It begins

Last night I helped my Mum out with some quilting squares. It was one of those moments where she bought her project around with the hope of using my sewing machine and then said she was too tired and we wouldn't have time. I ignored this (teehee) and set up the sewing machine for her and put out the cutting mat.. and soon enough it was 10pm and she was completing the final square. Whoopie! I must say that it is *wonderful* to sit around with someone else while you're sewing or doing some other craft. I egged Mum on, helping with her cutting, ironed her fabrics for her, helped her make decisions like what width seams to use etc.

I felt sooooo motivated afterwards and set about doing some sewing today and I made some appliqued tees for DD. I had an old tshirt which was too stained to wear so I cut out the unmarked designs and attached them onto a new tshirt. The tshirt comes from a matching tee and skirt set, so now we still have a matching tee for the skirt! The second tee is a simple square of fabric and I have used blanket stitch as the border. I have used double sided interfacing for both tees.


I'm keen to make some dolls clothes for DD and to give as presents to friends with young kids. So I have started with this little nappy. I've used an offcut of fabric from the remnants bin at the fabric shop - probably sheeting fabric.

Task completed

I signed up for a Pay It Forward a long time ago and finally got it together just before heading off on holidays. Parcels went out to Emma and Car and have been received.

Happy 1st Birthday!

1 month old:


6 months old:


12 months old:


Our dear little boy is now 1 year old. The year has gone so quickly and he has learnt to do so much. Jem is now pulling up to standing on almost anything and getting quite interested in climbing all over us and gets upset that he can't get himself up onto the couch. Jem has always known what he wants, whether that be sleeping, eating phenomenal amounts of food, or something that he needs RIGHT NOW! This has been good as his messages have been somewhat easy to read. You've always been a very placid baby, very easy going and because of this, you probably get a bit more spoilt. Jem loves to hear me singing and thats often the easiest way to settle him to sleep when he's overtired. He loves to dance and he sways to the side whenever music is on and this is always accompanied by the biggest smile you could ever imagine :) He's always been interested in my rings and my jewellery, touching everything and trying to claim it as his. He adores his big sister and loves to see her first thing in the morning when she visits him and entertains him until there's more movement from Mum & Dad. The 2 will loll around in his bedroom - Jem in his cot and Sarah usually sitting on the couch making music on her toy laptop. Matt found Sarah actually in the cot with him one day last month (eep!). The 2 kids can play better together now - Sarah's favourite thing being to give Jem a big bear hug and then roll around on the floor with him. Jem seems to love it although his poor Mum is often shrieking away in the background.

I still remember when Jem was a newborn and we kept him in the bassinette in the hallway. The bassinette was on wheels and he would sleep in the lounge room overnight but we'd tuck him into the hallway to get him out of the main thoroughfare during the day. He's always been a really good sleeper and this did not phase him. His real bedroom was too far away for me to hear if he woke up, so it was nice that he was happy with this arrangement. It was sad when he grew way too quickly and couldn't fit in the bassinette any longer.

I can barely believe that you are now 1 year old. You have learnt to do so much in this amount of time and are really making yourself known in the family now. You love to have fun and we love to have fun with you. Can't wait to see your relationship with Sarah grow and see more of your personality shine through. Loving you very much, Mum & Dad.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

A little felt and stitching project to get me back into the swing of things.

New digital sewing machine!

Check it out! I got a new sewing machine for Christmas - my first digital sewing machine.. I was a bit hesitant but I finally had a chance to check it out last month and I love it! Its so smooth to run, very quiet, and the stitching looks sooooo good! Its the Janome they are selling at Costco if you are interested (and if they still have stock).

Santa Sack Addition

A Christmas tree and a Christmas bauble:

Truffles

My creative space..


I made variations to a Family Circle cookbook recipe:
Macadamia and cranberry Truffles
--------------------------------
60g macadamia nuts, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped cranberries (craisins)
2 teaspoons orange juice
2 tablespoons cream
90g white chocolate
30g white chocolate, grated (for rolling)

1. Heat cream in microwave bowl until boiling. Add chocolate and stir until melted. Add macadamias, cranberries and orange juice. Refrigerate until firm enough to handle (roughly an hour).
2. Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls. Roll in grated chocolate. Refrigerate until set.

Dolly cake

My niece is obsessed with Barbie (& my daughter coming a close second with that obsession) and so it was almost natural that she would ask for a Barbie doll cake.





