More Fabric Goodness!

I made my first ever international fabric purchase recently from The Fabric Shack. I got some lovely fabrics for the boys, as well as some beautiful fabric for me. If you are looking for specific fabric you can search and compare more than 200 shops by using Quiltshops.com.

Before ordering, you should check out shipping as some shops seem to charge an arm and a leg for it.

Fabric Shack fit 9 yards of fabric into a Flat-rate mailing envelope which (to be honest) is a little over-stuffed. My package was damaged when it got here but the fabric was unharmed.

David Walker, Oh Boy - Vehicles Allover.

Kaufman - Space Cases.

Kauffman Animal Party. The boys are already excited about the dogs on this fabric (Woof! Woof!). I knew they would be. I really like the colours in the turtle one and the spots are pretty cool.

I have been eyeing off this Laura Gunn fabric for ages. I even have a project planned specifically for this fabric. I actually ordered Hanging Cages, but they were all out of it, so they contacted me via email and I was able to choose another fabric. It turns out the spots might actually work for me better. I was excited to find the climbing lantern pods as everyone seemed to be out of it.

W is for Wendy

My mum is off to enjoy a week of sewing related bliss over in Perth with the Australian Sewing Guild Annual Convention. She is staying with Wendy, and wanted to give her a gift to show her appreciation.

I made Wendy a monogrammed purse. I have decorated it with some seed beads.

It was my sister-in-law's birthday on Thursday too, so I made her one as well.

The fabric is just plain, unbleached calico. I think it would be nicer in a linen blend, but the calico is quite nice. The backs of the purses were left plain. The lining is Shabby Chic that I bought from Spotlight.

The purses are made from Nicole Mallalieu's 90mm square purse frame pattern. I used a light wadding to give a little structure.

My sister-in-law was pretty happy with her purse, I wonder what Wendy thinks of hers?

Wordless Weekend

And the Winner Is!

Sarah said...

Love the bibs!! It's on my very long list of things to do too :)

Would love to go in the draw to win a boy's bib.

Thanks

18 September 2009 13:14

 

 

Congratulations Sarah, please email me your address so I can send you your bib!

My New Toy!

Look what arrived in the mail today!

In case you haven't heard, Snaps Australia are celebrating their 4th year with a big sale.

I don't know when it will end - if someone knows, maybe they can let me know so I can pass it on.

They have two different sized resin snaps in a wide range of colours.

The bigger size (18) is about 13mm in diameter, the 14 is about 10mm.

I have already done a test run (of course!) but I didn't take a picture of that yet.

I will come back and add a picture when I do.

Oh yeah, I plan to draw the winner of my bib giveaway tomorrow night, and will get cracking on making it early next week.

Aarrrghh!! Shark! Shark!

Old, hand-me-down t-shirt.

What is THAT? Is that a hole?


Why, YES it is!

Luckily it was easily fixed using one of the iron on motifs that my mum gave me recently.

This particular motif makes me smile.

It reminds me of one of my nephews, who I don't get to see very often.

One day my nephew was at Kinder and the teacher wanted everyone to sit on the mat. She asked the children to pretend that the mat was an island (or a raft?) and the surrounding area was the ocean. My nephew jumped up and danced around the room, screaming "Aarrrghh! Shark! Shark!"

Don't you just love kids' imaginations?

My Creative Space

Inspired by Nikki (of My Black Cardigan's) "My Creative Space" from a couple of weeks ago, I decided to order myself some Sugar 'n Cream and knit myself some lovely cotton dishcloths.

My parcel from American Yarns (actually in Brisbane, not America) arrived on Monday morning, and I got started pretty much straight away. It was a sunny day, so the kids spent a fair bit of time outdoors. Normally this would mean creativity would come to a standstill as I supervised, but knitting is portable!

The one pictured was actually completed yesterday morning. My first use of the dishcloth saw the water turn a lovely pink, but that seems to have sorted itself out now.

 
I must say, it is very good for cleaning stovetops and removing crusty cereal from chair legs! Lots of scrubbing power with no scratching.

One Tomorrow!

Warning: Shamelesslyproud Mummy pictures ahead! Noah turns one tomorrow. We had a little party with my Mums group.

"No Mummy, I have no idea how that finger print got on the cake..."

"I swear it wasn't me"

Ummm... please don't blow out Noah's candles!

"Oh, It's MY birthday!!! Woohoo!!!"

"I like cake!"

"Take that back. I LOVE cake. Especially chocolate!"

Happy Birthday tomorrow, Noah.

A sense of....

