Old Journal

Moving Blogs

2006-08-25T20:12:00.000+10:00

Hi Folks,

I'm in the process of moving my blogging to here;

http://thenetherwood.blogspot.com/

And would love it if you would update your bookmarks.

Hope to see you there.

Lexi & Lolly

Treats for Nana

2006-08-19T23:55:00.000+10:00

Happy Birthday Nana! (My Mum)

Some little Treats for Nana, a needlebook and pincushion in matching fabrics to the craft tote bag I made her for Christmas (which she loves).

And a little peek inside; a wool felt insert for storing the needles. I found some unopened packets of embroidery and wool needles as I was tidying up my sewing room, so popped those inside too. Who knows what other goodies are lurking under the piles of crafting *stuff*?

Swap-O-Rama

2006-08-15T13:08:00.000+10:00

I swear, after this no more swaps for a while. Love doing them but I think I went a little over board in signing up for so many. And I am a slowly and carefully type of gal (well that's my excuse & I'm sticking to it) so some of these took far longer then I had planned.

This is from the Cooking With Kids Swap & this little package flew all the way to a new home in the USA with Nuttnbunny. The apron is double sided with a hand-applique Gingerbread Man on the front and chocolate brown cotton backing - the pattern is my own (very simple) design.

The binding was a bit tight around the bottom corners, so that it doesn't sit quite flat. Despite my best use of my secret weapon - the steam iron - good for covering up or minimising all sorts of minor stitching faux pas. Perhaps the corners are to small/tight for cotton binding? So much to learn!

This set went to Sam of Four Bags Full for the Work-at-Home-Mum swap & included amongst other goodies a side-snapping hemp/velour/denim cloth nappy featuring machine & hand appliqued toadstools and a shimmery gold fire-fly. Yes, I promise I'll give the toadstool theme a rest....sometime soon.....

The matching basic cotton knit t-shirt (Ottobre Design) was jazzed up with my first ever go at Freezer Paper stencils and fabric paint It's been all the buzz in blog-land for a while now and I could not believe how easy and effective this is! For what it's worth, I thought I'd have a bastard of a time finding Freezer Paper in Australia but discovered that they sell it at Spotlight - too easy. You just need to ask them to cut a length at the counter.

And then there was this - finally in the mail yesterday and I can breathe a sigh of relief that I'm ALL DONE! It's heading for Vanessa of Cute Tooshies, as part of the OzClothNappies Christmas in July Secret Santa Swap. Any excuse for a swap, hey?

The nappy has a core of of the new 'wonder-fabric' bamboo and microfleece lined inner. The outeris made of navy cord with a hand applique/embroidery of our favourite bedtime duo; "Mama Moon & Baby Star". Lolly is rather obsessed with looking at the Moon & Stars up in the sky at night time and has always called it "Mummy Moon". Here's a little song that I made up to sing to her before bed;

Here comes the Moon, lighting up the Night

Here come the Stars, all twinkling in the Sky

All the little children are going to their beds

To close their tired eyes & rest their weary heads

I hand dyed some Organic NZ Merino 8ply yarn to match, using food coloring again. Except the colors didn't turn out quite right as I didn't steam enough so the navy didn't really 'fix' and after a few washes it fixed at a final colorway of lemon, light blue, turquoise with grey flecks color. I think it knitted up really pretty anyway, although I might experiment with winding the skeins for dyeing so the colors a bit more random next time.

This was actually my 2nd every knitted garment and my first every (completed) knitted soaker using Alice's Free Soaker pattern. Talk about ambitious with a swap deadline looming, eh? It took me the better part of a week of crappy night-time TV to finish, but I got there in the end.

If anyone would like some of this yarn colorway I still have a 150g ball available for $15 (which is really just the RRP for the yarn itself) plus postage. It's a lovely and soft organic merino & the colors would be very sweet for a little boy, I just don't have a lot of use for that color scheme myself in our girly-whirly house.

Magic Yarn Balls

2006-07-04T17:32:00.000+10:00

Here's some of my outgoing mail for the Magic Yarn Ball swap. This is the original skein, my third ever attempt at hand dyeing and definately the best yet.

The last attempt at this color scheme was pretty tragic, with hot pink, virulent orange and lime green - erk! Not quite the look I was going for, I'm definately pleased with the muted down tones in this one though.

I pre-soaked some 100% white wool in a 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water mix and then used a variety of watered down Queen's food coloring dyes to get the shades I wanted. Wrapped in gladwrap and steamed for 90 seconds in the microwave, left to cool and then rinsed out under cold water. And yes, it is most definately very colorfast!

I'm totally in love with this type of dyeing - easy and fast, with materials you can purchase from your supermarket shelves - what's not to love?

And here it is wrapped up with the little treats hidden inside and tied with silk ribbons.

Some of the goodies in the Magic Yarn Ball (sorry about the dark photo, it was getting late) - they are wrapped so as to fall out as you knit or craft with your yarn. Isn't that just a magical gift, as soon as I heard about it at Whip Up I had to join the swap. I think the idea comes from "The Children's Year" originally.

Inside is a tape measure, wool needles, a silver bell for the centre, butterfly and bead stitch markers (I made these at Kat's latest beading night), some botique wool embroidery thread, silk ribbon, bamboo needles and a little "Gumnut baby" - a waldorf inspired needle holder.

My swapee indicated that she was keen to learn to knit, so hopefully this will get her started.

Tell you what though, I was tempted to keep it for myself, those pretty pastel shades looks like sweets once the ball was all wrapped up - yummy!

Tiny Gardens

2006-06-23T11:36:00.000+10:00

I love gardening - I think every house needs a few pots full of lush green before it even starts to become a home. I know for me it's one of those things that shouts 'homely', a living member of the household, thriving on your love and attention and wilting if you go away for too long.

At the moment we're staying with family while house-hunting for a new townhouse & I feel bereft without my own patch of dirt, or at least a collection of merrily growing potted herbs and vegetables.