We had a very full-on weekend with a wedding, Christmas party and then my niece's 4th birthday party.. so I was feeling a bit stressed about this cake (when aren't I??). I was about to pull out of doing the cake when I opted to "phone a friend" and she encouraged me to try doing the cake with ready-made icing. She made it sound really easy so off I went to the cake decorating shop, hired the Dolly Varden tin, bought some ready-made icing and colouring paste. My friend had warned me to use thick kitchen gloves to knead the colour in with - good advice!! The basic premise was to roll the icing out into a large circle, then drop it over the cake.. it made its own skirt ruffles.. I then used extra icing to make a bodice to cover up where the doll went into the cake. I warn you now that Barbie does NOT fit into the cake skirt, so I needed to break off Barbie's legs.. yes, queue crying.. They do not look like they go back on.. so we have had to convince the kids that she is a special "cake Barbie" and will be used on all future cakes and funnily enough, I have an order already from her older sister for next year! Hee!

This is actually the easiest cake I have ever made! The ready roll icing is so no-fuss. I love the idea of being able to mold this stuff into various shapes, just like play-doh, and having a LOT of fun with a bit of sculpture on future cakes - yippee!

3rd Birthday

Cupcakes!


Little fingers!


Big smiles!

Heart joy

New lined bags:


A heart using the Sew Pretty book - I adore this book and think I might make up every idea in it!


Boo loves her new heart ornament (on bed post behind her):

Fabric Flower Brainstorm

This is my attempt at a fabric flower. I have been checking out heaps of tutorials and blogs of late and not quite found quite the right thing for me. This is closer to the type of thing that I want. I need to play around with different types of fabric and see how they fall/gather.


Fabric Flower Tutorials and Ideas:

Felt brooch flower (Cat Morley - catmorley.com/blog)
Felt Heart Pins (Gorgeous)
Button brooch (Artsy Crafty Babe)
Fabric Scraps button (BelleandBurger)
Lace Carnation Brooch
Ribbon Brooches
Ribbon Brooch 2
Ribbon Carnation Brooch
Glass Brooch
Flower Pin - wires
Double sided yoyo flower

Jersey Knit fabric flowers
Kanzashi Flowers
Melting Organza to make flowers
Using fake flowers and covered buttons
Rosette Tshirt
Paper Flower

Sew Pretty

I bought the Sew Pretty Homestyle book recently. There are so many gorgeous little projects in this book. Cute bags, makeup bags and fabric roses..







Here is my attempt at a makeup bag. I haven't put in as much effort as the beautiful embroidered bags in the book.. maybe one day when I have more TIME.

Zippered Cases

The most useful thing in the **universe** has to be zippered cases! I whipped one up for my daughter so that she could put her polly pocket pieces in one spot. I then used thicker denim, heavier weight fabrics (interface if needed) and chunky zips to make the ones pictured. This second lot were lined as well - the spotty lining material went well with all the fabric combinations - whoopie!



I am really enjoying doing some embroidery at the moment. Its really portable as well - something you pick up and put down which is what I need at the moment.

Embroidered House

Today I have been working on a little embroidered house. Its lovely working on some itty bitty things. The tutorial is from Pimp Stitch - "Little House Ornaments".

Felt to choose..


Embroidery House..


Baby boys to tickle..
(5 1/2 months)

My Creative Space today

* scissors
* cutting mat
* felt
* embroidery thread
* coffee
* glasses!!

Felt Hair Tie

This weekend I've followed Vlitjig's Felt Hair Tie Tutorial


It took me a while to catch on to blanket stitch but now I love it. I loved making this, its awesome.

Work In Progress

I have a pile of fabric waiting to be turned into fabric baskets. Can't get enough of making these, they are so cute.


I had a play with making an appliqued tshirt with the following results.

Inspiration

I happened upon the most inspiring blog on the weekend at Vlijtig It has given me so many ideas on things that I can do myself and Vlijtig has created some fantastic tutorials and linked to many other great tutorials on the web. I have done Vlijtig's tutorial for fabric baskets and I am very impressed with the outcome. I think I have used the perfect heavyweight interfacing and it sits really well following these instructions.

Fabric Basket:


I have also made another drawstring bag - another children's present for carrying around those many little things that children do.

Drawstring Bag:

Fabric Flowers III

I followed the frayed flower tutorial but folded my fabric in half to get a nicer edge.. so, not frayed at all.


I bought the Burda EASY 9885 pattern which was used in the Get Creative article to make the following fabulous dress:

The dress on the pattern has used a unflattering see-through fabric and buttons which really don't do it justice.. I'm so amazed by the Get Creative article and how if you select the right fabric and make slight alterations, you can turn a dowdy dress pattern into something amazing. I can't wait to have a go at this myself.

The cutest little fabric box

Today's project was making a fabric box. I followed the tutorial from All Buttoned Up.



I put it to good use storing sewing notions as suggested by ABU: