Funky Fabrix!

This week I decided to try my hand at winning some auctions by Brisbane’s favourite fabric store, Funky Fabrix. I haven’t yet made it to the store in person, and there’s a very good reason for that — I’d spend WAY to much money! All of the fabrics up for auction were half metres — perfect to use as embellishments such as pockets or waistbands on skirts (or they could even make some small throw pillows). I ended up winning three of the pieces I was after — yay!

The first one is Woodland Delight designed by Paula Prass for Michael Miller Fabrics.

The second one is the very geometric Groove by Caleb Gray for Robert Kaufman Fabrics (I’m thinking of maybe using this as the front panel for a throw pillow with some plain red fabric on the back).

And the third one is an Amelia print by Timeless Treasures, featuring lots of cute flowers and birdies.

I got all three for under $25, plus postage — and I should have them before the weekend!

More top pictures!

Well apparently my self-shot photos in the mirror aren't good enough, so Rebecca kindly took some more for me at work today. The stripes photograph a little psychedelically, but at least you get a better idea of what it looks like!

And I have great news too! Shilo has just added her new skirt photos to her blog. Get yourself over there right now and have a look.

Round-neck top complete!

After work on Friday I headed off to Lincraft to buy some plain black fabric to make into a round-neck top from the same pattern I used for my last project. I got the black fabric, but I also got some cute navy and white stripes. So, on Saturday morning I cut out my pieces, and over the course of a few hours on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning my project came to fruition (in between essay writing, driving lessons and a hen's night!). I had a few issues with this one, mainly because I was not paying enough attention to what I was doing (I had to unpick all the facing, the zip and one of the sleeves, but only because of silly little mistakes that could have easily been avoided).

As I was home alone today for study purposes, I had to take my own photos again. Note the intense concentration on my face in the first one (not to mention my new hair!).

The white owl brooch is from the Little Shop of Handmade.

On Sunday afternoon, Shilo came over to work on her own sewing project - a skirt inspired by a dress she owns. Keep an eye on Yikes Machine, as I'm sure photos will be posted in the coming days. And pretty soon we'll be adjusting the pattern for me too - yay!

Bikes + books = perfect!

I’m sure this has been featured on a few blogs this week, but I just HAVE to feature it again because I love it so much!

There’s not much to say, really. A bike rack that doubles as a bookshelf. Genius! As the owners of several bikes and many, many books, I think this would be right at home at our place…

Visit Knife and Saw for more info!

Sewing project: Box-neck top!

Yesterday after I'd completed my essay-writing quota for the day, I decided to tackle the top I'd been wanting to make for a little while. I'd spent a bit of time trying to decipher the pattern, and I'd vaguely worked it all out - so I went for it. Here's a refresher of the pattern:

I will tell you right away that it took me WAY longer than two hours, but that's because I spent so long working out what the pattern all meant. I also spent a lot of time zig-zagging my edges and making sure it was finished off as nicely as I could manage. And, I must say, I am VERY pleased with this one!

I did another near-perfect zip too, which I am quite chuffed about!

My main hiccup was that I cut a little too close to the seam on the inside front corners of the neck, so a little bit of the facing peeked out. I quickly fixed that by adding buttons - a cute addition to a pretty plain top, so I didn't mind at all.

I now want to make the round-neck design in a few colours and accessorise them with buttons and pretty trinkets. At least with that version I won't have those corners to contend with. :)

Thanks to the lovely Rebecca for photographing me at work today!

Favourite Things Project: Creative pursuits

This week's theme for the Being Tazim Favourite Things Project is creative pursuits. When I started this blog, its purpose was to to chronicle my creative hobby of home decorating...

Over time, I have other bloggers have inspired me to try my hand at some crafty pursuits as well...

And I like to take photos of my food when it looks good too (usually baked goods)...

Keep an eye on the Being Tazim website over the next few weeks, as I will be doing a little bit of guest blogging over there for the 2010 Home Decor Event!

Bathroom... finally!

Some of you may remember that a year ago John and I had our rusty, leaky metal bath replaced with a brand new one. At the time, we decided that we'd repaint the bathroom again, keeping some of the Desert Bake colour we'd used the first time, and painting the main wall Cherokee Smoke.

Here's a refresher of what we were dealing with when we moved in...

Here are the walls totally painted in Desert Bake (not quite to John's liking)...

And now, three years after moving in, this is what we have now!

As you can see, we've kept the original 1970s floor tiles and matched our colour scheme to them. This is partly because we can't really afford to pay someone to jackhammer up two-inch thick concrete, and because we actually quite like them!

There is still a little bit of work to be done. Some of the walls need a second coat of paint around the edges, and the ceiling still needs to be done. Eventually we might agree on a wall-mounted towel rack, and the shower head really needs to be raised (as the height of the new bath means it's a tad low for John). Still, I'm rather satisfied with the improvement compared to what we once had.