Squeezing in some sewing

As you know, I havent been feeling great of late and I've neglected to share some pretty great things that have happened in my life, both personally and crafty.

So first off I'd like to thank Vreni of Oops Lah for awarding me this bloggers recognition:

Its nice to have met people like Vreni who are so positive and helpful in their comments as well as super talented. I had a hunt around for where this award has stemmed from but was unable to find its source. However, I did find the rules which are as follows:

Award Rules:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award along to bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (in no particular order…)

4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

1. Been married for 6 years but have known my husband for 13 years (it took him a while to propose);
2. In my previous life (ie. life before kids) I worked as a receptionist, admin officer, personal assistant and software tester and changed jobs at least every 2 years;
3. I've lived in Melbourne all my life;
4. I've only done alittle bit of overseas travelling (why didnt I travel more when I was younger!!). The only three countries i've visited are Indonesia (Bali), Japan and the former Yugoslavia;
5. I've never lived alone;
6. I have a very small (extended) family here in Australia but have a gigantic extended family overseas (most of which I've never met).
7. One day in the future I'd love my little family and I to travel around Australia in Winnebago.

I'd love to pass on this blog award to the following bloggers who I think are wonderful for the following reasons:

Z Twist Art - a wonderful lady who makes amazing items with her own hand spun yarn.

Small things.. I 'met' Tab through a Sew Mama Sew fat quarter swap some months ago and really enjoy her writing which covers everything from sewing to being a mum.

One Plus Two Equals Three - Lisa makes some seriously beautiful clothing both for her little girls and for herself. She inspires me to get back into the sewing room when all the inspiration has gone.

Bella Linguine - Some of the most beautiful and unique quilts I have seen. She hasn't blogged in a while and I hope she comes back soon.

Madomi - We have more than a few things in common which instantly drew me to her blog.

Antmee - Beautiful beautiful sewing. Another inspiring blog for me.

Finally, Ive finished my second 'japanese' floor cushion which was intended for my niece however, due to a lack of room on her bed (wink J) will probably be sold or gifted (unless she changes her mind in which case its totally hers!)

Now back to the sewing room to finish a library bag for Miss G. She is expecting it for our visit to the library this afternoon so i'd better get to it!

My (failed) creative space

This week has seen me (yet again) not do very much creatively. Although the virus seems to be leaving me alone Im still quite tired. My efforts in the sewing room haven't been as positive as I'd hoped and its adding to my reluctance to get back into the (sewing) swing of things.

Here are the two meagre offerings I have this week.

Firstly, Ive been trialling Christmas stockings for the market night Im doing in 3 weeks!!! (insert expletive here)!!

I used scraps (its almost a mountain of scraps that I have now) of red fabric. It looks fairly flat in the picture but there is a opening at the top for small gifts. If I can get myself motivated again I may make a stocking with small gifts already included.

front

back. You may be able to see flaring on the binding as I topstitched on the front side. Anyone have any good tips on how to topstitch resulting in both sides looking neat?

Second offering for this week is this very easy laptop cover that you can find over here. This is a mockup for a cover that Im making for my eldest niece who turns 18 tomorrow!!

Ofcourse I didnt follow the instructions correctly and managed to make an almighty mess inside (I sewed together the interior and exterior rather than joining them after side seams were sewn so all the seems can be seen on the inside). There is lots to be said for preparing things weeks in advance. I like to torture myself and make things days (if not hours)before presents are to be given. So J if you're reading this, you are getting a laptop cover (you've only been waiting a few months) but thats not all!!

TOO MUCH FLASH!! (even my photography is shocking this week)

Very badly topstitched (note the fold in the fabric tsk tsk)

Velcro strip was sticky backed so the machine was fighting me the whole way resulting in a very ugly sewn line. Just keep reminding myself that this is only a mockup...

So all in all, im not feeling 100%, my expeditions in sewing were pretty blah and im tired. Ahh well tomorrow is another day (and hopefully a better one).

Hope you're all doing well!

