Sweet Mary

   Rescuing and reusing vintage linens to make my lavender filled sachets is what I do. The idea came one day when once again I arrived home from op shopping with a stash of stained and rust spotted vintage linens. Still beautiful but no longer used for their original purpose. I also have to credit my mum with the idea too as she long ago suggested it as a way of repurposing linens embroidered by my grandmother. Every piece I find is laundered and ironed ready for the next stage of cutting and sewing. For many years I have grown and harvested lavender for use in these beautiful sachets. To view and purchase Sweet Mary items please refer to my Instagram account, top right of this blog. Its a delightful labour of love with the emphasis firmly at the love end.

Each year we harvest our five large lavender plants which once dried will give me enough lavender rubbings for my vintage style lavender sachets. These plants grow in perfect conditions at a friend's lifestyle property. I planted them about four years ago and from memory they are Grosso but as I can't find the original tags I'm not absolutely sure. I also grow a few plants in my garden to top up this harvest, ending up with about 2 kilos of the dried rubbings. At present the only outlet for my lavender sachets are from a beautiful shop in Havelock North (NZ) called The Garden Marke t,  which is  packed full of an eclectic mix of vintage items for your home and garden. For more recent updates follow me HERE on Instagram.

Something old, something new, something grown, something handmade, quite a bit of love, have a very Merry Christmas to all. If you are new to my occasional blog keep in touch through my Instagram account, click HERE .

These days you can find me on Instagram by either clicking on the "red" sweetmarynz link under the Instagram heading top right of this page or if you are on Insta yourself, find me under the same: sweetmarynz. Happy following.

This past year we moved house, our son married, our daughter will be married in a few weeks, lost a much loved family member and a new job for my husband. Its been a lot in a year and not too much time or inclination for crafting. But as Christmas approaches I have put together a little bit of handmade bling. Click HERE   or on the felt. icon (right) to look.

I don't want to give up my blog but I do want a good long break. So, for the meantime if you want to check me out I am on Instagram. Click HERE . Cheers!

It happened! After many baking hot days it rained last night and is showering a bit today. Lower temperatures for the next few days too. After suffering local water restrictions I imagine the garden has taken a big sigh of relief. It is so pleasant out there, this is my view right now, looking out from my studio. Sometimes a tui will come down to the water for a drink and the fantail pair too but right now, all is quiet. I will be planting out this evening, plants that somehow didn't get in before Christmas and then didn't get planted in January either, sometimes that happens. I will sew today as well, putting the quilt top together before starting the hand stitching. I know it will change but weirdly it feels like autumn.