Happy pottering

Hubby is home. Oh what a difference it makes having him here to help out with the kidlettes. His last two shifts seemed to go forever and he only had two days at home in between them. 

 

As a result, I've spent a long time with just the kids and was starting to need to be admitted to an asylum by Tuesday.

 

He's home and I've locked myself away from screaming, whinging, fighting kids and am in my happy place.

 

 

Continuing on with my clothes sewing for 2013, I've made another top and I have to say it's really light, cool and comfortable.  Amazingly I didn't even have to do a bust adjustment for it!

 

 

 

It was a little low in the front and I hate having a large area exposed, mainly because I hate having the hot sun beating down on any exposed area of skin.  We have a bit of a history with skin cancer in the family (as most Australians seem to), so I like to cover up as much as possible.

 

I added a piece of white ribbon across the front which really finished the top off but it is a little crooked so I may have to unpick it and straighten it.  Then again, this is me so it will probably stay that way forever more.

 

 You may also remember I showed you a piece of canvas my sister had painted on.  Well this is the not quite final result...

 

 

 

It's supposed to be a glasses case but I need to reinforce the bottom a bit more to make it sturdier so that any glasses inside will be protected.

 

I also need to finish the closures on it.  I put in a hidden magnet but it wasn't strong enough so it won't stay shut.  I ended up putting two other pearl clasps on it which I really don't think look right on it. 

 

I'm also having a bit of trouble putting them in.  I think I need to work on my hammering technique!

 

 

 

Just to make my life a bit happier I received my order from Darn Cheap Fabrics the other day.  This is in no way a paid advert for them as that's something I'd never do on my blog but when I get good service I like to tell people.

 

 

 

I've ordered from them before and have my package delivered within 2 business days of ordering (most of the time it's the next day).

 

It's always packaged beautifully....

 

 

 

...and I always receive a free gift with my order.  It's usually only 50cm of some ribbon or trimmings but I love the fact that I get a little gift for free. 

 

So this time I got my order, delivered in super quick time plus...

 

 

 

 

...a free gift of some ribbon.  I'm not sure what I'll do with these roses but I'll put it in my stash and I'm sure they will be perfect for some future project. 

 

 

 

I had thought of making something for Little Miss R with them on but it's a bit too girly for her. 

 

Only a few days of the holidays left so I'm also busy covering books and labelling things.  We're off to buy school shoes on Friday and visit Grandma as she's now back from her Christmas break in Cairns with her other son and his family.

 

Lots to do and with hubby home for a few more days I'll try and squeeze some 'me time' in and a bit more sewing.

 

xx Susan

 

 

Sewing in 2013

I don't usually make new years resolutions, mainly because they're not usually that realistic and I never seem to stick with them so I tend not to bother with the whole process.

 

This year is a little different and over the first couple of weeks I let myself get a 'feel' for the year and decide on a few realistic goals for this year.

 

Sewing forms a big part of my goals and for a few reasons.

 

I want to learn to make clothes and make them well.  Not just slapping it all together and saying that it will do, I want something that I'm proud to wear, that fits well and know that I've taken the time in the construction to make it so.

 

 

 

 

My first attempt was the above tunic.  There's lots of things that need tweaking but it's comfortable and lovely hubby even made a nice comment on it (I was shocked!)

 

When I was out the other day I spent a lovely time browsing at Spotlight and ended up buying four new patterns.  They were half price so I'm thinking of going back to get a few more while the sale is still on.

 

 

 

I then spent the afternoon in my room tracing and cutting out patterns to size so that when I decide to make them, all I have to do is cut out the material basically as the patterns already sorted.

 

 

 

 Unfortunately I got a bit excited about getting in and making things so I now have 3 projects on the go.  One at a time Susan!

 

Today I intend to finish at least one of them and hopefully get another one partly done but that all depends on the kidlettes too.  (Hubby went back to work yesterday so it's just me and the cherubs again for awhile).

 

 

Another thing I'm working on lately is what to do with these......

 

 

 

 

 

They're scrap canvas that my sister has painted on and I'm going to cut them up and make them into something useful.  Keep watching this space!

 

Have a fanatastic weekend.

 

xx Susan

My crafty update

I really felt like I didn't get much crafty stuff done over the school holidays but when I went back through everything, I realised that I got a lot more done than I thought.

I continued doing some more embroidery as I had something in mind for these small pieces.

I also finished another A-line dress for Little Miss R.  I used a different pattern this time and I like this one MUCH better.

