All Things Handmade

Olga The Pig

2010-07-24T21:38:00.002+08:00

Jayden got this cute little book for his birthday this year and the other day while reading it to him I noticed that Olga the Pig is made from fabric very very similar to some fabric that I have in my stash. Anyway, this got the wheels turning in my head and I thought I'd have a go at turning the picture in the book into an actual toy.

Since I only had the head in the picture to work with I started out by drawing what the rest of the body might look like. I am a TERRIBLE drawer so I'm not going to share my picture here but trust me, it looked pretty bad =p I then traced around the picture to get the body shape, cut out all my pieces and stitched them up, then turned it all in the right way and filled with stuffing.

This is the final result. It ended up looking not much like the original picture, and it's completely different to my terrible sketch, but the kids still love it so that's considered a success for me =p

Misha the Giraffe

2010-07-24T21:25:00.004+08:00

This is my third attempt at making a giraffe and I finally got a result I'm happy with. The first one looked more like a dinosaur than a giraffe, the second one looked slightly like a giraffe but the head was all wrong, this one is much better! I made her using the same pattern that I used for the little lambkins with a few adjustments - longer and thinner legs, a thinner body, a rounded behind with the tail attached afterwards rather than the tail being part of the main body, a much much longer neck, a completely different head shape, and different shaped ears. Actually I don't think ANY of the original lamb pattern is in there.

I'm really unoriginal when it comes to naming things and usually everything ends up being called Mary or Molly so I looked up the Perth Zoo online and discovered that their female giraffe is named Misha, so my giraffe is going to be named after her :)

I have been wanting to make a giraffe for ages now but have never been able to find any giraffe print fabric, so there was some definite SQUEEE's when I found this giraffe fleece at Textile Traders. Very cheap too, it cost me $2.40 for 40cm off the bolt and I'll be able to make at least 5 out of that amount.

Calico Softie

2010-07-09T16:18:00.005+08:00

This little dolly was made using one of Ella's drawings.

I got her to draw a picture of a doll, then I traced the outline onto some unbleached calico (leaving a seam allowance), cut out two identical pieces, sewed them together, turned it in the right way and stuffed it with some polyester fill, then let Ella loose with some permanant fabric markers! The hair is made from black wool and stitched down to secure it.

This was a really quick and easy project, and a lot of fun! I think it took us about two hours in total (and that's with me stopping for 30 minutes to talk on the phone lol) The hardest part was definitely the legs! Turning them back the right way after sewing the seams was hard enough, then getting the stuffing into them was near impossible! I had to slowly poke it in bit by bit with a pencil lol

Ella has named her 'Mary' so that she can look after the lamb I made yesterday ("Mary had a little lamb..." lol)

Little Fleecie Lambkins

2010-07-08T13:52:00.005+08:00

How cute is this little sheepie!? I made her using patternbee's "Little Lambkin" pattern. I used fleece fabric instead of cotton though so she is super soft and snuggly. This one is Ella's and she has named her "Fleecie" lol. I'm in the middle of making another one, but this will be a blue one for Jayden. And if I'm not sick of them by the time I've finished that one I'll probably make one for each of my nieces and nephews too =p

Beanie & Leg Warmers

2010-07-08T13:48:00.001+08:00

Ella chose this wool herself and chose what she wanted me to make out of it - a beanie and some leg warmers. Note: They are supposed to be leg warmers but she seems to prefer wearing them on her arms lol.

No pattern for either of them, I just kinda winged it and luckily it all fits!

Jayden's Camo Longies

2010-06-30T10:12:00.002+08:00

After my last disasterous attempt at longies I was going to wait a while before trying again but then an hour later I changed my mind and got right back into it =p These ones turned out MUCH better. They fit him perfectly and I like the colours a lot better than the colours I was using for the first pair.

Please ignore my mess!

Longies Disaster!!

2010-06-27T08:00:00.003+08:00

On Friday night I started knitting Jayden a pair of longies and with the exception of a few minor setbacks it was all going well. I finished the whole top part and had done half of one leg, then this morning I tried them on him to see how they were fitting...

And they're too small :(

I can get his legs in but they are pretty snug around his thighs and I wanted them to be loose, more like pants rather than fitted tights. *sigh* Even if I did just keep on going and leave them as tights, I doubt they would fit him for much longer.

I don't even want to think about how many hours I've put into these!

One Pink, One Green!

2010-06-22T16:25:00.004+08:00

I have finished both kid's hats =D I'm in the middle of doing a scarf for Ella to match her hat and I was going to wait until that was done before I posted pictures but I'm too impatient! No scarf for Jayden because he pulls it off after 3 seconds. He loves his hat though!! He fell asleep wearing it today but it fell off while he was asleep and when he woke up he was frantic trying to find it to put it back on his head.

It's funny how in my last post I said that next time I'd do some ribbing at the bottom and that I would use bigger needles, and then I went and made the exact same hat again without ribbing and without bigger needles =p It does curl up a little bit without the ribbing but I still like the way it looks.

