Projects for 2011

I need to commit to doing something about my UFO's and putting them in here might be what I need to nag myself into finding time to do some sewing...

Project and when it would be 'due by' if it is a gift...


Cushions for the new house - ideally I would like a new couch for these to go on...
Dress for Lucy - needs to be in Paris by the 5 July
Quilt for Nathan - for his birthday needs to be done by July 1, Xmas gives me a bit more time
Quilt for Jarod - I'm thinking Xmas...
Blossom Creek - BOM 2,3,4 and the log cabining for blocks 1-4 and then the rest of it
Library bag for Amelia
Summer skirts for Amelia
Summer dresses for Amelia
Christmas placemats (that won't fall apart when you wash them) as gifts
Teachers Xmas gifts
Class mates Xmas gifts
Close friends hand made Xmassy something
Mermaid Doll Amelia bought at the quilt fair
Applique Xmas table piece - for Julie V in Paris

Wow, that is just off the top of my head without looking in the books I have got or the cupboard too closely...

Another Pencil Case

I have been trotting off to WW for 3 years now and along with the 35kg I have lost I have made some great friends, 2 girls in particular, and their kids. We have 7 kids between us... And I have watched these friends kids (and in one case family) grow. We were invited to the 7th birthday party of one of these little friends yesterday. Sarah is a lovely little girl, she loves music and dancing and like most 7 year olds, drawing and colour.


She has a few learning difficulties so it is sometimes difficult to 'get the gift right' but Amelia assured me a pencil case like hers would be a perfect gift. Stuffed with some of my favourite triangle BIC colouring pencils and some smelly gel ink pens, a double CD of music and a colour and copy Tinkerbell book, I figured it was a great gift too!

I chose the music fabric for Sarah's love of music and the bright colourful circles because of all the interesting pictures in the circles, I though there was a lot to look at and talk about.

We had such a good time, despite the weather which was WET and COLD. Such a shame as it was a mermaid party! The kids didn't care though, all got thoroughly wet but lots of squeals of excitement! Most of the kids that were there were from Sarah's special needs school and they were all delightful kids. Really well behaved and really caring towards each other. Amelia was a little unsure at first and took a while to understand why one particular little boy didn't know how to share or take turns but it wasn't long and her caring side took over and she had a great time. Until the water fight, she didn't really get the water fight and there were tears but once explained if she was goign to shoot someone she had to be prepared to get shot!

I really do take my hat off to the parents with special needs kids, they are a special breed of parent... Some of the stories I overheard we really rather amusing! But I guess like any parent, you do what you need to for your child and if they have special needs you adapt. We are all blessed and lucky in different ways.

Getting Organised...

We have had a hiccup with settling on our new house and I really need to focus my (rather angry) energy somewhere so decided a bit of heavy cutting and theraputic winding was in order!

I saw this on Mel's blog ages ago and have always been SO jealous of how pretty her fabric looked, spurred on by someone asking how people stored their fabric I was prompted to revist the post and the idea. A quick google on foam board showed me Art Riot stocked it, and as it happened I had to go to our local shopping centre where there is an Art Riot store, funny that...

 It took me a while to work out the size to cut the boards but the basic size is that of an A4 sheet of paper, I bought A2 sheets of foam boards and got 4 from each. The first lot I cut were really too small but they will do for smaller lots of fabric, waste not want not!

Then I had to roud up (and admit to) my fabric stash... Oh my, a lot more than I thought!

 This is the box, the box that I know about, has some recent purchases in it and some older ones too, the one Stef knows about...

 Then there is a wee stack of Christmas fabric in the drawers in the office....

 And let's not talk about the toy box...

 That has no bottom... it is a cavernous fabric storage spot!

See it just keeps going!!

With an hour and a bit to myself, I put last nights Brothers & Sisters on the telly and set about folding and winding...

Tahdah!

I did the masses of flanelette I have and the whopping 3 yards of knit but think they are too bulky, I might remove them and fold them, it isn't like they are going to go un noticed!

Then I will have 6 more cards to wind some more fabric around... good idea I think! I didn't do the felt or the polar fleece... or the Cinderella or Snow White dress up fabrics...

 This is the 'study' in the new house with a MASSIVE cupboard in it. I had initially thought this would be the office/craft room/spare room but think the shelves in the cupboard will become the linen press but the drawers will be perfect for my fat quarters (yes there is more!!) and reels of cotton that Babcia left behind as well as all her other bits housed in various locations in the house.

This is the linen press but I can see the top shelp being used for bathroom stuff (no vanity) and the next 2 shelves for fabric and the vaccum cleaner down the bottom. Can't wait to get in to this house and get it all organised. The fabric might end up in the 'toy box' aka the cavernouse fabric storage box... all depends on space.

