Payday: not a good day to go out of town!

Mum and dad had been in Bathurst, NSW. They went to watch Australia's biggest car race, the Bathurst 1000. Mum's dream! It's a street track and over 3 days the teams do 1000 laps around "the mountain". Mum's idol, Peter Brock, was a Bathurst champion many times over, though sadly he died in a car rally accident a few years back. He was known as "Brocky" or "The King of the Mountain". The race is really just Holden vs Ford, so Australia vs USA in a sense. Holden took out 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th this year! Mum was stoked. We're big Holden fans! Personally, I don't understand why there are no other makes driving in the V8 Supercars?

Not many people know my mum used to race speedway, as did my sisters dad. I spent many a day (and night) on speedway tracks when I was little. I will always remember my sister cowering under her bed when her dad started his hotrod in the back yard as they did maintenance to it. I still love to go to speedway, though I haven't been in many years. They admission is expensive and the nearest track is 200km away. Jessica's never been and I don't think she'd like it much, she hates noise. I used to love when you'd be sitting with your car reversed up to the fence, in the open back of a station wagon, huddled under blankets and being pelted by mud as the sprintcars screamed past.

So while mum was enjoying all this, I was in Esperance with her dog in the vet. Poor dog. In recent months she's lost both her eyes. She's completely blind. But she's still very happy and able, she gets around the house, takes herself outside down the back steps. It hasn't really bothered her. As I was feeding her I noticed she was walking with her head held on the side. Worried she had some kind of problem with the eye as we only removed the stitches last Friday, I got her to Esperance as soon as I could. Pay day! Mum and dad will reimburse me, but to actually get there I had to wait until I had money. Poor little thing has an ear infection and is back on antibiotics. Looks like I might have to drive her back down next week as she's due for a check up at day 10, but mum will be back at work by then.

While she was in the vet I needed to do something, right? I started with a small grocery shop for all those things you just can't buy here. Lots of snacks for Jessica's lunchbox, some fruit because it's cheaper etc. I went into a Thingz gift shop and actually found something for both mum and dad for Christmas. Phew! One less thing to worry about. Then I hit the Red Cross thrift shop, but the little Anglican one wasn't open until after lunch. I took the opportunity to go buy Jessica a ball like Tian's as she doesn't seem to react, and to the 2 craft shops looking for pirate fabric. Between them, they had 1 bolt. I only bought 30cm as it's only for my little cousin's library bag. I decided I didn't like the sealife print I bought for him. I met up with June and Tian who were there for Tian's swimming lessons, then went back to the Anglican op shop. Then on to a pet shop to price birds for Jessica for Christmas, then Bunnings, then got the dog and headed home.

Here's what you can buy for $18. If you're anything like me, technically it was $20; I told them to keep the change :) (from the Anglican church opportunity shop)

• 5 Handmade magazines, from 1984 through to 1991
• A huge array of sewing patterns which I select individually. Trust me, there's still heaps there!
• An unusual embroidery book: Needle on the Wing by Mary Krishna (ISBN: not listed Published: Hutchinson & Co LTD, 1961)
• Mode Made magazine Summer 87-88 which I had never seen/heard of before
• Simplicity's Pillow Ideas (ISBN: 0-918178-19-3, 1980)
• Australian Women's Weekly Decorative Crafts-Stylish crafts from around the world (ISBN: 0 949892 93 9, 1988)
• 3 fabric pieces, the blue baby print there is 2m, little soccer playing bears is about 1m, and a remnant of pink t-shirt material (stretch, jersey)

By comparison, this one copy of SEW magazine (a UK mag) costs $14.95

At the Red Cross shop the choices were more limited, I think I paid $7 for all this even though the clothes were marked at $2 or more each, but they were having a sale.

• 4 00000 and 0000 baby clothes for Jessica to use for her dolls
• a couple of sewing patterns
• 1 Handmade and 1 Australian Patchwork and Stitching magazine
• over 2m of this unusual dinosaur printed fabric
• 1 outfit for Jessica

I had a $50 voucher for Bunnings hardware store burning an absolute hole in my pocket, it was a gift from a friend for helping out. I knew I wanted plants, but I also grabbed a few small things I needed like some plastic feet (my sewing machine has lost one and it wobbles!) and some rubber grips for under furniture. I was really pleased to find tubestock Australian natives for $2.50 each! Yes, they're small. But they will naturalise well and made it much more accessible for me to get some variety.