A Hat for Ella (WIP)

2010-06-17T17:24:00.002+08:00

I haven't posted in here much lately because I don't really have any completed projects. I do have several WIP's though so I thought I'd update about one of them. This is going to be a hat for Ella (I hope!! haha)

This is my first time knitting with circular needles and I have to say, youtube has been a GODSEND. I typed in 'knitting on circular needles', clicked on the first interesting video that came up and it taught me everything I needed to know. Before I started I looked at the needles and thought 'How on earth does this even work??" but once I got started it was really easy and I can say I'm now 100% in love with circular needles. I'm only 1/4 of the way through though (if that) so that may change haha.

I've already came across a few things I'll do differently next time though. Firstly, knitting on 4mm is not for me! I only started it this morning and already I'm frustrated at how slowly it's going. I do love the effect of the tiny little stitches though so I think it will be worth it. Secondly, next time I'll do some ribbing first to stop the brim from curling up so much. I'm hoping that once the hat is actually on her head it won't curl as much, but I really have no experience with this so I have no idea how it will look.

So yeah, that's what I've been up to! (one of the things anyway) Hopefully in the next few days I'll make some progress that's worth posting about.

Cupcake Ruffles

2010-05-24T17:16:00.004+08:00

This little skirt was made using the leftovers from my big quilt. I'm almost out of cupcake fabric now :( I don't think I like the striped waistband, I should have done the whole thing in the cupcake fabric I think, although it does break it up a bit. I'm undecided!

Chocolate ice-cream + clean child dressed in white = disaster! Minutes after this photo was taken she dropped a big glob of chocolate on her t-shirt and by the time she'd finished eating it she had it smeared all over her face lol. Luckily the skirt was unharmed!

Sewing Room Clean Up!!

2010-05-22T18:11:00.002+08:00

Today my sewing room got a very very long overdue clean-out! I don't usually let it get this bad but I've been very slack with tidying up after myself lately. I didn't even realise how bad it was until I started having trouble moving my chair around because there was so much stuff on the floor! Another dead giveaway was the mountains of stuff that kept falling off my desk while I was sitting there sewing.

I'm pretty embarrassed by this picture! I'm posting it to make my 'after' picture look more impressive =p

And the 'after' picture! Everything is back in its place, I can find things, I can move my chair around without getting tangled up in piles of clipped threads, and I can walk barefoot without the fear of being stabbed by stray pins on the floor! I also set my garment rack up again so my dresses and skirts can hang neatly instead of being tossed in the corner.

I'm back!!!

2010-05-20T20:10:00.002+08:00

After almost 6 whole months of nothing I've decided I need to start using this blog again! I don't actually have anything to talk about at the moment since i'm in the middle of at least 3 WIP's so I'll just post some pictures =p

Stella's funky monkey coin quilt

Ella's ticker tape quilt

And Jaydee's quilt

Crayon Rolls

2009-11-29T22:03:00.003+08:00

I got a new sewing machine this weekend (which I am absolutely IN LOVE with!!) and my very first project was these crayon roll-ups. I've made three so far - one for Ella, one for my nephew Lachlan and one for my nephew Jordan. They were so much fun to make, I've been trying to think of someone else who'd like one just so I have an excuse to make more =p I was thinking of making one for Jayden but he is still very much in the 'crayons are fun to eat!' stage.

This one is Ella's. This is the first one I made and it's my favourite so far! The pink fabric that I used for the back is a heavyweight canvas type fabric so it's nice and sturdy. I bought that fabric in a fat quarter and I'm amazed at how long it's lasted. This is my 3rd sewing project with it and I still have some left.

All rolled up!
This one is for Jordan. The fabric that I used for this is leftover from when my sister made curtains for Lachlan and Jordan's playroom so Jordan's crayon roll will match the playroom curtains =p

I haven't bought any crayons yet so some of Ella's pencils are filling in for me for the time being.

This one is Lachlan's, and again the fabric is leftover from my sister making curtains. I think those curtains are in Lachlan's bedroom. When my sister gave me her fabric scraps I don't think she was expecting to get it back in another form lol.

Cross Stitch

2009-11-17T14:02:00.004+08:00

It's been a while since I've made anything worth posting about so today I'm posting pictures of something made by someone else, my wonderfully talented Granny! She made this for Jayden when he was born and she has made one for each of her grandchildren, all with different designs (and all equally as cute as this one!)

Sandbox Makeover

2009-11-12T18:45:00.002+08:00

Hello! It's been a while... Today I bring to you my sandbox makeover!

We bought a sandbox a few years ago and Ella used to love it, but then when we moved houses we emptied all the sand out of it and never refilled it. For the last 1.5 years it's been leaning against our back fence in pieces and the weather had damaged it quite a bit, taken off all the varnish and left awful marks all over it. Anyways, the other day I got this brilliant idea to turn it into a little play area for Jayden for the summer. I already had a tin of bright blue paint that was leftover from another project, then I got some foam alphabet squares ($15 from the Reject Shop for a huge pack of them) and put them in the bottom so that he has something soft to sit on when he is playing outside.

This is the 'before' picture. Nasty!!

And this is the 'after' picture. When I was picturing it in my head I wasn't sure if the colour of the paint would 'go' with the foam squares colours, but I think it turned out perfectly :)

I originally intended it to be for Jayden but Ella seems to like it too =p Jayden wouldn't sit still for a photo but Ella was happy to pose.

