Taa daa... A pretty summery dress for Laney

I needed to take some time out, so I decided to sew my lil girl, Laney, a dress and because it was the very first dress I had ever made, I opted for a vintage sheet as the fabric instead of the fancy shmancy expensive fabric that I have waiting to be used!

Now, not wanting to toot my own trumpet ..but... I think it looks pretty ace!  The pattern was a little fiddly but I think with practice I will get better at it as I'm already planning colour schemes for making another!

My model wouldn't stay still for a shot though, not even bribery of a cracker was going to work, so we threw that idea away and decided to head to town.

The vintage sheet fabric was an awesome fabric to use because it was already soft & flowing rather than the stiff new stuff you get (cos I don't prewash!). So, of course, I have been scrolling thru the internet to find some more as the colours & patterns are just gorgeous, check these ones out!

And to finish our trip out, of course there has to be a giant cookie involved!

You should grab the sewing pattern for the girls in your life as it goes from size 1 (what Laney is wearing) up to size 10. The pattern is a pdf and you can print out all the sizes on the one pattern OR you can just print the size you need. 

For more great craft tips, inspiration & supplies, click here.

Handmade Gifts: a cloth doll

I've been getting friendly with my sewing machine and whipped up this doll for my lil girl and of course, I didn't use a pattern!

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Handmade Gifts: a wooden doll pram

Wanting to buy less plastic and give more handmade, we (hubby, Joe & I) got together and made a doll pram for lil Laney. 

Miniature travelling teddy

I wanted to make something extra special for Joe for his birthday, something that he can treasure and be just for him. After putting my thinking cap on, I came up with the Travelling Teddy.

Teachers gifts... I think - what do you think?

I desperately need your opinion as I'm having major self-doubts right now. I made some presents as teacher gifts for Joe's teachers ...but are they good enough or ??

Handmade Gifts: Pillowtalk Teddy.

I made the cutest little teddy for Joe but he's not an ordinary teddy, this guy has a little secret....

PPP ...puffy pouchy pursey

 I'm feeling a little chuffed with myself, I made this from a kit - do you like it?

My sewing evolution.

I sat down at my sewing machine, intent on making myself some pouches to start to organise my stuff...what happened to me was somewhat a miracle!

Mystery Sewing

You know me, so many projects on the go that I'm struggling to keep up with my MSAL (mystery sew along) but I'm plodding along, trying to keep on track with what I have & haven't done.

Taa daa: a very pretty jumper

Ever had the feeling of utter satisfaction when making something? Well I did, for the very first time making this!

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An EPP adventure. | English Paper Piecing, Applique, Quilt

I thought I'd document the journey that I'm currently undertaking with the mystery English Paper Piecing quilt-along that I've joined. I'm learning many new things, such as the above ..my wonky version of the applecore paper piecing - did I like it, did I enjoy it?

Challenge accepted. | One skein project

A challenge to make a one skein item within a month period. Challenge accepted. ... excepted I decided to make the challenge harder by creating a pattern especially for it!

A mystery or two...

 

I've decided to add to my ever-growing pile of things to do and have signed up for two mystery projects.  Have you ever done a 'mystery-along' before?

Stitchy pants

I've been busy pressing the foot down on my sewing machine and whipping up clothes for my kiddies. Yeah, I know ... I shocked myself with that too!

Mumfrey

What the heck is Mumfrey? 

Giveaway

Hello!
How would you like to win this awesome pile of yarn?

Yarnotion

I'd like to introduce you to my newest thing........

Testers Wanted...

Do you feel like testing a new pattern and providing feedback? ....You can be totally honest with your feedback!

in the blink of an eye...

We had a birthday in our house this week, my lil baby girl turned two!

Are you joining in?

Ok, so I (we) may have fallen behind on our #2015SamplerBlankets and been distracted with lots of other fun things but hey.... I've found something else to distract us!  Will you join in with me?

Send more scraps



Do you see this happy lil chappy, yep my Joe made this toy!

The Great Undo (x2)

Sometimes success takes multiple of failures. Sometimes you have to admit to yourself that what you are making, no matter how many hours or thought-process has gone into it that it's just not 'working'.

Tiny shoes for tiny feet

Today we detour from crafty stuff to feet. Well, tiny feet. You see, my lil girl has tiny feet (only 12cm long) and when I want to buy her shoes, I can only find soft-soled shoes when I actually need proper shoes (with hard-soles) for walking on all sorts of surfaces just not on carpet.

Taa daa

Woot woot, I finished another dress for Laney!  This dress took me ages because not only is it fine yarn (fingering weight) but I've been sick for three months! 
Do I have you fooled thinking that I used a gradient yarn? 

and he became a pigeon

 It's bookweek here in Australia, which basically means that us parents have to rummage around in our craft cupboard and magically create a costume that represents your child's favourite character in a book.
Yeah.
First things first ...one favourite book?

Starting to hexify my life

I recently joined a swap over on Instagram for creating & sharing one inch hexagons, let me tell you now that I totally fell in love with the fabric!

Hello, talk to me.

