To a crafty 2012!

I hope you all had a peaceful Christmas and wish you a crafty 2012! My first goal for 2012 is to make more time for my crafts this year. That includes blogging about it!

A New Year means new things so my plan is to revamp things around here a bit and then to blog more regularly - even if I don't make anything...I certainly am adding to the stash regularly, so I will have something to share!

We spent a few days in the southern Drakensberg area in KwaZulu Natal, near a pretty town called Nottingham Road. The weather did not support much else than trout or bass fishing though. We were home to spent Xmas with the family and then left again on Boxing Day for Mosselbay. We spent a glorious 10 days there with friends. My DH and youngest son did some scary stuff like bungy jumping off the Bloukrans Bridge (that is a 216m drop!) and scuba diving (in a cage of some sort) with great white sharks! I decided to join the shark diving expedition at the last moment, but it was fully booked. Bummer.

I spent lots of time doing girly things like getting my hair done, having tea with the girls at a charming tea garden, and lots of shopping of course. Then one day, my friend dropped me off at this crappy shopping mall and I made the biggest fabric find EVER at a small little shop inside! I will share some pictures in my next post, if I survive the spring cleaning faze at my house!

I cannot wait to share what I found in Mosselbay. Let me go find my camera...

The last month I...

I am really embarrassed that another month went past and I did not blog. So, I will give a quick update on what I did the last month. I was in London for a quick visit the last week of July. Sadly, there was no time for any shopping, but I am going back in November and will make sure I shop then!

Oh, and Arthur Bales had a SALE the week I was away in London. Bah!

This is what I bought when I got back. Some lovely lilac and pink fine corduroy for bags and a small piece of Valori Wells' "Nest - Ol' Paisley" corduroy fabric. I have this earmarked for a jacket, but need to go get some more fabric first. I also bought some gorgeous Indie yarn by Sirdar.

After I bought this Sirdar Indie pattern book at Arthur Bales, I had to get some of this gorgeous yarn too! Look at some of the awesome patterns in this booklet below.

This cardigan is knitted in Indie # 157 Crazy Horse. Although I am not planning to knot this cardigan, I am planning to make something else in the booklet with this stunning yarn.

This beautiful shade is called Indie # 155 Prairie. The combination of brown, green and blue is simply stunning!

I have been rather lazy in my sewing room...lots of inspiration, but no real will to do anything. In my next post I will share some of the inspiration I am talking about....

Been busy!

Busy shopping on the internet! I placed 4 seperate orders online for stretch knit fabric in the last month. This after I returned from the US with lots of nice fabric..tsk tsk. Bad. Anyway, the first parcel arrived on Saturday from an Etsy shop called Cotton Blossom farm.

I ordered 4 yards of this lovely fabric from the new knit range by Patty Young for Michael Miller. It is stunning! The whole weekend I have been thinking what I want to make with it. This made me go through my patterns and then search the Internet for new inspiration.

Are you familiar with the Interweave Stitch magazine? Just love it! Rather expensive at $15, but worth it. It only launched in 2009 and is published 4 times a year, but has great ideas and free patterns in. The new Winter/Spring 2010 issue is out now and on it's way to me! Did you also know that Interweave publish some of the patterns in this magazine FREE on their website? If you go here http://www.quiltingdaily.com/blogs/stitchissues/archive/2010/12/16/stitch-winter-spring-2011.aspx you will see what is in this latest issue and you can access the 62 free projects and full size patterns.

The free patterns in the latest issue include several cute skirts, a Kimono Wrap Top and my favorite, the easy-fit babydoll dress, picture above. Nice isn't it? The sewing instructions are only available in the magazine, but if you can sew, you can make it without instructions. I also found some great free patterns on http://www.burdastyle.com.

I had a very busy weekend starting with a romantic dinner with DH on Friday night (no kids!), my first horseriding lesson on Saturday at local stables (really awesome!) and ending today with lunch at a country restaurant about an hour out of Joburg next to the Vaal river. Here my cousin and I are posing next to the river, which is flowing strongly after all the rain we had recently.

Lots of ideas, new patterns, new fabric (some still coming), and things lying on the cutting table in my sewing room. Wish I had more time! Hope you all have an awesome week!

2011 so far...

(Love this sign, from Hobby Lobby.)

Hard to believe it is already February! A (very) late Happy New Year to all my blog friends! Life has been hectic the last 2 months. A lovely holiday at a Game Farm in Limpopo Province where we spent Xmas, followed by New Year at home and on 6 January 2011 off to a very cold, and snowy, Chicago.