Our backyard gets the full sun for most of the day so there's not really any shady areas to put it, but I think that I can rig up something using the clothesline and a large blanket or sheet that will provide a bit of cover.

Fabric Markers

2009-10-15T11:06:00.002+08:00

My sister got me some fabric markers from Spotlight today and I have some calico pieces here that I've cut out ready to make into bags. Ella and I are going to have some fun when she gets home from school this afternoon!! =D There's a nice bright red and green in the box so I think I might get her to do some Christmas themed pictures and she can give them to family as Christmas gifts. I'm way too excited about this lol. It's only just gone 11am and she doesn't finish school until 3pm so I have 4 hours to wait!

I might see if I can find some cheap plain white t-shirts too and she can make herself some new clothes =D So many possibilities!

Christmas Stockings

2009-10-14T11:40:00.002+08:00

M for Macie and S for Stella :) These are little Christmas tree decorations I made for my twin nieces. I'm going to do one more pink one for Ella, then 4 blue ones for Jayden, Lachie, Jordan and Caleb. That's all the kids in our family (all the little ones anyway!)

And this is a stocking I made for Jayden. It's not very big so I doubt much will fit inside it, but it's cute!

I have a feeling the every post from now until the end of December is going to be Christmas related =p While looking through old craft magazines last night I found a tutorial for some gorgeous sequined baubles so I'm going to give those a go soon!

Christmas Countdown Calendar

2009-10-13T13:15:00.000+08:00

I have been very busy working on my first Christmas project for the year - an advent/countdown calendar =D I'm so so pleased with how it turned out. It's definitely not perfect and there's lots of things I could have done better, but I'm pleased because it's without a doubt the most time consuming thing I've ever attempted and I managed to stick with it without getting bored and giving up. I was too impatient to wait to get my sewing machine off my sister so the entire thing is handstitched. I'd say I spent around 6-8 hours on it in total, spread over 3 nights.

The little pockets are made out of felt and are blanket-stitched around the edges. The measuring, cutting and blanket stitching took up the majority of the 6-8 hours!

E for Ella. There's also a J for Jayden but you can't see it in this picture. Each of the pockets has a little embellishment on it except one in every row, which I'm going to put numbers on

As you can see, there's one pocket missing lol. I ran out of embroidery thread halfway through blanket stitching the edges so I'll have to get some more thread before I can finish it. The background piece is unbleached calico which is nice and thick and it's doubled for extra strength. The border around the edge is made from scraps of Christmas printed fabric leftover from a Christmas dress that my mum made for Ella a few years ago. The scraps were really small so I had to cut them into strips and then join them all together, then I made it into binding and stitched it to the edges. If I had been patient and waited for the sewing machine it would have taken me 5 minutes maximum to do the binding but I'm not a patient person so instead I sat there for over an hour handstitching it!

All I need to do now is get some more green thread to finish off the missing pocket, stitch the numbers onto the blank pockets (which I probably should have done BEFORE attaching them to the calico) and then find a way to re-enforce the top of it so I can hang it up somewhere without it folding itself in half. Oh yes, and I need to buy something to put in the pockets =p I was going to do the traditional chocolates, but over here the temperature gets mighty high in December and they'll no doubt melt so I'm thinking a small wrapped lolly or something.

I'm also really pleased because I managed to do the whole thing using materials that I already had and didn't have to buy anything for it (except green thread which I'll need to get). For most of it I ended up having EXACTLY enough for what I needed.

A few of Ella's latest drawings

2009-10-11T22:29:00.002+08:00

Not exactly craft or sewing related, but I'm posting these because they're so cute!

Little Red Riding Hood

Ariel with Flounder and Sebastion

Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer

2009-09-27T10:16:00.001+08:00

Does making things in Photoshop count as being creative? If so, here's what I've made this week =p

Beading Techniques

2009-09-20T17:59:00.006+08:00

I didn't want to post these pictures until I actually had something to decent to post but it looks like that's not going to happen so I'll just have to post my mediocre efforts =p Mediocre efforts made to look better with fancy photoshop editing! lol

Ella showing off her new headband. Made with pipe cleaners, beads, and a fabric covered button in the centre. She looks like a little hippy child =p

DISCLAIMER: The pictures below are pretty much just me practising and trying out new things. With the exception of maybe one or two things I'll probably just end up unthreading them all.

Not sure what this is lol. I just kept stringing and stringing until I had a really long string!

Trying out the netting stitch.

And from a different angle...

The beads in the background were done using the peyote stitch. All was going well until I pulled on the thread to tighten it all and the knot came undone and beads went flying everywhere. It took me 2 hours to do it too! I don't know how people manage to do 6 or 7 rows. I did 3 rows and then gave up because it was doing my head in.

Just a simple single strand bracelet on elastic to make it nice and stretchy. I really like this one and have been wearing it ever since I made it. The beads are not that dark in real life, the pink is a nice pale colour and it matches my watch =p

Another pair of earrings. A month ago I had no pairs of earrings. Now I have about 20.

This one is a really awkward length. Too short for a necklace, too big for my wrist (even when doubled over as shown in the pic) and too small for my ankle (when doubled). Not that I'd wear it anyway, not really my style.

