New look Coburg station

Had a quick wander around the brand new Coburg Station this afternoon. Very impressive.

Photo heavy post (and this is just a few, my phone is forever telling me the memory is full!) Indulging in my fondness for angles and building  design.

Kyneton road trip

Hmmm what is the collective noun for echidnas?

Nursery rhyme mice!

Smoke plant in a pot! had never heard if these amazing plants until a couple of years ago. Now they are everywhere!

medieval/ viking tunics anyone? ( or have I just been watching too many posts from The Welsh Viking lately?  seriously these look more like historical reenactment/ cosplay than regular clothes!)

Legs!

 I downloaded the free leggings pattern from “ Patterns for Pirates” ages ago! As the weather has warmed up a bit lately, I decided I really must try and make some bright, funky leggings. Mine are pretty much ALL black, in 3 different lengths ( full, 3/4, and knee - marked with 3/4 or K on the label because I got sick of putting the wrong length on when they all look nearly the same!)

I have one bright pink patterned slinky knit pair, an op shop find which I wore last week for a pop of colour under a grey dress. They were quite comfy and looked nicer than black and grey! Plus being a lighter weight fabric ( the black ones - all RTW Rivers/ Kmart/ Best & Less brands I think; are made from lightweight cotton/ elastane T-shirt fabric). 

( books work as patterns weights right? They were the closest thing I had to hand, using the bed to lay out the slippery fabric!)

So I dug out the pattern, laid my pink leggings on top & used that size/ shape to cut out the pattern. I made the first pair from a  remnant of stretch net print, bought from Rathdown Fabrics years ago. 

Well... why did I wait so long!?!

Super duper quick to sew! Super comfy to wear! I wore one pair yesterday, and another today. Seriously they could be PJ’s they are THAT comfy! 

I made 6 pairs so far ( ok I sewed 7, in all different fabrics, but the last pair in a sort of grey/ lilac heavy spandex sort of fabric are too tight! Same pattern, different fabric, different fit! Exactly what PFP say on  their website! 

I may be planning on making even more...

I just have to do my next sewing task of adding pockets to a couple of my grey dresses! I figured since I had the overlocker out on the weekend, I would cut out then overlock a pile of pocket pieces, ready to unpick some dresses & add pockets ( inspired by a Morgan Donner post I watched recently!). Time to start unpicking...

Sashiko stitching

 

Have been of the radar for a while, but I have been doing a little bit of crafting. 

I bought a sashiko kit ( printed cloth, needles & thread) at the craft show about 2 years ago ( remember the Quilt and Craft Show?!). I started it a couple of months ago, and then really got into it. I found it quite soothing, and easy to pick up, you don’t have to get to the end of a row like when knitting! 

The stitches may not be as neat as they are supposed to, and the back is certainly NOT at all neat, but who sees the back?

Planning on doing another one now, I bought a skein of green thread when I bought the other pieces, but no cloth. So I bought some grey linen from Spotlight, and am going to experiment with my light box and a transfer pen. But I couldn’t find any full sized free patterns online, so put a call out on my local Good Karma Network, and found a Sashiko book to borrow, within a good dog walking distance of my house in fact! Time to start planning a new stitching project!

Quilt design board

I have read on craft blogs about people trying out patterns on a " design board". I realized a few months ago that I actually had something I could use! 

I had made a portable pin board/ display board for work a few years ago, made from corflute boards (old real estate boards) gaffa taped together, and covered with sturdy pin board fabric (which can be used for velcro backed cards too). 

The sturdy fabric takes pins well, so I can pin strips of fabric on to play around with colours - and after all, isn't that the best part of making a quilt?

Disappearing 9 patch - done!

Finally finished my Disappearing 9 Patch quilt. 

The Dog insisted on joining in with the photo shoot!

Planning the next project now...

budgie business

The new flock of budgies! Sorry the pictures have posted in reverse order - starting with the finished birds and going backwards in the process to the initial painting!

Sewing is tricky with the tiny tail piece - because of the fabric paint the pieces stick slightly, which makes turning the tail right side out quite tricky! I end up using my jewellery pliers, and also sewing with the Teflon foot on the machine, as shown.  

Blue budgie bits painted, cut out ready to sew. I am experimenting with different ways of shaping the tail, seems silly to cut out 2 small pieces when they are going to be sewn into one rectangle anyway!

6 birds ready to sew.

Birdie bits traced, painted and hanging up to dry. The tricky bit is drawing the face on the yellow head - I can’t trace it on the light box so have to draw it freehand.