As always, the shopping was fabulous in Chicago. I braved the snow and wind with my only-used-once-before duck down coat, gloves and the most adorable earmuffs, my friend Juanita and I did a marathon shopping expedition for 12 hours straight!

We visited old favorites such as Knitche, Hobby Lobby and Jo-Ann's. Here are some stretch knit fabrics I bought from Jo-Ann and Hobby Lobby.

I have already made a few things with these fabrics and will share pics soon. I also bought some stunning yarn. I bought so much that I had to fill a seperate bag, send some home with Fedex and stash some in a colleagues bag! I found some awesome super bulky yarn, the burnt orange felting yarn I have always wanted and some super Red Heart Super Savers at only $2,79 for over 300m!

I found this stunning cerise pink cover for my Kindle on Amazon.com.

What makes this cover awesome is the built-in light. Now I can read in bed every night!

At Barnes & Noble I found Amy's new book (and had hot chocolate at the Starbucks inside). Some stunning bag designs a la Amy inside, just waiting to be tried. More about the shopping I did in Chicago in my next blog post.

I have a few store-bought tops in my closet based on this pattern. Despite searching the Internet for weeks, I am unable to find this pattern. So I made my own. I used pieces of other patterns and improvised, tested, until I had a winner. This is the first top from my own pattern that meets my full approval. Fits like a dream.

What's on my sewing table right now? Crappy pic but this is a skirt I cut from stretch knit fabric in lime green with black polka dots. I bought it this morning from a local fabric shop. I also have several tops cut out and ready to sew.

I joined Facebook a week ago. Very addictive! Have a awesome week!

Crafty Stuff

I wanted to share a more recent picture of our little baby, Jessie. With lots of love (and don't forget spending quite a bit at the Vet!) she has grown tremendously the last few weeks. I remember weighing her at the Vet a month ago and we were so pleased that she had gained 200g, weighing 2kg then! Last night we weighed her on the bathroom scale and she is a whopping 8kg!I could not resist taking this picture! This is a first, Jessie sleeping on my cane chair in my sewing room. She was very affectionate last night, just wanting to cuddle up to me, so I put her on my chair for a snooze. Adorable. She looks like a rabbit at the moment when she runs - she is all long legs and ears!

This lovely surprize arrived in my post box yesterday! Thank you so much Karol-Ann! My lovely blog friend from the UK sent me a whole bunch of knitted and crocheted bag patterns from her old magazines. This top picture is my favorite. It uses the Rowan Biggy Print yarn and as you know, I am into the super-chunky yarn phase now.

I know, I know, I have enough stash to open my own shop, but I saw this lovely bag pattern on http://www.craftpassion.com/. This drawstring bag is made from paper raffia and I happened to see some at The Crazy Store yesterday at a very good price and decided to try it. I started on the bag last night, but changed the pattern. Raffia is not easy to crochet! Maybe it's the type I bought, not sure. It looks really nice though.

I first went to Fiona's Fabrics in Randburg looking for Raffia and saw this new stock. They have just put out some lovely 100% cotton (from India) fat quarters. They call it Flat Fats and there are rolls as well, normally called jelly rolls I think. You can choose between green, pink or blue and there are some odd ones, like the yellow polka dots. They sell for R20 each where all the quilt shops charge R35 a fat quarter. I see lovely FQ bags or some smaller projects like pin cushions.

Earlier this week I was on my way to see a customer when I saw this African Artist selling wire and beads animals next to the road. What caught my attention was the sheep! I immediately wanted the smaller one and then forgot to stop on my way back. Yesterday I took the same route to another customer and on my way back stopped. Isn't this cute?

These Artists are just amazing. Look at the cute hoofs and tail! Its based on a wire frame and they add seed beads. This is the smallest sheep he had and it stands about 30cm high.

Just look at the detail in the face and ears. This is the literal translation of "beady eyes"! They have even re-created the "wooly" look with the way they attached the beads.

I don't think I have mentioned yet that my sewing room is going to be completely revamped? This will be happening very soon. In fact, I am starting to clear out the room this weekend, painting will happen next week during the evenings, then the carpenter will be coming in to install a built-in closet and shelves. I have been spending a lot of time on planning my new room, including a decent cutting table. Imagine how nice this sheep will look in my new room! I will take some before, during and after pics of my room to share with you. If you know of any great sites where I can get more inspiration ideas for my new room, please drop me a note.

