coffee sack decorations

I've been playing around with burlap coffee bean sacks - making over sized decorations -

during which I even used a protractor for the first time since high school!

The ginormous five point star came to me in a flash of inspiration was made with a few tips from here. The rest of the process was guided by gut feeling and the added benefit of having no sprogs around offering to "help".

If you are keen to do something similar - it goes a little something like this...

80 cm radius (the average length I could get out of one side of each coffee sack) with 2 pencils and a piece of string and/or a measuring tape to form the circumference. A whopping 1.6 metre diameter...

Pattern folded in four to make a cross and center the protractor...

72 degrees x 5 star points...

Join points to get intersections, cut out petal shapes and use as pattern for burlap and canvas interfacing. Baste interfacing inside seam allowance before sewing up, leaving hole to stuff.

Skuzzy op shop pillow inners are practically free and make for perfect filling.

The star is a little too big to hang anywhere inside the house without it being a hazard. I thought about putting it outside, suspended under the pear tree - only it'll get rained on and rot. See those lovely angles... the wonderful symmetry and awesome accuracy...cabinetry and boat building just might follow.

The sprogs are requesting more of the stockings. I suspect that has less to do with craft and aesthetic appreciation than it has to do with their intended function and fill-ability a month from now. Ho Ho Ho kiddo.

onwards and upwards

It's been ten days post quake and finally the nervous system, blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety levels have subsided. There is still the odd aftershock felt, as other fault lines readjust to new pockets of pressure. Some are big enough to act as a cautious reminder, a fearsome phasing out, but many of them pass undetected, unless like some you are hooked up to GeoNet or hanging off some iphone quake app.

We have moved out of our marae style sleeping arrangement in the lounge room and are back in our bedrooms. The kids have 100 year old brick fire places in theirs which was cause of concern, but by and large life in our wee corner seems back on track. The safe area of our house has been decluttered, the car is at the panel beaters, the buckets of broken crockery await the inspection of the insurance man and nicknacks have been blue tacked back in place.

There is however, a lot of red tape around town and with it an airy feeling that things in the inner city won't be the same for quite some time. Many of the buildings destined for a date with the wrecking ball are still standing, and others are gone like gaps in a gaping mouth where teeth used to be.

Hopefully there will be sufficient debate and discussion to ensure Christchurch is rebuilt right, with thoughtful design that is pleasing to the people of the city. The last thing we need, is to live with quick fix plasticky knocks ups reminiscent of say... Blenheim ...sorry Blenheim!

Anyway, part of what aided and soothed my senses was the doll making classes I have been attending for the last few weeks.

Isn't she a welcomed distraction!

The dolls are in the tradition of the warldorf steiner dolls. Though I am told by our guru doll maker Mayjan, this tradition of hand made cloth dolls goes as far back as the ancient Egyptians.

Marjan (from Spindlewood...the coolest kids toy shop in town) has been making dolls like these for the last 20 years. She has a great eye for bringing out the character of each doll and magically deft hands.

The dolls are made entirely from natural materials: wool and cotton which stimulates the sensory motor skills and feels human and warm to the touch. I held a life sized new born doll Mayjan had been working on and I found myself trying to wind the baby over my shoulder and feeling rather clucky!

Mayjan is also responsible for rekindling my passion for hand stitching (specifically the almost invisible 'his and her' stitch) and for teaching us to forgo knots in favour of anchoring.

I was inspired, rather romantically to commit to hand sewing throughout (even when machine sewing was optional). I am also going to hand stitch her some clothes, just for the pleasure and satisfaction inherent with sitting quietly and stitching away (those machines really are noisy).

I recall Mayjan saying that "every stitch is a loving thought" and when you have the time, it really feels that way. Given that this doll is going to be gifted to my wee lady for her 2nd birthday, it felt right to be 'slow sewing' along the same principles as the 'slow food' movements etc. I could become Amish right now.

The doll should ideally resemble the child they are intended for, as to inspire imitation of the future parent and so each child can easily see within the doll, a reflection of themselves.

For this reason, I went with unruly hair, blue eyes and a big pumpkin shaped face. That's our Nina!

