Archibald the draft snake November 10, 2009
Posted by Sarah in blue, cosy, draft snake, fabric, home made, recycle, refashion, sewing, snake, wool.add a comment
Leopold the draft snake November 9, 2009
Posted by Sarah in blue, cosy, draft snake, fabric, felt, green, home made, recycle, refashion, sewing, snake, thrifty, toy, wool.add a comment
I’ve just listed this very sweet draft snake in my etsy store.
His name is Leopold.
He likes: croquet, croquettes and croque monsieurs
He disklies: crocodiles, croquembouche, and crocs
He’s keeping Harriet company at the moment, Archibald will be joining them shortly!
Bedside October 26, 2009
Posted by Sarah in Craft, My place and yours, art, blanket, clothes, cosy, crochet, fabric, flowers, gift, home made, kittens, knitting, markets, meme, scarf, sewing, silk, toy, vintage, wool.2 comments
Playing along with Pip from Meet me at Mikes. This weeks theme is bedside and was chosen by Pottymouthmama.
The shelf that holds all kinds of fun things:
The Narwhal toy I bought for Joh in San Francisco
The French kitty my beautiful friend Josephine made for my birthday this year
Assorted Plush Microbes, and a zombie kitty
The enormous blanket that took almost an entire year to knit
Assorted warm things, hand made and vintage
My collection of PJ’s and nighties
My friend Rosa-may drew this incredible picture of me, wearing the crochet scarf she made for me. I love it so much!
The set of drawers that my grandfather made for my mother, that I repainted blue as a teenager. I had been holding on to the lamp stand for years without a shade waiting for the perfect thing, then one day I found this at the Surry Hills Markets. It’s perfect in so many ways. I’m so glad I waited until I found something I really liked.
On the wall is the gorgeous print entitled ‘making friends’ from the artists APAK. I purchased it from the lovely Outre Gallery. A little gift for Joh a few years back. Just because I love him so.
Frockotber day 25 October 25, 2009
Posted by Sarah in Frocktober, Fundraising, clothes, cosy, dress, fabric, flowers, newtown, vintage.2 comments
I’m frocking my kitsch vintage polyester Muumuu for day 25 of my Frockober challenge. It’s a muumuu! It’s brown! It’s probably the most polyester ever to be worn on one person!
I picked up this amazing muumuu a few years ago from a vintage store in Newtown.
We had a Hawaiian themed party and this is what I wore. It’s one of those items that i’ll have to keep forever, just in case anyone invites me to a hawaiian themed party!
Remember, if you would like to support the Australian Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation during the month of Frocktober you can. Click here to donate.
My registration number is 539381. (you can put the registration number in the final page of your paypal payment).
I heart kings cross knitting October 15, 2009
Posted by Sarah in Craft, art, cosy, flowers, knitting.add a comment
The I Heart Kings Cross knitting project has been up in Fitzroy Gardens for one week now. I wandered through last Friday as the trees were being adorned, right before the rain came. I LOVE that something so beautiful has been done in our neighbourhood. There must have been literally hundreds and hundreds of knitting hours put into this by the contributors. Well done, I am completely in awe of you all!
Frocktober day 9 October 9, 2009
Posted by Sarah in Frocktober, Fundraising, buttons, clothes, cosy, dress, fabric, felt, home made, recycle, refashion, sewing, thrifty, wool.add a comment
My friend Maree came over a couple of weeks back with a pair of woolen pants that she no longer wanted. They were really nice quality Veronika Maine wool crepe wide legged pants. They were worn in a few spots, but otherwise were still in pretty good condition. I popped them onto my fabric pile and left them alone. This morning I woke up wishing I had another woolen dress to wear for Frocktober, because most of my dresses are pretty summer cotton numbers, and it’s been so cold here in the last week. I remembered the woolen pants this morning while I was deciding what to wear. I sliced up the centre seam in the leg, and removed the pockets, waist band and fly. Then I ironed the fabric and turned it into this dress!
There was a little patch on the back heel of the pants where they had been rubbed through and repaired. I’ve put these colourful buttons on to cover up the marks.
Joh and I are heading over to Maree’s house tonight for dinner, I can’t wait to see what she thinks when I tell her what i’ve done with her pants! I wonder if she will recognise them?
Remember, if you want to support the Australian Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation during the month of Frocktober you can. Click here to donate.
My registration number is 539381. (you can put the registration number in the final page of your paypal payment).
Frocktober Day 3 October 3, 2009
Posted by Sarah in Frocktober, Fundraising, clothes, cosy, dress, fabric, wool.add a comment
It’s really horrible weather here in Sydney today. High winds, huge amounts of rain. Just all round not very nice.
So, when I got up this morning I knew just what dress to wear for today’s Frocktober challenge.
This Kyotap tunic is lovely and soft, and being pure wool it’s just the thing to keep me toasty warm today.
It was especially brisk when we were outside trying to get a shot of today’s dress.
Remember, if you want to support the Australian Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation during the month of Frocktober you can. Click here to donate.
My registration number is 539381.
Stay warm and dry friends.
PS – yesterday was my best day for blog traffic ever! 120 hits. Yeah!
Meet Gwendolyn October 2, 2009
Posted by Sarah in buttons, cosy, draft snake, fabric, felt, flowers, home made, recycle, sewing, snake.2 comments
Gwendolyn is the newest draft snake to come out of craftyllama HQ. She’s headed to New Zealand to keep my sister and her flatmates warm and cosy.
Gwendolyn likes: sneakers, telescpoes and oolong tea
Gwendolyn dislikes: mud, bananas and garden gnomes
She’s the first thing I’ve made out of my favourite fabric from my stash, this beautiful blue and red floral patterned vintage fabric.
She’s been made with love and care from recycled and vintage materials. I can’t wait to see what my sister thinks of her!
We’re off to the post office this afternoon. I hope I can get her in a postal bag!!
Rag-knitted bath mat August 24, 2009
Posted by Sarah in cosy, fabric, home made, knitting, recycle, refashion, thrifty.add a comment
I wanted to find a good use for an old bedsheet of ours that had become too thin to use on the bed. I decided to make it into yarn, and then knit it into a new bathmat for us.
I used this tutorial to work out the best way to make ‘yarn’ from my sheet. I highly recommend the technique described for joining the ends. It works wonderfully, and you can hardly see the joins in the finished product.
I tried to get as many stitches onto my needles as possible, to make the mat as big as I could. This meant that I had to use pegs to hold the stitches on the needle while I wasn’t knitting, so that they didn’t jump off the end.
I used size size 15mm needles, it’s like knitting with table legs!
It’s big enough for Joh to be able to use comfortably, which i’m pleased about. The finished bathmat is super soft because the sheet was so well worn.
Miss Maree’s new guard snake August 20, 2009
Posted by Sarah in buttons, cosy, draft snake, fabric, felt, flowers, home made, sewing, snake, thrifty, toy.add a comment
This little beauty is for my dear friend Maree. She specified that she would like a cream and green snake. I hope she likes it!
The tongue is made from pure wool felt. The little collar is wool, and the flower on the collar is cut from a piece of beautiful italian lace.
Buttons that I used for the eyes came from my mother, very retro.
This photo is to show the underbelly of the snake, I used some charcoal denim for the bottom half of the tail and the same kermit green I used for the head on the other half.
This is a close up of the fabric that I used for the top of the snake. It’s a beautiful textured cream fabric with a while brocade pattern printed on it.
I stuffed it with old cotton fabric, it’s just heavy enough to hold tight against any drafts that come under the door. Traditionally they’re filled with beans or rice but I’d prefer to use something non-recyclable and non-toxic that’s destined for the landfil. I’m heading to a local recycling centre this weekend to see what I can find. In the mean time, the cotton fabric stuffing works just fine I think.
I’m planning on making many more of these little darlings so if you would like to order one off me just leave a comment at the bottom. Cost is $45 AUD plus postage.
Edited for Maree:
Maree named her Lilith!
Likes: Licorice lozenges, leggings and leopards
Dislikes: noisy neighbours, hairdryers and dill
