lovely little sweetpeas

I do love a good jumpsuit

2012-01-28T12:44:00.001+11:00

I've seen some really cute ones around this season. I thought to myself it couldn't be that hard to make one. I asked Aimee if she wanted one, "no thanks" came her response, quick as a flash. I asked Betty if she wanted one, there was a moment of silence. "You can choose the fabric" I said. "OK then" she said.

I do love the fabric she chose. My sister gave it to me a couple of Christmases ago. It was a three way present. Fabric for me to sew (she knows how much I love to sew) some clothes for Aimee and Betty. It feels like voile, soft as butter, mmmmmm, but I'm only guessing.

Anyhow, so I wanted to make a jumpsuit.

I could see in my minds-eye exactly how I wanted it to be.

So what I did is use a basic pants pattern for the bottom half and for the top I took some measurements of Beths torso. I cut two rectangles using these measurements, trimmed abit off the top corners to allow for arm holes. I made facings for the armholes, then turned down the top edge front and back to make a channel for some grosgrain ribbon I had in my stash.

This makes the shoulder straps - abit like the pillow case dresses you see all over blogland.

I then turned the top inside out and slipped it inside the pants so right sides were facing and sewed these two pieces together. I then sewed another piece of matching grosgrain ribbon to the right side of the waistline over the seam, not only for decorative purposes but also to make a channel to run some elastic through to cinch in the waist.

I added some elastic around the ankles of the pants too.

If I were to make another one, I'd add a couple of inches to each side of the garment to give it a bit more of a billowy, casual look. This one is quite fitted and although Beth has room to move and jump around with ease it won't fit her for long.

After I made this one, I decided to have a look around on the internet for a pattern or tutorial and come across afew beauties.

What else is a jumpsuit good for if not jumping?!

Watermelon Granitas

2012-01-27T09:00:00.020+11:00

Last week Dean took the girls grocery shopping and came home with, among other things, a whole watermelon........

So what do you do with vast amounts of not very sweet watermelon?

Make granita of course!

Here's how.

In a small saucepan put 1/3 cup of caster sugar and 1 cup of water. Stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved.

Set aside to cool for 15-20 minutes.

While the syrup is cooling chop up 2 cups worth of (seedless) watermelon and wizz up in the food processor to make puree.

Combine the sugar syrup and the puree, pour into a metal cake tin, I used a 20cm square cake tin but any metal pan will do, and place it in the freezer. Every hour or so open up the freezer and pull a fork through the mix to form ice crystals.

Repeat the process until you have a tray of watermelon ice crystals

- a.k.a. watermelon granita!

Enjoy!

patterns

2012-01-25T21:03:00.000+11:00

I've made afew pattern purchases recently, gearing up for when school starts again. Bethany is starting Kindergarten this year, so I will find myself for the first time in 7 1/2 years on my own during the day. I'm really going to miss having the children at home, but I'm sure I won't have ANY trouble filling the time!

The pattern on the left is a vintage pattern, McCalls 7689, purchased from OpalsOwlVintage on Etsy. I just fell in love with view C. The ruffle around the neck takes this dress from plain to something special - LOVE!

The patttern on the right, another McCall's, 6354. Jess from Craftiness is not Optional made this back in August of last year. I really loved her version. It looks like such a cool, comfy dress to wear. I bought the pattern from sewingpatterns.com

Back in December, sewingpatterns.com had a sale on Simplicity patterns - everything 99c!!!!

How could I pass it up? In the end I narrowed it down to four patterns, because even though the patterns were cheap, I still had to pay shipping. All up I paid just under $20 - not bad for four patterns :)

So on the left is lisette 2211. This is a great pattern. A cute pleated skirt, a tunic and a blouse. The blouse is what first caught my attention because like Christy I've decided I need more seperates in my wardrobe.

And on the right Simplicity 2226 - love a skirt with pockets!

On the left Simplicity 2117, because I've realised I have mostly A-line skirts in my wardrobe....

and on the right a Cynthia Rowley pattern 2215. I like the simplicity of this dress. It looks very wearable, not too dressy - and it has pockets!

I've got loads of fabric just sitting, waiting to be turned into something - anything.

Four days until school goes back. Six days until Bethany starts Kindergarten..........

Before we get to that though, for those of you in Oz

Happy Australia Day for tommorrow.

Hope the copious amount of water falling from the skies here in Sydney at the moment don't dilute your enthusiasm for celebrating this truly wonderful place we call home!!!!

dreaming............

2012-01-21T23:05:00.000+11:00

image source

of a blouse like this.

Beach dresses and a Pinafore

2012-01-09T21:35:00.000+11:00

Not the most imaginative title - infact not imaginative at all. But I'm tired so it will have to do!

Today I thought I would post a couple of things I've actually made recently. Both of these items were started, if not finished afew months ago.

First up are these smashing beach dresses.

I went to a local water park with a friend afew months ago and of course Beth's clothes got wet and i hadn't brought any spares for her. My friend Lin lent me her daughters beach dress.

Bethany l.o.v.e.d. it and begged me to make her one.

I found the stretch terry towelling at Spotlight, traced around the borrowed beach dress and sewed it all together.

I used an old t-shirt to make the lining for the hood and added a couple of extra pockets at Beth's request.

For Aimee's I did the same but added an inch or two all around to increase the size. I messed up with the size of the neck hole and it came out too large, so I had to add an extra piece of fabric back on to fix it.

It turned out alright and is still perfectly wearable - its only for the beach or pool after all!

I'd actually forgotten about them, but the girls are having swimming lessons at the local pool this week and I found them in the beach bag and realised I'd never posted about them.

Yesterday I spent some time at the machine doing a spot of mending, making dog collars and leads for the girls toy dogs (as you do) and just generally moving bits and pieces from here to there.

I came across this half made dress, drafted from a pattern in Toni Coward's book

Make it Perfect.

Its the pinafore pictured on the front.

I borrowed the book from the library a while ago and decided this looked like a quick, easy project and it would make a nice, cool dress to wear in the heat of summer.

It came together very quickly, with a little alteration to the shape of the skirt to stop it from looking too much like a tent. Then I decided to add in-seam pockets and just eyeballed their placement. Of course I inserted them too low down to be of any use what-so-ever.

I got as far as unpicking them and then lost interest in the project and promptly moved on.

When I came across it yesterday I decided to get on with it and finish it.

All I had to do was sew up the side seams and bind the neck edge, armholes and hemline.

I wore the dress all day today (hence the crease lines) and I've decided I simply cannot do without pockets so I'm planning to add some to the front of the dress.

The fabric is a quilting cotton I bought from Spotlight a couple of years ago. Not the best fabric for clothing, but the dress is such a simple style it works ok. I used a plain grey ready made binding.

Over all - this dress is cool and comfortable.

Not particularly flattering,

but do I really care about that on a stinking hot Sydney Summers day?

I think not!

a Custom Quilt

2012-01-04T22:45:00.001+11:00

Late last year, a couple of weeks before the school year ended, a lovely lady who I work with in the tuckshop at Aimee's school (yes I am a tuckshop mum) asked me if I was willing to make a quilt for her to give to her son for Christmas.

She explained it was to replace a quilt which her oldest daughter had been given as a baby eighteen years ago and it had been handed down to her son, who was still very attached to it. Alas though, the quilt was now threadbare (I have since seen the quilt and that is being kind). My friend wanted to replace the quilt with something her son could use on his bed, but that would also be a reminder of the original quilt.

As this lady is a very lovely lady, who I am rather fond of, I could hardly refuse.

So after some further discussion regarding size, fabric etc. this was her brief:
- a quilt of any size, but big enough to lay across the foot of her sons double size bed
- green on one side, navy on the other
- a ruffle around the edge
- a pocket to keep a piece of the original quilt in
- the word KIKI2 embroidered on it

I sent my friend off to Spotlight with some measurements and words of advice regarding fabric choice. She came back to me later that day with a 2 metre length of green quilting fabric and a navy single bed doona cover.

This is what I came up with. Please excuse the rather average photo's, I was madly snapping away as my friend was on her way over to collect the finished quilt!

front of quilt

The finished quilt measures approx 60" x 75", so about a single bed sized quilt.

back

I used one side of the navy doona cover to make the back of the quilt

pocket and embroidery

and from the other side I cut a square of fabric from the buttoned edge to make the pocket.

The pocket is a pure piece of genius if I do say so myself.

I made it in such a way that I used the existing snap button from the doona cover and made the pocket the right size to fit perfectly within the quilted squares so it blends seamlessly into the back of the quilt. If it weren't for the white button and the embroidery it would be quite secret!

Embroidery is not my strong point so I kept it simple here.

ruffle and binding

I cut the ruffle from the remaining fabric from that side of the doona cover.

The ruffle I'm quite proud of too.

Having never made a quilt with a ruffle around the edge before, it took alot of searching the net to learn

a) how to make approx 10metres of ruffle

and b) how to attached it to the quilt

This tutorial from Everything Your Mama Made and More is revolutionary - who knew you could do this with an overlocker!

And this tutorial from Blackbird Designs for attaching a ruffle to your quilt is so simple and clear.

I used the green fabric to make the binding.

I think it looks fantastic against the solid navy blue. I actually think I like this side of the quilt best!

I made double-fold binding rather than single-fold binding as in the tute for afew reasons.

Firstly it is stronger but also because it cuts out that fiddley step of ironing in the edges of the binding and I think it makes for a neater finish! I machine attached the binding as I do for all my quilts. No hand stitching for me thanks!

When she arrived to collect the quilt, my friend seemed pleased with the finished product, saying it was more then she hoped for.

Today she sent me a lovely text message thanking me for the quilt and telling me her son LOVED the quilt and had shed "tears of joy" upon receiving it for Christmas.

Can't get better then that!

in love

2011-12-31T15:38:00.002+11:00

with shabby apple.

I discovered this gorgeous on-line shop afew days ago via grosgrain.

I love so many of the dresses on offer, it's Impossible to choose just one favourite.

Here are just some I'm coveting

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-956-primavera.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-1193-ca-bronzite-pp.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-1205-off-campus.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-955-gondola.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-975-trevi-fountain.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-937-aloha.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-931-north-shore.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-923-nothin-like-a-dame.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-698-mt-greylock.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-722-sierra-nevada.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-606-oh-la-la.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-614-lamour.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-792-aint-she-sweet.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-925-garden-isle.aspx

The dresses are to die for and I love the names they give each one. Not to mention the styling and photography - photo shoots on location in Paris, Rome etc.. I could, and did, look for days on end.

I would kill to have any of these in my wardrobe. Unfortunately unless I win the lottery (or this competition!) it's not gonna happen due to the ridiculous cost of shipping :(

Inspiration to get the sewing machine and some vintage patterns out???

Happy New Year to you all, hope the year to come is a great one!

holiday christmas craft - a tutorial for peg reindeers

2011-12-22T23:35:00.001+11:00

As alot of you would know, the Summer holidays have started. Ours got off to a fabulous start with afew days away at Port Macquarie.

With all the rain thats around at the moment we were very lucky with the weather. Although it did rain abit, in between it was sunny and warm.

THE best way to start the holidays!

So today was our first full day of the school holidays at home.

Aimee, my little crafter, was keen to make something. Happily, I had all the things we needed to make Peg Reindeers on hand.

So between making several batches of Christmas Candy Cane Fudge (more on that in another post) we made a number of Peg Reindeers.

