Love Lace Exhibit at The Powerhouse Museum

Today I went to the Love Lace exhibit at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. Overall it was a fantastic exhibit showcase people's different interpretations of lace from all over the world. And we aren't just talking about lace in the textile terms. There were exhibits made from old cars, paper, fences & wire and ceramics. It is well worth the visit if you can make it, but be prepared for a few wierd ones, like the uterus knitted from human hair!

Sydney Fabric Stores

Recently I bought some new sewing patterns that I wanted to try out, but Spotlight and Lincraft didnt have any fabric that tickled my bones so I plan to head into the city this Saturday to try and find some fabric. I'm looking for stores mainly int he CBD area. So far I've found Tessuti (both the Surry Hills and the city store) and the Fabric Store in Surry Hills.

Are there any others out there that I should know about and will be open on a Saturday. I'm looking for stores that sell cotton (woven) and knit fabrics.

Thanks for any suggestions

Happy crafting :)
P x

Lace & embroidery floss dyeing

I mentioned in my last post that I went to the Craft & Sewing Show at Newcastle last weekend, and whilst I was there I picked up some craft dyes from Starr Laces & Ribbons. These are concentrate liquid dyes that will dye any natural fibre and are non-toxic. All you need to do is dilute the dye (I used 1 part dye to 4 parts water), then paint the dye on or immerse the fibre article in the dye and then heat set the dye. You can heat set the dye in your microwave (small items take a minute or less) or on the stove top if you want to dye/heat set at the same time. The best thing about these dyes is that you dont need to throw out the left overs once you've finished because they will keep pretty much indeffinately! You can even mix the dyes, make them up in different strengths etc to get whatever colour you want. I bought some bows so I could make a refernce sample for the dyes.

I'm pretty happy with these colours but think I might get a dark blue and brown to give me a larger choice of colours.

I also used some plain white embroidery floss/thread and dyed them using the dyes. I did use four different colours below even though it is hard to see. I'm looking forward to using them in an upcoming embroidery project.


I do reccommend that if you like dyeing lace, ribbon, embroidery floss, fabric etc that you check out the range dyes available. They are resonably priced and super simple to use!

Happy crafting :)

Where is my mojo?

I can't believe it has been over a month since I last wrote a blog post. I seem to have lost my mojo lately - maybe because I have not been feeling the best thanks to a nasty virus that has been doing the rounds. I went to the Craft and Sewing Show up at Newcastle last weekend to help inspire me and kicked my mojo back into working order - and it seems to have worked. I been working on putting this quilt together that I started way back in April!

It's coming along well so far - here is a picture of the blocks laid out ready to be sewn together.


Sorry for the poor quality, I took it on my phone. But hopefully you will be able to see the finished version sooner rather than later. The blocks are all sewn together, I now need to add the borders and sew the backing together. Then I can quilt it! Which I have to admit I'm kind of nervous about as this will be the first quilt where I don't "stitch in the ditch" and will be the first quilt that isn't destined for a wall.

And as we are talking about mojo, my knitting mojo seems to be on vacation. I've had no desire to knit lately as well as no desire to buy any more yarn!

Happy crafting!

Interchangeable Knitting Needles Case

I decided that it was time to have a more practical solution to storing my interchangeable knitting needle tips and cables. I saw this uber cute and practical case tutorial over at Missus Vonkysmeed and decided to base mine pretty heavily on this great tutorial. This tutorial ticked all the boxes I was looking for in a case for my knitting needles (room for the tips, cables and accessories), I just moved the placement of some of the pockets.


And I did something I haven't done for a long time...I made it entirely from my stash. Not one thing was purchased to make this!


So what do you think? How do you store your interchangeable knitting needles and cables?

Linking to: Take-A-Look Tuesday and We Did It! Wednesday(button is in my side bar to the right). Enjoy!

Happy Crafting xx

Tilting Tardis Finished

I finally finished the Tilting Tardis cowl I have been working on for my sister. Overall the pattern was fairly easy, but it also made it easy to make mistakes every now and then.

And the good news is she likes it!

Happy crafting :)