Thanks Mel for the inspiring blog post and for forcing me to face the stash and make it work better. No more purchasing for a wee while, I think I have enough to keep me going for a wee while on projects!

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 :-)

PJ Sunday

Long before the dawn had come this morning (about midday yesterday to be honest), today was declared a PJ day by Amelia and after the past few weeks of racing here there and everywhere, I wasn't going to argue! About 10 days ago we had to pack the sewing machine away when we had a friend over for a sleepover and it has been sitting lonely for all that time... With open homes happening as well there wasn't much point in dragging everything I need from one end of the house to the other. Yesterday when we returned from being out for the open home Amelia said 'I'm going to choose a movie mummy and you are going to get your sewing machine out'!

 And I did, well, I got some fabric out and some half finished projects out ready to be stitched today. Pinning binding on was about all I could cope with last night so I had 2 things ready to sew today.

First on the list was the bias binding and 'collar' and popper stud on the back of the green nightie, DONE!

Not the best shot but it was in the process of being folded and put away to wear tomorrow night.... you take what you can get!

I also put some binding on a top for me I have been working on. It isn't quite as long as I would like so I want to have a 'Disney-free' moment to get my head around how to fix it.

Ages ago I made a curtain for the glass door in our bedroom that goes through into our Sunroom.
With the house on the market we rearranged the bedroom again and this is what I see in the morning and the light in summer coming through the door is intense. I am amazed at the heat this simple $12 length of fabric from Ikea keeps out as well! While it doesn't darken the room it dulls the light which is what I wanted (and in a few weeks it won't matter because I will have a different bedroom, with a street light to worry about!). In the sunroom we have some really old daggy dodgy curtains that hung at some point in a room in Stef's parents house or rumpus room or they may have just been picked up at Vinnie's for a bargain! I hated them! We had them at Stef's villa and the day he had vertical blinds installed (as ugly as they are) it was a bit of a hooray moment for me when I put them neatly in a cupboard. Sadly they followed us here... but they served a purpose in the sunroom, keeping the light off the clothes and preventing them fading faster than some of them did. Our long term plan was to put something more permanent up outside but as we are on the move I didn't like the thought of leaving it blank so I spalshed out another $17 on some more fabric and made some curtains as well today. Shame they weren't up yesterday for the 6 parties we had through... not to worry! They are far from perfect but they will do the job.

Next on the list was a denim skirt for madam. I bought this pattern and fabric from Spotlight LAST winter!!! It looked like a pattern that would have to be concentrated on so I wanted to give it the attention it deserved but am disappointed it took so long to get around to making it. The reviews say this pattern was easy to follow, I don't know that we had the same set of instructions. I have used Burda patterns before and haven't had a problem, or perhaps I blocked it out! I am happy with the result as is Amelia who whipped it away ready to be worn proudly tomorrow. I love that she does this and am going to be sad when a home made dress doesn't cut it anymore with her!

All up I think it took me 3 hours to make this skirt, WAY too long! Lots of backing and forthing between 2 pages of instructions, but I think if I made it again, and I am sure I will whip it up in no time!

So while I haven't made a bit dent in the to do list I have crossed 3 things off. Next up is a pencil case, a dress with some gorgeous Voile we scored for $5 a meter at Spotlight, finishing Lucy's dress, making a bag to match and a duplicate for a jealous 5 year old and some winter nighties for Amelia and my God daughter Alyssa. Wonder what will get done before we move!

Christmas Presents and stitching heaven!

It has been a while... there is a good reason...

Stef's mums sewing machine hasn't been kind to me of recent months. Unfortunately the machine was in the car when they had their accident so took a mighty wollop. When I didn't use it for a few weeks the stitches were less than straight and the bottom thread would always look like a dogs breakfast. I'd get it serviced, sew for a few weeks and have to put it away for a few weeks and then I'd get it out again and off for a service it would need to go. Pouring my sob story out to a lady at the new Hobby Sew store at Top Ryde she suggested that perhaps the machine would be better off being retired from duty. With a service averaging at $80, a few of those would pay for a basic machine.

As luck would have it... my baby brother (he's 40) wanted some cymbals for his drum kit for Christmas. Mummy and Daddy like to treat us evenly so they put the same amount of money into what I would like and I decided with all the fabric I had been buying a sewing machine would be fabulous. With a special offer and free gifts for Christmas orders I went on a bit of an expidition and decided on this machine.
Limited Edtion Breast Cancer Janome 5027LE
Mum and Dad put money towards it and Stef bought the rest. What a nice husband :-)

Having a blanket stitch on the machine for applique it will make the next quilt easier. I have actually already used it on the planet panels for a gift for a special 7 year old and it was SO easy and SO fast. With the machine I got a free craft box, some lovely sharp scissors (don't sharp scissors make a difference??!!), a walking foot and a 1/4" seam foot, what a bargain! There is a good couple of hundred dollars in extra value just there!

