tiny happy

I cut into my stash of tweedy vintage wool fabrics to make a few more jackets- these are part of my etsy shop update today and were fun to make. Especially choosing the matching vintage linings and buttons/toggles. The jacket you see in the second photo was made using an old silk crepe kimono for the lining because it was a lovely sea-green colour with branches and blossoms printed on it, and I couldn't resist it.

I spent the afternoon with this lady in her coastal town near Wellington. What a beautiful place she lives in- oh, those gorse-covered cliffs! I don't usually care for the weed that is gorse (I am a farmer's daughter after all) but in this setting it is surprisingly lovely.

My parents sent us a parcel of black passionfruit and walnuts from their orchard (they arrived at the perfect time as I've been obsessively eating fruit lately which is unusual for me but may be an autumn thing?), and over morning tea I found myself marvelling at those passionfruit colours again, like I do this time every year. I found the same colours in my thread box (dark maroon, golden yellow, cream and black) and did a spot of embroidery on linen. They really are so beautiful together, don't you think? Nature knows a thing or two about design. 

I hope this finds you well and enjoying the start of autumn or spring, depending on where you live. Thanks for all the nice comments about the winter jacket yesterday- I have a few more to add to my shop update tomorrow.

This is my favourite song today, even though I don't have a stepmother.

This is a little hooded coat I finished over the weekend. It's quite small, and specially designed for my baby niece who we'll be seeing again soon.  I first saw the wool fabric in a local fabric store and fell in love with it- it's thick and soft and 100% wool- a bit like a good picnic blanket. I used some vintage viyella fabric for the lining- I think Louana originally gifted it to me (thank you!) and it has tiny little flowers and rabbits on it. The pattern is my own design, but I'm currently working on making it in different sizes. The coat fronts overlap a bit and fasten with a big interior dome. And then buttons and loops fasten the other side. I also have a couple on the go for A and K- they seem to be growing like crazy at the moment and are wanting to eat muesli and weetbix all the time. I hope this is normal! I seem to remember my brothers doing the same thing. 

I found this late-blooming hydrangea growing on the roadside yesterday. I love that deep plum colour- and here and there you can see some faded summer blue, too. Hydrangeas are such amazing flowers.

The family of bunnies I wrote of yesterday, and hoped to put in my shop in time for Easter, turned out to be a family of small bears instead. I'm not sure what happened- but I supposed I used the wrong pattern late one night when I was cutting them out. I am often a bit vague and absent-minded, and I really didn't notice what was going on until I was sewing them up, and realised there wasn't really anything rabbity about them. Oh well, the bears are quite friendly and don't seem to mind too much. 

I did make a couple of rabbits though- one was in linen for a custom order and one was made from some scraps left over from a felted lambswool jersey in dark charcoal grey. I like this rabbit, even though he has unnaturally skinny arms and legs and quite a squishy body.

I hope you have a great weekend ahead. It's gloriously sunny here, and the marigolds came from the vege patch to brighten up the kitchen table for a few days. See you next week, dear readers.

Today i'm working on a small family of rabbits. They'll be made from natural linen with different ears- some Liberty lawn, some stripy cotton knit. I hope they'll be finished soon so I can show them to you tomorrow. Like any kind of working, rabbit-face-embroidering is much improved with some provisions to hand. Today I have a new magazine, brought back from another city by Tom who is travelling all over the country right now, black coffee, some oranges and some of this chocolate. Not bad, huh.

Here is a jazzy little number for you– this one comes via my little brother who is adventuring around USA right now- I must admit, I am jealous. 

My sister made us some peanut cookies- she used this recipe, and they're really good. She skipped the dipped chocolate/peanut part but they are still the right balance of salty and sweet, crunchy and chewy. We have a small peanut butter fanatic in the house (she eve got her own jar for one of her recent birthday presents) and she heartily approves of them. Thank goodness there are no peanut allergies here.

The same small one also got a new pencil bag to keep her art supplies in, made from sweet Japanese canvas with brown ribbons to fasten. Better get back to the drawing now.

I was tidying up today when I came across these great photograph cards, which I got from the Wellington City Art Gallery. They came from this exhibition, all about humans at the South Pole. Thought they might make you smile. Brenda, Kathy, and Misty: a bit of femininity in Antarctica

This is a wraparound cardigan I made for Keira when the autumn chill started creeping in last week. It's made from two old cardigans of mine, but I think they're much nicer like this. I used a chocolate-brown one for the sleeves and one front and a charcoal grey for the remaining pieces. And some red floral bias tape that I've been hoarding for ages. Nice and cosy.

I hope you are keeping warm, or perhaps you're noticing the start of spring where you are. All around us the trees are losing their leaves and the wind is whipping them into a frenzy. Autumn is somewhat dramatic in Wellington.

I will leave you with a gorgeous song I first heard on the radio this week- Dear Friends by Elbow.

Have a lovely weekend!

Yes, it's quilted Liberty fabric. I found it a while back, loved that earthy retro print and just realised it would make sturdy and strong bags- so I've made one with leather straps for my shop update today.

And also some 'retro make-up cases' using up small pieces of favourite vintage linen fabric. I like working with such colourful and cheerful materials.

I hope your Wednesday is going okay. I have a new camera to learn how to use (!), dinner out and a batch of muesli to make for my ever-hungry 8 year old boy. See you again soon.

Rough and stormy weather here today- i thought the kids and I would be swept away on our walk to school this morning.

It might be bad walking weather but it's a good time to paint some tiny little envelopes with cheering watercolour images. And sew up some hot water bottle covers- these are made from machine-knitted leftovers that I found at a garage sale last year. Hot water bottle season is back again! I don't know whether to be happy about that or not.