2012 project list update

And a list of the projects to complete for 2012...

Finish the Polar Fleece jackets I cut out in 2004 (*embarrassed much!!)
Blossom Creek complete block 2 (oh so close), then 3, 4 and do the log cabining
Make the Toofies up to sell in my store Belles Familles
Make some fabric table runners to sell in the 'shop' too
Placemats or cushions for Coral's b'day CUSHIONS COMPLETED, placemats to follow maybe!
Saving pouches for squirreling money for stuff like a holiday we bought a large money tin and that is a safer way to save we all think!
2x winter night dresses for Amelia
2 skirts for sisters - Rachel and Sarah
Blouse for me (fabric and pattern on their way)
Raincoat for Amelia (fabric on its way) STARTED COMPLETED
Over skirt for my sari skirt so I will wear the skirt and it won't sit in the wardrobe...
Another skirt like this one  for me (fabric on its way) COMPLETED
Cushion for my Goddaughters brother at the request of his mum
Fabric placemats for us for outside
Fabric napkins in a pretty floral for afternoon tea parties - no idea why... COMPLETED
Apron for Katie

Blossom Creek will come away with us next week
Table Runners - yeah, about those... one day!
Blouse for me, I may need to loose a few inches!
Overskirt - Not convinced I will wear it... but I could have my opinion swayed...
Fabric placemats for us, I'll probably do them over the Xmas break
And Katie's apron, well, Katie went and had a baby so cooking is important but not a priority!

Cushions for CC

What seems like (and was) months ago I set about making something for my oldest friends yet to be built outdoor area. They have recently pretty much renovated their entire house and the outdoor area is the last to be done. I wanted to add some colour and a touch of the tropics. They live near us on the Northern Beaches of Sydney (they are the reason we moved if the truth be told!) and have a great pool and in summer they pretty much do everything in their courtyard. With big benches planned something restful for your back, I felt, would be nice.

I finished the last 2 button holes on the last cushion cover about a month ago at sewing and was just waiting for an empty half hour to stuff the cushions into the covers! That half hour was found today...

Tah dah!

Excuse the kid in the background and hte crappy table in the foreground!

The 3 together, great colours! Each cushion has each colour in it. 

 The yoyo, bead and buttons on the back are complimentary colours.

The great leaning tower of cushions! Text sent ready to tee up a tea date to give them to her!

Teachers Gifts

It must be really hard at Christmas time to be a teacher. I am sure I would cringe at all the bars of soap, bottles of lotions, boxes of biscuits and chocolates they have been given over the years. Last year I made mug rugs to go with a mug that Amelia chose for each teacher. Not sure the rugs were used but the mugs are very much still in use!

I have an embarrassing collection of fabric, lots of over bought lengths and some Christmas bits that, let's face it, unless it's going to start snowing in Sydney at Christmas or we move to the Northern Hemisphere, I will more than likely not get round to using. I'm not sure where I saw it but somewhere in blog or Pinterest land someone talked about food throws. How hard could they be to make? I thought to myself. And they aren't. They are dead easy.  Especially when you score 10m of curtain netting from Spotlight at $2/m less 30% because you bought the whole roll! Curtain netting has a long drop, or at least the one I bought does! I might even use some for curtains but for now...

 Start with some WOF strips chain stitched

 Make them into bias binding one boring Sunday afternoon while suffering watching a kids movie for the umpteenth time

stitch them on  et viola! GREAT practice for mitred corners!

 Amelia (and Stef) didn't understand what they were so I demonstrated... on the ironing board of course!

These are 4 of the 16 I have made so far in various shapes and sizes. They are really quick (did I mention cheap - I think about $1.50/ large throw) and I hope they will be useful. If you are a friend I give a gift to at Christmas, well, you might end up with one or 2 of these!

These would be a great school stall market day product too and a great money spinner :-) Good stash buster too.

An 'in between night shift' Friday

I have commented before that Stef's night shifts and I have a love hate relationship. In our new home it is less easy for me to stay at home while he sleeps the whole day between night shifts. He says he can't hear the machine but I am sure he is just being nice. If our kitchen reno's are put back (again) I will set the office up a little differently, at least I can close the door and access the kitchen and outside without coming through the house.

One of my school friend Mums is also a sewer and making sure she had no other plans a few Friday's back we spent the day behind our respective machines making a dent in a few 'quick' projects. From about 10am with a coffee in hand and a bowl of almonds + dried cranberries we sent about making those machines whir!

