fiveandtwo

From The Tip Shop

I've had my eye out for a shelf or cupboard for this space, where once was an upright freezer. Carrying a measuring tape around in my bag in case I came across something with potential.

Found an ugly chipboard veneer shelf at the tip shop last week - $10. Coats of paint made it useable, and it fits the spot perfectly.

Temporary place for my vintage floral sheets, not ideal since the fold to the outside will fade and they'll get really dusty.  I haven't found a lairy sheet in good condition for a few years. Such is the state of op-shopping now. Because you're dying to know: top shelf, basket of toilet paper rolls and basket of old sheets for making toiles (testing patterns). I buy toilet paper wholesale - four dozen rolls at a time, ahem, yes. It lives in the shed with a top-up basket inside. Must be a big family thing...not only toilet paper, but washing powder, pasta, flour and rice. I wish there was an Indian or Chinese grocery nearby so I could buy sacks of decent rice. Have recently finished the 15kg bag of excellent Basmati rice I got in Melbourne a while ago.

Second shelf: container of dry dog food (also bought in bulk and kept in the shed). Mostly the dog has fresh meat and bones. Pile of flowery sheets.

Third shelf: pile of flowery sheets, canister containing matches, old kiddie schoolcase containg shoe polishing gear.

Fourth shelf: flowery sheets on a painted - same time as shelf - cardboard archive box which contains odd woolly fabric awaiting dyeing, when I get in the mood, you know.

End of riveting shelf-by-shelf description.

Also bought at the tip shop:

Splendid owly cup measure. Not a bargain ($7.00) but irresistable. Probably there was a whole set, once upon a time: 1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup. Glad there was just this one, no room for others!

Vintage Trim

I mostly go op-shpping on Wednesdays. I buy food and if there's enough left over I hit the local oppys.

The last couple of weeks the Red Cross oppy has had a lot of vintage trim (also nylon lace and other very synthetic trim). I've bought a bit of it, trim that I'll use. I was talking to the "craft and sewing" lady Wednesday just gone and she said she's, "Working her way through two deceased estates at the moment". This lovely elderly lady only works on Wednesdays so my timing has been good.

 
Lace and broderie anglaise.

 
Spots

 
Pinks. Imagine these, in rows, trimming the bottom of a little girl's skirt. Or embellishing the whole skirt.

 
Flowers

 
Geometric

 
Cats!

 
Tree, car, house, motorbike...and so on. Very cute.

Much left behind, so you can imagine what was there. I did buy some more lovely items.

 
Just a scrap of fabric - gardening fabric! I had to have it.

 
Ris-Rac and an apron panel with crochet ladies sewn on. I think this will make an excellent trim for a little girl's skirt.

 
Squirrel cross-stitched on another apron panel, another idea for a skirt.

 
Small tablecloth - a "supper cloth" I believe. I really like the grey/green/yellow/white/orange colour scheme.

Haven't had such a splendid haul for ages...probably two or three years.

All very good.

 

Sorting The Resource Library

Also known as the ideas bank. All my craft and sewing books. I want to contain them in the bookcases in the back hallway.

I've a lot of 1970's books. Selected for the quiltmakers:

 
New project! You can wear your doona! With Matisse-style applique. Start one now.

If crochet is your choice:

 
You know you want to.

 
This is something called Afghan crochet. I think it's gorgeous. I wish I'd worn it as my wedding dress in 1985. Much better than the foofy 80's dress I wore. I was thin enough then, to wear such a thing.

For the knitters:

 
 
A bit of a contrast. All those wild stripes and the parted legs versus the Dutch girl hair style and fluffy pastel.

Expect more from the ideas bank slim down. Over time.

Old Knitting Patterns

I found another irresistable pattern leaflet at the oppy.

 

Charming and gay and slightly deranged-looking.
 

Hmm...a knitted and pleated skirt. How much bigger do you want to appear?
 