We basically copied one Aimee made at school last week. Here's how we did it.

First gather your supplies.

You will need

two wooden pegs
craft glue
a 10cm length of ribbon
two googly eyes
one small pom pom
some bull dog clips come in really handy too!
a couple of keen children

Now, seperate the pegs and dispose of the spring.

Lay the pegs down in front of you with the flat side up and spread glue below the notch for the spring at the thick end of the peg on all four peg pieces.

Now place two of those peg pieces back to back with the ribbon in between and clamp them together with a bulldog clip.

Repeat with remaining peg at other end of ribbon.

Making sure you have the right side of the ribbon facing out, spread glue onto top section of pegs, at the narrow end.

And clamp together like so, to dry.

Dab three spots of glue onto the pegs for the eyes and nose of the reindeer

Stick on the googly eyes and the pom pom nose..........

Done

and done!

Super easy and fun.

Between the three of us, we made eight in about half an hour. Aimee and Bethany love giving handmade gifts as much as I do, so these will be going to family members on Christmas Day.

So there you have it, a great little handmade ornament for hanging on the Christmas tree!

Skinny jeans anyone?

2011-12-14T16:27:00.000+11:00

image source

Spotted these fabo coloured skinny jeans on Shorties facebook page and lamented,

"if only they came in adults sizes.......".

Loved little betty's red pants which she made herself! So cool.

Out shopping on the weekend and found these at Glassons

image source

Love!!

Snapped up four pairs. Yay :)

a long winded tale or a Christmas gift - whichever you're interested in

2011-12-06T22:37:00.000+11:00

I've been mulling over ideas for a while now about what to give to Miss A's first grade teacher as an end of year gift.

This teacher is an absolute gem, I wish my girls could both have her, every year of school! She is fun, thoughtful and an excellent teacher.

I had found out awhile ago that she loved elephants so I went out yesterday and bought her a lovely little elephant statue (no photo, sorry) and a nice little box to put it in. But I really feel that handmade is my chance to show people how much I appreciate them, so I wanted to make something for her also.

One idea I had for simple handmade gifts this Christmas was based on a calico shopping tote that came with a magazine I purchased some time back. Its such a simple design, but everything about it makes it the perfect shopping bag (except the magazines name stencilled across the front of it!). Lightweight, easy to roll up and stuff into your handbag, and best of all - the perfect length handles (straps??) for carrying on your shoulder.

I've got metres of calico stashed away in my cupboard from one of my "kooky projects" as my husband likes to call them, making a lounge cover, about a decade ago. No I didn't make a lounge cover out of calico, just a muslin. Is it still a muslin if its not a garment to be worn............? Anyway I digress.

As soon as Miss A saw the elephant after school yesterday she decided that today was the day she H.A.D. to give her teacher the present. I toyed with the idea of making the bag after the kids were in bed last night, but after an hour and a half of fidling with fabric I realised it just wasn't going to happen. I told her this morning I would make the bag today after I'd dropped her off at school.

So we get up to school and I am reminded that this morning is the end of year School Mass. Hmmmmmmmm, I better hang around I think.

Just as well too, because after mass the principal handed out a bunch of awards including Best in Class to each grade and who should get the award for Miss A's class! It was a very proud moment :)))

Then the principal announces there is a morning tea being held after mass for all the parents who have helped out through the year with things like the Daily Reading Program, school excursions, sports/swimming carnival and tuckshop duty - yep, tick ALL those boxes, might as well hang around abit longer and get a free cup of tea!

So, finally get back home three hours later, have lunch, do violin practice with Miss B and find I have exactly two hours to make this bag.

After a bit more fidling with fabric followed by some hardcore sewing, I was very pleased with how the bag turned out.

I couldn't leave the house without snapping a quick couple of photos, then I managed to get back up to school with said gift only 10 minutes after the final bell had rung.

Miss A was happy, her teacher was happy and I am happy.

Definately think I'll be whipping afew more of these up before Christmas rolls around!

bring a plate

2011-11-30T13:32:00.000+11:00

Its that time of year, when we all like to get together to celebrate the year that was and have a little last horrah! before we move on to next year and whatever exciting things it will bring.

Inevitably for some of those shindigs a 'plate' of something is called for. I usually go the baking route. You know, some gingerbread, a slice, cupcakes etc. This time round I decided to keep it simple. Also I wanted some 'real' food as the party coincides with dinner time. So Miss B and I prepared these plates for her Pre-school concert/Chistmas party this evening.

a mixed variety here -

cheese and cabanossi, cucumber and cabanossi, black olive and cabanossi and cucumber and cheese

Basil, feta and cherry tomato - very Christmassy!

Don't they look purty!!!

I'm feeling hungry already.............

puffball skirt - making children's clothes

2011-11-23T22:07:00.000+11:00

Here are the details of the Puffball skirt I made for Miss B to wear to her Orientation Day.

Miss B has been rather apprehensive about starting school next year, so as a sweetener and to add some excitement to the whole Orientation Day proceedings I gave her my copy of making children's clothes by Emma Hardy and asked her to pick out something she wanted me to make for her. I also let her pick the fabric, which we got from Jack's Textiles (love that shop). For the lining I used a piece of plain teal cotton I had in my stash.

The skirt was very easy to make, the instructions in the book are clear and easy to follow. And a first for me, the waistband was one of those which is elastised only at the back, but has buttonholes in the elastic with a button fixed at each side to allow you to tighten or loosen the waistband as necessary - you know what I'm talking about, alot of kids clothes from Big W have it.

My only issue with the pattern was that the waistband pattern piece was too small and I didn't realise until the skirt was all sewn together and I got Miss B to try it on. We just managed to pull it up over her hips. I wanted her to be able to wear the skirt more than once or twice so I unpicked it and made a bigger waistband.

She loves it and happily wore it to Orientation, which got off to a shaky start but ended extremely well. Miss B seems now to have embraced or at least accepted the fact she will be starting school next year.

On-the-Go Art Satchels now available at Shorties!!!!

2011-11-21T22:32:00.000+11:00

That's right folks, just in time for Christmas shopping. I took my wares into Shorties at Newtown today, hoping that I might sell afew - Celia loved them so much she bought all my stock!!!

I just realised I didn't even get a photo of them all. The one's above are just some of the Art Satchel's you will find at Shorties.

I personally make each and every Art Satchel myself, and no two are identical.

There is currently only one available in my Etsy shop. Find it here

Miss A

Miss B

I did a little photo shoot the other day, both my girls got right into it. They really wanted to be involved.

See the skirt Miss B is wearing, I made that for her to wear to Orientation Day for "big school" last week. Hopefully I'll post more details about that and lots of other things I've been making soon.

No time for chatting now though, better get sewing................

you know that sinking feeling

2011-11-12T13:21:00.000+11:00

you get when your computer dies? I mean really dies, like you are told that it's gonna cost thousands to retrieve anything off the hard drive. In other words everything is lost forever.

Do you know that tightness you get in the pit of your stomach when you realise you haven't backed up any photo's to the external hard drive for the last six or so months (because you didn't know you could set up the computer to do it for you automatically - double d'oh).

Do you know that complete and utter feeling of dispair and desperation when it dawns on you that

every. single. pattern.,

both free and bought, crochet and sewing, that you have very concienciously and systematically filed on your desktop just waiting for that day when you'll have the time to make them are

gone

f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

Half glass full - slate clean, start again.

Probably never would have gotten to them anyway..............

Couscous Salad

2011-10-19T20:59:00.000+11:00

About a month ago, Miss A's school had it's Sports Carnival. I spent the day at the oval as I'd volunteered to help out for the day. At lunch time, one of the other mum's gave me a taste of her Couscous Salad. Yum! I couldn't stop thinking about it, so last week I asked her for the recipe.

A couple of days later she presented my with a beautifully typed up recipe! I made it for dinner tonight and it did not disappoint :) Thanks Maria!

Couscous Salad

In a glass bowl put 1 cup of couscous
In a saucepan put 1 cup of water, pinch salt, 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder. Bring to the boil and mix well together.
Add to the couscous, stir well and cover the bowl with cling wrap - leave for 5 mins
Thinly dice - spanish red onion

- red capsicum

- spring onions

- celery (stems and leaves (if you like))

- cherry tomatoes (take out the seeds)

- Avocado (optional)

Finely chop - fresh coriander (optional)

- flat leaf parsley

open a can of chick peas - rinse and drain well.
Once the couscous has absorbed all the liquid use a fork to seperate the grains making the couscous fluffy.
Add all your chopped ingredients, season to your liking with salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar and squeeze some lemon juice and mix well.

Did she really eat it for dinner? - not a chance

A day in the sun

2011-10-17T20:58:00.000+11:00

Today Miss A's school had a Pupil Free Day, so Mr D organised the day off work and we had a family day out.

First port of call, Harry's Cafe de Wheels for lunch - a first for my girls! Miss B l.o.v.e.d. her sausage roll. In fact when asked at the end of the day what her very favourite part of the day was she hugged me and said, "my sausage roll". Simple pleasures indeed!

We then drove down to Nielsen Park at Vaucluse. What a beautiful little part of Sydney.

And today it was perfect.

Sunny, warm and a weekday, so not many people around.

Don't kids just love the most simple things. Give them some water and some sand and you could just spend a whole day having fun.

Unfortunately we didn't have a whole day, just a couple of hours, so after an ice-cream each it was off home again.

Oh, and I found my new house!

The Gardener's Cottage at Nielsen Park.

Even as a child I dreamed of living somewhere like this.

Picturesque isn't it?!

boy sewing................

2011-10-11T14:02:00.001+11:00

is not something I've had much opportunity to have a go at.

But recently a cousin of mine gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, so I jumped at the chance to make something hand made for him.

Ive been crushing on the tie shirt tutorial posted by Emily over at Saltwater Kids ever since I first came across it so knew straight away I'd be making a tie shirt onesie for the little fella. I decided to pair this with a matching pair of shorts.

I used the baby bloomers pattern from the book making children's clothes by Emma Hardy. The idea was to use the same patterned fabric for the tie and the cuffs around the bottom edge of the pants.

As usual though I managed to stuff it up and attached the cuffs to the top edge of the pant pieces.

As I'd lopped 2 inches off the main pants pieces I couldn't just unpick and re-sew though. And as I have been trying to use only fabric in my stash for projects this year I had squeezed the pant pieces out of a very small piece of blue cotton I had left over from this dress so cutting the pants again wasn't an option.

After much cursing and chastising of oneself, I decided the contrast as a waistband was a fabulous idea and that adding a couple of matching knee pads was only fitting as the little man will surely be crawling by the time he fits into this spiffy little number!

I have to say I am very happy with the end result, and if the need to make another little boy outfit should ever arise again I will do it just the same :)

I'm also happy to say my cousin seemed genuinely delighted with this little piece of hand made and I thouroughly enjoyed an afternoon of snuggling and cuddling the latest addition of my extended family.

pirate pondering.......

2011-09-10T18:01:00.001+10:00

Am loving this song at the moment.

Not only because I think it's a catchy tune with a moving sentiment, but also because it has been really challenging my 7 year olds understanding of relationships.

Much food for thought.

coming out of hibernation

2011-08-11T22:26:00.001+10:00

It's been a while.................. winter tends to do that to me.

There has been constant crafting, making, doing.