Late Winter and Early Spring are gorgeous times for planting and gardening, so Lolly and I have been out and about the last few weeks potting up some of our Spring time favourites. Unfortunately, as we'll no doubt be limited in our gardening oppurtunities in a townhouse it looks like it will have to be container gardening all the way - and a nice courtyard garden is definately high up the list of criteria I have for a new home. Here's Lolly watering in our new snow pea seedlings.

Normally I like to grow from seed, but we we're a bit late getting started this Winter & in order to have a nice showing in Spring we had to cheat a little. I can't wait to see those trellises covered in peas for little fingers to pick in a few months time - nothing says Spring to me like early peas.

Plus we planted in some of the more traditional spring varieties. Usually I'm a fruit/veg/herb girl all the way - I like the most bang for my buck. ;)

But one of Lolly's favourite stories is about a little spring bulb called "Ulba Bulba" who befreinds a late-Winter Snowflake and lets her hide with him under the ground, as the sun begins to melt the snow. Little Snowflake then joins Ulba Bulba in his journey to the surface and is transformed into a beautiful "Snowdrop flower" and gets to play happily in the warm summer sun after all.

It's a gorgeous Spring time story, we got our copy from Golden Beetle books (it's one of their little story and picture books for the under 7's) and I think we're going to wear the print off soon from constant bedtime readings. So while she was at kindy I picked up a pack of "Snowflakes" bulbs - the equivilant for warmer climes and we tucked them in there warm dirt beds for a long Winter's nap. Can't wait to see them shooting out of the ground! The pink tulips were Lolly's choice on a sucessive shopping trip - she's definately a pink type of girl.

Back Tack 3 has arrived

2006-06-15T11:55:00.000+10:00

Well back tack 3 has landed and what a gorgeous parcel, we were very very spoiled!

This is our new friend, our Back Tack 3 softie all the way from Dawn at More Art, Less Housework. Dubbed 'Coco' by the little one who is entranced by our newest member of the family the "coco cat who did came in box" and I have been told firmly that it is "Lolly's cat - *not* Mummy's cat".

He (she?) is a firm favourite & has even been known to creep into the bed for snuggle time. Ironically, Dawn also packed the most gorgeous wee striped piggy for Lolly - complete with little jointed limbs and handstitching - which barely got a look in & is now sitting on top of my computer. It makes me smile whenever I see it, it is such a sweet pattern.

The tiny bunny is I think the same one that we did, but Dawn's version is resplendent in a lime green waistcoat and a tiny silver stopwatch - he reminds me of the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.

And right at the bottom of our box an amazing assortment of beads. I actually just discovered yesterday that some of them bear a striking likeness to little lady bugs - will have to try and get some more photos.

Thank-you again Dawn for your amazingly generous package - we *love* it all! :)

On a Roll....

2006-06-13T14:02:00.000+10:00

Well I must be on a roll of late, have heaps of crafty projects hot off the sewing machine & iorning board. The latest to go is a swap package for Marnie from the OTOCN Craft-A-Long group. This was supposed to be a wish list swap, but I must be cursed with swap partners, as I seem to keep getting the 1 line response to questionares,

"Yupp, anything handmade would be great."

So this is an 'inspiration package' - a pencil roll with watercolor pencils, a fabric covered sketchbook and a little note. All packaged up in a pink, lime green and cute blue bubble print bag - the design for which came from Tiny Happy's Shoulder Bag Tutorial. It has a nice broad strap & should hopefully be pretty sturdy as the pink outer is baby cord.

This is a great little style of bag, I'm thinking of doing some more up as embroidered diaper bags as they'd be great to sling over your shoulder and fasten securely with a button/togle, but still easy to slip your hand into & grab things out while toddler wrangling.

A little close up of the flower decoration. This one is a double layered design that is turned and top-stitched then gathered at the bottom to give the petals a bit of shape. I'm pleased with how it turned out and have plans for even more fancy versions soon!

And another close up of the pencil roll, I've seen this in quite a few blogs around the place but just sort of made mine up as I went along & I think it turned out pretty well, it's made in that cute bubble fabric (thank-you local fabric store find!) and quilted with wool batting.

Anyway, all packaged up and mailed off - so that's another project that's bitten the dust. Now if I could just catch up on all my paid orders I'd be laughing.

Paper Dolls

2006-06-12T20:44:00.000+10:00

We actually had a really nice day to day today with a minimum of temper tantrums (on both sides *lol*) & finished the afternoon of with this idea from Kiddley

How cool is this?

Do you remember paper dolls? I cut these out for the little Miss and then gave her some paste, fabric scraps (aha! a use for all those little leftover bits) & sparkles and let her 'dress' her "Little Men" however she wanted.

Now normally toddler craft activities are considered to have gone pretty well around here if they capture her attention for 5 minutes. This kept her entranced for a good half hour, while I washed dishes and prepared dinner. Hurrah!

p.s. Love those little paste spreaders from Fiona's Toys & Crafts co- op!

Little Girl's Kimono

2006-06-07T13:20:00.000+10:00

This one was a 3rd birthday present for Lolly's little freind Ally (or "Elly" as pronounced by my toddler). It's green with purple butterflies & matching lining/binding.

I started out with an Ottobre design pattern for the top before enlarging it, adding extra binding, lining it and adding curves at the bottom - why couldn't I just pick something simple in the correct size?

I could just picture Ally in a little kimono so it *had* to be this one! I'm loving the design so much I think I shall tweak it a little further and make my little girl one using a recycled embroidered maternity top I have kicking around in the cupboard.

My favourite detail is the little ribbon ties, there's another little hidden one internally & I think some little mock vents on the sides would be sweet as well - maybe next time. :)

Back Tack 3 - Leaving on a Jet Plane

2006-06-01T11:10:00.000+10:00

Well my baby bunny for Back Tack 3 is completed, photographed, packaged and should be winging his way on a jet plane to the UK by this evening. Whew! At this point my BT3 buddy Helen from London Singapore Frankfurt needs to avert her eyes.

~*~
NO Peeking!
~*~

Well here's baby bunny, I used the Better Homes & Gardens magazine pattern because I have a bit of a soft spot for floppy bunnies. To keep his fighting weight down (posting heavy stuff overseas is *expensive*!) I made him a tiny 4 inches tall when seated which was very fiddly!

