Upcycled Canvas Bag

I'm just popping these images onto the blog so that I have a record of all of my 'makes', whether they're easy and fun or a bit more adventurous.

This one belongs to the 'fun' category.

A little up-cycling job on a Jackson's canvas bag.

It was made for Christmas for a very lovely friend, and the peace sign, heart and wings that I appliquéd on were chosen to symbolise 'Peace, Love and Hope'.  

The finished bag was used as a fun wrapping for a Jewelled Slice, made from tropical dried fruits and nuts soaked in copious amounts of alcohol....yum.  I never did hear whether the slice made it home in one piece after our boisterous night out partying, laughing and gift giving.  Hopefully the bag did it's job!

Japanese Sewing Books.

I love Japanese sewing books.  The garments look so calm and serene.  I can just imagine floating through the garden wearing a simple hand made linen smock, picking our own home grown fruit and vegetables.  Or perhaps sitting at my desk in filtered sunlight wearing a light lace edged shrug, hand writing a letter home, with of course my very best calligraphy pen.  In  real life though, I trample through an overgrown garden wearing fifteen year old cut off shorts, or quickly tap out a short email to home on my laptop, always with my brain going a hundred miles an hour.

Somehow in my mind, Japanese sewing books seem synonymous with serenity.  

I even own a couple myself.  

Beautiful aren't they?

I haven't sewn anything from them yet.

I don't know what I'm waiting for.... serenity and filtered sunlight? 

All that is about to change however, as I've won a really beautiful book on ebay.  This book is just exquisite. Full of graceful, simple, gentle dresses in heritage floral fabrics.  Right up my alley.

Hmmmm......I can feel myself becoming calmer by the second, and can just about smell the roses.

Oh....wait a minute......

Whaaaat?

It really is a Japanese sewing book.

Yep.  Written in Japanese.

It would appear that I'm not the ebay queen I thought I was.

The Rainy Sunday Fabric Stash.

Before deciding what fabrics to use for my next project, I thought it would be very wise to have a bit of a fabric stash sort out, so I actually knew what I had.  I found lengths of fabric in my wardrobe, my husband's chest of drawers,  under the bed in Spotlight bags, out in the shed in plastic tubs, stuffed into the corner of my pattern drawer, rolled up and tucked into the knitting basket, snuggled next to my Winter boots, balancing in a precarious pile behind my nighties and believe it or not, in the actual 'fabric drawer'......what, only one drawer for fabrics?  Pfffft.

I'm sure there's still more hidden away ready to surprise me with a springy pop of colour when I'm least expecting it.

Here's where I'm at so far.  All lengths sorted, labelled and perfectly bagged, ready to go out to the shed....where all things spidery and creepy dwell. 

What an organised little seamstress I am.

I have soooo many beautiful batik sarong lengths that I've bought in Bali.  They look deceivingly narrow to me now so I guess it's wishful thinking that I would get a dress from each one.  Maybe I'll just have to learn to stand up straight.....and take ladylike pixie steps.