Tiny hats

For something a bit more lighthearted :)

I've been enjoying crocheting in front of the tennis and cricket that plays at this time of year.

I discovered The Lovely Crow crochet patterns a while ago and then when I had a bit of Christmas money (and time) I decided to get a set of baby beanie patterns.

I love how quickly you are able to work each hat up, particularly as they are tiny baby hats :). I'm on my fourth (with a few false starts).

The My Angel Baby Cloche for a family at Mum and Dads church who just had a little girl. I love how dainty and vintage this pattern is!

And the Boot Scootn Cowboy Hat - because it is just so cute! Seriously I think I would melt if I saw that on a little baby, perfect for a photo shoot.

I really love The Lovely Crow patterns - they are a bit different to other stuff that is out there. Really cute and patterns. Written really clearly. Defiantly recommend them if you like to crochet!

 

Dress

This is the dress I made for Joshua's wedding. I was so happy with it and got heaps of compliments on it, even from people who didn't know that I made it (which is always nice!)

The inspiration really hit when I discovered the material in Spotlight, a gorgeous turquoise cotton with a white vine print. To create the pattern I mixed a few favourites. The skirt and middle is from Simplicity 4581 and the bodice is modified from Simplicity 3867. It fits so nicely and feels lovely to wear.

The shoes were a bit of a surprise. I had navy wedges already that I was going to wear, but I was walking through Target a few weeks before the wedding looking for something else and these shoes just jumped out at me! These wedges are so cute and exactly the same colour as the dress, so I had to get them to complete the look.

Dress

I've been doing a bit of sewing lately.There are a bunch of picnic/engagement parties/parties in the next few months that I think it will be good to have a few cute summer dresses to wear.

I tried out New Look 6020 that I bought ages ago. I made view D, because of the sweetheart neck line. However it gaped really badly so I ended up adding some elastic to the neckline and also a few tucks. So the neckline ended up being more gathered/round.

One comment; the size on this pattern is way out. After measuring myself (and measuring again - what fun that is, blah) I then decided what size I should cut out. I decided to go down a size because I know patterns sizes are off. Even then I had to re-sew almost every seam in varying degrees to make the dress fit the way it was meant to.

Anyway . . . here is the dress. I really like it - the fabric is sooo pretty. And the dress is really comfortable, I've worn it most of the weekend.

Haha, this is my attempt at self timer photos on my balcony while pretending to the people walking past it's no big deal.

How do the style blog girls do it? :)

Cow Cake

I feel a little like a fraud posting this cake because I didn't actually make the cake (insert gasp here). I have a good reason - I had made the batter and the cake was in the oven when I realised the element in my oven had broken. So I had to run out to Woolies to grab a slab cake to decorate for my friends birthday (the same one whose part I went to last week).

But I did decorate it, which is why I'm showing you.

And yes, those are suppose to be cows. And it's because Alannah loves cows :)

Some more pics

Some more photos of the facinator I made.

If I made it again I don't think I'd add the ribbon, it just wasn't necessary. I like the beads, but with the flowers you can barely see the ribbon.

Facinating

I am off to a 21st tonight which is a Mad Hatter dress up theme. We've been asked to wear a hat.

I'm not a huge hat fan. I haven't found a hat that I find attractive on me, I wasn't about to spend a whole lot on something I propably wouldn't wear again. I was planning to wear a black and red floral maxi dress so decided to made a facinator to go with it.

Flowers - $4.95
Netting - $2.30
Hair clip - had already, I think I got it for about $1

Add a bit of ribbon and a whole lot of hot glue, and this is what I came up with. Not bad for $8.25 and half an hours time.

Sorry about the dodgy phone pic, I was trying to grap a photo before running out the door. Will take some better ones soon.

Considering the colours it feels a bit Spanish :)

Toddler Easels

This is what standard easels look like;

They are great, lots of uses and invaluable in the classroom. But I've found a few problems with them in my toddler class.

Some of my little ones are very little, and find it hard to reach even the bottom of the easel board. Also when my little ones get excited they tend to be physical and these types of easels are easy to knock about.

So during the Christmas break, when I was up at Mum and Dad's I got Dad to help me make 2 big easels for my class room.

I found everything I needed at the local hardware store; 4 Hinges, 8 rubber feet, 4 card table stays and 4 boards.