I scrapped version #1 which used cotton woven and was impossible to work with in that size and tried again using a lovely and soft hemp/organic cotton brushed fleece in a creamy white which has a little bit of stretch to it - ideal for turning and stuffing such petite limbs. He's stuffed with carded lambs wool and if you look carefully in the second picture you'll see a letter "H" for Helen stitched out under his nose *weg*. ;)

He has his 4 pink buttons (did I *mention* how much I like pink??? :P) on his paws and another heart shaped one on his tail and little pink ears. Baby bunny knows that it's rude to turn up without a gift for the hostess, and as our swap buddy is an aussie expat so he has packed some little aussie treats for her - some pretty pink Iced Vovos - to stay in theme of course. *lol*

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

2006-03-29T22:18:00.000+10:00

These were popular at our last get-together, so I thought I'd post the recipe to here and share the berry goodness around.

I love muffins as you can make them with very little sugar and in mini muffin tins for the tiny tot brigade (I've said 1/4 cup, but you can reduce that even further just make sure you reduce the liquid very slightly as well if it's too runny they'll be cake-y, rather then muffin-y). Or you can add 1/3 cup sugar and extra dollops of cream cheese icing on top for the hard-working Mamas. ;P

Ingredients
2 cups self raising flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
100g butter
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
150g frozen blueberries (fresh if available)
75g cream cheese

Heat oven to 200.

Melt butter and set aside to cool slightly.

Rinse blueberries until the water runs clear and drain.

Combine flour and sugar. Cut cream cheese into small cubes and stir into flour mixture. Stir through blueberries until coated with flour, this will prevent too much color run during baking. Purple muffins = not so cool.

Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and melted butter. Add to flour mixture and stir lightly until just combined.

Spoon into muffin cases (makes about a dozen large muffins) and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top. These are best eaten fresh, eg. same day.

Cream Cheese Icing

For those with a bit of a sweet tooth (that would be me!) beat a little extra cream cheese and icing sugar together to form icing and add a dollop, or piped rosette, to the top of each muffin.

And here's a plateful for Playgroup! :)

Kat's Butterfly Bag - Mum's Swap Goodies

2006-03-22T19:33:00.000+10:00

The lovely Kaz organised a swap especially for some of us Brisbane Mums (or those of us a few hours out of Brissie in my case *lol*). I was lucky enough to receive a truley scrummy set of home-made curries from Bek, packaged in 1-2 serve portions, who read my questionare and picked up on how much I love meals I don't have to cook myself!

The little-y doesn't really like spicey food, so I got them all to myself. I felt really pampered having food cooked for me, what a great idea.

My recepient was Kat (Oscars Mama), who only gave me 2 lines of email as clues to what she likes - tricky!!!

I decided to go with something handmade (the bag) and filled it with something I know she likes - a Mama pampering in a box - aka. a box of nice choclates. *lol*

Butterfly bag was made of 100% cotton woven with a butterfly print, the top few inches are lemon gingham check and the inside is fully lined in a matching pink.

Adorning the join was a butterfly, created by a butterfly fabric cut out and another layer of hot pink cotton stitched together and trimmed close to the sew line. I also hand sewed on some matching blue beads to jazz it up. This baby is cute, but definately hand wash only! *lol*

I thought perhaps it would be nice next time to make the butterfly/flower/etc...on a pin that could be taken off the bag (for washing) and that you could also wear on your top or in your hair. Thoughts? Too foofy? :P

The inside is in a co-ordinating hot pink with a butterfly/lemon gingham pocket for purse/phone.

Hope she likes it! :)

SWAP - "Sew With A Purpose"

2006-03-21T10:50:00.000+10:00

I *heart* that acryonym.

SWAP = Sew With A Purpose. Ergo, to create a 'series' of outfits that work together and co-ordinate color/pattern/style wise. In contrast to my normal sew bits'n'pieces style, I love the idea of heading to the sewing machine with a plan!

I thought I'd try a set for Lolly to wear to daycare and with just 2 1/2 days to get it done in, I think it turned out well.

Unfortunately by the time I got around to taking these photos she'd already been half a dozen times and the clothes had been in contact with paint, mud, food, general toddler grottiness, etc...and been washed quite a few times. So no longer quite so pristine as when I first completed them. *lol*

They're all loosely based around Ottobre patterns, and I love-love-love how easily their clothes go together.

The set complete; 2 x t-shirt, skirt, 3/4 length pants and jumper for cooler days.

From left to right they are;

1) The skirt, made from leftover scraps of denim & using Ottobre Winter'05 skirt pattern - love those cute little pleats. Unfortunately I didn't have quite enough denim so I took off the hem allowance and then added a red drill hem allowance manually when assembling. That's the flash of red you see underneath.

2) Another Ottobre pattern, this time from Summer'02 (I think), with short sleeves and ruffled hems. The lettuce edged finish, as it's super quick and easy to do & I've done quite a few variations on this theme since then. It's from the red Colarao Cotton knit that Alice co-oped and I used some hot pink FOE to bind the neckline.

3) Lolly modelling the fit of the 3/4 length pants over a nappy & wool cover. These pants were adapted from another pair of Ottobre Summer '02 pants with a few alterations so they would fit nicely over her nappies - always an issue! They're in navy cotton denim. Next time I might do flat seams as they're starting to show a little pulling at the inner seams, due to the fray-able (is that a word? :P) nature of cotton and lots of toddler running, jumping, playing, etc...

4) The 2nd t-shirt. This one is made from another stretchy pure cotton knit from Spotlight at $4/metre and this uses less then half a metre, so a $2 t-shirt got to like that price!. I think the bright red/pink stripes tie in nicely with the other clothes. It's actually the same pattern as the ruffled shirt, but with hemmed sleeves, etc... I like how it flares out a little at the bottom. Again the neck is bound with FOE - gosh this stuff is easy to use, makes necklines a breeze - and gives that ready-to-wear finish.

