A quickie.

Of the blogging variety...

...not that other variety.

Quick stop as I am trying to pack essentials like wine and crafty projects

and non-essentials like clothes and toothbrushes

as I depart with 3 gorgeous South Aussies tomorrow on a road trip interstate.

Have a fantastic weekend ahead with 12 other like-minded crafting mums just out of Bacchus Marsh.

This is the 2nd annual Crafty Mamas sewing retreat

and I am sure that it will be as much fun as last year.

It will involve op shops, coffee, crafting, chatting, wine...

you know the sort of thing!

So I will be back to report sometime after the weekend.

Meanwhile my quickie extends to a fast run down of a skirt that I made this week.

Pattern: Kwik Sew 3494- short version

( I wanted to make th elonger version

but I was too late buying the fabric I had chosen and it was cheap due to some faults but not enough to make the lovely longer version...next time!)

Fabric: green brown boucle (yucky to sew and I don't usually find boucle appealing but this caught my eye)

Verdict: I don't think that the photos do it justice. It is a lovely pattern and I am very happy with the result.

I think that it might just make my butt look big

but I love the style

so I'll suck it up.

Have a great weekend everyone.

I know I will.

A Fairy House

One of my personal faves!

In October 2008

I came across this blog tutorial

for a carry along doll house.

I jumped in with enthusiam to make my then 19 month old daughter

her own little fairy garden.

It was a labour of love

and a trial of patience,

(not one of my better virtues)

Of course, once I had shed blood, sweat and tears,

I realised that it would be trashed if she got her chubby little baby hands on it

so it was hidden away high on a bookshelf 1 ands 1/2 years gathering dust.

My daughter has just turned 3

and admittedly may well still trash it

but short of putting it away until she turns 18

or getting her to sign a legal document,

I have to hand it over at some stage.

The fairies came from etsy.
I also made up little felt draw string bags
which I filled with little frogs, butterflies, ladybirds and the like
as well as some fairy wands with glitter and colour.

This is one of my prouder moments as a crafts person.

I was so happy with the result.

It is a great little idea and has so much scope for your own personal theme

for your own little person.

Muriel pinafore in cord

A great basic pattern.

I have had this pattern for a while but it didn't inspire me.

I made it up this week as it was a great pattern to use some co-ordinating cords with.

It is a really easy to put together zippered pattern

with limitless room to co-ordinate, adorn or embroider.

Pattern: Farbenmix Muriel.

Fabric: Robert Kaufman cords

Embroidery: Huups Mini Florets 2

Approval rating: After an initial tantrum unrelated to the dress

and related to the little goddess' general mood this morning,

she hasn't asked to take it off and it is mid avo

so I will take that as a winner.

Disclaimer:

While I may have been responsible for the rainbow arms and red legs in a clumsy attempt to co-ordinate

colours until I can make a red long sleeved tee,

the purple socks are in no way, shape or form

my responsibility...

...but at least there aren't any sandals with the socks today.

Quote of the Week

from a 6 year old.

"God made monkeys then they turned into people"

Methinks that he is covering all his bases-

religion, evolution and Harry Potter-

just in case.

New Look tunic- take 2

Love a good red.

I loved my first version of this so much

that I made another one,

this time with full length sleeves.

Pattern: New Look 6731- version C with lengthened sleeves.

Fabric- Stenzo knit from Crafty Mamas shop

Approval rating- yum!

Happy birthday Miss Maisy Mae!

Bittersweet.

My baby just turned three.

A few things to note.

I don't advocate sandals and socks.

In fact it is one of my pet dislikes.

But I am sure Coco Chanel didn't give a flying fig about what others thought of her fashion choices.

The last photo was Mae getting the fairy garden that I made.

It was a labour of love that I made well over a year ago,

before I started blogging,

but one of my prouder moments as a craftster.

I should do a retrospective blog to show (off to) you.

The best scooters are pink.

While I love watching my child grow,

I share that familiar bittersweet feeling with many of you I am sure.

She is our last born child,

forever our baby,

forever our little girl,

but growing up oh, so quickly.

May your life be blessed, Miss Maisy Mae.

Happy 3rd birthday.

Quick embroidered lined bag

For a 5 year old's birthday.

She likes pink.

She likes cute.

She likes keeping things.

So I hope that she will like this...

No pattern.

Embroidery : Another cute one from Anja Reiger Designs

I'm making shorts...

...while freezing my butt off.

Because I finally got a knit short pattern for boys in the latest Ottobre magazine.

I really like knit shorts on boys.

I think that they are cool

and hope to play around with the pattern next summer.

But I did just want to make up a pair in the meantime

to try out the pattern and some embroidery.

Even though I am shivering in my cardi!

Pattern: Marley Bermudas from Ottobre 03/2010

Fabric: Knits from Crafty Mamas shop

Embroidery: Fox from Anja Rieger Design

My son seems happy.

They are long, even for Bermudas

but they are a size bigger than my son anyhow.

Easily shortened in future.

The embroidery is super cute.

Check out Anja and Sonja's website for lots of cute designs.

Make It perfect Versatile wrap skirt

Addicted to sewing for me.

I really have gotten addicted to sewing for me now that I have lost weight.

I can suddenly make those patterns that I have salivated over

but ignored

 knowing that they would not look good on my hips!

I don't feel too guilty about it as my kids all have more than enough clothes

and I really need to stop sewing for them anyhow...