Making the head for our doll was a lengthy and challenging process. The contours of the head are surprisingly, skeletally accurate. Hanks of carded sheep's wool are tightly wound into a ball and wrapped in cheesecloth. That alone took a couple of hours and our hands were sore from squeezing and massaging the living begeevers out of our heads to firm them up. We used a heavy duty linen thread to create the eye line, the contour of the chin, and the back of the neck, anchoring the thread where the ears would be then sewing a cotton sleeve as a skin over the skull.

pinning the skin to the crown

back of the head

Triangular positioning of subtle eyes and mouth.

The faces are intentionally pared back so the child can impart onto the doll what it wishes. Less facial features leaves the child free to imagine a wider range of emotions.

loved those 4 inch needles!

a part Maori doll and a pale blondie

I feel very fortunate to have crafted alongside such an awesome and gorgeous bunch of like minded women. All of us are housewives and mothers so it was great to share quake stories and soothe our frazzled selves through the classes. There was much laughter, cups of tea, sweet treats and baking too. Thank you lovely ladies and much gratitude to the wonderful Mayjan.

If you are interested in attending Mayjans doll making classes you can contact her via Spindlewood.

I will leave you with one more shot of the dolly... who incidentally, in less than completed form (ie the body in two parts, limbs not fully stuffed but face finished) was scooped up and saved as if she was another one of my children, amidst the quake and the smashed array of preserves and soya sauce! Thankfully she too came out unscathed.... oh and see that belly button.... shucks!

X

hankie house

There are some handcrafts that I quietly scoff ...crochet sugar bowl doilies and pot plant hangers, fancy tissue box covers and the like. The purely decorative aspect with seemingly little necessary function. Craft for crafts sake. The-"don't you have anything better to do?'-crafting. The dust gatherers.

Previously, I would of put a 'hankie house' in that category of hilarious, time wasting,

craft practice. But having seen this and electing to make the switch from disposable tissues to regular handkerchiefs, I am full of praises for the practically of the 'hankie house'.

However, there was initially some contention and debate over this converting...

The Mr used to buy disposables, two jumbo boxes at a time, one for work and one for home, always an arms length away and adamant they were softer on the nose and more hygienic.

But it hurt my wallet to buy them and it never sat right with me.

I had a feeling that going to cloth (like the nappy thing) was likely to make me more organized and less likely to rely on some vague notion of convenience and expedience that tissue companies promote.

It seems to me the ads are brain washing us into feeling that tissues are a real need (in stead of a perceived one) and that anything else is some how unsavoury and regressive.

Aside from the disposability of tissues and the associated expense, I beg to differ when it comes to issues of hygiene and softness.

The cost of washing hankies is negligible when they are tossed in with your regular washing.

I estimate you can get about 10 years use from your average hankie (try not to drop it okay)

And how many people actually wash their hands thoroughly, every time they wipe their (or their children's) noses anyway?

...plus there's nothing worse in time of need, than finding a half disintegrated, dead tissue, drowned from the last wash in your pocket, and trying to unfold the powdery wad to use on a child whose big snot candle is about to drip into their mouth!

From my own experience and anecdotally substantive online research it seems well documented that a cotton hankie will always be much nicer on the nose than wood chip/pulp based tissues.

It must be noted though, that polyester hankies aren't so good.

A poly cotton mix is OK but the 100% cotton ones always feel the best. Voile cottons are divine. So too are the light weight linens. Silk is heaven.

As for the over compensatory practice of coating tissues in pseudo natural products like aloe vera and eucalyptus oil etc ...it's quite frankly more spooge I can do without. see here

My favourite hankies are the ones I've had for years, gifted by grandmas who knew good hankies when they saw them.

And here comes a confession with a stigma...

...if I'm out opp shopping and I spy a stack of talcum powder/granny smelling hankies straight from an estate nicker draw, I will scoop them up and suppress a squeal of delight to the op shop gods. The soft worn cotton feels like home (even if it is someone else's) and is good to use straight away, where as, the overly stiff, tightly woven hankies of new need a few washes to relax the weave.

Some of the much older handkerchiefs are worthy of a close examination (no, not for unwashed crusties!) but to really appreciate the handwork detailing:

...the ladylike fabrics with pretty floral motifs in the finest weave, the sentimentality of hand embroidered linens, the pretty crochet trims and delicate edging, the meticulous tatting and lace work made from minute holes.

