Home Makeover- bags4 Edition

I have a sewing room.
But it's
Full.


On a productive sewing day, the pans, bowls, and tins of buttons begin to spill out of the sewing room/ office room/ kids-numbing-their-cortexes-on-video-games room....


......and spread steadily towards the dining room.
Stacks of like-minded fabrics.
Baskets full of neckties.
Scissors, pins, sketches, ideas....

And a few favourite turqoise pieces that are utterly unrelated but oh-so inspiring!

If I cooked meals on days like this,

That's where we'd eat.

But this is so much more satisfying.

Did I mention that in addition to the sewing room/office, I also have an overflowing corner in my basement?

And some boxes in the garage?

So as we slowly succomb to suffocation bags4 style,

Plan to meet me at the fair!

Show 'n Tell, Aussie Style

Six days of inspiring company found me cutting and stitching to my heart's content.

I hadn't seen my friend in twenty years. We were in our twenties when we'd last spent time together, and our interests reflected that. There was no way of knowing that as the years slipped by, our lives paralleled in the most unusual ways.

Buttons and textiles.

Ric Rak and remnants.

Old and unusual.

What unparalleled joy it was sift through buttons and inspiration with her and her beautiful (in many ways) daughter for a week as we caught up on each other.

The outcomes were memorable.

Donna did not return to the land down under without a bag or two to sell in her own shop near Sydney. (Yay! Bags4 goes international!!)

Bag number one features a retro tablecloth, and the embroidery from an upcycled tea towel.

The other side reuses a kitchen curtain turned pocket, all held together with a vintage button to form a pocket.

This one time drape got paired with a gorgeous (unused) handkerchief and four vintage buttons.

Another hanky adorns the back.

This was one of her personal favorites. She has a profound weakness for all things green and pink.

And my own favourite. I had been hoarding an ancient piece of embroidery that was terribly tattered but sweet and inspired. This was the place to use it. To stabilize the worn nature of the linen, I did a free form stitch-about all over the piece, creating some thread designs over top the original linen. I love the overall effect.

Here's a vintage tablecloth, reading to tote someone's produce from the maw-ket. (that's Aussie for market, or grocery store)

And finally, a series of photos of the bag I made specially for my old friend the lover of green and pink. One side features a pillow slip, a Little John rolled oats muslin sack, and a piece of crochet. (Donna is also a crochet freak)

A large dreamy hanky forms a pocket on the other side.

Turn it inside out and you've got another bag entirely.
I wasn't so greedy that I couldn't share some of my precious buttons with an old friend.

And I simply had to use a Manitoba Sugar Co sack for the other side. She'll never forget her memorable trip to Winnipeg hauling that little beauty around now, will she?

Ah, two more.
I thought we were nearly done!

There's my friend- all weighted down.

Hope the airline doesn't charge her too much for excess weight, or those bags will really become expensive! Should be all right though, since she also nicked a large bag I'd once made for a customer who changed her mind.

One of my personal faves- the carpet bag. It's large and chock-a-block full of pockets on the inside. Ironically, the customer who had requested the bag wanted a piece large enough for all her knitting. Turns out the bag goes to Donna and is currently stuffed with every sort of tool and gadget necessary for in flight crochet. What a party animal, that gal.

I reckon it'll be a fun experiment to have a friend market bags4 in Australia.

Fair dinkum.

I'm Still Here...

... and haven't forgotten my commitment to Darfur, my appreciation for you, my followers, and my love of all things vintage and woven.

At this moment and for several more to come, I am hosting a dear friend from Australia and her amazing daughter. They inspire me in so many ways.

So, although there is simply no time for blogging, I've found myself lost in buttons and design dreams once again.

I thank you for your constant support, and now for your patience.

xo joyce