Why

Why does my cat get to have all the fun?

PS - Have you heard about the Stitched Postcard Swap? Sign ups close tomorrow, so get your skates on and sign up!

A Flute and a Hoot

Amanda finally received her swap apron in the mail this week, so now I can do the big reveal.

I had to be careful not to chop off the poor pussycat's ears when I chopped into the tea towel, so I added a fabric section at the top to lengthen the apron.

After the dilemma I was having about finding some co-ordinating fabric in the stash for the binding, I actually decided to sort through the huge plastic container full of fabric strips that I've previously pre-cut.

Where I managed to find the perfect complemetary coloured binding strips.

You see, there are some advantages to living in a house that is overflowing with fabric....

The End of May (nearly)

It was a very foggy drive home from the 21st in Ballarat lastnight, but the good news is that the birthday girl loved her pressies. The clutch and wrist strap will be perfect for when she's off for a night out on the town.... sheesh I can't remember the last time I had one of those!

So today I'm off to the last birthday party of the crazy month of May........ why is it that so many people have a May birthday??? Is there some sort of special event in August, or is it just because it's so bloody cold???

I can't show you todays birthday pressie, because it was made while I was doing some super secret pattern testing, but I can tell you that it's completely gorgeous.

During the week, I also whipped up some bibs during for a couple of girlfriends whose baby girls who need to move up a size from the newborn to the toddler bib. I'm so in love with that cherry print. I wish I had bought some more while the $AUD was high!

Poor little Moo Moo (cough cough), has spent the entire weekend eating birthday cake. His little friend Daniella had a birthday party yesterday afternoon, so I made her a MiniMiss Satchel with an adjustable shoulder strap, using some pink corduroy and a sweet little french print that I bought from the Retromummy Shop. There was more cake at the 21st lastnight, and now he's coming along with me to the birthday party today.... it's such a hard life when you're 3.

Have a happy Sunday!

Twenty One

I'm heading off to a 21st tonight, so I decided after dinner lastnight that I should probably make a gift.

I don't really have any idea what a 21 year old would like (which is a sure sign that I'm getting really old)!
I did a little bit of blog surfing for inspiration and came across this Noodlehead Tutorial via Whip Up.

I didn't follow the complete tutorial as I need to whip up something really quickly, but I followed the instructions for the gathered front and back (substituting twill tape for the fabric band as I needed something plain).

Once I had the front and back sections ready, I just sewed it as a normal zippered pouch, also adding a D-ring at the side, so that I could attach a little detachable hand strap.

I'm also popping a little matching gadget pouch inside...

Fingers crossed that the birthday girl likes them!

More Mini

After making the little pinny dress for Gypsy's charity drive, I thought it might be fun to actually follow the pattern properly to see how it turns out.

With the other one, I used view A which had a square neckline at the front (and I made it in size 4), so for this one, I decided to go with view B which has a round neckline and pockets (and I made a Size 2).

It's amazing how much more fiddly the armholes are on a Size 2!

I couldn't resist adding a bit of vintage ric rac trim from the huge stash that I received last week.

I'll be adding this one to the birthday / christmas pressie stash for later in the year.... I thinking ahead for once in my life!

My Creative Space

In todays creative space.....

Mr X and I are working on a birthday pressie for the twins who are turning two very very soon.......
Wowee how time flies!

A couple of t-shirts from Rivers, a robot drawing by Mr X, and some nice colourful textas.

We're using all of these to create one of a kind appliqued tees using the ink-jet printable fabric that I have left over from my Supasel Softie..... except that now my scanner has decided to chuck a conniption and won't talk to the PC. Aaaggghh!

The queen of creativity.

Time Warp

I like to keep an eye on the local real estate...

and I think I may have just found my dream home...

Immaculate 70's styling that hasn't been touched in the last 35 years.

The ceiling, the carpet, the woodwork..... that orange lamp!

A girl can dream can't she?

All photos belong to Stockdale and Leggo via Realestate.com.au

Vision

I received a lovely surprise from Trudi at last weeks NCB....

This lovely piece of vintage fabric came from her aunty (please correct me if I'm wrong Trudi).

It's the perfect amount of fabric to whip up a lovely vintage style dress..... I wonder if that was the original intention when it was purchased?

As I've never sewn a proper dress for myself before, I'm going to put my birthday voucher to use, and enlist some help from Bec.