But in the evenings, rather than sitting in my cold bedroom at the computer I have much prefered to be curled up in front of the tele with the fire on and a crochet hook in my hand.

This is my latest creation and I have to say I am much too pleased with it to keep it to myself!

I came across this great tutorial by Heidi Bears while doing a spot of blog hopping last week (yes, I've still been sneeking a little time at the computer) and just had to drop everything else and give it a go. I decided to keep it pretty small and as I've been wanting to make a table runner for the sideboard near my front door for a while now decided this was perfect!

I had great fun making this.

Once I'd made the first couple, I could practically do it with my eyes closed - perfect for that curled up in front of the tele senario.

To make things even better, I followed Heidi Bears tutorial for joining as you go, and as I did so, I crocheted over the wooly ends, saving me from having to weave them in when I'd finished Woo Hoo :))))

Now I have read many times that blocking is only worthwhile if you've used natural fibres. Well I'm here to tell you it isn't so.

I made this using acrylic yarn and when I'd finished it was a little wonky and wavy around the edges so I decided to block it and I am very impressed with the finished results.

I'd read somwhere awhile ago about pinning your finished item to those interlocking foam mats you can buy from just about anywhere these days.

I had some stashed away out in the garage from when my kids where little so I gave it a go and it worked f.a.b.u.l.o.u.s.l.y.

Now when I walk in the front door on a cold and dreary day I have a wonderful, colourful piece of handmade goodness to greet me. I think my new table runner finishes this little entry display off very nicely.

Now let's see how long I can stretch it between posts this time.......

rrrrrrribbit?

2011-06-05T21:10:00.000+10:00

I was going through my yarn drawer the other day, looking for a quick, easy, satisfying little project to hook up after the mammoth effort that was the Dolores, when I came across 6 balls of scrummy Moda Vera Cupcake yarn in Aqua.

I bought them awhile ago from the sale tub at my local Spotlight for $1 each - bargain, yay!

I just ~~love~~ LOVE the colour, and the yarn (50% nylon 50% acrylic) is so soft and bungee and squishy.

I decided this would make a perfect cowl.

So I jumped on Ravelry and searched for free (I'm cheap like that) cowl patterns. After searching through all the patterns I decided that the Convertible Cowl was exactly what I was after.

Fast forward a couple of days and this is what I've got.

Juuuust not sure if I like it.........

I was expecting/hoping for something a fair bit more snug around my neck.

It's designed to be worn as a hood if so desired too, which is great, I just don't know if I'd ever wear it like that though?

But I did wear it into town yesterday and it definately kept me warmer than I would've been without it!

So what do you guys think, frog it?

little vintage style

2011-06-02T21:45:00.000+10:00

This last week has been somewhat of a doozy. We have our fair share of crappy days in this household but I generally avoid blogging about them.

But this week it's the story behind the pictures, so I decided to share!

On Tuesday this week I had both my girls at home. Miss A came down with a fever last Friday, which developed into Tonsilitis over the weekend.

On Monday night, at 11pm to be exact, Miss B woke up covered head to toe in welts, some as big as the palm of my hand, and scratching like mad.

An obvious allergic reaction to something I knew (thanks to her history of allergies), but what???

I gave her anti-histamine but an hour later she was going almost mental with the scratching.

It was upsetting to watch her because there was nothing I could do to make it better.

So off to the hospital we trotted.

Two hours later (by which time the welts had finally resolved thanks to the anti-histamine) the lovely doctor came out to see us and tell us I'd done all the right things and sometimes you just don't know what causes these reactions...............

So, home again, home again, jiggity jig and we got to bed at 2.30am.

Thankfully we all had a nice sleep in on Tuesday morning.

Seeing though Miss B and I had had abit of a rough night, and seeing though Miss A was under the weather with Tonsilitis I decided to just go with the flow on Tuesday. So when the girls requested to dress up in their "olden days dresses" as they call them, I happily obliged.

I've been admiring Ingrid's little vintage style posts over the past few weeks so decided to join in with hart + sew and photograph my girl's in these circa 1970's dresses handed down to me from my mother-in-law.

These dresses are not just saved up for rainy (or in this case sick) days, they do often wear them out.

Last year when Miss A's school had a mufty day she chose to wear this dress to school. I can only imagine what some of the other mum's were thinking!

Miss A

The tag on this dress reveals it is a Woolworths brand dress. All cotton - it feels like flannel, very warm in winter. It has sweet little pink and purple flowers all over and is trimmed with lace around the collar, waist, sleeves and skirt. It has a ruffle collar and a panel of smocking around the waistline.

Miss B

This dress is also Woolworths brand and is a cotton/polyester blend. Definately a summer dress. The print is little pink and orange flowers. It has a lovely peter pan collar and lace trim down the front.

Miss B is wearing a vintage cardi, also passed on to my girls by their Nanna. I do believe this was made by my husbands Aunty on her knitting machine.........

Now please tell me, don't they look sweet?!

Dolores dress - aka August (2010) one per month project

2011-05-31T21:33:00.000+10:00

Finally finished.

I have never been so pleased to finish a project.

Not only because I have kept my sweet daughter Miss A, who so desperately wanted this dress for her 6th birthday, waiting e.i.g.h.t. months for this dress, but also because I am so OVER it.

Having said that, I do love this dress.

I am so glad I persisted with it, and that I didn't rush it or cut corners or say "that'll do" when certain elements weren't quite right.

Like the neck - which when finished as per the book was quite large (as is the whole dress).

So I added two rows of single crochet and one row of picot to match the edging around the sleeves and bottom of the dress.

I did contemplate doing these rows in pink and red as per the sleeves and skirt but felt it would have made the dress too busy. I'm glad I stuck with green.

Or the belt which turned out so long it could've wrapped around Miss A's waist twice. So I frogged about 30cm off the length of it and re-crocheted the red border.

So, afew details about this project.

Pattern: Dolores dress, Crochet Design for kids - Lucinda Guy

Yarn: 4 ply Luxury in Forest (green), brick (red), baby pink and baby blue - Bendigo Woolen Mills

Time: started August 2010, finished May 2011

I made this dress following the pattern for a size 4-5 (the largest size in the book).

After taking Miss A's measurements I felt sure the dress would fit her. But as the months rolled on by I got more and more concerned as to whether it would still fit.

I needn't have worried though, the dress is actually still too big for Miss A - phew!

Not only because it still fits, but also because it means that after all that time and effort the dress will see another winter's worth of wearing.

And that's before it gets handed on down the line to Miss B!

Thankfully Miss A still loves it, and wore it to a birthday party on the weekend!

On-the-Go Art Satchels for sale!!!!

2011-05-23T22:59:00.000+10:00

Get yours now from my messy room at Summer Hill.

I'm so excited about this!!!

It's been eighteen months since I designed and made my first

On-the-Go Art Satchel as a Christmas present for Miss A.

I loved it, she loved it and lot's of you loved it too.

I've had such supportive, encouraging feedback about the Art Satchels I've made, not only from you guys via my blog, but whenever we're out and about and people notice the one's I made for my girls.

Over the past eighteen months I've made at least half a dozen more as gifts for both boys and girls and I have been assured that each and every one is treasured, loved and most importantly, put to good use!

After making the first few, the idea of making and selling

On-the-Go Art Satchels did occur to me, but there was something holding me back. Self doubt most likely.

Would anyone really want to buy something I made????

Then a couple of months ago I was at the parents and kids yoga class I regularly attend with my girls. Miss B has not yet got the stamina to do a whole class so we took her Art Satchel along.

After the class, our most wonderful Yoga teacher Eleni noticed Miss B's Art Satchel.

She was completely and utterly taken with it! And totally blown away when my girls told her I had made it. She asked me then and there to make some for her to sell through her Yoga Studio and she wanted a couple for her nieces too.

So I decided if I was going to do this I might as well go the whole hog as they say and try selling them via other outlets as well.

I approached my messy room and was super excited when the lovely owner Stav said she would take some.

The past six weeks or so have been taken up by choosing and buying fabric. Making the Art Satchels and most time consuming of all, deciding on what kind of labelling I wanted.

Once I decided on that, I had some swing tags printed and

ordered a lovely little sweetpeas business stamp. Oh the excitement of it all!

Last week I finally delivered four On-the-Go Art Satchel's to my messy room,

see them there, hanging in the front window.

I also delivered six to Eleni's Yoga and Movement Studio.

So that's ten Art Satchels I've now sold!

In addition to selling hand made On-the-Go Art Satchels through actual shops I'm also going to open an etsy shop - stay tuned for that one.

As a by-product of all this I've decided to remove the free tutorial for the

On-the-Go Art Satchels from my blog.

Sorry if this puts you out at all.

But I am also in the process of updating the tutorial with a couple of minor modifications and alternate options I have developed after making so many of them, which improve the overall finish and make the whole process quicker and easier then before.

This new and improved tutorial will also be available for sale as a downloadable pattern once I get it finished.

Did I mention yet how exciting this is?

So once again, I've written a long winded post - but that seems to be my style. Short and sweet just ain't in my vocabulary.........

happy mother's day

2011-05-07T21:39:00.000+10:00

from my garden to you!

Hope you are spoilt rotten tommorrow

because you sooooo deserve it.

do you scoubidou too?

2011-05-03T21:45:00.000+10:00

If you have a primary school age child you will probably know what I'm talking about!

Just as addictive as any other hand craft..................

After months of begging from Miss A, I finally set about learning how to make "scoobie chains".

I found many, many tutorials on YouTube, each one less helpful than the last.

Miss A advised me that a girl in her class knew how to do it, so I arranged a visit to her house during the school holidays and sat down with her mum who showed me how to do it!

So the question remains, do you scoobie?

retrospective - Miss B

2011-05-01T21:57:00.000+10:00

April 2006 - 5 days old

April 2007

April 2008

April 2009

April 2010

April 2011

I did this when Miss A turned 5 and really wanted to do it again for Miss B now that she is 5. As a keepsake for me. Also it gave me the chance to take some time to look back at how my beautiful girl has grown!

Born unexpectedly 7 weeks early, she weighed just 2.2kg - not a bad size for a premi actually. There was no stopping her though, the hospital sent her home just two weeks later, much to Dean's and my distress. Our main thoughts at the time were, "she's not even supposed to be born yet. Are you sure she's ready to go home?"

She's a real trooper our little Miss B.

Strong, determined, funny, shy, a daydreamer.

Our little one.

my creative space

2011-04-28T22:27:00.000+10:00

I bought some Kona cotton solids from fabricdepot.com back in January so that I could make a number of quilts I've been planning for a while.

I have a stack of Liberty fat quarters, a hunky dory charm pack, a california dreamin' jelly roll and a Saffron Craig fat quarter pack which came with a quilt pattern Dandelion Window's.

I have started the Dandelion Windows quilt, truly I have. I'm using different solids to the pattern though.

Hopefully writing this and publishing it will encourage me to actually finish this quilt - and the others!

For creative spaces from crafty types who actually have something to show for their time, go here.

a walk in the forest

2011-04-27T20:41:00.000+10:00

Miss A went back to school today. I miss her already.

We had such a lovely break. I really love having both my girls home with me. I made sure I kept it pretty laid back this holidays. We had a couple of play dates, went to the movies, spent time with the extended family, the girls did an art class at our local community centre and we just hung out. One day last week the girls and I spent a lovely few hours bushwalking through our local neck of the woods.

