Shopping from my stash

Hi and welcome to my first blog for 2016! I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Years period. I had a busy but relaxing and fun Christmas, which I spent with my immediate family and close neighbours.

I will be "chatting" a bit about my intentions for this year with P&B and also what I have been working on and what's new.

My first market of the year was the Lady Luck Festival which is a celebration of vintage fashion, music, and custom culture. The top of the Main Street is closed off and vintage cars are in display. It rained....then rained some more on the day so I didn't leave the shelter of my stall gazebo much, apart from darting across to purchase some records from Rolling Records, a Katoomba based mobile record shop.

So therefore I didn't wonder around the market to take pictures, so I have borrowed some photos from the awesome local band The Honey Stompers https://www.facebook.com/The-Honey-Stompers-220656504689798/?fref=photo.

This year I am have decided to pick up on last years intention, which was to "shop from my stash", meaning use the fabrics I have on hand instead of purchasing new fabrics. I have a collection of vintage as well as new fabrics that need the opportunity to be made into something that can be used and enjoyed instead of sitting on a shelf or in a basket. It lends the opportunity for creativity and to make one of a kind items when working with materials and haberdashery that is available. The exception will be custom orders and requests for particular designs or fabrics which are always a welcome opportunity for a new challenge.
My mind is already full of new bag designs and products I want to make. I am really looking forward to making a new range of autumn / winter accessories with wools, corduroys and up cycled tartan skirts.
Just like a lot of sewers and crafters who love fabrics, I won't always be able to resist wonderful new fabrics, but at least I will also be using my existing fabrics and reducing the carbon footprint a little.

On the jewellery side of my business, and also in keeping with up cycling, I have been really enjoying creating statement pieces of jewellery and accessories with vintage knitting needles. A lot of knitters nowadays, myself included, have moved away from the old style of knitting needles and are using the new interchangeable needle sets. This means a lot of beautiful colourful knitting needles have been put aside or discarded. I love the colour tones of the vintage needles and some of them are Bakelite, plastic or anodised metals in shiney Blues, greens and golds. I have been busy bending, curving, sawing and grinding and even hammering them into all sorts of designs.
The latest edition to my etsy shop is these cute shawl pins. They are designed to hold your shawl or scarf pins in place, but can also been worn on your handknit sweater or cardigan as a brooch. I have made them in a variety of colours, and have knitted a wool cord, wound into a mini ball of wool and attached them to the end of the pin. They can be purchased at market stalls, The Nook at Leura or here in my store https://www.etsy.com/shop/PoppyandBelle?section_id=18458289&ref=shopsection_leftnav_5.