For the boards I used white melamine particleboard, the same thing you would use in kitchen cupboards. I liked that it had the white layer on the outside that is easy to wipe clean, is solid (won't break easily) and the best bit was it was the exact size I wanted (120mm x 60mm) so no cutting necessary.

Because I used the melamine I had to finish the edges with special tape that sealed the exposed particle board from moisture. To do this you iron the tape on and set with a roller.

We then drilled holes for the hinges and screwed them together. We used two large hinges on the top of each easel.

(I totally look like a super cool handy-girl!)

I put rubber feet in the bottom to help stop it sliding.

We then added a card table stay on each side of each easel. This was Dad's brainwave. The pieces of metal lock together when they are straight, but can bend in when you close the easels. It's like the locking mechanism you find on folding tables or ladders. Dad reasoned that this would stop the easels from suddenly snapping closed on little fingers.

Ta Da! Done.

Dad then made a wooden tray that can slide over the top and sit snuggly on little pegs we put on the side of each board.

Here the easels are in the room. The kids love them - and I do too. I use large bulldog clips to hold the paper to the easel. Even my littlest one can reach paper if we clip it lower down, and for my taller children I clip it at the top - so versatile!

I leave pencils and crayons on them all the time, and we use paint at specific times during the day.

Africa Quilt

I started work on this quilt ages ago. When I was up in Queensland for my last prac I sat down with my cousin who had found out she was pregnant with her first baby and designed a quilt. Then we found out the baby was a boy and the babushka theme didn't seem quite right.

When my cousin told me she was going for a chocolate and white theme with giraffes the quilt just came to me. I imagined lots of hand embroidered African animals. Then end of uni/start of work got in the way. I finally finished the quilting yesterday and got it in the post today - with only two weeks to spare!

I found some pictures online that adapted to make the outlines I liked for the animals and hand stitched them in white on chocolate, with creamy colours patch worked in alternate squares. I really liked the way the animals turned out - the ones I'm most happy with are the zebra and the lion.

A Purple Dolphin

This is a pattern I’ve wanted to try this pattern for a while. I found it in Homespun Vol 10, Issue 12, but Melly and Me now also sell it as an individual pattern.

I quite liked how it turned out. Especially as it was my first try of a softie. The only thing is that you have to read the instructions for cutting carefully because some pieces have a seam allowance on the pattern and some you have to sew on the line that is drawn on the pattern.
Adding the fins was a little tricky. I found it easier to sew with a zipper foot because of the bulk on one side of each seam.

This little dolphin is being put away for a special girl who is about to become a big sister any day now. She is as big a fan of purple as I am. I don’t know if it will be a little brother or sister so I can’t start sewing for the baby yet :).

Boxes

Last night I decided to have a go of my newest cricut cartridge Tags, Bags, Boxes and more (I just found out it's being discontinued so I got it just in time!). It was a gift from Mum and Dad for my birthday.

I was just trying out the different cuts I can make, so didn't use my pretty paper. They actually look a bit ugly, but you get the idea of the types of boxes the cartridge can make.

I can see lots of possibilities for these - the little ones could be gift boxes for jewelry, the slightly larger ones could make great party bags/favour baskets. And as always several of the boxes can be used for kids to decorate (always thinking like a teacher!).

When I first cut this one I wasn't exactly sure what you could use it for, but now I think it would look gorgeous as a individual cookie holder. Imagine making and decorating gingerbread men, or large shapes with individual icing. Place a piece of clear plastic in the window parts, with the biscuit inside. They would make nice gifts, or place markers.

I might try it over the holidays :).

A is for Applique

I think appliques are a great way of jazzing up a piece of clothing. Take a nice simple piece of clothing and you can totally change the feel of it by adding different pictures made from cloth.

I have been experimenting with different ways of attaching appliques to clothes.

There is the good old blanket stitch - simple, easy quick, and versatile. But it doesn't always go around corners effectively, getting it looking this nice took a bit of practise.

I also often do back stitch. Not as quick as blanket stitch, but has great sharp points.

I also wanted to try versions I can do on the machine. (because it's so much quicker!)

I did a tight zig zag applique, which worked well - it finishes the fabric off beautifully - no chance of fraying. However the last few times I tried this the thread didn't always catch, meaning that there were little gaps in between stitches. Can't work out why that happened.

I read a tutorial about 'free stitching' but I didn't really like it - I can't seem to get the stitches similar lengths. I have heard that a walking foot would improve that. Might look into that.

Any other good appliques people have tried?

