Those Were The Days....

Inspired by my lovely friend (oooh, I hope I can call her that!) Lara with her always entertaining Vintage Crochet Fridays, I've decided to start my own weekly sharing session of vintage advertisements from my collection.

source: Mother magazine - May 1964

Aren't the little ladybugs around the border just so cute!? Love the sun suit at the top.

source: Women's Weekly - Dressmaking by Lucille Rivers (you've seen Lucille before...)
Is that Grandma or mum making that teen's dress? Either way, she's a pretty sophisticated and hip sewer. You might recognise this brand of zipper if you purchase zips from the op shop, like I do. Brand new zips in perfect order for 20c? Yes please!

More vintage advertisements next Friday.

Still Feeling Baggy...

More bags for the store. A few of these would be suitable for either boys or girls. I like to offer some options that aren't obviously meant for one or the other gender. More bags on the way next week! Like the look of one of these? Simply click on the picture and you'll be taken straight to the bag on the website!

Feeling Baggy

Been filling up the stash of Silly Gilly stock ahead of next month for my Big Secret Project on the boil. Oh, the anticipation is at the same time delightful and crazy!!

Here's two new bags in the store now. I've lost my lovely green door I used to use as a background for my bag photos as the shed is undergoing some renovations. With a lack of any photogenic backgrounds I'm now trying out a 'product on white background' look. What do you think? I'm also trying out a new name for them - moving from Library Bags to Tote Bags. Logical step do you think?

What have you done?

old growth forest in Tasmania
photo credit: pibulus via flickr

A little game I thought I'd play whilst Mr Silly Gilly watches the football...(groan)

Why don't you join in? Simply highlight the things you've done so far in your life.

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited The Great Barrier Reef.
5. Stood under the stars in the outback, the real outback – think Uluru.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to the Gold Coast’s theme parks – anyone, you take your pick.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sung a solo.
11. Bungee jumped, jumped out of plane, been paragliding or hang-gliding, hot air ballooning – you get the idea, you’ve been hundreds of metres about earth in a seemingly flimsy contraption.
12. Visited Melbourne.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Had a child. Raised a child. Worked with children.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Been to the Snowy Mountains.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Visited the Brett Whitely studio in Surrey Hills, Sydney.
20. Slept on an overnight train or bus.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Been packpacking.
23. Taken a mental health day.
24. Been buried in sand with just your head and toes sticking out.
25. Held a possum, kangaroo or koala – or any other native Australian animal.
26. Gone skinny dipping. 27. Been in a fun run.
28. Been on the Blue Mountain cableway.
29. Seen a total eclipse. 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Played, or watched, summer cricket.
32. Sailed, kayaked or canoed our beautiful waterways.
33. Seen the Daintree.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Visited an Aboriginal settlement or mission.
36. Learned a new language.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Toured the Sydney Opera House.
39. Tried rock climbing (indoor or outdoor), abseiling or just simple bushwalking.
40. Visit Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art.
41. Been to the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
42. Sunbaked at Bondi.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Broome.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone fishing.
49. Seen Tasmania’s old growth forests.
50. Been to the top of Q1, on the Gold Coast.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Driven the Great Ocean Road.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Norfolk Island.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Guide biscuits.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Got flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.
65. Gone jet boating.
66. Visited Port Arthur.
67. Bounced a cheque.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Australian War Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Federation Square.
74. Been on the Murray River.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Travelled, or climbed, over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Three Sisters at Echo Point, Katoomba.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited St Mary’s Cathedral, in Sydney.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Been to Hermannsburg.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited Parliament House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Saved a pet.
95. Been to the site of the Eureka Stockade.
96. Swum in The Whitsundays.
97. Been involved in a lawsuit.
98. Owned a mobile phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

The Hole-y House of Silly

It's been a week of upheaval in the Silly Gilly house with the creative mind, aka me, thinking it would be a grand idea to take out a defunct fireplace in the main bedroom. The aim of which was to create more space for a new bedroom suite which didn't fit unless we removed the fireplace.

Simpler to buy a smaller bedroom suite? Well yes, but why take the easy road???!! Photos might better express the craziness that is our room this week. Sorry... forgot to take a before photo!

during....

after!

And whilst the room is empty and needing a good old clean, why not decide to install a built in robe? That way we get to sleep on the mattress on the lounge room floor for even longer! You would think that we might have arranged that prior to the room being worked upon but alas, alack no... The room feels bigger now and once the walls are painted and floor polished, you wouldn't be able to guess a dodgy, quite ugly 1940's fireplace ever resided in that room.

The hole-y feeling must have permeated the house as whilst making a smock this week I got a little carried away with the overlocker and zoomed past the finishing line, cutting right into the shoulder! The poor rabbit has lost his head! An embellishment is underway but I feel a shoulder is a bit of an odd spot for a flower though!

