a simple handmade gift

A lovely little girl I know, let's call her Millie, turned four recently.  Now whenever Millie comes to my house she loves to play with my girls toy rotary clothes line.  She adores it in fact. 

So what could be better then her very own clothesline.  I got this very idea from somewhere out there in blogland but for the life of me cannot remember where it was........ so if you know, please let me know, so I can link back to it.  Ta.

Just a simple draw string bag,

with a little bit of (dodgy) embroidery so everyone knows its your PEG bag.

 

Pop in half a dozen old fashion wooden pegs and a length of nylon rope with some chunky wooden beads knotted onto each end. 

Voila, one simple, super cute handmade gift!

Besides Miss Millie loving clotheslines she desperately wanted an On-the-Go Art Satchel like her big brother and sister have,

so this one was whipped up especially for the occassion too.

a long winded tale or a Christmas gift - whichever you're interested in

I've been mulling over ideas for a while now about what to give to Miss A's first grade teacher as an end of year gift. 

This teacher is an absolute gem, I wish my girls could both have her, every year of school!  She is fun, thoughtful and an excellent teacher. 

I had found out awhile ago that she loved elephants so I went out yesterday and bought her a lovely little elephant statue (no photo, sorry) and a nice little box to put it in.  But I really feel that handmade is my chance to show people how much I appreciate them, so I wanted to make something for her also.

One idea I had for simple handmade gifts this Christmas was based on a calico shopping tote that came with a magazine I purchased some time back.  Its such a simple design, but everything about it makes it the perfect shopping bag (except the magazines name stencilled across the front of it!).  Lightweight, easy to roll up and stuff into your handbag, and best of all - the perfect length handles (straps??) for carrying on your shoulder.

I've got metres of calico stashed away in my cupboard from one of my "kooky projects" as my husband likes to call them, making a lounge cover, about a decade ago.  No I didn't make a lounge cover out of calico, just a muslin.  Is it still a muslin if its not a garment to be worn............?  Anyway I digress.

As soon as Miss A saw the elephant after school yesterday she decided that today was the day she H.A.D. to give her teacher the present.  I toyed with the idea of making the bag after the kids were in bed last night, but after an hour and a half of fidling with fabric I realised it just wasn't going to happen.  I told her this morning I would make the bag today after I'd dropped her off at school. 

So we get up to school and I am reminded that this morning is the end of year School Mass.  Hmmmmmmmm, I better hang around I think. 

Just as well too, because after mass the principal handed out a bunch of awards including Best in Class to each grade and who should get the award for Miss A's class!  It was a very proud moment :))) 

Then the principal announces there is a morning tea being held after mass for all the parents who have helped out through the year with things like the Daily Reading Program, school excursions, sports/swimming carnival and tuckshop duty - yep, tick ALL those boxes, might as well hang around abit longer and get a free cup of tea!

So, finally get back home three hours later, have lunch, do violin practice with Miss B and find I have exactly two hours to make this bag.

After a bit more fidling with fabric followed by some hardcore sewing, I was very pleased with how the bag turned out.  

I couldn't leave the house without snapping a quick couple of photos, then I managed to get back up to school with said gift only 10 minutes after the final bell had rung. 

Miss A was happy, her teacher was happy and I am happy.

Definately think I'll be whipping afew more of these up before Christmas rolls around! 

One per Month - December (handmade gifts part 2)

In January this year I signed up for a "One per Month" challenge, proposed by another blogger.  A challenge to choose one craft book in my possession per month and make at least one item from the book. 

I thought (and still think) this was a marvellous idea.  

I, like many others I suspect, have purchased my fair share of craft books. 

I squeal with delight when they arrive on my doorstep. 

Caress their pages lovingly as I pour over them, oohing and aahhhing over the many delightful projects and possibilities contained within. 

And then what? 

I place them on the bookshelf side by side with the books which came before, only to be forgotten about and passed over as I look forward to the arrival of my newest aquisition.