For more (successful) creative spaces, click over to Kootoyoo

My (not so) creative space

So the past two weeks have been pretty uneventful in the crafting department. This is due to some hideous virus infecting mainly my head resulting in lots of naps on the couch and a husband home on carers leave for 5 days. It is by far the worst head cold I've had and thats saying alot because I suffer from sinusitis atleast 3-4 times a year.

I am somewhat back in the land of the living, hubby has returned to his normal line of work and things are getting back to normal (well our kind of normal anyway).

The only handmade item i've made in the past two weeks is this t-shirt.

Miss G appears not to have any eyebrows but I can assure you they are there... somewhere...

During the process of making this t-shirt I questioned myself several times... why the hell am I putting myself through this when I can go down to Big W and buy one for $4!?!! The answer... I love the ruffle sleeves. The pattern is from Ottobre Design (issue 3/2010), a Finnish sewing magazine I picked up at a craft fair last year some time. It was pretty straight forward but the pattern was cut for Miss A (2 year old) and its just slightly big for Miss G (4 year old). Maybe my girls aren't as big as Finnish kids?

The neck doesn't sit properly because I cut the material the wrong way (again trying out my way rather than following the pattern) and the ruffles, for some reason, arent as ruffly as those in the picture but what the hey... i made a t-shirt. Overall it was fun to make and I can now say yes, I have made a t-shirt.

Definitely too big for Miss A (seen here showing you where her nose is located... messy substance on face is the remains of a honey toast breakfast).

When I wasn't slowly dying on the couch, I decided to try a cool idea (which I found on a website which I was totally was going to credit but now cant remember for the life of me what its called) for painting with very watery tempera paint. Pop the paint in some containers, put some paper in flat cooking trays, give them some spoons and away they go. My girls love anything to do with painting and will paint with anything.. so long as its messy (think flour whilst making dough, chalk mixed with a)water or if water not available b) spit, water, dirt, gravel, sand that's escaped the sandpit, squished food etc). But I digress.

Here is how it started. Really fun and they loved getting the paint to run this way and that.

Miss A really got into it.

Miss G loving the idea but exploring different ways of making it totally messy.

Then mummy (I blame it on the nurofen) got a crazy idea to use the huge box from a recently unpacked (but not recently purchased) ikea shelving unit. And here people is the anarchy that resulted:

Yes thats right, pants off, paint tipping, body painting madness.... but the kids had fun.

For creative spaces with alittle more creativity, visit

Kootoyoo

Hope you're having a great week.

Market goodies

Yesterday saw the first 'SewSofie' market / fete stall. All in all I think it was a very positive day. There were lots of positive comments and requests for my contact details. To say I was happy is an understatement. Its great to have hard work appreciated even if it didn't translate to too many purchases. I was, after all, at a school fete. Personally, when I've gone to fetes as a visitor, Ive never really taken much money (enough for rides and a snag etc). I did let alot of people know about this here blog as well as another 'market night / fundraiser' Miss G's kinder is putting on in November.

So what can be made in one and a half weeks? Well have a look below. I should mention that mum was by my side and helped enormously with getting all the cut pieces of fabric together as well as entertaining the kids when I was sewing. My mum is a champion!!

Some lovely little A line dresses...

Polka dot dresses size4 and green and orange dress size 5. All $30 each.

Some reversible pinafores (that grow as your girl does)...

Owls motif, size 1 ($35)

Bird & denim Size 1 ($35)

Cherry & denim size 2 ($35)

Some spinning skirts...

Little ladies size 2, owl motif size 3 & flowers & dots size 4, all $25

and some letter cushions.

Large letter cushions ($35)

Small love heart cushions with hand embroidery, for hanging over door handles or wherever else takes your fancy ($10) (also seen here).

I'd also made a rocket ship cushion and got a few comments on it.

So now I have some stock and a market in 5 weeks. Im hoping to meet a new bunch of lovely local people (as I did yesterday) and maybe sell a thing or two. Hope you are all well and Im planning on catching up on ALOT of blog reading in the next few days.

Sof

PS. Sorry about the font weirdness. Blogger isnt liking me much today!