(More creative spaces at kootoyoo)

Creative Sewing

I realised I haven't been sewing just for the sake of being creative. And the reason I love sewing so much because it is my creative outlet.

Not that Purple Frangipani isn't fun, but making the same garment a few times isn't as creative as making something from scratch. For me, half the fun is the developing the pattern, cutting out the fabric and watching something come together. It's that feeling of not knowing if it will work or not - then sewing the final stitch, turning it right side out and getting a little giddy because it has worked. The little sketch I dreamed up weeks ago is now a real three dimensional thing in front of me - I can touch it and use it and know "I made that".

So I got out fabric scraps and started a patchwork skirt. I stayed with the blue/purple colour scheme but just used up all the scraps I have lying around (I seem to have alot of those colours lying around, can't think why ;) )

And I started working on a project that's been kicking around in my head for a while. Just a sneak peek for now because I want it to be a surprise for the recipient - but so far I'm pleased with how it's turning out. And it's giving me a little hint of an idea for a new direction for Purple Frangipani. Love the joy of a new idea. (I'm using the fact it's a secret to account for the bad photo - not the fact that the lighting was awful!)

Flower girls

One of the most exciting thing I have had the oportunity to do with my little clothing business is to make some flower girl dresses. They are sent off today - and I can't wait to see photos of the girls wearing them!

I used the Sense and Sensibilty regency girls pattern (you have to scroll down a bit on the page to get to the girls pattern) just changing the back bodice a little. The fabric is a lovely cream and white seersucker from Spotlight and I added some lace to the bottom. The bride picked the fabric - and I was a little unsure at first - but I LOVE the way it turned out. Simple and elegant. The pearl buttons add the perfect finishing touch.

Ice Cream Pudding

I mentioned ice cream pudding in the meme. I forgot that most people don't know what ice cream pudding is - and you are definatly missing out! It sort of started once we came back to Australia and wanted another thing for desert that wasn't full of dried fruit (Josh and I aren't fans). Basically it's ice cream full of chocolate in a pudding shape.

You need 2 liters good quality vanilla ice cream. It needs to be the good stuff so that it survives being melted and refrozen ok.

Lots of different chocolates, the best are Cherry ripe, Honey comb and some choc chips. 1 of each bar.

A bag of marshmallows

Pull the ice cream out of the freezer and chop up all the chocolate and marshmallows into little pieces. About 1cm squared but it's better rough.

The ice cream will be just starting to soften now so add the chopped up chocolate and marshmallows in a big bowl and mix it all together. Do it quickly so that it doesn't start to go liquid, just soft.

Line another bowl with plastic wrap and pour in the mixture, press it down and cover. Put back into the freezer at least over night.

When your ready to eat, chill a plate in the freezer and then upend the ice cream pudding onto the plate. If it sticks just run the outside of the bowl under hot water for a few seconds. Remove the plastic wrap.

Chop the pudding into segments and enjoy.

Baby Quilt

The quilt is all finished and gifted; so I can now show it without spoiling the surprise.



Isn't it cute? I'm really happy with it, especially considering I hadn't really done a quilt before (Well, there was a disaster in year 10 textiles when the teacher thought I knew what i was doing, but I didn't). The main problem I had was with the binding, I just sort of winged it :).

I basically just worked out dimensions for a simple square quilt with a simple boarder in between. It ended up being just under a meter squared - perfect for tucking in a cot or laying on the ground for baby to lie on.




I adapted the lion applique from Kim Schaefer's book Quilts, bibs, blankies . . . Oh my! It has lots of cute ideas for boy baby things, or gender neutral which is good because so many baby patterns can be a bit girly.




For the backing I decided to take a short cut (quilting purists stop reading now!), I just laid the quilt top onto a piece of polar fleece and quilted over it (no batting). I wanted the back to be pretty too so I quilted the cross in the squares before I appliqued the lion on. You can see the crosses on the back when you flip it over.






The baby should make an apperance in a few weeks, can't wait!

I'm Back

(I think)

Resurfacing from prac-land (as I like to call it) always takes a few days.

Not helped by the fact that I'm frantically trying to complete an essay on the differences between Applied behaviour analysis and Relationship based therapy in the treatment of Autism. Yeah, confused me too.

The hour commute each way to prac gave me heaps of time to sit and think and dream up lots of ideas for creative bits and pieces I can't wait to get started on. Many of which are now possible because of this lovely contraption now sitting patiently on my desk.