Happy Birthday!

2009-09-20T06:45:00.005+08:00

My little cousin Lily is turning 6 on Tuesday and for the first time ever I'm giving a completely handmade gift. I'm very nervous about this!!

I chose to give her this bag because it's my favourite and I know she will love it. It's pink and flowery and perfect for a little girl :) My original plan was to just give her the bag and buy some little things to put inside it, ie some hair clips, lip gloss, beaded bracelet etc. Then I thought "Why not make those too!" (except the lip gloss obviously, I don't know how to do that yet =p)

Then while searching through my stash I found this dress that's made from the same fabric as the flowers and the lining on the bag. For some reason this dress doesn't photograph very well, it's much prettier and has a much nicer shape in real life.

And a little bracelet to go inside her bag. Ella made this one! :) I'm also going to make some hair clips to go with the bracelet and I might buy some little "Lipsmacker" lip glosses to go with it too. Her wrapping paper and card are going to be handmade too! I'm using some of Ella's paintings to wrap up the gift and Ella has already made her a cute little birthday card. So apart from the lip gloss it will all be handmade. I hope she loves it!

Origami Butterflies

2009-09-19T10:40:00.002+08:00

I should rename this "Ella's Craft Blog" since a lot of my posts seem to be about what she's been doing rather than what I've been doing =p Anyways, here's what we've both been doing in the last few days...

Origami butterflies. We made these using the tutorial that's posted a few posts down. The tutorial is for money but we discovered it works just as well (if not better) with construction paper. The ones pictured above weren't quite finished when I took that picture because we didn't have any pipe cleaners but they're all done now :)

Ella doing some painting. When I was planning what her 'arts and craft corner' was going to look like I always envisioned some sort of wall plaque saying something clever and I was planning on buying some wooden letters to spell something out, then one day while looking for something completely different I stumbled upon this wooden cutout with the word already spelt. Perfect!

All pretty and painted!

And this is her arts and crafts corner! The origami butterflies have been finished with pipe cleaners and her "Create" letters are up on the wall, along with a few other bits and pieces of her artwork.

Printable Fabric

2009-09-16T11:55:00.004+08:00

Ren - I don't know whether to thank you or curse you =p I've installed the Stumble Upon toolbar and I've been having loads of fun/wasting loads of time haha.

Anyways, I've just stumbled upon this awesome website that sells printable fabrics. They come in handy A4 size pieces and you just put them through your printer the same way as you would a piece of paper and then afterwards you just cut out your picture and either sew or iron it onto whatever you want. So many possibilities!!

I would LOVE to do something like this! What an awesome gift it would make.

Beads & Fimo Polymer Clay Earrings

2009-08-25T14:19:00.004+08:00

My beads from ebay finally arrived, along with my polymer clay kit so Ella and I have been busy busy busy making earrings and other little trinkets. I don't have any pliers so I've been bending the little hooky parts with tweezers and my fingers and now I have big dents in my fingertips and they're all tender and sore. Must get some pliers! Anyways, here is the results...

My first attempt at using polymer clay! There's fingerprints all over them and little scratches everywhere but I love them =p

Ella made these ones and out of all the beaded ones they are my favourite :) She chose all the colours herself and threaded them on, then I twisted the top for her to attach them to the earring hook.

Bit boring...

Don't really like these ones much

A little bracelet to go with the earrings Ella made

The lighting was terrible when I took this picture so the colours came out kind of weird. The butterflies are meant to be silver and the beads are a soft pink.

Again, very bad lighting!

My second attempt with polymer clay and it didn't turn out much better than my first =p These are supposed to be the little blue ghost from Pacman but they look kind of spazzy. Hopefully no one will look too closely at my ears though so the spazziness won't be as obvious as it is in this close-up.

Lucky 4 leaf clovers! :)

Origami Butterflies

2009-08-25T12:59:00.003+08:00

It's my mum's birthday today and instead of a gift she asked my sister and I to put some money towards a pair of sunglasses that she wants. Money in a card is a bit boring so my sister got creative and made these cute little origami butterflies with the notes. We are going to get a bunch of flowers and arrange the butterlies in amongst them.

The tutorial can be found here - http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/dollar-origami-butterfly.html

Ella's Felt Photo Frame

2009-08-19T18:34:00.002+08:00

Ella has been off school for the last 7 days with Swine Flu so it was the perfect opportunity to do some art and craft :) One of our projects was a photo frame made out of felt. We cut a rectangle of felt, then I got Ella to stitch around the outside with some red embroidery thread. After she'd finished stitching we measured the size of a photo and cut out the middle part just a little bit smaller than a photo (so the photo sits behind it), then she stitched around that part too. Next comes the fun part - decorating! Ella raided my sewing boxes and chose buttons, ribbons, little flower embellishments and some bows.

Concentrating very hard!

The end result

I have many many more projects and pictures to post but it's going to take a while so I think I'll space them out a bit and do one every few days.

