Busselton Sewing Retreat part 3 - more pics, less words

Here is my splice skirt as promised yesterday.  Pics are slightly better although on choosing and editing I remembered how much I hate taking photos of myself.  Never mind, it's the skirt you're looking at ...

And here are some more pics of my weekend away I found whilst perusing my photo file.  Some of my favourite images ...

 

A walk along Busselton Beach with some of the sewing ladies ...

 

 

 

True blue - the start of the 1.5 km long Busselton jetty

 

 

I like this because it's so pointy ... and marked our halfway mark along the jetty ...

 

 



A touch of olde world charm in our accommodation



One of the ladies made a cool beach coat from an old bedspread - upcycling at its best

 

 

The reason for our retreat - another look at the rack of creations - look what we made!

It's short and sweet on words and thoughts today - it's the first day of the new school year here in WA, and I think I left school this morning feeling more traumatised than the Little Man did.  Time for a rest.

Busselton Sewing Retreat Part 2 - Look what I made ...

I can't quite decide which skirt to wear today ...

I will have to save my favourite splice skirt for the next post - the picture was terrible, but I've decided to stay with the ones I'm posting today just because I can.  Apologies for the picture quality :)  It took me ages to get the poses right, those blasted shoes are heading to the op shop - they look all right in the pics, but my feet felt like they'd been tortured for half an hour. 

Anyhoo, here are my creations ...

I made the 'Change of Heart' skirt for the first time (pattern available just follow the link).  And I love, love, love it, so it won't be the last ...  such a clever idea ...

Also quite chuffed that an old sheet could make such a smart skirt - getting in the mood for recycling ... there's a much better pic of it, and more goings-on at the retreat on Jody's blog.  Go take a look, you know you want to!

Part of the retreat was to shop around the op shops in Busselton to find little treasures we could upcycle, and I found this lovely denim skirt which had been handmade by somebody else.  It had no sizing label but I bought it anyway hoping it would fit, and it did - perfectly :)   I'd also bought a quilt cover for $4 which I decided to make into some kick pleats to add a bit of movement to my skirt.

My skirt before unpicking the 4 seams

Took me ages to get the right pic so I'm sticking with it!

Kick pleat detail - my new machine has some lovely decorative stitches

The quilt cover is lovely and soft after multiple washings, so I'm going to use it to make a sleeveless summer dress - more on that as it happens.

It's amazing what can be found in the old op shop, and even more amazing how much inspiration you can get from sharing time with like-minded people.  Great fun :)

My Creative Space: Creative Catch-up

It's a bit of a creative catch up tonight - something I'm working on right now and some recently finished creations ...

The lovely hat I made for HB's recent trip to Japan where it's winter. Somewhat kooky but very, very cute - the little deer hat by Tiny Owl Knits.

Antler and ear detail

 
I also made some gloves for her first time in the snow since she was 2 (awwww ....)  They were supposed to be knitted on circular needles which I had mislaid, so had to slightly alter the pattern to make it work on straight needles.  Of course I found the circular needles on completion,  grrrrrr ....  The pattern is from Mollie Makes magazine.

 

And here's a rack of gorgeous creations from the sewing retreat - I did tell you I went on a sewing retreat didn't I?????  :)

And currently I'm working on this gorgeous little dolly quilt for my niece.  I love the glittery felt I used for the teddy.  I'll show you the finished article very soon I hope.  The pattern is from 'Pretty in Patchwork - Doll Quilts' by Cathy Gaubert for those of you who'd like to have a go yourselves.

Have you noticed how Lego finds its way into lots of my pics?  Bless the Little Man and his obsessions. xx

What have you been creating?   For some creative inspiration head over here ...

Busselton Sewing Retreat part 1 - Musings

I've just returned from my first ever retreat - something I've dreamed of doing ever since I was a teenager (so a long time ago ...)   It was actually a sewing retreat, which made it extra special, shared with 7 other lovely ladies, organized by the very talented Jody Pearl.  I will be sharing the garments I made in another post, today is time for musings ...

A retreat by the sea ...

Firstly, I drove all the way to Busselton and back without getting stressed or anxious.  A huge thing for me - having something I really wanted helped with the motivation and overcame the anxiety.

Secondly, I met some lovely, lovely people and shared stories and inspiration.   I felt safe and comfortable in the group, which brought me great joy as, having been to a girls school where I was bullied on a daily basis I've been left with a hangup of feeling vulnerable within a group of women.  I think this weekend cured that discomfort!



An early morning walk with some of the group

Finally, creativity and inspiration were brought to the fore, which always makes me happy and makes me feel whole :)

The weekend was more than sewing ... that's the deep and meaningful stuff I've shared, tomorrow it's the pics of the things I made.  xxx

Hobbits and a look back in time ...

It's been a doing day despite the awful humidity and heat - which as you know is absolutely not my favourite thing :)    So if this was simply a diary entry I'd tell you about our trip into Midland to get Big B his learner's permit, followed by a trip to the pictures to see the first instalment of 'The Hobbit'.  We all thought it was brilliant - at times Little Man was quite literally sitting on the edge of his seat with excitement.  And 'happiness' says Little Man who is sitting by me as I write this.

My first splice skirt - the first of many ...

But I wanted to write about something creative too, so looked through my pics to find something I haven't written about yet, and I found it!  In fact this write up is long overdue.  This is my splice skirt, which I made when I attended a splice skirt workshop last year, with the very talented Jody Pearl.  You can visit her website here to see more splice skirt pictures, have a look at her online shop where you can buy the pattern and get inspiration for upcycling projects.   You can also sign up for workshops here, look at the sidebar on the right hand side :)  It's a great place to lose yourself in crafty goodness.  And as for me, I am addicted to making splice skirts; I now have 3 but have many more combinations of fabric in my stash that will one day become wearable works of art.  And even more exciting I only have 9 days to go before I go on a sewing retreat (heavenly) with Jody and a small group of ladies to learn more about upcycling (re-inventing) opp shop treasures.  And I will remember to blog in good time for that one!

My splice skirt in pastel effect - still good looking!

Harvest

At the start of a new year it's natural to think of new beginnings, but today I've been thinking about the harvest, coming to fruition as I dug up my baby potatoes.  Little Man washed them excitedly and we had them for our tea and they were indeed very yummy.  (Homegrown always does taste better).


But, I planted 4 seed potaoes and yielded about 12 new ones - 3 potatoes per seed.  I could have improved my harvest considerably if I'd tended to them more carefully and watered them more - and it's the same with your dreams and your creativity - keep tending them with inspiration and practise and you'll yield more.  A little is good, but put in more care and effort and love and the yield will be magnificent - that's going to be my mantra for 2013!  :)

Here's wishing you all an amazing 2013 :)

... I'm back.  The last part of 2012 was a wee bit challenging for me, and as days drifted into weeks of not blogging, it seemed right to me to make a new start at the start of the New Year.  So today I am setting my intention of blogging regularly again, and I hope you'll join me for all my new adventures that lay ahead.

For now, I'm happy to concentrate on getting my daughter ready for her trip to Japan, which currently entails knitting 2 little stag woolly hats and a pair of owl gloves.  It's winter in Japan and after this week's heatwave, I'm sure it will be a welcome relief to HB who's been battling with the constant, unrelenting temps of 39 degrees and above.

So there you go, a lovely slow start to 2013; wonder what the year ahead will bring?