Another (pleasant) diversion ...

This little beauty arrived yesterday, all the way from Western Canada.  It's my 'Sweet Skunk' pincushion, which I won on the 30 days of pincushions giveaways at Sew Weekly.  It's made by 'Bluedaisies', and this is what they say at their Etsy shop:

'Welcome to Bluedaisies! There is a little bit of everything in here from vintage kitchenware, jewelry and accessories to items that I have handmade. Please enjoy your browsing and have fun!! :)  Please take a look at my Sugar Deer pin cushions. Their happy retro style is unique to Bluedaisies. I have always loved vintage pose dolls and retro styled deer - these are the resulting combination of the two :) They are colourful, functional and sweet - which is why I call them Sugar Deer - I will be listing more over the summer months :)' .

I think he'll be named 'Pepe Le Peu', after the cartoon skunk!

I've had some great things happen to me since I joined Sew Weekly ... thanks go to Mena.

Two more MANCHESTER images...

The drawing of the old sewing machine in the Milly Molly Mandy illustration reminded me that I had this photograph.  I read somewhere that there were 10,000 of these decorating shop windows in the UK alone.  Unfortunately, the store 'All Saints' is now in administration (the results of home sewing???).

Finally, the ultimate in luxury, a Hermes scarf.  This is the only photo I managed to take - there was a lovely one in pinks and blues to the right, but I found I was being stared at from within the shop for taking this one!  I've always admired the drawing qualities and composition of these scarves. 

Milly Molly Mandy - The Skirt ...

I meant to say in my last post that 'Milly Molly Mandy' was originally published in the 1920's and created by Joyce Lancaster Brisley, who was also a talented artist and had work hung at the Royal Academy.  She made all the illustrations as well as writing the stories.

This is my finished Milly Molly Mandy pink and white striped skirt.  It took some doing to work out how to match the chevron stripes all the way round.  I am giving away my secret soon ....

Pretending to be Milly Molly Mandy ...

The caption reads, 'Milly-Molly-Mandy showed her frock with the tear all down the front' 

I've lots of other things to blog about that have happened in between this and the last post, but it seems appropriate to place this here in that it connects in with the pen drawings I've been doing lately.  I've always loved detail and remember the 'Milly Molly Mandy' illustrations for this aspect.  The skirt I've made is for a Sew Weekly challenge to create a garment inspired by a book from childhood.  Milly Molly Mandy always wore pink and white stripes!  I'm glad that I could combine my love of sewing with drawing ...

Drawing again ... at last!

I've been asked to do a bookplate or, 'Ex Libris', so I'm playing around with images of books and inkbottles ...more to come.

Having fun ... Kidding Around!



Who needs a computer to hula hoop with?!

 I'm making use of the '60's shift dress shape, edged with white ric rac, little girl sandals and a 'Mary Quant' type print motif - the flower with 5 petals!

Northern Quarter - Remaining Images

I rounded off my trip with a visit to Abakhan Fabrics and found African waxed cotton in there for a very reasonable price.  Their system of selling fabric by weight can be too tempting sometimes, resulting in buying far too much, but the African prints were lovely and I'm sure I'll use it all.  Photo to come.




Abakhan Fabrics

 



Fashion Market again ...

 I also enjoyed Magma Books and found a pattern cutting book in there.  The Fashion Market was on too... 




Fashion Market

 



Royal Wedding window - similar dress!




The 70's still in evidence ...