Recent Ebay Purchases

2009-08-12T18:58:00.002+08:00

6mm Resin - Strawberry Pink

6mm Resin - Apple Green

10mm Crackle Glass - Blood Red

8mm Crackle Glass - Black & White

10mm Silver Caps

14mm Butterflies

15mm 4 Leaf Clovers

Markets

2009-07-31T12:39:00.003+08:00

No pictures today! Although I do have some coming. Today I have a question... does anyone have any ideas for fancy ways to display handmade crafts at a market? By handmade crafts I mean things like hair clips and doll's dresses and the like. I've made up some little cards with my "Popsicles & Polkadots" logo which I'm going to attach the clips to, but then what? Do I just sit them all on a table? Also, doll's dresses? I'm planning on taking a few of Ella's dolls so I can demonstrate what size dolls they fit, but how can I display dresses that aren't being worn? I also want to get something like this for kiddy sized clothes.

I'm getting way ahead of myself here since the markets in our area don't even start until spring/summer, but I just want to get some ideas so I can be prepared! I'm not even sure if selling handmade things there is a good idea. Most of the market stalls are people selling their old second-hand junk, but there are usually people selling things like handmade soaps and cosmetics and handmade jams etc, plus people selling plants and fruit/vegetables, so I guess it's worth a try.

Tell me your ideas people!! (all two of you who read this haha)

Embroidery

2009-07-28T12:23:00.002+08:00

While at the library last week I discovered a book on embroidery and thought I'd give it a try. It's something I've always wanted to be able to do but never really had any idea how to actually do it. I still don't really have any idea, but I'm a bit closer =p

Heart shaped pin cushion, appliqued cupcake purse, mushroom mini needlebook, and a beaded necklace that Ella made.

There's not really much embroidery on this one, just the outline of the cupcakes. I used a split stitch which probably wasn't the best choice as it turned out a bit bulky. Oh well, it was a learning experience.

Pin cushion! I've always wanted one of these. Previously all my pins were all over the place - some in tupperware containers, some in the little 'groove' thingy on my sewing machine, and lots scattered all over the kitchen table. Now they are all in one place! Again, split stitch around the little hearts, and blanket stitch around the outside.

This is a teensy tiny needlebook lol. I wasn't actually sure what it was going to be until I finished. I was just using the piece of felt to practise on and then when I was finished I thought "Hey! I can stick needles in here!"

I can fit probably 6 or 7 embroidery needles in it but at the moment I've just got 3 in there plus a few safety pins of various sizes that I keep losing

Ella designed this one!! I gave her a notepad and told her to draw me some pictures so off she went and then out of all the pictures she drew I chose this one (because it looked the easiest LOL) The top of it opens up and it's a little purse. Although she can't really put anything in it because the top doesn't close. I need to put a button in or something.

My latest obssession...

2009-07-13T20:08:00.003+08:00

I have Ren to blame/thank for this latest obsession. You shouldn't have taught me how to do this!! lol

These 3 yoyos have been sitting in my sewing box forever and I'm so happy to finally put them to use and get rid of them lol

I love this bag so so much. I agonized over it for hours - different ribbons and lining and fabric placement etc... I tried every combination possible before deciding on this one and I'm happy with my choice.

I don't really like this one. The red polkadots along the bottom and the red for the ladybird's wings are different reds and it's pretty noticeable.

This one used up the last of my "Night Owl"fat quarter. It's amazing how far a single fat quarter can go.

Hello Kitty! Ella has claimed this one =p

And I figured I might as well use up the last of the fat quarter with this coin purse. This Hello Kitty fabric is thick canvas so it's nice and durable.

This is the very first one I made and it's kind of hideous lol. I think Aaron's exact words were "You're not taking that out in public are you?" It was going to be a library bag but the more I look at it, the more hideous it seems. The "LOVE"fabric... It was on clearance for $1 a metre so I asked for 4 metres and it wasn't until she started cutting it that I realised 4 metres is a LOT. I don't think I'll ever be able to get rid of it all lol. So far I've made this bag, 2 dresses and a cabbage patch dress and I've barely put a dent in it. I might make myself some pajama pants I think, that should use up a fair bit.

Spring Ruffle Top

2009-07-10T13:12:00.004+08:00

I made this little top for Ella today using the Spring Ruffle Top Tutorial by Rae from the Sew Mama Sew blog which can be found *here*

I had to adjust the ruffles on the straps quite a bit because the tutorial is for an adults top and they looked massive on Ella since her shoulders are so tiny. I probably should have adjusted the width of the actual straps too but by the time I realised how wide they were it was too late =p Overall though, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

This is probably the first time EVER that I've been able to follow a tutorial and do things properly =p My usual method is just to cut blindly without measuring and then sew blindly without using pins (or anything else that I should be using) and hope that it turns out okay.

Cabbage Patch or Baby Born Dresses

2009-07-09T13:43:00.002+08:00

Hair Clip Organisers

2009-07-09T13:37:00.003+08:00

These were fun to make! Quick and easy and the end product is very useful :)

This one is for Ella

And this one was made for a friend's daughter :)

Ribbon Barettes

2009-03-09T16:07:00.001+09:00

I get addicted to things far too easily =p My latest addiction is these little ribbon bows. I've made about 50 of them in all the colours of the rainbow haha. I got some tiny little barettes off ebay and have stuck them on so now I have a whole lot of barettes and no idea what to do with them!

