I felt rockin'

Here it is. The fender telecaster: The most hard working and versatile rock guitar in history. Here's a little history lesson...

Famously, when Bob Dylan  "went electric” (46 years ago almost to the day,July 25th 1965)he played a 1958 black fender telecaster and how better to cast off the shackles of folk music than with a tele?

But they don’t just come in black.

A sparkly razzle dazzle telecaster was played by Don Rich of the Buckeroos...well it was country music in the sixties and it matched the suits. BLING! Here's a bit of toe-tapping Buck Owens the Buckeroos playing, "Satan's Got To Get Along Without Me."

Jimmy Paige wrote the infamous “Stairway to Heaven” riff (bane of every guitar shop worker world wide)on this hand painted psychedelic “dragon” telecaster ... well...it was the seventies...Check out those pants!

Chrissie Hynde had an electric blue one...well It was the eighties!

Merle Haggard is famous for playing one and these days so does Frank Black from the Pixies. We're in good company.

My all time favourite would have to be Bill Kirchen’s 1959 model with maplefretboard and Sunburst finish -all of which has been worn off by years of playing!

And you can see how he wore it off here.In this amazing performance Bill Kirchen conjures every guitar player and style imaginable.

Now that’s a hard working telecaster.

And for all you Buddy Holly Fender stratocaster fans.... here's a clasic red strat...

I’m off to try and make a sunburst telecaster....and a sparkly one...and a wood grain one...

posted by Julianne Sister outlaw

I felt Classical

One of my daughters toyed with learning the violin in her primary school years - I say "toyed" because she NEVER practised! 

  

 And if there is one instrument that you have to practise, it's the violin. The paradox being that it is hard to practise because it sounds really awful when you start - but forever remains awful if you don't start! My Hazel never quite got the paradox. 

However, other Sister Outlaw children do play violin, and they even practise! Yay for Remy and Dan! Remy is studying hard for her theory exam which is coming up. This violin is for her. Hopefully it will be a good luck charm!

I used little beads for the fine tuners and scrolled the end of the neck. Need to find some smaller shank buttons for the pegs - the two big ones I put on look a bit funny!!

posted by Julianne Sister outlaw

I felt bluegrassy

I have been tinkering with a range of bag tags to dangle from instrument cases....here's the first one. A mandolin.

front

back

not sure about the strings...

Mandolins are so lovely with their twirly swirly cow lick.

You don't get any better mandolin playing than Mr Bill Monroe - this is a clip with his Bluegrass Boys. And here, as a very old man, he plays a moving solo rendition of "My Last Days on Earth". Nothing like the mandolin to pull the heart strings taut to the point of breaking.

posted by Julianne Sister outlaw

New clothes, old pattern

This old pattern was irresistible. The name written on the battered cover is partly torn off, but I can make out the word "Leongatha" so I'm guessing it came from Grandma, to my Mum and now me.

Perfect size for my little girl Pep, so I gave it a whirl.

The fabric is a stretch cotton from Rathdown Remnants.

The collar and cuffs were a challenge. I made the tie bow but Pep didn't want it. I think it made her a bit claustrophobic.



Looks like Pep has got into the mood and adopted the illustration's wistful-sad-1960's-child-model-look.

But at least she doesn't look evil like the middle child in the illustration. Whoa! Creepy!I dare you to click on the picture and have a close up look!! The child looks as if she's about to murder her mother!

For anyone interested it's McCalls pattern 7947

And Wanda didn't miss out. She got a Jessie skirt from cowprint corduroy - which unfortunately turned pink in the wash and now she refuses to wear it...I'll be whipping up another one I guess!

posted by Julianne sister outlaw

power dressing

The sister outlaws have donned their power suits, straightened the shoulder pads, taken a deep breath and decided to up our
re-sew-cool kit prices - just a tiny bit...we didn't get too carried away!

BUT! Everyone still gets a flat rate of $6 postage and a 15% discount if you spend over  $100 when purchasing at our online shop

Phew! Glad that meeting is over. We can all relax and get into something more comfortable.

Do you know what a puggle is?

echidna bag-tag in brown tones

echidna bag-tag in red pink and purple - this one has a jaunty air with it's up turned nose!

echidna bag tag

For ages, I have wanted to create a range of re-sew-cool bag-tag kits depicting Australian animal and birds. What put me off? Have you been down Swanston Street and ever looked in those souvenir shops? Nothing says “tacky” like an Australiana animal object dangling from a key chain!!!!

I discovered this when my eldest daughter went to America on exchange and we wanted her take gifts for her family. Fortunately a sister of mine was living in Cooktown and the family were rescued from getting Australian flag thongs and instead got some indigenous paintings. Phew!

My second eldest daughter then followed suit and ventured to France. This time, we wisely visited the museum shop - and she was going to France so we sent food stuff too. I also made Hazel some Australiana Mary Jane slippers.

All along I kept thinking what a good idea some Australian themed re-sew-cool kits would be: 

1. for the person going overseas to make and hang from their bag

2. for the traveller to make in some down time or for a rainy crafternoon (perfect because the kit has everything you need in it!) 

3.as a gift to crafty overseas friends.

Well, as inspired by my recent visit to the Melbourne Museum, I’ve FINALLY got started. And first up, one of my favourite animals, the echidna. I have very fond memories of finding one on our front lawn in Beechworth and Mum gently gathering it up in her hands and putting it in a box. We returned it to the bush the next day but had a wonderful time touching the spines and watching it waddle about. We often saw echidnas in our childhood bush ramblings.  To complete the nostalgia I feel for my childhood echidna-spotting-adventures I have used Albert Namatjira paintings as backgrounds here. I had a 1950’s mum and our house had the ubiquitous Albert Namatjira water colour prints which I spent my childhood gazing at.

Echidna Facts

• Echidna’s scientific name is Tachyglossus aculeatus (spiny fast-tongue or Spiny anteater).
• Echidna's lifespan is over 45 years
• Echidnas grow up to 50cm (20") in length
• Each of the echidna’s spines is formed from a single hair
• An echidna can lift objects twice its weight
• Echidnas drink water and can swim
• Like the male Platypus, the male echidna has spurs, but has no venom glands attached to them
• Echidna is slightly less intelligent than a cat(???)
• A baby echidna is called a puggle

Just finishing the instructional drawings for the echidna kit today and should be packing them soon!

posted by Julianne sister outlaw