Blogtoberfest Wrap Up

Wow, what a month October was. Whilst I did get behind with a couple of days of Blogtoberfest, over a weekend which was just too busy, I still managed to catch up. I am pretty happy with what I achieved. Let's have a look back at October...



My Snakes and Ladders game quilt appeared in Homespun magazine.



I participated in the Kids' Clothes Week Challenge and managed to make an Oliver + S skirt for Amélie, later hacking the pattern to make her a Chevron Skirt. I also made her a pair of Dortje Pants, and made "Make it Perfect" Snappy Ties for the boys.



We welcomed a new Grandson/nephew.



I made a pencil roll as a gift for a birthday party Liam attended.



I showed you how to finish off your overlocker threads and found a better way to keep my bobbins tidy. I also showed you how to make some pipe-cleaner Octopuses with your kids.



I did some pattern testing for Nikki, making a Beauty Case and a USB Key Fob. (I also showed off the Poppet purse, though technically, that was made in September.)



I also did a little pattern testing for Jodie, and introduced Elsie to Amélie who promptly stole her from me and took off her clothes.



We did a little gardening and are planning to climb great beanstalks to the sky and meet with ferocious giants, and my mum and I had a fantastic trip to Melbourne, visiting the Polly Pratt pop-up shop in the Olive Grove, Cleggs, Tessuti and the Craft and Sewing Show all in one day.



Phew!

27. Awesome Day Out

Mum and I had a big day out today. We started at the Polly Pratt Pop Up Studio which was at the back of the Olive Grove Studios in Brunswick.



If you get a chance, you should pop into the Olive Grove and check out their wares. There were some lovely skirts and dresses there made by Finki, Starashan , Dear Someone and Polly Pratt amongst others. I don't think I have ever seen so many items of clothing I wanted to buy in the one shop before. It really made me want to go and make myself some more skirts too, there was so much hand-made inspiration. If you're wishing you could've made it to the pop-up store, I have it on good authority they will be doing this again really soon. When I hear more I will let you know here.



When we arrived, I was a litte disappointed to see that Cam was not there, so we hung around for a bit and then went to Spotlight before coming back. It turns out that CurlyPops was just having a little trouble getting a parking spot. Lucky we came back! I snapped up a few of the Curlypops mini fabric panels, snapped a quick pic of Cam in her beautiful Polly Pratt dress, and then we went on our way.



Our next stop was Cleggs - I grabbed myself some nice skirt fabric, admired the Liberty of London prints, drooled over some silk suiting and then we headed to Tessuti. Oh, one day I wish to head to Tessuti with a few hundred dollars in my hand. Sometimes you get lucky and find some amazing things in the remnant bin. Today, I found some that were perfect for mum. She agreed and took them home. I am pretty sure they were really good bargains. I was also insanely jealous of the ladies that were there, enjoying their SEWING LESSONS! Oh my goodness. I really don't need to do (beginner) sewing lessons, but what a lovely location for someone to learn how to sew. I hope they know how good they have it.



Our next stop was the Craft and Sewing Show in Caulfield. We pretty much made a bee-line for the Haby Goddess stand, where I said Hi to Jodi and purchased one of her Turn-it-All tools. I also grabbed some Clover Wonder Clips from the Punch with Judy stand and was really tempted by some buttons at the Chocolate Coated stand. I can't wait to try out my new tools!



This was a pretty good bargain. I am totally not in the market for a new machine at the moment, but I spotted this and just knew I should let people know. If you have been thinking about getting yourself a Janome Horizon, you've got until 4:30 tomorrow afternoon to organise yourself. I have never seen this machine so cheap. If you look in the background, you can see the price displayed for the brand new model, which has not officially been released in Australia yet. That too, is a very good price.



I had a great day out with my mum. Whilst there were some really good stands at the show, it really lacked the atmosphere and excitement of some of the other craft, sewing and quilting shows I have been to. There seemed to be a lot less exhibitors to what I have seen before, particularly at this venue. I am glad we went to other places in Melbourne before we went and I think I will be doing my craft show visits this way in the future.

Are you from Melbourne and into the craft/fabric scene? What shops/places do you recommend I check out next time?

26. Tomorrow

Tomorrow, I am heading to the city. Amongst other things, I plan to drop into the Polly Pratt Open Studio at Olive Grove and then later on, head over to the Craft and Sew Show in Caulfield.

What are your plans for the weekend?

22. Un-Tangled

I was at my machine, sewing away today, when I reached down for a bobbin. I keep them close at hand in the top of my sewing box.



No matter how much I tidy them though, they always end up in such a tangled mess. You only have to breath near them and they unwind and very soon they are in a bigger mess than this lot are.



The bobbins above are for my old machine. I love this (yes, it stops the bobbins from unwinding) but it also annoys me because it's shape is not really very storage efficient. It takes up way more space than I would like. I know there are lots of other storage solutions, and clips you can buy, but I am reluctant to spend money that could be better used for fabric and other fun stuff.



Anyway, after I popped my instagram photos up on various social media, my friend Amy found me this tutorial. I nipped out to the hardware shop (well as quickly as you can nip to the hardware shop with three kids) and grabbed some tubing in exchange for some small change. I've done a couple of test bobbins, using both 12.5mm and 16mm tubing, and both work fine - I do prefer the tighter curl of the 12.5mm though. My tubing is thinner than what was used in the tutorial but that seems to be okay too.

