Treasured

Here's the finished result of what I was up to yesterday.

A friends little boy turned one last week. Sam's birthday party clashed with Nico's (I swear, the babies and toddlers and kiddies in my life have more social events than me), so I'm visiting him today.

A few people commented on the clown fabric yesterday. It's a few years old now, but it's Michael Miller Clown Capers.

Funnily enough, Sam's mum had originally bought the fabric to make something for his old brother (who is now four), but she never got around to it and so the fabric was gifted to my stash!

Anyway, I whipped up a couple of drawstring bags to hold his treasures, using my quick and easy tutorial.

I still had a little size 1 t-shirt in the stash, so with a little bit of dragster design, and some applifix....

... he now also has a very cool little man tee!

My Creative Space

The floor was mopped just prior to this layout luckily

There's not much happening on the creative front this week.

My sister has to go into hospital for a little while, so I'm looking after my eldest nephew for the rest of the week (here's hoping that I don't forget to pack his lunch).

With the recent change in the weather, it's actually been cool enough to sit in front of the ironing press to interface all of these t-shirts.

It took a while to work on the layout as I've ended up with two different sized squares due to the fluctutation in sizes of the original tees.

I'm using the blank backs of the tees to fill up the empty spaces (they're the large unironed pieces that I've plonked on the floor just to work out the layout at this stage).  I'm going to have to add fabric around the sides of all of the smaller blocks to enlarge them and to keep everything even.

I'm feeling that there's a very good reason why I'm not a quilter!

The brand spanking new home of My Creative Space

Moo-tylicious

I spotted this seriously cute cow print fabric over at Nikki's blog last week.
Lucky for me, Nikki very generously gifted me some so that I could whip up a new outfit for Moo Moo.

Target t-shirt - Shorts made using the denim from a $1 pair of jeans from the oppy. It took me longer to change the thread colour on the overlocker, than it did to whip up the shorts.

I haven't stitched around the bulls head on the shorts. I used Applifix to fuse it to the shorts, and I'm very interested in how it's going to wash and wear in comparison to vliesofix.

This is the strong muscle man pose apparently!

He really liked his new outfit - the shorts are not going to last long..... they're looking a little bit too small. Luckily he has little twin brothers to take the hand-me downs. I think I'm going to have to quickly make a larger version.


....and just to make absolutely sure - they also passed the trampoline test!

My creative space

I'm tackling all the jobs that are still on the LIST.

I'm finding that I can't be really creative when there are so many unfinished projects looming that I've promised to lots of people. The only solution is to finish each and every project, one by one.

The first project completed today - the white tees weren't very practical for bubbas who spend most of their day crawling around on the floor..... so now they have matching ones in navy blue.

It's back to the LIST for me.... check out lots more creativity at Kootoyoo.

The Bubbas are One

My twin nephews, Noah and Zane turned one today.

Luckily, the sewing machine service man returned my overlocker thismorning, and I managed to drag myself off the couch for just enough time to whip up a birthday pressie.

I have a huge pile of unwanted clothes that have previously belonged to various family members in my sewing stash.

An unwanted / preloved adult pair of jeans is just perfect for re-creating into a little pair of kiddie jeans.

I used two pairs of my sisters old jeans to make these for the twins - I left the half pocket detail in place from the old jeans to actually show that they've been recycled (and I think it looks pretty cool too).

I always have plain t-shirts in the stash - they're perfect for last minute gifts.

So, I also whipped up a couple of appliqued t-shirts using the denim offcut and the same fabulous cowboy print that I received from Stacey.

They'll be wearing their new uber-cool outfits to creche tomorrow. Hopefully, I might get a photo for the blog in their new outfits.

PS - For anyone who is interested - I checked with the Sewing Machine Service man and he services the Western and Northern Suburbs. He picks up and drops off, and the service is $65. His details are in the Yellow Pages here. He even puts a little sticker on the machine so you know when it's mext due for a service (just like when you take your car in)!

