Conquering the fear

The fear of the gocco! You see, bloggy peeps, I've had the kit sitting invitingly in the box for almost a month now. I kinda got the general idea from the great links Claudine posted on her blog here. But I was still scared of ruining and wasting bulbs, screens, paint, etc. And failure usually turns into the shelving of craft toys, something I don't want for this one.

Then I found this great video.....really, someone out there had thought of scaredy cats like me. Because I really need to have it all spelled out properly. So I took the plunge with a little drawing of mine.


And made some little flat note cards.


What a cool gadget that gocco printer is!


Now, I'm thinking of making our own custom christmas cards. In fact, I've got the design already on paper. It still needs a bit of fine-tuning and inking, and it should be ready to go soon.

Cheerio!

And the apron goes to

Di, it's yours! Please email me your snail mail address toot sweet. And thank you to everyone who played along with my bloggiversary game. I wish I had a little gift for each of you, but perhaps next time, because giveaways are so much fun. I especially appreciate all the lurkers who outed themselves. Hopefully, you gals pop by again!

Why I craft

My goodness! All you bloggy peeps flatter me! Thank you, thank you for signing up to my little bloggiversary giveaway. The geezer will be surprised when I get him to pull a name out of the bowl....and it will be a bigger bowl this time. Thanks for reminding me, Donna!

Anyway, I was tagged by Jhoanna some time back to put my take on this here meme on crafting. So here's my version........

(current wips & still thinking if I should use this leaf fabric)

1. When did you start to create and make craft?

I can't even remember how old I would have been at the time, but my first love has always been drawing and painting. I do remember my mum reprimanding me for drawing on the walls when I was a wee lass.........so what did I do? I drew on paper and glued the paper on the walls. Imagine the horror! My parents obviously saw some potential and got me an art tutor at about age 8.....I think they just wanted me learn to stick to canvasses and sketchbooks. Anyway, I had that for about four years, then the family upped and moved to Australia (from the Philippines).

Except for high school art class, all the focused arty endeavours kinda got stalled, but then I found myself really interested in sewing clothes. Like any other obsession, I threw myself into it. I was making blazers (worn with plain Hanes tees and Doc Martens, this was the 80s, baby!), tailored trousers, tops, skirts, dresses and even one formal dress. All stuff that's far beyond my garment sewing skills now, but geez I had no fear back then. After high school, I decided to do engineering.........totally the opposite brainiac end of the spectrum from anything arty, I know. I was also very into mathematics at the time and engineering made sense.....see, that "freako nerd" is really me. From there on anything creative took an extreme backseat.

2. Why did you start creating?

I never really stopped with the painting. Every five years or so, I'd get myself into an intensive art course and finish one painting. Then about four years ago I moved in with the geezer and lo-and-behold there was an art school just blocks away. I enrolled to get my painting mojo back and except for the six months after the bub popped out and early this year, I've been going more-or-less every fortnight for the past four years.

But the sewing, ah the sewing, was spurred on by my wanting to make a cot quilt for the bub and of course, the craft blogosphere. I was initially inspired by Lisa Congdon's log cabin cushions, back on her old blog. I got myself an el cheapo sewing machine late last year, made her cot quilt, made my first massive quilt and haven't looked back since. Nowadays, I like making clothes for the kiddo because I'm not a big fan of head-to-toe pink for little girls, and you all know I like my colours.

3. Why do you create?

I think it's a compulsive need for me. A floodgate had definitely been opened and I can't seem to stop. The geezer certainly finds it reassuring that I have my own hobbies and I can keep myself occupied. For me, it's a part of the day where I invest my efforts on something for me, even when it eventually is gifted to a friend. Because the creative process is what I enjoy the most.

(craft book porn)

4. What do you create?

Nowadays, I make quilts, clothes for her, smocks for markets, pouches, bags, anything that takes my fancy, really. I'm still doodling and hopefully painting soon. I also have a massive huge painting to finish. Then I have plans for lots of small whimsical ones.

5. Has this changed since you began crafting?

Not really. What's changed is I've learned from my mistakes and I can finish stuff faster. Also, some skills I learned from being an engineer have come back to me. All I have to do is take one look at a finished garment and I can immediately see how it's been constructed, including the sequence of which-seams-come-first. Didn't know any of that would come in handy, but it has and I'm glad.

