vintage town

vintage town: Patchwork mania!

2011-10-02T13:34:00.005+01:00

Here are some pictures of the patchwork items I've been making lately. I decided that patchwork was an excellent vehicle for showcasing small scraps of all the lovely vintage fabrics I have hanging around in my work room...you can purchase them at either of my online shops
http//vintagetown.folksy.com and http//vintagetown.etsy.com

2011-07-22T22:14:00.000+01:00

Fancy a cuppa?

Here's the first item from my new range of homes accessories, a patchwork tea cosy made in vintage and retro fabrics. It fits a two-cup pot and you can find it for sale in my Folksy shop here:
www.folksy.com/shops/vintagetown

One of my favourite books!

2011-06-22T08:52:00.000+01:00

I really loved this book when I was small, although the details of the story are a bit hazy now...

I seem to remember that the heroine, Harriet, is about 8 years old, and helps her aunt run a cafe called the Cherry Pie. She also becomes an actress somehow along the way.

I've been looking for it for ages in all my usual charity shops and car boot fairs, but no luck yet. If you've got one for sale at a reasonable price, please get in touch!

There's an interesting mention of it on one of my favourite blogs http://www.middlebrowmagazine.co.uk but other than that none of my friends remembers it. If you should happen to stumble across it, snap it up and read it to all the 8+ children you know, it's a great story.

The eagle has landed...

2011-06-14T08:51:00.001+01:00

...and here it is, my new book! Its officially published on 24 June.

Sign up to follow me and I'll pick someone at random to receive a free copy of the book.

You can buy it online at davidandcharles.co.uk and all the usual outlets. Hope all you upcycling fans like it, let me know!

Why not post pics of projects you've made? I'll see if I can add them to my blog so we can recycle the love...

vintagetown's photostream

2011-06-11T23:55:00.002+01:00

vintagetown's photostream on Flickr.

Here's a selection of my work from flickr. I actually meant to add a nice little slideshow, with moving pics, but can't work out how to do it. I keep uploading photos of someone's trip to China instead. Oh well, this will have to do.

Must make more bags!!

2011-06-10T17:31:00.000+01:00

Here are some more rescue pinnies waiting to be transformed into bags. Sadly neither has such an interesting label as my lovely pink original, but I won't let that stop me, dear readers.

Our cat, in the middle of our street

2011-06-09T14:34:00.000+01:00

Here's our cat, Honey. Not the full shilling, I'm afraid. He invaded my photo shoot this morning because he is a terrible attention seeker.

Mama's got a Brand New Bag

2011-06-09T13:37:00.000+01:00

Back on the bags again after time off writing a book and lots of teaching... I fancied a bit of sewing, so thought I'd get back into the swing again by transforming my favourite flea market pinny into a bag.

Here it is, hanging on the back of our front gates. It's a beautiful piece of fabric, with delightful folk art illustrations in lovely soft colours.

As well as my usual Vintage Town label, I've attached the original label from the back of the pinny. I've done a bit of research into the company, Hawkins of Preston, and it seems they produced cotton homewares at their mill in Preston from the 19th century onwards. One of their sales methods was to send mobile shops around rural areas. You can see a great sales brochure on flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rpsmithbarney/5559904062

Not quite sure where I'm going with this...

2010-03-25T15:23:00.000Z

...but thought I'd post it anyway. It's the front of a new cafetiere cosy, but I've just run out of thread so had to stop. I do love machine embroidery, just not very good at it yet! Anyway, its a cold old afternoon, and I've got two biscuits and a cup of tea, so I ain't complaining. Am currently listening to Ray Conniff's version of Volare on Spotify - fab!

stitching frenzy

2010-03-20T15:40:00.000Z

Here are some of new cafetiere cosies, inspired my recent forays into the secret life of the sewing machine. Mush more fun than sewing carefully around neat borders!

Well, hello there

2010-03-20T15:16:00.000Z

It's been a damn long time since I posted anything new, but here I am, back in full attack, with a picture of the jacket of my new book (to aid easy identification, should you stray into the crafts section of a bookshop or website anytime soon...)

The book is a helpful guide to exploiting the obscure functions contained in most sewing machines that we (and I mean me, here) never get around to using.

Something smelly...

2009-05-12T10:57:00.001+01:00

Thought you might like to see our spotty pots in action!

They're very simple to make, just stick some paper dots onto a terracotta plant pot, then add two coats of matt emulsion paint in a nice colour.

Leave to dry, then peel off the dots. Seal with two coats of acrylic-based, clear varnish. Pop in some lovely herbs, and voila!

And here's another...

2009-04-22T11:37:00.000+01:00

Well, I seem to be deep in pouch mode at the moment - so much quicker to make then cosies or bags! Here's a little birdy pouch I've just finished, with handy split ring for keys etc.