We are so blessed to have this close by.

I don't know a thing about mushrooms/fungi but was struck by the number and variety we spotted along the way.

We also encountered our local colony of fruit bats. Noisy little creatures.

Miss B loves bats apparently; who knew?

The girls are great nature and adventure lovers, something I am so glad to share and nurture.

The track we walked is about 1km in length, as the crow flies. We took our time, stopping to look at this and that along the way. At the end there is a little park where we had some lunch and a play.

When given the option of bush walking back or walking to the main road and bussing it back home, both were adamantly in favour of bushwalking back!

sometimes no matter how hard you try, they just won't co-operate!

We all slept well that night, that's for sure.

How was your break?

Hope it involved lot's of adventures!

the Annie V-neck vest

2011-04-26T13:53:00.000+10:00

Finished!

I made an extra effort to finish this in time for Miss B's birthday a couple of weeks ago.

I don't think I've even mentioned this project here before.

I started it out of guilt for Miss B when I started the Dolores Dress (which I might add is also almost finished!!! Just have to sew it all together and weave in ends.....)Miss B picked it out of the book herself and instructed me to make it purple. Well actually she really wanted it the same golden yellow as the one in the book, but I could not find any yarn remotely similar at the time.

for Miss A last August, as part of the One Per Month Challenge.

So, to the finer details:

Pattern - Annie V-neck vest in size 3-4, from Crochet Design for Kids by Lucinda Guy.

The sizing runs a little big, for my girls at least.

On the upside, the Dolores Dress should still fit Miss A even though it's taken me 8 months to complete it (almost) and I made a size 4-5 for my 6 year old...........

Yarn - Lincraft Silk Plus. A composition of wool, silk and bamboo; 4 balls. This was a nice yarn to work with, unlike some other Lincraft yarns I have tried. And a very lovely shade of purple.

Alterations - the front and neck band was supposed to be 5 rows of stitching, but as I was running out of wool fast I made it only 4 rows.

Also the pattern called for only one button, to be stitched to the waist band for decorative purposed only.

Alas, as you can see the vest is rather big on Miss B, so to try and stop it from constantly slipping off her shoulders I added three more buttons up the middle. They too are only for decorative purposes, I've just sewn the front opening together. Miss B chose the gold buttons from my vast collection of vintage buttons. She loves sifting through them, ooohing, aaaahing and sorting.

How would I rate the pattern? Overall, very, very good. It was easy to follow, the instructions were clear and concise and I've made a beautiful little vest using a simple stitch!

She's happy - I'm happy.

Another UFO done :)

craft punk

2011-04-25T20:33:00.000+10:00

image source

I'm going to Craft punk next Saturday. Can't wait.

Thanks lottielulu for the giveaway!

look and you shall find

2011-04-13T21:01:00.001+10:00

After a spur of the moment visit to a local op shop recently with a great pal of mine, I came home with this treasure.

A gorgeous crochet cloth.

Measuring more then 2.5m long and 1.7m wide I'm using it as a spread on my bed.

After a soak overnight to remove a couple of stains it's now in perfect condition.

Occasionally the op shop god's look favourably upon me.

Every time I look at it I dance a little jig (even if only in my head!)

Here's hoping the op shop god's smile upon you too :D

Turning 5

2011-04-11T22:24:00.000+10:00

Miss B turned 5 today.

Happy Birthday Miss B.

Miss B, Miss A, Dean and I spent a wonderful day together

getting to know some native wildlife a little better

at the wonderful Australia Walkabout Park .

It made me so happy to see the smile on Miss B's face.

From the minute she got up this morning she was just so happy.

She loved all the presents she received, including the vest I crocheted for her (see it there in that picture! More on that later).

My lovely, loving, caring, sharing, purple loving girl.

She can still be very shy and withdrawn but has come out of her shell an awful lot in this past year.

She's getting so tall.

On Saturday we celebrated with family.

I made the cake Miss B has been planning for and talking about for months. Found in a book we borrowed from the library called

Birthday Cakes for Kids by Annie Rigg.

This book is a gem, I've been thinking about buying a copy just so I can make sure it's always available to me.

I love you so very much Miss B

hot cross buns

2011-04-07T22:19:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I stopped in at our local bakery to pick up an afternoon snack for Miss A to eat on the walk home from school. After quizzing the lovely lady who works there about the ingredients, I established that the yummy looking hot cross buns I had just purchased would not be suitable for Miss B due to the fact they contained egg.

Miss B has always been very accepting of her food limitations due to mulitple food allergies.

But over the last twelve months, on the advise of Miss B's Immunologist, we have slowly, ever so slowly introduced dairy into her diet!!!!

Miss B has grown out of the dairy allergy.

This is so exciting. So super. So liberating. So life changing for the whole family.

Miss B has recently tasted many foods for the first time in her life. It has been interesting to observe her varying attitudes towards trying foods with dairy. Avoiding these foods has been a lifetime habit for her - to suddenly be told you can go ahead and eat them is, I think, confusing for her.

Some foods she still turns her nose up at, others she has taken to with great relish. Her new favourite food (chocolate is a food isn't it!) would have to be, hands down, Smarties. When I was a child, my Nanna would give us kids a box of Smarties every time we saw her. It was so sweet the other day when we were with my mum and she gave Miss B a box of Smarties...................

Anyway, I digress. Due to her new found ability to eat various foods, she is now struggling a little with still being restricted by other allergens (being egg and nuts). Hence the mini meltdown she had when I told her she couldn't have a hot cross bun.

So, today we baked.

Soft, scrumptious, egg free, hot cross buns.

And you know what?

They were even better than the store bought ones! So worth the effort.

Next up - chocolate chip hot cross buns.

weekend about town

2011-04-05T22:07:00.000+10:00

On Sunday, the girls and I attended a birthday party for a couple of lovely little friends of ours. Sisters turning three and one. Their lovely mum is a crafty type, so I decided to give handmade gifts.

For Miss 3 I couldn't go past an On-the-Go Art Satchel made up in this lovely Sanae Oz yellow flowers twill, with spotty contrast. For the strap I used grosgrain ribbon.

For Miss 1 I used The Bonnet pattern by Amy Karol. If only I had known about this pattern four years ago when it first came out. Miss A and Miss B would never have been without one. Too cute. Miss A was up for a spot of modelling and insisted I photograph her wearing said bonnet. Four years too late....................

After the party, we took a Sunday drive into town and wound up at a place we regularly return to, the Art Gallery of NSW, where we watched a very entertaining puppet show and perused a little of the permanent exhibition.

We then strolled across to the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Levy's Fountain

Happy happy place.

How was your weekend?

Hope your week is a happy one!

the animal play mat (another finished object)

2011-03-16T21:39:00.001+11:00

One day ,about a year ago, I sat watching my kids play with their animal figurines and I thought to myself, "wouldn't it be great if they had a playmat to play with them on?"

Then, as I do, I got carried away with the idea and decided it would be really great if they had a playmat to go with their box of toy cars too.....

After a trip to Spotlight, where I purchased some felt in just about every colour they had, I got to work with my scissors and cut and pinned and cut and pinned some more until I came up with two fantastically fabulous play mats that the kids couldn't wait to play with.

I finished off the car playmat back in April last year.

Remember that one? It was a beauty.

Well, after finishing that one I lost enthusiasm for the project and the animal playmat has hung around, being moved back and forth, from here to there, with all the other UFO's cluttering up my space.

Recently, while it was sitting on my bed, Miss B noticed it there and asked me when I was going to finish it like I had promised to do.

Boy did I get an attack of the guilts!

Needless to say, it was the next project on the machine and in next to no time at all it was done.

I remembered seeing this fantastic Snailblazer Bean Bag Toss game made by Cass and decided to finish the mat in the same way. I made the holes using my button hole foot and thick piping cord for the string.

It makes packing and unpacking a breeze and if we want to take it with us on holidays or on a play date it's soooo easy peasy!

I suppose you can buy similar things at toy stores or on-line; I really don't know, I've never looked.

I know you can get mats with roads and things on them anyway.

I tried to make my versions a bit unique by adding things like the caves, which the girls love.

And I love the grass which you can make stand up by brushing it to one side.

I also love the way Miss A and Miss B arrange all the toys so neatly, grouping similar animals together.

They always do it this way.

But I especially loved this little bit

I'm lovin' it!

And you know that tight feeling you get in your chest everytime you see the mountain of stuff sitting on your sewing table waiting to be done (or is that just me?!), well it's slowly abaiting.

revisiting hobbies of old...........

2011-03-01T21:08:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I spent the best part of the day out in the garden, tidying up what has over the last few months, become overgrown, burnt (after Sydney's heatwave) and badly in need of some TLC.

I find gardening very satisfying, enjoyable and therapeutic.

I love it.

I started gardening with a passion more than a decade ago when my husband and I bought our first house together. I would spend every free moment out in the garden. Tending, transforming, nurturing and watering.

When we bought our current house I took it upon myself to landscape our front yard,

taking it from this, in the November of 2007

to this by February 2008.

I spent the next few months scrounging around our property, looking for bricks to use for my piece de résistance, the circular path.

By June it looked like this

Yes, I did manage to find that many bricks lying around!

I did all this predominantly on my own, with two small children often pottering along beside me.

To say I was proud when I had it all done is an understatement.

Gardening during those early days in this home was all I had to help me hold onto my sanity.

A little bit of me, the old me, before I had two children. Before the ups and downs of being a stay at home mother, with children who often needed visits to and overnight stays in hospital.

But as always, times change, things change.

Stresses and health improved and I learned to be comfortable in my skin again. I discovered blogs/blogging and reaquainted myself with some crafty persuits.

The garden continued to grow

nov 2008

and flourish

November 2009

with only the occassional day here or there spent weeding, pruning, planting out some annuals or bulbs.........

Today it looks like this.

In need of an overhaul I think.

For me, half the fun is in the planning.
Pouring over my gardening books and magazines. Selecting plants and colour schemes. And while I love the rambling cottage garden look I was trying to achieve with this garden, my tastes now seem to be veering more towards the more formal, clipped hedge look. But can I maintain this type of garden?
It will call for more frequent tending than I have been giving it of late. Hmmm so much to contemplate.

Excuse me, I have some books to dust off...........................

pretty things

2011-02-28T23:57:00.000+11:00

At the end of last year/beginning of this year, I, like so many of you out there, made a little promise to myself to finish off all the unfinished projects I had laying around the place.

My sewing table was piled so high with half done items I couldn't even see the table any more.

Every time I wanted to sew, I would have to make several trips back and forth from my sewing table to my bed moving things just so I could get started.

Not to mention the numerous (five spring to mind) crochet projects I have on the go............

So, I have been slowly crossing afew little things off my UFO list.

These are but two of them...........................................

I started making these crochet flower squares (pattern can be found here) back in July '09!

I made about twenty of them, then changed my mind about the project I was making them for.

What to do with them? Make a cushion cover of course!

And another.

Recognise the fabric?

It's Meadowsweet by Sandi Henderson.

(Yes, yes, there is one little rectangle of Amy Butler midwest modern in there too. )

I received these little fabric sample's, along with a purchase I made from modern retro textiles back in March 2010.

I was smitten.

So small yet so beautiful.

Too beautiful to just throw away.

These tiny bits of yum languished in my sewing room for many, many months, just waiting for inspiration to strike.

