Old Sheets

I love old sheets. Old sheets are a lot like old friends.

Old sheets are comfortable, familiar. They're worn in and softened in just the right places. They even smell right. Not always good, but never strange.
They have a history - especially when they're yours. Sometimes they have marks and scars as a testament to that history. Sometimes they'll be worn so thin that you could break them like that with a twist of your pinky finger. Sometimes they're still going strong, years and years later.

So I suppose it's not surprising that I love to work with old sheets, refashioning them for new uses. They make wonderful house or pyjama pants - soft and light, and often 100% cotton. They're great for cushion and pillow covers - especially when they're worn thin in the middle, you can piece the edges of different sheets together. Being a simple woven fabric they're usually wonderfully easy to work with, already stretched as much as they will, not overly prone to creasing. And, when there's nothing else for it, they make marvellous cleaning cloths, soft and light, easy to wash and re-use again.

Belated Christmas Sewing

This week I'm racing to finish my first ever batch of bunting - a project I've been swearing I'll work out 'soon' for many months - for a friends' little boy. His whole room is done in primary colours, so the bunting will be too, to match. I bought myself some pinking shears (so I don't have to sew the edges of my flags) and I'm so pleased at finding this Cars themed ribbon, to go with his playmat and bed sheets.
He and his Mum will be moving soon, so I don't think I'll get to see it strung up, but hopefully when they're re-settled I'll be able to ask for a picture.

Merry Christmas, Midsummer, Yule & Festivus

I know I've been slack about updating. Truth is, I've been panicking; we had a family gathering with 14 people last weekend, for my dad's family, we spent the day itself with my in-laws, and then we're going to Canberra to see my mother and siblings, tomorrow. Plus, all 3 of us are ill (We must have been on the very top of Santa's naughty list!).

My grand plans of a wholly handmade Christmas gift pile have fallen by the wayside. Apart from a bunch of baking for my cousins, the best I could manage was this no-sew polar fleece blanket for my aunt & uncle.

Wait, I guess that's not strictly true - I did manage to make yet another of Two Little Banshees's hippo stuffies, this time in green, a Midsummer gift for my son. I'm hoping it will be the first of a collection of "handmade stuffies by Mummy", not to mention beginning a tradition of one handmade gift opened on the equinox (I'd like to make something for my partner next year too, and encourage him and our boy to make presents for me and each other as well).

At least it's now mostly over. We just have to get over these colds!

Matching kimonos

Oh, Habitual "Simple" Kimono, how I love to hate and hate to love you!

These two are a matching set for a friend's two sons - the smallest of whom is only three weeks old, and as big as my munchkin was at birth. They're the fourth and fifth versions of this pattern that I've made, and I've come to the point where I've realised two things;

1. Whilst binding on the edges looks really awesome, it's nasty to sew without pressing and being very, very careful you've got it matched up on either side of the fabric. Inevitably, I end up missing the edge on the underside. (is there some trick I have not discovered?)
   
   
2. My son is just too tiny for this massive neckline! Whilst a size may fit him length-wise, the neck gapes really badly. The kimono I made him at six months sits strangely along the bottom as it tries to reach round his body, but the neck fits perfectly, as an example.

So I think some pattern tweaking is in order, when I next feel the need to make another of these (and I do love them; it's so hard to find interesting, creative clothing for little boys that doesn't consist of insane amounts of tailoring and I'm not about to try getting an 18 month old to stand still for a fitting!). necessity is the mother of invention, after all.

Case in point; I didn't have enough of the gorgeous forest green or pale blue bindings to completely do each of the kimonos, so I took a multicoloured approach. Tiny boy's kimono is trimmed in a darker blue than the background of the fabric, with brown and green for the side-ties that matches some of the cars in the print. Big boy's kimono is trimmed in the forest green his mother and I both love on our boys, with orange side-ties, that again goes with the print on the fabric - this one's not an exact match, but less disparity than the photos suggest. My camera and the light levels just were not happy with me this morning!

Note to my friends with Very Small People

One ought never comment that you need new clothes for your child in my hearing, when I have a gap in my scheduled sewing projects.

Well, unless you want several new pairs of shorts for said Small People!

Sneak Peek

This is a project I've been steadily working on for a friend, the past few weeks. There's been lots of love, time and care taken with it. It went to my friend today - and as I told her "I don't hem chiffon for just anyone!".

Any guesses as to what it is?


(To be revealed in December!)

Silly Frilly hat

Not so much a hit.

Sew Simple Shrug

I made myself one of these from Sew Hip issue 5. My friend Jodie was very taken with it, and asked me to get her some nice fabric at the Stitches & Craft Show, for her own version - which we finally both found the time to make today!

She hasn't sewn since she was fourteen, and corralled into a home ec classroom with a bunch of machines from the age of dinosaurs. Did anyone have a good experience with those metallic behemoths? All I remember mine doing was constantly eating its own bobbin, making snarls I simply could not unravel, that often meant my project had to be cut up, in order to pry the fabric from the machine's maw.
Like me, Jodie says she has spent years thinking she hates sewing and sewing machines, because of those early experiences.

