Heat crazed

I'm definitely losing my marbles....since I seem to be the only ninny who would knit in this heat.


But I'm on a mission. So with the help of these two books, I finally casted-off, blocked and buttoned the cardigan for the kiddo. My second knitted thing and my first real knitted garment. Woohoo!


Soft, old rosy pink Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino yarn from I forgot where (it only took me six months to make this) and pink-ish tortoiseshell buttons from Tesutti, acquired last year.

Don't look too closely. There's so many mistakes in this one. Most of it is hidden in the seams and the rest, well, I'm not going to show. So let's just pretend its a pretty good specimen of woolliness. After all, this appears to be the year that I'm into up-skilling and expanding my crafty knowledge. First, the slippery sewing and now with the garment knitting.


Next I'll be casting on a scarf for the geezer, since apparently I don't make anything for him. It'll be the perfect beach holiday past time, 'cos we're off driving up the coast tomorrow (bound for here) and I'll need to keep my fingers busy.

Just to show you how hot and stinky it was today, here's little miss sweaty face on this morning's walk up at the Gap Park.


Cheerio! And for the locals......Happy Australia Day!

Small tiny quilt

I've taken a break from the clothes sewing to do a bit of a refurbishment.....with this tiny super mini quilt. Again, everything you see is from the scrap box.


The old quilt was hideous.


Why, thank you! I'm glad you like your new quilt. (Refurbishing the kiddo's doll house)


Okay, you run along now back to your party.


We got the kiddo the doll house last year for her birthday......its endless fun. For the kiddo and for me, as you can see.

Hmmm, I'll have to tackle that tablecloth next.

Cheerio!

Slippery

My first post for the new year! Woo hoo!....about my first finished crafty project.

I found out about this Cynthia Rowley pattern from this place in the blogosphere. It looked cute. It looked easy. I'll attempt it sewing with this digital print silk from Tessuti. Very ambitious. Quick project, no?


I have sooo much to learn! Argh! I'll sum up the entire ordeal with this - silk sewing is friggin' slippery. While cutting it was moving. While gathering the sleeve cuffs it was moving. While sewing it was moving.

I had to unpick, recut and reshape the neckline after a major stuff-up, where I couldn't get it to sit flat. Puckers everywhere, wonky stitching, you name it. I wanted to cut this thing to shreds.


So this is more of a boat shaped neckline (the aftermath of my scissor attack on the original neckline). Very comfy and with the right bling, kinda hip-looking.


I can see how this dress can be sewn up in two hours (it took me two days), if you're using a cotton-ish type of fabric. Next time, if there ever is a next time, I'll scale back to a silk-cotton blend.

Hope everyone had a great new year transition!

Trying out Liberty

Well, it was grey, drab and the skies were bucketing down in Sydney. I ended up picking up my fave rainy day distraction......sewing. This was me prepping the cutting table. Our dining table. Ha!


I was inspired by this starry Liberty fabric (cute frock!) but decided to mix it up with the pretty Meg pattern from Citronille. Really, if I can decipher japanese characters, I must be able to figure out the French language. After all, I'm living with a near-frog.


Except the geezer got schtumped with some of the sewing jargon. Ah well! At least he knew the bits that mattered, like seam allowance, stitching lines and fabric. We all have our limits.


So here tis, my version of Meg. Except, I modified the pattern loads by adding inside facings to the top part of the dress, shirred the midsection (didn't want the muu-muu look) and added some emergency length to the hem. Yep, I persuaded the geezer to drive by Tesutti this morning to get another half metre just to finish the hem. I already had the pretty Liberty fabric from a spur-of-the-moment online shopping session one night in November.


You can sort of see where I added to the hem in the photo below. Note to self, the French like their hemlines to mid-thigh. Very, very short.


Now I'm just debating if I should add two more rows of shirring on the bottom part of that waist. What do you reckon, bloggy peeps? Is it enough?

Hmm, I'm definitely looking a lot more hip-py nowadays. Bye bye, waist. Hello middle age spread!

Cheerio, folks! I think I'll do a power walk around the block and try get rid of Christmas dinner.

Holiday blather

Another Christmas down the hatch! That was quick wasn't it?!


Hope everyone listened to heaps of cheesy carols (on repeat), had loads of presents (which you liked), dollops of pudding and roast, cuddles from grandma and slobbery kisses of from little children. We did.


And now I'm off to recover from the marathon cooking and eating session that was the weekend. Maybe do some sewing. Perhaps maybe some crafting? Now, if it would only stop raining...

