And here's what I made...

Oooh, I love what I do!  Here's some pictures of the flowers I've made from the vintage Kimono (#1) shown in the previous post.

I never know what each flower is going to look like until all the petals are together.  Sometimes during the process I think 'oh, that's not going to look good' but I'm always pleasantly surprised.  You'd think I'd be used to this after the hundreds I've created!

This one is highlighted with gold, red and dark pink petals. 

 You can really see the texture of the fabric in this one.

Blue highlights and a bright red petal complement each other.

Bright and cheery yellow, orange and pink.

Just.....so.....precious.

If you're interested in purchasing any of these for Christmas presents head over to the website http://www.mindilindi.com.au/contact.html  and let me know which one you'd like.

Vintage Kimono #1

Last weekend I drove down to the big city (aka Brisbane) and bought some AMAZING vintage Kimono.  I was like a kid in a candy shop!  There was quite a large selection to choose from so I started by selecting everything I like and moved them to one side of the display rack to go through again.  Hmmm, budget and sensory overload!  I didn't want to go over my budget so I was ruthless and only bought 5. (But I'm already planning my next trip!)

Here's the first one....it's a lovely pink textured silk in fantastic condition.  This is the front.

And the back....

I love the design and the crosshatching and the texture and the gold highlights.....

I then took a big breath and start unpicking....only took me three hours!  And look what I found accidentally left in the lining all those years ago.  I removed the pin and said a silent, heartfelt hello and thank you to the dressmaker who hand stitched this beautiful garment.

It's interesting to see how a Kimono is put together - long rectangular pieces folded and delicately hand stitched with a lot of patience I imagine.  Now I'll transform these vintage pieces into beautiful Kanzashi flowers.  I'll put up photos to show you once finished.

The Weekender

I was fortunate to be interviewed by local Sunshine Coast lifestyle magazine 'The Weekender'.  They contacted me a couple of weeks ago, sent me a list of questions then had a photo shoot at my house - that's the kitchen wall I'm standing in front of!  I'm not used to being the centre of attention and it was confronting...in a nice way of course. 

When the questions came through I found it hard to write about myself because I'm used to writing about other people/products as my daytime career is in marketing for a tourist attraction.  So I pretended I was writing about another person and the words flowed and I couldn't seem to shut up.

I really like the picture of me in my workshop, you can just about see a few pieces of vintage kimono hanging behind me....yet to be upcycled into something wonderful.

I first saw the article when I sat down for lunch at a cafe and I was shocked that little me had received a double page spread - wow - thank you The Weekender!