Summer happenings

Hi,
I have had some holidays from my day job, so for the last few weeks I have been working pretty much full time on my Etsy shop. I signed up for a market in January and I wanted to have lots of stock, so I started sewing rompers.

2015 is the year of working smarter, not harder, so I organised myself in advance to create a batch of 20 rompers.
First, I pulled out my collection of vintage sheets and fabrics, and added a few which were left over from various projects.

I cut out all the rompers on my ironing board, while watching "firefly". To avoid confusion, I immediately pinned a label on each one with its size and how many more could be made from that fabric.

Then I spent several hours overlocking all of the rompers and then ironing all of them.
Once that was done I started to work on one of them at a time. I sewed casings in matching thread, inserted elastic and finally added matching bias binding ties. I did all the red ones and then all the green ones, and so on in order to minimise time winding bobbins and changing thread etc.

As soon as each one was finished, I snapped a photo and listed it in my shop, www.bananaorangeapple.com This slowed things down a little bit, but in a good way, because people kept buying rompers online! If there was a whole sheet, then I listed a quantity of three or four and let the customer choose what size they wanted when they checked out. They are selling well, and so far have gone to Mexico, Canada, Norway, USA, as well as Australia. Someone from Spain bought one then came back later and bought a second one!  It makes me very happy thinking about my sewing ending up all around the world.

The pattern is from this Etsy shop, https://www.etsy.com/listing/157703815/pretty-baby-romper-pdf-sewing-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_9 but I altered it a bit to include elastic along the neckline and bias binding shoulder ties. It's really easy to sew and I highly recommend it.

I also made a few nappy covers, since I realise boys need clothes too! I am looking out for a good boy romper pattern to use in the future.

I also have plans afoot for a winter line of pinafores (or as they call them in the States - Jumpers) made from corduroy with cute appliques on the front and bright lining. It is lots of fun thinking up the appliques! I do intend to use the same streamlined sewing process to simplify things. I plan to use my new (to me) Elna press to put on the fusible web on the back of the appliques and avoid gumming up my iron. And I understand it's pretty cold over in North America so I hope I can get them in my shop soon.

So I set off today on a mission to find some more sheets to cut up, since the rompers are still in production and I will need lots of fabric to line the winter pinafores. I visited five op-shops around town, but sadly there were no suitable sheets. I did come across some lovely seersucker in gelati colours, and some gorgeous chunky purple corduroy. This did not photograph very well, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I also like to update my work wardrobe, so I found myself three skirts. They were more than I usually like to pay ($9 each!!!!) but I love them so much I had to have them. I took a photo for you, as well as a close up of the groovy fabrics.  There is one with big houses. I was so excited when I got it home I noticed the selvage had been left in a- and the fabric is the famous Marimekko brand from Finland. Whacka-doo!! It was made in Darwin by Raw Cloth, I tried to find their website but I think it's just a brand that sells at the markets up there. It'll look great with my red sandals.

There was also a lovely fine cotton with red and brown batik - the fabric is silky like lawn.
It has three tiers and the waist band is sewn directly onto elastic, so I think it is homemade.

Finally, an amazingly cute blue skirt with a map print showing streets, houses and trees. Bits of it are embroidered in aqua thread.

So here they are for your perusal, which one do you like the best? Leave a comment if you like

PS please ignore dopey facial expressions, and it is very humid here this afternoon which means my hair is fluffy...

Canberra Day

Hello everybody.
We had a great Canberra Day long weekend.
On Friday my daughter arrived home from Year Six camp. She was very weary but still wished to attend the kids' club run by the local church so off she went, straight off the bus.

 Here she is getting reacquainted with her pooches. The big dog was having a belly scratch. The little dog, ever hopeful, came and laid down beside her to wait his turn.

 I spent the evening practicing my newfound crochet skills. I have decided I should be able to crochet since there is absolutely no reason why I shouldn't. It's pretty much just like finger knitting but with a hook instead of a finger, and once when I was 12 or 13 I managed to finger knit with my friends Sally and Jo for something like a week solid so I have pretty much conquered that.



The next day the kid was up early for horse riding lessons. 
The Pickle rode a horse named Trenton, who was very well behaved.
 
We stopped in at the Salvos op shop in Weston Creek on our way back home. I bought some knitting needles and a pink and white striped cotton sheet, from the days when sheets were thick and long wearing. The stripes are about an inch wide. I contemplated starting a collection of handmade blue and white pottery mugs but I resisted the urge. I think I have enough collections for now.

