickets to see Cold Chisel

Halloween

All Hallows Eve

 The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain, more so than any other time of the year, the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living, because at Samhain the souls of those who had died during the year traveled into the otherworld. People gathered to sacrifice animals, fruits, and vegetables. They also lit bonfires in honor of the dead, to aid them on their journey, and to keep them away from the living. On that day all manner of beings were abroad: ghosts, fairies, and demons--all part of the dark and dread.

Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To this day, witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the favorite disguises.

here in Australia we do not celebrate Hallows Eve, it is the wrong time of year for us, spring not autumn. to most of us we associate it with America even tho it originated in Ireland & England. today its all about dressing up, decorating, having fun & not to forget the sweet stuff. for me i like the dressing up & setting the table.

the tree i purchased a few years ago & this is the first time it has been out of its box.

i always have something for any of the kids who do come to our door & this year it was biscuits [skulls, skeletons, bats & witches hats]

the round disk has a moon on it & when it is lit up with a candle it looks great.

i do like the bat in my hair, i think ill be leaving that out of the box so i can wear it again

a little bit scary, no not really, its mostly just every day for me :o) now that is scary