One evening I had been indulging in a bit of flickr browsing and stumbled across these gorgeous cushions made by meringuedesigns.

Aha!

In no time at all I whipped up the cushion front and then that sat around in my sewing room for some more months.

Finally, I paired it with some spotty fabric from Spotlight; pink for the front, chocolate (so much nicer then brown) for the back. I did some straight line machine quilting, made a simple slip cover,

and that's another finished project!

my current obsession

2011-02-08T14:25:00.001+11:00

Totally scrumptious and oh so easy Breadsticks.

Now that we're back into the school routine I wanted to make something to put in Miss A's lunchbox.

Topped with black olives, semi-dried tomato and tasty cheese for Miss A

and an allergy friendly version, soy cheese and vegemite for Miss B.

From this many..................

to this many

in seconds flat!

Wanna make some?

Combine 1/3 cup of warm water, 2 tsp instant dried yeast, pinch of salt, 1/4 tsp caster sugar and 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a bowl. Sift 1 cup plain flour over bowl and stir to form a soft dough.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes or until elastic. Put dough into a clean bowl, cover and place in a warm place for about 15 minutes until it increases in size by about one third.

Roll out dough to form a rectangle afew millimetres thick and brush with some olive oil.

Sprinkle dough with toppings of your choice - the possibilities are endless, cheese, herbs, chilli, diced ham etc. If you are using largish pieces such as chopped olives or diced ham, once you've sprinkled them over the dough use the palm of your hand to press them into the dough abit to stop them from falling off.

Now cut the dough into strips, I prefer my breadsticks smallish so they fit into lunchboxes, so about 1.5cm x 10cm. Twist each strip and place on a lined oven tray. Set aside for 10-15 minutes until increased in size slightly.

Bake breadsticks in oven preheated to 200C (fanforced) and bake for 12-15 minutes or until breadsticks are golden.

Done!

We also made these yummy egg-free choc-chip cookies.

As always soooo good to eat even for those of us who can tolerate egg.

For the recipe and lot's more inspiration visit Bubala's lovely blog.

movin' on up

2011-02-05T00:49:00.001+11:00

Today my little Miss B started pre-school - at the ripe old age of 4 years and 10 months!

A little late in the day compared to many other children but this is just the way things have panned out for my family.

As per usual with children, she took me completely by surprise, and rather than cling to me, wail with dispair and be an inconsolable blubbering mess as she has done on many many occasions, she smiled, was excited and thoroughly enjoyed herself.

To the point where upon my arrival at 1pm to pick her up (thinking a half day would be just about all she could handle for her first day) she told me she was about to have a 'rest' and that I should come back for her later! Which I did - lucky I only live a couple of minutes away!

But why you may ask?

Well....................................although Miss B was accepted to start Kindergarten this year, we made the decision to 'hold her back' a year. Someone put it to me this way: this is about the next 12 years of school, not just about the first year. When she's in Year 10 or Year 12, and she's 12 - 18 months younger then some of the other kids in her class who are going out to parties or getting their licence or starting to drink it's going to be pretty hard to reason with her..............

Add into the mix the fact that Miss B can be p a i n f u l l y shy at times, is easily distracted and that the size of the Kindergarten classes at her future school average out at 30 pupils (don't get me started on this!) it was really a no brainer to allow her another 12 months to develop and mature before commencing her formal education.

This is just what felt right for her and for us.

But, BUT, Miss B will be five years old for a good portion of this year.

And although I think I have done a very good job of providing the opportunity for my kids to be well balanced, socialised and stimulated without going down the pre-school path but instead the Playgroup and Occassional Care path, I just felt that Miss B would need a little more stimulation this year then either I at home or either of these options could provide.

I am also hoping that by putting her into the pre-school which is literally across the road from what will in time become her Primary school, she will get to know some of the kids who will transition across with her, therefore making that whole starting big school thing a little less overwhelming and daunting for a rather bashful but very, very sweet child!

In the spirit of making this day special I promised to make a new top for Miss B to wear to her first day at pre-school using some lovely purple broderie anglais she begged me to buy from Spotlight some months ago. This top is based on the Flower Girl dress pattern in Heather Ross' book Weekend Sewing, with the addition of ruffle sleeves from Sparkle Power's Ruffle Sleeve Top tutorial. Miss B specifically requested a top not a dress, so I lopped off afew inches of the length, but when she still wasn't happy, rather then re-hem it I ran a piece of elastic through the channel created by the hem and turned it into a bubble top.

In true crafty mama fashion, I also made a drawstring bag, again using a pattern from Heather Ross' book Weekend Sewing, for her to carry her bits and pieces for rest time in.

Can you tell her favourite colour is purple followed closely behind by pink?

So for one day a week this year I will be childless.

What to do, what to do?

Feelin' hot hot hot.........................

2011-01-31T22:48:00.003+11:00

So a couple of new summer frocks were in order.

Last week, as the school holidays were drawing to a close I got to thinking about when Miss A started school last year and just how darn HOT it always is throughout February here in Sydney.

Making the 10 minute walk up to school at quarter to three in the afternoon each day and feeling like I'm about to melt into the sticky bitumen beneath my feet is inspiration enough to get cracking and make some dresses already!

First up is a little Enid Gilchrist number.

The pattern came from my MIL's stash back in July 2009 (woah, I didn't realise it had been waiting to be made for that long!).

I bought the gorgeous Amy Butler Love fabric not long after, and earmarked it for this dress.

As soon as I saw this fabric I had to have some. It so reminds me of the fabric that a hat/handbag combo my older sister had back in the 70's was made from.

The "Holiday Shift" pattern was printed in the October 1966 edition of New Idea, with detailed instructions on how to draft your own pattern.

Luckily for me the pattern had already been drafted by my MIL - whoohoo.

I love the caption below the dress. Part of what I enjoy about vintage patterns is looking at the styling and language used. How times change.

I made the dress last Friday and when I woke up this morning and it was already 21 degrees (celcius) I knew I'd be wearing it today.

First day back at school. First day in Year 1 for Miss A, and it is was scorcher.

It was perfect. Light and loose.

I added a simple vintage button to close the back.

Love it!

I especially love the round yolk.

I made this shirred dress on Saturday, to wear out to dinner with a couple of girlfriends on Saturday night.

I bought the fabric from Spotlight last Summer. I just loved the border print.

Again, I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to make with it, it was just a matter of getting around to it.

Shirring, how I love thee. Easy, peasy yet so impressive.

As the fabric was a little sheer I decided to line it with some white cotton.

I roughly followed this tutorial, treating the fabric and lining as one piece. I only bought 1m of fabric though, so just made one seam up the back.

I was feeling lazy, so rather than make shoulder straps I used some navy blue ribbon I had in my stash for the straps and as a belt to break up the white abit and give my waist some definition.

I took these photo's this afternoon when it was 35 degrees C, so forgive me if I look a little wilted!

And to mark the start of the school year.........

Day 1 - Year 1.

mirazozo

2011-01-21T15:28:00.001+11:00

from the outside

So the summer holidays continue.

Ours have been relaxed, slow paced, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Today we took a train ride into town to enjoy Mirazozo.

This was a totally awesome experience. We all loved it - from my 4 y.o. daughter to my 13 y.o. nephew to myself.

I found I could not get the smile off my face while I was inside this wonderful world of colour and space.

This is the sort of experience I cherish and love to share with my children. Too give them exposure to things like this from a young age I feel is so important to me. I am so grateful that I have ready access to art like this, to lift me up and feed my need for beautiful, wonderful, creative experiences.

Mirazozo will be on at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt until 27th January 2011.

January 8th, 2011

2011-01-10T22:00:00.000+11:00

A beautiful, beautiful bride,

a beautiful service,

a beautiful reception.

My husband, our children and I

were so very pleased and honoured to be involved,

and each play a small part in making this day special

for my sister-in-law and her new husband.

My husband drove the wedding car,

Miss A and Miss B handed out the booklets at the church

and I did a reading during the service.

It was truly a most beautiful wedding

and the happy couple looked just that - relaxed, smiling and happy all day!

And yes, I finally got to wear the dress!

End of an era

2010-12-31T16:59:00.001+11:00

Although this is predominantly a craft blog, it is also a record, a journal of various events in my life that I would like to remember or mark in some way. One such event, which I felt I needed to document before this year is over, is the end of my and my children's association with Playgroup. I am putting these words down I suppose mostly for my own benefit,because Playgroup has played such a big, big part in my life over the past five years. I have learnt so much and grown so much as a person. I have gained skills and confidence. I feel I am a better person for it. It is something I will truly miss.

Within weeks of Miss A being born in 2004 I began to attend a regular mother's group at my local
Early Childhood Centre. As a new mum with absolutely no idea what I was doing this was a much needed opportunity to interact and talk with others going through the same baby related things as me, at the same time as me.
After some months it was suggested to us (the mother's group) by the clinic nurse that perhaps we should consider starting our own playgroup, as our suburb currently didn't have one.

With some help and guidance from Playgroup NSW we did just that.
Three mum's including myself started the group and as there needed to be three committee members, hey presto I became the Treasurer.
So I was very involved with Playgroup from the word go!

At the time when Miss B was born (literally the day after) in April 2006, my growing family and I moved suburbs. So I said goodbye to the first playgroup I was a part of.

2006 for me and my family was frought with ill health (predominantly my two daughters).
It was a very hard year.
My confidence as a person and a mother was sorely tested and greatly deminished.
I struggled quite a bit.

By the start of 2007 Miss A was 2 and a half years old. If I had to describe Miss A, extrovert and social butterfly are terms that spring readily to mind. After being close to housebound (or hospital bound) for 12 months she n.e.e.d.e.d. some form of social interaction.

birthdays and graduation

And so it was I resumed my connection with Playgroup by finding one in my area. With a small baby in tow, I had no intention of taking on a committee position, but every Thursday, week in and week out, we attended Playgroup.

This was an absolute highlight of our week. Just what we needed. Not only was it a time to spend playing with my children but also the opportunity to mix with adults!

As time went on, this Playgroup became an integral part of our weekly routine. Other things could wait or be postponed - but not playgroup. Miss A and Miss B just would not stand for it.
It wasn't always easy as I don't have a car and the playgroup was in the next suburb. So the girls and I had to catch a bus to get there. But that too was half the fun.

four years worth of Christmas'

After about a year, the time came to elect a new committee. Unable to help myself, I put my hand up for the position of Co-Ordinator. This meant I held the keys and was responsible for opening/closing, set up/pack up, craft activites, replenishing stock, organising outings and special events, plus more............ phew! I did not do ANY of this alone. Playgroup works on a volunteer basis, and all members are expected, no make that needed, to chip in and do their bit for it to work. But all ships need a Captain right? and I was wearing the hat!

What had been a small group of about four mum's when I joined had suddenly exploded to about ten mum's (so 15 to 20 kids) by this stage. Things were not always easy with that many kids but somehow we always managed to make it work. And I always went home every week feeling great. I really loved it.

I held the position of Co-Ordinator for two years running, which is the maximum time allowed (rules you know) and then this year, moved into the role of Secretary. So, for four out of the five years I've been a member of Playgroup I have held a position on the Committee.

excursions

Although I have been more relaxed and organised then in previous years, this year threw up it's own hurdles. Last year (2009) we had about eight children (including my Miss A) leave playgroup to go on to 'big school' or pre-school. Most of the members continued to come this year with our other children so we still had roughly 15 kids.

