Handmade by Carolyn

Chapel cushion, specimen 1

23/11/2009 5:35 am \ Leave a Comment \ Carolyn

My daughter’s (now ex-)school has a wonderful tapestry cushion project going, whereby people can embroider a tapestry cushion to donate to the chapel on behalf of someone of their choice. Most people chose to donate on behalf of their daughters at the school, but I did one each for my two sons as well as this one for my daughter, for fairness as the boys’ school doesn’t do stuff like that. People’s cushions were sometimes a multi-generational affair, with grandmothers, mothers and daughters all contributing to the embroidery of their cushion. A number of different designs are available and the aim is for no two cushions to be alike but all matching with similar borders in a few colourways and for each design to have some biblical significance (they are chapel cushions after all). They are used in the chapel for special occasions, and there is a lovely book with photographs of each one and a brief summary of its maker/s as well as its dedicatee (not sure if that’s a word…)
Anyhoo, this is the first cushion I did, for my daughter. I chose this design because I liked the colours of soft pinks, terracottas and greens, as well as the palm leaf design.
Cushion, specimen 2, to be featured tomorrow, and 3 the day after…

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Tapestry

Ghost Paw

22/11/2009 3:17 am \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

Yesterday at the nursery we bought three of these new kangaroo paws, the colours of which I think are absolutely stunning. The stems are dark purple and the paws at the top are sage green. So unusual. We are pulling out a bed of roses that have never performed all that well and replacing them with these and a few other native plants. But while they are still in their pots I decided to use them in today’s photo shoot.
I made this outfit for last summer and wore it a lot then; the top is McCalls 4454 view C and the skirt is Vogue 7880 view B. The straps and edging on the top are a lovely thin natural coloured crochet border with black velvet ribbon woven through, some of the latter I used to make a little bow on the bodice also. The bottom edge of the top and all the edges on the skirt are finished with a black rolled hem done on the overlocker. The fabric is a self embroidered soft sage green. The days are warming up but this purple Metalicus cardigan is thin enough to wear on a mild day like today.
After a bit of gardening we plan to visit my brother for his birthday ( and photograph my sister-in-law’s tea cosy!)

Other details:
Cardigan; Metalicus
Thongs (flipflops); bought in some little shop in South Africa

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fabulous fabrics, McCalls 4454, skirt, top, Vogue 7880

Strings of pebbles, washed smooth and soft…

21/11/2009 4:15 am \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

This is a necklace I made a few years ago at the height of my beading phase. I loved these uneven lumpy beads that remind me of ocean-smoothed pebbles on a European beach in that particularly gorgeous mix of smoky purple, grey and muted rose that they have up there.
This necklace was carefully planned down to the placement of each and every bead and the random-looking twists and knots are the result of intricate and precision placement … ha ha ha, not really … It looks jumble-y and spontaneous because that’s pretty much how it was made! The only planning was to string small lengths of the small beads interspersed with either two or three medium beads and an occasional large thrown in. The necklace was twisted, knotted and fitted to Bessie (the dressmaker’s dummy and sometime model) before separating the strands into “neck-sized” lengths, tied off, and a lobster claw and jump-ring knotted to the ends.
Today a busy day in the garden is planned and probably another trip to the nursery, maybe some afternoon tea with my husband somewhere? Hope so.

Other details:
Skirt; Desire, op shop
Cardigan and camisole; Country Road

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: accessories, beading, own design

We will fight them in the sewing rooms…

20/11/2009 8:29 am \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

When I saw this happy sunny cotton print at Fabulous fabrics last year I had to make something out of it immediately. I love the bright bright colours of this fabric and the sort of vaguely exotic ethnic print on it, a mix of paisleys, florals and medallions all overprinted and shadowed on each other. I made the skirt from Vogue 7880, view C, a pattern I’ve used quite a lot as I like all the random overlays. This is the longest version, the one my daughter complains about when she sees me making it up (“why do you always make skirts too long, Mum?!”) On this particular pattern I’ve usually finished the edges with a rolled hem on the overlocker, and it was making this skirt that I discovered a golden rule of overlocking; always use overlocking thread on the overlocker. For this project I was using a mix of leftover threads in various colours, some overlocker threads, some ordinary sewing machine thread, and boy, did my overlocker chuck a major hissy fit. I got so frustrated with it unthreading itself, thread breaking etc I was ready to heave it straight in the bin. However I managed to breathe deep and regain a zen-like calm (ha!) and eventually got it finished. And by “eventually”, I really mean “eventually”. Like hours later. Yes! I am master of my overlocker. This skirt is the spoils of a war with my overlocker that I WON and my overlocker now knows to submit to me. Yeah, right…
Had a very pleasant day today (except that I’m now facing office work); visited a nursery with my friend E, then spent some time with my sister-in-law, before running a few errands. Looking forward to the weekend!

Other details:
T-shirt; Country Road
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs
Cardigan; Nine, bought at Labels
Pendant; bead from Gypsy Bead

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fabulous fabrics, skirt, Vogue 7880

Tea Cosy, specimen 2

19/11/2009 3:22 am \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn

Here is my friend D’s tea cosy. Looking back I think it was the first Roly Poly one I made out of “Wild Tea Cosies” by Loani Prior, the first of many (future posts to feature subsequent examples) Her birthday was back close to Easter time, so it seemed fitting at the time that her tea cosy looked a bit like a little basket of Easter Eggs in pretty pastel colours. It was photographed on her outdoor table with her tablecloth and china (and we had a cup of tea after). Unfortunately I didn’t realise when taking the picture that the cosy’s mauve underskirt had rolled up underneath and so is not visible here.
Tea cosies seem to be such old-fashioned concept, that is experiencing an inexplicable resurgence in popularity and “coolness”. People are currently knitting the most funky and glorious tea cosies imaginable.
The wool for this tea cosy came from all various sources; the green from Calico and Ivy (I’m currently knitting a jumper from the same), the pink and mauve from the now sadly defunct Cottonfields, and the blue I bought in Paris from Anny Blatt, a truly adorable wool store. The grey is leftover from A’s tea cosy.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Knitted, tea cosy, wild tea cosies