Owls

2009-03-05T18:54:00.002+09:00

I bought this fat quarter a few weeks ago and it's finally arrived, now what am I going to do with it??

I originally intended for it to be a skirt and I was going to add some brown polkadot ruffles to the bottom (obviously a skirt for a child since it's only a fat quarter), however when the fabric arrived I saw it was not as lightweight as I was expecting so that plan went out the window. My next idea was a pair of trousers for Jayden but a quick measure up showed there's nowhere near enough fabric there for that. So that leaves me where I am now... having no idea what to do with it. I want to make a bag of some sort but I suck so badly at things like that, bags are definitely not my thing. Ideas anyone? (and by 'anyone' I mean the two of you who actually read this =p)

Clips

2009-02-24T10:35:00.001+09:00

New Stuff

2009-02-21T16:24:00.002+09:00

Hot pink polkadots with black polkadot ruffle
Pink ladybirds with black polkadot ruffle
Pink polkadots
Popsicles and polkadots
Red and green apples

~ All are available here ~

Fabric Covered Button Kits

2009-02-21T09:54:00.002+09:00

These DIY fabric button kits are possibly the greatest invention ever. They are quick and easy to make - simply cut a circle out of your fabric using the template on the back of the packet, stitch loosely around the edges of the fabric, place the top of the button inside and then pull the thread until the fabric is nice and tight, then snap the back on. But be warned, they are addictive!

And what can you do with a bunch of fabric buttons? Make hair clips! :D

Shirring Elastic: I Has It.

2009-02-19T20:10:00.005+09:00

Remember my post from earlier on today when I couldn't find any shirring elastic? Well guess what my wonderful fiance found for me this afternoon....

He drove to Busselton, 45 minutes away, and spent 2 hours looking in every single store he could think of. And guess where he ended up finding it? Woolworths! We have 3 Woolworths stores here but I didn't check them =/ haha. Oh well, I has elastic!

And to celebrate, I made dresses! (and a skirt)

Shirring Elastic

2009-02-19T10:57:00.003+09:00

So it seems that every sewing shop in my entire town is out of shirring elastic. I went to Spotlight, Textile Traders, Big W, even the ridiculously expensive sewing boutique next to Textile Traders.

Nothing.

At the last place I went to I asked if there was anywhere else that I could try and they confirmed that the entire town is out and no one knows when they'll be getting more. Aaron's mum joked that the reason for the shortage is because I've bought it all =p

I am *considering* driving to the nearest town (which is an hour away!) to get some. I guess I should probably call them in advance though and make sure they have some.

And just so this post isn't just me whining, here's a picture of the quilt I made for Jayden last night...

I'm hoping Miffy isn't too 'cute and girly' for a boy!

Shameless Pimping!

2009-02-16T11:16:00.003+09:00

My online store! This is my temorary url - http://www.madeit.com.au/madeit/supplierdetail.asp?rsSupplierID=25078

They are currently giving the entire site a makeover and I'll be getting a more attractive (and shorter) url very soon :)

Sewing Room Storage

2009-02-16T09:33:00.003+09:00

My new storage area for all my bits and pieces :) Aaron and I spent an entire afternoon looking for a small cheap bookcase and after scouring 6 different furniture stores, including ones specialising in second-hand furniture, we didn't find anything suitable (and by suitable I mean NOT $185!) It was at this point that Aaron suddenly remembered that he can make things out of wood and offered to make one for me. So off we went to Bunnings to get some wood and some paint and in less than an hour my shelves were done! The shelves cost $35 to make and the paint was $15, so $50 in total. Not bad. We only used a tiny amount of the paint (which is called "Unicorn Blue" - I love it!!) so there's a lot left and now I'm free to go crazy painting everything else =p

Popsicles and Polkadots

2009-02-06T20:10:00.002+09:00

Booties

2009-02-06T20:01:00.002+09:00

I made these for my brother and his girlfriend who are expecting twins =D

Fun With Felt

2009-02-06T19:55:00.002+09:00

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with all this. I think the cupcakes might become fridge magnets or something. I didn't really think it through very well when I was making them =p

Washbag & Cosmetic Purse

2009-01-19T16:13:00.002+09:00

The bag isn't finished yet, I need to find some way to neaten up the edges and make it look 'right'. I had the right idea in my head, just didn't execute it very well =p It took me all bloody day too (well almost). I think this is the longest amount of time I've ever spent on anything!

I will tell you all a secret too - If you look at the other side of the bag (which you can't because I've only photographed one side of it), the balloons are upside down! lol. I could see that happening before I even started sewing but I am lazy and wanted to do both sides as one continuous piece of fabric rather that waste time doing seperate pieces. Yes I am such a professional haha.

Blueberry Sprite

2008-11-07T21:23:00.004+09:00

I'm going to share my special top secret recipe* with you all. You'll need a bottle of Cottee's Blueberry Cordial and a bottle of Sprite. Pour yourself a glass of Sprite and then add a little bit of cordial, mix it up and add some ice and there you have it - Blueberry Sprite! =p

*Not really special or top secret at all - I'm sure millions thought of it before I did.

A top for me? Or a dress for Ella?