This "One per Month" challenge would get some of those books down off the shelf, and I would end up with some lovely handmade items at the end of each month!

I cannot say the challenge was always easy. 

As time wore on I became aware of just how difficult a challenge it was, as everyone (including the original instigator of the challenge) dropped like flies..................

But I am proud to say I stuck with it, completing twelve  make that eleven (I'm still working on August's challenge) different projects from twelve different craft books.

And so today I present to you my final project in the One per Month challenge,

from a book called Gifts You Can Make (published 1978). 

I remember this book being around my house when I was a kid.  I think my sister may have even made a bag for me from this book.

  Some of the projects are sooo, sooo dated (as is the styling and photography, he he he), but there are afew projects which I would still consider making.

I made the Quick and Easy Summer Hat as a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law.

Awhile ago she admired the hat I made for Miss A as part of my February One per Month challenge.

Miss A piped up and advised Nanna that "mum made it for me!"

My MIL was suitably impressed and went on to discuss the merits of having a soft, foldable hat, which can be carried around in one's handbag etc. 

I knew I had a pattern for an adult version in one of my books so offered to make one for her.

And here you have it.

Gifted to my lovely MIL who is a very accomplished sewer herself on Christmas Day.  She was most pleased. 

I did, as per usual, alter the pattern a little to make the hat fully reversible.  I just couldn't see the point of lining the crown and the brim, only to then attach the brim in such a way that the seam allowance was exposed..............

And speaking of handmade gifts.  I did make afew this Christmas. 

Nothing like last year's mammoth effort but I did get afew things made, including:

this diary cover, using this fantastic tutorial from Bloom.  I made afew of these last year and they were all well received.  In fact this one was a request by my sister.

I really must remember this for the teachers gift at the end of next year! 

And a couple of On-the-Go Art Satchel's, using my very own tutorial, found here. 

I made them slighly different to the tutorial this time.  Instead of using fat quarters of quilting cotton, I used plastic vinyl for the pirate themed one and some cotton drill for the floral one.  As both these fabrics are heavier then quilting cotton I omitted the lining. 

Both held up well.

 Inside the Art Satchel's along with the VA diary and twistable crayon's I've included one of these fabulous activity books I stumbled across at a local toy shop recently made by a company called Buki. 

My girls are hooked!

So I bid a happy farewell to the One per Month challenge.

It's been fun!

If you feel compelled at all to revisit any or all of the projects I've made this year you will find links to each of them over on the right side bar.

One per month challenge - August

Hello there!  Let's just pretend it hasn't been a whole month since my last blog post shall we?  Lest's just pretend for a moment, that it's still August. 

OK, you with me?  Good, so here goes.

The book I've chosen for the One per Month Challenge this month is Lucinda Guy's Crochet Designs for Kids.  I cannot rave about this book enough, I looooove loooooove loooooove this book. 

I'd like to make every project in this book. 

BUT this is just not going to happen, as I've already got umpteen different projects of the hooky, sewy, quilty kind on the go at the moment. 

To help me narrow it down to just one project I asked Miss A what she would like me to make her for her birthday this month. 

She chose the Dolores Dress - lovely! 

I've been thinking for a while about ordering some Bendigo Wool. 

I've read some lovely things about this yarn and the prices are very competitive plus they have a great range of colours available.

So about a week into August I ordered some lovely Luxury 4 ply baby wool from Bendigo.  After about a week and a half (part of the reason this project was never going to be finished in August) a package  containing 5 gorgeous skeins of the softest most squishy wool arrived on my doorstep.

As soon as the littlies were sound asleep that night I got hooking.

Now.  Fast forward a month to last night.

To say this project has been slow going would have to be the understatement of the century.

This is the first project I have made using 4 ply fingering/baby weight yarn and a 2.5mm hook.

S. L. O. W. I tell you. 

Not to mention that after happily crocheting along for the past month, last night I frogged a good 15 rows due to a stitch count revealing I lost a stitch somewhere...............................