5) My favourite. :) The jumper is from Ottobre Winter '05 again. I like this roll neck design alot (I have a whole slew of roll-necked jumpers I made using the same pattern), but I took off the silly pointy hem and chose my own applique. It was actually just going to be the baby fawn but then I decided to press the applique with an iron while working. Word to the wise - 100% polyster red polar fleece and heat do not mix and I ended up with a scorched spot. Arghhh! So after a few tears I designed a plan to cunningly disguised the melted patch with a little purple butterfly - heh! It's machine appliqued and the details (eyes, nose, etc...) are hand embroidered.

And modelled by our ever gracious model, who had the crankies that day & was sulking in the corner. ;P

Handmade Christmas 2005

2005-12-29T20:50:00.000+10:00

Some bright spark (*looks around empty room*) came up with the idea that this year should be 'Handmade Christmas' for our family. Fuelled by the enforced frugal lifestyles of oneself and my equally frugal brother, and spurred on by my crafty mother, we decided to give it a go.

Henceforth, it should probably be declared a Broome family 'tradition' to procastinate until the umpteenth hour - although it was nice to see other people sweating it out in those final days as well. *lol* I did manage to finish everything except my brother's t-shirt, but gave him a little hand-made something anyhow and an IOU *lol* & will get to work on his creation expdeiently now my lovely Colarado Cotton has arrived! Pretty proud of my creations too.

It was beautiful to get things that other people made as well, and for the first time in years I was not disatisfied with ANYTHING people gave me & have been genuinely pleased and excited about every gift I opened - because I knew it was made with love. It's a great feeling. :)

Also lovely not to have to venture out to the shops at all except for grocery type items. Everything I created came from goodies in my stash, so it was lovely and frugal in a month where dead appliances, cars and whitegoods have been descimating my (non-existant) savings.

Anyhow, along to the wrap up;

For my Mum I made the 'Knitting Tote of Epic Proportions and many Pockets' and a matching Knitting Needle case, which was one of my most stressful projects, as I followed a McCalls Pattern & I *hate* following modern commercial patterns at the best of times.

Looks a bit floppy, as it's propped up in this photo, you'll just have to imagine lovely straight edges and seams (and they were for the most part after a lot of blood and tears). My Mum is a picky seamstress and I didn't want to disapoint.

And the matching quilted (with wool batting inner) knitting needle case, with slots for differet sized pairs. The top section folds down over the needle tips then it rolls up and ties off with 2 lovely cream satin ribbons (cunningly blended in with the couch! *lol*) to keep things safe in-transit. Looking a little crumpled from being rolled and wrapped up - oops! :)

The fabrics where gorgeous quilting cottons which I very bravely color co-ordinated myself (did I mention my color/pattern sense sucks?), but I think they came out not to mis-matched in the end and Mum loved it.

Then for Dad;

A fishing rod cover, in cream woven hemp/cotton blend (hopefully should be hard-wearing and mold resistent!) with maroon shoulder strap for carrying, reversible top that folds over to stop the rod sliding out and a matching bag to stow the reel in safely. I had to fold it in half to get it all in the picture as it's pretty long!

A close up of the fish (shark? dolphin?) motif I appliqued using yummy red/maroon verigated thread - how nice is that stuff!

Then for my Brother who will also be getting a color-blocked t-shirt as soon as he picks out the colors he wants, a little extra something. A tiny little hand-sewn woodland elf with a green seude body and stuffed with wool ends. I called him "Woody", my brother called him the little "Disability Elf" (no hands or feet) and wants to put him on display on a shelf, he's an OT and apparently this passes for OT-style humour. Hummmm.

Finally for Lolly I managed to do a sack-style limbed Waldorf Doll, in a gorgeously soft apple-green velour body, and multi-tonal wool yarn hair (hand-stitched on!) in a mop-head style with a shaped internal head and really simple embroidered features.

They facial details don't show up well in photos, but my Mum raved about how 'beautifully simple' that style of features is and I'm pretty pleased too, as I think the lack of 'detailing' actually makes her more expressive in a 'could be anyone/anything' kind of way IYWIM?

I also made her a few little outfits that come on and off easily for little hands to work with - a elasticated skirt with lace trim and a little wool felt jacket. I edged the jacket with blanket stitch in contrasting thread and embroidered a few little flowers on the lapel. Not perfect yet, think I'm going to have to work on my embroidery a little - but will get there in time!

She's lovely cuddle, as Lolly is demonstrating, as she's stuffed with 100% wool ends and is just so nice and tactile - I was tempted to keep her for myself! Lolly seems pleased enough and has been seen feeding her tea/brushing her hair/putting her to bed, so she must like her well enough, but she hasn't managed to displace "BUNNY" her very favourite, raggy and occasionally rather smelly Lovey. Ahh well. :)

I also made Lolly and her half-sister Kitia matching tie-on head scarfs and a tiny pink velour dolly (similar to Kierans) and packaged them all up so Lolly would have a Chrissy present to 'give' to her sister. Hope she liked them, I don't know if she's a bit old for it all (she's 6) - but figured the matching scarfs would be a hit if nothing else. :)

I even made a whole heap of fabric bags out of my existing stash of christmas prints instead of wrapping paper (except for Lolly's which came in recycled paper that she could RIP off :P) to save $$$.

And that folks, is just one of the reasons I've been *sooooo* busy. :)

Also got some lovely, lovely gifts in return. Just quickly;

- A hand-made sheet set (fitted, flat and 4 pillowcases) in a gorgeous deep burgandy sheeting material from the Sheridan factory outlet closing down sale - it was on special $4 a metre and feels divine!

- A hand-made *huge* wooden planter box for herbs and shallow rooted vegies (probably a good metre by a half), with slatted base and carved handles on either side so I can lift it to take it with me if I move as we're in a rental property. Planning on sowing it with cos lettuce, mini round carrots, mini radish and chamomile very, very soon!

- A hand-painted 'Rosy Cross' (also know as a Qabbilistic Cross), which has the most intricate detail and was really thoughtful as I'm very interested in Western mysticism.

All up a lovely, lovely day! :)

Christmas Duds

2005-12-29T20:13:00.000+10:00

It all started innocently enough, with spotting some cute (and cheap!) Christmas print fabrics in the lastest Spotlight catalogue and thinking to myself, hmmmm....

