repurposed fabric

Falling for you!

| poppypeach

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Despite my complete lack of time to be productive last week with a whole week of minimum days with the middle school child, I  did manage to make some tote bags as they are a project that can be completed in a 2-hour gap. The dress and skirts I have made over the last couple of weeks I finally completed them and wanted to style them for a photo shoot with a Fall theme. Check out my sugar pie pumpkin!

I have always loved the red fabric ever since I found it at FabMo and I have made a bag with it and it was beautiful, I did always want to make an item of clothing with it. I love the tunic dress and as this fabric is quite heavy it works as a dress for the Fall weather. And I love it with the booties I found in Melbourne when I “accidentally” wandered into a Camper store while waiting for my friend for lunch. They are very comfortable with a chunky heel and I love how versatile they are. When I came back to California I looked over my collection of Camper shoes – now I know what to say when people say do you collect anything? Yeah, Camper shoes I now have 6 pairs and 2 of the same style  🙂

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I also wanted to showcase the skirts I have been making and combining it with a vintage top I found. The tights are from Treasure Island Flea Market and the boots are a pair of Camper boots I bought 5 years ago! That is what I love about Camper shoes are their quality and their lifespan. I have found some lovely fabric in my stash from FabMo and each of these skirts pairs well with the top. The accessories are Swarovski crystal pieces my mum gave me when I was in Australia and they are rocking the outfits – get it!!

Here are some of the bags I completed this week using denim jeans for an oversize tote that I road tested the other day and they are perfect for carrying all sorts of goods such as water, sunscreen, and food. The pockets on the exterior are super handy for keys, smaller containers, and snacks on the go. As I was looking through my fabric stash I found the forest fabric that I found a very long time ago and wanted to make something that kept the fabric intact as it is a beautiful linen, another big tote came to mind and I found the perfect fabric for the back – see here on my Instagram post. The diamond pattern fabric is by a legendary fabric company out of Thailand Jim Thompson and this was a fabric sample I picked up which was too small for apparel but perfect for a bag. And I found the perfect pocket fabric sample in a chevron fabric to match.

Friday was busy with the school Walkathon at the end of the day. Whew, it was a big week but we gotta keep on walking or even dancing and maybe we can catch a Pikachu in the field – no Pokemon GO for us!

Missy walked 67 laps only 8 laps shy of getting the coveted tie dye t-shirt. She was walking and walking and not wanting to give up – the kids were allowed to run at the end but her feet were hurting. So I said to her, hopefully, next year we will have some better shoes for you and be prepared, maybe with some extra hiking! This year she threw off her Converse and walked in her socks and at the end of that, she said her feet and legs were so sore after walking many miles and she is still recovering today which is Monday.

Next on the agenda for the weekend, was a sleepover party for my soon to be 11-year old! I enjoyed a bike ride and yoga on the Saturday morning so I could be prepared for 6 boys sleeping downstairs in the lounge room. I made an amazing blueberry lemon pound cake as the birthday cake and it was delicious especially enjoyed by the birthday boy. The sleepover for the kids was a lot of fun but as for the parents with the interrupted sleep, it was all over rover – still, I remember sleepovers and how late we stayed up chatting to our friends. This time, however, the kids had their little electronic devices to play too, I think they all appreciated the freedom and the next day it was down to the park to play with zero screen time all day! (For my kids anyway).

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A piece a Week – A Glasses Case and Chicks for a Week

| poppypeach
Our bathroom was a place to foster three four week old chicks last week from the 4H Program at McClellan Ranch. They are the cutest little creatures to spend time with and the kids really enjoyed sitting in the bathtub talking to the chicks and waiting for them to nap in their laps. One of the chicks belongs to Missy and she is a Production Red chick who will be reddish brown when she grows up to be a hen. You can see her darker feathers appearing beneath her little yellow chick feathers. She was the cutest little ball of feathers when we bought her. I have a new found respect for these little producers and looking forward to when they lay their eggs at the farm. In return for cleaning out the coop the keepers of the chicks will get some eggs. 
Missy and her little chick Ruby fast asleep
Little Ruby perching on the edge of their enclosure

Goodnight Ruby

Even though Mr Ash is not in the Poultry project he still enjoyed the chick action in the bath. The other two chicks belong to other children in the project and they enjoyed his company too.

