Whats a few months between friends

Hello lovely blogger readers. Yet again months have passed without a blog post. Time just goes by so fast at the moment.

Not alot going on in my part of the world. I had a few weeks of absolutely no creativity whatsoever and then a burst of enthusiasm (and necessity) drove me back to the sewing room to create again.

The kinder kids birthday season has started again and this year I've chosen to make the birthday kids messenger bags. I really enjoy making these and, with all things, the more I make, the better they get. My latest messenger bag was fashioned from an old pair of the birthday boy's own jeans which is mum had given to me to upcycle.

Sorry for the slightly fuzzy picture. The light was fairly poor.

I used the back pockets of the jeans rather than create new pockets and they turned out really well. It did take me a little longer to cut the fabric but it was really satisfying to create something new from something which would have been otherwise thrown away.

I have spent a little time making a jacket for Miss G. I spent a decent amount of time trying to buy a winter coat but could not find a decent one. IAll I could find were flimsy, barely lined numbers which were poorly made and came in the most awful colours or trims.

The exterior fabric used for this jacket was free, picked up from freecyclers and the fabric lining I found at my local op shop, costing me the princely sum of $1 for about 3 metres. The buttons I pinched from my mums button collection. I liked the effect of the 6 different buttons.

I decided to make a size 6 thinking i'd be able to stretch the jacket out for a few winters. However, I found that the sleeves were a little too tight and, unfortunately, Miss G cant wear a jumper underneath it. So its destined to be a dress jacket.

Finally, Ive made a couple of margaret bags for my mum in law and a friend who recently celebrated her birthday.

Michael Miller owl fabric.

Shoulder version made for my mum in law.

Im currently working on an owl softie and some more cute kids clothes. No doubt there will be a few more messenger bags in the works. 

Hope all is well in your part of the world.

Sof xx

My creative space #2 2011

Hi all,

How are you all??! Life has been pretty busy around here. The colder months have set in and with it has bought my passion for sewing. I missed my machine.

Here are a couple of offerings.

First, a boy's messenger bag for a special little buddy who turned 2. I really wanted to make him something but struggled to find a project until I came across a picture of a boy with a messenger bag. From there it was just a matter of finding the right tute for the right one.

Caribinas hold the strap to the bag with eyelets inserted in the bag's sides to give it strength. 

I need to thank his mum for taking these fantastic pics.

I used an old pair of my jeans for the exterior fabric and the inside fabric (and binding) was specifically bought for the birthday boy. To be honest, I couldn't resist it and I knew his mum would really like it too!

If you'd like to make one of your own, the tutorial can be found here. The tute doesn't come with instructions for the fabric lining but is pretty easy to come up with that bit on your own. Also, if you're using fabric that isn't stiff, Id suggest using a thick fusible webbing to help the bag keep its shape.

I'll definitely be making this one again. The kinder birthday season is starting so you can expect to see a variety of messenger bags this year. Even the husband was impressed by this project and has requested an adult sized version.

Next, I made this set for a little girl who I will hopefully be seeing soon. The pattern for the top is the same one as used here and the pants are a simple elasticised waist number.

Ive had flower fabric for about 2 years, always admiring it but never really having the right project for it. Im glad its finally found its form and is on its way to a new home. Im hoping that the pants aren't too 'boyish'. I think there is way too much pink for girls. Let them wear blue I say!

Hope you are all well.

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Easter is on its way...

Hi all,

Its been a hectic month or so. Weddings and birthdays and sewing but not alot of posting.

Im currently working on a quilt that Im quite enjoying piecing together. Its a very simple chinese coin quilt and its going very easily, albeit slowly. Its a gift for the recently married couple

Groom punching the air.. he knows how lucky he is :)

..who I was lucky enough to be a part of the bridal party (a bride slave as she put it :) for.

Some of 'the girls'. Im the one with the glasses.

The day passed without a hitch, the bride was absolutely stunning and we had a blast as the limo we travelled in had a karaoke machine AND champagne. Dangerous combo!

Completed items are, again, few and far between. Ive made another pinnie for a little girl who turned 1

denim one side

pastel blue floral on the reverse.

... and have been trialling bunny designs. Here is what I've come up with:

bunny #1 has very strange legs...

bunny #2 is Miss G's most fave softie at the moment.

Last but not least is a quick pic of what the girls got up to today after I gave them a box of scraps to play with...

my girls LOVE mess!

Hope you're all well.

Sof

A spot of modelling and the essential little blue dress

Im grabbing 2 minutes between my shower and the kids having to get dressed to quickly post the pics of the little blue denim dress I made a few days ago for a birthday present. Miss G has a few little girlfriends and this birthday girl is one of her BFF's. I thought it appropriate to try something new with the machine and came up with a little improvisation on a simple a-line dress.

I added the frill at the bottom and a, well i guess you'd call it a kind of frilly bib at the top. Ofcourse both kids loved the smily flower buttons and Miss G took alittle convincing to take the dress off.

Hope you're having a great week.

Mission (mostly) accomplished...

So I set off from finishing my last blog post with a spring in my step toward the sewing room, intent on getting things done.

First cab off the ranks was the denim hat. I finished the binding on the brim.. check. Next up, attaching brim to crown. After much fiddling, sewing, unpicking, sewing, unpicking (you get the vibe) it was finally attached. Alittle grosgrain ribbon to finish the inside, some hand sewing and voila! finished. Or so I thought. On checking the fit on Miss G, I noticed that i hadnt attached the brim to the crown straight. This wouldnt have been a problem if not for the fact that I'd topstitched everything in a bright blue. Lets just say its pretty obvious. So back to the 'to do' pile it goes.