Hope you all have a great, crafty weekend!

Weekend buys and new stash (again!)

I had a great time shopping at the International Fashion Sale on Saturday with my sister and niece. We are all shopaholics in this family! The show was a bit smaller than previous years and there were less REAL bargains, but it still offered some great stuff. This is what I came home with, a few "investment" pieces for my wardrobe.

Of course, I had to buy some handbags. A lovely grey structured bag in a fake snakeskin pattern and a fab peacock blue leather drawstring bag. This blue bag has so many pockets inside as well as a zipped divider, which I think I need to try adding to my next fabric bag. Of course I had to buy TWO pairs of boots in the same color! Don't ask me why. This light grey top is a soft mohair organic jersey from Japan and wears wonderfully. So well, that I went back on Sunday to buy two more! At R100 (about $14) each, it really was a bargain.

This also arrived in the post on Saturday! As you know, I am on a mission to get my hands on some bulky yarn right now. Sirdar's Big Softie yarn is fabulous! As the name suggest, very soft to the touch and very thick. I have been drooling over it the whole weekend and now I am not keen to use it. I ordered three colors - Blancmange, Foam and Cupcake. I got these from this shop http://www.woolnstuff.co.uk/ on sale at GBP1,70 each! Great service too!

I ordered these book two weeks ago from http://www.kalahari.net/, a local online shop similar to Amazon.com, after I saw some of Leigh Radford's fabulous books and patterns on her website. Her felted bags and scarf patterns are awesome. You can see pictures of projects in her books on her website here http://www.leighradford.com/.

I love this bag from Alterknits Felt! On the other side this bag has a striped section and another section with big dots. It has lots of extra pockets and interesting design detail. You know my love of anything with polka dots! I am so going to make this bag!

And look at this interesting bag. It has a long zipper that covers a large part of the handle. Great designs! Hope you are all having a great week.

Our old lady, Maxine, went in for her big operation yesterday at the Vet. She was so high on drugs when we fetched her late afternoon and could hardly walk. We had to carry her around and she is no lightweight. Can you believe the Vet called her "fat"! My dog is not fat, ok, maybe a little...We set her up on the couch on the patio last night with lots of blankies and nice food and water, but apart from forcing her to swallow her pills, she was not interested in moving around or eating. I was delighted to see her moving around this morning and eating a bit. We forced some more pills down her throat and I hope to see her strong again soon! I will post a pic of her soon, when she looks more healthy.

Fabulous new stash!

I think you all know that this week is my LYS , Arthur Bales's, big July sale. Big surprize, I have been there twice this week already! I was a bit stumped when I said to one of the ladies working there that I won't be back again this week and she replied that she is sure I will! Ok, not really so shocking...Anyway, before we move on to my exciting new yarn (and fabric) loot, first some exciting post this week from my lovely, talented friend in Staphorst, The Netherlands.

Inside this lovely fabric parcel wrapped with gorgeous ribbon was a selection of fabulous original Staphorst cotton fabric. In lovely shades of purple, lilac and blue. I love the fabric, Gina! I have been keeping it close, staring and touching and I fear I won't use it for a while...but since lilac and purple is my current colours, I might just make that fabric bag I have been dying to make. A lovely postcard of Staphorst and an adorable keyring with Dutch wooden shoes. This is so going onto my car keys soon! Love the homemade strawberry too. Thanks so much Gina! Visit Gina here http://gingini.web-log.nl/gingini to see her lovely creations.

On to the new loot. Here are some of my new yarn, and yes, I did buy one piece of fabric. You can see my piece of lovely pink and wine red corduroy fabric in the photo below. It was rather expensive fabric, imported from Japan. I have been drooling over this for a while...I am going through my patterns looking for the right dress. I want to make a country type dress with a flair sewn on the sleeves and hem and since I do not have such a pattern, I will modify one I have.

This time I decided I am going to stock up on the more expensive yarns I hesitate to spend on, instead of stocking up on the cheaper acrylic yarns. So, first on my list was super bulky wool. Of course, Rowan Big Wool was a given. Not sure of the name of this colour, the package and label does not say, but I think it is called "Smitten Kitten". I have a bag pattern from the Rowan Big Easy booklet in mind for this. On the left is Sirdar Denim Ultra Mega Chunky, a mix of cotton and wool and really nice for a natural coloured bag or scarf.