The start of each year always sees an influx of new members, but this year we were swamped. Absolutely inundated - to the point where for the sake of safety and sanity, we had to start turning people away. Not something I like doing, as I know from my own experience Playgroup can be a lifeline. But with more than 30 children now in our group it was really getting to be too much. But the real difficulty lay in the fact we now had children ranging in age from 5 1/2, down to several newborns!!! The older children, including Miss B, were beginning to find playgroup abit old hat and began playing very..........energetically. With babies and toddlers around this caused some heart in the mouth moments.

Then, in October, and almost in unison, the mother's with older children - women and children who I had formed friendships with and watched grow from babies to confident, beautiful children - who I had been seeing every week at Playgroup for the last one, two, some even three or four years, stopped coming to playgroup. But we still had a large group, and lot's of lovely mum's and children, so although I was sad I was still very busy each week.

It was then that I really had to assess whether Playgroup was still relevant for Miss B and I. For you see although Miss B will turn 5 next April and was accepted to start Kindergarden next year, we decided to hold her back until 2012. I assumed when I made this descision that we would continue to attend playgroup next year. But then I realised that all the older kids, her friends, would be moving on from playgroup next year and the average age of children in our group will be 2 1/2 - 3 y.o. The signs were there too, that she had outgrown playgroup - she was bored.

So at the beginning of November, when we had our AGM, I advised the group I would be leaving at the end of this year.

As per last year, I organised a Graduation Ceremony for all the children leaving playgroup at the end of the year. Each child was presented with a Playgroup NSW attendance certificate and a library bag made by me.

Miss A and Miss B's Grandpa - 'Santa' and I

We held our annual Christmas Party during the final playgroup session for this year. And as per every other year we had a special visit from Santa to hand out presents to all the children.

I thought it especially fitting and touching that this year it was my girls Grandpa who played the part of Santa (and did so superbly at that!) but also because Miss A started school holidays the day before, she got to attend playgroup with Miss B and I.

And so a long and happy association has ended.

I was presented at the end of the Christmas party with a gorgeous bunch of flowers.

And although it was never my intention to send my children to pre-school, I realise Miss B will need some structure and stimulation coming from someone other than me next year. She will be five years old for a good portion of the year so I have enrolled her in a pre-school just across the road from Miss A's primary school for one day a week next year.
This too will mean that for the first time in six years I will now have one day a week to myself.

So to the end of an era and the beginning of new things...................................

Happy New Year

One per Month - December (handmade gifts part 2)

2010-12-28T23:44:00.002+11:00

In January this year I signed up for a "One per Month" challenge, proposed by another blogger. A challenge to choose one craft book in my possession per month and make at least one item from the book.

I thought (and still think) this was a marvellous idea.

I, like many others I suspect, have purchased my fair share of craft books.

I squeal with delight when they arrive on my doorstep.

Caress their pages lovingly as I pour over them, oohing and aahhhing over the many delightful projects and possibilities contained within.

And then what?

I place them on the bookshelf side by side with the books which came before, only to be forgotten about and passed over as I look forward to the arrival of my newest aquisition.

This "One per Month" challenge would get some of those books down off the shelf, and I would end up with some lovely handmade items at the end of each month!

I cannot say the challenge was always easy.

As time wore on I became aware of just how difficult a challenge it was, as everyone (including the original instigator of the challenge) dropped like flies..................

But I am proud to say I stuck with it, completing ~~twelve~~ make that eleven (I'm still working on August's challenge) different projects from twelve different craft books.

And so today I present to you my final project in the One per Month challenge,

from a book called Gifts You Can Make (published 1978).

I remember this book being around my house when I was a kid. I think my sister may have even made a bag for me from this book.

Some of the projects are sooo, sooo dated (as is the styling and photography, he he he), but there are afew projects which I would still consider making.

I made the Quick and Easy Summer Hat as a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law.

Awhile ago she admired the hat I made for Miss A as part of my February One per Month challenge.

Miss A piped up and advised Nanna that "mum made it for me!"

My MIL was suitably impressed and went on to discuss the merits of having a soft, foldable hat, which can be carried around in one's handbag etc.

I knew I had a pattern for an adult version in one of my books so offered to make one for her.

And here you have it.

Gifted to my lovely MIL who is a very accomplished sewer herself on Christmas Day. She was most pleased.

I did, as per usual, alter the pattern a little to make the hat fully reversible. I just couldn't see the point of lining the crown and the brim, only to then attach the brim in such a way that the seam allowance was exposed..............

And speaking of handmade gifts. I did make afew this Christmas.

Nothing like last year's mammoth effort but I did get afew things made, including:

this diary cover, using this fantastic tutorial from Bloom. I made afew of these last year and they were all well received. In fact this one was a request by my sister.

I really must remember this for the teachers gift at the end of next year!

And a couple of On-the-Go Art Satchel's, using my very own tutorial, found here.

I made them slighly different to the tutorial this time. Instead of using fat quarters of quilting cotton, I used plastic vinyl for the pirate themed one and some cotton drill for the floral one. As both these fabrics are heavier then quilting cotton I omitted the lining.

Both held up well.

Inside the Art Satchel's along with the VA diary and twistable crayon's I've included one of these fabulous activity books I stumbled across at a local toy shop recently made by a company called Buki.

My girls are hooked!

So I bid a happy farewell to the One per Month challenge.

It's been fun!

If you feel compelled at all to revisit any or all of the projects I've made this year you will find links to each of them over on the right side bar.

Vogue 5782

2010-12-22T22:38:00.000+11:00

I finished this dress about a week ago but have only had the chance to take photos today - and pretty dodgy photo's they are at that! But it has been kinda crazy weather here lately.

Windy, rainy, overcast, you name it. Not conducive to good picture taking anyway.

So just to recap.

I've made this dress to wear to my sister-in-laws upcoming wedding, from a vintage pattern Vogue 5782 in size 12.

After choosing three possible dresses to make, I settled on making this one first, as it was the closest to my correct size out of them all.

Next I had to choose fabric.

I did contemplate going up market and making a trip to Tessuti's, but time and finances got the better of me.

No matter though because I really love the fabric I purchased from a local fabric shop on Marrickville Rd, Marrickville.

As soon as I saw the bolt of fabric I knew it was the fabric for this dress. I just love the jade green colour and although not really visible in the photo's, the lovely texture. My mum says it reminds her of straw cloth???? but the lady at the fabric shop could only tell me it is a cotton/poly blend............. It has a slight sheen, but not so much as to make it unsuitable for a daytime wedding. Perfect! And at $2.95 per metre, the cost of this dress came in at under $10!!!!

My mum, who did a dress making course at East Sydney Tech more than 40 years ago, gave me a hand altering the pattern to fit me properly. She was fantastic. She made everything seem so easy and simple, "a toile, why do you want to make a toile. This pattern is so simple........" she said to me!

So I started by cutting all the pieces as per the pattern. The only alterations I made, based on my body measurements, were to shorten the bodice by 2 inches (I am obviously very short waisted) and I had to move the bust line darts.

As far as sewing was concerned it was all very straight forward and easy, until I came to inserting the zipper. By this time, mum had left me to it, so I couldn't consult her.

The pattern instructed "insert zipper 3/8" below neck seam, following directions with zipper for a lapped closure" W.H.A.T. the??????

Enter my trusty copy of "McCall's Sewing in Colour". Published in 1964, it is a vintage pattern sewer's bible.

With step by step instructions and illustrations for inserting said lapped closure it was actually quite easy and I was most impressed with the finished result. I don't know what I would have done without this book though!

My main dissapointment with this dress would have to be the hemline. Even though I hand stitched it - twice - you can still see it through the front of the dress. I don't have a tailors ham, so pressing it flat didn't help. But at the end of the day I'm abit over it so it's just going to stay that way.

As for the shoes and accessories, well I picked up the lovely silver Midas heels from a local Vinnies store on a day they were having 50% off sale, so paid the princely sum of $6. The necklace and earrings are from my mum's collection of jewelry, circa 1950's - 1960's, so are the genuine vintage article, as too are the gloves. These particular gloves I do believe, just happen to be the gloves she wore on her wedding day!

So there you have it and all for under $20!!

I can honestly say I don't know if the other dresses will get done before the wedding as I had hoped, but after making this dress I can definately say I will sew from vintage patterns again.

handmade gifts part 1

2010-12-20T22:40:00.000+11:00

This has been some big year.

Life has been so full this year.

I've been so busy. Busy adjusting to life with one child at school, and all that entails.

Busy making things. Lot's and lot's of things. Way more than I ever post about here. Sewing, crocheting, baking, other crafty persuits....................

But the whole school thing has definately been the biggest defining factor when it comes to what 2010 was about for me.

Miss A settled in well, and over all has enjoyed her first year at school. It took me much longer than her to adjust I think. So often I have pined for those days, now lost to me forever, where I could just say "let's not go anywhere today". We could just hang out, doing our own thing, whatever that was, on any particular day.

Everyday now seems to be a rush. Rushing to get ready, rushing out the door, rushing to squeeze this, that and the other into those seemingly very short six hours.................

So now that the summer holidays have finally arrived I am planning to enjoy kicking back, taking our time, just spending time together.

Before the school year ended though, a special present for a special teacher needed to be made and given. After being unhappy with my first attempt at a bag for Miss A's teacher, I settled on another bag pattern. This time I used the bag pattern that came with Simplicity 4116 . The dress will get made at some stage. I just decided to face reality and accept it won't be before Christmas.

The bag though is done, and was very well received!

For the outside of the bag I used some lovely midweight olive coloured poly/cotton I found in my stash. Beautiful fabric, and perfectly matched to the fabric I chose for the lining and detail of the bag. I chose this fabric because Miss A's teacher often wears bold, floral prints in oranges and greens! This fabric was also from my stash, left over from this dress.

I did add a few details to the basic pattern.

I added the button and loop closure.

And the fabric rosette, using this great tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets blog - what a great blog it is too!

And some pockets to the inside of the bag, which just make the bag a little more user friendly.

Would you check out these two doing a spot of hand bag modelling.

If nothing else, my blogging has taught these two how to strike a pose!

One of the really great things about this year was meeting and getting to know some of the wonderful mums with children at Miss A's school. Having their help, understanding and friendship has been a definate high light of this year.

As a little thank you, my girls and I spent some time last weekend making a very Christmassy batch of Gingerbread cookies. Just a small token of my appreciation.

I also made a whole lot of these hair ties/clips/headbands to give to Miss A's friends. Of course I forgot to take photo's of them all together before gifting them- they all looked so good too! Oh well.

With only afew days left before Christmas I still have some gifts to make.

I'll get there, I alway do!

One per month - November

2010-12-07T21:10:00.000+11:00

Last night, as I was hammering away on the sewing machine making library bags for some lovely little kiddies I know as per last year, it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't posted my November One per Month project. Ooooooooops!

It dawned on me because I have once again used the Library Tote pattern from the book The Crafter's Companion, which I was lucky enough to win in a giveaway Cass had recently. And it just so happens that this is the book I chose for my November project.

I had been contemplating what I could make as a gift for Miss A's teacher and also something I could make afew of to have on hand for last minute gifts. I wanted to make something quite practical and useful.

I settled on the Market Bag.

