Tea For Two.......

.......a pretty quilted wall hanging given to me  by my sister many years ago. she hand stitched the appliqued teapot, cups & reused an embroidered doily for the cloth.

 the hanging did live on a wall somewhere in the house, i can't remember where. 

it's next place of abode was on the seat of a chair, & as things come & go it went to a box in the cupboard along with other bits & pieces that had out lived their lives.

every now & then i pull these boxes from the cupboard to see what they contain, & to see if there is anything that can be reused.

 along side the wall hanging there were pieces of block printed calico left over from previous bag makings. most of them blue, my favourite. 

one can never have too many bags, so here is my newest. 

a good size for shopping or carrying sketch books, or lunch.

side gusset.......

 ......lined inside, with a pocket......

 .........the back, long handles.....

......or short handles.
(raylee).

Crocheted Blue Birds Bag

 From this selection of fabrics......a pillowcase, some floral linen , a piece of chenille bedspread, a bit of plain cotton, a bit of printed broderie anglaise, ribbon & check bias binding combined with crocheted blue birds in fine cotton,....... a new bag .......

the front.....

the hand printed label......on the side....

           the back view.....handles stitched from the floral linen to add some pink to the blue colour scheme....

        & again......from the other side.....

it is lined with white cotton sheeting, i have washed & tumble dried it to soften it up......the crocheted birds were a gift from holly over at holly'sproject366........(raylee).

Horse Shoe Bag Underway......

Do you get an idea of what you want to make but don't seem to have all the right bits?.....this happens to me every now & then......i have learnt to be patient.......wait & the right bits appear......on her last visit, simonne brought me some of her bits she had no use for......i found some embroidered "horse shoes", just the right thing for this new bag! I am making it for someone who loves horses..... so have combined the two different kinds of shoes keeping to the "shoes bag theme". (raylee).

Blue Shoes Bag

Pink is pretty.....green is gorgeous .......but blue is the most beautiful of all!!

(raylee).

New Blue Shoes Bag

A new bag underway......

......more soon. What have you have you been making/doing? (raylee).

Pretty Bags In Pink & Green

Washed, dried & a little bit raggy, these bags are made from hand printed cotton, with doilies, fabric bits & pieces, crocheted flowers, velvet appliqued shoes, buttons & sometimes other found bits eg. old jewellery. the bags are lined which gives a much neater finish & makes the bag stronger. all the fabrics used are recycled. the yarn used for the crochet flowers is leftover from other projects. (raylee).

Sew Many Shoes.....

......i have sore fingers from all the stitching & poking pins into them as well, ah well they are almost done, its all machine stitching now..... ......the bags are sewn, the lining is in & the band has been stitched around the top, & the labels are on ......

......the handles are next , then two lovely ladies will receive a bag each.

Getting right off the bag track now.......it's nice to unexpectedly run into someone you haven't seen for a long time. But what do you say when they tell you they "were just talking about you the other day" ......&....."actually i was writing about you too"...... Who were they talking to? .....what were they saying......& what did they write about me?
Do you ask the question?....... or do you let sleeping dogs lie? (raylee).

Sew Many Shoes

On my sewing table today........more bags......to be completed soon......(raylee).

Green Shoes

Another bag in the making......hand block printed cotton sheeting, old doilies, roses cut from a piece of fabric, bits of a linen tablecloth & some green velvet, all op- shop finds. All pinned & ready to be stitched together. (raylee).

Pink Again

Its always good to get home & see what has been happening while you have been away. simonnes play panels are coming together now, trees with hearts, shiny pink stars.... what an imagination she has!! Another bag with pink shoes, i had a few requests for this design after i made one for our birthday giveaway.
Sad to see that "claire - slightly noodles" has ended her blog, she is such a ray of sunshine......her comments always made me smile. i wish her the best for the future, i wont say goodbye....as i hope she will return occasionally. (raylee).

Pretty in pink

Pink velvet shoes cut from furnishing fabric found at the op shop, on a collage made of beetroot dyed linen from an old tablecloth & old doilies also dyed, & some embroidered doilies & table napkins, some cutouts from a piece of floral linen , pinned onto a hand block printed piece of white cotton sheeting.

I am happy with this composition.......so now to the stitching.......to be continued. (raylee).

A new bag.... from recycled fabric finds

First of all i would like to say thank you to Pip from "meet me at mikes' for the "young things", we really appreciate all the help & information we have found on the blog...... so thank you Pip!!! This bag is made from used & recycled fabrics, the floral velvet side is a part of a table runner from the op shop, the patchwork side was a bonus find as the embroidery was already done as well as the patchhwork. the pocket was a fabric sample & the satin lining , & the doilies were given to me . even the thread i used for the running stitches is an op shop find.

i have been trying a few new things while my keyboard was out of action, nothing ready to look at yet. also made some new dolls, & finished the one i thought was a reject. someone saw her & liked her......... beauty is in the eye of the beholder, needless to say she has a new home! (raylee).

Red shoes bag

Views of the two sides of the bag, & two different handle lenghts, for the hand or over the shoulder. the bag is made from hand block printed calico, denim & corduroy for the shoes, & a pocket on the back from a pair of jeans. it is over stitched with a running stitch & is lined to make it neater & stronger. i have also hand painted a poem by henry lawson , over the printed design ,just because the recipient of this bag is a doodler, often writing random thoughts & snippets of conversations on bits of paper, so i thought it was appropriate for her. the name of the poem is "bill". (raylee).

Red shoes bag

bird detail

Just a couple of close ups of the birds from a previous bag... ...... showing the machine & hand embroidery. (raylee).

Boardshorts bag

Detail of bird from a bag

This bird is cut from a doily & a scarf, it was machine stitched as well as hand embroidered. (raylee).

bird detail

Boardshorts bag