Going to school

Yesterday 5 years ago Amelia cut her first tooth at aged 4 months... in 2 days time she is off to school, not pre-school, big school, primary school... in a blink of an eye 5 years on it is hard to believe.

I have been sewing name labels into anything that is school related that can be sewn, taking up hems and attacking bags and raincoats with laundry markers in an attempt to keep what is hers coming home with her. One tip I was given was to sew name tapes across the toes of the socks, apparently it is the best way to keep the socks from going AWOL, not easy to do without a darning mushroom, might have to have a wee look for one next time I am at Spotlight. I figure I will be naming socks for the next few years, it will be money well spent. I am at a bit of a loss to understand though, why in Australia, in summer, kids are forced to wear closed toe shoes and socks! We always wore sandals in NZ and our summers are not the 35+ sinkers we have here... mine is not to reason why but I am still confused!

One of the big things Amelia wanted was a pencil case and not a bought one, I had to make one. She picked out the fabric from some offcuts, choosing the leftovers from her Dinosaur cushion Lisa made for her birthday. Diving into one of the many many many various storage bits that Stef's mum has filled with all manner of sewing treasures I found a chunky tooth pale pink zip which was the perfect length! Babcia was gorgeous, this was obviosuly removed from something that was either picked up at Vinnie's or sent to the rag bin as it had cotton threads on the tape. With 2 sons it was very unlikely it would be used for something for either of them! There are SO many zips in this particular case, I will be saving a lot of money on zips in coming years :-) Babcia's thrifty legacy lives on!!

She 'drew' what she wanted her pencil case to look like, I should have taken a picture of her drawing... it was beginning to resemble the most elabobrate design any seasoned quilter would be hard pressed to pull off in an afternoon. Squares and flowers and I think there was a fairy wand in there somewhere! Not going to happen, if I had more time I might have attempted a simplified version but not this afternoon in the heat and with a whopping headache.

I made this, with her help and she is pretty happy!

I printed her name off in a massive font, cut it out and used Vlisofix to attach it to the green then used my blanket stitch on the machine to secure it. Both fabrics are double thickness so the pencil case is essentially lined. And I think it will do her for a few years too! Happy Mummy, happy daughter *sigh* all good :-)