The ultimate spoil for me was this - Rowan Pure Cashmere DK. Horrendously expensive, it arrived very recently and was on about a 20% discount, so I jumped on the last three in this lovely pink. I am thinking a summer scarf or wrap. What do you think?

I also stocked up on the last of the discontinued Elle Merino Solids felting wool (not pictured). My stash is looking good except for the yellow and black which I cannot find anywhere. So, here is the last of my new stash. I could not resist the lovely blue Elle Toy Time acrylic yarn. Not sure what to make yet, so will go in the stash for later. The Vinnis Colours organic cotton is to add to my growing stash to make a lovely colourful bag I have in mind and maybe also some washcloths and tray cloths.

Then I thought I will share what I am busy with right now. I have been working on both these projects during the evenings this week when I have a chance. This is a neckwarmer in moss stitch from a pattern called "Envy" on Ravelry. I already have the buttons picked out, but knitting is so sloooow.

Compared to crochet, that is, which is why I started another project this week. I just love these colours together! This is a wavy type pattern and i am using local yarns from Elle to make a unique bag. In fact, so unique, I do not even know myself yet what the end result will be! I saw a picture of a stunning bag online and sort of started making something similar, but as always, I digressed...

This Saturday I am shopping at the International Fashion Sale at the Coca-Cola Dome near my house. It's now hosted twice a year and an opportunity to buy expensive branded clothing, shoes, bags and perfume at up to 70% off. What woman can resist that?! My best friend, sister and niece will be joining me in a day of shopping and fun! Hope you are all having a fabulous week!

Been shopping in the USA!

It took me two days to finish packing to return from the USA. I was so scared some of my precious stash would be lost in transit. I had a few minutes of pure panic standing next to the carousel waiting for my large pink suitcase to appear, and finally, it did! I had a great time shopping for stash in Chicago and I am so thankful to my dear friend Juanita for patiently taking me out on two nights to shop at Jo-ann's, Michael's and two local yarn shops. So, I will be sharing my new stash over a few blog posts coming up.

The first shop I always visit when arriving is Hobby Lobby. Above is a picture of some of the yummy cotton fabric I found this year. I cannot wait to start making some bags! The top three prints are all from Brother Sister Design company. The bottom pink and brown print is my favorite and was just $2 a yard! Not sure of the designer of this one.

I also bought these fabulous jersey knit fabrics. Lots of tops coming soon.

A selection of fat quarters I found unable to resist. I can see some stunning bags already!

I was very disappointed with the yarn selection at Hobby Lobby though. Most of the yarn they stock is acrylic and novelty yarns. I only purchased the two skeins above. The brown is from Lion's Wool and is called Fishermen's Wool, a whopping 465 yards on one skein! The pink is from Red Heart, a 100% acrylic but I loved the colour.

The magazine section at Hobby Lobby was very disappointing this year. I only purchased the Crochet Today magazine there. The other two magazines I found at Barnes & Noble.

This is all I purchased at Michael's, a lovely pink needle case for my knitting needles. My friend Juanita had these amazing discount coupons for Jo-ann's and Michael's and I saved so much money using them! I think she got them from the newspaper. Thanks Juanita!

In my next post I will share my experience of visiting a Jo-ann's superstore for the first time as well as visiting two amazing local yarn shops!

Fabric Handbags

I am delighted to tell you that I am back in business! Lots of inspirations and productiveness this past weekend. Remember the Simple Party Bag I mentioned in a recent post? After making up the pattern, I realized that I will never use this bag. It is far too small. I don't use small bags. I have too much stuff that i simply NEED with me all the time! So, I modified the pattern and although there were a few hiccups, I am pleased with my much larger version.

I made this bag for my sister. She loves blue and pink. I used some of my favorite pink polka dot fabric for the lining and also made some inside pockets. I added two pleats to the front to make it interesting. It was quite a task to turn the bag out through a small hole with all the extra interfacing. The bag is quite thick to give it structure.

Excuse the creases, I still need to press it after sewing it. This blue fabric is from last year's shopping spree at Hobby Lobby in Chicago. Can't remember the designer now. Very bright and happy though. Hope she likes it. I have already cut out one for myself in black with purple lining and a bit of purple piping.

I also made this simple little tote bag for my sister. Can you believe I forgot to add the magnetic snap! I realized almost at the end and quickly added a covered button and loop closure. Love the piping. The color matched the blue fabric perfectly. Lots of pockets inside just how I like it. Perfect little shopping bag for my sister.