Needless to say this project was not finished in the month of August, and wont be finished anytime soon.

Patience my dear friends, patience.

If it wasn't for the fact this project was a birthday request by Miss A

and if it wasn't for the fact I had all the wool sitting waiting to be used

and if it wasn't for the fact I really, really love this dress and can't wait to see it on Miss A

I'd be quite tempted to frog the lot and move on.

To break the tedium of sewing a gazillion rows of single crochet and double crochet I have been doing a spot of sewing from time to time.

A couple of weeks back I finally whipped up a pair of these cute little pants for Miss B, using the 'Elasticated pants' pattern from one of my favourite craft books, Making Children's Clothes by Emma Hardy.

I've been on a real "use what's in your stash" kick of late so I used some nice dark denim, some cutesy candy print fabric (as chosen by Miss B) and some light blue bias binding I had stashed in my sewing room. 

Miss B has become a massive fan of purple over the last few months, dressing head to toe in purple at every opportunity. 

While purple is a lovely colour and tracksuit pants are great kids wear, sometimes it's nice to have them wearing something just that little bit nicer you know?

Quick, simple, easy to follow pattern.

What more could you want?

I've got another pair cut out and ready to sew up for Miss A sitting on the sewing table.

Come on school holidays, I say.  Only two days of school left this term. 

Not that I'm going to have too much time up my sleeve with all the galavanting we have planned.

Another little something I churned out a couple of days ago was the tiny happy shoulder bag.

I've had this on my list of "favourite free tutorials to try" (see over on the right side bar there) for ages now.

When I found out that one of the teacher's from Miss B's Occasional Care centre was leaving I knew this would be just perfect. 

Teresa has always admired the handmade items Miss B and I wear so I wanted to give her something handmade.

I used some Ikea fabric and pink pinwhale cord I had in my stash.  I really like how it turned out, momentarily considering keeping it for myself!

Does this happen to you when you make something to give away?

I think I consider keeping most things I make for gifts!

The only thing I did differently to the tutorial was to tie the straps together at the top instead of hand stitching them and this was predominantly because I had left it to the last minute - literally - and had to leave home to pick Miss B up from occasional care!

Looks cute like that though I think.

Although there have been a number of other stitchy, quilty, hooky projects being completed over the last few weeks which I would dearly love to share with you bath time is calling and this post is well and truly long enough already so they can wait until next time.

And no I haven't forgotten I promised a 100th post giveaway and tutorial, it's in the pipeline, I promise!

My Creative Space......

is all about Mother's Day at the moment.  As per my usual modus operandi (read: leave everything until the last minute), I gave Mother's Day nary a thought until yesterday morning.  As I was a very bad daughter in law last month and failed to give my mother in law anything for her birthday (tut tut I hear you say) I thought I best make up for it big time this Mother's Day.

 

While flicking through the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens (have you seen the crochet blanket and pillows on the cover!!!!!) I came across a section about Mother's Day gifts to make, including bath salts and scented bath balls (see jars above).  The recipes were simple enough for Misses A & B to get involved with and they turned out really well.  I still have to add a pretty bow with a 'directions for use' tag to each jar, but all in all simple, quick and pretty.

The gem flower pot is a fantastic idea I stumbled upon last night via The Crafty Crow while I was looking for a quick and easy Mother's Day craft to share with the kids at Playgroup today.  Again, this is a simple, quick little craft activity which Miss A and Miss B eagerly helped me with, with spectacular results!!  Tomorrow I will pot up afew of my MIL's favourites, some Zinnia's, to finish it off. 

Come Mother's Day she'll be stoked I reckon.

And I am hoping to whip up a couple of these Poochie Bags before Sunday too.  Anyone would think I enjoy stress and tight deadlines............................