Snowdrop is a charming lass, somewhat coquetteish, however her clothes seem very bulky.  
Yes, I would wear something like this, minus the gold. And I would sew it from a drapey fabric. See the raised eyebrow? Ha, just great.

Now I'll throw in a couple of advertisements from Australian House and Garden, September 1961.

 
Because we all waft around by a lake in our negligees and discover the most modern of bathroom vanities.

 
"Look at this wonderful fabric dahhhling". The man tries to look suave painting the wall with one hand in his back pocket".

 
What's old is new again. Versions of this are really fashionable it seems. I do like the chairs.

I find the advertisements in old magazines fascinating. The articles are quite different to magazines today. Same themes: cooking, home management, fashion, sewing/craft/knitting, gardening etc but vastly different presentation. The "letters" sections in the old mags. are a time capsule indeed.

And So To Embroider

The title of the old (1960) embroidery book I bought from the op-shop yesterday. It's prepared by the Needlework Development Scheme and has a foreword by one M. E. G. Thomson, Inspector of Further Education, London City Council.

So there.

 
It's aimed at what would now be called late primary/early secondary. This lass is planning her work.

 
A very civilised birthday party. Or is it a tea party? Either way those youngsters are being very well mannered. No piling high of plates, or just standing at the table and stuffing faces while asking, "What are we doing next? Is there pass-the-parcel? What are the prizes? This is boring, I want to go home." It's the truth, I've had all these questions from guests at parties I've had for my kids over the years. I wonder if my young savages made the same remarks at parties they went to...I like to think not, but you never know.

 
Terrific photo. Embroidered curtains (imagine having time to do that). And, "Hello to my friend down in the street". Another wasp waist.

In the book there's an interesting design technique of using cut paper.

 
Used as a design tool. Those paper "snowflakes" are used to make lovely abstract patterns.

 

The "Scandinavian" influence is apparent. Scandinavian embroidery seems to be the next big thing right now (does "the next big thing right now" even make sense?).

 

 

I can see myself making stuff like this. When I clone myself. I like the detail. It makes a plain toy beautiful. If I were to make similar items for sale, with that splendid embroidered detail, what price to put on it? In my cottage industry fantasies pricing is a real difficulty!

 

 

 

Hey, Thankyou

I really appreciate all your kind thoughts regarding my Dad's death. Thankyou.

Today's news: Took the dog to the vet to have a dew claw injury attended to. Don't know how it happened. Caught up on something and mostly wrenched out. The claw kept catching on things, and bleeding. Removed to a stump by the vet.

Is this a sad dog, or what?

Next: From the op-shop two new (to me) pairs of shoes. I have been looking for nice black flats for some time (even looking at new shoes). I encountered these at the local Salvos, and then saw the sparkly slipper ones. At two dollars, I risked the sparkles, and four dollars was a bargain for the black ones (all leather except for the sole).

And we're on flood alert. Nothing like what's been happening north of the ranges. It's always strange to have a flooding river with not much local rain.

Just some overflow on to the river flats. Grazing and vegetable growing. Hope it's not destructive of the major river flat vegetable growing area of Lindenow. That would mean local spring vegie crops would be washed away. Lack of local broccoli, cabbages and lettuces.

The road was closed, eventually. Minor stuff, but prevents people ploughing through in 4WD vehicles.

I missed a Sewjourn weekend with all the happenings. Damn and bugger. Much as my family is important - see, I let a Sewjourn weekend pass - that meant it was really important to hang with my family. And it is.

Family, Sewjourn, splendid women met via blogworld. Very important to me.

Where I Got Ally To Be Photographer

Not that stirrer Giles. Although Ally did click, click, click, "Like Giles does", she said. I did manage to do a few poses in spite of it.

A change from the bookshelf background. Backyard instead. Gee, I should've moved thast hose. (I had just planted spinach and coriander seeds and watered them in). The deciduous tree(s) I'm clutching are European plums Greengage and Prune d'Agen - two trees planted in one hole. A space saving device, and they're supposed to dwarf each other (they sort of do). Both plums are divine eaten fresh.

