I'm still not a food photographer...

I updated the pic to the Grilled Tofu Foccacia Sandwiches, so it looks better, but I am still obviously not a food photographer. :p

Unknown and unsung...

Once upon a time, I used to just save pics for my own personal inspiration, without a single thought that I might need to give credit in the future, before I had even HEARD of a blog. I DID save bookmarks, but they all got lost in the Great Crash of '07.


So, I have no idea who created these...I used to know by heart, but that was a while ago, and all I can think of is maaaayyyybe Michelle is in the name somewhere. But I really think it isn't.

ETA: Boy, Michelle was WAY off....it's Wai Ching. :p



These would be staples in my wardrobe, if I had any excuse to spend that kind of money for clothes I couldn't actually wear all that much...except maybe that gorgeous jacket.



These would also be my ideal body shape, if, you know, I wasn't on the short side of average, not very willowy, and the victim of two C-sections. :p


Seriously...I live in Sydney. I have GOT to be able to come up with some good excuses to wear this stuff, right??

The Light Fantastic..

I always see lights..lighting..lamps...etc...in magazines, on blogs, in books, in shops...I hate them, almost every single time. So I feel like putting together a list of lighting I would have in MY house, if I ever had the budget for it.

If I wanted drop lights, I would go for ones like these:



Or maybe I would have one of these:



For a floorlamp, this just thrills me:


Dh is giving me weird looks for that one, though...I might have a battle on my hands. :p

If I wanted a chandelier, I would have something like these:


You can keep the boring traditional shapes and lead crystals, thankyouverymuch.

For ambient lighting, these are just gorgeous:




I very rarely see a table lamp that I actually like, much less love, so I have no pictures of one...I much prefer a floor lamp, or wall lamp, anyway.

Anybody else out there like me?? I always see so much love for all those things on other blogs, etc, and I just don't understand it. It can't be just me, though!!

Credits:
1. Cox & Cox
2. Anthropologie
3. BlueTreeGallery
4. The image says www.isel.be. I have no idea at all if that's the right credit, but it *is* right on the image, so I'm hoping!
5. and 6. Brand Lighting
7. and 7. Feinedinge

Back again...

Sure....cancer promoting...maybe even a little TMI...but isn't this concept just fascinating??


Credit: Yu-Chiao Wang via Ullabenulla

Vintage sewing...

Do you ever want to learn millinery?


What about patterndrafting??


How to sew authentic period clothes?


Glovemaking?

Did you know some brave, brave living saints have taken it upon themselves to scan, upload, transcribe and cross-reference dozens of out of print, vintage books, covering all topics, from dressmaking, millinery, glovemaking, etc etc?? You can learn ANYTHING from them. They are thorough, detailed, clear, and a complete treasure trove; and those amazing souls who are doing this should be revered and all hail'd.



The books are from the 1800's, through to mid last century...they cover SOO much, after scanning through them, you are left with the feeling that if you read through all of them, there wouldn't be much left to know about sewing..they are that good.



This site, the Human Ecology Collection, has all the books scanned in, and each chapter/page set up so you can reach it with a click.



But THIS site, VintageSewing.info, has the books cross referenced by category, or by decade, and then each book individually typed in, illustrations placed, organized for easy use, etc etc etc. Basically, it's almost like holding the book in your hand, it's so easy to use.

If you have ever picked up a vintage garment, and studied the careful, beautiful work that went into it and marveled, here is where it is...you, too, can sew beautiful, new, vintage garments. :p

Fangirly...

My mom is currently slapping her forehead, wondering where she went so wrong. My dh calls me the loser-iest loser he knows.

So. The White Stripes went and designed their own tartan, and registered it with the International Tartan Index. They made a very, very limited run. VERY limited. I am a fabriholic. It's like a red flag before a bull.

My co-loser buddy/fellow fangirl, Nic, and I, went in together, and bought some. I made hers already, because she is going to go to a Raconteurs concert, and you know, a bag made from official WS tartan is just so much cooler than a band tee. :p (For those not up with all the latest gossip, the Racs co-lead is Jack White, of the White Stripes...see, fangirl. :p )

Here 'tis:


The fabric is 100% wool, meant for a kilt, and came with those buckles for making one. We obviously don't want a kilt, so I incorporated them into the bag. Sadly, I think I installed them upside down. Whoops.

