my little world...

This morning I woke up and washed my hair. 

I blow dried my hair. 

I put on a little bit of make-up... 

I put on my favourite red lippy...

I put on a new dress that I made last night...

I put on my new fleece lined black tights and my new-to-me granny boots...

I put on my apron...

And I sat down at my kitchen table to sew.

My new dress...

The neckline of my new dress...

My apron made from vintage barkcloth...

A few dresses ready for shipping...

This one caught the last afternoon sun before it dipped below the horizon...

For miss Kylie at Lucy Violet Vintage...

I guess that when you work from home you can get stuck in a bit of a 'spend all day in my pyjama's' rut. So it was nice to put in a little bit of effort, strap on the apron and play the role of 'snappy dressmaker' for the day.

Do you think that I am crazy for adorning my mannequin in today's outfit just to take photo's for you?

Hmmm.

Anyway, whether or not I'm mad is beside the point.

The new dress is made with what I think is described in dressmaking lingo as a 'reverse facing'... It has a 20 inch chunky silver zipper up the back. I think the hardware of the zip contrasts the softness of the floral perfectly - I think my 16 year old niece would approve. I love it! Once I have more time I plan to make a few one-of-a-kind samples for the shop...

I am only a few weeks away from having some free time on my hands...

I can't wait...

Bec x

orders up...

These three dresses are off to the US for the wedding of gorgeous Alyssa!!

A secret garden dress for the delicious Candice xo

One of my favourite fabrics so far!! A dress for miss Sasha D xo

ANOTHER sectret garden dress for miss Li-Ping, who is  an official  collector of my dresses.
Two more are on their way my lady. xo

And tomorrow I will be finishing dresses for Tessa, Rebecca H, Michelle B, Bobbie P and the lovely Kylie from Lucy Violet Vintage...

Phew....

Bec x

show and tell

a new kitschy horse picture

Awesome leather granny boots - only $2 - fit me perfectly - and have a lovely moss green felt-like lining.

One of the good things about my little business doing well, is that my love has become far more supportive of my passion for op-shopping. Whereas before I would be afraid to leave him alone at the house for a weekend - in case he torched all of my precious junk in some sort of bonfire - lately he has been going as far as going through the local paper and circling the best looking garage sales... 

Hurrah!! We might work out yet... 

I am constantly CONSTANTLY on the hunt. If there is an op shop near by, my skin prickles and my heart races... I bring home car loads of treasure every week! I have decided that I will try to share these with you from now on...

In other news - Yesterday I finally finished reading Breakfast at Tiffany's - It's the first book I have read since I finished reading the Twilight saga. I am now on the hunt for a new book - keeping in mind that my taste in books seem to be fairly low-brow and trashy - I would love to hear some recommendations!!

Lots of dresses to ship tomorrow!! It looks like a productive start to the week!!

Mwah!!

scrummy date loaf...

There is a lady at my local market who makes the yummiest date loaf I have ever tasted, and last week I made it my mission to find a recipe for date loaf that came close to hers.

I found a recipe via Google that seemed pretty straight forward. The first loaf came out a bit average, but with a bit of tweaking I think I have found a winner!! I like my date loaf dense and moist. So I doubled the dates, halved the sugar and knocked 15 minutes off the cooking time...

This recipe will make two loaves. I doubled it because I am a bit greedy. After only making one loaf a few times, and then being disappointed 20 minutes later when it has all been eaten, I have decided that I will only ever make two of any tea cake... One for now, one for later...

You will need -

4 cups of pitted dates chopped
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups boiling water
120grams butter
3 1/2 cups self raising flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

In a large bowl combine your dates, boiling water, sugar and butter. Cut your butter into smaller pieces so that it melts faster.

Add your vanilla essence...

Sift your flour and baking powder into the bowl and combine...

Pour your mixture into your loaf tins - I like to line mine with baking paper...

Cook in a moderate oven for 30 minutes...

YUM!!

Now if you are like me, you will make a cuppa and eat half of the cake while it is still hot. If you have made two cakes, you can let the other one cool down, wrap it in muslin/baking paper/cotton fabric, tie it up with twine, and feel like a most wonderful domestic goddess for the rest of the day...

Can you feel the love tonight?? Can you?

Hello hello!! How are you ?? Probably asleep right now... But awake I suppose when you are actually reading this...

I am up, awake. 

I am actually feeling a little bit sad.  I have been left at home and everyone one else has gone off to the pub to celebrate my loves birthday...

Don't feel sorry for me though, as it was my own decision, and it is because I am still breastfeeding my baby that I have left behind my old booze-hag ways. Yes, I used to be a drunken floozy...

I was happy with my choice to stay at home with my small miss... She was watching the lion king while I tapped around on the computer... I didn't notice that the film had ended and that song - can you feel the love tonight - was looping over and over and over... I think that is what made me feel sad...

I won't be sad tomorrow when I wake up with a clear head and get to work finishing off more orders...

Today I was able to ship off an order for lovely miss Jen's wedding over in the United States... 

Chipping away at the orders...

Off to bed now.

Bec x

P.s - Now days I would trade a 'big night out' for a 'long hot bath' ANY day of the week... WEEKEND?? What's that?? Who cares anyway.... xo

The Kimberly

Recently we returned from a short trip to Broome.

Broome Town is the place where I met my love. It is where he was born. He grew up camping along the Kimberly coastline.

You may or may not be aware of the Gas plant they are building at James Price Point along this Pristine part of Australia.

I would love for you to check out this ladies blog - as she sums up the tragedy of the situation much better than I ever could. It is just a quick read. I think we need to spread the word...

It's 3pm and all is well...

Happy 21st Birthday Siobhan. I hope that your secret garden dress fits you perfectly and is all that you hoped for. Make sure you have loads of fun and dance the night away...

I almost lost your tracking number, but look!!! I found it on miss Z's wrist!! Lucky :)

Bec x