Remember those Trays?

Here is what I made ...

Little Miss, EPNS, printed tin, brass, 7x4cms (brooch)

And here is how I made her ...

Firstly, I drew up a design, cut it out and stuck it onto a piece of deconstructed tray.

Then I whipped out the trusty jewellers saw and carefully cut out around my pattern. How do you like my "action" shot?

And here she is - basically done - a bit more sawing required, followed by a lot of filing and polishing but at this point I can tell I am gonna like her ... It took me a fair amount of fussing about to get the dress pattern just right. Also, given the size of my scrap tin collection I was a bit surprised it took me as long as it did to find a suitable piece. I tried tartan, I tried a retro pattern, I tried a lacey pattern. In the end I realised that it was actually a matter of scale. The size of the pattern on the tin needed to suit the size of the brooch! Duh! 

The silhouette of the figure was based on an illustration from this book ...

This gem, printed in 1961 promises to demonstrate "quick easy professional ways to simplify home sewing" . It includes handy tips such as "Style details with braid" and has a whole chapter devoted to "Accessories and wardrobe planning" which begins: 

"Making an attractive costume is only one part of being smartly dressed. Accessories - suitable belt, butttons, trimmings, a becoming hat, correct handbag and shoes, attractive jewellery - also contribute to the smart fashionable look of an ensemble"

Do you suppose Birkenstocks count as "correct" shoes? It is a great book full of wonderful illustrations and I used one from the "Sewing for children" section as the basis for my brooch. In the foreword, the editor says that the books primary objective is "...to encourage women to sew, and experience the rewards of this creative hobby." Well it didn't make me want to break out the sewing machine, but I suspect the editor would be pleased to know that all these years later the book has inspired another creative pursuit. Don't you?

Tinnies.

 Blogtoberfest (Day 11)

 Not the ones that hold the bevvies silly - the ones desperate to be cut up and made into something lovely! The obsession with sweet birdies continues. I can't seem to stop making them! Sunday seemed to be a brooch day so I gave in to the impulse, fished out some cut up tins and laminex and set to ...

 On the workbench ready to be cut out.

 In flight - before brooch-pin-attachment-procedure.

I love that the front one looks like a cross-stitch!

And here are the finished articles.

This last one looks like it just might be a Christmas bird - oh my, did I just drop the "cee" bomb?!

The backs are made of laminex samples and all the bits - pin and eyes are rivetted on - good and proper so they are strong and wearable!

I am not sure if you remember me posting about some vintage lino that I snaffled from atop a cupboard at the oppie but it has been sitting around cluttering up the place for yonks. It caught my eye today so I decided to try it out as a birdy too. Voila!

 

This little sweetie is staying with me. Everything went wrong with this one from whoa to go. It was difficult to cut (last one/tired hands?), had a really grubby mark that I didn't notice at first, the riveting went badly and on top of all that it had a serious 'response' to an attempted clean up of said grubby spot with eucalyptus oil! Sheesh! In the end though I rather like her shabby vintage appearance. I hope to have the others up on madeit very soon.

Flea Market Finds.

Will this cold weather ever end? It is putting a serious dampner on my foraging - I just want to stay indoors and keep warm. However, like everyone I am forced outside to hunter/gather as it seems the family require feeding more than once a week, so I combined the dreaded supermarket run with a little recreational retail therapy and this is what I found.

A pretty spiffy reproduction Arnotts tin - with hinge intact - probably won't cut that one up as it will be useful for storage. Also a couple of dotty tins and a cute one from the USA that looks like a cross-stitch. Wonder of wonders I found that bag-o-buttons for a mere 99 cents - practically unheard of these days! My favourite thing though is the bright red necklace - double stranded and made of glass - I am guessing circa mid-50's. I love vintage beads - I imagine these were worn with a very spiffy "frock"!