Now I'm tagging Nicolette, Anna, Monica, Donna and Louise. Your turn, girls!

And to make a long post even longer, lots of lovely gals have been commenting on my fabric choices and some of you peeps know I'm kinda restricted to just looking for now.....I'm on a fabric diet, you know. But here's what I'm eyeballing for when the ban is lifted, just a few more sleeps.

Cheerio!

Time flies

Sometimes you come across a piece of fabric that's loudly telling you what it needs to become. Ah, you peeps know what I mean. My original intention for it when I saw the photo online (japanese fabric from reprodepot) was a fun skirt for the kiddo, but it arrived with the whopping huge tulips and I had to reconsider.


A bit of ricrac and some red filler fabric later.....and out of the machine came this too cute apron. That's just my opinion, but I'm biased.....and lucky that a lot of my creations nowadays come out the way I initially intended for them. This wasn't always the case.


Anyhow, this apron isn't for me (and here comes the fun part)........its for one of you lucky peeps! Yes, you, you domestic goddess, you!


Because today is my bloggiversary, dontcha know?! Just looking through my archives and it appears the blog has evolved from an art blog to a craft blog today, since I seem to be doing more sewing than painting. But I'll try fix that because the light is so much better now. Time does fly when you're having fun....and I couldn't let this milestone pass me by without sharing something with you.

So, drop me a comment below, if you wanna wear this "pretty" in your kitchen and I'll get the geezer to draw one lucky name out of a bowl Sunday night 28th October. Cheerio!

More scrap busting action

It feels good to be back creating. Not like last week when I had neither the compulsion nor the energy. And she's not so clingy today, either.


I actually made this new zipper pouch/wristlet with some fabric scraps from the same batch as the pincushions, from the scrap swap with Louise.


The alphabet fabric is from my stash....see, I'm being good.


I was originally going to leave the wrist strap unembellished, but it felt unfinished. So, out came the embroidery floss to give some of those letters a kinda 3D effect.


I think I'll set this aside for the Christmas present pile. But you never know, I might still end up giving it away. Who knows?!

Uncrafty

Hmmm, it appears I've vanished from the blogworld for a few days.....and my bloglines is again flooded, ack! We have good reasons, peeps.


There has been no crafting since the quilt top went to the machine quilter. Thank you very muchly for the lovely comments! And the bub came down with some severe gastro, you know, the pooing-and-puking kind. To make matters worse, I ended with a milder version of the same bug. Thankfully it only hung around me for a day. Not, not, NOT fun! The poor geezer had to eat takeaway for dinner several nights.

Anyway, she's back to herself again, albeit clingy, and eating like there's no tomorrow. It's kind of worrying when they start refusing their fave snacks. That was our first gastro encounter behind us (it probably won't be our last).....good riddance!

We'll be getting back to regular programming soon-ish....well, as soon as I get time to cut into that project pile above. Cheerio!

Reuse & re-make

Since starting this sewing and quilting gig, I've become increasingly aware of what a consumerist I am (cue the shoe collection, ack!). I've also started scouring the op-shops for fabric that no one wants......and saving every single fabric scrap thats bigger than two inches. Is that going too far?


Anyhow, I kicked out the geezer and the bub out for a couple of hours yesterday to build up some sewing momentum on this here top....and ta da! Finished!

I was quite happy to be able to use this old queen size bed sheet (vintage Bill Blass, circa mid 1970s), cut up to work into the quilt top. That would be the blue cross-hatch print. The rest of it is set aside for the quilt back.


It feels good to give a new lease on this fabric's life. Now its going to be enjoyed for lots more years to come on a little girl's bed.


And once the quilt top and the back leaves for some long-arming tomorrow, I'll have taken the stash a gigantic step closer to keeping it in check. Phew!


Enter my new objective: try to reuse some "old" fabric into every project. I don't think this will make me feel less like a consumerist, but I'd feel a bit better adding less to the rubbish tip.

Hokay! I think I'll just act the slacker for the rest of today.....and veg out on the couch. Cheerio!