 

Also in my creative space, this morning I guided fifteen children aged four and under through the joys of creating handmade pressies for mum.  Patty pan flowers and 'patchwork' lovehearts were the order of the day!  Miss B did an absolutely fantastic job on her's and Miss A got in on the action after school. 

And guess who will be reading at the Mother's Day mass at school tomorrow?????  She sure is doing a good job of making her mother proud !! 

To see what other's have been getting up to in their creative spaces this week, head on over to the ever inspiring Kootoyoo

Feathers and fans - a crochet scarf

As promised, here are some photo's (post blocking) of the scarf I made earlier this month to give to my SIL for her birthday.  I was looking for something quite light and airy, as opposed to bulky and heavy as my SIL lives in Brisbane. 

You might be asking yourself, "why did she give a scarf to someone living in Brisbane???" well the answer is, it does get quite nippy in the mornings in winter where she lives - and she is a scarfy kinda person! 

Plus, I am still trying to stick to my giving handmade wherever possible.

After trawling through all the wonderful patterns on Ravelry, I fell in love with this pattern (among many others I might add).  It fit the bill of being light and airy and was gorgeous yet fairly simple to boot. 

I used two skeins of Moda Vera Merino, deliberately keeping the scarf fairly short, again with the light and airy..................

I love how this scarf turned out, sometimes it's a little difficult to give away the things I make......... 

Hmmm, but with all the fantastic patterns available I'm hoping to make one (or two) scarves for myself this winter.

Inspired creativity

A couple of weeks ago I made my first knotty necklace after seeing Marina's great tutorial over at Wink Designs . 

Miss A and Miss B eyed it off for a couple of days until I suggested we sit down together and make them one each.  The second the necklaces were finished they put them on and have worn them religiously every day since, including while we were away (you can see them in the photo's in that post!).

While we were away, staying with my SIL, the children next door spent alot of time playing with my girls.  They admired the necklaces, and their mother complimented and enquired about Miss B's On-the-go Art Satchel!! 

I cannot tell you how great it felt to have someone admire and compliment something I had made before they even knew I had made it!!

I happily agreed to make her girls one each.

So yesterday I sent a lovely little package up to Queensland filled with handmade gifts...............

I think this little combo of an On-the-go Art Satchel and knotty necklace will become my signature gift for any little girls birthday parties we attend this year. 

Yes, I really do think so!

I couldn't resist posting this picture of little Miss B, decked out in a riot of colour - all things that this mama has made.

Do you still get a buzz out of seeing the things you've made being used??

I sure do, and I think it's that buzz, that sense of achievement and satisfaction that keeps driving my desire to continue to create............

This evening I entered two tops I've made recently into the Made by Rae Spring 2010 Top Week competition. 

Sooooo many great tops have already been entered, I've already added afew more projects to my ever growing list.

Here's hoping you get some time to create this long weekend - hope it's a good one

From little things big things grow

I've spent the last few days stealing a bit of time here and there to make this little quilt for a friends brand new baby girl.

I went to the Just Remnants shop in Marrickville last week and found these Lecien Merry Bon Bon fat quarters for $5 each - perfect, I thought, they will be great for a little quilt for Molly!

My plan was to keep it really simple, you know, trim the fat quarter panels down alittle and just add a nice wide border to bring it up to size.  Well of course one thing led to another and this is what I ended up with....

I really love it.

The finished quilt measures 47" x 29", a good cot sized quilt.

I wanted something that wasn't too pink and girly and everything other than the Lecien fat quarters I already had in my stash, so it came together quite nicely I think.

 
In an attempt to stick with my keeping it simple idea, I decided to forego binding and use the method Joelle Hoverson uses in her super quick and easy baby quilt from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. 
I backed it with the same fabric I used on the front for the sashing.

I personalised it by adding a love heart which I printed the baby's name and date of birth on using Matilda's Own Inkjet Printable Fabric - I love that stuff.

What to give mum for her birthday?

