Meet Bertha

I made a new friend this week. She is a little rough around the edges and may need a hammer and a bit of WD40 before she is the right shape (which in this instance is MY shape).......

Bertha, as I have christened her was being throw away by the business next door and they said I could have her for free!!! WooHoo!

There is enough for a dress, but I suspect the colour will look awful near my face!

I think she looks rather fetching in this fabric which I think is destined for a quick and dirty skirt job this week.

I also managed to pick up a couple of great pillowcases to be used either as dresses for Poppet or as panels in a skirt for moi (come on spring!!!!), and few more patterns.

Prints galore!

I also picked up this truly dreadful tea towel. I have a soft spot for all things Scottish having lived there for a few years many moons ago. I saw this guy and had to buy it....because sometimes something is so bad it is good.

So bad its good? Or just bad?

I may be even more sporadic with my posts in the coming weeks......after a year of being on the market we finally sold our house and are packing up and moving! (Just as soon as we can find somewhere to rent!!!) .

Til next time...
CC.

Linking up with Her Library Adventures Flea Market Finds and

Dotty for Doilies!

I jumped on the doily bandwagon this week. Actually I jumped on it a while ago after seeing a ridiculous amount of cute doily projects on the blogosphere. After picking up an appropriately sized doily in the haul a couple of weeks ago, I was inspired to try this collar. I made a  few changes to the original instructions.

1. Mine started unravelling as soon as I cut it, so I added bias tape to the neck and edge.
2. I used hat elastic to fashion a loop for he button to go through. Poppet pulled this off in about an hour, so I ended up pushing the button through the existing holes.
3. I messed up the cutting and both sides are a little uneven if I wear it Peter Pan style. As long as I wear it fastened at the back it fine!

Thank you to Noemie from The Sun was High for posting it. I will definitely try making another one. If you have a spare doily hanging around give it a try. If I can get it (almost) right anyone can!

Please ignore the similarity to the gorgeous Noemie's picture...I didn't click until after I posted it!  (Well as similar as this old lady is going to get!  I cropped my eyes so the wrinkles and bags couldn't be seen after a few too many nights without sleep!)

CC. 

The Linen Dilemma

Once upon a time I would walk into an oppie and see a lovely single bed sheet, pick it up, look at it longingly and keep walking. These days I pick them up, squeal internally (or lets face it, sometimes rather loudly) and add them to the stash I'm trying to juggle whilst chasing two kids down aisles and yelling "no, you can't have....!".
Why the change.....well A)we now have single beds in the house. Well, single bed, but since poppet will need one eventually I buy nice ones when I see them, and B) I have started sewing many of them would make great clothes. The problem is, do I keep them as sheets or chop them and turn them into pretty dresses for me and Poppet? Tell me, what would you do?

Green single only....others with set. Even wash fade, great designs, dilemma dilemma.!

I have been grabbing a ridiculous amount of patterns lately....now I just have to learn how to sew with them.

I can see the sheets as some of these. 

Also picked up some great doilies and napkins along with the patterns. 

Along with doilies I've been picking up napkins lately. The doilies are destined for collars and decorations on clothes. The napkins are destined to be....napkins! Yep, some things I think I will keep for their intended purpose!

Any other ideas on how to use this weeks stash? Check out Her Library Adventures for other great Flea Market Finds. 

CC

Ugly Flora

I had a rare child free day on Wednesday and managed to hit three oppies, take in a movie and eat an eggy breakfast! Bliss!

I've need a sofa bed for a while so when I spotted this in an op shop I hadn't been to before I knew I had to bring her home!. So what if we have no space? So what if I had to put a lounge (that probably matched the house better) in storage? So what if we had to take an entire morning borrowing trailers and shuffling stuff? So what if some people think she is ugly? I shall name her Flora and I shall love her.

I've picked up a bunch of great napkins in recent weeks that I am planning on turning into no sew bunting when I have five minutes. Check back soon to see the results! 

I'm hoping to get more photos up tonight of some great vintage patterns I picked up as well as the napkins (but right now, I am cold in an unheated room as my netbook  needs power and the last episode of Downton and a cup of tea awaits!)

CC

Linking up to Flea Market Finds over at Her Library Adventures

Autumn Leaves

With all the cold weather and and whinging about being cold (and yes it is just whinging, its not that cold yet), I've still managed to get out to the local Op- Shops and markets over the past couple of weeks. 

These canisters are awesome! And in great autumn colours. And the Pyrex  casserole dish is perfect for making two serves of chocolate self saucing pudding! (Yes, I have already tried it.....waited until the kids went to bed and then quickly made some for us grown ups and scoffed it in two minutes flat!)

Vintage kitchen porn

I picked up some kids books from the 50's and 60's from a record seller at the markets. They are in great condition but my only gripe is that he stuck awful stickers to the front that have damaged the covers during removal. Oh well, I buy things because I like them, not for resale. On the upside Mr C picked up a Zappa on vinyl that he had been looking for for a while, so I can't be too hard on the guy!

Chuckles is impressed with the one the left that he refers to as "The Party Book"

This week I have been lucky with boys clothes, which is lucky as Chuckles seems a) outgrow everything in five minutes or b) soil whatever he is wearing. Deep breath...this will pass!

I picked up his outfit below for about $7! The pants were in the dress up section of the oppie and I'm sure the woman thought I would be permanently scarring my son by letting him wear them every day. The coat is lovely wool, very warm, dates from pre 70's and only cost me $2. Whilst shopping at the farmers market all the old dears kept telling me how pretty "she" was. And they didn't mean Poppet.

Poppet's coat is thanks to a few awesome friends with great taste that give us all their cast offs! Huzzah for hand me downs!

Toilet stop for chuckles means chance to play in the autumn leaves!

Till next time.
xxCC

Linking up with Her Library Adventures and

Birthday records

A number of years ago two babies were born in the same hospital 3 days apart. They didn't meet for 27 years, but when they did they fell in love, had some wild joint birthday parties and then settled down and had kids. This week Mr Chameleon and I turned 35. When we turned 30 we celebrated with an all night fancy dress party, 31 was spent on a boat on Halong Bay and today we took the kids to the cinema for the first time and came home and drank tea.

I must have aged as I think I prefer the latter!

Amongst a week of baking and stressing over other things (more of those in posts to come) I managed to buy a few things, including Mr Chameleon's birthday present. Some may say I'm stingy, I prefer vintage ;-)

After we had a conversation a couple of months ago about John Peel and his record box (containing the records he would take with him in a fire), I decided I wanted to buy Mr Chameleon one. Now, there are quite a few on ebay, but most were out of my price range, so I put the call out to the thrift divas that are my mother and sister in law. Mum found this for me after posting a wanted add on a facebook sale site.

This one holds 12". I now need to find something to hold 45s. Actually I think I may have started something and wanted to collect a few more!

OK, so it doesn't hold 142....but it is probably more portable. 

I also picked up this Star Wars version of Guess Who at the local Oppie. It was sitting in the window calling out to me with its $3 price tag. I know its isn't perfect (it was created after the prequels so contains Jar Jar Binks, but at least it isn't auditory) , but it has all the pieces and gave me something to put in the record case (since I ran out of time to buy him a new record). We had a game the other night and its great. You can get rid of a whole bunch of characters if the first question is "Are you humanoid?"

I picked up this set of 10 linen napkins from the same shop. I love crisp white linen (or in this case still wrinkled white linen) with the fresh greens in the embroidery. A couple of them have a few age spots, but otherwise they are in great condition.

Would look great on a Christmas table!

I also did a bit of facebook garage sale shopping this week. I had noticed this Sesame Street doona (duvet) cover a few weeks ago and finally succumbed yesterday. At this stage I am thinking of using it for fabric. Either as a skirt or pillowcases.

Wow! Cookie monster is Australian?? 

I think big bird is still my favourite.

And yes...the skirt will probably be for me and not Poppet.

CC

Linking up with Flea Market Finds over at Her Library Adventures.

Bagaholic

I love bags, cases, boxes......anything that you can put other things in. My mother is the same. Give her a present and the first words out of her mouth are "Ooh, nice box".

The second hand gods smiled on me this week. I had a phone call from a friend last weekend saying that her neighbours had a sewing cabinet out the front of their house with a sign saying free! Thankfully the owners dragged it back inside til we could pick it up. It even contains a sewing machine that apparently still works and the manual. Since I have a shiny new machine I don't need a second one and a friend from work is pretty stoked to get a free machine.

Sewing cabinet, 2 airline totes, 2 suitcases, wrap dress pattern, fabric and tea towel! Huzzah!

 I was able to hit a couple of op-shops this week and scored the two suit cases and the concorde bags from the one shop!! I grabbed the red concorde bag as I walked through through the door and was amazed as I walked to the other end of the shop and spied the blue one. After trawling though the clothes to no avail I spotted the suitcases at the rear of the store. I am going to use them to store the ever growing stash of fabric I seem to be accumulating.

Scarf storage and out and about

The brown case has a broken latch, but still closes thanks to the amazing buckles. It even still has the key. I am terrible at dating anything..anyone have any idea as to how old it might be? I love that it comes with its own clothes airer...it must of been top of the line in its day!

Complete with clothes airer

All straps and buckles still intact

I scored the fabric and the pattern for a wrap dress in another shop. I'm thinking a skirt with the fabric......the wrap dress is a bit beyond my current abilities..but soon grasshoppers! The repro AWW tea towel was destined to be turned into an apron, but I'm thinking of using it as wall hanging instead. I figured I can always change my mind.....but once cut you can't go back!

I passed on a whole bunch of gorgeous crockery, but have decided that since we are about to move there is no way I am bring home anything that needs wrapping in newspaper! I was able to justify the suitcases since they can be used in the moving process.
Honestly, they won't clutter things at all. (Total cost including some kids shoes and baby bowls......less than A$30! I love a bargain)
CCXX

(Linking up with Her Library Adventures - Flea Market Finds)

Shiny red kitchens.

Yes, this is my shameless plug to win a kitchenaid. I will pimp myself for prizes. But hey, can you blame me? Matchbox ran a competition to a new shiny, mixy, did I say SHINY! kitchenaid. And I love my red kitchen porn, so of course I entered. And I got to make a fool of myself in public (in my lunch break at work, where they are used to me making a fool of myself on a regular basis).

The competition was to dress up in my fave vintage frock and have my photo taken in public (preferably in a matchbox store). There are no matchbox stores near where I live, so I figured I'd create a montage of fabulous frocks, in various locations with me holding my dinky cardboard cutout. This was all I managed, since it was the week before Christmas and the rest of life got in the way (more on Christmas later).

Dress: 70's polyester thrifted

Belt: 80's vinyl thrifted

I would of liked to of worn something 50's inspired, but this is what I wore to work that day and I still think it works.

So, if I don't win at least I got to have a laugh in the process.

CC

N.B Thanks to the Organized Housewife for featuring the comp.

I didn't win the mixer....but I did win a Kitchenaid blender!!!!!