My friend made a top for herself and I made a library bag and pencil roll for my graphic designers son for Christmas. My GD is nutty about frogs so when I saw this remnant of fabric in the $1 bin at CA Boyle textiles I knew I would make something for her son, just wasn't quite sure what...

No pattern for either, just winged both projects!

 Pocket for his library card

Teamed up with a packet of pencils there is space for a lead pencil and a snack or a ruler or a treasure.

The Duck cushion part 2

I am not sure if I have blogged this embroidery and I am snatching time here and there to update my sewing while doing the annual write out of Christmas cards...

When I was at the Sew Craft Retreat in August I bought a second embroidery from Kristen Doran Designs. Very 70's and reminds me of the wall in Hilda Ogden's front room on Coronation St (the second picture). I have a friend (who I hope doesn't read my blog) who I think this will appeal to and while I can imagine it framed on a wall I would prefer to make it into a cushion. And I have one last cushion left from the pack I bought for the baby cushions I made earlier this year! I can see it on her couch either at her home in Newport or at her holiday home in Scotland. It was stitched at OT and swimming over the course of a few weeks using a veriagated brown and green DMC thread. I really like how it has turned out!

I had made some piping using ribbon a few months ago one sewing weekend when my regular teacher wasn't there and the fill in teacher was more interested in comparing Grandkids stories with the class and tooting her own trumpet about what she was learning at the TAFE she was going to than actually imparting any sewing knowledge to those who were struggling. Needless to say, I came home in tears and unpicked 3 hours of work and cursed the $30 I had spend on ribbon and cord and the wasted lesson. I pushed it to the back of the sewing pile and promised myself it would be done before Christmas but needed a few nice finishes to get my sewjo back!

Under the guidance of my sewing teacher Chris, I learned just how to get the machine to stitch really close to the piping. She also put some wadding behind the peices to give it a bit of 'lift'. Moral of the story, wait for Chris before tackling difficult projects!

It isn't finished but will be in a months time (next lesson) ready for giving over the Christmas break. I have green piping put on the cushion edge and a medium pinky/brown fabric to go on the back from the French General (I think!). Still deciding how to finish the back, a zip, buttons or a simple envelope. I am leaning towards zip because I don't want a gape (and I like the way Chris teaches to put zip's in!)

The Teapot Dress

It's been a while between posts and there has been sewing done, some photographed, some not. With Stef going back onto shift work it really throws 'free time' into chaos and both sewing and photographing said garmet is something that is squished in between dinner/pickup/activity/homework/getting him out the door for work... and if it is something for Amelia, it is usually hovered over until the last thread is cut and whipped straight on!

Teapot Dress

With Amelia being so tall it is really hard to find 'little girl' clothes, clothes that make her look like a girl and not a tween. Once you get out of size 6 (which we have been since she was about 5) the clothes in the shops take on a real different look and you have a pre-teen looking 7 year old before you know it. Making kids look older than they are has all sorts of complications and expectations (especially for behaviour) and while she is happy to wear home made I am happy to make. I bought this pattern ages ago as it was a style of dress that was similar to dresses in her wardrobe that she loves wearing.


I bought some of this very popular teapot fabric at Spotlight

when they had one of their frequent sales with this dress pattern or a circle skirt in mind and thinking 2metres would be enough for whatever I wanted to make. Sadly no, the skirt alone needs almost 2 metres! A frantic Saturday morning search located some in Adelaide so I had to find a plan B to sew at my class and wait for the postie to deliver.

Over 2 lessons it came together and we are very happy with it, very happy indeed. It has a full circle skirt and an underskirt with tulle on it that makes it stick out and makes you have to twirl apparently! It swishes when you walk as well and what little girl doesn't love a bit of swish...

I think she likes it! I know ALL the ladies at sewing LOVED it!!!It is very Stepford wives but I really don't care. It makes my girl very happy and that is all that matters to me pretty much!

My friend CC loved it too teasing Amelia she was going to wear it. The sad thing was it pretty much fitted her, except for the boob area (phew said Amelia!). But we did make an underskirt with tulle for a dress CC has that needs a petticoat to make the skirt stick out. A pattern that is worth every penny of the $6USD I paid for it (possibly less if it was on sale...)