All clues to the past and examples of a tradition that make you yearn for the gentler days when women were feminine and men were gentlemen.

Ebay has a surprising amount of vintage hankie-trading traffic going on.

Although this is a fairly affordable hobby (say compare to classic cars, or Victorian teddy bears) die hard hankie collectors will be willing to pay upwards of $100 US for rare and excellent examples of snot rags.

On that note, if you want to read about hankie collecting read this

But if you want to make a 'hankie house' like mine here's how:

fabric required:

front panels are both 2x 18x 20 cm

back panel is 22x 32

the handle is 30x 8 cms

zip 20-30 cm

finished size: 18x 30

Front: fold front opening hems under 1 cms twice and top stitch 1 cm on front

Back: fold the zip seam allowance under 1 cm both sides of zip. Sew in place.

Handle: fold handle in half length ways and iron and open, fold long sides into the middle, then in half again to make 30x 2 cm long handle

Sandwich front and back panels together and pin with handle ends protruding from the top (handle inside sandwich)

Sew 1 cm seam allowance around all 4 sides.

Turn right side out through the front opening and hand stitch front opening shut leaving 4 inch (10 cm) opening from which to pull your hankies out.

I used echino linen on the front and and tawny linen stripe on the back.

Ours is hung by our front door so that we can just grab one when we are on our way out (if we don't already have one in our pocket)

I generally go for the one hankie per person for one day deal.

At the end of each day they go into the wash.

So far it's working really well and no one is complaining!

So... I've taken things a step further...

...and I'm now making my own hankies!!

(I am boarder line embarrassed about this...and you may find it cringe worthy)

But...It only cost me $11.20 to make 16! (70 cents and maybe two minutes of my time each!)

They are 35 cm light weight 100% cotton squares, ironed and hemmed with a roll hem (or any basic hem you can be bothered doing)

Now all the men in my life will know what (cheap! eco! plaid!) presents they'll be getting from me for all the upcoming birthdays, christmases, fathers days etc

And to finish with a joke..

How do you make a handkerchief dance?

... Put a little boogie in it!

3 dinosaurs and a laptop

Stegosaurus likes to stop and smell the flowers.

Tyrannosaurus has a soft spot for ice creams.

Protoceratops is afraid of mice.

...I thought they needed a little humouring.

Stencils are from this book- a crafty gift from Grandma.

More about Pebeo pens here

A good stencil bush like this is recommended to prevent bleeding under the stencil.

Cheap laptop for sale... anyone interested?

school hols- a retrospective

The school holidays finished two days ago and once again (perhaps thankfully) there is the reinstated and familiar routine of early wake up, drop off, regimented nap times, kindy, pick ups etc

But I do love the school holidays. I really miss the big boy (who has been at school for nearly a year now). Though, I'm not particularly good at organizing myself during the holidays, and more often than not, I am prompted by other mum's ideas of ideal outings and get togethers.

I'm not sure I have the stamina for full time events coordinating and the intensification of 'doing' a million and one things and paying through the nose for it all. They make their own fun most of the time, so I can continue having mine! (that's not technically neglect is it?)

We did host play dates and we were guests at others. We made huts and ice blocks and went for a ride on the tram. We train spotted, and there was a session of kiddy yoga too.

But mostly breakfasts dragged out into lunch times and lunches into another round of snacks. Boredom came in the form of cuddling and reading on the couch, for hours, like blobby lounge lizards.

The days all rolled into one ...and the play dough into the carpet.

I took 3 boys to the movies to see Toy Story 3 (tho prey tell why must we be subjected to half an hour of unsolicited crappy trailers before the movie has even begun? They didn't even seem age appropriate. And we ran to get there in record time, trying not to be late, and had one kid fall over and eat concrete in the rush ...in time for said crappy trailers) It was schmaltzy and cliche but its pixar and it is good.

We had a vomit bug... eeeerr... yellow bile. Enough said.

The highlight of the holidays had to be visiting the local lock shop and seeing the vaults, safes, electric key pads and trying our hand (and ears) on the manual combination dials. There were also photos of safes after burglars had tried unsuccessfully to break into them with blow torches etc ...the boys were fascinated to no end.