While we were out, hubby was mowing the lawn and it really does look fantastic now.

For a special treat we went to a birthday lunch for my husband at his parent's house. I took my MIL a lovely bunch of roses from the rose bed and they really did look fantastic all bunched up together. I wish I'd taken a photo of them in the vase. 
Mother in Law had gone out of her way to prepare a lovely meal. The vegetarians in the crowd dined on felafel and haloumi cheese with assorted dips and salad. The three of us were almost falling asleep at the table so after cupcakes we made our excuses and went home.

The kid and I did about six loads of washing (after the camp there was a lot to wash). I made my hubby a special batch of brownies with dark chocolate and macadamias. I wandered around and dead headed the roses and weeded the driveway. Hubby seems to think my Etsy shop has been getting too much attention lately, so I had an Etsy free day. The pink rose is Pierre de Ronsard, by the way, and the sunflowers grew from birdseed.

On Sunday we managed to sleep in. Then we went to see 'Oz the Great and Powerful'. 
We quite enjoyed this movie. I liked the way it started in black and white in Kansas, just like the original film did. The film is a prequel to the Judy Garland version, and explains how the Wizard ends up in Oz. And of course, as everyone knows, he is not a real wizard so that is all part of the story too. I really liked the scenery in the film.

 In the afternoon I spent a few hours cutting out squares for rainbow dresses. All up I needed something like 612 squares, since I am working on three dresses for my shop. I was doing pretty well but I needed more purple.

On Monday we did not have to go to school/work. Canberra had a public holiday on account of the city's birthday. This time it was a super special birthday since Canberra turned 100.
You might think I was in the midst of the festivities held by Lake Burley Griffin, partaking in centenary delights.
Well, you'd be wrong because I hightailed it out to Queanbeyan in New South Wales where it was business as usual and all the shops were open, including the oppies. I am so used to turning left onto the main road to get to work that I turned left without thinking and then quickly realised I needed to go back the other way!
I told my husband before I left that I'd be home in time to cook his lunch, which turned out to be over optimistic.

On the way to Queanbeyan I drove past a dead fox sitting on a swing in a tree. I tried to take a photo but it did not do this macabre sight justice. One day I will jump the fence and get a close up. This same tree previously had a dead fox nailed to the trunk by its feet, as if it was running up for some reason. Weird. Farmers sometimes put dead dingoes on the fence to warn the other dingoes to keep away - but foxes are not that smart. Anyway they are certainly better off dead. Foxes are no friend to the farmer or to the native animals.
 
the fox is holding on to the rope with its paws somehow. Superglue?


First stop in Queanbeyan was St Vinnies. I found a Dick Bruna book, "I Can Count". I collect Dick Bruna books so I was very happy with this find. "I Can Count" was turned into a frieze, which I also have. 

 

I also found two Ladybird books and a Finn Family Moomintroll book. Tove Jansson is one of my favourite authors. I also collect Ladybird books but only if they are older than me.














how cute are the Moomins?

In the pattern department I found two 70s skirt patterns, one a wrap around and the other pretty circle skirt. I seem to have plenty of skirt patterns already but I just can't seem to resist bringing them home. The wrap skirt from 1977 says "Go Everywhere" on the front - I like the sound of that. 
Weren't the 70s great? You can do anything you want, so long as you have the right skirt.

The Anglicare shop was having a half price sale, but there was not really anything I needed. I did buy a pink crochet doily though, to use as sleeves on a dress or as an embellishment.

I crossed over to the Riverside Plaza where I bought two more crochet hooks from the Lions club craft shop. This is a really nice place to buy baby booties if you ever need them.

I fuelled up with a chiller drink from Gloria Jeans as it was too hot for a real coffee, and then continued to the Salvos where I bought something but I forget what it was. 

Now the main reason for this jaunt was to source fabric for my rainbow dresses and having not turned up anything suitable I was forced to visit Spotlight, our local cheap and cheerful fabric and craft store. Lucky for me they were having a 30% off store wide sale. Unlucky for husband there were enormous queues and there was no chance I was going to be home in time to cook his lunch! I bought the minimum cut of quite a few purple fabrics and a new blade for the rotary cutter.

