Christmas Blog along

Ive decided to blog along over Here with Carr for Advent!! Go sign up! You know you want to!!

Wordless Weekend

naked dancing

My Creative Space

Today (well all this week) my creative space has been filled with pattern re-drafting and dress sewing for the markets. Im pretty excited, and really am looking forward to selling dresses as well as nappies. Soon I will overcomit myself and need to pay someone to help me I think :-p all good though, thats the plan isnt it??

Yes... that would be an intsy wincy teeny weeny newborn sized dress.... It is sooo cute and soooo tiny!!!!! Very cool though, even Mick said it was nice... in a half muted, I am manly dont ask me if girly things are nice kind of way....

Anyway, I have about 10 more metres of fabric to get through and have dresses made out of, thank god I dont have many nappies to make for the next market!!!

Christmas is coming up also, so I have happily been planning 4 crayon rolls, a set of soft baby cubes and a couple of dresses. Also a few wrist cuffs... so its a busy little room I am working in at the moment, in a month, there will be no fabric left!! which means... I GET TO BUY MORE!!!! woo!!

For more Creative Spaces... head over HERE

Wordless Weekend

old photos... ahhh our first cuddle.

 

My Creative Space

Okay so today I have 2 creative spaces. The first of which being my dining table where I sat hand sewing some applique for my Christmas secret santa swap on EB. The photo is sneaky for a reason hee hee.

My hand sewing is improving. Funny how now that I know how to do it, I have been adding little handsewn bits to everything!! :-)

The second creative space for me today was in my kitchen. I am making the greatest spag bog ever! I am quite good at combining flavours and before you start inspecting the ingredients, the secret ones that make it so amazing ARENT in the photo! :-D If I went showing that to people, my boyfriend might just leave me for someone else who can cook as good as I can!! haha!!

Hmm so anyway, my laptop is broken **CRY** thus why I am unusually silent. It can be assured that I am keeping busy with sewing and have completed one dress for the markets coming up in December. Its on the 20th so I have a bit of time to fuss around and make them perfect :-) Yes so the master of the house (mister weepantz himself) has told me that Im not allowed to get my laptop fixed until I have had the oven fixed and I have a bit of spare cash. So it might take a while to get my lappy back online. But I have his desktop in the mean time :-) well when hes not home!!!

Anyway, back to ironing some new fabric I picked up the other day at Spotlight. I got a bunch of fat 1/4's some of the fabric I know I will be going back for yardage... :-p

For more creative spaces go HERE

Another One Down..

Here is my second handmade Christmas gift for 2009. A set of skittles just like these ones by london mummy.

I used some paisley fabric by max new that I picked up at my local quilt shop. Instead of using fabric scraps for the ties, I used bias binding and secured it with a running stitch. I also attached felt numbers to each skittle made of felt, attached with a blanket stitch.

This is the first time Ive gotten creative with hand stitching. But I'm so glad I took the timer to sit down and make it right, they look awesome!! Im sure lil Charlie, who is 3 weeks younger than Olly will get some good use out of them!

Next.... Crayon Rolls I think... :-)

Finger Painting Fun.

Yesterday while I was doing some handsewing in the patio, I let the kids do some finger painting. This is the first time that Oliver has experienced paint on his fingers, but he loved it, got right into it and got all painty!

Here are the photos!!

the sewing I was doing? Well I hope to have that finished and blogged later today. :-)

One Christmas Present Finished!

Woo Hoo!!!

1 Down, sooooo many to go!!!! I think a certain little girl will be super excited when she opens this one on christmas morning!!!

Wordless Weekend - Drowned Rat...

More HERE

New Dresses

So Ive been very busily designing my first dress for the markets. Originally I had planned to make it with a shirred back, but on the second testing it just didnt sit right, so I decided to make the dress with a zipper instead. I am yet to add a shash around the join which I will do when I go to get more of the stripey fabric. So here's some photos... with one very excited model (who doesnt know its her Christmas present, I told her its for another person so she cant have it).