Love at the Silly Gilly house

We don't tend to be too serious here at the Silly Gilly house.

That's why 6 years ago, Mr Silly Gilly and I headed to Las Vegas and got married. I arranged the whole thing via email - flowers, chapel, celebrant, dinner, the lot!! And of course for two people who like to be a bit off centre, we got married on Friday the 13th, one day before Valentines Day. Because getting married on Valentines Day would have been way too obvious for us!

I made my dress using a repro vintage pattern with help from my MIL, made my necklace and earrings, and even revamped my mum's wedding veil so that it tied in with my dress.

And what better way to celebrate, after a beautiful dinner, but to spend the evening winning at the casino! I'm sure many a bride and groom have done just that after getting hitched in Vegas!

Shucks.... young love!! Mr Silly Gilly...... you're ace!

Someone talk me out of this..... please!!

We currently have a dog. Her name is Ella. She likes to sleep and run away sometimes for adventures round the neighbourhood. She is a small Shi-Tzu/Maltese cross and a very easy dog to have in the family.

I also have one daughter. Her name is Nevada. She likes to yell and dance and go to the park a lot. She is still small at four years of age and a very easy child to have in the family.

Life is easy. We are a family of four and not planning on having any more babies. Human ones, that is.

So someone tell me why I have an almost irresistible urge to bring a new dog into the family? Tell me why I feel I have the need to get a dog that is out of the ordinary? Tell me why I'm thinking of this sort of dog.... a Pyrenean Mountain Dog?

photo credit Paul S Howell

Yes. A beautiful great hunk of a dog. The mountain bit in it's name should give you some indication of size and breed. They are bred to be flock protectors, left alone out in the paddocks and wild with their sheep or goats. Pyreneans grow to be about 62cm tall at the shoulder and weigh about 40-50kg. They are independent due to their background of having to be self reliant for long periods of time and they are highly intelligent.

So I'm considering a very, very big (you could say massive) dog which is independent (you could say wilful) and likes to give you big kisses (you could say drools a LOT). And they are not cheap (you could say very bloody expensive). Why? Why o why???? It just doesn't help that my local breeder contacted me yesterday to let me know they have a litter of pups due any day now and that I can put my name down for one......

I think I've fallen in love.

It's Giveaway Time!!

I've well and truly sailed past 200 posts now, this being my 223rd post. So how about a giveaway!? It's been a long time since my last. The last few weeks has found me up to my ears in vintage patterns, sorting my collection out. I have found one that might be of use to those of you out there that like to sew for your daughters.

The pattern is Style 1638 Girls' Dress or Top and Trousers - Size 7.

Printed in 1976, this pattern is a very groovy one. I particularly like the red floral dress on the left!

If you would like this pattern, then all you need to do is mention the giveaway and provide a link back to here on your blog and let me know you've done so in the comments below. That simple! I'm happy to post anywhere!! I will draw the winner 8pm Adelaide time next Monday night.

Golden Finds

To console and distract myself this week whilst Poppet enjoys her very first full week of kindy, I've been trawling the local op shops. Imagine my squealy delight when I clapped my eyes on this. An internal squeal of course. Didn't want to let the op shop ladies know how excited I was.

To the untrained eye, it doesn't look like much. And with a 50 cent price tag, you wouldn't expect much of it either.

I found a Lutterloh Golden Rule pattern book in pristine condition. The Lutterloh system is a pattern drafting system where you use a special ruler and the patterns they provide to draft up a pattern tailored to your bust and waist measurement. Alas, the book didn't come with the ruler. Now I'm on the hunt for a Lutterloh Ruler. Dang. Anyone have one lying around they don't want?!

My edition of this book was published in 1969. So not my absolute favourite years, ala 1950's, but the styles are all gorgeous and very wearable nonetheless. Lots of adorable clothes that I could make for my daughter too. And considering there are 500+ designs, I couldn't be more lucky. Well, actually I could have.... I could have found the book with the ruler!

Poppet pops off!

Wow.

My gorgeous girl is at kindy today all by herself. Her first full day of kindy and first full day away from mum (apart from being at Grandma's) in four years.

I'm not there to hold her hand. I feel like I should be! She'll even manage to eat lunch all by herself, I bet. Without me to check if it's ok. Which it should be.

I don't feel like I can string a decent sentence together today. I miss her!!!

Yet I think I can tell from the photo above that she is more than ready to have some fun!

More Crochet Blocks

Block #137 Criss Cross and Block #189 Willow

Block #145 Chocolate Box and Block #61 Nine Patch Granny

The brightly coloured blocks are going together as a cushion cover perhaps for the lounge and the pinks are destined for a cushion cover for my daughter's room. These blocks are such a wonderful way for a beginner to test out new stitches and not feel too overwhelmed by a large project. Each block can easily be completed in an evening or less. All blocks from 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton.