My creative space

I am joining in with Thursday's My Creative Space at Kootoyoo.

Clockwise from right:

• Quilt panel
• Button-hole foot
• Thread
• Christmas lights
• Batting
• Quilting cotton
• Polka dot print

This quilt panel is destined to be a Christmas wall hanging.

The print is a large Christmas tree, decorated with teddies, cats, dolls and what-not. The plan is to make a quilt and add 30 machined buttonholes across the tree. The lights can then be fed through the button-holes, to "decorate" the tree (an idea borrowed from an example at our local Spotlight store).

The kids are excited about the wall hanging. They helped choose the red backing and the polka dot binding. I drew the line when they tried to select the batting ... but then again they know about as much as I do about quilting (zero).

Mr HB has been watching proceedings from afar. He seems oblivious to the fact that there could be significant furniture moves needed to create a Christmas feature wall.

But as I make no secret of how slow my craft is, the furniture is probably the least of the worries. I am either starting this project quite early or very, very late. Mr HB might be safe until Christmas 2010.

Thank you very much Kirsty for hosting My Creative Space. Its great fun seeing what everyone is doing. To see who else is showing their creative space (or to join in), head over here.

Charming

Teddies and friends (circa 1960) rediscovered this afternoon at mum and dad's place.



The laminate board cover and thick pages of the Constance Wickham book have a familiar smell.



And I still like the look of the jam tarts.

I'm gonna knock on your door, ring on your bell ...

A little while back - in moment of unprecedented common sense - the Australian parliament passed the Do Not Call Act. This freeing piece of legislation, allows you to register that you do not want cold calls made to your home.

I duly entered my telephone number into the government database and for a while there, children's nap times were peaceful, dinner preparations were uninterrupted and I no longer needed to explain for the umpteenth time why I thought the free holiday/computer/car I was being offered was a complete scam.

But as time has progressed, telemarketers have wised up. And are striking back.

They have instead trained an army of late teens. They cruise the streets with clipboards, shonky laminated and lanyarded I.D. cards and floppy fringes that make it hard to tell if they have eyes. They frequently travel in pairs. They call at nap times and ring the door bell like there is an emergency. They press their noses to the screen door at dinner time. Sometimes they rattle the door handle.

In the past weeks I have been variously instructed to: go find my last two gas bills; recall off-the-top-of-my-head my current electricity tariff; sign up for karate classes; and pre-pay $200 worth of car services. My polite decline in each case was met with persistence, then complete condescension. Sometimes I am asked if they can come back and speak to my husband instead. What the .... ?!

Then there was the case of young man bearing a shopping jeep of energy-efficient light globes, who told me that the law said he must come into my house to switch over all my incandescent bulbs. Yeah, sure, right. Knock yourself out .... and while your at it, my jewellery and cash is kept in that drawer over there.

These cold callers are difficult to get rid of. Much harder to ditch than telephone callers.

They have hides thicker than a rhinoceros. The perils of waking sleeping children or dinner catching alight completely escapes them. And during their cold calling training they have been told to handle potential customer objections in the same manner as they deal with requests from their parents to move out of home.

Do you think it will all stop if I remove my number from the Do Not Call Register? Is it worth the risk? Maybe; maybe not.

At least my standard response is likely to work more effectively back on the phone, than it has at the door: The Hoppo Bumpos aren't home just now. Please leave a message after the tone. Beeeeep ......

My vintage childhood

Vintage Enid Blyton book collection

This is a public service announcement: you might want to check the cupboard / attic / shed / roof / under-the-house.

There's a phenomenon (natural, I'm told) occuring in spots where childhood treasures have been packed away. You see, I recently opened some boxes and all my toys and books had vanished.

In their place was something else altogether. Something from another era. Something that evoked a feeling of nostalgia. Something, quite possibly classified as collectible.


Vintage Lego people

I meant to warn my younger sister too. I really did. It looks like I was a bit too late. Look what I found at her place.

(She is quite possibly going to kill me for refering to her books and Lego as vintage)

Eye spy ... a favourite gadget

I am playing along with Bug and Pop's lovely "Eye Spy" each Sunday. This week's theme is from the delightful Kellie of 74 Lime Lane. She has asked us to show off a favourite gadget.

I'm a bit partial to gadgets, but this would have to be my current favourite. Its a free-standing, re-chargable Thomas The Tank Engine night light with inbuilt torch.

