It's Tuesday and I can't wait .....

.... to start using this fabulous vintage apron pattern that just arrived in the mail!

Have I mentioned how much I love mail, especially the kind that comes with packages attached? Why yes, I do believe I have. So you will understand how excited I was to find THIS in the mailbox waiting for me.

It comes to me from a very special reader who dug it up after seeing my call for The Great Apron Gathering. Thank you so much Gwen, I absolutely love it! And I love it even more that you went to the effort of finding it, packaging it up, posting it and donating it.

As Gwen pointed out in the lovely note she wrote me, the pattern is so old that it's priced in pounds and shillings - fantastic. I quite adore the little black dress the model is wearing underneath her aprons too. Isn't that just the kind of thing we all do our cooking in? Of course it is. How chic!

And the shape of the apron is wonderful, too.... I've half a mind to put a proper back on the skirt and turn it into a pinafore of sorts. Wouldn't that be gorgeous? I fancy the yellow one with black and white trim, that's just my sort of thing.

In fact, I think I've got just the right material for something along those lines ... but it will have to wait until I've made a few aprons for the Sacred Heart Mission first. I love having a project.

Thanks again Gwen!

In which I apologise for an unexpected absence ....

My goodness it's been a busy couple of days - so much to tell you about!

I've been absent from blogging (here is the apology: I'm very sorry, I really am) as the Sister Of My Heart has been visiting me in Melbourne - and we've been flat out doing lots of sitting around, reading, chatting, and eating bits of chocolate. Okay, that's not all we've done - there's been a bit of shopping, sewing and cooking thrown in there too.

Today, for example, we went to the Rose St market so I could do a reconnaisance of the venue - I'm exhibiting there at the end of August and wanted to check out the facilities so I can plan the best stock to bring and think about how to put together my stall. It was lovely running into the gals from Scrumptious, and seeing Babushka Baby and the lovely Fontok, plus a few familiar faces from other markets around the traps. And I've got some good ideas for how I can put things together on the 30th, so you'll just have to come and visit me to see how it all pans out.

Along the way we also scoured a few op shops and I scored two fantastic vintage dresses I'm going to tweak, plus an amazing orange belt I promise to show off in an upcoming post. I'm taking inspiration from the amazing Gina at Clutterpunk, whose talent for refashioning clothes is awe-inspiring. I'm not quite at the point where I can renounce all new purchases for six months, but I'm certainly impressed by her ability to do so.

Speaking of Gina, she has also won herself a little prize by being the first person to donate to my Great Apron Gathering call - I received a lovely little parcel in the mail on Friday, and inside were the two lovely pieces here in the photographs.

The one to the left here is a little waist apron made from a pillowslip, with two cute pockets in the front (beautifully modelled by the Sister Of My Heart).

And the picture at the top of this post is a fabulously colourful tablecloth which will make an IDEAL apron, being the exact perfect size for it - again, modelled by the Sister Of My Heart (yes, those are her eyebrows you can see behind the tablecloth .....).

I was going to start on the tablecloth this weekend, but then we got sidetracked with another project I'll post a photo of tomorrow ...... so check back then to see what it is!

Some of my favourite words

Firstly, a big thank you to Polly Pratt and I Purr-Furr to Craft, both of whom have offered their time and expertise to contribute to the Great Apron Gathering. Gals, you rock!

And now to the matter at hand, completely unrelated to aprons of any kind: some of my favourite words.

Words are my life, you see. They're certainly my living - I basically get paid to move words around on the page. Or to say them to other people, who write them down. When it comes to words, what I say goes. (say? geddit? ahahahahaha!!!)

I'm a firm believer in the motif that the pen is mightier than the sword. Words have incredible power, and like magic they can be used for good or evil. They have the capacity to provoke emotions that weren't there a second ago. They can impart strength and structure. And some words are truly beautiful, both in the way they're spelt or in the things that they mean.

So in the spirit of sharing tiny moments of beauty, here are a few of the words that make my life more beautiful:

• plinth: what a lovely, satisfying word to say out loud
• pamplemousse: it's French for grapefruit
• pod
• liriope
• oleaginous: another lovely word to say. It's oily in the mouth, just like its meaning.
• tuckshop
• lily
• empirical
• oubliette: I do love French words. This one reminds me of Labyrinth, another word I love and the film with David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly is pretty good too.
• cerulean: calm, blue, peaceful. Ahhhhhh.
• peony
• turkish
• ablaze
• espalier

I could go on, but these are just a few. Even reading them now in list format, makes me happy. It makes me happy just to look at them.

The great apron gathering gets underway

Yay! Thank you to the lovely people who are keen to be part of the great apron gathering!

There's a few of you so far - Margaret at Konstant Kaos, the inimitable Curlypops of course, Gina at Clutterpunk, no-reply-comment Jennie (is that you, Cravings Frocks?), and Michelle at the Toy Society ... this should certainly help get the apron gathering underway.

It's not too late to join in - this new project of mine has no real delivery date, it'll be delivered when it's finished. All you need to do is collect a vintage tea towel for me and I'll make it into an apron for the Sacred Heart Mission dining hall; or of course you can take matters into your own hands and make an apron from scratch.

Every donation, large or small, is very very welcome. Sometimes it's the littlest things that make the biggest difference.