Golden Hands!

Not Crafty Hands, not Arty-Farty Hands, Not Handmade Hands... its Golden Hands. My gran had the full collection and I can remember browsing through them for hours as a child. I tried to learn to knit, crochet, cross-stitch and embroider but I never had the patience to sit still for so long or be so neat and careful. My grandma, on the other hand, could sew just about anything and was a prolific crochet-er and embroider-er. Lucky me, because now I have a whole range of beautiful, old-fashioned and gently worn embroidered goodies that decorate the home.

I picked up this brilliant collection on a weekend jaunt to Stawell. The op shop on the Stawell main street is a veritable treasure trove of goodness. It's as though the homes of all the best grannies in the world were raided to fit it out. And even better, the prices are super cheap. Each of these books were only $2! Op shopping in the country is the way to go.

There are a few books missing from this collection, so if anyone's seen these books anywhere else, let me know!

Upcycled

This is what I made from the op shopped circular tablecloth from my last post: a circular skirt with a drawstring waist, now for sale in my Etsy shop (link through my blog). Not bad for a $4 tablecloth, a length of brown ribbon, and a couple of wooden beads!

Venturing further afield

I ventured to a slightly different suburb this week on an errand and decided to check out some new-to-me ops. This painted metal tray is from an op shop in Sandringham, opposite the pub. The back says: "Chatsworth, Derbyshire. Home of the Dukes of Devonshire". A bargain at $1, and the kind lady behind the counter threw in a pair of green knitting needles for free. I was going to use it as a painting surface, but I may keep it as is - it's growing on me.

A round batik table cloth, $4 from an op shop near Moorabbin station. Destined to be refashioned into a full circle skirt.

Background is a black and white sarong, $3 from the op shop in Bay Road, Sandringham (to be refashioned into a skirt or possibly a tunic). Purple flats with gold bows, $2, same shop. The book is Arthur Mee's Book of One Thousand Beautiful Things, $1, same shop (will become an altered book, I think). Black leather handbag, lable inside says Made In Italy, $3, same shop. Two leather belts, $2 each, from the Moorabbin op shop (for an art project/experiment).

Egyptian Mythology, $2 from Vinnies in Crewe St, Oakleigh. Sculpture book, $3.99; Old Macdonald, 99 cents (love the illustrations, I may adapt some for applique); The Wonder Book of Kittens, 99 cents (too cute to leave behind) - all from the Salvos in Atherton Road, Oakleigh.

Free knitting needles from Sandringham op shop, resting on folded Liz Claibourne skirt - a linen/cotton mix, feels lovely and soft - $3, from op shop in Bay Road, Sandringham (destined for embellishing/upcycling with pen, fabric paint and thread). Barbie clock, $1.99 from Salvos in Oakleigh. The lady behind the counter suggested that some lucky little girl would be thrilled to have a Barbie clock - I thought, but refrained from voicing, "Not when I've finished with it!". The clock is intended for, um, refashioning of a sort...

Quite a lovely haul! I did hit another Salvos and a fabric store (no purchases to report), after which I was pretty much op shopped-out. I must make an effort to range a little bit wider than my local oppies in future, that trip was fun.

Polka Dot Shirt

LOVE this shirt!! It took me only a few seconds to find this amongst racks and racks of shirts!

I found it at the Salvation Army on Glenferrie Road Malvern. $12!

Read more at http://www.adelle.com.au/my-red-and-white-polka-dot-shirt/

Holey sheet...

I always check and see if I can find any pretty printed sheets when I go to the opshop or hit a garage sale- you just don't seem to be able to buy printed sheets new in the shops anymore. At least I haven't seen any.... did they stop making them around the 70's? Here are some of my vintage favourites.

If the opshop you visit stocks bedlinen, you usually have to wade through quite a few stained-and-manky-looking sets to find the odd lovely one. These sheets aren't too faded and they're in pretty good nick, with no holes- I guess that means that they weren't used-and-washed too many times. People must have kept them for 'best.' I haven't really used them either! They are mostly double, and my bed is queen-size. I was thinking I might turn them into a quilt so they'd see the light of day but I kinda don't want to hack into them with scissors. I think I'll just continue to look at them and smile every time I open the linen cupboard to get out my plain white sheets :o)

Jeans for Genes joins forces with the Brotherhood of St Laurence

The Brotherhood of St Laurence is supporting Jeans for Genes during the week 1-7 August 2009, by offering high quality, recycled denim for only $3.

For every pair of jeans purchased during Jeans for Genes week, the Brotherhood will donate 10 per cent of proceeds to Jeans for Genes. The remaining funds raised will be used by the Brotherhood in a range of community projects.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence community stores are famous for fantastic recycled and vintage clothing. During Jeans for Genes week metropolitan and country community stores will have more than 100,000 pairs of jeans available for only $3 ‑ including designer labels such as Diesel, Levi’s, Mooks, Ralph Lauren and many more. The Brotherhood hopes to raise over $300,000 during the week.

Buying recycled denim saves precious energy and minimises climate change impact. To make a new pair of jeans consumes about 40kWh of energy and creates more than 100 ‘black balloons’ of greenhouse gases. By comparison, to process and distribute a recycled pair of jeans creates just two black balloons of greenhouse gases.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence is a charity working for an Australia free of poverty. It provides services for disadvantaged families, elderly people, refugees, youth and the unemployed which allow people to create a better future for themselves.

Jeans for Genes is a major fundraiser of the Children's Medical Research Institute.
One in twenty children is born with some form of genetic fault. There are children with leukaemia, muscular dystrophy, genetic defects and many other disorders. The scientists at the Children’s Medical Research Institute work to prevent these diseases before they occur, or where that is not possible to develop better treatments.