It is the magic cure for a small boy who had been getting up at 3am, turning on the lights and singing. It must remain fully charged. At. All. Times.

Thank you to Cindy for hosting Eye Spy and to Kellie for the theme. To discover other shoes, head over here.

The compendium of fabric-buying justifications (Chapter 2)

Statement: You never, ever, ever see this one on sale. I've made such a saving.

Situation: Rationalising why you purchased 2 metres with absolutely no project in mind.

Context: Liberty lawn at less than half price.

Success rate: Variable. Depends on whether you subscribe to the glass-half-full or glass-half-empty outlook.

In the example above, it was ascertained that while I saved $33, I also spent $33. And to my great surprise apparently one does not cancel out the other.


You might also like my previous excuses:



The compendium - Chapter 1

A quick-and-dirty knit neckline refashion

Something that really stuck from early sewing lessons, was my teacher explaining that round adds pounds. The round she refered to, was the shape of a neckline. Now personally I think its chocolate that adds the pounds, but I have indeed found that a V-neck is a little more flattering to my ... ahem ... "shapely" shape.

So when I picked up this cute little sleeveless tee (shell) for $5 at the op (thrift/charity) shop recently, I knew the shallow scoop neckline was probably going to be all wrong for me. The knit fabric was lovely and I really liked the applique, but a couple of wears really confirmed that I might look more stylish in a flour sack.

So I got brave and decided to change the neckline. The binding around the neckline was a knit fabric too and I could tell it had a fair bit of stretch in it. I realised I could probably stretch it a little to fit a new shape.

I took out my fabric shears and stitch unpicker and got to work. First, I unpicked part of the top-most part of the applique, to make way for the new neckline.



Then using a very fine stitch unpicker, I very carefully undid all the stitching from the front of the neckline. The binding was separated from the garment from shoulder seam to shoulder seam. I tried to take care not to snag the knit fabric with the unpicker.



Next I folded the front of the top in half. I carefully matched seams and stripes as accurately as I could, to find the centre front. This way I could cut the V on the fold.



Once I found the centre front, I used tailor's chalk and a ruler to mark up where I wanted the new neckline to be. I knew I couldn't afford to make the neckline too deep or I would run out of binding!



Then I took a deep breath and went snip-snip and cut a V.



Next I pinned the binding back in place. This involved carefully easing the binding out to fit the new deeper neckline. It only just matched. If the V had been any deeper, I would really have needed to unpick all the binding and put a new piece on.



Using a three-step zigzag stitch I secured the binding in place. (The three step zigzag stitch is good for stretch fabric as it has some give in it.) The most difficult part, was making sure I didn't stretch the binding and fabric as I sewed, otherwise this would warp the neckline and make it sit out from my neck. The neckline looked a little wobbly when I finished so I gave it a little press.



Finally I stitched the last piece of applique back in place at the bottom of the motif. Et voila! A more flattering top. Better than a flour sack anyway!

My creative space

I am joining in with Thursday's My Creative Space at Kootoyoo.

The picture above is my imaginary creative space, containing ...

• cotton polka dot print
• thrifted asymmetric faux-suede mini skirt (ooooh, noice)
• watercolour sketch of a teddy I would like to sew from the two

The picture below, however, is my real creative space.



Its been a 10-day barf-o-rama here at Chez Hoppo Bumpo. First Argy and then ... just when we though we were safe ... Bargy too. Craft is at a virtual stand-still.

Maybe Imaginary Ted will be ready next week. I would really like to send him off soon to Softies for Mirabel.

Thank you very much Kirsty for hosting My Creative Space. Its great fun seeing what everyone is doing. To see who else is showing their creative space (or to join in), head over here.

The compendium of fabric-buying justifications (Chapter 1)

Statement: Well, I thought you might like it.

Situation: Selling the purchase to a MOTH (Man Of The House).

Context: Novelty prints of cars, tractors, beer steins and sporting paraphernalia. Also useful for Hawaiian prints.

Success rate: Fair to good depending upon correlation with MOTH's hobbies/personal interests.

In the example above, the outcome was rated as fair. Greater success may have been achieved with a licensed Manchester United print.

And the winner is ...

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to enter the draw for the Xyron sticker maker. Mr Random.Org tells me that the winner is

[33] Rebecca

... and that ...

[74] Jodie
[75] Liam's Mummy
[69] AudreyPawdrey
[03] Sally

... will all receive a little runner-up prize.

