Collection!

So these are some of the things I was given by my M.I.L while I was in Turkey, So within 4 days of us arriving I'd probably already had half of my baggage limit.  Some of these things were given to her, and some made by her, but the ones I've chosen to start a collection with were the ones that she didnt really want to sell but didnt want to keep them either.  So I got them as presents :)

This is part one of the things that she gave me.  There will be more to come of course!

These 3 pictures are of scarves that were made by my M.I.L's neighbour
who moved to Konya from Izmir.  Only 2 of the sides are done with Igne Oyasi, which means
that some rural parts of izmir dont fold their scarves in half, they put one side of the oya to the front and the other
goes around their neck.  One possibility also as to why they do this is because of a saying in Turkish "dort dortluk" which is like saying "nothing is perfect (but God)"

This scarf was given to my M.I.L by a woman from Kutahya, she says she cant remember what flower
its supposed to be, but I think its Costuran, one of the oyas given to the sister in law.  You can tell that this is from Kutahya or around Kutahya because Kutahya oya always has intermittent motifs (cit)

This scarf is made with a mekik or a shuttle.  This one my M.I.L made.  This oya is called "Karpuz cekirdegi"
or "watermelon seed" in Konya

This scarf was also made by my M.I.L's neighbour from Izmir.  Its crocheted with beads and it is "orange flowers"

This scarf makes me laugh.  My M.I.L says that women back in the olden days didnt have
perfume so when men would come to the house to ask for their hand in marriage she would wear this sort of
scarf so she'd smell nice.  As you can see this scarf has cloves on it.

This oya was made by my M.I.L and is a pomegranate flower.  Its made by  bead weaving on a crochet chain.

This oya was made by my M.I.L, its a version of Kasla Goz (eye lashes) most old style scarves with bead oyas on them
were normally made for plain white scarves.

This is a prayer scarf or namaz ortusu.  My M.I.L made this one with beads.  She put this in my bohca (trousseau/sack thing pictured below)  This isnt like a normal white scarf its quite long in the shape of a rectangle.

This is my bohca!  Although the picture isnt the right way haha.  These are the sorts of things that M.I.L's put their daughter in laws, son in laws, in laws etc things that she makes for the wedding day.  Sometimes they are decorated with cross stitch flowers instead of igne oyasi like this one is.

And the mother in law arrives!

So I'm a bit excited...My mother in law is finally back in Australia with us!  This is just a quick update as to what has been happening over the passed month and in the next post will be more in depth.

So my partner and I went to turkey for 4 weeks to get my mother in law and bring her back here, and also have a little holidaying time (much deserved)  We stayed in Konya (my mother in laws province) most of the time and went on little trips when we were in Istanbul.

I have brought back stuff that my mother in law and I and her craft group have made, so theres lots to sell!

But I'm more excited that shes finally back with us so I can learn more things from her!

Anyway you guys will have to wait for the next post to see whats on offer and what presents she gave me!

Until then...Peace! xx

I found things in a suitcase...IN A SUIT CASE.

I've been with my partner in this house for 2 years.  He failed to inform me however that his mother had left suitcases here in the cupboard in the spare bedroom.  I practically tripped over the coffee table in an attempt to get there A.S.A.P.  Anyway I found some goodies inside:  2 crochet oyas; one the size of a scarf, and one thats just a sample about 50cm long.  I also found some white nylon thread (which i was in need of) and some beading thread.  So I was quite happy.

Oya Sample

Tulip Scarf Edging.

2 oyas together.

In other news I finished the 50 samples order for my friend over in Utah, which didnt take me long, but trying to remember them all was a pain.  I included some plastic rings for her aswel, as she was cutting tubing for a fish tank to use!

50 samples.

 I also have 2 orders left for the same person, around 20 or so (I've written it down) flowers with leaves, and  a scarf also, but I haven't been working on either of them the past week because alot has been going on family wise and my grandmother God bless her soul, hasn't been well and had a fall last week.  So I've been there looking after her.  Anyway I was told that I don't have to rush, as she doesnt need the flowers for 10 or so months, and the scarf can be done whenever.