In total I purchased 12 natives in tubestock, multiples of some of the plants. I got 4 varieties of grevillea, a banksia, isopogon formosus and sholtzia involucrata. There's a lot of pink.. I couldn't resist the gorgeous purple eremophila even if it was $15 for the one plant, and a lovely yellow "Yellow Imp" or genista. I have had many yellow imps in the last 8yrs (ok, so maybe 3) and none have survived. The tag says low maintenance, yet I keep killing them? Hope this one has more luck. They're such a pretty little plant. Many more plants I would have loved to get, but as it was I breached the $50 gift card and had to supplement with my own money. By this time next year the garden should be looking a whole lot nicer :D I should be making use of the cooler weather today to go out and plant these, but I still need to deal with the pesky cat situation first. 

My mum bought me this gorgeous silver bracelet while she was away (Jessica got a pretty party dress and a Holden Racing Team (HRT) polo shirt, my sister got a HRT jacket, and my brother in law a Ford Racing Team jacket). It's gum leaves and a gum nut (gum tree being a eucalyptus). I really like it, but I don't wear silver and the leaves point out leaving them prime candidates to catch on something. The rings between aren't soldered closed, so if it did catch it might open a ring and fall off, getting lost. I will save it for special occasions. She made this big fuss about how hard I am to buy for. Really? It hurt my feelings and she's probably already telling people how ungrateful I am. Her usual story after giving me a gift. I think she feels that because she simply can't buy me sporting memorabilia, and I don't collect some kind of animal like everyone else that I am "impossible". I love the bracelet, but am I expected to jump for joy when I open the velvet bag just so she knows how excited I am? I told her I love it and how unusual and pretty it is. I hope she believed me this time. The bracelet was bought in a silver mining town called Broken Hill in New South Wales. 

The Australian dollar reached all time highs on Thursday this week, reaching $0.9994 US, there was speculation that it may breach the US$ and that by mid next year the "Aussie" would be trading higher than the US! WOW! Back in 2001 we were trading at $0.47 US.. huge differences. It really does seem to me that Australia is holding its own during this "global financial crisis". I keep hearing that term yet the Australian Reserve Bank keeps increasing our interest rates and we're trading close to all time highs.. Certainly a good time to be buying online from overseas. Shame I am back on a single parent allowance and broke. Bugger!

http://www.smh.com.au/business/australian-dollar-moves-close-to-parity-20101014-16kax.html

Thrifting is fun!

I should also add a disclaimer  -  "THRIFTING IS ADDICTIVE"

Be warned.

But back to the Thrifting is Fun part!!

A few weeks ago (ok, so it's probably more like months now) I was in Esperance. I don't get to Esperance very often and it's a lovely coastal town. Gorgeous white sands, clear waters, and freezing bloody cold! They have 2 op shops I frequent whilst in town, one is a Red Cross and the other is a little church group one. I *heart* the smaller, church based opportunity shops! I often find Salvation Army, Good Samaritans and Saint Vincent De Paul extremely over priced (in the sense you could buy that child's t-shirt new for less then they are asking in the second hand store). I understand they are employing people with disabilities as well as aiding their international organisation but heck, if I can buy it cheaper new I'm going to opt for new.

Anyways, in Esperance in the little church op shop I found 3 magnificent books and my heart was all aflutter and I just wanted to brag share with someone. My friend's and family aren't really interested in my crafty endeavours so I will share with my readers. 

Tucked away by the counter and behind racks of clothing is floor to ceiling shelves and I have learnt through many visits this is the area of the shop that I want. They have some kids clothes and a few other things but the pile of knitting, crochet and other magazines is massive, they usually have a great selection of preloved sewing patterns and so many other hidden gems. This trip I found some iron on transfers with brilliant gold embossing on the covers, a heap of sewing patterns, a near new knitting book and a handful of lace and fabric remnants. Best of all, I found these...

English editions of Japanese sewing/drafting books!!!