Congratulations everyone! Could you please e-mail me at competition[at]hoppobumpo[dot]com with your details?

The SuperPops challenge

This is my entry for a challenge being held by Cam of CurlyPops.

Cam, herself, recently took part in a challenge to incorporate a metre of gold braid into a craft project. She decided to sew herself a rather flash superhero costume (which she kindly modelled on her blog). SuperPops was born!


Image borrowed from here.

Now in turn, Cam has challenged her readers to depict SuperPops in the art medium of their choice. There have been fabulous entries in playdough, paper, felt, laminex, crochet and more. There's even a SuperPops toilet roll holder!

Mine is in watercolour and ink.



I couldn't help embellishing SuperPops' outfit a little. You see when Cam sewed her original costume, she decided it might be a bit over-the-top to add gold braid tassels to the top. So I've taken the liberty of adding them for her ( ... strictly for after-5 wear of course).

To see other entries, head on over here.

Eye spy ... shoes

I am playing along with Bug and Pop's lovely "Eye Spy" each Sunday. This week's theme is from the delightful Anastasia of Anastasia drawing and dreaming. She has asked us to show off a pair of shoes.

Here are my very best shoes; brought out for special occasions. They are the shoes I got married in.

I went shopping for these with a good friend. They were a special, once-in-a-lifetime purchase. We entered a pact to never again speak of how much they cost. Ever.

Thank you to Cindy for hosting Eye Spy and to Anastasia for the theme. To discover other shoes, head over here.

Just a minute ... in October (Blogtoberfest day 31)

I am joining in with Jenaveve's Just a minute meme, where we take a few moments to recall what we've been doing during the month. So, this October I have been ...

Snapping ...

... an electrical storm. These pictures were taken late last night as the most fantastic storm passed over Melbourne. I stuck the camera out of the window (in the pouring rain) and click-click-clicked for nearly half an hour until I finally captured two strikes. I've never captured lightening before ... and judging by my reflexes I may never do it again!



Watching ...

... a television program called Man versus wild.

Each week, this Discovery Channel program follows adventurer, presenter and Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, as he deliberately strands himself in a remote location and then demonstrates localised survival techniques. Its a fascinating and fabulous show (with the possible exception of gratuitous close-ups of Bear tucking into a meal of wriggling spiders and insects). I now feel perfectly equipped to swim out of the Florida Everglades (avoiding the 'gators) should I find myself lost there.

Growing ...

... flowers and vegetables. Every spring I go a little silly and plant lots of things. Every summer I examine the poor shrivelled, brown vegetation that remains and think I shouldn't be allowed to keep plants. (see: the carrot incident, by way of example)

We have had quite a bit of rain in the last four weeks, so this month I can happily report that I am growing green, leafy heirloom tomatoes, butter lettuces, rocket, peas, plums, limes and strawberries. There are flowers on the strawberries, limes, tomatoes and some fruit set on the plum tree. I am not expecting any of them to survive.



Planning ...

... to open a very small online shop. But more on that later ... always best not to say too much ... just in case it doesn't happen. Me and my grand plans don't have a good track record. Why else would I still have 40 metres of corduroy in my stash?

Thanking ...

... the very talented and inspirational Cathy from Tinniegirl. A big hug and a kiss to you for hosting Blogtoberfest. Its been fun - and a bit challenging - writing one blog post a day for the month. Its been a lovely opportunity to discover some new and fabulous blogs. Props to the gorgeous Cam from Curlypops too for being the perfect barrel girl and keeping the huge list of giveaways and competitions. (Oooh, and don't forget, that if you would like to win a sticker maker, that I am have a Blogtoberfest giveaway. )


Thank you also to Jenaveve for hosting Just a minute. To see who else is playing along head over to her delightful blog, August Street.

Would you like a Xyron sticker maker? (Blogtoberfest day 30)

If the answer is yes ... leave a comment to be in a draw for this Xyron 1.5" Create-a-sticker machine. The refillable gadget comes with a 20-ft (6.1 metre) cartridge of adhesive.You can use it to make stickers from paper, ribbon, fabric, metal, vellum and more. Its a lot of fun!

Make sure you leave your name and a way for me to contact you and I will draw the winner's name on Tuesday 3 November at 6:00pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time). Don't be shy - you don't need to be a regular reader and I am happy to post world-wide.