My life right now is pretty boring, I seem to have the same routine day after day. I get stuck in a cycle of normalcy that I can't seem to break it. 

Taa daa

Not wanting to be boring but what is the weather like where you are?  Here in Tasmania, it's freakin' cold!  I've been sick for the past five weeks with a bad headcold and have been struggling alone with day to day stuff, not much time for fun crafty stuff.

Some awesome things

It's cold down here in right now, really cold. Brrrrrr, too cold to even knit - now that is cold! Seriously, even though it's not snowing outside my front door it still is freakin' cold, I have to walk to & from school for the school pickups pushing a pram with a coat so thick that I can barely lift my arms with the rain beating down on me soaking me to the skin... so yeah, I feel I can say that it's cold.

Storage for Penpal Correspondence

How do you store your penpal letters?  If you don't have a penpal, then maybe I'm asking you how do you store things like birthday cards or any other correspondence? I was storing my stuff in a box, then it moved to a plastic band then basically it just moved to the floor and yep, it was a mess so I decided to do something about it.

meet the Teardrop Catcher

I'd love to introduce you to this guy.....

Taa daa - a super quick make

What takes a little over two nights to knit? This does!  What is it? Ahhhh.....

Knitty stuff, a request & an apology

Wow, hello June!  Gosh, it's gotten cold here in Tasmania and the first day of winter showed no mercy. Brrrrrrrr. It's too cold to just sit here and knit, that's saying something! 

Taa daa

This took me a month to make, the month of May but what is it?

Hexing Liberty

So, what does one do when one is up to the eyeballs in projects? hmm... she starts another of course!

A trimmings challenge

Well hello there!  Trimmings? I hear you think, yep trimmings of fabric but what should I make with them?

May-ness

Well hello May, didn't you just sneak up on me. Come to think of it, isn't it still March?
I've been trying to finish this blogpost for almost a week now but the weather has been so crappy - dully & grey that I haven't been able to get any photos. Well, stuff it. I've take a photo and edited it PicMonkey, so hopefully it looks ok.. does it?

Catching my breath & saying Hi!

 
Hey there!  Another week has started and with me being a school Mum now, I'm starting to develop a little routine. Tomorrow is my very first 'Mum's help' at school which basically means that I go in & play with the kids! Joe's teacher is ace as she has said that I can take baby Laney along into the classroom with us.  Oh & speaking of baby Laney, she's not such a baby anymore, I mean check out that top piccie and the one below - she's a little girl now!

short & sweet

When you see something amazing, you just have to share it with the world.... check this out, the best socks ever!! 
Want.
Need.
You?

Love big, buy small.

Before you think that I am being stingy or mean, when I said small, I didn't mean buy itty bitty sized stuff!   What I'm trying to say is love big, with all your heart and soul but buy gifts that are either direct from the maker or from small businesses.  Let the joy of the sale go directly to the person that spent hours on making your item rather than into the back pocket of some big CEO.

Taa daa ..... and an opinion pretty please!

I wanted to make Laney a vest. I got half through the vest, changed my mind and turned it into a skirt ...  when you are designing as you go, you have the liberty to change your mind!
There is no elastic in the skirt and the skirt is actually made from scrap yarn (left over from this).
....but I need your opinion, you see I am thinking of turning this into a pattern and need your feedback.

Taa daa ... something for my sweet boy.

Here is the sweetest boy on earth.
He looks after me and always makes my heart smile.
He looks after his baby sister too, I love him to bits.  So I knitted him a vest to spoil him just a little and he loved it!

Show us your block....

Um, hello... it's April. Hmm, so did we just blink or was it just the start of March? I also missed playing an April Fools Day prank but in saying that, who would have I pranked? Joe? Husband?  I guess that is one of the disadvantages of being a stay at home mum = no more pranks at work!
Anyway, being that it is the end of one month and the start of another, it's time to show us your progress & show us your block!

Colour your Easter

It's autumn here in Tasmania, so that means lots of rain followed by a sprinkling of sunshine, not exactly picnic weather for Easter but it is the kind of weather that you stay inside & craft!

So, thinking of some Easter activities for you & the kiddies, here are some below....

One egg, one book.

Talk to me, I'm curious about what traditions you have in your family. Do you have any? What kind are they? Are these 'new' traditions or something passed down through your family?
You see, having such a young family (a 4yo & a 1yo), we have this chance to start our own family traditions but geesh, you think that coming up with such wonderful things would be easy but nope!  This is where I'd like your opinions, feedback & suggestions on what you do & if you could, would you change it?

Hang it.

Have you seen this website called Minted? It has the cutest art prints like the one above and the ones below.
I am particulary taken with this one (below) as it's something I chant every time I step out of the front door & I've noticed my husband does it too!  Do you have a similar chant?

Some things

I've not been doing anything exciting lately, have you?  I play in the garden with Joe & Delaney then feed, bathe & bed them...repeat.  Sometimes I get my act together and have spare time where I can play with my things (and not their toys!).  See the piccie above, it's yarn that I dyed. Do you like it? I am totally chuffed with it and I have big plans for it!