I started my blog so I could record my sewing. Sort of like an on-line diary. I kind of expected it to be a nice way to share with my mum some of the things that I made for my baby. One of the things that surprised me, and I never expected to find in the blogging world was the blogging

I have made some lovely friends, and discovered heaps of new things (even about myself) by blogging and following (and commenting on) other people's blogs. The blogging world and most especially the crafty blogging world is a very special place.

If you haven't tried it, you really should. The experience is amazing. Go comment on someones blog now. If you don't have one, start your own. Be a part of this fantastic online crafting

ETA: If you are wondering what I am on about, check out Kootoyoo's Blog. She has hosted a sort of on-line blogging scavenger hunt.

Noah's New Pants

Yesterday I finished some pants I have been working on for Noah. They are from Ottobre 2006/3. Noah has been wearing holes in the knees of all his pants lately, so he was really overdue for some new ones. Now that he is walking, hopefully that should slow down a little.

I really put a lot of effort into finishing these off nicely, but I was a little disappointed that I had my iron set too high and melted the top stitching on one of the pockets. Notice my little "SOL" tag on the bottom of the left cargo pocket?

I managed to find some nice little metallic buttons from a shop near wear I live. I got $5 worth while I was there, I might go back and get some more - I love them. I added them to the back pockets as decoration, as well as to the cargo pockets. I also added some little jeans studs to where the pocket joins the side-seam.

The way that the instructions tell you to add the elastic is horrendous. Since I didn't have any extra hands to be able to stretch elastic whilst holding thread out of the way and guiding seams, after about a third of the way around, I ditched it. I went with threading the elastic through a channel. Much, much easier. If I was doing it again, I would be stitching down the sides of the top part of the front pockets so there were no alternate routes for the elastic.

I tried to take some pictures of Noah wearing the pants but he moves too fast!

Wordless Weekend

Couldn't Help Myself...

I made my first Kelani purchase last week. It arrived on Monday. It wasn't fabric. It was this pattern. I have been admiring it for ages, but with two little boys to sew for, I hardly felt I could justify it's purchase.

Until one of my friends had a baby girl... I plan to make her this cute little outfit, and then I can add this pattern to my stash. Guilt free!

More New Fabric and a Giveaway!

I received another delivery this morning of lovely Trefle (robots) by Kokka from Retro Mummy.

I have actually ordered the robots for a specific project that I have in mind for Noah. I had been looking all over the place for tiny robots that I saw somewhere else, and then I hear more fabric has come in. Corrie threw in a little extra fabric, some lovely trucks and cars (also Kokka). I am sure I won't have too much trouble finding a use for it in this house!
Retro Mummy also sells patterns. Sometimes she even gives them away! Visit Retro Mummy's blog and leave a comment for your chance to win a free pattern (and a bit of fabric too, I believe).

Don't forget to enter my giveaway too!

Bibs and a Giveaway!

You can never have too many bibs. Especially not when you have two boys! I love this (free!) pattern from Nicole Mallalieu.

I have a small basket of bibs that I have been binding one at a time as I get the chance, some with home-made bias, and some with shop bought.
That's Noah's hand there. It's really tricky to take photos with a couple of toddlers running around! It's even trickier to take pictures of toddlers - they never seem to sit still! Such a serious face!

I have been very lucky lately and have won some wonderful things reading other people's blogs, and I have decided that it is time to share the love. If you would like to win a bib like the ones in the picture, comment on this post. Tell me if you want a girl bib or a boy bib. If you post on your blog and include a link to this post, I will give you an extra entry. Followers get an extra entry too.


This giveaway has ended and the winner has been announced.
Thanks everybody for your lovely comments!

Cute Japanese Fabric!

I ordered this lovely fabric on Thursday from Retro Mummy, and it arrived here yesterday. It is even more beautiful in person than on the screen. I have already ordered some more! (Try and stop me - I am out of control!)

Corrie (Retro Mummy) is a mum of three, who specialises in Japanese fabrics, lots of fairytale type stuff and even has some cute boys stuff. Retromummy has free shipping to anywhere in Australia - how is that for service!

The fabric I bought includes Trefle (Musical Animals and the cute pink bambi fabric) by Kokka, Some Minny Muu (with cute little pictures of houses, cars, trains, birds and boats and french writing), and some Far, Far Away by Heather Ross for Kokka.

Corrie even threw in a couple of pieces of Let's Enjoy Brittain and an extra piece of the Far, Far Away! I can see some purses being made from these pieces!

Win a Saturday at Sewjourn!

How fantastic would that be? Sewjourn is a sewing retreat in Lancefield, an hour's drive from Melbourne. That makes it three hours drive for me, but if I win, I will find a way to make it work! Anyway, they are having a giveaway. If you are free the last Saturday in January you might like to enter.