Another challenge!

To be honest, I’m not sure who to blame for this one. I think it was Bec, in conjunction with Car (c’mon, like THAT surprises anyone). Apparently a few of us thought we wanted a new bag, and so the EQ Bag Challenge/Sewalong was born. No deadlines or rules – just make a bag and encourage each other along. And that seemed easy enough, so being the challenge tart sociable type, I joined in, since I have been wanting to make a bag for Bear to take to drama lessons.

 

His lessons are directly after school, so he needs to take some afternoon tea, and sometimes has scripts and stuff that need to go back and forth, so I thought a dedicated little bag might be the go. Last week I got the chance to sit down and sketch out the design I’d come up with.

 

A simple little messenger style bag – the main pocket to hold a drink bottle and small container of afternoon tea, a separate flat pocket to hold scripts, a little zip pocket to pop his fees in (it’s a pay-by-the-week system), and then an appliqued flap to hold everything in. So I have the design, I have the measurements, the cutting guide and assembly guide all prepared, now just to raid the stash, and get stuck in!

sleepover.

 

It’s almost a weekly occurance. The suitcases will pile by the door. The small people hop from one foot to the other, rushing between playing and the front door to sneak a peek. And then they hear the crunching of gravel under tyres. The creak of the front door. Then a stampede, generally led by a tiny girl, squealing at the top of her lungs. “NANNY!!!!” (side note – what IS i t with girls and squealing? The boys were/are loud, and yell a lot, but this squealing caper is something new. My poor bleeding ears…)

 

And now Butterfly is old enough to tag along as well, we’ve been jamming her bits and bobs into the boys suitcases. Thomas for Bear, Elmo for Boy2. Both of which are bursting at seams. And so it was time for her to have a bag of her own. No more than 20 minutes before pick up, I found myself pulling out some curtain fabric from my stash (from the $2 end-of-bolt rack, best bargain in a long time, I’ve used it for so many little projects!), and started cutting. I wanted a girly bag, and was going for a vintage-inspired bowling bag style. Made to my own design, you are likely to see a couple more of these pop up over the next couple of weeks! Needless to say, I didn’t get it done, but yesterday, with the rain falling and the wind howling, The final stitch fell into place, and it was done. And I was chuffed. Until I realised I’d forgotten to add some lace I’d planned to include, but anyway.

 

 

And it is a HUGE hit. Even taking these photos was a nightmare, with much squealing (again with the squealing!) and stomping of feet and “MINE BAG, MUMMY! GO WAY! MINE!” I think we can call it a success.

 

The sun is braving a peek out from behind the clouds, and it is slightly less chilly than yesterday, well, we are into double digit temperatures, anyway! The boy and I have been robot building, we’ve been grocery shopping and had our “lunch order” for a small boy, and we wrestled with a girl not wanting to loosen the death grip on a new bag. She’s now asleep, the boy is finished colouring in, and it’s sewing time (speaking of – did you see my guest post over at MahliMoo yesterday, sharing my process??). Cookie Monster’s quilt is in our sights. There’s crochet on my to-do list, a failed attempt at a doily last night is demanding my attention. Hello sun, stay and play for the weekend, it’s nice to see you around again. Let’s do this!

 

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Party time!

 

After two boys, the whole “pink” thing has gone from “odd” to “overwhelming”. There is pink everywhere. I can do a whole load of washing, just of pink things. So, being the sewing type, how could I resist the chance to finally sew something pink and ruffly? A hot pink party dress, the polar opposite of wide-legged denim shorts. Fun fun fun!

 

Next up…matching bloomers. And after that, hopefully, I should have a lovely box of fabric to make a start on a couple of quilt+doona sets. I also need to finish some scrapping that is clogging my desk. And tidy the darn office. Maybe. Happy Monday everyone!

he wears short shorts…

I have long had a goal to make some shorts for my little boy. From scratch. Including the pattern. With each passing season, my disillusionment with mass-produced children’s clothes has been growing. Buttons that fall off after two wears. Zips not zipping easily. General don’t-really-care-ness. And we’re not talking cheap stuff from kmart either.

Coming home from Europe, I felt like a fire had been re-ignited. I pulled a Sydney Morning Herald from the pile of recycling. Measuring tape in one hand, black texta in another, the pattern slowly emerged. I started sewing. A small change here, an adjustment there, and before long, a pair of shorts magically appeared. Looking almost as I’d planned.

There are mistakes, of course, but I’m pretty chuffed with the results of my first foray into pattern drafting of the more complex variety. I know what I need to change, and how to improve, so shorts mark 2 will be coming soon!

With 6 weeks, give or take, until baby Sprout joins us, I’ve begun a whirlwind of crafty nesting. Sewing of clothes for the boys. Designing tops for me. Sceapbooking. Photos. And of course toddler crafting is making an appearance regularly, especially with the rain. Playdough. Paint. I’ve got a plan to try some paper-making and some papier-mâché if I can get a clear day to get messy outside. There’s a groove with my name on it, and I’m just about in it. Real life, I’m back and ready for action. Let’s do this!

A productive weekend

I had a good run on the weekend as part of my “don’t think, just do” campaign, and managed to knock over a couple of projects I’d been planning for ages.

 

First was an art smock for Bear. I scored a metre of rubber backed Pooh Bear curtain fabric on clearance, so I drafted up a pattern, and here’s what I got:

I was quite chuffed with how this turned out. It was my first go at drafting something with sleeves, and it worked! Yay me! A couple of minor boo-boos, but easily fixed, and not noticeable at all. Not bad for a grand total of $6, is it? It is a bit big, but that just means it’ll last for ages.

 

So while I was on a roll, I pulled out another pile of fabric I had, and made a little swag/sleeping bag for Bear to use when visiting/travelling/camping.

The star lining was a bargain, the cordouroy outer, not so much. Shhh, don’t tell DH!

 

I’m about 1/3 of the way through quilting the D9P, but may have to ignore it in favour of some hemming… though I can hem while watching tv, can’t I? Hmm, hemming tonight, quilting now, I think.

 

Sleep small boys, dream sweet dreams & take your time…

Aprons, knitting and Mother In Laws

I am a bit behind in blogging, as we went to visit my mother in law over the weekend. I finished the apron as DH packed the car, so the photo is a bit dodgy:

 

I was reasonably happy with how it turned out. It was my first go at making my own pattern, and there are a few flaws in it that I am assured only I notice.

 

While there, MIL also dug out for me an old knitting book:

Full of different ways to jazz up knitting, lots of challenges, now to just find a project to try some of them out!

 

Speaking of knitting, I finished Pooh Bear’s blanket. He is very grateful, and assures me it is very warm.

 

I’ve also been tagged, but that will have to wait for another post with more time!