Thank Crunchie it's Friday

The weekend starts here - well actually the weekend starts a few kilometres up the road with a birthday BBQ in the sun this afternoon.

In the meantime - a bit of greenhouse potting on again- I found more tomato seedlings and I just can't let them go to waste.
I keep finding these random little strays from last year, peeping out from the edges of the weed suppressant and so I keep pulling them up and replanting them.

  I grew cherry and plum in the greenhouse last year so they could be either - but most likely cherry as we lost a few fruit here and there collecting them in.

I have started using my new cutting table, I have a dress on the go, and also a couple more bags done, they just need the embroidery finished.

As you can see the table has four handy little cubby holes underneath it - which I have obviously already filled up.

I also managed to finally get my patterns sorted out this morning, having been stuffing them willy nilly into the pockets of the room screen and running the risk of damaging them, I got them organised into a folder neatly - not sure how long that will last though.

Unfinished bag embroidery - first layer of beads done yesterday, now just the crocket flowers and large sequins to go.

Monday morning blues

I don't think I am really blue, but tired. 

I had a ridiculously early morning with  my new kitten needing the litter tray and even two cups of coffee are not getting me going today.

Yesterday I got on with more photo processing and got photos onto flickr.com, as well as some of my bags listed on Etsy, before we had to go out for aperos (French drinkies) and to fetch my mother's day pressie - my new kitten.

 With the computer freezing every couple of minutes from the photo overload, and kittens demanding my time, I never managed to finish all my bag listings yesterday so got on with that today, but still have not managed to get everything on Etsy, so looks as though my afternoon will be taken up with that too.

Next few projects - planning my photoshoot.....

The next few projects will be all about wardrobe refashions with a skirt due to become a top, a top to cut up for the collar and a sarong to go with it to become a dress and a length of material to form the skirt of another top.

As you can see I have once again drawn up detailed (ha) plans on scraps of paper and pinned them to the assorted items to remind me that they have been sidelined for projects.

 I started this afternoon with finishing off the bag handle from the bag yesterday, and running a line of trim all along the hemmed edges for a neater finish. 











 This is now the selection of bags to be photographed and uploaded on Saturday to Etsy.

Having got the last of the bags sorted out I turned my attention to the T-shirt a friend donated the other day (you know who you are).  I had told her that it would make a great waistcoat, and it was time to put my money where my mouth was or something like that. 

Anyway, while hunting around in the studio for bag materials I had found a woolen skirt that I had forgotten about, and thought that would make an ideal waistcoat back, so using the paper template I cut the other day from another waistcoat, I cut out the back, then slightly altered the sides and the length to reflect the look I wanted to acheive with the waistcoat style.

See more photos tomorrow -  now that I have managed to successfully bribe my model and convince another friend to lend me their house as a backdrop, my basket of goodies is packed and hopefully the sun will be on my side tomorrow and I can get a mini fashion photoshoot done.  Half of the items will be available for sale on Etsy, some are for me and some for Thea to keep.

Before and After - quick bag (Friday's project)

Friday I had just enough time to run up this quick bag from the skirt of a wedding suit lost in fashion since the 80s.  Photo shows the finished bag and the left over top still to be used.

I made another freepress template from our almost daily publicity material, unpicked the skirt, and added some recycled white cotton for a lining, then cut through the four layers to create an outer patterned bag and an inner lining.

The bag sews together very easily, right sides to right sides for the bag pieces and straps, then place the lining into the outer bag, right sides to right sides again, and sew together the sides and the openings, leaving the strap ends open.

Pull the bag through, do the same with the strap and then fit the ends of the straps into the open ends on the bag pieces and sew together.

One quick and easy shopper now needing a bit of embellishment before it heads for my etsy shop.

Reluctant model

With the rain finally easing off, and after a manic hour of weeding in the garden as well as getting my beetroot seedlings planted out, I finally got my reluctant model to don her coat and head outside for a few photos.

I finished this lastest round of hats the other week, but had not managed to get them listed yet as both the weather and my model were conspiring against me.

With this dry spell possibly continuing into tomorrow I may be able to get the rest of my items photographed and listed. This afternoon I am making a start with these.

Late Spring may seem to be the wrong time to list wooly hats, but as the inclement May has shown us, it is not summer yet.