Ellie Bag (Christmas 2011 Backlog!)

I made this nearly 6 months ago, but I wanted to blog it. And am still on a blogging roll from last week. I made this Elephant handbag for Jemima for Christmas last year. She is from Hillary Lang's book which is as awesome as can be.

Ellie bag is very sweet, but she doesn't hold much more than a few lip balms (which is all a 5 year old girl needs anyway!)

I discovered I love sewing with faux fur even if the fibers end up everywhere!

KCWC Day 6 and 7

Baby tired of having photo taken

Last day of KCWC was yesterday and I made this little top here. It matches the pants I made the day before, but I'm not sure how often she will wear them together. This is the second time I violated my rule of not buying anything for KCWC- I purchased the pattern for this little top late in the week. It is called "The Amelia Top" and I bought it from Mama Stellato. It is very easy to make, and is a very sweet pattern- and it goes up to a size 5 so it will be good to have on hand for the next few years. It would be cute lengthened into a dress and with flutter sleeves added too for summer. (Can you hear me justify my purchase to myself!?)

The fabric for this dress was from a handmade pillow case I got for free at the Salvation Army Shop. I was getting a few things and this was not tagged, so the sweet old man just threw it in for no charge.

It has been a great week of sewing and flexing my blogger muscle for a bit too. My machine desperately needs a service as the tension is all out (it was a struggle to make this last garment), so I'd better get onto that now. And get some things to make something for Caleb!

Thanks Meg @ Elsie Marley for Kids Clothes Week Challenge! What a ride.

KCWC Day 4

I am a bit behind on my blogging of the week, but I am sewing up a storm!

I really wanted to make something for Caleb and have come up with some ideas, but they all involved buying something substantial like FABRIC, or a trip to the oppy for something to refashion... and it is always risky to go to the oppy for something specific. He has such a gentle, empathetic spirit that once I explained it to him, he was OK. But I have promised to make him something for winter in the near future.

Besides, Eve really does need new clothes, even with Jemima hand me downs. I cleverly had my girls in opposing seasons, and would you believe Jemima still wears the majority of skirts I made for her as a toddler? They are getting shorter each year, but they are still working for now.

So here is a skirt for Eve made out of the same denim fabric as Jemima's and also with some white lacey trim peeking out the bottom (of a different sort.) The pockets were an idea taken from this MADE tute. 

The crocheted bow you can hardly see is something else I have made (albeit many months ago now), using the crochet bow pattern from Too Sweets Patterns. I have made over ten crocheted bows, and they all turned out cute. It's quite an easy little pattern if you have been doing some basic crochet (like granny squares) for a while.

Back to KCWC: I have spent Day 4 and 5 sewing something I am really proud of, but I will post it when I get a photo of Eve wearing it.

I must also confess I broke my rule (sorry Caleb) and bought some plain long sleeved t-shirts for Eve, one of which I have already appliqued which I will pop in my next post.

KCWC Day 1 (and 2)

So I surprised myself somewhat by starting and finishing a garment in one day. These are the pants that I planned to make for Eve this week- and that was the only thing I had in mind when I signed up on Sunday. So really, anything else from here is a bonus. They did take me longer than an hour, but the kids were happy so I just kept going. Then once they were in bed, all that needed to happen was the hemming, so I thought I might as well polish them off.

Day 2: I've been working on a very simple skirt for Jemima that I have had in my head for a while. I kept changing my mind on the pocket question, and kept making hilarious mistakes, so there is nothing much to show for my hour's work today. Tomorrow perhaps.

A bag for the littlest lover of accessories

Eve loves to tote around a tote. She likes to put them around her neck rather dangerously, straps all strangle-y-like. I made her a little bag for Christmas. The pattern for the bag was from Bend the Rules Sewing and the idea for the animal applique was based on a fox softie project in a recent issue of Mollie Makes (my intention was for it to look more like a cat- Eve's favourite creature). The straps on this little bag are not long enough to easily get them around her neck which is a plus in the safety stakes!

Hot Diggety Dog!

I started making Christmas presents for the kids in June. So organised, and very unusual really. This Sausage Roller from Craft Schmaft was the first project that I started, but I only finished it last night. If I had all the materials at hand, I think I could have made it in a few nights watching TV, but it took me a while to accumulate everything I needed. As is the Craft Schmaft way, it is surprisingly easy to get a nice result. I'm glad this little pup is staying in the family.

I made him for Eve thinking that she would be walking by Christmas, which in June, seemed so bizarre somehow. But yes, she is indeed toddling about and has been for about 3 weeks or so. On Day 3 of full time walking, she tripped (on flat ground) and hit her head so hard she actually passed out for 30 seconds. Terrifying! But she made a quick and full recovery, and we were given the all clear by the medicos 4 hours later. It wasn't the first, and I know it probably won't be the last time we end up in the Emergency Department with one of our children, so I try enjoy each incident free day to the fullest!

++On the day of her spill++

Onesie (twosie)

A weekend or so ago, the urge to sew was too strong to resist. I left all three kids at my mum's house and sewed flat out for an hour before being beckoned back to feed baby. It was very fun- and no mistakes were made in this particular hour which is worthy of noting!

I made Eve this onesie dress using this tutorial as it's basis. I added a "faux bodice" to make it look like a little vintage dress that she owns, and coincidently cover up the little picture. The onesie was Jemima's as a wee one which made it an even more gratifying process.

A little note if you ever plan on making one, keep in mind that you lose about an inch of the length of the onesie in the process of attaching the skirt. This didn't matter in my case because I think Eve is a shorty like her mum.

High on the joy of completing a project in hardly any time at all, I made another one in the evening. I made a mistake when attaching the skirt on this one, so it took a little longer, but cute, hey!

Eve is ONE in 3 days, which in some ways startles me in it's soon-ness, but in others it is almost a wonder she has only been here a year. It feels like she has always been part of the family. We are having a little picnic on Saturday, just our little family plus my sister to take some pics which I am really looking forward to. I sort of forgot about Father's Day, lost in my thoughts about how to make Eve's birthday special (sorry Chris, sorry Dad)- so I had better get onto that!

Hello, world.

Little Eve with her "Fleur" from OneGirlDesignwks Christmas 2010

Pink baby oobee

Yellow baby oobee

Hi Blog!

I'm sorry to say it has been a while since I posted! As punishment, blogger won't allow me to move my images around. Fair enough.

I did some sewing (weeks ago now)!

I won the baby oobee pattern in a giveaway from Leslie (One girl blog) and bought 2 of her baby oobee fabric packs to make my girls one each. Eve will get hers when she turns O N E in a few weeks, and Jemima will have to wait until Christmas. Jemima can't wait! (My latest strategy is to make the kids their gifts in front of them so that they will be excited to get their handmade-by-me items: a little manipulative, I know. ha!)

I love Leslie's work a lot. I bought Eve a "fleur" for Christmas last year and the fabrics are so cute. And her quilts inspired the quilt I made for Eve before she was born.

Jemima's is the pink one- yes that is a liberty quilt, lucky oobee!

Eve is likely to just chew on hers for a while, but oobee will be sure to get awesome cuddles as well.

Thanks Leslie for the freebie! I will make heaps of these in the future I am sure!

Ring, ring!

I was lucky enough a little while ago to test a pattern for Pepper from Pepper Stitches!

I really enjoyed testing this pattern for an animal phone because, 1) it is an animal phone! 2) I realised that I make a great pattern tester, not because I am awesome, but because I make really obvious mistakes unless you tell me not to!! This pattern was great to start with, but now I am sure that it is fool proof.

Check out this link from her blog for where to buy her new patterns and other really lovely things.

My kids love this phone, even though the phones they have always known look quite a bit different. An animal iPhone wouldn't be as cute I don't reckon.

Happy weekend to all!

Mighty beans

I scored Pip's latest craft book recently and I really love it. This is the second thing I have made- a simple zipper pouch. My mum bought Caleb some "mighty beans" because she likes to give the kids lots of presents (Grandma's rule). They needed a home, so rather than thinking about making one (which is what I usually do), I actually did. I used an op shopped zip so it wasn't the right size which made it a bit skew-if, but craft without some wonk, is not my way.

I wanted to embellish and was inspired by an image in the book of crocheted finger puppets. I used an iron on name label inside as these little guys sometimes do the school run.

It's the first zip pouch I have made since starting my sewing career 3 years ago! They are too easy, I don't know what took me so long!

A little dress

I had intended this to be a Christmas present for Eve, but simply ran out of makey time at the end of last year. I finished it sometime late January/Early Feb, so not a bad effort really. It is still a little bit big for her, but it looks pretty sweet.

It is the Crossover Pinny and Nappy cover pattern from Bettsy Kingston. I have the nappy cover cut out, but when I was about to sew it together (about 2 months ago), someone dropped in out of the blue and I have never picked it up again.

Thankyou for all Miss Eve's get well wishes! I kept meaning to pop back in here and say that she was doing fine, but I kept forgetting, which is not very nice if anyone was worried about her. Sorry! She is now 6 months, so she will be making her appearance soon in her monthly pic post!

Some Christmas makey

Dolly pre nose job.

Despite being eternally distracted by my computer, I have managed a fair bit of craft for Christmas in the last few weeks.

Another cute little owl from my trusty Craft Schmaft pattern. (I think I have made about 6 of these now!)

Some applique singlets and fabric hair bows from this tutorial. I have never done the applique singlet thing before. It is such a quick gratifying little project, I think I will have to do some more soon!

A flower crown which I sort of made up as I went along. (Jemima is sporting a lovely black eye that she got by walking into a pole on the school run last week. Nice.)

And I repaired Evie's doll, but now I am more than half way through its replacement, and I don't know which one to keep. The nose job turned out not too bad. I will have to give her to someone very special if she doesn't stay with us. I have a little girl in mind.

Only a couple of days to go!

He's no ordinary kid, he's Ben 10

Ben 10 provides much of the sound track to our lives these days. It's Caleb's favourite show and he talks about it to anyone who will listen. He draws page after page of alien drawings and omnitrixes, he quotes the one liners, and he plays "Ben 10" with Jemima in the back yard. It's a little full on to be honest, but he really enjoys it- so I am indulging his love this Christmas with a couple of gifts.

I had the idea to make a "Ben 10 Alien Force" jacket and then I came across this pattern at Bettsy Kingston. It is such a cool pattern and so nice to make something for the little guy for a change. The instructions were clear with good illustrations- and the resulting jacket is very nicely finished. When I had a few troubles along the way, I sent Benita at Bettsy Kingston an email which resulted in an extremely helpful exchange- just like a mini sewing lesson!

The pattern went together really smoothly, and while there are a few niggles on this one due to my inexperience (the too long collar with puckering, and the top stitching at the opening) I know exactly what to do next time, and I am looking forward to making another non-Ben 10 variation.

I also have the reversible pinafore pattern from Bettsy Kingston and some very sweet fabric. I am hoping to whip one up for Eve before Christmas, but as usual after the completion of a project, I have to restore the housework balance before I can start a new one.

Folkster

My Christmas crafting is well underway. I have made a couple of gifts that will have to wait until after Christmas to be blogged, but this one is for Evie, and advanced though I am sure she is, at 3 months old, she is not yet reading my blog.

This is Elise the Folkster doll from the incredible Hillary Lang. The pattern is perfect, though my execution has my trademark wonkiness! Still, she has been a very satisfying little project, and I finally found a use for the beautiful black and white trim I won in Angie's giveaway many moons ago. You may notice the lack of a nose which is supposed to be a double french knot. I am too afraid of ruining her little face. I already embroidered her mouth too tightly which looks a bit weird.

I feel like I haven't conquered this pattern yet- especially in regards to the hair. I couldn't quite understand the directions and just had a crack at it, but after a discussion with my mum I think I know now how to do it. And as for the seams on her face, well.... Fortunately Jemima has eyes on this dolly and has declared she wants one too. I think I might make her one for her birthday though, as I think she has plenty of Christmas presents coming her way already.

A bag bag

For my sister-in-law's birthday I whipped up the "Plastic Bag Bag Thingamy" (not it's real name) from the original Meet me at Mikes book. It's so much more attractive than our bag bag thingamy if I say so myself.

(Tee hee, see the little baby?)

I made a dress, but didn't iron it.

I managed a spot of sewing last week which was fun. I used an old work shirt of Chris' and this tutorial and now Jemima has a new dress for summer. The fabric is quite lovely and very good quality- but he can't wear it anymore because he has changed jobs and it has the old company logo above the pocket.

I added buttons in the back bodice of the dress to help with getting it on and off and left the shirt hem which is such a bonus as hemming is one of my least favourite sewing necessities. Another bonus is that Jemima actually LIKES it (I think it is the pockets... and the novelty of it being one of Daddy's old shirts.) I have 5 other business shirts in the pile, so there will probably be a few more shirt refashions in my future.

And many, many thanks for all your congratulatory comments on Eve's arrival! I was a bit hit and miss with responding to everyone, but I appreciated each and every one. She is settling into the family well with a swag of nicknames to prove it. We are tired, but taking life at a different (slower!) pace to accommodate our newest addition, which is actually quite lovely.

Nursery in a nook

My mum, sister and my brothers' wives surprised me with the gift of a little crib a few weeks ago. It was lovely to get one as a present, as we had never bought one for our babies, and it will be passed onto my younger sisters when they start their families one day.

I had been planning up until this gift to pop baby straight into her own room (as our room isn't big enough for the full sized cot). But with this gift, set to decorating a little nook in our room for our spring baby.

The garland was made using this Cakies tutorial, the beautiful birdy decals were from here (the rest are in the baby's room), the heart was an op shop find from some time ago, and do you spy Jess' gorgeous crocheted panda potholder? He is lovely.