Next destination was the hardware shop, Magnet Mart. They have a special deal, 10 tube stock plants for $20, and I was hoping to find ten camellias. $2 each is a very nice price for camellias. Sadly there was no camellia tube stock so I bought two of the smallest plants, and two Chinese elm trees and a purple hydrangea. I must have had purple on the brain because I did not set out to buy a purple hydrangea, it just kind of leapt into my trolley!

I had to visit the supermarket on the way home which added more time to the trip but meant I arrived home with more than just fabric and plants.

When I got home I planted the camellias and the hydrangea and then washed the new purple fabric. The Chinese elms are biding their time and I will plant them in the winter when they are dormant. None of the humans in the house appeared to have missed me while I was gone - the kid was snoozing in her room and the husband was killing zombies on his computer.

It being such a hot day the fabric dried in no time and I spent the evening watching an old fashioned movie, "the Ghost and Mr Chicken" while I cut it all up into hundreds of squares.

This must be a good week for op-shopping because DD and I ventured out to the Tuggeranong Vinnies after school today and found that a quilter had recently destashed her fabric collection. All of the selections were half or full yards, no skimpy odd shaped bits this time. 
I picked out some cute "calicoes" including one with little ducks. I plan to use these for appliques, I was envisioning an owl or a flower on one of my corduroy dresses, just to bump up the cuteness factor. I also found about two metres of blue and white striped seersucker which is my favourite fabric for sunfrocks. 
This fabric (right) has vintage advertisements.
I also tried to buy DD a copy of "Freaky Friday", a book where a teenager swaps bodies with her mother. I told DD that the girl in the story realises how hard her mother works and soon wishes she was a girl again. I was hoping DD would take this message to heart, but she somehow put the book down in the shop somewhere so that when we went to the counter it did not get purchased. Oh well, maybe some other little girl is reading it tonight and learning to be nice to her mother.

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

Shop news:
The charity sale for Pegasus is still going on, if you'd like to check out the collection of items for sale please head over to this treasury.

 Here is a cute little dress which I made just in time for St Patrick's Day. (you can click on the first picture to go through to the listing)
I am intending to make better use of my corduroy stash and sew some little overalls and pinafores in coming months. 

Isn't this pattern just the cutest? Overalls will be in store soon (I hope).


Thanks for reading my blog.

Goulburn, City of Junk (and Lilacs)

Yesterday my sister and I took a trip to Goulburn
We wanted to visit the junk stores and op shops. My sister is a  swing dancer with a passion for vintage clothes, and I am always on the lookout for new fabric to make into dresses for my shop. I also thought I'd try and find a knick knack shelf or a shadow box, as I have nowhere to display my little treasures. Mary was after a wooden ladder to display in her living room.

We started the day with a coffee at Civic and left town just after 9am.
I had previously downloaded a brochure from the tourism centre giving opening hours for the shops, and my sister was tasked with directing us to them all. Here's a link to the website if you need it http://www.igoulburn.com/Attractions/Antiques-Art-Books-Collectables-2nd-Hand-Shops.aspx



Our first stop was an unplanned visit to the Big Merino, where there is also a petrol station.
Goulburn is Australia's first inland city, founded when the settlers in Sydney needed more room for grazing sheep. The beautiful old buildings in town date from an age when Australia rode to prosperity on the sheep's back. It is famous for roses, and lilacs, and it is also my sister's birthplace.


We stopped in at the cathedral to collect an order form for the St Saviour's rose, due to be released for the 150th anniversary of the diocese. I couldn't find a picture of this rose on the net, but it has been developed by Swane's and is a lovely 'bishopy' magenta pink. The rose festival is held in Goulburn each March, and I have heard it is a fun filled event so I might go this year. http://www.goulburnrosefestival.org.au/






Next stop: Tony's.
Tony's is a very neat and tidy junk shop. No dust in evidence. A very helpful lady directed me to the sewing supplies and I picked up about 20 metres of assorted bias binding for a few dollars, as well as some patterns and a jazzy blue sheet. I was suddenly seized with a strange desire to own a telephone table - and I kept seeing ones I really liked but I held off because really I don't actually need one.

We also stopped in at the Vinnies next door but found it was mainly furniture and some old men waiting for pies.