The fabric - I used (from my stash) two fat quarters from the Wildwood collection by Erin McMorris for the outer of the bag and some Ikea fabric for the lining and handles.

The bag was simple to make but I have to say, for me, a bit of a largish and awkward size.

Perhaps my biggest mistake was to double the length of the handles.

I did this because I can't stand bags which are hard to sling over your shoulder. But due to the large size of the tote, in hindsight, shorter handles probably do suit this bag better. One good thing about the longer handles is that I can wear it across my shoulder allowing greater mobility when chasing the kids around while we're out and about.

Also, the design includes a nifty little pocket on the inside top of the bag. This has a double use, acting as a pocket while your using the bag but when you're finished with it, you can roll the bag up and squish it into the pocket to put away.

I found that this pocket could be a little smaller, so that when the bag is folded up and put away it wouldn't take up too much room say in your handbag.

As it is, I would just find it too big to carry around all the time.

So after I finished making it, I decided I wasn't happy enough with it to give as a gift. So I put it away and promptly forgot about it until last night.

I still think it will make a great gift, so I will tweak it abit and make afew more.

So there we have it. One more One Per Month to go and God only knows what it will be. I am so flat chat at the moment, what with, you know.........the end of year and all that. But I'm too close to completing this challenge I set myself now to give up so we'll see!

almost..... but not quite

2010-11-30T21:59:00.003+11:00

Wow, thanks for the response to my last post everyone!

It's great to see so much enthusiasm for vintage patterns.

Simlicity 5017

Simplicity 5017 was definately the favourite,

followed by Vogue 5782.

Vogue 5782

I am having such a hard time deciding which pattern to make that I've decided to make them both.

I made a trip to Spotlight to peruse the fabrics and came home with this lot.

Getting side tracked as I do, I fell in love with this beautiful Liberty print rip off. It's a cotton voile named Ashley in Khaki. It is actually the softest shade of grey and I absolutely adore it. I spent a couple of hours on Saturday making the Simplicity 3835 view C (the blouse). I put it on as soon as it came off the machine and promptly wore it for the next two days!

I'll take some pictures and post a bit more about this when the weather fines up here in Sydney.

Tommorrow is the first day of Summer but you surely wouldn't know it.

I bought this cotton voile called paint by numbers in wild green, with Simplicity 5017 in mind.

But I just. don't. know.

I want to make something I can wear again and again, but I don't want to be too casual either. I think with the right set of heels and accessories I should be right.

And even though the Simplicity 4116 didn't get any votes, I decided to make that one too. Mostly because I once saw a woman on TV wearing a similar dress made from black broderie anglaise and I fell in love...........

but also because I thought a new (as opposed to vintage) pattern would be more simple to make and I could ease myself into the dress making experience.

Boy was I wrong!

Luckily I decided to make a toile first - thanks for the suggestion little betty.

First off I found mistakes in the instructions straight away, then, after taking my body measurements, remeasuring and measuring once more just to make sure, I cut out a size 10.

I didn't expect it to fit like a glove first off but nor did I expect it to hang off me like a potato sack!

To say I was feeling a little discouraged by this stage is an understatement.

So after spending an hour or so last night pinning, moving darts, lifting the waist line, dressing and undressing numerous times I decided I'd be better off starting again this time cutting a size 8.

And did I mention that this was a printable pattern, which I spent several hours taping together on Saturday night - thank God I've got all of Mad Men Season 3 to get through..........

And as for the Vogue 5782, well I just cannot decide what fabric to use for this one. I truly swoon each time I look at this pattern. I think something special is called for for this dress.
A trip to Tessuti perhaps?

decisions decisions - whats a girl to do!

2010-11-24T13:44:00.000+11:00

With my youngest sister-in-law's wedding looming my thoughts have turned to what to wear..............

I don't want to spend alot of money on something that might only get worn once, so I've been thinking about making myself something. And after getting into Mad Men in a s.e.r.i.o.u.s.l.y. BIG way I thought vintage might be the way to go! It's going to be a day time wedding so no need to go overboard with the dress.

Something classy and classic I think.

Luckily I have a few vintage patterns in my stash!

Not because I ever really thought I would use them but just because I love to look at them.

These are the ones I'm considering.

This pattern, Simplicity 4116, is actually not vintage, but was a free download from somewhere. I think with the right fabric, it does have a vintage feel.

This dress is gorgeous. Vogue 5565, the pattern includes a cute little 3/4 length sleeve jacket.

Simplicity 5017. Simple yet stunning 1960's evening dress..............

Vogue 5782. Screams Joan. Love, love, love this dress.

So which one do I go with? Which is your favourite?

Sunday morning cookin'

2010-11-21T22:33:00.000+11:00

There have been repeated requests for pancakes around these here parts lately.

I'm always a little reluctant to endulge one child's "treat" requests when the other child cannot partake in the spoils. So I was hugely pleased when Jo posted this recipe for egg-free (and dairy free if you use soy milk like I did) pancakes recently!

Yum, yum, and double yummo!!!!

Miss B was actually a little hesitant to try them, having never eaten pancakes before. But once my little cat loving girl saw the kitty cat version I made for her, she hoed in with gusto.

Here's to pancakes we can all share :)))))

One per Month - October

2010-11-01T21:12:00.000+11:00

Time flies and it's that time again.

My craft book for October was "patchwork style" by Suzuko Koseki.

I got this book about a year and half ago, and although I love alot of the projects in the book, the instructions just seemed too complicated to tackle.

Until now that is! I've been wanting to update the cushion covers in my loungeroom for awhile now, so trawled through my craft book library for some inspiration.

Of all the pillows in all the books I have, this style jumped out at me most.

So I decided to bite the bullet and give the unique Koseki method a go.

So whats the deal? How is this different to other quilting projects? Well, rather then sewing all your strips together first and then sandwiching them with batting and backing fabric to quilt, you attach and quilt each strip directly to the batting as you go.

Once I got going I loved it - and best of all it was easy peasy!

I used fabric from Valerie Wells Del Hi range, which I bought eons ago and then when it arrived I didn't quite know what to do with it. But it was perfect for this project as I wanted something that was bright and bold and would give my loungeroom a lift.

For the backs I used some Ikea fabric in my stash, which also had a flora theme, and again fabric which was bought on a whim. Only a smallish piece from the bargain bin - too small to do much with - but perfect for this project.

I am really loving this "de-stashing" business. It's great to go through what you have and actually use some of it. I just hope the dollar is still so good when it comes time to replenish.........

endulge me if you will.............

2010-10-28T22:37:00.001+11:00

as these quilts have been about 18 months in the making. After falling in love with this quilt I became determined to make a quilt for each of my girls in a similar fashion.

I decided to go with pink and green blocks for miss A and yellow and purple blocks for Miss B, based on their favourite colours at the time.

All inspired I rushed out to my local fabric warehouse and bought up any and every bit of quilting fabric in said colours, with little or no thought put into the choices I was making. I even bought the batting.

I set about making my first blocks........................and then I discovered via the wonderful world of blogging, designer fabrics.

Suddenly I hated all the fabric I had bought. I completely lost enthusiasm for the project.

It all languished in my tiny sewing room, taking up valuable space for more than 12 months. Every now and again I would pull some fabric out and make afew more squares, because I couldn't bare the idea of never really finishing the quilts.

Then afew months ago I read about Mel sending a quilt to Suzanne to be quilted.

Light bulbs went off in my head!!!!! I know Suzanne, I thought to myself. We both meet up at the Craftroom from time to time.

I contacted Suzanne to see if she would be interested in quilting my quilts on her long-arm machine- YES, she was!

That was all the inspiration I needed to f.i.n.a.l.l.y. get on with it and get the quilts done. Truth be told, it was not only the fabrics I didn't like, it was the thought of quilting two single bed size quilts on my domestic machine.

After laying out the blocks the way I originally planned (pink/green and yellow/purple - don't worry I'm cringing right along with you) I decided it would look much, much better if I made both the quilts using all four colours. As the girls share a bedroom this would also give the room more harmony.

A week and a half later (I know incredible or what after so much procrastinating) I had both the quilt tops finished.

I decided to use some store bought bed sheets for the backing for a couple of reasons. Firstly to save time and secondly to save money. Worked well on both counts.

I know this wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but seeing as though the fabrics on the front were cheap and nasty (let's be honest here) I didn't see the point in going all out on the backing.

After a few emails back and forth between Suzanne and I, I settled on an over-all design called Butterfly Garden for the quilting. I dropped the quilts over to Suzanne, and a week later she had them both finished! I was soo soo excited when I went to pick them up.

I was totally overwhelmed with how beautiful they looked once they had been quilted.

I cannot fault her work or professionalism. Job very well done! Thank you so much Suzanne.

I decided to make pieced binding, using up all the left over scraps.

In the 18 months which passed since I started these quilts Miss A has decided her favourite colours are now pink and yellow, and Miss B's are purple and pink.

Lucky I mixed the blocks all together then. Phew!

I machine stitched the bindings on and hey presto, suddenly the quilts were - DONE.

Miss A and Miss B are truly rapt with their quilts.

And you know what, so am I.

Tuesday through........the window

2010-10-12T13:51:00.000+11:00

Today I'm playing along with Swedish House

as described by Julie

"TUESDAY THROUGH...THE WINDOW

ANY WINDOW

In your home, your shed, your school, your place of work, your favourite shop, your journey...

Wherever you are...Inside or Outside...

Share your view of the world!"

My image is looking through my sewing room window.

On the left is a picture drawn by Miss A, with a square of calico taped over it. I'm going to trace it off and embroider it - a first for me!

On the right is one of my first crafty pursuits, a leadlight panel I made years ago. Even on a dull, cloudy day like today it makes the view pretty.

Also, my giveaway closed last Friday.

Thank you to Julie and Suzanne for entering.

I will make a customised scarflette for each of you once you get back to me with your preferences.

Thanks for joining in.

Hope the view through your window is an inspiring one!

Coooooooooeeee

2010-10-08T08:49:00.000+11:00

Well we're back safe and sound from our family holiday up the coast.

We managed to get out of the house a couple of times despite the absolute deluge of rain which fell over the weekend!

Beauty could still be found wherever I looked though!

Just a little reminder that my giveaway is still open until midnight tonight.

All you have to do is link to the giveaway post on your blog, then leave a comment on the giveaway post saying you've done that and your in! Become a follower, leave another comment, and you've got yourself another entry.

Entries have been ummm, a little on the sparse side..................so go on, odds are good you'll be the winner!

One per Month - September

2010-09-30T21:49:00.000+10:00

Well week one of the school holidays is almost over. It has been jam packed so far with play dates at the park, best friends coming to our house for a play and today at Playgroup we had a visit from the Fire Brigade!!

Each month this year I have selected a different craft book from my bookshelf and made a project from the book.

I have found this to be a sometimes challenging (as in getting around to making something within a set time frame) but always rewarding task.

I'm sure we all love pouring over and being inspired by the gorgeous projects contained within the wonderful craft books we all accumulate. But actually following through and producing a diverse range of beautiful, handmade items has been great! And I have to say that I am really proud of myself for sticking with the challenge thus far.

This month I chose a fantastic book called Sewing for Children by Emma Hardy. I delibrately saved this book for a month which contained school holidays because as the title implies, this book contains 35 projects which are easy enough for children to tackle. But not only are the projects quite simple they are also really lovely projects which adult crafters would enjoy making themselves.