Anyway, the vest is from Ottbre Woman 2/2009, the "Waterfall" top. I made it without the long sleeves because I only had a small amount of fabric, a wool jersey remnant from Tessuti in Melbourne. I really like this as a vest, another is in the pipeline.

The skirt is from Ottobre Woman 2/2010. I did trace off the pattern but basically it's a tube of stretch fabric hemmed at the bottom and elastic at the top. The fabric is from the oppy. Hard to see, but it has a black dot-dash pattern on the red.

This is the first winter in four years I've been able to wear boots beyond ankle height. Why? Sizeable calves is why. Boots from pre-weight gain just don't zip up. I got a pair last year with an elastic insert that showed promise, but by the end of the day I had calf muffin top. Tourniquet boot. The boots in the photo, I love them. Comfortable all day and I can wear skirts all winter! Where did I get them? Boots For Broads. They're custom made. Instructions for measuring are on the website. People with narrow feet, chicken legs, broad feet etc would also get boots to fit. There're a number of different styles in black, brown and red. I'm going to save and get another pair in a different style next year. 

In other news: Peter the rabbit has escaped! He is Clare's rabbit but both girls were sobbing this morning. There're no bits, fur, the odd entrail etc, so I'm pretty sure the dog hasn't eaten Peter.

I suspect he's under the house, digging a splendid burrow  (destabilising the stumps, no doubt) in between forays to the garden for sustenance.

Since this photo was taken (soon after we got the rabbits) I've draped chicken wire over the parsley - here is Peter devouring part of the winter supply. Plenty of grass but parsley is far better. 

That's one sweet rabbit tail, I think. 

I hope we can capture him, assuming Peter has gone under the house, and isn't roaming the neighbourhood.

 

The Road Trip, And Other Stuff

Yes, a Road Trip of sorts. With a good mate (even better). I've been meaning to visit my buddy ever since they'd moved from Ingleburn to Grasmere (NSW). The good bit was Liz flying down to Melbourne and taking the train to Bairnsdale, staying a day and then we worked our way back to Grasmere in my car. With Clare and Ally for good measure. Missing a week of school, but much easier for the husband to manage.

We op-shopped! In Orbost, not Cann River (closed), not Bombala (closed), Cooma (stayed the night), Quenbeyan and Goulburn (got a great pea coat/jacket here). From Liz's house we had a foray to Liverpool, Cabramatta and Narellan. Then a day at Wollongong. I was very restrained. I walked empty-handed out of quite a few oppys. I bought some jumpers for Clare and Ally, my wonderful pea coat (it fits, it fits!), some vintage patterns, some lengths of fabric for dressmaking, probably 15 or so books, two old tins and a bowl (cereal bowl size), two drinking glasses and two scarves. All from I think, about seventeen op-shops.

I did pick up items, carry them round the shop only to put them back. There's only so much room in my house, only so much stuff I'll actually use. I made sure this was ticking through my head as I cast my eyes over the goodies on offer.

No photos, by the time I got home I felt singularly jaded and needed to put everything away - clear the decks and sort out yukky teen stuff that occurred while I was away.

Splendid to catch up with Liz. Grasmere is a place of acre blocks, very big houses and expanses of manicured lawn.

Clare and Al had big treats for breakfast:

Apple juice and Fruit Loops. Not on the menu at Chez Morgan.

Big, squishy recliners for watching TV. These girls thought it was all pretty good.

No op-shopping on the drive home. We did call in to The Big Merino in Goulburn.

Indication of Australia's consumerist culture: this place had an enormous souvenir shop and a display, about one quarter the size of the shop, detailing the history of the merino sheep in Australia (it was really well presented and I found it really interesting). And I bought three pairs of gloves, and a Peruvian-style hat (with those ear flaps) for Leah. Sucked in again! 

 Very wet and windy on the way home - very pleased no big trees were down on the forested parts of the road. Didn't pack the chainsaw, not that I ever do...