Next thing I know, I've decided to whip something up for Lolly's playgroup Christmas Party - leaving it all till the night before of course - and came up with this;

A cute little tartan Teddy Bear in nice Christmas-y, appliqued on to a white cotton t-shirt with co-ordinating ribbing did the trick. The white is the same fabric that Alice co-oped recently, and has enough body to hold up nicely for detail work. This was only a couple of hours from inspiration to completion & I'm slooooowwww at making things, so a pretty darn quick project overall!

And here they are on the model, photo from the back to try and show the fit a bit better (gosh moving targets are hard to photograph!)

Front on, waving Good-bye to Santa.

View from behind waiting her turn, also wearing a Pixie Pants nappy and not much else - it was Hot-Hot-Hot that day!

I made this one using the pattern from an old Kwiksew book - "Sewing for Toddlers" - which if you should ever get your hands on a copy, is fabulous for the ages 1 to 3 bracket, with lots of practical and well-cut basics - think, long and short sleeved t-shirts, elasticised waist shorts and pants, PJ's, overalls and a basic dress with lots of variations. I especially love the fact that they all come together *really* quickly - no nonsense designs. :)

A freind from playgroup asked me to make something similar for her little boy Saxon as a Christmas outfit in some a thin poly/cotton knit (super light-weight) as Christmas Day was due to be stinking hot up here. She wanted just a basic shirt/shorts outfit in red with green trims & I added a little santa panel to the front with some gold beading handsewn on the stars. Wish I'd remembered to get a close up of that!

Not what I would have picked (making stuff for others is hard!), but she was rapt and Saxon looks pretty pleased with his new duds. *lol*

Then getting a little fancier here is Lolly's Christmas 'outfit' - what she describes as the "pwetty dress" - for the town Christmas Party. The Party night was fantastic - for the kiddies they had organised a little mini-train ride and a bouncing castle, they also got to meet santa and have a sit in a real fire-truck - plus fireworks at the end which she loved but was almost asleep by then as it was so late!

I used a sun-dress pattern given to my Mum by the lovely Laraine who included the pattern piece for the bodice and written instructions for cutting/assembling the rest.

What *I* actually ended up getting from Mum was the partially cut fabric and no instructions! Arghhh!!!

Many frustrated phone calls later I managed to assemble it blind and was pretty happy with the finished product. I had to guess-timate things like the shoulder straps (a little wide), but overall I think it looked lovely and was easy to put together, so definately something I'd try again. Be nice for summer frocks too I imagine.

I used tartan check cotton and cream homespun with another appliqued Christmas teddy on the skirt. The back is elasticised too, which gives it a nice fit once on. I actually got the gathering really even on this one too - go team me! :)

Showing the back view, with her favourite man - "It's SANTA! Ho! Ho!" :)

Craft-a-Long Swaps - Both Ways!

2005-12-17T11:59:00.000+10:00

Haven't updated in ages, which doesn't mean I've been unproductive. In fact, I've been so busy sewing, stitching, baking, et al. that I haven't had a chance to update. And there's still an awful lot to go before Christmas.

Handmade Christmas - huh! Who's bright idea was that? :P

So first up, from OzCloth's Craft-a-Long swap we have our out-going goodies for Lizz P and Zoe. *Only* about a week late on getting these out too them - I will catch up - really I will!

The brief told me the theme was 'SUMMER' and that it was to be a pressie for Zoe, her sizing and that she was smitten with Dollies - what little girl isn't? :) So I cut into my favourite super-soft pale blue twill to make her a little summer dress and a sock-dolly in a matching outfit.

This is based on my all-time favourite Enid Gilchrist pattern for a summer frock, nice and roomy in the arms and quite short with a nice full gathered on skirt - so lovely and breezy for summer. To dress it up I added some applique to the bodice piece, vintage lace to the bottom and hand-stitching to the bottom.

The wording at the bottom says "sweet days of Summer" (the line is from the James Seals & Dash Crofts, 1971 song "Summer Breeze") in my very first attempt at hand embroidery - not *too* wonky - although I did have to unpick and start over the first time. I also had a crash course in what a 'back-stitch' is & had to look the instructions up on-line - the internet to the rescue again!

I could show you the photos of the first attempt at overlocking the lace/skirt hem seam where-by I forgot to keep the skirt smoothed out and overlocked a whacking great cut through the skirt, but I don't think I will. I'm sure you can all imagine the trauma. Quite a few tears shed and I actually had to go back to the store and purchase enough twill to cute a 2nd skirt panel, although I did manage to unpick and salvage the lace for a second attempt. *phew*

Here's a close up with the applique. To keep it Summery I went with the little flowers and white butterflies (which are actually a pest species *lol*) that are in our garden at the moment. All machine appliqued, using scraps of broderie anglaise, quilting cottons and buttons for the flower hearts!

And here's the little matching cutie. Lolly was quite peeved that *she* didn't get to keep her! She has a dress made in matching twill (salvaged from the ruined skirt!) a little bit of lace, a gudipere (sp?) daisy and a little hand embroidery.

I *heart* sock dollies & will possibly get around to posting the details of how they're put together at some stage. This one used 1 white toddler's sock & was stuffed with 100% wool, with dyed wool yarn hair and embroidered features. She's kind of a cross between a traditional sock dolly and a waldorf doll (which is what I'm making Lolly for Christmas) & uses some of the techniques like the wrapped inner head that usually go with Waldorf dollies.

In return we received the following LOVELY handbag from Becci which I think is just GORGEOUS! How excited was I to get something for me in the mail! :)

I just adore the pink/green combinations - I think they're so lovely and fresh. I saw these fabrics in the latest Spotlight catalogue and am so tempted to go out and buy some more. The handle has something inside to stiffen it too, so clever. And how did you know I love-love-love Pink!

And then inside;

There's a co-ordinated stripe fabric - I never would have though of pairing those I'm such a color/pattern dunce. There's also lots more room then you would expect from first glance and a little interior pocket (with stripes running at right angles - neat!) to keep receipts/bits of paper/keys in. She's also somehow managed to get touch-tape/velcro in a color that co-ordinates, though blowed if I know how she did that!

