Blue and green should never be seen*

*but I've always been a rule-breaker

I promised that I would show you what I did with the vintage green fabric from my Nana's stash, and so here it is...


This is a batwing top based on this Burdastyle pattern. Boyfriend and I are heading off on holiday soon, and I thought this would be a nice light summery (yes! we're going somewhere where it's summer!) top to pack and wear.

I was a bit unsure how to cut the pattern from the fabric to make the most of the print, but I think I did pretty well.


The top came out HUGE. I know it's meant to be big and roomy, but this was actually massive. I took it in quite a lot and I'm still swimming in it. I also learnt that v-neck binding can be quite fiddley, but I finally got it in the end (plus, I've now got another technique to add to my repertoire).


I'm not totally sure if the oversize look suits me, but it seems to go ok with a pair of jeans, and is also nice with the belt.


What do you think?

A simpler life

Lately I've been thinking about my childhood, and how the way we lived life 25 years ago seems much simpler, and less consumptive, than today. Although my parents did instill in me an eco-conscience, the way we went about life wasn't necessarily 'to be earth-friendly', it was more the product of growing up in a rural area and making use of what we had.

When I was little, I used a hanky, not a tissue. Especially not for just little sniffles or eye-waters.

Lately I was lucky enough to win a package of vintage goodies from The Posh Op Shopper, including these sweet little hankies. They are going straight into my handbag for future use.

I remember we had a 'rag bag'. It was just that, a bag of old, worn out clothes, manchester etc which you could grab a rag from to wipe up a mess, polish your shoes, or any number of dirty old tasks. These days we buy mass-manufactured chux wipes to do the same thing. Why?

When I was little, we fed the food scraps to our chickens.

Now I feed them to my guinea pigs : )

I also remember meals being simpler. Why does every meal these days involve marindating, searing, roasting, seasoning and a side salad? My parents used to make simple corn fritters, and they were great. Quick, nutritious, and very tasty.

What do you remember about your childhood that was simpler?

Goodies in the mail

Really, what is more exciting than getting goodies in the mail?

Today was a very good day for my letterbox (ok, so I also got an electricity bill, but I'm ignoring that for the moment). Look at these exciting packages...

(apologies in advance for the shadows/photo colours, it got dark early in Sydney today)



Don't keep me in suspense! Open them!

The first one was the gorgeous fabric I ordered from Ink and Spindle. Fantastic natural cotton and organic hemp printed with environmentally-friendly, solvent free ink. Oh yeah.



Then... a package from my mum in Queensland. This one is exciting. Recently my grandma moved into a nursing home and pretty much tried to giveaway everything in her house. "But 'Ma, I don't really need anything" "take it anyway". I told my mum that I'd be interested in any sewing supplies, no matter how old. Then, my nana got wind of this story, and offered up some stuff from her sewing stash that she no longer needed. Hence, a whole box full of vintage sewing supplies landed on my doorstep! So let's take a look.



There is a whole bunch of embroidered bits and pieces that my grandma obviously started a long time ago, but never finished (a challenge, perhaps?),



some really cool old print teatowels, including this one,



crochet and embroidery cotton, in all sorts of colours,



a pile of lovely colourful vintage bias binding,



and (drumroll) a whole bag of vintage buttons! Score!



And I must mention that there is one package left that I am not allowed to open until boyfriend gets home. It says "teapigs" on the side. I like tea, and pigs... I wonder what it is!