I also finally received my parcel from http://www.halcyonyarn.com. This order was my third attempt to get my hands on the Pink Lady Bag and Mega & Phat Pink Lady Bag patterns! Two previous orders from other yarn stores were unsuccessful. I cannot wait to try this little bag. I also ordered two skeins of Lamb's Pride yarn in a delicious brown. This yarn is 85% wool and 15% Mohair. Delightful. I want more!

I also started on the lovely crocheted Japanese bag, the Ribbon Accent Bag, I mentioned in my previous post. In fact, I started on two at the same time! I must admit this was not the quick project I expected. My first attempt was with a lovely pink variagated yarn that did not show off the interesting pattern of this bag. My second attempt looks a lot better in plain cherise pink. It will however take a lot longer than I expected to finish.

I am also busy planning two other fabric bags. The one is based on a bag pattern I recently bought in a lovely casual style, the other I am busy designing in my head. I cannot find a pattern to compliment the lovely Japanese fabric I have had in my stash for a while now. The pattern has large flowers on it, so I need to make a larger bag to show it off. I am also planning to use a set of my handmade fake leather bag handles with this bag and some more piping. This bag must be special, so need to give it some more thought.

Hope you also had a great crafty weekend!

New stash

On the last day of the Arthur Bales Sale, I found this. Not on sale, sadly, but still at a great price. This is the most fabulous quality knit jersey fabric in black and purple polka dots. (The brown in the middle is from another shop at three times the price!) I purchased 2,5m of each as I am not sure what I want to make yet. (Of course, I have been a regular visitor on http://www.sewingpatterns.com recently too!)

I started knitting a scarf the other night. Love this thick yarn. I am using the huge knitting needles that came free with a copy of Let's Knit magazine from the UK. It's one HUGE skein. Since I am off to Chicago in just two weeks' time, I need a few warm things.

I have also been busy searching for nice new fabric handbag patterns and ended up buying a few patterns too. I just cannot decide on which one to make first! Hope you are all having a great week so far!

Happy 2010!

A bit late to say Happy New Year, but I am back from holiday and already into work, if not so much craftiness. Despite great plans, and long lists, of things I planned to make during my holiday, not much of that happened...I did make a few items of clothing that I really like and felted a few bags, but instead of trying to catch up with posting on more than a month's projects, I will rather post more recent projects.

I found this very easy pattern in the digital Creative Knitting magazine that I subscribe to. Saturday I went Arthur Bales in Linden and purchased this lovely yarn that has a small percentage Mohair content, ideal for this pattern. The pattern is really easy, just a rectangular tube knitted on circular needles. It calls for you to make a twist in the needles before you join the first row together in the round. Can you believe how difficult it was to twist the stitches on purpose?! After a few problems when I started knitting with circular needles, I make a point to ensure the stitches are NOT twisted and for the life of me, I could not get it twisted! Eventually I did, but don't ask me how.

I am working on a gorgeous purple dress as well as a purple top at the moment and thought I will crochet a nice hat and scarf to go with it. I really liked the creme and purple yarn together, so mixed the two. I am still deciding on the scarf pattern, so will start this soon.

As always, when paying a visit to the LYS, in this case Arthur Bales in Linden, I end up buying more than the things on my list! I have been coveting this KnitPro set for a while and on Saturday, I bought it. The set has 3 different cables and 3 different size needles and the price was good. I have been buying some of the KnitPro circular needles seperately the last few months and now almost have a full set. I hate it when I want to start a project and I do not have the correct needles. Now I do!

I also bought these, on my list for a while now. With all the clothing sewing going on the last few weeks, and more to come, I have wanted these stretch twin needles badly. They were rather expensive, but I believe worth it. I cannot wait to test them!

I also want to share my favorite new "shop" with you. The last few months I have been buying clothing patterns online from www.sewingpatterns.com. I adore this site. You can purchase downloadable patterns from many companies such as Burda (my favorite), New Look, Butterick, McCalls and many others. This is instant satisfaction! Just my kind of thing. I will be in my sewing room and decide to make a top or dress, but have no pattern. On the Internet I go, select the pattern, pay via PayPal and within 15 minutes I can download my pattern. You actually print it directly from the site, celotape the pages together and cut out your pattern. The patterns cost a lot less too. Most patterns are between $2,99 and $3,99 each, a lot less than in the shops. I just bought two new patterns yesterday again, so look out for some finished projects this week.

Hope you all have a great week and I promise to post more often now!