2008-11-03T11:49:00.005+09:00

I made this as a top for myself but after I finished making it Ella asked if she could try it on and I realised it fits her perfectly as a dress =p It looks cute on her but I'm not ready to give it up so I think we'll share! lol

Shirred Dress

2008-11-01T12:54:00.003+09:00

Not only is this the very first time I've ever sewn clothing for myself, it's also the very first time I've worn a dress since 1993. I got the fabric from Spotlight, on clearance for $2 a metre, and I have enough left over to make a dress for Ella (although I'm not sure about us having matching clothes =p) The photos aren't the best due to bad lighting and me having to take them myself since there's no one else around, but you get the general idea.

After seeing my legs in this picture I'm thinking a day in the sun would not be a bad idea! I could definitely do with some colour.

Also, I've discovered that the best thing about making my own clothing is that I can put the straps wherever I want. With this one I put my bra on underneath and then marked the straps exactly where my bra goes, so now I can wear a bra with it and I don't have bra straps poking out!

Dora Pyjamas

2008-10-28T17:12:00.005+09:00

It's been a long time! I made some Dora The Explorer pyjamas for Ella today. They're a bit big because I didn't bother measuring her, but she can grow into them. The fabric has been sitting in my sewing box for about 4 months now and I figured it was time to do something with it =p

Puppy Dog Camera Case

2008-10-08T12:38:00.003+08:00

No updates for over a month and then two updates in one day! I must work on my consistancy! Anyways, I've been without my sewing machine for a few months and today I got it out again. I decided to go with something simple to ease myself back into it. I was worried that I'd forgotten how to thread my machine and stitch in a straight line but apparently I remember =p
This was originally going to be a coin purse but it turned out much bigger than I had planned, mainly due to the fact that I bought the wrong zip size, so now it's a camera case instead. I put my camera inside so I could take a picture of how perfectly it fits, but DUH I need my camera to actually take the picture! So you'll just have to take my word for it =p

I don't know why I chose that fabric. I don't even like dogs. I suppose they are kind of cute though!

Nutty Brown Rice Salad

2008-10-08T11:34:00.004+08:00

1 1/2 cups of brown rice
1 capsicum, finely chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon oil
Cashews

1. Cook rice according to the directions on the packet
2. Add capsicum and spring onion
3. Add soy sauce, lemon juice and oil
4. Stir thoroughly and refrigerate
5. Add cashews just before serving

Apricot & Oat Bars

2008-09-03T16:59:00.005+08:00

1 1/2 cups traditional rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
250g dried apricots, finely chopped
170g melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 180'C. Lightly grease a 23cm square pan and line the base with baking paper. Combine oats, flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well until combined.

2. Add the apricots, melted butter and vanilla essence to the dry ingredients, stirring well until dough is crumbly and moist. Press dough into prepared pan and level the surface. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

3. Allow to cool before removing from pan. Cut into 18 bars and dust with icing sugar to serve.

*I didn't have enough dried apricots so I used half apricots and half sultanas. I also skipped the icing sugar step as they tasted sweet enough without it, plus I'm planning on giving them to Ella and she doesn't need the extra sugar ;) They turned out very very crumbly (as you can see by the photo) but very nice!*

Stardust Cloth Shoes + Matching Bib

2008-08-22T10:31:00.002+08:00

I made some things for Jaydee last night - a pair of little booties and a matching bib. The shoes were made using this awesome tutorial from stardust shoes. They are the second pair I made as the first ones turned out absolutely enormous and I had to adjust the pattern a bit to make them smaller.

No pattern for the bib, I just traced around one of his other bibs to get the general shape and then went from there. These pictures are a bit crap. It's overcast today so the lighting is terrible. They are much bluer in real life!

Fat Quarters

2008-08-22T09:04:00.003+08:00

Guess what I just bought!? A whole bunch of cute fat quarters =D I'm so excited!! I'm going to make a billion coin purses!

Jeans Makeover

2008-08-19T19:39:00.003+08:00

Ella's old jeans. They still fit her really well around the waist but the legs were way too short for her and there's 3 holes on one side where she got to them with a pair of scissors. I was going to throw them out but decided to have a go at fixing them.

I added ruffles to the bottom, covered the holes with flower appliques, and added ric rac to the pockets and covered the belt. I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

Fat Quarter

2008-08-18T13:56:00.008+08:00

What to do with a fat quarter!? Lots of stuff =p I managed to use almost the entire piece, with just a few little scraps leftover.

Cloth nursing pads. I actually made two pairs of these but my overlocker ate the other pair :S

A little summer top for Ella.

An appliqued t-shirt, also for Ella.

A little coin purse

Another purse, this one is zippered

What it looks like without stuff spilling out of it...

Hair clips with "yoyo" embellishments and buttons.

