More new shoes for the boy

You know how kids lose shoes... all the time! Well we lost one of the little leather soled shoes I made recently and so I made another pair on the weekend.



I used the repurposed leather from an old op-shop skirt again for the sole, lined them in beige linen, put some felt lining for cushioning between the outer and inner soles, and got to use some of this fantastic Echino japanese linen/cotton for the uppers.



They are a bit hard to get on his feet at first, as all the fabrics are woven so there's no real stretch, but otherwise they're going well. I can't wait to use the Echino fabric again maybe as trim for a pair of shorts for summer.



- - - - -

I'm so pleased to see that Dana from Made is going to again be running "Celebrate the boy". I'll definitely want to join in to give me the incentive to make some clothes for my boy. I'm relieved it doesn't start til February though - after the silly season and hopefully a little rest in January.

- - - - -

On that note about trying to get too much done, I have shelved plans to make the fabulous Heidi & Finn hoodie that I'd had in my "next on my sewing machine" column over on the right. Though the weather has been cool lately I hear some warmer weather is coming and I don't want to make something the boy will grow out of before next autumn... so it's on to a dress for the big girl (hopefully ;-)

12 for $12

Near my house is a charity warehouse that sells pre-loved clothing by the kilogram - $6 per kilo to be exact. Here I've had many happy, slightly frenzied quick Saturday morning shopping sprees.

Armed with a big bag, a few tissues (for the sneezes from the dust) and an open mind, I approach the piled high mounds of unsorted, unfolded garments and start to sort through it. My method for approaching the chaos is to position myself at a vacant section of a bin and look for fabric and colours that appeal to me, then check the style, condition, size etc. Of course you must be mindful of your fellow shoppers. I had a tense conversation with someone over territory recently, it's emotional! And it's particularly busy early in the mornings when the dealers come in to skim off the particularly good stuff.



Since having kids I haven't enjoyed conventional shopping at all, and can very rarely bring myself to pay the price for decent clothes when there are so many other financial pressures on our young family, as most people face. So this place has pretty much been my clothing shop for the past few years. Some of my past treasures include my favourite pink cord fitted jacket, 2 pair of Sass & Bide jeans (1 sold on ebay, one kept), Metalicus tops, grey woolen Witchery cardigan (currently being re-purposed - more on that later), fabric for re-purposing, woolen blanket and linen tablecloth featuring Australian native flowers print.

I visited last weekend for the first time in a while and for $12 (2kg) took home 12 things:

for me:
- petrol blue jersey ruffle top
- black Saba wool cardigan (you can never have too many black or grey cardigans, right?)



for the Mr:
- Ben Sherman shirt

for the big girl:
- school tracksuit pants
- gingham voile shirred summer shirt



for the little girl:
- cheeky monkey pyjama pants

for the baby:
- Minihaha brand shorts

to sell on ebay (when/if I get my act together):
- Kookai geometric pattern wrap dress
- sparkly silver summer top
- jersey butterfly sleeve top



to cut up and make into other things:
- sky blue linen shirt - inspired by a linen patchwork quilt in my new book
- oatmeal coloured linen trousers (maybe to be turned into cushion covers)

It's a curiously satisfying thing to search through a pile of old stuff and find some treasures. Maybe it goes back to the hunter-gatherer thing - I'm gathering, as women do. Well, that's my excuse... do you enjoy gathering?