Obviously there is always a lot of craft. Boxes strewn everywhere and sellotape galore. A house decked out like a mid winter christmas tree.

After watching Mary Poppins (we must be nearing the 100 mark) we thought of the hungry birds outside "tuppence for the birds" so we made birdie biscuit treats.

Chop stick perches poked in take away coffee cups,

match sticks tied with string to hold the mixture in muffin cups once it sets,

the unbearable smell of animal fat wafting through the house for too long afterwards.

The strategic positioning of treats within birds reach in the familiar old pear tree down the back of yard.

And the medals we made and awarded ourselves, for being funny people and tolerating each other, and for living in each others pockets as best we can, in a small house that by the end of the holidays began to feel as if it was closing in on us all.

Mine is the mother hen one, of course.

potatoes and lavender

Yesterday, the 3 year old and I decided that we wanted to sew some lavender bags as gifts -from fabric printed with potato stamps and hand cut stencils.

Instead of buying specific fabric to print on, I cut up an old linen shirt- which was about six sizes too big for me.

Linen takes on the fabric paints beautifully and the weave in it suits these forgiving, organic looking techniques.

I cut some really simple stencil shapes free hand from an old soy milk container with a X- acto knife and carved up the flat side of a potato cut in half.

We mixed up two different shades of blue fabric paint onto saucers and went for it in own own instinctive way to cover all the panels of the shirt.

I got engrossed in the repetition of the potato stamp.... paint, press, lift, paint, press, lift...

For the stencils, we used a proper stencil brush -which you use in a vertical dabbing motion to prevent any bleeding of the paint under the surface of the stencil.

After we had dried and heat set the paint with an iron, we cut out some 26x19cm rectangles, including a 1 cm seam allowance around 3 sides. We opted to include some of the shirt cuff for interest and folded them in half long ways with right sides together ready for sewing.

We also made some small strap loops- kinda like bias binding, so you can hang them in your wardrobe (lavender repels moths) and on door handles (great for freshening up a stuffy room). They were sewn into the bag, with the ends extending beyond the seam edge.

Once two sides were sewn, we turned them right side out and stuffed them full of lavender that we had harvested earlier in autumn, ironed the opening inwards and top stitched it shut.

The wee man loves getting to push the foot control peddle on the sewing machine. It's got to be the next best thing to driving a car.

Also, just so those of you with children don't get the wrong impression, this was done over two afternoons- the printing on one day and the sewing the next. It's important to have realistic expectations and outcomes, especially when you're crafting with kidlets!

Et voila!

The printing resource book. You can get it here or here

Nothing nicer than falling asleep with a hottie AND a lavender bag in your pillow (it will exert a soporific effect)

... MMmmm bliss

stan the man

This is what happens when you're naughty. At least this is what happened to Stan The Naughty Fimo Man. He got tossed into our diorama prison and was left lying in a bed too small beside a blocked toilet. Was it an crime of passion? A robbery or sorts? The word on the street is that, I quote "he stole our money and used all our water and smashed our car up and smashed up our house too"

This recent stint at model making was prompted by a visit to the historic Oxford jail. The boys got to see first hand what these formidable jails they have heard so much about really look like. I was reluctant to explain that now days they have access to t.v, sky, junk food, drugs and a higher education, just in case it started to sound appealing.

The Fimo modelling compound we used to make Stan's hands, feet and head out of, is like plasticine, except it sets hard when it's been baked in the oven for ten minutes. We put holes into them first so we could stitch them onto the rest of his body, which was made with some bits of scrap wool rolled up into tubes. We inserted wire into them to make them bendy.

You can read a bit more about Fimo here, we're awfully fond of it.

Crusket boxes are easy to come by round these parts, so we cut one up along with some corrugated cardboard and painted them with poster paints to make the jail. Matchsticks were used for the bars on the window with plenty of PVA as always. It was a pretty quick and crude set up that took a couple of hours tops.

I am happy to report that I am getting some good mileage from it though. The addition of police cars and a zoo full of animals are making for some pretty interesting dramas being played out.

Actually, considering how tired I'm feeling today, it looks like the perfect place to get some peace and quiet and clock up a whole lot of sleep. I think I'll rename our villain Lucky Luke, set him free and get myself into some serious trouble.