DIY fabric covered button hair clips

Striped Apple Skirt

2008-08-17T13:33:00.003+08:00

This was originally a dress that I made for Ella but it ended up being a complete disaster. It didn't fit properly and it just looked awful on her. Anyway, I chucked it in my scrap box to do something with later and today I decided to try and fix it. It was never going to work as a dress so I cut the bottom half off and the top half became a skirt. Ella loves it because it "twirls" now =p

Cloth Nursing Pads

2008-08-16T17:19:00.005+08:00

I came across this tutorial for cloth nursing pads today and decided to give them a go. I've spent an absolute fortune on disposable nursing pads in the last 6 months, I wish I had known about these sooner! My first attempt was done with the overlocker but apparently the overlocker doesn't like it when I try to stitch in a circle and the result was a huge mess that got thrown straight into the bin. My second attempt was with the sewing machine and came out much nicer. I ended up making 4 pairs and have used one pair already, they work brilliantly.

Canvas Prints

2008-08-16T09:10:00.004+08:00

These are some of the cute canvas prints that my sister made. If anyone is interested in buying some, leave me a comment here or email me (disarm-you@hotmail.com) and I'll pass the message on to her. She does custom prints too so if you're interested in any particular style/colour/pattern just let me know.

I've got these ones in Ella's bedroom, she absolutely loves them!

More Clips!!

2008-08-15T10:44:00.002+08:00

I'm obsessed with making these things...

Tinkerbell Purse

2008-08-14T17:46:00.002+08:00

Army Set For Jayden

2008-08-13T17:57:00.001+08:00

It took me three goes to get the J right. First time I ironed the 'Heat N Seal' stuff to the wrong side of the fabric, second time I got it on the right side of the fabric but then I realised the J would be a mirror image and not the right way round. Third time I got it right! (Note: I didn't make the shirt, it's just a plain white shirt from Target that he already had, I only did the blue circle and the J)

Matching bib (which looks strangely off-colour in this shot). It's backed with soft towelling to make it nice and absorbent so Jaydee can dribble and drool as much as he likes.

And pants...

Jaydee looking a bit unimpressed.

Still not impressed.

Coin Purses

2008-08-13T07:59:00.002+08:00

I made these little coin purses last night. It was a bit of an experiment and I'm not sure if I like how they turned out. I think I'll do a few more and change the style a bit and see if I can improve them. I gave the blue one to Ella and she immediately fell in love with it and started filling it with all her little 'treasures' ie. buttons, sequins, bits of ribbon lol. The button on that one isn't sewn on yet, I just stuck it there to see what it looks like.

Word Cloud

2008-08-11T14:39:00.003+08:00

How cool is this?! You just copy and paste your text into the box and it creates a 'word cloud' using your words. Most used words are biggest, least used words are smaller. I made this one using part of one of my lj posts from earlier this week.

http://wordle.net/

A few dresses & a skirt

2008-08-11T10:47:00.003+08:00

Striped Dress. The straps aren't finished yet, but I'm lazy so I just pinned them on for the photo =p

Tinkerbell Dress. This is the first thing Ella has actually kept on for more than 5 minuts. I wonder if Tinkerbell has anything to do with that?!

Polka Dot Skirt. I'm not sure if I like this or not, it sorta sits funny.

2008-08-10T12:07:00.001+08:00

Birthday Party Ideas!

2008-08-09T13:53:00.003+08:00

Strawberry Hair Clip

2008-08-08T17:02:00.002+08:00

Blue Summer Dress

2008-08-05T16:22:00.003+08:00

I made this little summer dress for Ella today. I got the fabric from the remnant basket at Textile Traders for $1.00! The bodice and the skirt took about 15 minutes to make (thanks to my overlocker!) but the straps took about 3 hours, mainly because it took me 2.5 hours to figure out what I wanted them to look like. Poor Ella had to try it on about 6 times while I was deciding. I had a few strips of fabric left over when I was finished so I used them to make a matching headband.

Things to remember for next time:

Make sure I have matching thread before I start! I have every colour in the world except blue so I had to use green and when you look close up it's quite obvious.
Find a better way of attaching the straps. The stitching shows through on the front and looks particularly bad because it's green.

Felt Hair Clips

2008-08-04T15:40:00.007+08:00

I seriously love felt. It's cheap, it's easy to cut, it doesn't fray, and it's available in so many lovely colours. Anyways, here is some more felty goodness!

Felt Hair Clips

2008-08-02T15:16:00.006+08:00

My overlocker is out of use so I've been forced to hand-sew today. Can you believe the overlocker has run out of thread already?? I only bought it 4 days ago =p

Anyway, I've been looking at all the gorgeous handmade hair clips on ebay and I have loads of spare felt so I thought I'd give them a try.

These last ones are a bit messy! Using fabric was a bit of an experiment that I don't think I'll try again.

Froggy Pajamas

2008-07-27T12:56:00.001+08:00

I made some pj's for Ella yesterday. The fabric is snuggly flannel and it's got cute little froggys on it! This is the first thing I've made that I actually like, and they fit her perfectly. I had a pattern for it ("Style 4361") but I suck at patterns and after staring at it for an hour I still couldn't figure it out so I ditched the pattern and just cut blindly and hoped for the best. I got the fabric from Textile Traders (my new favourite store) for $2.99 a metre. As a guess, I'd say they cost about $2.50 to make.

Arggggh!!

2008-07-21T21:52:00.000+08:00

Pirate pants and a pirate hat, modelled by Mr Jayden Lucas. Both the pants and the hat were made by tracing around clothing that he already owns. Reminder to self: Next time be sure to use BLACK thread instead of white =p