Clare Weekend

We spent an amazing weekend by the banks of Lough Derg in Co Clare.  The sun shone and we kind of fell in love with this place.

We stopped at a beautiful little town called Mountshannon, there was a cute little Marina there filled with fancy yachts.

Anna enjoyed playing in the grounds of an old castle.

 Someone was very artistic here with this old bicycle display, very quaint.

These two locals were very friendly.

 The daisies also were coming out to play.

Since we were in the campervan a bonfire was obligatory.

Here's to more weekends away...

Vintage Dishes

One of my next favorite things to collect, after patterns and fabric, is yummy vintage tea-sets, and dinner sets.
See below for some examples.

This set includes 6 saucers, side plates, sugar  bowl.and milk jug. As you can see from above, the name suits the picture. The picture includes a man in a red jacket, presumably The Hunter.

The above is another gorgeous Arklow pottery set of 6 cups, saucers and plates. This pattern has a 60's vibe to it,  with its white background and red, orange and blue little flowers.

I love this Wedgwood dinner plate with the gold gilding. This belongs to a set of 12.

Tomorrow I will be selling these sets and more her in the fabulous Halpenny Flea along the Quays in Dublin. Come along and grab yourself a bargain, there will be lots of other goodies there too.

Vintage For Girls

I've been sewing a lot lately, and today was the first good day to take pictures in my garden. I found this lovely vintage pattern , and all my supplies for this dress at the Dublin flea market.

First off the pattern. Its a pretty demure little dress which looks like its dated from the early 60's.

All of the pieces were un-marked, which was a bit of a bummer. You just have to read the guide on the pattern to figure out whats what.

I used a piece of red crepe fabric, well I think its crepe. It didnt iron very well at all. But hey I got like 2 metres for very little money.

I added a cute little red  and white ribbon that I found at the Flea also. I hemmed the sleeves and the dress with the ribbon also. It looks cute when the hem shows with the addition of the ribbon. ignore the wonky stitching.

Below is a shot of the back. Sadly my daughter did not want to model the dress, you know what 10 year olds are like.

 I hope she will wear it this Sunday...

Photos

I've been a very bad blogger. Happy Christmas and New Year. I guess I just lost my sewing mojo in the last few months.  I have really missed blogging. I really will try to post more in future and especially of all my sewing adventures.

But first I would love to post a picture of my three boys from way back when, probably 1994..
They were getting ready to go on their Summer holidays, which was a trip to Germany to see their Daddy. As you can see I just loved to dress them all the same in matching outfits. Are'nt mothers cruel sometimes?

And here is a picture of them now, Christmas 2011...

  They are in the same positions as in the older picture, which is fun. I'm amazed at how quickly the time has gone since they were running around the house ,and into everything, and generally causing havoc. Its so rare to get a picture of them all together.  Happy Christmas Boys.

My Creative Space

My daughter really needed a new bag to take to her Irish dancing classes, and I thought that the Phoebe Bag would be perfect.

The fabric I used is some vintage stuff I found on holidays, although I have a sneaking suspicion it might be Ikea.

I used red gingham for the lining, and I like the contrast with the grey.

 

The bag is just the right size for her "poms", water bottle, phone, and a little lip gloss.

This pattern is really nice and easy to follow. what makes it even better is that Its also a free tutorial which can be found here.

And do go and check out loads of lovely creativeness here.

Flea Market Finds

Yesterday, Sunday, I found some beauties. First a selection of Meakin plates.

 

These are dated from the 1950's. The pattern is hand drawn so its a very delicate pattern.

I also found some more traditional Myott dishes. Myott bought the Meakin company at some stage.

 

I like the slightly grey colour on the edge of the plates, its not very evident from the pictures.

  

And finally I found a full set of Denby pottery. This pattern is from the 1970's. And I have to say I love the retro vibe of it.

The pattern has a nice orange glazed centre with brown rim.

I was super delighted with my finds this week. If you would like to see more finds check out here.

October Sun

In this beautiful green Isle of ours we dont see much sun...

This is what I met this morning...

At the same time I am reminded that Autumn is not far away.

 

"The trees are in their Autumn beauty, the woodland paths are dry. Under the October twilight, the water mirrors a still sky". W.B Yeats