sugar skulls

While I have been making new sugar skull garlands (from recycled materials) for the My Mexican Donkey Pop Up Shop at Gleaners inc this November, little 4 year Joe has been making his own ....

My recycled sugar skull garlands will be available from tomorrow at Gleaners Inc! Joe's will decorate the door for Halloween!!!

Guest frocking!

Just a reminder that there are still five days of Frocktober left - a frock-filled month of fundraising for research into ovarian cancer. Kylie , over at Lucy Violet Vintage is taking it all on board with gusto and managing to get into a frock and be photographed almost everyday - even when her ceiling has collapsed! I've guest frocked over there in one of my favourite lemon fifties dresses....

My friend Melita has also joined in - because she is all sorts of incredible.  She has recently been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is recovering from surgery and fundraising and frocking up each day (and accessorising with compression hose!) I pop up there too in a forties wool crepe number - another oldie but a favourite.

And if you don't believe me that Melita is all sorts of  incredible then I urge you to view this video she made of herself dancing on the eve of her surgery, with no knowledge of the prognosis (which is fortunately looking good.) The bravery and sense of joy in this dance, knowing what was in store for her, is so moving and so admirable. 

So donate what you can! It's a frockin' good cause!

Stay away from the crochet jumpsuits....

So here are two jumpsuit crochet patterns which I inherited from my Grandma.
The caption for this first one is: "So you're a girl and you don't mind who knows it. You wear these "V" neck culottes with their front zipper opening. All over shell stitch with d.c. edging"
I'm not sure which is more disturbing - the pattern, the caption or the blatant refusal to mention the word "jumpsuit"! "Culottes"? Hmm. Denial! Not just a river in Egypt you know!

But it get's worse. The caption here reads: "No man minds a woman wearing the pants when they're like this! Clingy pants suit with alternating bands of delicate pattern. High-neck, no sleeves." And no gap between the top and the bottom which means it's a jumpsuit guys!!! I'm actually warming to this pattern...no really...I kind of like them/it whatever you would call it!

And for the knitters: Ledenhosen!

Nice.

And for sentimental (and comic) reasons - my twins in the matching crochet overalls Aunty Margaret made for them. We used to call them their wrestling outfits!

 Pepper can't even bear to look!

Is it a crochet throw on the couch? No! It's twins in matching crochet overalls of course!

Pepper still can't believe she is wearing them...

Too cute.

Okay. So let's not ever mention crochet onesies ever again!

More like Blogtoberfast than Blogtoberfest!

This time last year I was participating in Blogtoberfest and was posting every day for the month of October. (It's harder than it sounds). This year is more like a Blogtoberfast. I've kind of lost the blogging zing and have only posted twice for the month. BUT! That doesn't mean I haven't been making. So I'd thought I'd do a few catch up posts to show you all what I've been making.

I think it's now official. I'm addicted to crochet. There were a few days last month where I didn't have a project on the go and I felt like my neural pathways were going to shrivel up and a general malaise came over me. Withdrawal. Hmmm. This perhaps seems like a harmless addiction - except that the family will eventually be decked out in head to toe crochet garments. But no one has ever died from a crochet craft crime, have they? Fashion victims?

So everyone who is reading this - if you ever see me posting that I think it's a wonderful idea to crochet some pants or a tie or (god forbid) an all in one jumpsuit (I have the patterns!) - then please comment and tell me to stop. Immediately. Because I have noticed that with the building flow of a crochet addiction ebbs away all taste and style!!

So here are the first installment of what I've been making: 

These short sleeve crochet jumpers were in a vintage 1980's pattern book. What I love about them is that they combine a crochet base garment with knitted bands, cuffs and collars. I was lucky enough to have a willing collaborator - my quick-knitting-ever-smiling-forever-helpful-Mother-in-law, Clare. She finished these off - even sewing them up and sewing in the ends. She's the best!

They green one is in Patons Bluebell and the magenta one is in Heirloom super wash 5 ply. 

new and improved sugar skull bag-tag kit!

Are you like me?  Do you have a tendency to over complicate your life? (have I mentioned the five kids???)Now that I am a few years into this designing-eco-craft-kits lark, I have realised that some of the old kits are unnecessarily over complicated. What was I thinking? Well I think it was a lack of confidence in the product and that I was perhaps trying to over compensate. In any case I'm older and wiser (and more confident. Yay!)and so I'm re-vamping some of the more fiddly kits.
And the sugar skull bag-tag is getting a special re-vamp in readiness for some muchos Mexicana mayhem which is coming soon to the hood of Brunswick. Will tell you more later....

New and improved skully bag-tag kit is still bursting with colour, recycled trims and lots of decorative floral fun but is now a simpler shape, smaller and only single layered (but still double sided.)

So if your life is overcomplicated then I hope you can find a way to simplify something today too!

Fundraising for Ovarian Cancer Research - Kylie you (f)rock!

Our blogging buddy Kylie over at lucy violet vintage has been frocking up each day to raise money for ovarian cancer research. Yeah yeah, you sigh, more fundraising, eyes glaze over....But wait! Listen!

Every 10 hours in Australia a woman will die from ovarian cancer. It is an indiscriminate and insidious cancer that could affect any one of us. It could be your sister, your friend, a mum at school, a blogger you follow or you. There are very few ways to detect the cancer - which is why it is such a dangerous disease. Help raise money for research into how to detect this cancer early and save lives. THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT FUNDED RESEARCH INTO THIS CANCER. This is a women's cancer, a women's issue and it's up to us to get the research happening.  You can donate to Kylie's Frocktober campaign here....But be sure to check out her blog too - some days she sells the frock off her back!