I'm going to give it a whirl on Etsy and Folksy

http://vintagetown.etsy.com and http://vintagetown.folksy.com

Now, must dash off to make another, so toodle-oo!

Here we go again...

2009-04-21T14:29:00.000+01:00

Well way-hay, I'm BACK after two weeks school hols very pleasantly spent whizzing round the country doing stuff.

Not feeling very inspired today, but am trying to create a delightful new range of something other than tea cosies, so I present to you a small purse for make-up etc made from scraps of fabric lying all over my work room floor. I will post further gorgeous items if I ever produce any.

Happy Easter Everyone!

2009-04-11T09:47:00.000+01:00

With Easter Sunday in mind, here's the Easter Tree me and my gal made (plus some steps for good measure) Happy Easter!

An early Easter chick

2009-03-30T10:54:00.000+01:00

Because the weather's so lovely, here's a little paper chicken to get you in the mood for the Easter holidays.

On a clear day...

2009-03-29T18:26:00.001+01:00

Here's a view to the big house from the parish graveyard, look at that stunning blue sky!

Spring has sprung etc...

2009-03-29T18:19:00.000+01:00

Well, what a glorious day! Here's a snap of our Sunday afternoon, spent over at a friend's house. They were building an earth ship from tyres, we were watching and nodding knowledgeably.

We went for a lovely walk on a nearby estate (landed gentry, not cul-de-sacs) and built a dam across the stream with our three excited girlies.

Sesationally Spring-y Etsy Treasury

2009-03-28T23:26:00.000Z

Hello all, I'm very excited to find that one of my bags has been featured in an Etsy Treasury (that's it, bright pink, bottom right) courtesy of dear Cheese at Fourpence, a Nifty Northern Knitter http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=48460

Y'all can find her marvellous shop here:
cheeseatfourpence.etsy.com

Country Living

2009-03-19T21:29:00.000Z

Now I don't like to show off, being English and all that, but I was rather chuffed to see my "Little Pink Birdy" bag featured in April's Country Living Magazine. Thought you might like a quick flick too, so here it is...

There's a new cup in town...

2009-03-18T22:04:00.000Z

I've been fiddling around with tiny scraps of paper for a few weeks now, trying out different colourways for paper tea cups. Didn't get very far, because I'm pathologically drawn to pink. Oh well...

Flickr

2009-03-10T12:44:00.001Z

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Imagine my surprise...

2009-03-07T20:50:00.001Z

...when I switched on my computer the other morning to find a message telling me I'd been chosen as one of four featured sellers to appear on the front page of Folksy. Me! Who up to this point has failed to win every raffle, tombola and sweepstake I've ever entered (though I did once win 90 quid on the dogs at Walthamstow - beginner's luck).

I am thrilled and would like to say a v large thank you to Milomade for choosing me, bless you, dear heart...

Fancy a cuppa?

2009-03-01T21:24:00.000Z

Here's my response to new research from UCLA, where scientists have discovered that drinking three or more cups of tea every day will cut the chances of stroke by one fifth! That's me protected, then...

Getting organised

2009-02-27T12:00:00.000Z

I love to collect little bits and pieces of printed ephemera, buttons, ribbons and postcards, and occasionally I do something with them!

Here's a Mother's day scrapbook I started recently. I know it's a bit early to be showing it, but I want to make sure everyone's got enough time to get to the chocolate shop...

How fab is Amy Butler?

2009-02-26T21:59:00.000Z

I found some lovely Amy Butler fabric the other day (not an easy feat where I live) and thought it would do rather nicely as a trimming for a mini-cosy. Do like that girl's stuff...

Handbags and gladrags

2009-02-24T21:47:00.000Z

In between running up tea cosies and foraging for more fabric, I do like to mess around with paper. Here's a little handbag I made from a lot of left over scraps. It's not really functional, alas, unless you live in a very dry climate, but it's fun, ne c'est pas?

A whole new world...

2009-02-17T21:19:00.000Z

With the tinies all tucked up, thought I might muse upon my brand new acquisition, a pair of specs. I've always prided myself upon my magnificent 20/20 vision, but alas it was all a myth as was proved by a trip to the opticians. Years of night sewing have rendered me blind as a bat (could be reason for my 'unusual' colour sense) so have succumbed to lenses, and by jove, what a difference they do make! Its a miracle, I can see! The only downside thus far is the near perfect rendering of High School Musical 3 on deeveedee, which has always passed me by in a blissful blur thus far...still, at least I know who Troy is now.

2009-02-16T22:15:00.000Z

Here begins my first ever blog. I thought I'd start it by showing a few pictures from my forthcoming book, Paper Sculpt Sensations, to be published in the UK and USA by David and Charles in the Spring. I've been making things out of paper for a years, including lots of papier-mache, which I sold through Liberty in London and Bergdorf Goodman in New York. This is my first foray into paper sculpture (a lot harder than you think to work out!) But you, gentle reader, will find it very easy because all the templates are in my book...