I ummmed and aahhhhed over this question until the day before mums birthday.  I made a trip to Spotlight and came away with an 18 inch cushion insert - so a cushion it was going to be.  I really agonise over fabric choices, trying to choose something the receiver will like as opposed to what I would like, and as my mum is partial to brown (ahem) and is nearing her eighth decade this is what I came up with

I pieced the front on New Year's Eve, stopping just before the countdown to the new year (at least I finished off 2009 doing something I love!!).  I then got up the next morning and basted, quilted and finished off the cushion(starting off 2010 doing something I love - that's my defense anyway). 

Then I immediately jumped into the car along with my wonderful husband who had gotten together all the food I was taking to mum's to cook for her birthday/New Year's Day lunch...........well that's me in a nutshell, aLwaYs leaving things to the VERY last minute.

Can't say I'm in love with this, but at least it's something I made with love......and mum really seemed to like it.  I even caught her using it later in the day as she sat back and relaxed watching abit of telly!

So, that's my first sewing project for the new year/new decade off the rank - what have you been making?

guilted............

After a not so subtle comment from the very cheeky Cass about giving handmade to my hubby, I felt so guilty I whipped him up an applique t-shirt last night.  He has been playing drums for twenty odd years so I feel the drum silhouette from here is very appropriate, boom ta ta is how the girls refer to the drums!

I also made a t-shirt each for my 9 and 11 y.o. nephews.  I caved in and bought the wii game they requested (yes, it is a Super Mario Bros game) but felt a handmade t-shirt was also needed. 

I am so pleased with how these shirts turned out!!!  I printed the images onto printable fabric , cut around it then used fusible webbing to adhere the images to the t-shirts.  I then zig-zagged around the image and voila - a custom t-shirt or three.

Oh, and because I'm a gluten for punishment I also made three diary covers for my sisters, using this wonderful tutorial by Ros over at Bloom.  What a gorgeous blog - if you haven't already, go and check it out. 

And when the total cost of each gift is only $3.50, I couldn't be happier.  That's right - I picked up the A5 size 2010 diaries from a local bargain shop for $3.50 each and all the fabric I used was scraps from my stash - yay!!!  Simple yet suitably impressive.

Some last minute sewing going on tonight - but more on that later............

Phew, only two sleeps to go.

Tipping my hat to the art of handmade

Well, first up I'd like to say a very big thank you for all the altered dress love that came my way via the last post.  I'm stoked and flattered that you liked it as much as I did and so glad you left a comment to let me know - thank you!

Today I'd like to share with you all the yummy handmade things I'm giving this christmas - because all the talented people who made them deserve some credit (don't mind the pat on the back I give myself several times along the way!).

I really enjoyed making these stamped gift tags

So, here we go......

modelled by Miss B

2 year old niece - a retromummy dress

11 month old Triplets, nieces and nephew - little sweetpeas t-shirt dresses and a pair of barefoot babies shorts

5 year old second cousin - moobear t-shirt and miss haidee shorts

2 year old second cousin - barefoot babies singlet and shorts

playgroup friends - little sweetpeas pencil cases

Miss A - lucky lulu skirt, Snailblazer sewing cards

Miss B - lucky lulu dress, miss haidee romper, Snailblazer sewing cards

13 year old niece - melei bracelet and ring

All the grown-ups in the family are receiving a 2010 calendar from here with all drawings done by Miss A.

I'm still working on an amigurumi mermaid for Miss B and I will be spending a day baking Christmas cakes for both sets of grandparents.  I've still got an 11 y.o. nephew and a 9 y.o. nephew to cover.  I'm thinking appliqued t-shirts.......it's hard I tell you............

There's gonna be some seriously stylish kids walking around after this christmas I tell you!

I've had alot of fun with the shopping and the making and can't wait for Christmas Day to give my handmade gifts.

P.S. In case you're wondering - of course my darling husband is receiving gifts this christmas, but he had a very specific wish list which did not include anything handmade!