I thought that the other one I had made was a bit too full and the neckline was too wide.  This one is just right and I've also got some great material to make a couple of winter dresses for her that she can wear over  a skivvy and tights.

I've also been making some lavender sachets.  That's one of the reasons why I wanted to do some embroidery as I've stitched that onto the front of some of them.  I have yet to get the lavender to fill then but as soon as I get that (hopefully this week), then I'll be able to finish them off.

Here's a couple with some embroidered pieces sewn on.

These ones I stitched a felt heart onto them and sewed a button in the middle.  Easy and cute.

I've also been making some wheat packs too.  I've made a few mini ones which are great for the freezer and sit nicely across the forehead if you have a headache or they're great for all those bumps kids are constantly getting.  Mine are anyway but then they do play pretty rough.

I've got some bigger ones ready to go as well but I've got to get some more wheat to fill them too. 

Lastly I've made a pair of pants for Little Miss R.  I had some plain green material which I though would go well with a couple of her patterned shirts and sewed a little lace bit around the bottom.  They look very cute and she's very proud of them of course.

Here I was thinking I hadn't been very productive and I've realised I've got quite a bit done.  Most of them have been small projects that I can do bits of every now and then although I have to say that the bulk of what I've been doing has been when hubby's been home.

Over the next couple of weeks I really want to crochet more of my cotton blanket.  Even though I'm happy sewing right now, I am missing my crochet.  I also want to make a few more pairs of shorts for Master M.  He's missing out a bit with all this sewing so I'd really better get a few boy things made for him.

Hope you have all had a fantastic holiday and a productive week.

xx Susan

I have finished some projects

I truly have got a couple of sewing projects finished by the start of school holidays.   The first is a tunic shirt for me.

This is a LONG story but I will cut it short a bit.  I like tunic type shirts and I was looking for the perfect pattern.  I finally found it, took my measurements and made it to suit but found it was so HUGE on me it wasn't funny.

Used myself as a pincushion and pinned, tucked and squished it up all over until it felt much better.

Then I made my own pattern from that now very horrid looking shirt.

I'm much happier with the result, even if it's a boring, basic colour but I was using scrap material to make a prototype as you probably could call it.  I'm happy with most of it although it did need some kind of embellishment.

 

This time it was with some of the stitches on my new sewing machine.

I did the same stitch around the hem, around the neck and around the bottom of the sleeves.  It makes the whole tunic look so much better and I'm happier wearing it now.  It is only a muck about the house shirt and NOT one I would be going out in.  I will work on the pattern though.

The other thing I have finished is this dress for Little Miss R.  It's a 'Miss Molly' design from The Handmade Dress, and I'm pretty happy with this one too. 

Little Miss R loves it which is what counts but I know I could make it so much better.

I nearly didn't attach the ribbon between the skirt and the yoke because I thought it looked fine as it was and attaching the ribbon was a little bit too scarey for my skills.

I'm so glad that I made myself give it a go because it was fairly easy to do (even though I did make a number of mistakes), and it really does finish the dress off.

The biggest problem with my new hobby of sewing is that I have to iron.  Now my iron has been in hibernation for YEARS and if anything needed ironing, then it didn't even come close to being in this house.  So much so that my four year old son had no idea what an iron was until a couple of months ago as he'd never seen one before.

Now I really have to iron as anyone that sews knows that an iron is essential to being able to sew properly. 

The sacrifices we make for our hobbies.

Over the school holidays I've also been making some things with the kidlettes.  We've had a lot of fun with beads making bracelets and necklaces.

The other crafty goodness I've started doing over the school holidays is embroidery.  It's not as easy to get any sewing done with two very active kids around the place so I've been doing more crochet and having a go at embroidery.  They can easily be done in the lounge or outside wherever the kidlettes are as they like me to be near them.

I started off doing this small daisy circle which I thought was cute and would get me used to some basic stitches.  I think it's worked out quite well and I'm very happy with it.  My French knots were a problem though and really DIDN'T work out until I went to this site and saw a fabulous video tutorial and I've got it all worked out now. Yay!

Will I never cease to astound, astonish and just plain stupefy my family and friends by my current habits.

xx Susan.

Kidlette stitching

I've finished a few things for the kidlettes over the last couple of weeks.  I've made a couple of pretty easy things although some of them could have been made a LOT better.

As I seemed to be making heaps of things for Little Miss R lately, Master M wanted something for himself.  He wanted a pair of shorts and since I only had the Thomas material suitable for little boys, we went shopping. 

