Your Photos

The other day I was sent this photo by a lovely lady called Linda.  This is her Share Kitty that she knitted for herself. He sits outside her Store on a park bench, waiting for the odd passerby to sit down and have a chat.

Isn't he fabulous, he lives all the way over in Colorado. 

Linda yarnbombs the bench often with flowers, and is planning on trying out a spiderweb like mine in the not too distant future. Hopefully my spiderweb and spider may find a home in Brisbane's yarnbombing next week, if I can find somewhere to put it up! 

Here's some info on Linda's Store, and you can visit Share Kitty while you shop :-)

Linda Taylor

FiberSpace
113 North 2nd St
Sterling CO  80751
970-521-9041, toll-free  877-467-0382
www.fiberspacepatterns.com
Shop hours:  Mon-Fri  10 am-5 pm, Sat 10 am-3 pm MST (Summer Sat 9-2)

If there is anyone else out there who wants to share photos of something they've made from my patterns, please email them to me. I'll keep this spot for your photos.

I'll make a big fuss and show them off. Doesn't have to be a Share Kitty, could be a tea cosy or a little goat, although I would love to see a skydiving kitty, or a kitty sitting in the back of a convertible travelling crosscountry, Thelma & Louise style, (scarf and sunnies optional). Please blogparticipate!

Off to knit my own Share Kitty to photograph around Brissie. I've given them all away and didn't keep one for myself - Jen.

Treadle Progress

Some more progress pics of the Singer Treadle. The first post about the Treadle is Here.
The base is in pretty good condition. Our first treadle base was very rusty so we had it sandblasted and had to repaint it from scratch. This one only needed 2 coats of black gloss Killrust.

For the cabinetry I used Howard's Restor a finish. Way back when I bought the first treadle, we sought advice from an Antique dealer on how to restore it. I wanted to keep the original finish, which was still quite good, so this stuff is ideal.
The stain colour we were advised to use was Walnut.
It needs to be used outside though, with plenty of ventilation, a face mask as well, would be advisable.

Follow the directions, I used super fine 0000 steel wool to apply the finish, going with the grain. I left it on for a few minutes then wiped it off with a soft cloth. For the decorative bits, I applied it first with a small paintbrush to get into all the crevices.
                                            Here's the before

                                           And after

Now the finish on these drawers was pretty well worn, there wasn't much left on them at all, so I was very pleased with the result. This is after 2 treatments, I did one, let it dry for an hour while I did the rest, then went over everything a 2nd time.
Here's the side of the cabinet,

And I went over the top piece again, to keep the colour consistent.

They look alright, don't they?
Putting it all together is next, but there's trouble brewing!!!
Until next time (I've been watching too many reality TV shows lol).

From a big Singer to a little Singer

An early Mother's Day gift, thanks to the lovely people at Old As Antiques & Collectables at Stafford, who kindly rang me Friday, to let me know a little toy Singer had come in. I started collecting toy machines after I ran out of room for the big ones.  

The fabulous orange case is only 24cm tall, so cute! 

Made in France, can't find an actual date online, but I reckon late 60's early 70's, still with it's little instruction/pattern book. Thanks guys at Old As for letting me know, did you know they are on Facebook now so you can check out what's in stock! 

Wishing all the Mums a happy Mother's Day today,

Jen.