• Baby Wear
• Cute Infants Outgrow Clothes Quickly. 58 Tots' Clothes Paired With Dolls
• Though Girls Begin To Feel More Fashion-conscious, Nothing On The Market Is Snug And Taut. Produce A Good Fashion With Mom-made Clothes  (yes, that's the title).

In the top left corner of each book it states "English Edition - Stitch House" and an abbreviated title for each

• Baby Wear
• Infants Wear - by direct cutting 
• Girl's Dresses - 8 to 13 year olds

The recommended Australian retail price was $2.85!

They are copyrighted "1984 by KAMAKURA SHOBO PUBLISHING CO.,LTD." and printed in Japan. There is no ISBN etc listed. They are each 68pages in total.

These books do not contain patterns. They do, however, instruct you how to create the patterns. Akin to Enid Gilchrist books. (see below)

I love the illustrations that accompany the patterns! Some of the wording makes me giggle too. One or two images would look great framed, but I wont be pulling apart these darling books for such simple pleasures. I ogle Japanese sewing books online all the time (the modern ones) and they are so expensive! I feel like I've just slid up on the outskirts of the in-crowd with my little treasures. Best of all, for everything I bought that day (and it was a lot, trust me) I paid about $7. Yes, total. The plastic bag I was carrying it all in barely made it the 10m back to my car, it was so heavy and hardcover books were making holes.

I especially love how the last page on the Girls Dresses book encourages the girls to sew themselves. The below picture is definitely something I could frame. I adore the simplicity of the illustrations and yet they are so  expressive.

I've been a big fan of Enid Gilchrist books for many years. Below is a photo of just 2, from very different eras, but both are modeled on the same principals. Enid's work was all about self drafting. She gave you an axis marked as 0, then working from that point she gave you the measurements to draw out the patterns yourself, and a detailed description of assembly (rather than pictorial).

I've been collecting these books for a number of years from eBay, thrift stores etc. Some are rarer than others and sell for quite a lot, some are so common they practically give them away. I even have some magazine pages from mags of the 50's and 60's where thrifty mamma's have torn the pages with her featured articles/patterns to save for use. I have some books, like the bright Baby Book (ISBN 0 908429 17 7, rec retail $2.95) pictured below, from different print runs and the one shown below is probably the most recent of all the Enid Gilchrist items I own. You can see that not only the patterns and printing methods evolved, as did a few of the patterns and the measurements moved from Imperial to Metric. Designed back when disposable nappies (diapers) were unheard of, the patterns are a little difficult in todays society. (I have friends with clothed bottomed children, my own daughter wasn't one of them and they're definitely the exception today)

I trace most of my sewing patterns anyhow, but to draw out an Enid Gilchrist pattern I use baking paper or thin sew in interfacing (Vilene) which is far more durable. Probably cheaper too when you consider its width. I place the interfacing on my quilters cutting mat and sometimes use double sided tape to keep it in place. My quilters mat is marked in inches, and most of the E.G. books I have are imperial. I just then use a ruler and pencil to measure and draw out the shapes. Seam allowances aren't included so I use a Sullivans branded seam tracer which is brilliant. I just run it along the edges which need allowances and the handy little spacer means I just trace over the lines I drew to mark out the pattern while the second pencil draws an evenly spaced line for the seams!

An Enid Gilchrist pattern from the more modern Baby Book. The older books were on paper similar to that used in modern newsprint and contained only diagrams and sketches of designs, no photographs and no interior colour.

A couple of poor photographs of a design I have drafted from an E.G. book recently (let's face it, no one visits my blog for my exquisite photography skills!)

Self drafting takes some time, but I enjoy the process. I did really well at Technical Drawing in high school (it was a compulsory component of my elective classes of Woodwork and Metalwork). I have many books teaching me how to draft my own true designs and not just mimic those such as Enid's, but I haven't yet the confidence to tackle those.