Oya flower for order

Ramadan is 3 or 4 days away now, I say 3 or 4 because every year everyone has no idea what day it is because...well...I don't actually know.  We have a calendar that tells us, but then one priest will say this and another priest will say that and then everyone gets confused.  Anyway this year for Ramadan, I thought I'd send my partners mother some scarves so she can show them off to her neighbours.  She doesn't fast anymore because she has diabetes, and the rules are if you're sick or have to take medication, or have to eat, then you don't fast.  So I'm pretty sure she'll be happy with this scarf.  I took a picture of one of the motifs, not the whole scarf, but I will when I finish it (which hopefully is this week)

Partners Mothers Scarf- yet to be finished.

Its a pretty easy motif, but because I've been busy with the orders and my grandmother, I havent had time to get back to it.  At the moment I'm on the 3rd side, so I really should get my butt into gear and finish it so I can go back to my friends orders or she might think I'm neglecting her haha.

I might also pick another scarf to send to her, I think just sending one scarf is a waste of postage .  So I'll pick one out that hasnt sold and send it to her.

Thanks for reading!
Peace x

New bits!

So its been like a month since I've done any blogging, etsy-ing, facebooking or anything.  I've just been really really busy- but I see I've gathered a few more minions, and had outstanding hits on my tutorials.  So well done to me.  I haven't been making much since I've been so busy, but I did make a tatted doily, which is small but I'm really happy with it.  I found the pattern online and decided to give it a go, and I only made one mistake which you cant notice anyway so I'm very happy with myself.  I also made some other thingies for etsy which I hope you guys will like...look below for photos and descriptions!

My tatted doily with variegated thread.

Lilac coloured foulard/cravat/neckscarf with lilac and yellow oya

I really like how the yellow brings out the purple

This is what I call a "fake" doily..the picture below shows why haha,
this is Oya with a crocheted centre with gold thread, and then white nylon thread.

In Turkey these are called vitrin takimi but usually have 4 motifs at the top, I just made mine with 3 and I
think it looks great under this picture of a whirling dervish I have.

Another Turkish washcloth

The other Turkish washcloth

So I hope you'll all go check out my etsy page and my facebook page- maybe you can even like me!

Cheers x

New Igne Oyasi (needle lace) Scarf ready for ETSY!

So this will be the first time I'll be selling an Igne Oyasi scarf on etsy, considering the others I have made have always been sold before I even get the chance to put one up!  All up it took me about 4 days to complete and I'm extremely happy with the end result.

Usually when I aquire a scarf ready to be adorned with oya, I assess the colours that are present on the scarf and usually I'll either use colours that match the scarf, or colours that go with the colours of the scarf but stand out more-  This is typical in turkish handicrafts, especially oya.  This scarf is brown and white with rose motifs and flowers.  I love the subtlety of this scarf and so I decided not to go with anything too eccentric and stick to more soft tones, but tones that stood out from the scarf to make it noticeable.  I think that white and lilac were perfect colours to go with this scarf.  I used dark green thread to begin with just to take your eye off the brown when you look at the scarf, then the eye moves to the lilac and notices the white.  So I think these colours were perfect to adorn this scarf with.

The last side felt like it took forever for me to finish, and I finished at 2am yesterday morning, looked at it, folded it, and went to bed haha.

This scarf is available on my ETSY page

Bits and pieces for the new year!

 I hope everyone had a safe holiday season with lots of good memories!  So heres a few things Ive been working on or doing,  1st we have an oya flower that I made in my spare time out of pure boredom, 2nd we have a new pair of earrings soon to be up on etsy, 3rd we have a scarf I'm in the middle of making, and 4 was just a trial of the cinar yapragi bead oya, which I might add a tutorial for :)

Peace x.

I had some spare time so I made this.

Earrings soon to be up on etsy

Bahce (Garden) Oya

Bead version of Cinar Yapragi (sycamore leaves)