But I promised this was a REALLY easy project, and the results would be fabulous (especially with these fabrics, yum!). So I soothed my friend's nervousness, demonstrated how lovely my sleek, modern machine is, and watched carefully as she sewed her first machine project since the twenty years ago apron.

I feel so cheerful about the result; look at that big smile! She did it! And it looks fab. I'm so proud of her.

Jodie is now the second friend I have introduced to the joys of sewing useful things with the aid of a machine. My first 'student' made her daughter a bag with my help, and got her own sewing machine for her last birthday. I'm really looking forward to seeing what she makes.

Summery top

I never feel as motivated to make things for myself as for others, but after making my Bug with this bright flowered fabric, I really wanted to make something for myself out of it - and then I could not resist this sweet pattern over at Sew Mama, Sew. I was a bit nervous because I'm built rather differently to the models featured, so tunics like this tend to look rather maternity when I put them on. But I left off the ruffle (think Miss Piggy - and not in a good way), and I'm actually happier with the result than I expected.

Seriously, how can you resist this spring-like fabric combo?

(And yes, in case you're wondering, that IS a row of white around the bottom of the top that you can see. Hack and Slash Seamster that I am, I used the selvedge as my bottom edge. Lazy is the new cool, didn't you know?)

Blue Hippo Sublime

I can safely say I feel I'm really getting the hang of this hippo pattern (finally!), though each new incarnation makes me feel even sorrier for the hippos that came before. I'm noticing less tendency to sew folds into their faces, and their bottoms are becoming plumper and more rounded (which, let's face it, is what you want in a hippo behind. Skinny derrieres are Just Not Hippo!). As my first hippo bum was weirdly creased and folded (and I even left off the tail by accident) I hope the other adults with whom I share my home will forgive the fact that I waxed lyrical over my latest hippo behind and don't think I'm too weird for very long.
Best of all, I was able to whip up the latest hippo in a few hours, over a single Friday evening. Yep, us parents of toddlers know how to party!

Bug Softie

I've been a bit slack with the blogging lately, and that's partially because I've been a bit slack with the sewing. To break my sewing drought I decided I needed to add to the Softies I would be sending away for Mirabel (because one is pathetic) and I wanted to do something fun, that wouldn't break my brain. So I picked up the Blinking Flights bug pattern and some scraps of bright, cheerful fabric. It only took me two nights to whip up this island bug.
(Why are my creations always just that bit wonky? Let's pretend, and say it was their Creatrix deliberately imbuing them with some of herself, shall we?)

I'm not really a pattern follower, more what I call "A Hack and Slash Seamster", but the pattern plus knowing what the end result should look like made this a super easy softie to make. I didn't trim the seams round the curve of the head, as advised, and I think it shows, unfortunately, and the antennae were actually quite tricky, because they're so slim and require quite a precise control of your machine. But otherwise, this was a really easy, FUN pattern to make (and I felt very inspired by the bright colours and fabrics used by their original creator).

I'm now also kind of in love with the main, flower print fabric I used, and want to make myself a clothing item from it - and I think I've found the perfect pattern.

Embroidered teatowel

I've been on a bit of a craft book buying splurge, of late. It started just before my birthday. What kicked it off was actually a sudden desire I developed, to own Aimee Ray's Doodle-stitching, which I'd seen for months in the shops (but was now not to be found Anywhere. I looked! Bah.)



I finally caved and bought the book on Fishpond. It came with me to Queensland, at the beginning of the month, and I finished a few small embroideries, including this bird on a branch. Once home I paired it with some glorious quilting fabric and this amazing royal blue tea-towel, to produce what I hope will be a very nice small gift for a friend's X-Mas.

Softies

This unnamed hippo is the second I've made from this Two Little Banshees pattern. Her sister's name is Bubbles, and she is a lot wonkier. Luckily, I was always the sort of kid who appreciated the 'imperfect' stuffed toys in shops more than their perfectly balanced siblings!

Unnamed Hippo is not going to be staying with me, though. I'm hoping that she, and a few friends, will be headed off to Melbourne come early November, for the Softies for Mirabel charity collection this year.
I've never actually completed a softie before and once I've mastered this pattern, I'm hoping to try my hand at a few more, so I've been scouring the internet for ideas and tutes. There are so many out there!

This little girl with beret and capelet is super sweet, for instance. But there's also this little felt dolly or their weird contemporary if I'm not in a "sweet" mood.

If I wanted to stick with the animal theme, there's also heaps of options, like a Pointy Kitty, Blinking Flights Bug (designed by a local from my city!) or some of these Beautiful birds. I think I want to have a go at that last one for myself, to put on a twig to decorate my house. But that will come later.

Tiny Tote Free to Good Home

Spring is sprung
The grass is ris
I wonder where
The birdies is?

Going by the calendar acknowledging the equinoxes and such, Spring actually started back in early August. Because professional calendar makers just can't wrap their heads around things not following their calendars exactly, they've tricked us all into believing the season began yesterday.

So in honour of these calendar makers, the fact my birthday is a month away, and the coming Spring Equinox, here's a giveaway!