Hope everyone had a cheery happy Christmas!

PS. Sorry to the bloggy peeps who saw this same accidental post on The Craft Room blog. It would appear I've been away from this space for so long I've forgotten how to work with blogger. Dang!

Owlish bubble dress

Could this pattern be any more perfect?


I've been admiring the garments made with the Oliver+S patterns (and have quite a few in the stash). The bubble dress is actually quite simple to make up. I just needed to find two whole afternoons and some patience to sew it up.


'Cos I just knew that hurrying the sewing will just ruin this cute dress. (Fabric is a cotton voile from Tessuti and some plain cotton voile for the lining)

The kiddo's given me the thumbs up. Methinks this will be her fave summer romp-around frock.


And its great for building sand forts.


Cheerio, bloggy peeps!

So there you go

My little sis went off to get hitched and it turned out to be a beautiful affair. I hear someone ask for photos.......I just got these in from a good friend.


The venue was perfect.


The flowers were sweet and lovely.


The kiddos were very cute and and well behaved.....mostly.


And we three of us actually ended up in a photo for the first time in years. Normally, I'm behind the camera snapping away.


Hope everyone's having a good week! I'll head back into my impromptu blog break. Work is taking up all of my energy and sleep taking up my spare time.

I'll have something crafty for you this weekend. Just waiting for some good light.

Cheerio!

A different turn

I've been putting this one off for a while. Those confounding flower girl dresses.


With only two weeks to my little sister's wedding, I really needed a swift kick up the arse. So two days ago I started the stitching (yes, needle and thread, not glue gun, although I seriously considered this) and hours later all finished.


Three flower girl dresses, with purple rosettes hand-stitched down the bodice. The kiddo's twirled in hers already. So cute!


And now I can go back to the regular crafting on this 'ere blog.


Patterns have been traced and cut. I just gotta get on with it.........after I rest my sore fingers first.

Cheerio! And hope your weekend wasn't as wet and soggy as ours.

The weekend that was

I couldn't have capped off a fortnight away from work better than spending some quality time in a beautiful getaway with this fabulous bunch of ladies. And may I say that our organiser has outdone herself in finding this gem of a place.

Words aren't enough this time, so I'll just let the photos do the talking.






Oooh, yes. I actually finished this summer toppity top. The beautiful sheer cotton voile fabric is from Tesutti and the pattern (with some minor alterations) is from this japanese craft book.


Till next time, ladies! I can hardly wait.

And to you, bloggy peeps, hope you have a good week ahead.

Cheerio!


PS. All photos on this post courtesy of Ms Tutti Fruiti cos I brought so much stuff, had to choose between the bernina and camera. Thanks heaps, Belinda!

Derailed

Oops! We've gone off the rails on this 'ere blog. How long have I been gone?

Sorry peeps! The brood (we three) went up far north to go native and catch some rays for a week.

There was a lot of sight seeing.


A bit of trekking.


And lots of posing.


I'm missing the hot weather already!

In the meantime, I must go pack for a sewing weekend quick smart. We'll be here by tomorrow afternoon.....and I'll be fixing the distinct absence of crafty by next post.

Cheerio!

Whirlwind

It all started with a rocket launch in the wee hours of yesterday, a real life rocket launch. You see, bloggy peeps, my day job is spent in a big corporate and we were all in a tizz Friday afternoon about this rocket launch. Everything was over in a minute, but the buzz and the countdown was still amazing. See what a geek I am?!

Then the real excitement happened. I had known for a while that this was happening again in Sydney-town. So after reassuring the geezer that I wasn’t about to go hooning on the roads and letting the kiddo know I’ll be back in a half-a-day, off I went.


And I didn’t buy any fabric! I know! Must be PMS.

Had I bought fabric only, I would’ve probably parted with less. But I’m already putting some of these on the present pile for that big-holiday-at-the-end-of-the-year-I-don’t-want-to-name…….don’t panic.


This piece of fabric (and yes I said I made no fabric purchase) was a lovely gift from Jenny of Amitie who put it in my hands and ran away before I could gather my wits and my wallet. You see, I had been admiring this piece of Liberty on her blog a few months ago, when the new order got delivered, patiently waiting for it to make an appearance in her online shop. Here was me thinking “new summer dress”. Pretty!

But it sold out as soon as it hit her shelves. She remembered me when she spotted this last fat quarter.

