CRAFT FINDS OF THE WEEK

Blue Monday... on Friday

Monday I had the increasingly rare privelidge of heading off in search of op-shop booty without toddler in tow. It seems the more I clear out of the studio come nursery for intern number two the twitchier my op-shop antenna becomes. No real surprises I guess there! Monday's haul again came with a colour theme. This time blue. First find was a beauty straight from the Time Life library The Art of Sewing/BOUTIQUE ATTIRE . Behind what was I can only describe as a misleadingly blue hued pastel cover lay the keys to what will undoubtedly become the inspiration for my winter wardrobe. Take a look at these beauties...


Because of course we all want a metallic patchwork puff jacket as the perfect transeasonal accessory, but never knew how to make one before.


And a floating multi-shibori maxi dress to get you through those difficult to dress for 'last days of summer ' outdoor social gatherings.

And why not take tips on how to hand paint your own silk kimono jacket from a cross dressing Brains in a Barbara Feldman wig.

Of course we already knew that macrame owls were so last season ... but who would have thought that cloud motifs work so much better when hand painted, cut in faux suede and applied to a winter mu-mu?

Fabulous, inspirational and now proudly sitting on the bookshelf right beside my copy of Bob Mackie's Dressing for Glamour.

I also managed to find this Japanese ceramic bird, the likes of which i've been searching for seemingly forever. So excited. And also so terrified that with a house full of boys it will last all of five minutes on the mantlepiece...

and then there were these two blue handworked embroidery pieces that clearly I couldn't do without either.

Although between you and me what I will eventually do with them still remains somewhat of mystery. BECK