Making things is an unavoidably wasteful business; we inevitably end up with piles of fabric scraps, no matter how carefully we plan our cutting. But we do try to save some of our scraps for future use so they don't all go into the landfill.
(This is especially important now that the garbage strike in Toronto is in full swing - ugh!)


(Here's Mhairi printing)

One thing we use our tent scraps for is to make our 'jack&marjorie' labels for inside of the bag. To do this, we use this great little machine: the print gocco. It is basically a mini screen printing machine that is super-easy, fast and tidy to use.
There are a few different machine sizes available; this one prints postcard size, which works pretty perfectly with our smaller scraps.

The machines are from Japan (can't you tell by how cute it is?!), which is where I bought mine.
Unfortunately Riso, the company that makes it, decided not to produce the machines and supplies anymore, despite outcries from the online crafting community. But there are still places online the components can still be found.

Happy Canada Day, Canadians!

millicent and kang (cecil)

These are my great grandparents on my father's side, Millicent and Kang. This photo is something I really treasure: I've amassed a good photographic history of my ancestors on my mother's side of my family, but on my dad's side this is all I have.

Aside from that, how rare is it to see an inter-racial couple in a photograph of this age?

edit: my dad told me that my great-grandfather actually went by the name Cecil. He also said this photo is likely over 100 years old, since my 95 year old granny believes it was taken before she was born.

I was given my grandmother Marjorie's sewing box (yes, that Marjorie) a few months ago -
It's pretty cute, with lots of vintage-y looking sewing stuff inside to look at, but there are a few things that especially stand out for me:



My grandfather Jack (yeah, that Jack) worked for a moving company, and it seems that these were business cards he gave out to the 'lady of the house'. It's a sewing kit! (With a 'so/sew' pun no less, which I normally hate, but I guess since it's so old it's okay).



I'm not entirely sure what this is - a long thimble? Whatever it is, it was given out by the Bell Telephone company (where my grandmother did actually work for a time). On the other side is says: "Tell your friends about good job openings at the Bell".

Imagine getting something like this nowadays; at best it would be strange, at worst, offensive (a major corporation distributing sewing notions with ads looking for 'girls!'). But that's what makes all this stuff so charming, I guess.

neko bag

This is a somewhat updated version of an old style, the neko bag. This particular bag is made from one of those WWII tents (from around 1950), that I mentioned before. And it looks old too; the fabric is faded with some small holes, but the bag look all the better for it, I'd say...
I'm going to be putting this one in the etsy shop soon, once I get it all set up. (and I'm hoping having written it here will be the impetus I need to just get it done!)

crown jars

Like many others, I love using vintage canning jars to display my various collections. This one is my favourite; it was bought as-is, with the old spools of thread already inside. It came from my beloved -yet now sadly departed! -
Antique Warehouse in St. Jacobs. (although there is another one in Stratford, Ontario). The wooden spools are so much lovelier than the plastic ones we get nowadays...



I used to use skeleton keys on some of the bags. Now they're just decoration:



All my jars have the Crown emblem, which apparently means they were made in Canada. They all cost less than $3, though they can be sold for much more, depending on age and condition.

And in other news:
A few of our spring bags are included in this feature on Canoe.

my ontario:

Look - the blue clementine clutch is featured in the new Ontario tourism brochure!
See it here.

(thanks for letting me know, Stephanie!)

barb hunt

I discovered the work of Canadian artist Barb Hunt some time ago, but was reminded of it again by a post on Arounna's site.



The pieces in the camouflage series use fabric from used military uniforms and camouflage patterns to create something that is at once rugged and beautiful:




And the antipersonnel series features replicas of antipersonnel land mines knitted with pink wool:



If you are in the Toronto area, there is a great looking show on now until June 21st at the Harbourfront Centre - Lookit,Lookit,Lookit - featuring Barb Hunt and 7 other Canadian artists.