I have been taking it everywhere as it's just the right size to hold purse/keys/phone. I have to prise it out of Lolly's sticky grasp though, as she's convinced it's "mines pretty bag!".

Tres Cute Becci! I love it! :)

Another UFO bites the dust!

2005-10-08T12:15:00.000+10:00

And another one's down! This lemon floral dress has been sitting cut out, in my UFO box since last summer. For some hithero unknown reason I decided to cut it in a size 2, which was lucky, as it's still a touch big on her around the shoulders at the moment but I'm sure she'll grow into it quickly enough.

I whipped it up this morning for her as her Daddy is taking her out to dinner with his family and I wanted something light-weight (hot here at the moment!) but pretty for her to wear. Photo on the hanger;

It's a New Look #6311, combination of version A & D and came together quite well, except for a small misunderstanding between myself and the pattern instructions regarding how to finish the side seams. Ahhh well, it looks tidy and 'finished' from both outside and in, even if I did sew the inner facing into the side seams rather then tacking it over the top. *Doh*!

This is why I usually make two of any given garment - the 2nd is always executed with far more exactitude. *lol*

I added a bit of vintage lace to the bottom and either side of the central panel and a small white satin bow to the front. The back fastens with a button and elastic loop closure which was fiddly, but came out well in the end. Makes it easy to get over boofy baby/toddler sized heads as well. ;P

And here's a picture of it being modelled by Lolly, just before Daddy came to pick her up.

Soon my UFO box will be looking positively lean!

Happy Birthday Uncle Ki-Ki!

2005-10-06T07:46:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was my brother Kieran's birthday - Lolly's much beloved 'Unca Ki-Ki'. :) Finally finished off the shirt I'd been making him, which he thought was great, although I wasn't a 100% happy with it (as usual *lol*). I used the Ottobre 03/05 pattern for a men's t-shirt & made up a size 56 which looked *GINORMOUS* while I was making it. But as Kieran's 187cm tall (6"1) and a 56 is supposed to fit a height of 185cm, I had to trust that they knew what they were talking about. It was quite a nice fit on, although I think every too slightly broad across the shoulders by about 1/2 an inch (if that) and a little wider then the style called for (it's supposed to be a trim fit width ways). But he's tall and skinny and a pain to fit anyway, I'm pretty happy all round.

This shirt reminds me of summer. :)

Pictures (and I'll point out the flaws below);

See that slight pucker where the curves meet on the front panel decoration? And the very slight un-even-ness of the ribbed collar at the centre front? *grumble* Other then that it looked quite nice, although I need to remember to overlock the inner neck ribbing seam with RED not white, as the white looked a bit amateurish.

Btw, if anyone has some great tips on overlocking a curve (like a neck hole!) and getting it to finish off nicely I'd love to hear them! Not in this picture I stuck the label over where my overlocking ends joined as I'm not very good at it yet. I know there must be a trick to getting it smooth, but neither myself or my Mother who is usually my sewing guru know much about overlocking.

And another picture of it on - you can really tell how tall he is in this photo next to the little princess (who is standing on a chair to hug him! *lol*).

And once that was finished we made Uncle Ki-Ki a birthday cake - not my best effort - we made the Australian Woman's Weekly Fluffy Chocolate Cake, but it was a bit lumpier then I would have liked as I wasn't as patient with folding in the final ingredients as I should have been. Lolly likes to help;

But add candles and dim lighting and it turned out not too bad! :P

But that was BT (Before Toddler)

2005-10-05T14:02:00.000+10:00

Well, the necklace was destained to be a christmas gift - that was, before Lolly got her hands on it and claimed it as her own. And since she managed to smash one of the glass beads in the proccess of claiming ownership *grumble*, I told her she might as well have it now.

With her Booty! Nana liked the dangly matching earrings though. *lol* :)

Beading

2005-10-02T17:29:00.000+10:00

Had my first go at beading on Saturday, and was pleasently suprised to find that it is no where near as difficult as I first imagined! :) A 'Bead That' instructor held a workshop at Kat's place and we all got to try our hands at a necklace/earring combo in lovely glass beads - my results below;

Just a shame that I don't have pieced ears! Keeping that in mind, I chose these colors for my Mum (gold-plated spacers and lovely blue/yellow glass beads) & made the necklace a bit longer then I'd normally wear myself. I'm hoping to make a little matching gold satin drawstring bag for them and shall add it to my Christmas present stash. :)

Ottobre arrives!

2005-09-28T10:59:00.000+10:00

Well our Ottobre magazines arrived a week or so ago, and I've been busy with sewing from that & have completed my first garment (in a size I'm hoping she'll grow into for Summer!);

It's a mock-up of a color-blocked raglan t-shirt I'm making as part of a swap for Lara's little boy Luke - except his will be in much *brighter* colors & with a few funky embellishments. It's cut and I'm hoping to sew it together tonight all going well.

This shirt has been the most painful part of the whole process - possibly a little ambitious when I've never sewn with knit before & I had to re-size and combine two patterns to get it small enough for Lolly (92) and Luke (98) when they started at a 110! But I got there in the end - amongst a lot of swearing and cries of "Noooooooo...." - that's the sound of knit slip-sliding around as I *attempt* to sew perfectally even, very narrow edged, top-stitching. Top-stitching over seams was paticuarly painful in an effort to keep things even and in-line. Which for the record, after quite a few painful tries (and un-picking) turned out really well, as apart from one patch on the back of the neck which I artfully covered with the label it was lovely and even all-over.

So now I know I can do it for #2 attempt at least. *phew*

Unfortunately this garment will be relegated to the 'play clothes' draw of not-quite-right garments, as my mother pointed out afterwards - "Do you realise your supposed to cut all the pieces with the stretch going in the same direction?"

***ooops!***

Actually I didn't know that NEVER HAVING SEWN IN KNIT BEFORE, but I've sure learnt! Also learnt about looser stitches, stretch stitches and one hell of a lot of pinning.