In the meantime, Frances is looking quite sauve draped in a vision of loveliness....

Pretty Pinnies

It was such a beautiful day yesterday. The sun was streaming in through the windows in my craft space, so with no other plans for the day, I decided to hit the sewing machine.

When Gypsy came along to the NCB this week, I promised that I would help out with her request for pinafores to be donated to the Dago Dela Hera Orphanage in Kenya.

I had a pattern in the stash that I'd picked up for $1 at the oppy yonks ago - it's a McCalls 7783.  The request from Gypsy was to make the pinnies reversible, so that each one is actually two dresses in one.
I cut out two sets of fronts and backs from the pattern, and then ditched the rest of the pieces and instructions while I worked out how to make it reversible instead.

I found that the easiest way to make it reversible was to sew up the side and shoulder seams of both the dresses, and then iron the seams flat on each. I then placed one dress inside the other (with wrong sides facing together), and stitched in the ditch along both side seams to attach the dresses together.

To finish off the seams, I first stay-stitched all the way around to join both, and then bound the neck opening, arm holes and bottom of the dress.

I was rushing at the end, so the arm hole binding needs a bit of unpicking and extra work still.....

There's still time to help out - just get in contact with Gypsy, or bring along your contribution to the next Northern Craft Bonanza to pass on. If you can't make a pinny, they're also taking donations of simple elastic wasited shorts for little boys.

Flea Market Finds

Sometimes you don't find things........ they find you*

It's sorta like fate

Like it was meant to be.

I received a phone call from a friend,

Who wanted to pass on some treasures

How could I possibly resist???

Visit Sophie for more of todays Flea Market Finds....

* I'm quite intrigued by the reels of cotton - they're all in a very similar colour palette, and I would love to know what they were originally intended to be used for.

The Curse of the Black Thumb

I've lamented before about my curse...

Some days I'd be quite happy to just order a truck full of concrete...

But this week my little brother came to the rescue instead....

.. and peace and tranquility has been restored to the neighbourhood.

Lights Camera Action

Another custom camera bag all finished!

This one is heading off to live with Cath in the wonderful land of Chunky Chooky.

Cath provided the lovely wood grain fabric for the flap and the inner bag - it's the same one that she uses on her very groovy log rattles.

I really do love challenging myself to make something to fit the brief.

There's a zippy pocket on the back....

....and adjustable padded inserts inside.

I've fallen back in love with with the denim / chocolate brown combo... which is a good thing considering the amount of brown fabric that I have in my stash.

Now I think I really should make one for myself. It might even encourage me to take my camera with me more often and that can only be a good thing for sure!

My Creative Space

In todays creative space: I have a little swap pressie* that I need to finish up for Amanda.... I just have to find the precisely perfect fabric in the stash to make the binding and straps.

Sometimes the perfect fabric can be a little elusive, but when I spot the one, I'll just know.

The other task for today is to sort through the scrap bin to take along to the Northern Craft Bonanaza tonight, because one persons scraps are another persons treasures.... hmmmm there seems to be a proliferation of pink here!

I've also finished the custom camera bag from last weeks space, so stay tuned for some photos tomorrow.


*I'm purposely only showing a snippet of the very cute tea towel that Amanda sent me to transform. I want to keep the rest of it a surprise until she receives it back


The home of My Creative Space

Greetings from Tinaroo

Where??? Tinaroo

It's Tinniegirl's birthday today, so I whipped her up a brand new tea towel apron. She picked this tea towel from the stash months ago, and it's been sitting in my to do pile ever since.  It's quite apt that it just happens to be from Tinaroo!

I'm guessing that it's probably a 70's vintage from the colouring, but it matches perfect with this modern Joel Dewberry print.

I enlisted some help from Ms L for the next pressie..... (by the way, it's a paintbrush roll).

Ms L had to do some studio snooping and measuring to work out what size to make it. As you can see from the angle on that pocket - it was handmade with wonky love!

Both of the Ink and Spindle fabrics for the outer and inner were originally from Tinniegirl's stash. If that's not a sure sign that she was going to love the fabric that I  picked, then I don't know what else would be!

I didn't have anything that matched to make the binding, so I took it along to the Stitches and Craft show to colour match and pick a small print.

I also tried to incorporate the printed selvedge into the finished piece where I could.... sort of like a makers mark of sorts.

Tinniegirl is celebrating with a day of painting in her studio, so do pop on over and wish her a happy birthday!