The style is very similar to the other bag I made her, but I did the pockets a little different, and I forgot to install the magnetic clasp until it was too late. :( On this one, I put a little slot zipper pocket on the inside, which came out tinier than I had planned, cause I misjudged a measurement; and then a bigger one on the back:


They aren't the most expertly done ones, but they are okay. I must say..I have no idea why I bother to buy sewing books. I couldn't find a single reasonable description of how to do those zippers in any of the books I have, I had the HARDEST time trying to figure out the instructions for the descriptions I DID find, since written directions are my achille's heel, and then I found a WAY better description, with step by step instructions and PICTURES, right over on Sew Mama Sew, thanks to Autumn!

The whole bag would have been done in ages ago, if I hadn't discovered too late that the buckles I had planned on for the strap were way smaller than I had remembered, and then when I decided to just go for it anyway, I totally miscalculated the width, and made a strap WAY too big for the buckles, but looking perfect. So I decided to just wait til I could buy the right buckles...which never happened, I gave it up, and tried to make another strap. Twice. And finally quit and just used the best one, and made it work.

So here we are. Our monument to fangirly-ness. :p

Whoops....

I seem to have missed....3 posts?? Or two...or something. Anyway. Here is why:


I call it Extreme Crafting. Dh calls it whining because I had to go work with him for the last three days, sanding and polishing this floor and set of stairs. Whatever.

While I was gone, I got the news that Liz from The Quilted Turtle, one of my Pay It Forward winners, got her package, so I can FINALLY show it to y'all!


A few years ago, dh went to Beijing for a few months for work, and while he was there, he visited the famous dirt market (OMG how much I wish I had been there!!) and bought me a bunch of various assorted beads and jewellery, this jade turtle among them. It's been sitting around on the bottom of my bead box since then, and as soon as I saw that Liz was among the comments on my post, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

The turtle is attached by ribbons sitting in grooves carved along the sides, rather than through a hole drilled through the middle. Very cool. The tassel itself is made from ripped shantung silk strips, ribbons, strands of lavender and cola brown seed beads, and mother of pearl and metal charms. I love it. :)

Needlework...

"No one can rejoice more than I do over the change that has taken place in the treatment of girls as regards their education. Under the old-fashioned system of what can only be called "smattering" their individuality was ignored; their powers, if any, were disregarded; one monotonous "table of lessons" hung in every schoolroom-one code of rules sufficed for all. Ear or no ear, a girl must learn music; eye or no eye, drawing was to be taught her; two or three languages were to be a sine qua non, whether she has the aptitude for them or not. What was the consequence? The mind was left perfectly untrained and uncultured. The system gave a sort of shallow smartness to those quick at apprehending-a most useless quality when it is all a girl possesses. In fact, to all intents and purposes, woman was considered to have no mind worth thinking of; to be incapable of reasoning; her powers were surface powers, requiring only surface treatment."

That, ladies and gentleman, was the first paragraph to the introduction in a textbook for student teachers, for needlework, in 1914. I wonder how many men got a look at what was being taught in those needlework schools?? :p



That is the coolest book, full of lesson plans, and illustrations, and tests, for teaching needlework of all sorts...this was for the pros, not for dabblers. I got it at a book sale ages ago, and I just LOVE it. Anyway, long way around to it, I picked it up yesterday to have a look for embroidery stitches (of which there turned out to be few...this is more for proper dressmaking, etc, than embroidery), because I had been browsing in Borders, and picked up Caroline Zoob's Childhood Treasures:

Apparently it's been around for a bit, but I've never seen it before. Anyway, it is a GORGEOUS book, loaded with eye candy, and I love the fact that it manages to look old fashioned and very sweet, with nary a pastel in sight. :p So, I was looking through it, and saw these little fabric covered buttons made from linen, with little embroidery on them...SO cute. I had to try them. Except my embroidery skills are moderately rusty, lol. Hence trying to dig through the first book and refresh my memory, which turned out to be a bust, but was so much more interesting just to leaf through. But I perservered, and came out with a couple:

I had a lot of blue and pink threaded on my needles, so I ended up doing a bunch of them....which I regret, cause I love the blue and red ones SO much more..


And yeah...my embroidery skills definitely need some practice, lol...I am capable of WAY better than these sad little examples.


While I am on the subject, this is a birthday card I made for a little girl ages ago....it's hard to see, but it's embroidered on butter yellow linen, and then applied it to the card with spray adhesive. Good stuff, that spray adhesive. :p


My kids have gotten in on the act, and have started their own projects....which, since I only have the one hoop, is kind of frustrating, lol.