This is currently ranked as "Most Painful Project Ever". But the result was totally worth it.

p.s. Despite her not impressed stance in the first photo (she didn't sleep well last night) Lolly does like wearing it! :)

Spring Garden

2005-09-21T19:47:00.000+10:00

While I am *very* glad for us to moving shortly to a place of our own, I'm going to miss our gardens which are finally starting to come good with the advent of Spring. You can't take it with you when you go. *sigh* Only vaguley made up for by spending hours leafing through organic seed catalouges (plant porn!) dreaming of what-will-be in our new garden.

Some shots from today;

a) Garden from the gate with lush lemon grass, mature broccoli, 5 varieties of lettuce, cabbage and yellow cherry tomatoe seedlings.
b) Brown romaine cos lettuce we had for dinner.
c) More parsley then you can poke a stick at.
d) Baby broccoli heads (we've already picked a few of the larger ones - yumm!)
e) A bush full of thai rainbow chillis - still all in the 'green' stage
f) First ripe strawberry of the season, we got the runners from Green Harvest in August and they are doing so well already!
g) Lolly sampling the produce

Swap Dress for Kaz and Alex Claire

2005-09-19T10:40:00.000+10:00

Well here is my *finally* completed swap dress for Karen's little girl Alex - just in time for summer too! *lol* I managed to size the pattern up using last year's 6-18 months pattern pieces to a 2-3 years size, but after we tried a mock-up on Alex, realised it needed even *more* room in the shoulders/under the arms, so added an extra inch and I think it will be great now. :)

The colors are really bright - orange, pink, purple - and funky, which I think will suit Alex as she looks great in bright colors. Lolly looks a little washed out in these shades, so it was fun to sew in them for a change. I made a matching pair of frilled bloomers in HOT pink to go with them as Alex has about 2 zillion nappies (heh! sorry Kaz!) & Mummy requested some panties instead. :)

And here's the back of the bloomers with a little machine appliqued heart in the dress fabric - Nana B suggested it to 'tie' the garment together. I think it's cute! :) I'm a little worried the panties will be a bit small, as I tried them on Lolly and they fit nicely on her, but Alex is a bit bigger again, so fingers crossed! They're a 'baggy' style anyhow so we should have some leeway.

And here's a close up of my labels I received last week - yay! :)

And a little calico gift bag. The embroidery is in verigated thread which looks great - shame it doesn't show up well in the photos. *grumble*

Birthday Boy Outfit

2005-09-17T13:22:00.000+10:00

Lolly & I travelled down to the Gold Coast yesterday for Lukey's 3rd Birthday (OCN Bek's boy). Determined to make him something nice for his birthday I spent ages procrastinating about what little boys like to wear and what they're 'into' at that age. Little girl's are easy as they're usually pretty chuffed by pretty bright colors, fairies, flowers, etc...but boys?!? :)

Anyhow, settled on making him a little pair of old fashioned summer short-alls (overalls with short legs) in navy & red cotton drill with a big "L" for Lukas appliqued on the front, red inner facing and a little red pocket. And now I know what little boys like - POCKETS! *lol* :) The over-locker chucked a major tantie and had a melt down half way through the garment, which wasn't a huge tragedy as most of the seams were hidden (french or flat seams) anyway. I did however have to turn the hems up on the legs and ended up going back over it and topstitching the hems in bright red to help keep them nice and flat - which looked so good that I got brave and top-stitched the bodice piece too. I think the top-stitching looked great in the end. :)

It did fit, which I was a bit stressed about as they say size 2-3 & Lukey's not a big kid but still.... although I doubt he a huge amount of growing room they looked comfy & very cute! IMNSHO! *heh* Anyway, photos....

Shows you the front, the lighting is *awful*, but for orienation those buttons are a vibrant red!

Close up of the bodice front with the big "L" applique.

From the bag, showing elasticated waste and cross-over straps - and our new little 'Pixie Pants' labels that arrived in the post - yay! :)

A little calico bag I designed to pop items in - cheap as chips to make and looked gorgeous (about $1 including fabric, thread and satin ribbon tie!). Mum embroidered the writing 'Pixie Pants Original' with her machine on the front. Swish!

Green Baby Goodness

2005-09-08T20:11:00.000+10:00

Since I have managed to scavenge a camera to use this weekend, I just had to use it to it's full advantage by including some photos of Lolly in our organic vegetable garden. It's looking so nice after the rain we've had lately! Lolly likes playing there and follows me around half the morning asking for "babies! babies!" (green 'babies' that is - treat them like a baby....gentle, gentle...) until I relent and take her down there.

Picking a tasty sugar snap pea. We have tons of these at the moment, unfortunately they never seem to make it from the garden to the kitchen as little Miss likes to eat them fresh from the garden at a great rate. *crunch* *crunch*

The guilty party with the empty pea collecting container. She's also been known to eat lettuce leaves, parsley leaves and broccoli leaves when particuarly adventurous! *lol*

More peas, these ones un-trelissed. They were supposed to be 'dwarf' snow peas - but they're out of control! *lol* :) Oh, and Lolly's "fwooowers" (pansies, crysanthenum, marigold), nothing cuter then when they pick them for you as a pressie.

One UFO down....

2005-09-03T19:49:00.000+10:00

Am having problems with my computer killing my digital camera upload program and then refusing to reinstall it (tempremental beastie)! So this post is sans photos, at least until Mum gets back on Monday and I can beg her to make a disc of the photos. I didn't know how much I missed photographic posting till it was gone & the nice computer guy quoted me $45 just to look at it! *arghhhhh* (but starting to think it might be worth it)

Anyhow, off that - have completed a *gasp* *shock* *horror* UFO that's been hanging around for a while now. With the help of Nana Broome, who I hog-tied and carried upstairs to provide inspiration and a bit of helpful sewing advice it was finished in two afternoons! May I present a size 2 little girl's halter neck dress with rows of gathering on the skirt in a white and red strawberry print cotton - tres cute! We based the pattern on a little batik number Nana Broome bought in SE Asia & that was super cool and comfy last summer - added 1/2 inch to the bodice and I think 3 inches in total to the skirt, and it looks lovely. :) Very pleased, vaguely considered making some for the website, but decided against it as;

a) Each layer that's been gathered on needs to be overlocked on the inside and the only overlocking thread I have available is white & I'm one of those *picky* people who has to have the overlocking matched to the fabric color.

b) Gathering rows on is a *bitch*. After what seemed like hours of gathering, pinning, pinning, pinning some more and sewing, I thought I'd done a pretty darn good job (in fact one of my best yet) - until Nana Broome commented that they we're perhaps "a little uneven". *crushed* Is it any wonder I'm a nitpicker with that type of helpful input? :P

Pictures;

a) From the back showing halter tie and elasticated back

b) From the front (it's hard to get a good shot when they're constantly moving!)