We drove round the corner to the aptly named Big Heart Mission Australia op shop. I found some more patterns here and a skirt. At the counter when I went to pay the shop keeper offered to show me some fabric she had seen out the back, so we went through the "staff only" door and had a sticky beak. I bought two metres of this lovely pink quilting fabric, as well as this awesome brown/green/pink elderflower fabric with an art deco feel. I am going to fashion a blouse out of this one. I also picked up a big roll of sew in interfacing, which I plan to use to trace my patterns onto. I am overrun at the moment with a pile of printed off PDF patterns that are unable to be ironed due to sticky tape, so this should really help. The shop lady was very funny and helpful and tried to give me things for free but I insisted on paying her.
















We moved on to the main street and I visited two fabric stores in a quest to buy some twill tape to make into labels for my dresses. (My custom made shop stamps arrived from Japan this week). Luckily the sewing stores were just across the road from each other. I also picked up some ric-rac which always comes in handy. We stopped in to the Salvos store, where we found some really old patterns and my sister bought a kookaburra milk jug with a crack in its beak. It is the sort which has a hole in the beak for the milk to come out of and only cost her 50 cents. I also bought some lace for trimming dresses.

At this stage we were feeling a bit peckish so we stopped at the Bryant's bakery for a snack. (the Paragon, at right, was too crowded and pricey for us)





Vinnies was next, in the arcade nearby. Here we purchased some navy check wool crepe, some 80s fabric featuring postcards, and some more old patterns and cute little reels of Sylko thread. We walked up the street to the Red Cross op shop, but this one was over priced and did not have a haberdashery department so we left empty handed. I had two parcels to post so we visited the historic post office and mailed them off to the USA.















We stopped in at Belmore Park and enjoyed the peaceful surrounds. 

It was here that Mary spotted a shop which was not on our list, The Little Junk Shop located near the Soldiers Club. This was a very sweet little shop but I got a bit confused as it sold a mixture of old stuff and new knick knacks all mixed in together.



It was time to leave the main street and head off in search of more junk stores, so off we went. We stopped at Trish's Trash and Treasure, but it proved more trash than treasure. It was not nearly as clean as Tony's but everything was double the price, and all the prices had been written on with a texta which made things look a bit nasty. Just down the road was the Old Wares Shop (on the right) but there wasn't much of interest in there.
I did like the free stuff parked outside the door, and we thought it was funny that they were giving away the same sort of junk that Trish was charging through the nose for down the street. I really liked the pepper trees in the middle of the street so I took a photo of those. I have two of these in pots, waiting for the right place to plant them.
 





The last shop on our list was The Argyle Book Emporium, located in the old Police station just behind the Court House near the station. There were books, books and more books. The proprietor asked what I was looking for and I said "Sewing books please" so he led me down a corridor and into a cell. Yes, the hobby books on cooking, craft and gardening were all in a cell. Meanwhile Mary went off to find the records and she was happy to find some lovely old favourites.

   

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We decided to take the scenic route home, and headed off to Braidwood via Lake Bathurst and Tarago.
































































                                                           ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂


Braidwood is a lovely little heritage town where all the buildings in the main street have verandahs. It's on the way to the coast.
Mary really wanted to go that way so she could visit HoolaHoop 50s style clothing store and milk bar.



We stopped in at a very expensive antique store in Braidwood, selling all sorts of Danish high faluting designer furniture. Way out of our league unfortunately.

















But all was not lost as there was a Vinnies nearby. I picked up a white summer top with lace and birdies, Mary bought an old fashioned cotton lace petticoat and up the back we found "The Linen Cave" - a whole section dedicated to sheets etc. I bought a baby cot sheet and some more patterns, as well as a Cornelia Funke book for my daughter.



We had a snack at the milk bar (which was not anything like I expected a milk bar to look, taste or feel like) and found an eatery where we wished we'd eaten at instead called "Pay Dirt".   








Then we headed off into the sunset back to Canberra. Overall it was a very enjoyable day out, driving through the countryside with my sister to chat with was pleasurable enough on its own and then there was all that lovely op-shopping. If you count the antique stores and sewing shops we visited fourteen all up.

 
                             
It was very smoky around my place when I got home :( But just because the wind changed and blew it in from the South where fires are still burning in the bush.





























                                ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

In shop news, I sold the lovely New Year's Day dress featured in my last blog post to a customer in the UK, and made another one which I called 'the Blue Rose dress'. This one is modelled by my reluctant daughter. (she's pulling a face which says you can make me smile Mum but you can't make me look like I mean it)

I hope it finds a happier little girl to wear it soon.

                                                                   ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

Following are some more photos of the lovely town of Braidwood as well as some of the goodies I bought.