Not another meme

Because I can not blog without photos, I'm at least revealing the blocks.....nothing fancy. Just lots of squares and straight line stitching. But I'm three quarters of the way through a single bed quilt. Good, good, good! Even better, its eating up a lot of the stash.

Anyhow, this post is really a meme I copied from Monica. Because it's interesting and insightful.

1. Do you promote your blog?

Nope! Should I? I kinda like the fact that my readership is small....then I can still be chummy with everyone. And respond personally where I can with each of you.

2. How often do you check your hits?

Once a week, when sitemeter sends me the email. I'm not very tech-savvy when it comes to the internet. I wouldn't even know where to start looking. I do however, check the number of comments for each post....sort of my personal measure for how cool a blog post is, which is kinda un-cool, no?


3. Do you stick to one topic?

I try to focus on the creative side of things with this blog....even when it's bub-related, it'll be about the clothes or stuff that's handmade with her in mind. The personal life is very mundane. Family. Housie stuff. Familial relations. Husbands. There really isn't an interesting story there that everyone hasn't heard before, so I'll spare you.

4. Who knows you have a blog?

Not too many people I know. My mum, my sister, my close friends.....that's about it. Most other people are too busy to go surfing on the internet reading about my day-to-day doings. Then I'm also a bit apprehensive about being seen as this "freako nerd", typing away on the computer in the back room at home.


6. How many blogs do you read?

At last count, my bloglines has a little over 300, ack!....which appears to be the point at which you can never get on top of them anymore. There are just too many interesting "others" out in the blogosphere and add I must. Although I think it may be time for a clean up.

7. Are you a fast reader?

Fortunately, yes. I'm very good a skimming and some of those blogs are just photos anyway, but beautiful, inspiring photos, no less.


8. Do you customise your blog or do anything technical?

Hmmm, I installed a banner, and changed the background and font colours. That's about it.

9. Do you blog anonymously?

Nope.....Hi! Glad to meet you. I'm Jade. What you see (or in this case, read) is what you get. The geezer and the bub's names are secret squirrel......so is my married surname. But those of you who've known me longer and/or better know these, too.


10. To what extent do you censor yourself?

A whole lot, I think. I'm a bit filthy-mouthed sometimes and you don't really need to see that side. After all, the bub might someday read this and it would be nice for her to know that her mum can also do "clean" reading material.

11. The best thing about blogging?

The people I meet, both in-person and not. It's a great medium for communicating with like-minded peeps. And it gets me travelling outside the four walls of this place!

I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you feel like doing this meme, let me know in the comments. Cos I'd be interested in reading yours.

Cheerio! Back to the cutting and the piecing.

And some more

This time from Claire who offered to take away one of my pincushions in exchange for this cute happy summer dress for the bub, which she made.


Hardly a fair swap I think, so I added a few more goodies in the parcel I sent her. Geez, I hope she likes it all!


The geezer was very impressed indeedy. It's still swimmingly large on her at the moment, but I reckon it'll be just right by the middle of summer. Thank you, Claire!

More stash eating

And what better way to eat through the fabric collection than a quilt! This is the start of one, all cut up and ready to whizz through. I love the Katie Jump Rope prints!


It's going to a sweet little girl who'll be moving to her "big girl" bed soon. Her room is decked out in a few different shades of blue, so I'm matching the colour theme with the quilt. In fact, I've probably shown you too much. I'm promising her mummy no more sneak peeks until it's finito.


I'll show the big reveal after the quilt arrives at its new home. Meanwhile, my amigurumi critter is reminding me to get on with it.

Cheerio all!

Speed sewing

Or we can call this post "hurry, sew up that fabric, so we can get some more". It's only been a day and already I'm thinking, what have I got myself into??.....because I've been obsessing about it since. What if a certain delectable shop goes on sale? Gah!

Anyhow, Katherine and Nicolette are both joining me on this test of will-power....we shall see how long it will last. And lets not pooh-pooh anyone who falls off the bandwagon, okay?

Back to the actual relevant part of the post, this was the fabric I promised to cut up yesterday afternoon, sewn up last night and this morning, I was threading the elastic and zooming the hem through one of the "singers". Ta da....a dress for the kiddo. Phew!