As the sunshine fades

Summer is gone and the cool air is already moving in, which is surprising as it was such a HOT summer! Not only is summer gone, so is almost 1/4 of the year. I just don't know how time gets away from me so bad! I always mean to pop in here and update my blog, and then I get bored with the idea (or as is more the truth, too distracted by other people's blogs!) and when I finally go to do a post it's HUGE! I really need to blod more regularly. Yet, since I say that every time I do blog, don't get your hopes up :) I'm quite annoyed right this minute, I was doing the rounds of my fave blogs and it seems Flickr is down which means many of the images on blogs are little red x's. Boo!! On this note, I uploaded all my pics to Photobucket this time, since I didn't like the idea of another 6 hours for one blog post. I'll load them in as thumbs, you *should* be able to click them to see bigger images, if you so desire :)

My friend Marrissa of Through the Garden Gate and I have decided to try our luck at this years Mother's Day markets. Every year our small town holds a markets in the park and it gets smaller and smaller every year. We both enjoy creating (I'd say crafting, but we certainly don't limit ourself to crafts!) and it's not only our way of giving back, but to see if local people really are as interested in what we do as they say they are. We live in a tiny town, some 800 people, and the majority of them work for the local gold mine, so lets just use the S word and be get the nastys out the way. Snobs. They drive 2hrs ONE WAY to buy their groceries, they don't support local business. You know the kind, right? Nothing is ever good enough. We have a town full of them. So we'll try it out, see what happens. If we sell nothing then I guess all our friends know what they'll be receiving for bdays this year *haha*. It will cost us probably $5-10AUD to hold the stall so it's not like we'll be losing out. If we keep our target small and aim for the kids given $10 and told to "go buy something for mum" we might make back our fee. *lol* So as you see, we're in it more for the fun than to make mega bucks. It's always so nice to sit and socialise and markets are a great place for it.

It seems I had a blog giveaway win way back in January, and I had no idea!! Probably cos I wasn't checking blogs much then as I was away in Perth a lot (and my prepaid broadband is so expensive and that's what I use when not at home). It would have been some buttons. I've just sent an apology email to the wonderful host Jane of Pretty Jane. And here I was feeling like I've never won anything, ever. Well, now I can say I have, I just don't have it to show *lol* (I'm not claiming the prize after such a long time, just so you now. the email was merely for good manners.)

My gorgeous nephew is getting big. As much as I hate all the trips to Perth which Jess requires since being on Cyclosporin for her eczema, it allows us to see little Hayden all the more. Jessi dotes on him! She still wants a baby sister :)

My baby girl has turned 6! Amazing.. we didn't do anything for her bday as we had a very stressful drive home from Perth with her asthma. We only arrived home at noon the day of her bday, my mum was at work (she works away on a 2week on 1 week off roster) so she went to our toy shop with nanna while I raced home and wrapped some presents.

I've promised her a belated party cos Feb is just hectic in this little town, so many bdays! I have ideas piling up thick and fast.. Should be interesting. Jessi's eczema has never been sooooo brilliant! She was put on immunosuppressants (which still scare the hell out of me) but they're working! Jess is finally wearing socks! I can't believe it! It's been almost 2yrs since she agreed to wear them last. Such small things but so significant in our home.

I made some bits and pieces for Jessica for her birthday and she seems to have passed them. First off is my first ever patchwork and quilting. I've never done anything like it before, and I'm not sure I ever will. I didn't follow any patterns or directions. I made my quilt top, my quilt back, then made a sandwich of the two with wadding between, quilted it, then did the binding. Of all that it was the binding which made me wanna forget the whole thing! I flowed with the fabrics and I wasn't sure you could patch mitred corners but since I had no one to tell me I couldn't or that it wouldn't work, I just did it.

My fabric of choice

The Results


And a little dolls outfit made from a thrifted ladies shirt as seen some posts ago. The doll is one we bought at a stay in Princess Margaret Hospital when the doll we took with us went missing. She is Jessi's fave doll of choice right now and always seem to be naked! I used an old (I am reluctant to use the term vintage) pattern for these, I can dig out the details later if anyone's interested. I free formed the shoes with craft felt.

As mentioned, Feb is a big month of birthdays here so of course, we were invited to more than 1! The twin girls got these bags with hair accessories, while the other bdays got purchased gifts.