Meet Emily, not a gift for the baby but for Jemima when the baby is born. You will no doubt recognise her as a Dandelion bunny (available from here). She is so beautiful, I want one too! I thought she looked right at home in this little scene, so I snapped a pic, then hid her away again!

I made the crib sheet out of a vintage sheet. The same one I used to back the baby quilt actually. It was my second attempt that was successful as the first turned out a little small. I used this tutorial over at made, but had to come up with my own dimensions.

The little artwork I made using patterns printed out from this website, was inspired very much by Castle and Things art, as well as the ladies over at Dottie Angel and Thimbly Things. I cut out letters and hearts freestyle using scissors and used a small paper doily, sticking everything on brown paper (which I had stuck to cardstock for extra strength.)

I met a lady with a tiny baby at the park this afternoon, who went to the same hospital I am going to. She was told she was having a girl, and in actual fact had a boy! She had a feeling she was having a boy, so it wasn't a huge shock, fortunately! I have no inklings about such things, but I have held onto Caleb's old clothes just in case they have it wrong... and I'm sure he won't mind if there are flowers and pink in his decor!

More baby business

*Mobile* Caleb had a bright green, purple and orange mobile that you could wind up and it spun and played music. Jemmie used it too. I left it in her cot a little too long though and a cheeky little brother and sister pair destroyed it. I made Baby 3 this low tech mobile out of a garland I had made for another purpose. Just some string, a ring, an embroidery hoop and some hot glue, and here it is. It doesn't play music and I am too scared to hang it over her cot in case it were to fall on her, but it is pretty enough.

*Shoes* These have been on the list for my baby since the start, but I had to work myself up to do them as I have had many a fail with these innocent looking little shoes. They are from the Meet me at Mikes book and are quite easy, but fiddly due to their tininess. I made a little non-functional mistake on one of them, but I am trying not to let it bother me. Can't wait to put little feet in them!

*Photos* Some photos of Baby 3's loving sibs. Great shots taken by my sister (aka ESJAY Creative). I poladroided them to make them extra quirky, but I don't think I really needed to. Sweet paper frames from Ikea.

Still more to show and do, but the list is getting shorter...

Among other things, a cushion

I have been a little makey crazy lately. Trying to tick as much of the crafty list as possible before Miss Baby makes her appearance. I plan to post everything eventually to make a little record of my nesting projects, but in the meantime, here is a cushion I have been planning to make for about 12 months.

It is an oppy table cloth that had a little stain in the middle, and backed with soft black denim from spotlight. I made it an "envelope back" or something so I didn't have to attach any closures. This cush will be used in the baby's room, but later will fit right into the lounge room.

I really like how it turned out- reminds me of Tiny Happy creations which I love.

I'm not going to lie and say I managed this cush with no mistakes. I did make a little error that took about as long to fix (hello 10 minutes of unpicking) as to make the cover itself. But that is just me and sewing and I am trying to come to terms with that!

I am also coming to terms with my preggo induced carpel tunnel syndrome that makes crochet off limits, and unpicking seams rather painful actually. It also makes hand sewing my binding on my quilt kind of off limits too... but I am so determined to finish it anyway. 5 minutes at a time if necessary! (And if I machine sew anything I will have to try SUPER hard not to make any mistakes!)

Baby Kimono - Just a pass, maybe

If I were to grade my latest crafty effort here (Lucy's Kimono from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross), I would barely scrape in a pass. It started out well enough, but then the obstacles kept on coming...

• I really really hate working with bias tape. I hardly ever do it because I find it so annoying. I think my tape was too skinny for this project (actually probably for any project). I didn't sew the tape on correctly onto the kimono, but it worked out OK. Not as OK is the ends that you tie are completely unfinished. I tried to finish them, but the skinny bias got sucked into my machine and I had to take it apart to get it out again. Was only going to do that once! So the ends will probably go fray-crazy in the wash. Oh well.
• None of the seams are finished. The instructions don't actually insist on this. I started finishing the seams, but got lazy.
• I am sure as sure can be there is an error in the instructions. I have googled the pattern and people mention the bias tape should be longer, but my main problem was that the instructions call for inserting both ties in such a way that they both end up on the outside. So I changed that a little bit, not before blindly following the instructions though and getting annoyed.

I am pretty tempted to give this another try and do it properly, but this took me 3 hours of precious kid free time, and I don't really know if I want to do that. It looks pretty cute in the photo, so I am warming up to it.

On the plus side, I am very confident my quilt will be finished before baby comes, unless I get an early surprise. (Very unlikely)