\

So its my own pattern which I drafted to Ruth's measurements and I intend to downsize to infant sizing so that I can sell them at the markets with my nappies as matching sets.

The Fabric I used was a stretch denim which I was given by Ling a while ago in return for some newborn huggies that never fitted Oliver. (He was a massive baby) I think she got it from Brunswick Fabrics.

The Feature fabric is called Summer Daze. I think its by Moda, I couldnt find it on google, I bought it at my local quilting shop. I have also made nappies with this fabric for my shop.

The straps are attached at the back by a snap so they can be worn in different ways.

I am yet to add a sash of the Summer Daze fabric and an applique or embroidery to the front for embelishment on the skirt.

Now off to make more Christmas Presents!!!!!

My Creative Space

This week in my creative space I have been pattern drafting. I have been making a new design for my market stalls so that I can offer dress and nappy packs. (also, this is a fantastic excuse to use my lovely girly fabrics to make some perdy dresses)

So as you can see from the photo, I have my trusty pattern making books on the right as well as my notebook so I can write my measurements and notes in. On the machine is the dress (well its to my daughter's size so its more a top) and in the background the book I have been reading for about 12mths... Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

Ive also been doing some Christmas sewing. I started making some felt fruit and veg last night and today I hope to get started on some other stuff also. Ahh under the pump again... LOL as always...

Head HERE for more creative space goodness.

Better Late than Never...

Okay so I finally finished the bibs for my market stall on Monday. They weren't quite ready for Saturday just gone, I had spent far too much time giggling with my kids and didnt finish them off! Hee hee! So the bibs are now done and ready for the next market .. yay!!

here's a pic of each style.. trust me, there's lots more!!

Tuesday Tip #4

Sewing New Patterns!

The first time you sew a new pattern is a little daunting. You open up the envelope and there inside is that thing you have been coveting for so long. But it can be scary! There are a few things you can do to make it less so and make certain that when you do sew your garment it will be just gorgeous!

1. Read Read Read...

Always pre-read a pattern before you even put pattern to fabric. The instructions are there for a reason!! (I tell this to my partner all the time when he's putting things together.) Just because we know how to sew doesnt mean we wont encounter a new technique we havent tried before. So get those instructions out, give them a good read, notice how the pattern is meant to be laid out, and look up any new techniques you dont know how to do. Information is the key to success!

2. Follow the Instructions and Go Slow...

Go slowly, the first time you try out a new pattern is going to be exactly that, NEW. So read the instructions carefully, even though you have already familiarised yourself with them... (I cant tell you how many times ive stuffed things up by not reading things as I go!)

3. If all else fails, try it out...

If you are still confused after your first read through, perhaps try it out on a cheap fabric instead of your good one! It means you will be able to try things out and remember how you can do things differently next time.

Have fun sewing all your new patterns!

For more Tips head over to Carmel's

Market Debrief...

Well, the market is over... It was a stifling hot 31 degrees in a non ventilated room with a glass ceiling. Oliver was hot and bothered but was so well behaved.

The positives?? Hmm I spoke to a lot of lovely people about cloth nappies. Gave out all of my business cards and the coffee stall was about 6m away. I only sold one nappy, but I think that the fact that I gave out ALL of my cards and added a few people to my mailing list makes it a positive.

I also met some other lovely crafty ladies as well. :)

So now that Im home, I have updated (and completely re designed) the website and now have it working just how I want it. As well as stocked up with market leftovers. Off to sew bibs tonight or tomorrow so that I can get my Christmas specials up and running. :) As well as make a few little dresses.

Okay, so now that's done, I also wrote my Christmas list. I made the decision to make handmade gifts this year for the children in our families. So there are a few of Novy's crayon rolls, a couple of sensory books, and a bunch of other handmade gifts on the to do list. I just hope I get it all done in time. Ahhh Im such a sucker for the constant deadline...

What are you making for Christmas??

Wordless Weekend

boredom wins sometimes

Tuesday Tip #3

My Tip for today is to
know your machine, how it works and keep it clean.