Soon I will share with you my stash of dress patterns that I want to sew up.

Pattern: Versatile Wrap by Make It Perfect

Fabrics: Cottons from my stash

Verdict: Really quick and easy to sew up

Great pattern for any large or bold prints that you may have

I took the time to topstitch a lot of seams that the pattern didn't ask you too

but I think it gave a neater result.

I love the look of wrap skirts over a pair of jeans.
But I should I leave that to the 20 somethings?
Can a 41 year old carry off that look?
(and really- do I care if I can't,
as long as I love what I am wearing?)

Pin cushion frenzy

My lovely little parcel.

There seems to have been pin cushions bouncing all over the world

the past few months

with different swaps going on.

Crafty Mamas was no exception

and the April swap was pin cushions.

My little elephant went to the Netherlands

and yesterday I received another gift that went across the water

-from my birth state of Tasmania.

The lovely Suzanne from see Suzie sew

sent me this gorgeous pin cushion

and these little extras: button fridge magnets.

Super cute and unexpected

...and very much needed in a house that seems to eat fridge magnets

at the same time as eating half of my family's pairs of socks!

Quote of the Week

Explaining to my 2 year old daughter that I have a cold.

Me: "Please don't get silly. Mummy doesn't feel very well.

Mummy has a sore throat and a sore nose and a sore head"

Daughter: "Poor mummy. Mummy needs a bandaid"

(Well, I did say just last week that a Wiggles bandaid will fix anything)

Lucky me!

A giveaway of Euro proportions!

The lovely Uta over at toadstooldots

let me know last week that I won her blog giveaway of some headbands.

But that's not all that I got in my scrummy little parcel today...

Iron on stars,

a little bag,

Farbenmix labels,

Farbenmix ribbon,

embroidered patches,

a little card,

a little plastic princess bag (currently AWOL as my daughter snaffled it as soon as she saw it)

and 2 gorgeous headbands...

One with toadstool detail

The other pink

(Enough said. Too big for Mae but must be hers as it is pink)

Thank you so much Uta for your generosity.

If anyone would like to make their own headbands,

pop over and check out Uta's blog.

More sewing for me.

New Look 6731

This pattern has been on my to do list for nearly a year.

I have put off making it mainly because I thought it may end up looking like a maternity top.

It was quick to sew up

but the instructions were written more for a woven fabric

which I found a bit odd for a knit sewing pattern.

So (unusually for me) I ditched more of the instructions

and sewed it up as I would normally sew up a stretch top.

Fabric is a gorgeous knit from Crafty Mamas.

Sewed beautifully.

(Yes, that is orange in the fabric.

Never say never I guess...

But I don't notice it much given the dominance of purple in the print)

I really adore the neckline.

It is just a bit smarter than all the tee shirt necklines that I have done so far with my knit sewing.

Happy Mother's Day

Enjoy the sentiment,

ignore the materialism.

Sweater, n : garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.
Ambrose Bierce

Wishing mothers everywhere a lovely day with their families.

Chicken Stock: the modern approach.

 How to cook chicken stock at home:

Place one whole chicken into your slow cooker.

Add three roughly chopped carrots and one quartered onion.

Add enough water to cover the chook.

Turn on to high and reduce to low once simmering.

After 6 hours, notice something black floating in the slow cooker.

Remove foreign object, identify it as a well boiled food moisture absorber liner.
Make sure that the children aren't listening and swear a few times (and stomp your feet if it makes you feel better)

Throw stock in the bin and cry because it smells so damn good.
Have canned soup for dinner instead.

Next day purchase another chook and start again.

Note: you could, if you chose, omit the liner from the recipe and not waste a whole day of cooking time and the expense of a chicken in the process.

Amy Butler: The Liverpool shirt.

An exercise in patience.

(A virtue, so I have been told)

When I learnt to sew at school,

we were taught to do everything properly.

Tie off the ends- don't just backsew.

Baste in your zips, your sleeves, your everything.

Iron. Everything. Lots.

I even used a tailor's ham.

Hand up if you ever used one of those.

It has held me in good stead.

(Though I am crap at ironing as I go.

I am getting better

but it is a pain as my ironing is set up far away from my sewing space.

But I digress...)

Upon leaving school,

I rebelled and haven't made anything tailored, lined or out of crepe ever since.

(One day remind me to tell you how many times I had to redo that zip in my crepe de chine skirt!)

Collars? Too much effort. Cuffs? Pah. Multiple buttonholes? Do I have to?

But the Amy Butler Liverpool pattern caught my eye.

A lovely, shaped (and yes, collared, cuffed and with multiple buttonholes) shirt

that I really wanted to make.

Even more suprisingly I wanted to make it out of fabric that was beige (my 3rd most disliked colour)

and had some yellow in it (my 2nd most disliked colour)

(No orange though. Even I couldn't bring myself to wear that colour.)

Pattern: Amy Butler "Liverpool" shirt length version

Fabric: Heather Bailey Nicey Jane Hello Roses

Approval rating: I love it! It looks more slimming in real life

and it is really nice to make something for myself that I am really happy with.

Sweet little button loops on the cuffs.

Little cream vintage cabbage rose buttons to finish.

And, as a nod to my grade 9 sewing teacher,

the pattern asked for topstitching of the collar to attach and finish the inside seam.

But I handstitched it instead.

Just like I did learnt to do back in 1983.

Because I think it gave a better result for me.

(But I still don't baste my zips)