In other news, knocked up some wonky slippers for Lolly which she loves and that are trial run #1 for a pair I want to make for her in Wool Felt. Yepp, very wonky. Next time can only be better. ;P

Also made a big batch of pancakes this morning using Nigella's receipe - gads I love that woman's cookbooks! And with her help they actually turned out as pancakes should, instead of what I normally make which somewhat resembles a super-sized pikelet (think thick and doughy). These were definately more along the crepe line. As an added bonus, you make the batter the night before, leave it to rest in the fridge overnight and then stumble out semi-coherent to the kitchen in the morning and whip up a yummy breakfast in minutes! Yeah! :)

Vanilla Lip Balm - Take #2

2005-08-18T21:11:00.000+10:00

Well glad I didn't just confine myself to the previous receipe posted, as it was a bit of a flop. For a start the Shea Butter has a bit of a blah smell to it, which wasn't really compensated for by the smell of honey. I gently melted the ingredients together and despite frequent stirring they kept seperating as they cooled. Even when cool they remained fairly liquid and gloopy, not at all what I'd imagined! Should have taken a photo of the honey disaster, instead I took this;

Attempt #2 was completed while waiting for the Honey Lip Balm to cool and (not) solidify.

It consisted of beeswax, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, veg. glycerine and natural vanilla. It has very little scent (a whif of vanilla essence ocasionally when putting it on - which is nice), and is super low-allergenic which is good for us 'sensitive' gals! :P It solidified *beautifully* and is a nice creamy white consistency now & makes for lovely glossy lips.

*smooch*

Plus it was super easy! :) Might be back with the receipe later.

In other news:

Have discovered that the 'new design' I was creating for quick-drying hemp nappies for the Pixie Pants website has a few flaws. Bugger!

After sulking & stamping round the house for a bit, I discovered that a lot of the problems could be fixed by extending the fold-up soaker, hopefully leading to a snugger fit and less "pooch" problems.

Ummmm, that means nothing to non-nappy nerds, but will take some pictures of the new improved Pixie Pants hemps as soon as I get them off the production line. They are very cute, even if I do say so myself! :P

Creamy Honey Lip Balm

2005-08-17T11:50:00.000+10:00

Decided to overlook massive pile of sewing/crafting wailing for my attention last night in favour of going to bed early (well earlier would be a better description). Still felt tired & need a caffenaited kick-start to get running today though. *sigh*

However, my package from Aussie Soap Supplies arrived this morning, containing lots of lovely goodies - a proper wooden soap mould, soap slicer (snazzy) and some lip balm pots. So later this afternoon I will be attempting a small batch of honey lip balm which uses just two ingredients.

Not sure how much I'll like it though as I'm not a huge fan of Honey. So this one may be for my Little Bee (yes, she does like lip-balm, she likes anything that's 'just like Mummy' *lol*).

Have another receipe to try that contains yummy cocoa butter for me, but don't know if I'll get too it in time. See how we go. :)

Project Status - Eeeek!

2005-08-16T13:29:00.000+10:00

Current Project Status

Number of UFO's is rapidly escalating in my Works in Progress Pile.

- 1 tres funky satchel type nappy bag cut and pinnned. Gorgeous Black/Pink/Silver Japanese Crane print on the outside, quilted with wool batting and then hot pink inner with additional pockets. I will be the funkiest Mummy on the block. :P

- 1 'mock-up' of a halter neck summer dress design girl's size 2 cut out in strawberry print cotton, waiting to be sewn

- 1 girl's size 2 calico house apron, partially sewn - needs buttonholes, hand finishing and hemming.

- 3 hemp nappies cut, 2 hemp nappies sewn but need aplix (I *hates* doing aplix).

- 1 lemon floral girl's size 2 summer dress for Lolly, cut and overlocked, waiting to be sewn.

Things that need to get finished, yesterday, already....Aka.

"My Aims for August"

- Knitting bag and needle case for Mum! (pattern and material, haven't started) Vague idea of having these done by her Birthday (August 20th) is unlikely, so it might be a X-Mas gift now, *lol*! :)

- 2 x summer dresses for Kaz's DD Alex Claire as part of a barter - like to have these done before summer! *lol* Thinking of using the halter neck style if it works out in a funky orange/purple/pink tie-dye cotton print. Dress #2 will probably be a traditional green gingham with a white apron front. Hope she likes them!

- Contribution to OTOCN Craft-a-Long for August/Semptember - the theme is slippers, but thinking 100% wool felt booties, with leather soles for Lolly to wear in the house might be nice as my knitting is non-existent.

- Contribution to Loobylu's A Month of Softies - this month's theme is 'Home on the Range' and I have a gorgeous pattern for a stuffed chook here (complete with stuffed eggs). Bonus is that Lolly will *lurve* the finished project.

- Contribution to Tie One On - this month's theme is "Mini Me" - still hoping inspiration will strike!

- Since my delivery from Winterwood has arrived it's probably about time I started on a Waldorf Doll for Lolly - no more procrastinating that I don't have the gear I need. *booohooo*

- Learn to knit from Nana Broome. :) Have wool to make - 1 x fluffy pink/purple scarf for Lolly bean (Nana Broome to attempt matching Beanie), 1 x rainbow dyed 100% woolen soaker for Lolly. That should keep me busy for a while & if not I've got vague ideas about knitting gnomes ala the Waldorf Craft group patterns, etc...

*******Phew********