PPS - I refused to go to Spotlight last week to buy vliesofix for appliques (after the last debacle), but Nikki told me about a new fusible that she saw at Stitches and Craft. I did some research and bought a new one named Applifix online from Craft Cubby. I'm impressed!

The Hoppo Bumpo Stencil Along

Ok so I must have been the slackest blogger that signed up for the Hoppo Bumpo stencil along....

I had really good intentions of making a start on Friday night...until I was lumbered with a suprise house inspection.....aaaagghhh.


So thismorning, while I was baking 5 minute orange cake cupcakes and watching the start of the Bathhurst 1000 (I admit that I do actually like watching the V8 Supercars), I finally made a start. I searched the house for 30 minutes looking for my craft knife. I found the packet with spare blades but no craft knife, so I had to substitute that little blue stanley knife thingy instead which was quite blunt.


I kept the design quite simple for my first try (especially considering the blade I was using to cut it out). M for Moo Moo with a couple of stars. I used a $3 K-Mart t-shirt that I had in the stash. I have a few more that I bought at the oppy on Friday but I haven't had a chance to wash them yet.
I ironed the stencil onto the t-shirt (shiny side down and no steam). I was amazed at just how well the stencil stuck to the t-shirt. I decided on using artists acrylic paint with this fabric fixative mixed in. I've had the fabric fixative in the stash for a while...I think I originally found it at Bunnings.

I used a small foam brush and dabbed the paint onto the t-shirt making sure not to brush or drag it.....and then waited for it to dry.

Voila! I put a cloth over the painted section and heat set it with the iron. I'm amazed at just how sharp the edges are. There was no paint bleeding whatsoever. These will make fab Christmas pressies for little kiddies!

I must give a huge shoutout and thankyou to Liesl because I would have never tried this, and I am very impressed with just how easy it was..... and a big thankyou for shoving me in the right direction by sending me some freezer paper too!

I'm off to the Spotlight 20% off sale tomorrow to find a new craft knife.....goodness only knows what I'll actually come home with....

Smurfs and UFO's

My 9 year old nephew came over to my house after school during the week while I was making these smurfy t-shirts for Moo Moo and the yet to be born twins. I told him that they were Smurf T-shirts and he just looked at me blankly and asked "What's a Smurf?".

How do you explain a Smurf to a 9 year old who has never seen the cartoon? Ummm, well they're these little blue men and one lady and they wear white hats and pants, except Papa Smurf becuase his are red, and there was a bad guy name Gargamel and he had a cat named Azrael and you could buy the figurines at BP back in the late 70's & early 80's. That's about as much as I could remember.

Thank goodness, I had IQ installed on my Foxtel a few weeks ago. I'll have to tape some episodes and educate the boy!

I just googled the Smurfs and there is a new Smurf movie in production, due for release in 2009 and 2008 is the 50 year annivesary of their creation.

The lovely vintage Smurf fabric was part of my soupy prize from Pip. Cheap t-shirts straight from K-Mart!

And finally, a UFO (unfinished object) is now an FO (finished object). Six more blankies for the twins that I finished off lastnight.

Giddy Up!

I've tested out my new bias tape makers and they are fab!

It's so much easier than making the tape manually just with the iron. So I managed to finish two Giddy Up blankies for the twins and I finished the spotty blankie that I started earlier in the week.

I couldn't wait to use the fabrics from Retromummy, and luckily I had a few spare t-shirts lying around so I quickly added some Jack and the Beanstalk and some Funky Monkeys to the fronts.

I also had a scrappy bit of skull & crossbone leftover for this one.

These three are going to my nephew Moo Moo (it's ok, that's just his nickname - his parents aren't crazy folk).

Mr CurlyPops has just left the building. He's off to Hong Kong for the weekend to watch a rugby tournament (and buy me lots of presents). In his absence, I'm hoping to get lots of crafty things done, and I'm planning to drop in to Meet Me At Mikes tomorrow so I can snap up a Mirabel Heart before it's too late.

Anyhoo, have a lovely crafty weekend!