Romance in an everyday basic

18/11/2009 6:03 am \ Leave a Comment \ Carolyn

Today the sky is white white white, and the wind is swirling and billowing about in the trees every which way. So naturally I feel compelled to wear a white lacy top and to try to curl my hair. Seems a bit random? well I can see the connection anyhow. Just seemed fitting. Wuthering Heights, again? Although me curling my hair is asking for trouble. I could hardly brush it after. Serves me right for dreaming up yet another way of procrastinating on all the work I need to do… As it turned out the sun popped out from behind a cloud just long enough for me to get a sunny picture…
The top I’m wearing today is an oldie. It was made from quilting cotton with crocheted lace strips inserted in the front and back. I used this pattern New Look 6483, with a few variations obviously. In my usual fashion, once a basic pattern has proved itself in terms of fit I then feel compelled to improvise with each use. I was trying to copy a top seen in a Vogue magazine, for which I’ve just hunted unsuccessfully and I can’t remember the designer I’m afraid. My version has been a very useful top; reasonably pretty, loose enough for warm weather and very comfortable for casual days.
This New Look pattern is an excellent basic pattern with no frills. It is a simple matter to add interest with a few minor variations. In this case I squared the neckline, altered the sleeves by puffing them up, inserted horizontal and vertical crochet strips on front and back, added a few pin-tucks, made a front bottom panel longer and gathered it to fit, added border crochet strips… Well quite a few variations, but I was just playing with it at the time and the end result seems to be a keeper in my wardrobe as it has resisted every seasonal purge. Admittedly white/off-white lace is rarely tossed out by me as I’m strangely drawn to it. The whole aura of nostalgia and romance as represented in late Victorian era photographs and illustrations has such timeless appeal, no?

Other details:
Jeans, Development

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: New Look 6483, own design, Spotlight, top

“Not too crafty” It bag

17/11/2009 6:40 am \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn

Here is another knitted project, a bag that was knitted free-form with no pattern. After casting on I just randomly did a few cables and whatnot and literally knitted until the wool ran out. I popped a vinyl “bag” of the same size (made from padded table protector vinyl sold off a huge roll) inside for strength, and then lined with a blue and white print cotton on the inside of that. The gold chain is attached firmly to the vinyl inner bag so that the bag can take a reasonably heavy weight without sagging unattractively. Closure is by a magnetic snap, and the old diamante brooch is just pinned on the outside flap for looks. I’ve hardly ever used this bag, but after the lovely compliments I got today perhaps I should use it more often. Main problem; you can’t carry an awful lot in it just because of the small size. It’s really just an elegant day bag for a few essentials. (I forgot to put in a pen and had to borrow one; great secretary, huh?)

I wound up my secretarial duties today for the school Auxiliary and handed over my files and notes to next year’s secretary; as my daughter has finished school I will no longer be doing this job. The end of an era, still can’t really comprehend it, I guess it hasn’t really sunk in. I’ve made some great friends through that school so I’ll keep on seeing those friends I’ve made, hopefully. I can’t deny it was a relief to hand over the “secretary” bag, though! We had a lovely lunch after our meeting and I’m now sitting at my desk trying to recall what we discussed at the AGM for the minutes. Post champagne, this could be a problem…

Other details:
Diamante brooch; bought about 20 yrs ago from secondhand store at Fremantle Markets
Top; Tutte, from Mid 70’s, gift from my parents
Camisole; Country Road
Skirt; Rodney Clark; op shop
Sandals; Marco Santini, from Marie Claire

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: accessories, Knitted, own design, Spotlight

Pants the colour of bruised clouds

16/11/2009 5:38 am \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn

I just finished these pants recently and absolutely love this pattern, Burda 7944. They fit like a dream and went together quickly and easily. I love the wide legged “menswear” look in pants and these really fit the bill. Especially love the cuff at the bottom. I’m planning to make these up again this summer, so no need to draft that pattern from my favourite jeans again! The fabric from Fabulous Fabrics is sort of a gunmetal blue/grey linen, but in some lights it looks purple, sometimes almost brown. Love it.
Last Friday my daughter and I visited the op shop and the rest of my outfit is my finds on that day. The shoes I posted about last Saturday. Still can’t believe my good fortune in finding them. I washed the two tops over the weekend; I’m sure most people wash their clothes before sending off to the Good Sammy’s but can’t always be sure of that so I always launder them myself before wearing just in case.
My daughter expressed guilt that we were shopping there, and that we were “taking the best stuff”. The thing is; there is always so much stuff at the op shop. So much. I feel that even though we aren’t charity cases that any reduction in the amount of stock in the stores would be welcomed by the staff. Also, I donate quite a lot to Good Sammy’s as well as buying off them, so feel like I’m a pretty good customer.
I like the colour combination in my outfit today; makes me think of the colours of my bougainvillea seen against the heavy bruised clouds of a stormy sky, much like what I saw when I looked out the window this morning. I must be very susceptible to my surroundings as I so often take inspiration from them, when dressing myself as well as when planning my next creative output.
Saw my friends this morning and trying not to let myself get upset about something tactless one of them said, probably without ill intent. Visited Spotlight on the way home and by way of compensation I bought some beads to make myself a few new necklaces. Also arranged with D to visit her house and photograph her tea cosy this afternoon, after my office duties.