Xmas at the PCE

Christmas is gold for a craft-mad person like me - so many things you can make: presents, food, cards, decorations etc.

This year I'd love to make a heap of skirts to give to friends' daughters. They are super quick and easy to make. But, dammit, I never have the time; December is always madness. Hopefully this Wednesday I can make something Christmasy. A few cards? Nougat? Maybe even a skirt or 2. Any ideas - I'm keen to hear them.

By the way I'd love to teach a non-sewer how to make a girls skirt - let me know if you are keen.

Here's our Xmas flyer... 

I love this image of these women. 

Happy crafting. See you this Wednesday.

Anna 

No Craft Session tonight

Hi all - I'm in deepest darkest Piha News Land so I'm flagging the craft session tonight. We'll have a Christmas extravaganza next week. Hope you can make it. Apologies for the postponement.
Take care.

Strawberry Sauce Anyone?

Did I say we were going to make strawberry jam - sorry I meant sauce; delicious, sweet, RUNNY sauce. Mmmm. So ok it didn't go quite to plan but I had a good time anyway and I learnt a lot, like how not to make strawberry jam...

 

Thanks to the fabulous women who came along and helped. Let me know if you have any ideas on what to do with this stuff! So far I've used it in apple [and strawberry] pie, on pancakes with yoghurt and in ice blocks. However there's still a swag of jars here so drop me an email and I'll pop some in your mailbox.

The next session is on the 1st of December. I'm not sure what to do. Perhaps we could make some Christmas cards or some simple Xmas presents - things like stuffed toys and skirts are easy to make. I'm open to suggestions. Christmas Mince Pies? Christmas decorations? And being such a mad time of year I think this next session will be our last for the year.

Jam Session

This Wednesday we are going to make some strawberry jam. I'm looking forward to it as I am a jam making virgin. As children we used to 'help' my mother, who was a big preserver of fruit and marmalade maker, but I've never made jam on my own before.

Helen has kindly offered her preserving pan and expertise and we'll whip up a batch. Email me if you are keen to come along as I need to know how many kgs to pick. I think we'll go to Janita Gardens
on Henderson Valley Rd. Also bring along some jars (with lids) and a paring knife so we can all pitch in and hull the strawberries.

I'm yet to confirm this but I also think Tasha is going to show us how to make yoghurt. Apparently it's super easy and of course miles better than using the bought sachets.

See you there - remember to RSVP.
Anna

Session 9

Thanks to Sue, Tasha and Clare for coming along. It was another late one again: sewing, eating, drinking and talking - all my favourite activities.

Clare did some more work on her beautiful cross stitch...

 

The process looks so analogous to how a printer works; row by row, little dots. I don't think my eyesight is good enough for cross stitch at that scale. Although for years I've wanted to try my hand at either Blackwork embroidery or Sashiko, a Japanese technique that's similar to Blackwork. I recently got this book out of the library...

It has some beautiful projects. Perhaps next winter I'll make a start. And here's a photo of some cute Sashiko work and a sample page of various Blackwork patterns...

Tasha brought in a stack of sarongs she bought in Malaysia. She re-hemmed them, then very kindly gave one to each of us. Thank you Tasha, I love mine. Not sure whether to keep it as a sarong or make it into a wrap-around skirt. I have a pattern somewhere. It could be a good PCE project.

Tasha also worked some more on her scarf...

I started on another library bag and began converting some of Lenny's ankle-breezing pants into shorts for summer.

Sue also made repairs to various Keio garments. It's good to know that he doesn't need that bulldog clip to hold his pants up anymore - poor child!

The next session is on the 17th. We're planning an activity for it, so stay tuned for that.
Take care,
Anna

Next Session - dance costumes

The next session of the Piha Craft Exchange is this Wednesday (the 3rd of November). This week a number of us are going to work on the costumes for the children's ballet concert which is happening at the end of the month. As Lenny isn't involved in the dance classes I'm not completely sure what's planned but I think we're having a go at making something for the little ones.

So if your child is involved in the Dance classes you are welcome to come along to the craft session on Wednesday and put something together for them to wear. I'm popping into Spotlight on my way to work tomorrow so I'll grab some fabric.

Spied this on the net - thought it looked an easy thing to make. It's just some ribbons tied around a waistband...

Surely we can make something like that!?

Piha Market Day

Last weekend we had the annual Piha Market Day extravaganza which is a fundraiser for the local Preschool. PCE members Clare and Anna are the main protagonists in the organising and running of the event - they do a wonderful job. Thank you for your efforts, it was a fun and successful day.
The PCE didn't have a stall this year, I'm hoping that we'll have one in 2011. However PCE participant Anissa did and it looked amazing. Full of beautifully made items; bibs, bags, children's clothing, iPod wallets etc, made with vintage and re-purposed fabrics...

Anissa has also been accepted into November's Kraftbomb - or perhaps it was October's?! I'll get back to you on that one. Best of luck Anissa, you're an inspiration to us other PCE crafters. Her blog can be viewed here.
I'm not sure whether there were other crafty bits at the Piha Market this year as I was busy dishing out the salads - here's a photo of them...

 

Amy, our local master chef, whipped them up and they sold like hotcakes. Thanks Amy - we had a lot of people returning and asking for the recipes; they were delicious. While I'm at it: Amy is a fantastic caterer, so if you're planning a function and need some yummy food, leave a comment below and I'll put you in touch.
Have a good week everyone.
Anna