The girls and I chose to make the Flower Hair Ties. Miss A (aged 6) managed to make most of hers by herself with only a little help from me. Miss B (aged 4) needed a little more help, but really enjoyed the process and has proudly been wearing hers every day and happily telling anyone who will listen that she made it herself!

I have half a dozen more cut out and ready to be stitched together - I can see these being great little christmas gifts for Miss A's school friends!

I'm also itching to make afew of the hair barrettes too to go with the hair ties. There are so many projects in this book that I can't wait to share with my girls and the beauty is there is a great range of simple projects and those that are a little more challenging for older kids. So this book will give them and me years of pleasure.

So eight months down, only three months to go!

I'm going away for a little family holiday tommorrow, but before I go I wanted to share something with you that I am so excited about!

Back in June last year I started on a couple of quilts for my girls.

I was greatly inspired by this quilt and rushed in without too much planning or thought.

I floundered for quite a while, lost direction, changed direction and finally, after 15 months, came up with these.

Spring-a-linging

2010-09-29T22:42:00.000+10:00

Springtime.

My front garden

A very deep and meaningful conversation was had by Miss A, Miss B and I as we walked the path to school one morning last week. It went something like this.

Miss A, "I'm so glad that bad old Winter is over. I love Spring. What's your favourite season mum?"

"Ohhhhh" I said, "I love Summer. In all it's hot, sweaty, thirsty glory. I simply cannot abide Winter!"

Miss B, "I love Spring too, that's when all the flowers grow."

I hadn't realised just how much the cold, dark days of winter had been dampening my mood and dulling my enthusiasm for just about everything, until glorious Spring sprung and the creeping, seeping warmth of the sun touched my skin and made me feel H.A.P.P.Y!

A complete shift in my mood and motivation has taken over and I've been doing a bit of sewing for myself lately in preparation for the sunny days to come.

I sooooooooo love this skirt. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it on Dana's blog. I knew I had to have at least one for this summer.

A couple of weekends ago it was so warm and lovely and summery that on a whim I pulled this oh so cheap (like $3 a metre cheap) cotton I had bought about a year ago from a local fabric shop, down from my stash and pulled together this skirt in no time at all.

It is so comfy and I adore it.

I really love the teal colour of the fabric too. It is only by complete and utter coincidence that it matches my hat perfectly.

The fabric is quite sheer and I didn't line the skirt so this one will be kept for wearing over tights.

I'll have to make another out of some heavier cotton for the height of summer.

But what really makes it - the pockets! I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE pockets.

This one is a re-fashion of a skirt I already had in my wardrobe.

I bought it years ago to wear to a funeral and although I really love the cut and fit of the skirt, every time I put it on I felt like I was going to a funeral.

So I added a little embelishment using a doily I picked up ages ago at the Oppy and some lovely vintage bed sheets I had in my stash.

The birdy silhouette was inspired by the gorgeous apron I received from Julie in the Great Apron Swap 2010 awhile ago.

Only downside of this skirt - no pockets.

Hope you're loving the weather wherever you are right now!

100th-ish post giveaway and tutorial

2010-09-29T00:13:00.001+10:00

Back in June I participated in a "Craft Room" swap organised by Cass.

Regular readers may remember the upcycled wool scarflettes I made for my swap partners.

I was totally thrilled with how they turned out, but even better then that, I have really loved using and wearing the one I made for myself.

I absolutely wore it to death over winter and got so many compliments every time I went out with it on!

I took photo's as I was making them, fully intending on posting a tutorial back in July.......................... but ~~for some reason~~ because I'm really slack, I didn't get around to it.

And now that Spring has sprung here in sunny Sydney, posting a tutorial for a woollen scarf seemed such a ridiculous thing to do.

Great timing if you're reading this from somewhere in the Northern Hemishpere though!

But I really, really wanted to share this with you guys and so I formulated a cunning plan.

Last Saturday I whipped up a springtime version - this time making it reversible.

I used some linen and some woven cotton off-cuts I had in my stash to keep within the recycled theme of this project and also in keeping with my current "use what you've got" kick.

I have to say I love it equally as much as the winter version!

I'm one of those people who gets goose bumps on a summer's day if there is a gentle breeze blowing, so I can see that this scarflette will be on high rotation in my spring/summer wardrobe.

So in celebration of warmer weather, cooler weather, 100 blog posts and life in general, I'm going to give away one Upcycled Scarflette, made by me!

If you are the giveaway winner you get to choose whether you want a Winter or Spring version and I will make it for you.

The rules of the giveaway are:

blog about my giveaway and tutorial and once you've done that leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog to let me know you've done it.

For an extra entry in the giveaway become a follower of my blog and leave a seperate comment saying you've become a follower.

I'm going away next weekend so I'll keep the giveaway open until Friday 8th October and I will announce the winner over the following weekend.

Good luck!

If you're not the lucky giveaway winner, or if you're really keen and just can't wait to get yourself an Upcycled Scarflette, you can go right ahead and make yourself one with the following tutorial.

Upcycled Scarflette

What you will need:

1 woollen jumper in good condition
1 polar fleece jumper in good condition
buttons in contrasting/co-ordinating colours to your taste
all the usual sewing paraphernalia eg. pins, scissors, sewing machine etc.

Now, set yourself aside roughly half an hour - that's all the time this little beauty will take you to whip up!

Here we go.

1. Lay your jumper flat and using either a rotary cutter or scissors, cut the jumper through both layers straight across under the sleeves. Discard the portion with the sleeves.

2. Make another cut through both thicknesses of jumper 7 inches below the first cut.

3. Now you have a tubular piece of woollen fabric. Cut one of the seams off so you can open up the tube to make one long piece of fabric. Cut this piece so you have a rectangle measuring 7" by 26".

4. Repeat these 3 steps with the polar fleece jumper.

5. Lay your two pieces of fabric one on top of the other, right sides together and pin.

6. Using a straight stitch, sew all around the edges, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Make sure you leave a few inches open at one end for turning.

7. Turn the scarflette right way out, pin opening closed and stitch around all four sides of the scarflette to give a nice finished edge and also to close the opening you left for turning.

8. Now to decide which way your scarflette is going to wrap around your neck, look at where the seam in the woollen side is. Wrap it around your neck in such a way so that this seam will be hidden by the top layer of the scarflette. The button hole should be made in this top layer and that will become your top left corner. Refer to photo above!

9. Next up, choose a button which you will use for actually keeping your scarflette closed (as opposed to any number of other buttons just stitched on to decorate your snazzy new scarflette).

Now, using your button hole foot, make a button hole in the top left hand corner about an inch in from each edge.

As you can see in the picture, on my scarf I stitched the button hole parallel to the long edges.

DON'T do this. Stitch the button hole parallel to the short edge and your scarf will stay closed alot better.

Mine is still absolutely wearable but it will sit alot nicer with the button hole the other way.

10. Wrap the scarflette around your neck and mark where your button needs to be stitched on.

11. Stitch on button/s as desired.

With some of the scarflettes I made little crochet flowers which I then stitched into place using a co-ordinating self covered button. Just make sure that if you do this, you make a big enough button hole to accomodate the flower.

I can't remember what pattern I used for the flowers but just click on over to Ravelry - there are hundreds of patterns to choose from.

You're done. Easy peasy!

Now. If you want to make yourself an Upcycled Scarflette suitable for warmer weather, just substitute the wool and fleece for some lovely light weight woven cotton and/or linen!

If you make an Upcycled Scarflette and post about it, drop me a line. I'd love to see your version of the Upcycled Scarflette!

One per month challenge - August

2010-09-22T17:34:00.004+10:00

Hello there! Let's just pretend it hasn't been a whole month since my last blog post shall we? Lest's just pretend for a moment, that it's still August.

OK, you with me? Good, so here goes.

The book I've chosen for the One per Month Challenge this month is Lucinda Guy's Crochet Designs for Kids. I cannot rave about this book enough, I looooove loooooove loooooove this book.

I'd like to make every project in this book.

BUT this is just not going to happen, as I've already got umpteen different projects of the hooky, sewy, quilty kind on the go at the moment.

To help me narrow it down to just one project I asked Miss A what she would like me to make her for her birthday this month.

She chose the Dolores Dress - lovely!

I've been thinking for a while about ordering some Bendigo Wool.

I've read some lovely things about this yarn and the prices are very competitive plus they have a great range of colours available.

So about a week into August I ordered some lovely Luxury 4 ply baby wool from Bendigo. After about a week and a half (part of the reason this project was never going to be finished in August) a package containing 5 gorgeous skeins of the softest most squishy wool arrived on my doorstep.

As soon as the littlies were sound asleep that night I got hooking.

Now. Fast forward a month to last night.

To say this project has been slow going would have to be the understatement of the century.

This is the first project I have made using 4 ply fingering/baby weight yarn and a 2.5mm hook.

S. L. O. W. I tell you.

Not to mention that after happily crocheting along for the past month, last night I frogged a good 15 rows due to a stitch count revealing I lost a stitch somewhere...............................

Needless to say this project was not finished in the month of August, and wont be finished anytime soon.

Patience my dear friends, patience.

If it wasn't for the fact this project was a birthday request by Miss A

and if it wasn't for the fact I had all the wool sitting waiting to be used

and if it wasn't for the fact I really, really love this dress and can't wait to see it on Miss A

I'd be quite tempted to frog the lot and move on.

To break the tedium of sewing a gazillion rows of single crochet and double crochet I have been doing a spot of sewing from time to time.

A couple of weeks back I finally whipped up a pair of these cute little pants for Miss B, using the 'Elasticated pants' pattern from one of my favourite craft books, Making Children's Clothes by Emma Hardy.

I've been on a real "use what's in your stash" kick of late so I used some nice dark denim, some cutesy candy print fabric (as chosen by Miss B) and some light blue bias binding I had stashed in my sewing room.

Miss B has become a massive fan of purple over the last few months, dressing head to toe in purple at every opportunity.

While purple is a lovely colour and tracksuit pants are great kids wear, sometimes it's nice to have them wearing something just that little bit nicer you know?

Quick, simple, easy to follow pattern.

What more could you want?

I've got another pair cut out and ready to sew up for Miss A sitting on the sewing table.

Come on school holidays, I say. Only two days of school left this term.

Not that I'm going to have too much time up my sleeve with all the galavanting we have planned.

Another little something I churned out a couple of days ago was the tiny happy shoulder bag.

I've had this on my list of "favourite free tutorials to try" (see over on the right side bar there) for ages now.

When I found out that one of the teacher's from Miss B's Occasional Care centre was leaving I knew this would be just perfect.

Teresa has always admired the handmade items Miss B and I wear so I wanted to give her something handmade.

I used some Ikea fabric and pink pinwhale cord I had in my stash. I really like how it turned out, momentarily considering keeping it for myself!

Does this happen to you when you make something to give away?

I think I consider keeping most things I make for gifts!

The only thing I did differently to the tutorial was to tie the straps together at the top instead of hand stitching them and this was predominantly because I had left it to the last minute - literally - and had to leave home to pick Miss B up from occasional care!

Looks cute like that though I think.

Although there have been a number of other stitchy, quilty, hooky projects being completed over the last few weeks which I would dearly love to share with you bath time is calling and this post is well and truly long enough already so they can wait until next time.

And no I haven't forgotten I promised a 100th post giveaway and tutorial, it's in the pipeline, I promise!