The pattern is just a lengthened version of this top, with the shorter summer sleeves and the front and back pieces shirred at the top to make it less billowy. The fabric is some lavender handkerchief linen and japanese flowery fabric I had knocking about in the stash.

And here's the cheeky bub modelling the front....


....and the back.


Plus some action shots whilst we were out wandering.



It's quite hot and bright out so the colours appear very washed out.

Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend!

I pledge

I pledge (with my hand on my purse) not to shop for any more fabric until I make a considerable dent on the stash.

High time for another fabric porn post! And as you can see I've been on a bit of spree *embarrassed blush*.


Super huge thank you to Belinda for getting me the bottom three in the pile above whilst she was in Tokyo! The top two are from Leslie's etsy shop. And the stack below are all from the Superbuzzy sale bin.


The geezer has noticed the fabric slowly creeping in from the sun-room towards the lounge room.....like the blob. Eeek! It's all been multiplying faster than I can sew.

I usually have the fabrics ear-marked for clothes, either for me or the little rugrat. A lot I'm planning to transform into bags and zipper pouches for Christmas presents. The rest I'm hoarding for future quilt projects, such as the move to the big girl bed and a couch quilt for me.

This is probably my favourite pile of the lot (fabric mostly from Tessuti). I'm seeing lots of clothes sewing in the works whenever I look at this pile.


So I'll need your help, bloggy peeps, to remind me to use it up......at least until it's all under control again. Let's go for at least a whole month without, shall we?

Okay, I'm cutting up some fabric now! Cheerio all!

Heat crazed

Hear that? No Play School or incoherent baby babble.....I have the place to myself to mess up as I wish. And no, I'm not doing any house work!


But I did polish up the pair of pincushions I started yesterday. Don't know what I'm doing with these yet.


Something about the heat set off a crafting itch that I went a bit berserk with the fabric scraps from Louise. They were all the perfect size and in such pretty prints.


And just to prove to you that I was real bonkers, I also whipped up this skirt for the kiddo from the fabric I had laundered in the late afternoon. One good thing about the heat, everything was dry in under an hour.


The lace edging was rescued from a thrifted broderie anglaise pillowcase.


Oooh yeah and it's ten degrees cooler today........crazy weather!

Sweltering

Just as I was enjoying the warm spring weather, it all suddenly turns stinky summer. Ten effing degrees hotter than yesterday! Blechh!

Hrmph! We're holing ourselves in the flat today to try keep the cool air inside. The hot air can stay outside, thank you.

Then my friendly neighbourhood postman dropped this nice package on my front door and all was better! It's from my new matey Fiona, a little swapping on-the-side we did.....some lovely vintage fabric, a flower brooch, lace and multi-coloured yarn. I cut into the nice thick orange wool blanket right away for a small project I'm in the middle of. Thanks so much, Fiona!


Other than that, there's lots of crafting going on in my head but not much to actually show. I was going to cut up some more fabric for a little kiddy skirt, but realised that the fabric hadn't been washed. Dang! There's nothing worse than perfectly sewn clothes that go wonky after a wash, just because of my laziness.


So I'll leave you with a pic of my table top with a few projects in-the-wings. Cheerio!

Low key

Thank you everyone on your helpful hints on the top! I've decided to go minimal and just skip the embellishment. I did tack on a bow and then a button just to check out the look, but it ended up way too busy with the print. So now it'll remain simple.

Its been a bit of a low key weekend with lots of visits to the nearby swings and enjoying the sunshine. The little heatwave we had last Friday has lingered so much, I've been procrastinating on my current project.


But, I finally strapped myself to the craft table to finish these off......framing some prints....



......adding some swing tags and labels........



......and doing all the last minute quality checks for this lot.

Can I let the cat out of the bag now?! Now that I've sealed and delivered my first wholesale order this morning to a local boutique, I can finally tell you what's been keeping me busy in the past month. Yep, not exactly secret, but you must be wondering why the stuff's not making an appearance anywhere. 'Cos they're already reserved for a lovely lady who ordered it all about a month ago.

Sydneysiders, the shop address is: Ruiz & Mackell-Wong, 169b Avenue Road, Mosman.

Phew! I better get to some personal crafting......then again, maybe I'll just put my feet up and read some trashy mags.