In preparation for machines impending arrival I pre-washed  a heap of fabric and come Boxing Day with a tired kid and a weenie hang over and no desire or need to go anywhere I started cutting things out...

Amelia has been asking me for some summer nighties and we bought fabric ages ago to do it at Spotlight. I made nightie A from Simplicity 2831 for her. I tandem sewed 2 but have only finished one so far.

In these pics they need the buttons sewn on the front and a few other finishes. I am waiting on some binding to arrive for the green one but I finished the pink one yesterday...

And had to be worn to bed tonight!

I have also made this one for me a  Big Top but it was too much like a maternity top so I did a dodgy pin and tuck to make it a little more fitting. The jury is still out on what it looks like on, I might ask a friend later this week...

Fabric is from Kathy Davis Journey collection

I have also cut this out and am almost finished it, again waiting on binding. This was one of those 'good idea at the time things' where I got some paper, a favourite top, and made my own pattern up. I am stuffing up the front of it but it might come good!

From Anna Marie Horners Little Folks Voile collection

I am also in the middle of sewing a dress for my cousins daughter Lucy for her birthday in July (getting in EARLY to make sure it isn't a last minute dash like the Christmas gifts) again using this gorgeous soft voile from Anna Marie Horner. It isn't going to be easy to part with the dress but it is very sophisticated and will not look out of place in Paris at all. Lucy has dark hair and almost black eyes, she will look stunning in this dress. I hope I haven't made it too big.

Then I am not sure what I will tackle next. I have requests for more nighties (how many does a kid need, seriously!!) and I know when we do a try on of the dress Amelia will want one as well. I have a denim skirt cut out ready to sew but had some issues with getting the stitch right. I invested in some denim needles today so maybe that is the next thing to put to bed. I also want to make some things from the tutorials I found on various websites and I want, I want, I want....!!!! In a few months time when we are moved, unpacked and have NO money for anything I will get all my projects completed.

There is some fabric arriving this week for some cushion covers for the new house, and a couple of patterns too. And tucked away at the top of my cupboard is a pattern and material for Cinderella and Snow White dress ups... I am quietly looking forward to trying my hand at those... Big surprise for Amelia.

Until the next 'finished' can be posted...

Major Bummer

We had a family holiday on the weekend, a break from the rat race, time to reflect and catch our breath and try and focus on the next few months ahead of us. Invited to a friends 50th in Qld we decided to kill 2 birds with one stone and booked the holiday.

Packing is never pleasant and usually I ALWAYS put at least one days worth of clothes in 'the other suitcase/hand luggage' just in case something happens to the big case. This time I didn't. This time something did happen to the big case and 6 days on it is still missing.

Amongst the clothes, toiletries, shoes and other bits necessary to entertain a 5 year old away from home, was our camera. The camera with Amelia's 5th birthday photos on it, our day trip to Canberra with Grandma for Floriade and the photos of my latest fabric purchases and completed projects. I am SO bummed! I haven't seen either lot of photos, there hasn't been time.

The inconvenience of not having my hair brush, our tooth brushes, the melt down when Amelia realised her favourite new sandals were in the case, and Stef being without his meds for 4 days is getting to the angry point now. Looking for 3XL mens clothes, larger sized womens clothing, kids clothes that weren' blazened with advertising for the location we were holidaying in and undewear on a wet Sunday in a tourist town was not easy. Thank heavens for a somewhat decent IGA and a very expensive boutique. Stef and Amelia were fine, I sort of had to make do with the clothes I was in for the weekend until we hit Target on the way to the last day of our break. And just buying 'the basics' added about $300 to our holiday budget, not to mentin what we have had to replace since we have been home...

Surely someone didn't take the case off the carousel by mistake, there were no cases left over. Surely one of the airposrts has the case sitting in the lost property room. Surely one of the staff on the 'Baggage Blues' counter at each airport has read the emails we have been told have been sent and has looked to see if there is something that fits the VERY clear description of the case.

So, I will have to use my phone to take pictures in the meantime but the picture of the finished cushion that was the gift for the 50th we went to, sorry, you can't have one of those. Might ask my friends daughter to take one and email it to me.

This is supposed to be just for sewing updates but I am SO cross I need to vent and Facebook isn't cutting it for me at the moment!