Friday, March 15, 2013

A Tiny Tilda bear on a tiny perfumed chair

I finally finished the tiny bear from Tilda's Winter Wonderland.
Now, those little details might drive some people crazy. Not me, I love them. She was a perfect armchair project once all the little seams were completed using the machine.
Next, I am doing tiny bunny.
The bear's little perch is an old perfume bottle from Avon. It is a replica of an old fashioned ice cream parlour chair. The base of the chair contained creme perfume and the top is a pin cushion.
It was included in a pile of things my Aunt was editing from her house, and was on its way to Goodwill. But first, I was invited to rifle through the pile before it went to the thrift store.
Surprise! Buttons and a wooden spool also came home with me.
The Avon bottle even had a bit of creme perfume in it -- until I got it home.
 Perfume doesn't travel well from 1973 to 2013. It was quite a weird smell. Not unpleasant exactly, but not something one really wants hanging around. I scooped out the rest with a craft stick and paper towel and washed it thoroughly. Now it is a benign keepsake of the summer I learned to make my own clothes under the careful guidance of my auntie, who has always shared herself and her talents with me.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Every now and then, I delight myself




 This was a long time in the re-making, but I finally finished the formerly PINK dress form.
I really love the way it turned out.
It is coming with me to the CreativFestival in Toronto next month.
The thing that  makes me happiest about this project is that I finally parted with some things I had been saving for the just the "right" project.
The ribbon rose is real silk ribbon from Mokuba, a downtown Toronto store I only visit once or twice a year. They have little remnant packages -- made, I think just for me -- and this ribbon was in one of them. Ditto the rice paper leaves I made for the rose.
The spool is from the cast of thousands that I dearly love and just enjoy having around. They are a cozy reminder of when I first started sewing on my grandma's old black Singer machine. I hunt them down when I can, people give them to me when they are discovered in the sewing boxes of grandmas and great aunts. Ditto the buttons, acquired from happy button discoveries in thrift stores over the years.
The pencil and the scissors are not real, they are from the jewelery and scrapbooking sections of Michaels.
I am excited to be going to the CreativeFestival with this overhauled lady. I hope that when people stop to "meet" her, they will also want to learn about embroidery and embellishments.
Yep, every now and then, I manage to delight myself.