Bella Dia

Strawberry Basket Pincushion

This little pincushion was kind of made in stages and I
didn't know what it would end up as when I was making
each part. I wove the side awhile ago, just fooling around
with different ideas then I set it aside. I made the big
strawberry about a week ago, again just experimenting.
It all came together last night when I was deciding how I
wanted to incorporate the strawberry into a pincushion.


I like seeing the different stages of growth and I've always
thought that little baby strawberries were so cute. I've
added this one to the shop too.

Katy No Pocket and a new shop item

Do you know the story of Katy No Pocket? Katy is a mama kangaroo but she doesn't have a pouch to carry her baby in. She tries to solve her problem by asking all the other mamas how they carry their babies but none of their ways will work for her.

She finally asks wise old owl for advice and he tells her to get a pocket so she heads off to the city to find one.

I'm going to be adding some zipper clutches to the shop and to honor Katy the Kangaroo I am calling them Katy Pockets, because everyone can use an extra pocket! This is a picture of the first one I'm adding. It's made from red ticking and frames a piece of vintage embroidery. There are three inside pockets and it closes with a zipper.

Shop Update

I made a new pincushion for the shop.

This is a view of the top.

I also made a couple more purse organizers in spring colors :)

Bird Coin Purse and Fabric Buttons

I was very taken with the bird handbag and matching coin purses in a Japanese craft book that Angry Chicken posted (scroll down to the April 13 entry), so while I am waiting for my book to arrive I attempted to make the coin purse on my own. I'd like to add some more details when I do it again but I think it came out pretty cute anyway.

Here's a look at the inside.

I've also been having fun making these little fabric buttons. I should have put something in the picture so you could see the scale because they are very small, only about 1/2" in diameter.

More Thrift Shop Finds

I was so excited to find this printed corduroy (middle) covered with Peter Rabbit and his family. The little hanky will make a nice pocket in a future tote.

I love vintage aprons and thought this one was especially cute because it's reversible.

These Golden Book Encyclopedias aren't too hard to find and I love them for their great illustrations. These are from 1960 and it's interesting to read some of the entries too, i.e. "there's much talk of one day going to the moon."

The illustrations go from the beautiful...

to the bizarre!

Thrift Shop Success

I finally had some success at the thrift shop :) I went to a couple of stores that I had never been to before so now I'll be checking them on a regular basis. I love getting yardage and zippers, such great prices! The fabric on the left is a curtain and I'll combine it with the fabric in the middle to make some sort of bag. I'm still designing it in my head.

I thought these silver paper numbers were so cool. I don't have any plans for them yet but I think they'd be great in a collage.

Isn't this a sweet Holly Hobbie calendar towel? It's in almost perfect condition too. I haven't decided if it's meant for eBay or not.

This piece of linen fabric was all rolled up so I couldn't really tell what it was but I'm glad I bought it anyway. It's 2 yards of a dark brown hand-screened image of a road runner in some cactus by Harwood Steiger. I've done a little research and found out he had a studio in Tubac Arizona in the 70's where he hand-screened fabric. You can see another example of his work and some cool old pictures here and just a little info here.

I have a few more goodies to post but I'll wait until tomorrow :)

Pincushions and Tuffets

Okay, here's some more pincushions, if you can stand it. I made another little chicken, this time a little red hen, and miniature country house. I'm tempted to make a whole little village :)

This little pin tuffet is just a scribble of embroidery. Lots of fun to do!

I love the colors in this tuffet,
they remind me of beach glass.

Everything here is being added to the shop.
I've got so many good fabrics calling out to me that I am determined to get back to purse making but I'm having trouble leaving my pincushion making behind.

Chicken Little

I'm trying something new...
this little chicken can still be used as pincushion
but she looks pretty cute just sitting around too :) I've added her to the shop - Bella Dia Designs - under the Photo Albums.

Something else I've put on my to do list
is to make one of these adorable little sock
dogs that Martha has at her site, Naive Knitting. She's made a great tutorial, go check it out!