Looking for worms (threads) on the PJs
A friend of mine asked me to make her a Glasses case and she gave me the one she really loved so I could make one for her. I love these cases as I remember having them when I was a kid and enjoyed playing with the mechanism. They are super handy to have and I have been making many of them and trying out what fabrics work best. They are called a Squeeze Frame or Flex Frame and they are quite fun to put together once you work out how to make the casing I love the little pouch on Where the Orchids Grow blog using the Liberty fabric scraps. For these I have used FabMo interior design fabric and for the first one I made I used a linen and the Pink and Yellow Ikat design fabric is an outdoor fabric which was a bit tricker to work with sliding the clip through. Still I love how it sits in my bag and is easy access for my sunglasses with the beautiful spring California sun. 
The Squeeze Frame in action
Just pop those sunnies in there

An outdoor fabric using a cotton lining for ease of slipping in the frame

Saturday was a night at the movies with a friend to see Purple Rain – it was so good to see Prince in action and it was so funny to think I watched that film when I was a kid totally ignoring the R rating and enjoying it just for Princes performances on stage with the Revolution. So Sunday came and it was a beautiful warm day and perfect for a ride to the farmers market to collect flowers for the teachers for the Staff Appreciation Week at our school. We loved the look of the proteas and I bought some Billy Buttons which are native to Australia and New Zealand (who knew!) and some lilies. Of course we could not leave the market without some organic strawberries as they are coming into season! I love to ride along with flowers in my basket on a sunny day – no riding pics but here is the bouquet on the dining table looking very happy and very spring!

Spring flowers ready to bloom soon

Oh and as my camera was out and about on Sunday I found my Bella cat in her favorite spot on the fence under the redwood tree enjoying the afternoon breeze.

Hey Baby girl!

Guarding the fence from squirrels 

A piece a Week – Waves Handspun Wool Scarf

| poppypeach
My sister found me this gorgeous handspun yarn in Maleny, Australia for Christmas from a local craft guild and I finally found a pattern to make with it – an easy lace 13 row pattern repeat. The Waves of the Atlantic pattern I found on Ravelry was perfect for the weight of the yarn and the color is just beautiful. It is yellow with tiny specks of pink spun through which makes me very happy! I love when the yarn and the pattern fit just right and sometimes it takes more time to make that happen which can be well worth the tries and fails.

Beautiful detail of this sunshine yarn

The scarf being blocked – the drape will be so soft with the lightness of the yarn

Over the weekend we went on our second camping trip for the summer – this time to Little Basin. I was dreading the drive as I thought it was via Big Basin. As it turned out the drive is up through Boulder Creek and we avoid the 9 miles of squirrelly road that made my son throw up in the car last time we visited Big Basin for a hike. The drive was 1 hour and 30 minutes away from our house and it was the usual drive through the redwood and oak forests to get there. Back in the day Little Basin used to be used by Hewlett Packard for their employees until the land was sold to the Peninsula Open Space Trust and Sempervirens Fund and now it is park of Big Basin Redwoods State Park in the California State Parks (amazing) system!! This campground was open to the public in 2011 and is perfect for families. We arrived on the Saturday morning enjoyed lunch at our campground surrounded by redwood trees with our cabin neighbors close by. Still when night came the stars were beautiful as the open meadow was steps away from our campsite and we could look up and see the clear night. We enjoyed this campground so much we have booked the cabins for a Thanksgiving getaway – hopefully we will get to see some banana slugs in the rain, bring on some rain!! 

Tom Riddle the Gopher snake in his burial ground after he got run over by a car

The kids had such a fun time with Kaki the ranger on duty from the WOLF school. The WOLF (Web of Life Field) school is open to kids aged 11-13 for a sleepover for a week in the redwoods to learn all about life and science – in a couple of years our kids will get a chance to join in the fun. We met Kaki as we were enquiring about the Junior Ranger program and the next thing we were invited to help build a bug box for the afternoons kids camp program called Sense-o-Rama. The bug box was fun and we got an opportunity to learn about our ranger Kaki. Everything the kids were doing around camp centered around wanting to go back to Kaki to ask her questions about the goings on. Missy found a snake in the morning, as the kids were wandering around the campground while we were packing up and wanted to have a funeral for it. Next thing they had Kaki by their side with reference books identifying this road kill snake. It made for an interesting lesson on this little guy. The night before at the campfire the kids were making Ranger Apples, that is roasted apples on a stick that taste like a hot apple pie without the pastry – yum!

The kids with Kaki their hero – when can we see Kaki again??

We had to go for a hike before we left Little Basin and it seemed like we were up for it until we started and everyone was all a bit out of breath by the time we conquered the elevation of the first hill. I think a better breakfast of a smoothie and some fruit would have been helpful rather than the s’mores the kids had!!