Dont be afraid to pull your sewing machine apart. Read the manual and look at the section for machine maintenance and remember to continually clean out all of the lint and dust inside the machine and oil it regularly. A great link with tips on how to spring clean your sewing machine is at craft nectar.

Its also important to remember to change your needle regularly. The lady at my sewing machine shop said that a needle is good for about 4 hours of sewing, otherwise it gets blunt and starts skipping stitches.

The best tip to do with cleaning your machine is DONT BE SCARED! for such a long time I didnt unscrew anything on my machine for fear of not remembering how to get it back together. It has only been since starting to sew really really regularly that I have thrown caution to the wind and picked up my screw driver.

Once you start cleaning your machine regularly you will notice how much better it works and how much happier your craft and sewing time will be.

For more Tuesday Tips head over to solomons sewing.

Monday Cooking Lessons

One of the things I love to spend my time doing is cooking. I inherited my keen cooking ability from my gran who was the most amazing cook. Her offerings at afternoon tea were always divine and even making simple sandwiches for a party was a feat and she would make them deliciously interesting every time. She was always willing to lend her baking, sandwich making or simple cooking skills at any opportunity. I would love to get my hands on her recipes to be honest because the things she made were down right delicious and she did something to every dish that made it different to the cookbook. (I think this was the addition of love)

So one thing I hope to pass on to my daughter Ruth and hopefully Oliver as well is a love of cooking. Ruth has always enjoyed baking and we generally make muffins, cupcakes, cookies or muesli bars each week. But our oven is broken at the moment (oh isnt everything in our house?!) so she hasnt gotten to do much cooking of late.

Today I decided it was cooking day and I decided to make one of my favourite things, pasta. I didnt think Ruth would be interested as she was playing a silly matching game on my computer (mummy needed a break) but she came over and asked if she could help. What I thought would have been a hindrance was a fantastic bonding time for us, and Im so glad that she has begun to inherit from me what I inherited from my gran. She even said at one stage "Mummy, You are teaching me to cook, I am learning" which was a beautiful thing to hear.

rolling out the dough. one of our favourite parts

the pasta waiting to be cooked. mmm it looks delicious doesnt it?

the finished product.

Chicken, mushroom and parmesan tortolini with creamy pumpkin and baby spinach sauce. (My own recipe)

Looking Back...

Last night I was up insanely late with the boy. Teething perhaps?? Please give me an answer magical baby and parent fairy!! Anyway, I was going through some old photos of Little Princess Ruth and thought I would share them. Yup, completely unrelated to sewing today, more about bragging to be honest.

all worth it...

Just a few minutes old. Well after she had recieved oxygen. She is so beautiful This is our first ever hug. Im pretty sure my first words to her were "hello... Im your mum". Pretty sure the nurse said something like "She knows that..." LOL!! All the wonderful emotions come back when I look at these photos because I remember how horrible the pregnancy was (I was very sick for the entire time) the very moment you witness in this photo is the moment when I think... "oh that was all worth it, because I am holding the most beautiful little girl in the whole world in my arms right now."

big bum!

This is one of my favourite photos I have of Ruth. She was about 6 days old. It was her first time in a cloth nappy. I didnt know anything about Modern Cloth or the alternatives that were available for "cloth nappying". I was so embarassed to take a baby out in such a massive nappy. I wanted to use cloth nappies so much, but at the time it was "So much cooler" to use disposables because there was no apparent alternative. So whenever I was in public I would use disposable nappies. Cloth was my secret addiction! hee hee.

I am now so glad I discovered Modern Cloth Nappies! Also the ability to stick up for my belief that cloth is a better option not only for the environment but most importantly, for my babies. I love my now very public cloth addiction and I am glad that I have the opportunity to share something better with every other mum in the world. :)

Now back to the present where I have 8 nappies ready to be given elastic, turned and topstitched waiting on my sewing table for me!!!

why is it they wont stay still when you want them to?