Very exciting! I finally picked up this old sewing box. I bought it on Ebay last year but hadn’t had the chance to trek up the mountains to fetch it. I can’t believe I took so long to collect it, but with Christmas holidays, a sick poppet and deadlines to meet the months added up quickly!

I was purchasing it for the lovely wooden box. The box is indeed wonderful, and I am delighted by its construction, patina and size, but when I got it home I discovered it was still full of old sewing bits and pieces. A wonderful array of textures and colours. Among the things I discovered inside: two gorgeous old hand embroidered needle books, an old tape measure, various fasteners, wooden cotton reels, two old patterns, embroidery transfers and old sewing scissors.

My folks have been visiting from interstate this week and today we set off on a thrift store adventure and trekked to a few of my favourite vintage item and ephemera haunts. We all have a passion for collecting things so days like this are great fun. We had a lovely day looking for treasures and drinking lots of coffee!

I have been obsessed with reading craft orientated blogs of late (current must reads: SouleMama, Turkey Feathers, LoobyLu and Angry Chicken) and have found myself drawn to the haberdashery and linen departments of various thrift stores. I’ve always collected fabrics, buttons and the like for my collages, but it has been too long since I cranked up the machine or picked up the knitting needles and I am really yearning to get sewing and crafting again!

I am not sure if having my daughter is inspiring me to make ‘softies’, sew toddler clothes and become a domestic cupcake baking queen but there is definitely something brewing and I like it!

Among the items I could not resist:
These two vintage pattern books. Turabast ‘Swiss Straw’ by Myart and ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Fashions’ (Patons knitting book No. 749) Now I can’t see myself making a fuzzy wuzzy bonnet anytime soon (just imagine wearing THAT up to the shops?) but the swiss straw bags are brilliant!

I also found a bag of upholtsery fabric containing about 30 large squares from a sales sample book in lovely bright colours. It is such lovely quality and was an absolute steal at a dollar for the whole bag! Hmmm… cushion covers, bags or softies. I then discovered three sheets of Beutron Buttons also from a sales folder, each containing forty buttons in wonderful earthy natural shades and several different styles and sizes. A few seventies Simplicity toddler sewing patterns for ‘pinnies and slacks’ also found their way into my shopping basket.

I always look at the crockery and kitchenalia. I like to use little items as display pieces, vases and pot plants, vessels for knick-nacks, pens and pencils. I found this 1960 chook mug by Holt Howard. I love the shape and colour. I also discovered a wonderful little jug decorated with shell illustrations. It has no markings on it and I have no idea how old it is but it looks quite weathered. It’s all textured and crazed with age which I LOVE.

Eloise also lucked out. I found a great toddler swing for outside and a huge basket full of colourful wooden blocks.

Inspired by SouleMama and the other participants of the related Flickr group, I thought I might start recording details of our ‘spaces’.

This is a ‘corner’ of our living room. It is almost as far away from the windows as you can get. The giant faux finish wall was there when we moved in four years ago, around the time the ‘feature wall’ hit its peak on the home decor front. I haven’t decided if we’ve warmed to it or if the whole idea of preparing and repainting is just too overwhelming to comprehend. I actually don’t find the colour too offensive even on such a large scale. It’s warm and rich and complements many of my ‘things’. It looks glorious by candlelight!

Top Shelf: Speights Tour wooden box collected on our honeymoon in 2003, Dunedin New Zealand. I am very much into collecting candle holders and picture frames. Candles by The Conscious Candle Company are delicious. Currently burning ‘Bliss’, a blend of rosemary, spicy clove and orange. The small white candle holder on the top of the Speights box has lots of tiny holes and looks magical when lit at night. Small silver frame with a photo of our poppet Eloise at 8months old.

Middle Shelf: Magazine files containing craft, art and computer magazines. Baskets with lids containing misc bits and bobs. (I have a lot of containers like this containing things that don’t have homes yet!)

Bottom Shelf: My LP collection containing many 70’s and 80’s errr….classics? From Abba and Duran Duran to Split Enz and The Police. It’s all here folks!

Sneaking into the bottom left of frame, a comfy beanbag!