Wandering the forest after our elevation climb

Just outside our campground this redwood stretching out it’s branches

Up up high in the sky a family circle or fairy ring of redwood trees surrounding it’s long gone great grandfather tree
The workshop that I was supposed to have next week is moving to the end of July due to hiccups at the library and my lack of time with being “on” for the school holidays and being mama taxi and the like with the kids. Lucky, I can make time to write this while the kids play with Legos or go bike riding around the trees outside. This is another sample for the video I am making as it has French seams on the inside. I will post that sometime but it is definitely a work in progress until I can find some quiet time in the house to record the sound!! 
Another sample for the library workshop

A piece a Week – A tote bag sample for the Local Library Workshop

| poppypeach
I am getting excited about teaching folks how to make a patchwork bag from 8″ squares from FabMo fabric samples. The Library Services Manager asked if I would like to host a workshop sometime at the library and this has been months in the making. Between busy schedules of myself, the library and FabMo we finally have set a date for June 25. It will be a creative collaboration presented by FabMo and the Mountain View Library and the totes will be free to take home to whoever wants to make one. The fun thing is that there are so many designs and patterns to choose from and every bag will be a one of a kind!

If you have ever wanted to try out sewing or would like to make a patchwork bag register at the library – flyers to be out soon… watch this space!!

Snacking tote made from 8″ pieces sunset, sky and grass side

Snacking tote made from 8″ pieces – pink & grey side

Lunchin’ tote made from 8″ pieces
Beach tote made from 12″ pieces

B side of the Beach tote made from 12″ pieces

Our kids craft project this week is pom poms – it was fine for the first one or two and Missy decided she wanted to make a snowman. I should have a picture of that guy but he got terribly squashed in my bag so here is our rainbow pom pom hanging happily at the front door. 

A piece a week – A couple of totes, teacher gifts, silk scarves and some ceramics

| poppypeach
This week was very fruitful considering with the extra holiday events that happened this week. The plan to get the teacher gifts ready in time every year in time never seems to happen!! So in between prepping for a show in San Francisco this weekend I helped the kids with completing the teachers xmas gifts!
Missy wanted to make a stuffed peacock as her teacher loves peacocks, so I left her in my sewing room with spare fabric and she came up with this peacock that I helped to appliqué on a pillow. I was so impressed the way the peacock was laid out on the carpet that it had to be created with design tweaks by my 6 year old as I was laying it out on the background. 
A beautiful purple peacock with its FabMo fabric tail – the purple is hand dyed, such a brilliant colour!
For my sons teacher he has been investigating her favorite animal so I could knit up an animal hat! I overheard on a field trip from our teacher that she collects animal hats. I found this cool looking doggie hat in a knitting book at the library called ‘Animal Hats‘. I have really enjoyed knitting this and I ended up making the eyes and nose out of felt and sewing them on. Hope she likes it! 
Puppy hat with felt detail
Now for a picture from my favorite BFF Siri and the incredible camera on that beautifully designed iPhone 6…
Here is Ms Bella 

I had to increase inventory for a holiday show at the Dogpatch Cafe and Gallery at San Francisco this weekend. So there was some fabric waiting in line to be made into totes and scarves. I had some lovely silk and velvet that was crying out to be made into something useful 🙂
Magnolia tote
Silk patch scarf

Silk patch scarf with paisley details

Such beautiful velvet

This velvet is stunning – a fancy lunch tote

Leaf tote made from linen

I have been taking ceramics class this year and I have thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of clay and creating directly with my hands – no need for my computer or a sewing machine to create. Work created directly through from your imagination to your hands transform clay into such an amazing art medium. I really have enjoyed making succulent pots, fruit bowls, ice cream bowls and now these leaves. I had an idea to make spoon rests from these so I am in the process of testing one out on my stovetop. The first one had yellow underglaze with melted glass beads in the center. After having a chat to my teacher about the glass beads I opted for different underglazes of color tones and rubbed back the glaze before a applying a super gloss – I was so happy with the result. The time this has taken me from the initial idea when the leaves started to fall at the end of October to now the end of December finally coming out of the kiln. One thing ceramics has taught me about art is that it is all about patience… What a beautiful lesson to learn!
Take one – a yellow underglaze with melted glass beads
Take two – a set of autumn leaves ready for some tea lights! 

A piece a Week – A Bag Commission for an Xmas gift and a winter dress

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This week went by so fast and I had such a crazy day on the Thursday starting at 8am with our sewing class at school, then an afternoon at the school holiday boutique and the evening a classroom meeting. Whew what a day! I was so happy to take it easy on Friday and then came the weekend for a bit of R and R in the form of a night out with the ladies on the town! We met at the best Happy Hour restaurant in town – Xanh and had cocktails and dinner there. The food is so good and presented beautifully. After dinner we found dessert at Alexanders Patisserie – Oh My!! I really cannot wait to go back and try something with chocolate in it! I had the Lemon Tart and it was so divine, just right tartness and the custard was oh so creamy, yum!!

Lychee Martini – my fave!
This Lemon Tart was amazing with a cup of Oolong Tea

Sunday was another family night out for a potluck with our music school – missy played her first gig and Fur Elise is her fave so she played it in front of a crowd which was pretty impressive for a little person. A small video is here.

