Posted in The Sewing Room

Because it is the school holidays and my husband is currently working from home, yesterday I had some time to go into town and look at some stores that I normally don't get time to visit.

One of my favourite places is a little shabby shop near the city centre called, The Painted Room. It's owned by a rather eccentric lady called Brigid - she is short and fat and looks like something out of a Charles Dickens tale, but when I think of her, I think of beauty, because she is so interesting, and dresses differently from anyone else, and sees beauty in old cast off things that other people discard. Some of my most favourite things in my home are things from her store. She just has a knack of being able to throw together unusual combinations and make it look stylish. It is always a treat to visit her shop. She has big old trunks full of fabric, bound together roughly by pink ribbon, and a huge freestanding wardrobe full of fabric. It's a real place for a real rummage, and yesterday I was throwing bundles of fabric onto the floor from the trunk  searching for pieces that I loved and could use. I did find more than I could afford, but managed to limit myself to a few. I plan to make up a few cushions for my home, and use some for patchwork and maybe make a dress for Meredith for when summer comes around. Here is a collection of my pillows that I have bought from Brigid's along with the fabric I got yesterday. I found a lovely old fashioned green linen tablecloth for $5 too!

In the same trunk I found two old aprons. She had lots in there, but these were my two favourites. The blue one hasn't even been used, apparently. The other one has quite a few stains on it, but I think that adds to the charm of its history.

Another great vintage find was when we were unpacking boxes (still) and I found my recipe book box and rediscovered old favourites I hadn't seen for a few years, but tucked in among them was this treasure that belonged to my  mother in law.

Here are a few other pictures from the same book:

And last but not least is the finished pyjamas I made for my 3 year old out of the vintage fabric I found stashed away in fabric boxes. It was awful to make and I had to unpick it and start again. At first I didn't know what I had done wrong, but I realized that I'd used the pattern so much that one end of it (the collar end) had gotten tucked under and I didn't realize it and didn't cut it out. I had to patch up and redo quite a bit of it (it would happen on the vintage fabric, wouldn't it)!!! But we got there in the end and he looks sooo cute in them now on these chilly nights.