Next, the red spotty hat. Should be a cinch I think. No such luck. I've decided that the way the pattern finishes the hat doesn't really satisfy my standard of 'finished'. Back to the 'to do' pile.

Next, costumes for the girls. Cutting went off without a hitch. Sat at the machine to put it together and my machine starts to skip stitches. At this point Im just alittle over it all. Call in "mrs fixit" AKA my mum. We change needles, adjust tensions, change cottons, rethread the machine, all to no avail. Mum takes the materials home and completes two gorgeous fairy costumes in 3 days. No mean feat but she did it, and here they are:

The only credit I can take on these is buying the fabrics. At this point, my sewing mojo is threatening to leave me again.

Ok, final project of the week. A present for the birthday girl. I have been meaning to make a hair clip stand / frame for my girls for some time. It went together really easily. Of course my girls are going to have to wait for one of their own.

I had enough time to make some hair clips for the birthday girl as well.

Her mum tells me that it was well received and well timed. The birthday girl had received a number of hair clips as presents.

Yes I am alittle disheartened by my fails of the week but I guess every mistake is a lesson learnt. This week I aim to:

Finish the two hats;

Make some dresses for the girls;

Investigate some new sewing machine options;

Not be so hard on myself!

Last but not least, a very big THANK YOU to Lisa for sending me a large bag of beautiful scrap fabrics. I have been inspired by the array of fabrics and its sent my mind ticking over with ideas. Thanks so much Lisa!

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!

My creative space

Today's creative space is a special one. Two years (and one day) ago I gave birth to one of two of my most precious creations... Miss A.

Here she is twirling in the dress that was made especially for the occasion.

These two years have been a whirlwind. Having two kids very close in age can certainly have its tough times but these little girls make me smile every day.... especially when twirling!

We had family over for dinner which I love to do. Birthdays were (and are) always cause for celebration in our family. Miss A was certainly spoilt.

No less than 3 cameras were pointed her way when the cake came out. She positioned herself (along with her sister) infront of it and proceeded to pull all the butterfly wings (aka chocolate freckles) off the cupcakes. The event was well documented by the family :)

Last but certainly not least is a big thank you to my mum. I hope Im as patient as she is when my girls are older.

Happy birthday baby!

For more beautiful creative spaces, head over to Kootoyoo.

Nips and tucks

Its been a very productive weekend. Ive managed to start and (almost) finish a dress for Miss G in one afternoon / evening and im pleased with how it turned out. The dress if full of firsts. First tuck pleats and first sleeves Ive ever done (or done since home eco in high school many MANY years ago). I even dared to alter the pattern and add a decorative hem and it worked well. The fabric isnt the loveliest but I wanted to use fabric that I wouldnt worry about if it all fell into a heap. The only thing left to do is to add a button and loop at the back for closing.
I bought this pattern a few weeks ago. I must admit that I chose it because it does not have a zip closing. Ive had a few bad experiences with zips and am alittle hesitant to try them again. This dress works well though and fit easily over Miss G's head. A bonus is that she likes the fabric (not my cup of tea) and is willing to wear it.


Miss G wearing her dress while putting on a concert. She does love to have her photo taken and LOVVEESS singing.


Back opening (TBC).



Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

Creative space

This week's creative space is brought to you by the colours pink and blue. Two finished items this week. The first is a dress made from a dress discarded by my niece. Pre-upcycle, the tag read size 10. I cut it short, added a kinda frilly hem and sleeves and voila, a new dress. Luckily the armholes were a perfect fit for Miss G but I did find it alittle strange that a size 10 dress fit a size 4 girl so well. Does the distance between the shoulder and armpit not grow between this age?



Second completed item was my first attempt at a twirly skirt from my last post. I cant take credit for completion though. Mum was round today and decided to unpick, cut and re-stitch to complete it. Its pretty darn cute I think and the tie on the side means that both Miss G and Miss A can wear it.


On another note we visited the 'safari zoo' this week. We've visited on a few occasions but never got to the lions which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was abit unnerving though as the only thing seperating lion from human was glass. Thankfully they (the lion) didnt seem too interested in us, preferring to bask in the sun.



Ofcourse the kids were more interested in the playground than the animals. Im hoping their appreciation for such beautiful creatures will develop with age.


For more beautiful creative spaces, head over to Kootoyoo .

Sugar and spice and everything nice..

Another birthday this week. It was a very special one as it was one of Miss G's most favourite friends. I wanted to try my hand at a skirt that i've been longing to make and this little girl is such a girly girl I knew it would be perfect for her.

Here are the end results. Im chuffed that it turned out well (and the bottom of the skirt was even!!). I even went shopping for a matching top and scored big time with a top and jumper / vest for next to nothing. I love the end of season sales! To sweeten the deal, they match perfectly. A matching brooch, some hair clips and the ensemble is done.

Shot of skirt with abit too much flash.


The top and vest match perfectly. Funny how these things happen sometimes. I went in looking for a summer top to match and couldnt find a thing! The brooch is made by me.


Miss G modelling the skirt. I didnt ask her to stand like that. I think she's been paying lots of attention to the catalogues that come in the mail.

This was the original skirt. I spent two hours trying to get the flipping pin attached to elastic and tie through the waist casing. By the end of it I just figured it would be easier to make a new skirt (which it was). I think my kids learnt some new words whilst I was trying to thread the elastic through.
The quantity of material for this skirt is alittle excessive in my opinion anyway so I will cut it in half and make two skirts. Its just too cute to be put in the uncompleted pile.

Hope you're having a great weekend wherever you are.