He picked out some Robot material.  There was plenty of other boy stuff there but this is what he insisted upon.  He carried the roll up to the counter to be cut then carried his folded up fabric to the car and all the way home so he could cuddle it.

I think I need to get a different pattern for boys shorts as I really wasn't very happy with this particular one.  It's not brilliantly made either but he LOVES them.  I'm thinking they look a lot more like pyjama pants so who knows what time of day they'll end up being worn.

I also made another cute little A-line dress for Little Miss R.  I decided to make really easy things to help me master the basics.

This dress has a little ruffle around the bottom which meant I had to learn how to gather.  I can't believe I'd avoided making things that have gathering in them because it's sooooooo easy. 

And then there's another quick and easy gathered skirt for her in some cute material.  She wants to wear this for non-uniform day at school tomorrow so I made it for her this morning.

I just love this bright and happy lady bug fabric.  I bought it YEARS ago and it's just been sitting with my other fabric in a box but now it's finally seeing the light of day and getting used.  I've still got plenty left over for a cute little dress for her as well, I just need to find a pattern that will be perfect for it.

I've got lots more projects in the pipeline too.  Some are finished, some are half made and a LOT projects are zooming around in my brain just waiting for me to make them. 

I just need to find the time and plenty more fabric of course!

xx Susan

What I've been up to

A word of warning to people that actually do know me...sit down while reading this.

Lately I've been wanting, Needing and so much HAVING to have a go at something that all else gets put on the backburner.  (Mainly housework but who really wants to do that anyway!)

What I've been wanting to do has a LOT to do with the following:

After tidying up and decluttering the spare room a couple of weeks ago as well as reading some wonderful blogs of very talented ladies who make lovely things..I decided that I really needed to sew.

I've been working out what I want to make, cutting out patterns, cutting out material, pinning things together and basically getting a pile of things ready to sew.  If you want the truth I was really putting off the sewing side of things because that meant I had to get out the big, scarey sewing machine.

I think I was 7 or 8 months pregnant with Little Miss R last time I used mine and that was to make some very dodgy curtains for the baby room.  They looked great as long as you didn't get too close to them.

In the end the need for sewing outweighed my trepadition and even though hubby was at work and both kidlettes were home, I started.  I have to say that the kidlettes were fantastic.  The were fascinated and asked 20 zillion questions but then they ask that many questions on just about everything you do anyway.  My children are definately NOT shy or QUIET. 

I spent a very happy afternoon zooming the fabric through the machine and being so unbelievably surprised at how much I was thoroughly enjoying it. 

...and then it had to happen.  My machine made a few clunks and then started to chew holes in the fabric.  Everything I did to try and fix it wouldn't work and it just wouldn't sew and kept breaking the cotton off.

The above picture is not my old clunking machine, it's my Mum's who has lent me hers so I can finish some projects.  Funnily enough, this is the machine I learned to sew on when I had a bit of a flutter during my teenage years.

I am now researching sewing machines to buy.  There's probably no point in getting my old one fixed as it used to me my Grandma's and she passed away 20 years ago.  My Mum and I worked out that the machine would at least be 40 years old so no wonder it was making some clunking sounds.  I just wish it didn't have to give up the ghost just when I was starting to enjoy myself.

So do you want to see what I've made?

Of course you do.

It's not terribly difficult, just an easy-peasy A-line skirt with an elastic waist.  Truly not glamorous I know but it will do me for an 'everyday' skirt and I already know what I'll be doing different next time.  Isn't that the important thing...to learn from your mistakes?  I just hope I get a new sewing machine soon and do some more sewing so it's not another 6 years before I start on another project and completely forget what I'm doing.

An impromptu model in my very messy room with such stylish rubber 'pluggers'  (they do match the colour of the skirt though).  I also thought that the photo was really blurry and it is to a slight degree but I've taken this in the mirror and realised that Master M has been kissing, licking, painting and who knows what else down at his height. 

Looks like I really do need to clean the mirror.

Oh and so I don't quite give up the sewing gig after making one item, I've got the fabric ready to go for a bag for Little Miss R.  My ploy is that I've shown it to her which means I will be HOUNDED until it's finished.  More sewing to come it seems.

I now just need that new machine I've been looking at which means I need to convince hubby this is not a 'one off' whim but something I mean to go on with.

Perhaps I should cut out a lot more material and pin them up ready to go...

xxx Susan