March saw the running of the local horse races which is one of the few social events in town. I had known for a long while I wanted to make myself an Infinity Dress, of which there is a really great tutorial on Craftster by Rostichery. Now, I looked at a LOT of similar dresses online to see what I wanted. I didn't "follow" the tute as such, just remembered the basics. I had bought fabric from my last trip to Perth to try this dress and it was quite hard to work with as it kept stretching all over the place. I borrowed an overlocker (serger) but the power cord seems to have been lost, which meant I sewed this on my regular machine. Nothing about the dress is "neat" or even "finished" (only the hem). I made a circle in a square skirt to get pixie hems and cut the circle too big *duh*. I also made Jess a dress from yet another old pattern. This one is without dates on the pack but I'm leaning toward 70's from the style. It's a "one size only pattern" and one of the few I had in a 4. I let Jessica choose the fabric, I wasn't even sure I had a zipper, but it all came off well. I don't have any good photos of my dress and will have to get some at a later date. As I cut the circle too big it was a bit too short in some places and I kept tugging at it all day! It was fun to wear, very comfy, and we both got some very lovely comments about our attire. I just found a pic of Jessica's pattern online at Wikia


Last minute I also made us each something for our hair. Mine is crazily crap, but hers was very sweet!


Since Jessi is anaphylactic to latex (as well tree nuts and sesame) I made some beanbags for her classroom to use in place of balls where possible. Her teacher was delighted. I think there was around 20 in all in 2 different sizes. So easy to make! I didn't hand stitch them closed as I was making so many and they're no worse off for it.


I've made myself a pincushion, trialling an idea/pattern. I am sure I have this in a magazine but my recent reminder was from Whosie at Whosie's Written Whatnots which she has titled Doily Pincushion. I would love to have had some small vintage doilies to play with! I'm still pleased with my pincushion. It helps that I am IN LOVE with this particular fabric! These are in mind for our afore-mentioned Mother's Day Stall. Not sure..

Also in mind for the stall, some pocket tissue covers. These are all the wrong size, too big, too small. Still trying to get it just right.


Sew Hip is a really cool magazine which I am so pleased to be able to buy here in Aus. So far we've had 3 issues and I am in love! I am sick of buying mags a few issues then they stop selling them. Bring me back I Can Make It Myself (which I didn't realise was Aussie until just now, so will be hitting up the newsagents to reorder this one!!!!) and Better Homes and Gardens Quilts and More. Anyway, getting back to Sew Hip, I have issue 3 and decided I liked what was coming in issue 4 so much I made it already, without the mag. As you can see, it's not perfect but I didn't put too much thought into it anyhow! I figured I can wait to read the pattern in isse 4 *lol*. I do need to move the button embellishments as they're far too low.


I've had some interesting thrift finds lately. Would you ever believe what size this dress is?

If you open the pic with the tags you will just see it's a size 8!! That's tiny! Compared to me anyhow, I am a 22! Yet the pic of me, in the dress, is me in the dress. Completely un played with. Hard to believe, huh? I decided to refashion it into a comfortable fit as that elastic waistband is sooooo tight, and add some length to it. I almost had it, almost wore it out. Then realised there were some ginormous errors and haven't yet got back to it. I need to rework that dress! But alas, winter is coming so the urge to perfect dresses is dwindling.

Another interesting thrift find is this fabric panel. I have no idea what I am going to do with it, but I can assure you it wont be making a box o_0 what an odd reason to make a panel. It has some really cute prints which I am sure can find a much cuter home!

Some unusual printed fabrics, again I don't know what I am going to do with them, I just find it impossible to leave fabric at the thrift shop!! I got plenty more, these are just more interesting. And I am sure you get sick of my posts being weighed down with images of fabrics that are all so old! I wish I had the $$ to go buy some Maria Horner and other bright, fun, modern fabrics. Maybe if I get the job I have an interview for on Monday I can. What's the bet I have to order them from the US?


A cute apron I thought would be good to draft a pattern from. I was disgusted to see it was made in China, I thought it was a handmade piece. Oh well. I wonder what they used the Velcro strip for?

And a pic of Jessica with her 11yr old aunt, whom she hasn't seen since she was 6mths old. To me they look very similar yet people keep telling me how much she looks like me. I think she is her dads family all over. Not that it matters, she's my princess no matter how she looks :)


I am sorry for the ultra messy layout. I am tired, this still took ages, and Jess has been begging for the computer for hours. Enjoy :)