As soon as the essay is done I start a week of holidays and hopefully will be able to reveal more.

I was planning to write a couple of posts before I was sucked into the vortex that is prac.

But it didn't happen.

And now I am so consumed by prac I can hardly pause for a breath. I'm enjoying it, but I have never felt this tired before in my life. Even the week of physical labour on a work site in tropical heat during the Vanuatu mission did not feel as exhausting as this.

I don't know when I will surface again, but I thought I'd add some pictures of a bag I made to help me carry all the stuff I need into the city everyday. It's so huge, with lots and lots of pockets. Though it has a bit of a nappy bag feel about it.

The Show

It just so happened that Mum was in town during the week of the Stitches and Craft show. So we set off to explore, as it has been several years since we went to one of these shows.

My main tip if you are heading there over the weekend would be to go straight to the top level. This is where all the beautiful things are. It is full of hand printed fabric, indie patterns, beautiful crafty goodness. I felt that the organisers should have given these stall holders larger areas, there was plenty of space and all of the stall holders were squished together which made browsing harder than it should have been. And I could have easily browsed double the amount of these stalls.

Unfortunately alot of these pieces were out of my price range (the poor student that I am) but I built up a big collection of business cards with plans to check it out over Christmas holidays(when I get more work and therefore cash). I did pick up two mixtape zines, and got lots of helpful tips from Nicole of nicolemdesign (check out her bag patterns, they are beautiful) - she explained how to use Vilene s520 to make bag bases, which I put an order in for.

We then ventured downstairs. After the top floor the rest was a bit of a let down. There were too many people and it had a more generic feel about it. I sighed over some over lockers, got a replacement blade for my rotary cutter, and Mum got a collection of fat quarters. There was a craft book stall I would have loved to browse but too many people pushing and shoving. We escaped back to level 4.

I'm amused to see how my crafting tastes have changed. I barely glanced at the scrap booking stalls, where as a few years ago I would have spent hours collecting different paper. I also wasn't that interested in the quilting fabric. I much prefer the hand printed linens, unique patterns which you don't see anywhere else, and being able to chat with the people who design and make all the bits and pieces.

I had been looking forward to seeing Handmade Nation, but apparently there were 'technical difficulties' and it didn't play. Becasue of this we ended up heading home at 12:30, which was alot earlier than we planned. It was nice to spend some time with Mum, and I did get lots of inspiration - which is the real fun of craft shows.

Wrap up

We went to the market on Saturday. It wasn't the rip-roaring success I day dreamed about, but it was a good experience. The waking up early, setting up my stall, the hours of standing and watching. I did take a few photos, but they are on Joshua's fancy camera so I can't work out how to download them :). I'll get him to help me do that soon.

A few friends came and supported me, including friends I haven't seen in years, which was so great!

I sold a few dresses - and made enough to cover costs for the day. It was intersting to see what people were interested in, I was amazed no one was interested in the pants, and I only sold 1 shirt.

Saturday night I was really discouraged, packed everything up, put my machine away and decided to have a break. But on Sunday I woke up with ideas on how to do it differently. I also had an idea for a new design which I'm looking forward to trying out.

To save my sanity though, I decided to give Purple Frangipani a little rest (for at least a week :), I pulled out my machine and started to make a dress for me instead. Uni starts back this week so I'm back in to that theories and lesson plans.

But I'll definatly be having a few more markets, expecially closer to Christmas. Stay tuned :)!

Market preparations- aka; I have the Best Dad

Mum and Dad were down last week, which would explain my 2 week hiatus. I have also been busy getting ready for the market coming up. I was explaining to Dad how I want to set up my stall, and he helped me make this;

It's like a room divider/screen. The idea is that it will separate my stall from whoever is behind me, and will also be a way to display some of my clothes too. (Imagine a sign across the top as well, I haven't made it yet). From a bit of research I did it helps to have an attractive looking stall to draw the people in. Glebe is a busy little market so I want to stand out.

We just got a piece of lattus from Bunnings and cut it into sections and added hinges (Ok, so dad did most of that, I held the wood while he sawed). It's so great having a Dad whose handy with building stuff.

I have also been busy sewing, adding buttons and attaching swing tags.

It's just two weeks away - I can't wait! I go from panicking that I won't have enough stock (which I doubt will happen) to worrying that I won't sell anything. I'm hoping the experience is a bit more in the middle :)