New Camera

Yes, another new camera. I  indulged myself and bought a full frame camera the Sony A7r.

It was chosen as the camera of the year in 2013. What attracted me to the camera was it's light weight and good reviews on what it can do.  When I purchased it I also purchased a 35mm Zeiss lens which only weights 4ounces. This lens I hope will become my lens for street photography. All the other lenses that fit this camera are on back order at my local photography shop. For the past few days I been spending time setting my preferences on the camera and taking photos in the house. The weather here has been awful and I have been a homebody so now outdoor shots! Maybe tomorrow if the weather co-operates I'll get a chance to do a bit of a walk trying out my new toy!

Another project

When my children were young I learned how to smock and made my daughter and son some lovely smocked clothing. At the same time I took classes in heirloom sewing by machine and learned the art of attaching lace to garments.
Now many years later I've decided to make a smocked dress for my youngest granddaughter who loves pretty "girly" cloths.
I had in my stash of fabric some pale pink Nelona Swiss cotton batiste which will be easy to smock. It's been so long since I have done anything like this that I had to find a book with instructions. Well, I'm on my way now and will post photos as I progress, my goal is to have the dress finished by May for her 3rd birthday.

Fabric pleated and ready for smocking.

Dress pattern

Smocking pattern

Embroidery Floss and lace

Embroidery 101

When I was in the south of France this past spring I bought a bag of dried lavender thinking it would be nice to make  lavender sachets. I asked my 61/2year old granddaughters if they would like to try an embroidery project to make the sachets and the answer was a yes. The girls chose the colours they wanted and worked hard on stitching the first letter of their names on cotton for the front of the sachets. I made a little embroidered piece for the back of each sachet as well as making the ruffled edge with my sewing machine. This was a nice little project to introduce the girls to the joy of working with your hands to make something beautiful.