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Once again, it's been far far far too long since my last posting. I've been overwhelmed by 'real life', but things are slowly sorting themselves out and my never-ending to-do list seems to actually be filling itself up with more 'normal' items though there is still much to be done that concerns moving and settling in.

The good news is that I have finally found myself a more permanent home! The key above is the one to my cellar and isn't it a gorgeous old key? It's large and solid and rusty and slightly skewed but it lies heavy in my hand and I thought it the perfect symbol for the beginning of a new life here in France. It has a sense of solidity and permanence and is, I hope, a good omen for the future.

It's been 10 months since I first arrived in France, very wet behind the ears and, to be honest, quite terrified at the huge step I had taken. Well, it's been worth every moment and I count my blessings daily! I still have much to do but am hoping that the dust (literally, as there are builders in the house) will settle soon and I can get a little studio office set up and draw to my heart's content. Cheers! :)

Old Key card at Zazzle

I'm revising my sewing corner now that I have the new sewing table and this is one of my favourite things. I've loved inlaid Victorian boxes for years and finally found the sewing box I liked best on ebay. It wasn't the fanciest one by far, but it has all the details I've decided I wanted after years of gazing adoringly at pictures online.

On the outside it has nice inlaid wood in a detailed pattern. The main wood has a nice colour and patina. The inside of the lids of these antique sewing boxes are usually covered in ruched velvet, or have a button-tufted upholstery kind of look, or are just plain silk. This one is a bit unusual with the lattice pattern on green silk. Most of the boxes are lined with pink or blue.
My favourite parts are the trays with compartments. This one is fitted with silk-covered pincushions, and some silk-covered lids with small mother of pearl buttons.
This is a detail of the mother of pearl cartouche on the top. Sometimes these are silver, and some have engraved initials.
And there's a matching mother of pearl escutcheon - which is what the little detail around the key is called. Unfortunately this box didn't come with a key - but after all it's not that necessary. It would keep the lid closed while carrying the box around but it's not really meant for travel - well, just travel around the living room.
And this is the inside with just a few odds and ends. Mostly tins that keep pins, snaps and buttons. A place for everything and everything in it's place. Heaven!

that looks old, if I did it right.


I really had fun with this. I wanted to make something that looked vintage. Something cool you'd find at a good flea market or antique shop. Something that had a history, a life, memories. But of course its all new.

The body of the bag is hand knit in garter stitch, then woven with the same yarn, going up and down each row, vertically, if that makes sense. It gave the 'fabric' of the knitting much more oomph and strength. The yarn is cotton, and it tends to stretch if its not firmed up some. The weaving also gave it a different texture, which I like a lot. Now "plain" garter stitch looks unfinished to me!



The fringe is just the leftover woven ends, which I purposely left long. I split them apart and also added a couple extra lengths of other yarns for some variety.



I've had this fabric in my stash for a while. I just artistically stuffed it into the bag body, letting it overlap in front and back, and left the ends raw. There's a little wood button in front here, and some little stitching holding it in place in the back.




The handle is hand crocheted, and attached on both sides.

I also "aged" the bag and yarn just a hair in a couple of spots with brushed on coffee. Yes, coffee! Just a little bit.

What I love is that all the ends are frayed and raw and just "out there".

I might add a bit more to it, but I had to take a break. It might be done, I'm not sure. I have to live with it a day or two to know for sure.

I'd like to resurrect my Etsy shop (which has been in a coma for some months now) and wanted to come up with something new to sell. Thing is, these might be a bit pricey, since they're labor intensive. The knitted and woven body is the thing that really takes the time. Hmmm. I may have a hard time parting with this anyway because it looks way too cute hanging on the post of my black iron bed. So we'll see. (And yes, I know I need to do better pictures before I put this in my shop! Why are good digital pictures so hard to do?)

The heat has gone back to wherever it came from and everyone's feeling way better around here. It'll come back, but for now sanity has returned. I'll try not to whine so much next time around.

All images are © Paula Pertile and may not be copied or used for any reason.

By Kirsty OUP-UK

This month’s column comes from Khalid Koser, author of International Migration: A Very Short Introduction. Khalid is an expert on international migration, refugees and internal displacement. A former policy advisor on global migration issues, he is also deputy director of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement.

OUP: Why has international migration become an issue of such intense public and political scrutiny? (more…)

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