This cute little bag was one of my earliest attempts to actually complete a project. It's a little taller than A5, but about that length, with enough depth to fit a large womens' wallet, a notebook, some lipbalm, and a pen with room to spare (I know, I stuffed it with everything I usually carry to check it was big enough, when making it).

The outside is a very soft apricot-pink brushed cotton that feels almost like suede. It's all fabric, so folds down very small, and it's lined with vintage flower print cotton, too.

The flowers are acrylic felt and are actually a badge that can be removed and worn, or attached to another bag.

To win this tiny tote, please leave a comment and some way of getting in touch with you - email or a blog. For an extra entry, link to this post and tell me about it!

Entries close on the 20th September, and will be drawn on the Spring Equinox.

Australian Free Things!

Hey, the Haby Goddess has not one but TWO giveaways that close at 5pm AEST today!
Her shop has some really cute stuff (that is always changing) so is worth a look anyway (I just wish there was MORE!). But if you're in Australia, go take a gander, and enter to possibly score yourself something nice.
Me, I'd really love that hippo pattern - my goodness my love of hippos has reignited recently!

A spot of Embroidery

This is part of a gift I'm putting together for someone. The pattern comes from an (accidentally - my tracing skills were challenged by the waffled fabric!) altered Badbird freebie.

You read that right, by the way; it really does say 'I poop rainbows'.

Peg Bag

I've been promising myself for months that I'd make my family a peg bag.
When we moved into our current home I was heavily pregnant, it was the end of summer, and stinking hot. The two Hills Hoists at the back of our block came complete with pegs, that stayed on the lines all day every day. Over the year or so that we've been here, the unrelenting sun, rain and frost has taken its toll. The plastic has degraded and every day I find more tiny, bright shards of peg death on the ground.

So I finally bit the bullet, googled 'peg bag pattern' and decided to make a simple version of the simplest pattern I could find (Easy Gratification, your home is Here).

More involved heads than mine decided to ditch a large pile of "Medieval" tabards from my local groups' loaner pile some months ago, possibly because they all appear to be made for someone over six feet tall with the constitution of a rake. Somehow, I ended up with the pile. One of these came in very handy when I needed fabric for this project!



Every fabric I touch needs to be embroidered, these days! The bird is a slightly altered freebie pattern I got from Badbird and the word is just one of the free fonts I got on my copy of Windows.
I'm slowly making my little word that much prettier.

Cool

As a lover of natural fibres and all their glory (thankyou for that, Medieval Re-enactment), I am no stranger to The Burn Test.
Briefly, for those uninitiated, this is where you're not sure of a material's natural or man-made properties, so you take a small sliver of it and apply a flame. Natural fibres burn and create ash, man-made melt and leave puddles and/or beads of crud.

Griffin Dye Works has a nifty little guide to Burn Test results, to help you figure out things a step further than "natural" vs "man-made", which includes an all too important "poisonous fumes" box! Nifty.

Matching Kitchen Queen Strawberry set

I bought a teatowel set a little while ago - I liked the colours, and thought about decorating them and gifting them to people.


So when I heard that one of my friends, who is very handy in the kitchen, turned out to be having a rough week (or two), I thought it would be a good time to make good on that idea - and whilst I was at it, I'd make her an apron, to match.
Red was my basic inspiration - to warm up this cold winter weather! My partner helped me pick out the other fabrics - which was mainly about choosing which of the fabulous quilting cottons I have hoarded would be best for this project. We decided on the dramatic strawberries on black. Which naturally lead to my doing a giant strawberry applique/embroidery on the apron.


As it turned out, I ended up bullying him into not only helping choose fabric, but also decorating the teatowel, as I decided I wanted to concentrate on doing the apron. I'd never done one before, and was using one of mine as a base, with calico for the inner lining. It's not a hard project, but I was hoping to get the whole thing done in a night or two at most. Besides, the family that crafts together is happy together. Er, aren't they?

I'm really proud of his efforts on the teatowel. He's got a good eye for design and colour (though he sometimes confuses his taste and mine. The seventies are SO not my decade!). The only input I had was minor technical help with threading the sewing machine, checking the tension when he was worried something was amiss, and a tiny bit of help with winding a bobbin (Yes! He did that, too! He ran out halfway through, so he had to). Considering it was the second project he's done (and the first was just a hem), I'm very proud of his craftiness.


For myself, I got to practice a little more of my hand embroidery skills; the top of the strawberry applique is a chainstitch - one of the four I know. And I really enjoyed thinking very technically about the placement of straps, and reinforcing, and shape - although I used an apron of mine as a basic for the pattern it was the jumping-off point and the final piece is an entirely different creature (apart from the fact they're both basically aprons).

I really feel like I can trace the evolution of my sewing skills, this year. I can see a real difference in the quality of what I'm producing, and I'm becoming more confident with things like pleating and lining.

Anyway, I hope my friend gets a lovely surprise when she finds it in her mailbox, and that she enjoys swanning about her kitchen feeling Strawberry-tastic!

About that resolution...

...the one I made at the start of the year?



On my latest project I discovered that when experienced tailors and seamsters bang on about taking triangles out of your seam allowance around curves to allow for a better curve to the over-all project they aren't kidding around. It really does make a difference! Who knew?