Love this vintage...

Lace blouse from new shop find Fun Retro Threads.  I can totally see a refashion of this piece to a nice open boat neckline....or even perhaps a few more pretty coin purses? ;)

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Have you had any vintage finds lately?

Our weekend.

I am pleased to announce that we are all healthy!  And I'm so thankful for that after a couple of rotten weeks of sickness.  We had a nice weekend of catching up on sleep (thanks to my fabulous husband), a bit of relaxation, cosying up in the wet weather and then getting on top of some housey stuff.  I got my new etsy "about" page finished.  I really like how the new format looks - what do you think?  Etsy are making some nice improvements of late.

How was your weekend?

A tale of two Tovas

Just to fill you in on my mentioned Wiksten Tova dramas from a few weeks ago....

Along with everyone else, I've had my eye on this pattern for ages, and have had the pdf sitting on my computer for a while, as I looked for the right fabric.

I found it, some lovely floral cotton lawn on sale so I headed straight into the making - measuring, cutting, sewing up a storm.   One problem.  When I tried it on it was a tad tight across the bust/back.  Hmmm.  I kept sewing thinking I could get away with it once I had completed it.  Once the arms were in it was impossible to get on.  And I mean impossible.   I really didn't think my size had grown that much since giving birth to V but obviously it has, and even more to the point, I clearly can't measure myself very well.  To say I was disappointed is an understatement, boo hoo for me, I was so pumped to finish and wear this one.

So I attempted the next size up in a heavier thrifted fabric I didn't care about.  I was like a sweat shop getting it done in a day or so, and when complete, it too was a little tight across the chest, back and armholes.  Sigh.  Although this one is wearable, it's not my preferred fabric, and I'm thinking for my third try I'll do a little pattern alteration - I think the reality is that at the moment I'm a small size across the shoulders and a couple of sizes up around the bustline, so here's hoping i can get it right third try!  I found a couple of ideas here and here for altering the bust, so might try that.

I must also say that on wearing, the sleeves annoy me a bit too.  The armholes feel tight and cuffs are quite restrictive on me when I bend my elbow - I think that if I lengthened them a little they may feel better as then they wouldn't sit into my elbow crease quite so much.

Both times I lengthened my shirt by about 1.5 inches as I'm quite long in the torso.  I'm happy with how it sits on me around the hips and waist.

But on the whole even though the Jury's out on the fit for me, I really like the way this pattern looks so I'm determined to make one that fits properly...not sure if I'll succeed just yet.  Watch this space.

[Ps. This post is a little late. If I thought I'd had a rough week with child sickness last week, I wasn't prepared for what was to come over the long weekend  - we ended up in Emergency at the Children's hospital twice with Miss 4 months....yep, Bronchiolitis is the pits.  It really is. ]


More creative spaces here.

10 minutes.

Not much going on here since the weekend.  After a weekend of Tova dramas (more on that later) sick sick sickie kids is all I've been doing through the week - exhausting.  I've managed to steal about 10 minutes a few nights in a row to start using up stashed yarn before I nod off early due to lack of sleep.  Sick kidlets are no fun, that's for sure.  And it's our second round in a month. 

I hope your creative space has been a little more healthy!  

Joining in with the fun here.

Pink Pouch

Most of us are sick today at our place - husband has gone to work with a cold, leaving me to juggle the two littlies who both have head colds. One demands everything, dropping toys, tissues and clothing all over the house, and the other gets cranky during feeds and wants to be held all day (you know the routine).  Thankfully I have escaped the bug so far... so a quick feel-good project was in order while the littlest slept to assist us with cabin fever - I made this pink coin purse for the big girl this morning and let her choose the colours.  

What else would a 3.5 year old girl have chosen?  It's her first real money pouch, so she thinks it's rather special and has been playing shops with me all day.

I rather like it now that it's done too. :)

My creative space.

There's a lot going on in my creative space today.  I'm still trying to squeeze in some time to finish this quilt top, I'm trying to make some more lace pouches for the shop, I have a Wiksten Tova on the go, and I have two skeins of this gorgeous Madeline Tosh Merino DK sitting in my yarn box while I'm trying to decide what to make with it.  In short, a lot of stuff in my head and on the table.

The colour of this yarn is so beautiful.  I'm thinking something warm for my neck this winter....any suggestions welcome!

More lovely creative spaces here.

Love this vintage...

Teddy.  My very first teddy in fact, he's 35 years old this year.  Mum dug him out of a box a few weeks ago and kindly repaired him, so he's now been claimed by Miss 3 1/2 who's taken to sleeping with him and has given him the name "Gretel" since he used to be mine.  Not quite sure how I feel about this, but I guess it's sort of cute.   I'm saving my first doll for V, though she too needs some work - the poor thing has no hair at the moment.

Did you save anything from your childhood?