Have your hair in order...

I spotted this advise from a 1949 sewing machine manual. Hannah - that could be the reason why you have panic attacks when sitting in front of a machine - your lipstick's not on...

Jeez what our fore-mothers had to contend with!

Craft Events Galore

Tomorrow Hannah and I are going to one, hopefully two, of the three craft events happening in Auckland this weekend. We are meeting at Craft Out West at 1pm (Trusts Stadium). Give me a call if you're keen to come along, I'd be happy to give you a lift.

We are also hoping to get along to the Auckland Art Gallery's Art & Craft Fair, at the New Gallery. It will be interesting to compare the two, I have my own expectations of low-brow vs, high-brow, hopefully they will be confounded! The Art & Craft Fair's blog can be seen here.

On Sunday Kraftbomb in Grey Lynn is on again.

I've been to one of the first ones and really enjoyed the work there, which has a contemporary/indie bent. Unfortunately I can't make it on Sunday, perhaps next month.

Second installment...

Here's some pix from the second session of the PCE. Not such a good turn out but the weather was absolutely atrocious (coupled with a horrid flu bug doing the rounds) - the stay-at-home option was definitely the preferred one!

I took a few snaps of the projects on the go.

I started my project of using up remnants to make grocery bags. One remnant down - 4 giant boxes to go...

Norma worked on a jumper (sans pattern - v. clever/experienced!) using a bouclé yarn which looked very tricky to knit with (check out Norma's crocheted top in the background - her daughter Jo made it).

We also spent some time trying to analyse how a very chic coat Anna S bought on Trademe was knitted. It was knitted 'along' the garment in a rib-type stitch, with some elaborate shaping.

Such a brilliant idea to buy a small women's top with 3/4 length sleeves for a child - it fits Alessandra beautifully as a coat. And with the addition of some (bakelite?) buttons, chosen by Alessandra from Lets Go Retro in Swanson, the coat looks so cute!...

Aren't 'repurposed' clothes the best?

Ok the next session is pencilled in for the 4th of August. But I'll confirm that next week.

Not so Etsy

Norma - the site I mentioned last night was Etsy. It's the major player for trading handmade and vintage items online. Perhaps we could have a Piha Craft Exchange 'shop' and sell our things?

Vintage Fabric Sale

Claire has passed on the news that Salvage Vintage Textiles (537 Mt Eden Rd) is closing down. Their last day of trading is the 31st of July and they're having a sale from the 19th until then. Many times I've called in and coveted their merchandise, buying the odd piece which I'm ashamed to say now languishes with the rest of my fabric horde. Must... stop... buying... fabric! They also sell trimmings, vintage patterns, knitting needles etc.

Sad to hear that it's closing down.

Next Session

Just to confirm - I've booked the hall for the next session: Wednesday the 21st of July.

Zumba has the hall until 7:30pm, so we'll see you there some time after half 7.

Spread the word.

Craft Out West

Hannah and Anissa have both mentioned Craft Out West at the Trusts Stadium. We're thinking about checking it out on the Sunday morning (the 25th). It looks like a big event with over 80 stalls.

You never know, perhaps next year we will have our own PCE stall?

Great idea Clare...

One of those 'should have thought of this myself' things... Clare emailed yesterday wondering if we should organise some rides for those in the community who might be interested in coming along but may not drive at night or not keen on rolling up by themselves. Yes of course, good idea! So if you know anyone in that category then by all means offer them a lift. This certainly applies to people at both ends of the age spectrum - I'm sure there are some younger people in Piha who would like to learn to knit etc.

Knitting community site...

Ravelry was mentioned last Wednesday and I thought I'd add the link. It's a great place to go if you're after free knitting and crochet patterns. I'm keen to make Lenny a hat and found a whopping 140 pages of patterns for crocheted hats.

Another site I like to check out for more knitting/crochet freebies is Lion Brand. I'm on their email list and it's worth signing up to. Last Friday I was sent 4 great patterns for these market totes...

Knitty.com is also worth a visit. A lot of their patterns are more contemporary and most drool-worthy!

Let me know if there are any sites you can recommend.

Up and running

Thanks to everyone who came along to the first Piha Craft Exchange (PCE). Hannah and I really enjoyed the evening and look forward to the next one. It rekindled our love of making things, so much so that we're considering holding the session more regularly than planned. It's easy to lose momentum with a craft project if you can only manage to sit down with it once a month. Perhaps it's my post-natal brain state but I forget where I'm up to! So maybe every 2 or 3 weeks - we'd love some feedback on that one.

Here are a few snaps I took of the various projects on the go...

Anissa has added a beautiful applique tree to some cord trousers she made. She brought along a yummy basket full of vintage fabric and some great books - Weekend Sewing Projects and a very inspiring Japanese pattern book.

Anita cut out a classic 6-gore skirt (the hall's trestle tables are very handy - especially for someone like me who can't find a clear tabletop at home).

Tasha got a knitting lesson from Norma - thanks Norma! - and has started a scarf using some beautiful blue/green yarn.

Hannah put the finishing touches on a cute jacket she knitted for her niece.

Claire and I worked on our crochet projects (dish cloth and afghan cushion cover).

Anna S and Sue did some mending which put the sewing machine we bought for the PCE through its paces. It seemed to do the trick so if you have some mending to do or you'd like to have a go on a machine it would be great if you could join us at the next session. At this stage it will be on the 21st of July - but that is to be confirmed - stay tuned.

Thanks again for coming, it was a lot of fun (craft-porn even got a mention!)