lavender

I have been thinking of ways to extend the life of some of my mother's lovely old table linen. I was very nervous about cutting any of it so I started with an embroidered cloth that was beyond repair. I figured any little bit I could save would be worthwhile and so I made these lavender bags and a few buttons.

I've also started a small lavender garden of my own. I've planted five different lavenders. The one in the photo, "True blue", is my favourite. I'm hoping the lavender will attract loads of bees to the garden. It already looks good and smells wonderful.

And so ...

Here we are ... more monkeys. One is for my six-year-old grand-nephew who suffers from HUS (hemolytic-uremic syndrome), a chronic kidney disease. He lives in the UK but would like to be part of the Great Sock Monkey Challenge so I made a monkey especially for him. The second monkey is for his little brother. And to keep the other monkey company, of course. The striped monkey is French. And the spotty one used to be a pirate. Arrrgh.

I also made some more lavender bags - a birthday present for my niece.

Reading Die trying by Lee Child (Jack Reacher #2) + Listening Collapsing Cities' Strangers again + Watching Moonrise Kingdom + Viewing Home AKL - an exhibition of contemporary Pacific art at the Auckland Art Gallery

same but different

This week I finished two more monkeys for the Great Sock Monkey Challenge. I was in a bit of a rush to get them to Wellington to meet the deadline for delivery to the children's hospital. They turned out surprisingly well and, in fact, I think my haste (and lack of fussy perfectionism) gave them a bit more character. Having one ear bigger than the other is cute, right?

I also made some more lavender bags using the bark cloth I bought at Fabric-a-brac. I really love this fabric and these lavender bags that I made for myself. I've put them in my linen cupboard. I still have heaps of lavender left - at least enough for another twenty bags. Eek!

The ceramic bowl was made by Sarah Guppy. We bought it because it reminded us of our lovely Louie. The bowl is beautiful but it makes me sad because I miss Louie so much.

After Watching Under African skies, Listening to Graceland by Paul Simon + Reading Uppercase

lavender

I went to Fabric-a-brac on Saturday. Did you go? I got some great fabrics - some bark cloth off-cuts, fine linen for embroidery, muslin and embroidered Aida cloths. I could've bought so much more. I hope Fabric-a-brac becomes a regular thing. If you missed it, there's the Vintage Textile Fair coming up on Sunday, September 9.

I've already made some lavender bags using one of the Aida cloths and a mauve cotton for the backing. Lavender bags make a nice gift and are easy to make. See how here and here. I added a little loop to the top of mine so that you can either hang them in the wardrobe or tuck them into a drawer. I made these for my mother but think I'll do some for myself. They smell so good. I used locally-grown lavender from Cambridge.

Reading Rangatira by Paula Morris