Missy playing Fur Elise

A friend of mine who I went out with on Saturday night reminded me about her commission for a bag for a Chrissy gift for her friend… I said yep this weekend I will get it started and I completed it and sold it and she loves it! The fabric is embroidered silk and is just stunning!

Such a beautiful tote bag commision

A project I started last week as I am wanting to sew more clothes for the season is the dress below. I will have to post a picture of me wearing it, as stretch fabric on a mannequin does not do it justice! A very interested pattern to work with and I will try it again on another thicker stretch fabric.

The dress I started making last week! 

A piece a Week – Tote Bags for lots of stuff… and some tasty vegan ice cream!

| poppypeach
A sneak peek of what I will be showing at the FabMo Textile Art Boutique coming up on October 25th. In production mode I finished a small park tote and 3 patchwork large tote bags, perfect for picnics or your camera (they are quilted with a lining and pockets on the inside, so super soft). I found a couple of unfinished quilt tops at FabMo one distribution that had so much work put into them that I saw that they needed to be reworked into to something to be used and appreciated for its quirky beauty. Plus I really did like a lot of the fabrics quilted throughout. 
Small X body park tote

Large patchwork tote bag with ribbon detail – repurposed from FabMo fabric

Very subtle design on this quilt with a martial arts belt as a handle

For those who like checks with their flowers – quirky is the key here!

This week just flew by and last week was a doozy! The beginning of the week was cruising along until I got myself a flat tyre – boo! Fine and dandy and AAA came and saved my distress and then I had to drive to San Jose to take my car in to get a new tyre. The tyre was not in stock so I got to drive around in an SUV for a couple of days – the kiddos really loved the sunroof! And yes, secretly I did enjoy driving around in it too – the environmental activist inside me does not agree!! Anyway while waiting to go to my appointment I had time to whip up some strawberry and fig ice cream, just the thing to get your day on the right track. It was a vegan vanilla ice cream found on Food52 – I am so happy that I can eat ice cream and it does not mess with my insides like dairy ice cream. I think the picture below is straight out of the ice cream maker in a soft serve form with macerated strawberry juice on top – delicious.
Macerated Fig and Strawberry Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream – fun with my ice cream maker

My wheels for a couple of days – the Subaru Forrester!

 Oh and this week Mr Ash took up Martial Arts – here he is in his little outfit! I love it and watching the class and the kids in action is wonderful. I just need to get him to practice everyday which isn’t too hard as it is really good exercise for him after a day at school. I am hoping that he sticks with it and enjoys the benefits of martial arts.

The next Bruce Lee

Thursday night I went to the SF Etsy Meet and Make with the San Francisco Etsy team at the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design. We made super cute gold dipped geode jewelry. My friend Cristiana from Pebble and Fire made a necklace and I made a ring. It was a fun class using the supplies found on this Pinterest page from Katy Atchison who taught the us this fun craft. The gold liquid gilding mix was intense (keep the lid on as it stinks like chemicals) but looks so good! Any jewelry you have just sitting around can be jazzed up with this stuff and it goes a long way!!

At the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco – needle in a haystack!

Sunday I made more ice cream as the end of another weekend was upon us! I had a couple of mangos from my CSA box and they were so tasty (not as good as Bowen Mangos from Queensland), still these were California grown and local – yay!!

Vegan Mango Ice Cream

For this amazing mango ice cream with a base of coconut milk – here is the recipe, an adaptation from a recipe for vanilla ice cream I found on Food52 and another Vegan Mango Ice Cream recipe.

2 cans coconut milk (I used one light and one full cream)
2 cups mango chunks – cut 1/2 inch square or smaller
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon arrowroot starch
1/2 cup agave sweetner
1 tablespoon vodka
1. Mix 1/4 cup of the coconut milk with the arrowroot starch and keep aside. 
2. Puree half the mango chunks. 
3. Combine the pureed mango, remaining coconut milk, agave and lime together in a saucepan and bring gently to a boil, take off the heat immediately and stir in the arrowroot mixture. This should cause the mixture to thicken slightly. 
4. Whisk through the 1 tablespoon vodka (alcohol does not freeze and this is added to keep the ice cream smooth and creamy).
5. Let the mixture cool and keep in the fridge overnight – it will be nice and custardy the next day. 
6. Once cold and thick, pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and follow the manufcturers directions. My Cuinsinart ice cream maker takes less than 20 mins to get this going and it is so good straight from the ice cream maker! Eat straight away if you like a soft serve type texture.
7. Alternatively put the ice cream in a loaf tin and freeze for 2 hours or more with parchment and a rubber band to keep it sealed in the freezer. 
8. Serve covered in mango – this was fresh mango from my CSA and it was amazing once it was ripe!!

We all scream for ice cream – Enjoy!!!