Thank you, Jenny! That was very thoughtful. You shouldn’t have, but I’m so glad you did!


Here’s another pic of the loot. And I was restrained. Yarn from Lush Yarns, some knitting needles, platypus and quilt pattern from the lovely Kate (who I finally met! Very exciting!), hippo pattern from Cathy & Louise alias Audrey & Maude, Mixtapezine Number 8 from Justine


And last but not least ribbons from Tamara, a Craftapalooza apple pin cushion and the prettiest princess & pea skirt, all from Belinda’s booth…..the kiddo donned that skirt the minute she saw it.

Of course the best part of the show was catching up with old friends (even if it was just to wave and air-kiss) and meeting new ones….specially the ones that I’d only previously chatted with via comments and emails.

Exhausted happy, I was!

Hope your weekend is going gangbusters, too!

PS. I’m so out of practice, I forgot to lug the pic-snapper along. So you’ll have to make do with everyone elses’. Cheerio!

Chocolate linen tulip

It's really gratifying when you create a new something and it turns out even better than the image in your mind's eye.

I had long been in love with this tulip skirt Jenny Gordy designed for Stitch magazine....and although I knew that my old before-bub shape would have worn it pretty well, I wasn't so sure about sticking my pear-bod into this one. My hips would never look as cute as the size 6 model on that glossy page.


Short of getting an emergency tummy-tuck, some pattern altering had to be done. And here tis. Very comfy and very wearable. In fact, I'd probably buy this off the rack if I saw it in a shop.


Medium-weight chocolate linen and buttons from Tessuti...and I pretty much followed all the instructions to the letter. Except I top-stitched the waistband and the placket seams to make them sit flat. I also sewed the pleats down 5cm from the waistband seam, to make me look less hip-py. The dark colour of the fabric definitely helps.

I might take this out for a spin in this unseasonal warm weather we're having. In the meantime, must whittle down that list below.

Tootles!

Blathering again

I'm making messes in the real world, but here I insist on some order.....and some pretty.


A bunch of sweetpeas for you. A shame you can't smell their sweet perfume.

I camped out on the couch last weekend binding the quilt. There's still a long way to go.


But at least there's these cute drool-catchers. They've gone to live with a wee kitty.

Also, I'll fess up to the growing pile of unfinished projects I have. Shall I?

(1) Crochet granny blanket, woefully folded away waiting for a bit of interest

(2) Cardi for the kiddo, my first real knitting thing. Back is done, one front side halfway up

(3) Binding on the spare room quilt, only a fifth of the way through

(4) Three-quarter sleeve top, pattern traced and cut, fabric uncut. Waiting for the ordered replacement overlocker manual, due to me misplacing the old manual in the big move last year

(5) Linen tulip skirt.....oops, I finished this one! Must display on the blog window

(6) Print & assemble 60 invites for my sister's wedding. Waiting for card stock

(7) Sew flowers onto three flower girl dresses. Ack! I've got the design in my head, just need to put it down on paper

You can imagine the mess all those projects create. I dread to step into the craft room right now.....and I used to keep the half-done projects at a minimum. On the bright side, there's really six on the list. I'll put the skirt on tomorrow and throw on a coordinating outfit before I take a photo.

Hope everyone's having a good week! I'll lurk on everyone else's blogs during the next few days (I'm so behind!). For now the lids are getting droopy.

Night night!

Late to the party

Yep! Everybody in the blogging world has played with this pattern. After spying it on a craft blog (can't remember which) I sent away for my own Simplicity 4589 and its been in the stash forever. Waiting for the right moment.

Last weekend whilst still plagued by the bug I got bored into actually sewing something for myself. Too sick to cook, but well enough to sew. He he he! So here you go......requisite pose.


I love this top, but I've had to throw on a cardie to keep the goosebumps at bay. Definitely one for summer....and so good at hiding the remainder of last night's dinner.

Fabric was acquired from Tessuti during an excursion early last year while I was still house-bound. So cute! Can you see the little piggies? The selvedge says its japanese.


I decided to revive my resolution to sew more of my clothes. So I made a bit of a guilty splurge at my local Tessuti in Bondi Junction (boo hoo hoo, it's closing down in two weeks!). Two cotton-silk blends, one stripey shirting weight and the owls is a cotton voile. The owls are destined for a bubble dress for the kiddo. Soon. Soon.


Now to find appropriate patterns for the other three. But first, there's a quilt waiting to be bound.

Hope your weekend is sunny!

Cheerio!