A couple of nights ago I made a new cover for our coffee plunger, (as well as one for a friend and one for the shop). The beloved coffee press is something I use every day- I made my first cover for it a few years ago now, and elastic was starting to…

    In honour of the beautiful blue skies overhead this week, I made Keira a new blue dress to wear to school. After a bit of experimenting with vintage patterns, I think I finally found a pinafore i'm happy with- it's a combination of a few different designs. It has a zip in the…

    I found a couple of old books at our local Recycling Centre/rubbish tip. The covers had done their dash and the pages had all come apart, with lots of scribbles, etc, so I decided to rescue the good parts and made up some notecard sets. They were the most popular thing on my…

    I was sent a copy of this new publication to review- Cloth magazine, which is published in London four times each year. It's fun to read- with colourful and bright layout and lots of projects to make yourself- from shoulder bags to needlebooks… even a floral-printed bikini which is something I've never thought of…

    Thank you for all your good wishes for the fair I attended on the weekend. It was really well organised and supported, and I left the big city feeling inspired by the lovely things I'd seen there. It looks like Auckland has a fabulous crafty scene, and i got to meet Heleen and…

    I made some velveteen rabbits this week: two are blue and one is black with black and cream polka-dot ears. I love how long and touchable the rabbits' ears are. A few rabbits, and the illustrated cups were the last things i wanted to make for my table at the Auckland Art and…

      After yesterday's post, I had a few emails asking if I could share my bread recipe. I do love to make my own bread, but I am also quite lazy. Luckily I have discovered a very easy and quick way to make a loaf of sourdough or ciabatta without too much effort or…

    Tom's aunt Fini gave the children a great vintage book called 'Indoor and Outdoor Gardening for Young People' by Cynthia and Alvin Koehler (1969) along with a packet of cress seeds. These seeds have been Keira's pet project over the past week- she helped to plant them in a plastic container, water them…

    When I was packing for our house move, I discovered that I owned a lot of ceramic pieces- especially jugs and cups. Really, lots of them. I was brave and donated many to the second-hand store, but kept my favourite ones.  Turns out they fit perfectly on the mantlepiece and noone seems to…

      It's been a busy weekend here- I managed to get some things made for my table at this show on Saturday, including some new needlebooks and a collection of pencil cases made from brightly coloured linen.  The house was filled up with children for a good part of the weekend- running around…