21. Noah & the Beanstalk

Just over a month ago, Liam, Noah and I planted some vegetable seeds. We planted Heirloom Favourites (tomatoes), Dwarf Peas and Sweet Basil, all ordered online from Yates, and some Capsicum, Dwarf Beans and Sweet Corn all from Aldi.



We planted a punnet of each for Liam and the same for Noah. You can see Noah's peas, above, after just one week!



By day 17, most of the seeds had sprouted and were going quite nicely. Noah is convinced we are going to grow a beanstalk up to the sky and really soon we'll be meeting giants. Liam's peas had been tipped out, so we planted some new ones.



I had almost given up on the capsicum, but some of them have now sprouted, so they might be okay. We planted some snow peas as well, it says to sew early spring, so I hope they will be alright. The basil is still very tiny, we'll see how it goes...



Yesterday, we planted the beans and peas into the garden. The tomatoes are looking a little young yet, I would like to see more leaves on them before I plant them out. We also lost a punnet of them when they were tipped out by one of the kids. I might plant some more, but a different variety, Grosse Lisse instead.



This morning I took a few photos of Amélie and Noah watering the plants.



Do you have a vegetable garden? How do you contend with snails? I'm a bit reluctant to use snail bait with small children around. We're going to try putting some beer in a saucer for them. That sounds really friendly, doesn't it? If you can't beat them, join them, yeah!

20. Loose Ends

Usually, when I sew together items, using my overlocker, the end of a seam intersects with another seam, has it's end turned back (for a hem) or overlaps on itself, so I just chop the end of the thread off and let the overlapping stitching stop it from unraveling.

Sometimes, the over-locked seam runs all the way to the end (like in children's sleeves), so if you were to cut the end off, it would unravel. You also don't want unsightly overlocking ends hanging out of your child's sleeves. This is what I do....



Cut the thread with a bit of a tail, five to ten centimetres should be ample.

Grab a needle with a big eye, and preferably a bluntish point, and thread the loose thread onto the needle.



Use the needle to take the loose end of thread between the two layers of fabric and the overlocking stitch. Alternatively, you could just thread it back between the fabric and the stitching - you might do this if there is only one layer of fabric.



Pull tight and snip the loose end. All done!



Isn't that all nice and tidy!

18. Compromise

I worked out a way I can satisfy my need to use some of the scrummy fabric that I showed you yesterday (earmarked for my placemats) and still go with the original plan I had for my doll quilt swap. The solution was simple - buy some more fabric!

My plan involves some "sky" and I really like the rain in one of the fabrics. You can't see it in the photo, but the fabric beneath it with the garden-y type stuff also has umbrellas, so I think I can get those to work together. I really hope my swap partner likes it. I also hope I can get my vision to work in real life....

16. Aunties and Uncles

It's been a crazy-busy day today, so I'll leave you with some pictures of my kids with their new-born nephew, Ty...

12. Chevron Skirt

Here's my work for days four and five of the Kids Clothes Week Challenge. A chevron skirt. Remember I was saying that I had an idea and used the Oliver + S Skirt as a bit of a toille? It was for this. It was really for sizing. With all the changes I made to the pattern, it isn't really the same skirt.



Before I cut out the skirt, I "made the fabric" by joining alternating colours of corduroy strips. I cut the skirt out on a 45 degree angle, using just one pattern piece for each of the four sections of the skirt, two pieces leaning in one direction and two flipped over and leaning in the other direction. I then overstitched each join with a decorative stitch, rather than using straight lines of top-stitching.



In order to get the chevron effect to match up at the sides of the skirt, I made the front and back the same size. To simplify the skirt, I also eliminated the pockets and the kick pleat. Because the front and back were the same size, I placed elastic all the way around the waistband, rather than just at the back.



There was lots of careful pinning when I stitched the seams together to get all the joins to match. I also had to pin more than I usually would when I joined the waistband to the top of the skirt. The top of the skirt was cut on the bias, so there was a quite a bit of stretch in it. I possibly could have reined this in by sewing a stay-stitch along the top edge, but pins sufficed.

9. Kids Clothes Week Day 2

This is the Oliver + S Sunday Brunch skirt. I made it using some fabric that was already embroidered down one selvedge edge. The embroidery is cute, but makes for a bumpy sewing experience.



It has a cute little kick pleat in the back, which would have been captured awesomely in action in the above photo, had it been in focus. Amélie is proving to be a difficult model these days. A lot of the photos are of the back of her as I chase her through the garden, and the rest are usually close ups of her hand or of a nostril. Hopefully this will improve with time.



One of my favourite things about this pattern is the pocket. The pocket and facing pieces are joined in the middle, which means that the inside of the pocket doesn't pop out, like it does in another skirt Amélie has. Does anyone know why the inside bits of (commercial) pockets always seem to be white (and kind of stand-outish), even when the main fabric is dark?



*For the lady who asked, the cardigan Amélie is wearing is the Kina Cardigan by Muriela - details here: Knitting Weather

3. What a lovely little Poppet

There is something about making a purse-frame purse that has always made me feel a little bit clever. This Poppet purse (from You Sew Girl) is no exception. I've made this one with all the recommended support materials, meaning it is very structured. Whilst it is quite awkward managing it around the sewing machine, it is totally worth it for the result. A cute little purse, for which the name "Poppet" is very apt.



I wouldn't recommend it for the beginner, but if you've put together a few purses, and would like to try something a little trickier, then this is something I would recommend. As usual, Nikki's pattern provides you with lots of little tricks that you can apply to other bags and purses as well.

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