It's good to be home.

The Once A Year Find

Splendid that it's as often as once a year.

Fabric, in colours I love and in usable quantities to make clothes for me.

L-R: about 3m dark green cotton, 1.5m grey fine wool, 1.0m stretch wool mix (a skirt length for me), about 1.75m grey-green cotton/rayon mix and 1.5m teal green wool in a kind of twill weave.

The op-shop gods have smiled upon me. The green cotton is from the Salvos, all the others are from the Ambulance Op-Shop which is specific to here and raises money for the our local ambulance station. I have a very friendly relationship with the ladies who volunteer on Wednesdays. They're funny and interesting. Older women, of course, with many tales to tell.

Heh, I went in last Wednesday and the fabric was just being put out. "Oh, we've been waitng for you, to put out this fabric. Look at this wool, isn't it nice". I love these ladies. They always ask after Linsey, who was a regular at "their" shop when she lived here in Bairnsdale. Linsey came home for part of the last school holidays and cased the local oppys. She told me Monica and Beverley greeted her like a long-lost friend.

Above: Fabric for a shirt. Actually, it's a single bed sheet from the oppy (where else). It was originally white with small orange squares and large mustard rectangles. Workable, except for the white base colour. I don't wear white or really pale colours any more.

So, I over-dyed it in the washing machine with navy blue. Very pleased with the result. For lengths of fabric like a bed sheet I prefer the washing machine because it agitates the fabric through the dye which I can't do in my 15 litre dye pot. The pot just isn't big enough for a rather large piece of fabric to circulate freely to absorb the dye. I buy my dyes at Spotlight. It's the only place that sells fabric dye here. The small range is enough for me.

Now for sewing projects using these wondrous finds. there's a shirt and a skirt already "there". The rest, don't hold your breath.

Swap Meet Treasure

In some ways, if you ignore the car and motorbike paraphenalia, swap meets are like giant op-shops. Minus the clothes. Sometimes people have clothes, a lady at Bendigo had a lot of vintage items including clothes. I'm guessing she was a dealer as her stuff was out of my price range.

Can't resist a wooden stool and a little chair, claimed by Ally and Clare respectively.

The top of the stool lifts like a mini piano stool. Maybe it was for shoe polishing gear. The water colour tin was a find as well.

A little debble-ducker bus (Giles had trouble pronouncing double-decker when he was little). This goes with the other three I have, it's the smallest so far. The largest Linsey brought back from London for me last year, next came from the oppy, next belonged to Giles when he was little, and now this one.

Kathie Winkle china! Four Concord bowls and two dinner plates with the Kathie Winkle and Broadhurst backstamp and Carnival as the pattern, but this pattern isn't featured in my book The Designs of Kathie Winkle by Peter Leath. This was like finding gold, I tell you!

Lairy tea towel.

 Not so lairy tea towel. I really like this one and I'm going to keep it for future sewing (rather than drying dishes).

Pretty drinking glass and super solid cast iron gem iron. I have one and have been looking out for another for some time. Twelve ginger gems at a time - not enough. two dozen is more like it at our house. Gem irons deserve a post of their own. There were several at the swap meet with wildly differing prices. From $6 (this one in good condition) to $28 for a rusty one that would require scraping back and re-seasoning.

Boxes with little compartments. The top one is destined for wooden cotton reels, the bottom one...not sure yet. May bung it up on the wall as is, kind of sculptural, really.

Two Enids that I don't have. I tell you, swap meets are treasure trove.

The compartment box now with cotton reels. I'm going to put it on the wall above my sewing table. The cantilever sewing box is a midget. I'm guessing it was for a child.

Garlic from the King Valley. Garlic from a swap meet - yes truly. There are  some swap meets that ban anything not motor vehicle/motor bike related. For purists. Meets are usually organised and run by the likes of Rotary and Lions Club and the more people through the gate, the more funds they raise. So aberrant stalls have infiltrated, much to my delight!