I heart Craft Group

Towards the middle of last year I began to notice that a lot of my IRL friends were very crafty too and we came up with the idea that we should really all get together and form a craft group. It started fairly small with myself, Ruth, Anita and Amber but we were quickly joined by Jenny, Steph and Julie and more recently by Jo and Nicole.

It snowballed and what were monthly meetings became fortnightly along with constant emailing and flickr-ing inbetween when inspiration struck or advice was needed.

Craft group for me is sacrosanct and my husband knows better than to book anything in for the nights that 'craft group' is inked onto our calendar in capital letters.

We're now about to embark on our first craft camp...what bliss to have 48 hours of uninterrupted craft and chat time...I can't wait!

I am probably being overly ambitious but my plans are to make an Anna Tunic, Ink and Spindle basket, Oliver and S Ice Cream dress and lots more!

Blog Beautifying

My blog has been made beautiful by the wonderful Lisa of Cameron Solutions who also blogs at The Princess and the Monkey. Lisa, who is a creative bod herself, was so lovely to work with and I would not hesitate to recommend her.

Doesn't it look pretty? Now I just have to do it justice by actually blogging here on a more regular basis!

New additions

Today we picked up two new additions to our family; Petal and Fox!












Ostensibly for the kids, although MrMoo and I are quite smitten too.

Daily creativity

I'm trying to include a little bit of creativity into my every day life. Today is all about handstitching...

Doll Quilt Swap progress

I naively signed up to the doll quilt swap round 10 over on flickr. Now, there is no way that I would call myself a quilter but it is something I'd like to get better at. I have plans to make quilts for the kids and have made a couple of baby quilts as gifts. I decided that signing up to a swap where I just had to produce a mini quilt was the ideal way to start.

As the swap has progressed I have been constantly amazed with the talent of the group members. I have at times felt overwhelmed by their ability and my corresponding inability! They are such a supportive group though that I do feel my confidence has increased ten-fold as a result of the positive feedback I have recieved along the way.

Here's a little photo story of my progress...

Cutting...



Selecting...



Layout...



Stitching...



Embroidery...



And now I just have the quilting, binding and labelling left and I'll be done!

Me again!

Wow, how time flies! I'm hoping that being able to use my iPhone (how did we manage before these things) will make it easier for me to update my blog. I'll be back with a proper post soon but until then I'll leave you with some pictures of what I've been making!














- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Flickr Scrappy Pincushion Swap Round 2

Well, I signed up to my first swap....the Scrappy Pincushion Swap Round 2 over on Flickr. I had wanted to sign up for round 1 but left it too late and missed the closing date. I'm so excited about being involved this time and really hope my swap partner likes what I make. I haven't finally decided yet but I'm thinking of a minature patchwork with some cute prints or something incorporating mini hexies!

Oops, I did it again....

and almost a month goes by without a blog post...you'd be forgiven for thinking that I wasn't really a blogger...or indeed a crafter!

I fully intended on participating in the Ice Cream Social sewalong but didn't get my pattern ordered in time. It's now in the post and I'll use all the tips in the sewalong to make a couple for M in time for Spring.

I'm also making Anna Maria Horner's Socialite Dress for ME!!! Yes, all for me! I'm using a lovely red silk that I got in Tessuti. It's cut and ready to sew up...just need to find a spare few hours to do it.

Otherwise I have a hankering to make some simple quilts for M and S and perhaps even our bed too....never done any quilting before though so eprhaps I'll be biting off more than I can chew!

Apologies for the lack of pics in this post, I'm not on my home computer...hopefully the links will keep you happy for now!

Crafty catch-up

How does 6 weeks go so quickly? All my new found 'I will blog regularly' resolutions have amounted to nothing. Anyway I have been crafting recently so thought I'd do a catch-up show and tell post!

Firstly a gift for my good, non-blogging friend Anita:

A toadstool pincushion inspired by Karen and tutorial from The Little House by the Sea, some cherry stitch markers from an Etsy seller, a covered retractable tape measure, all packaged in a lined drawstring bag (fabric from Spotty).

A travel play mat for Anita's new baby Jack. Fabric is Michael Miller, and I quilted along the raods with invisible thread, which was a pain. I actually bought the fabric to make a play mat for Sam, who is now 18 months old!

Some easy peasy ruffle tops for Maddie, fabric from my scrap basket.

What a lovely day

Well Saturday saw me pack up my crafty bits and pieces and get the train into the city for Sew It Together. To be truthful I felt like a bit of fraud calling myself a blogger, seeing as I’m not overly committed to my blog and it often gets seriously neglected. Fortunately I met a kindred spirit in the form of Cathy who occasionally blogs at apathetic housewife and who I discovered shares similar tastes to me in the form of the Huf Haus, Bambolettas, Make It Perfect Shearwater Kaftans, dodgy knitting (except Cathy's was much better than mine) and Liesel and Co A Day in the Park Backpack Tote, Ink and Spindle cushion fabric, amongst many other things I’m sure.

Anyway, what a lovely day I had. I was greeted at the door with a fantastic Sew It Together goody bag chock full of freebies donated by the lovely event sponsors. There was a goodie and baddies sewing pattern from the super talented Jodie of Ric Rac fame, a notebook from Lark, a cute little moleskin from Snailblazer, a little pack of fabric and paper hexagons for some paper piecing from Retromummy, another pack of fabric from Oz Material Girls, a coathanger cover kit from Thea and Sami, a self-cover button kit from Jackobindi and a set of bamboo knitting needles from Donna.

And that was just the beginning…what followed was a day of chatting, laughing, baby cooing, admiring, tea drinking, eating and well, a little bit of crafting (I managed to make half a toadstool pinchusion and stuff up my feather and fan scarf…the latter of which has now been rescued). To top it all off there was a prize for everyone in the Grand Prize Draw and I was lucky enough to take home the knitting needle set donated by Donna which I had spotted here and had my heart set on winning and then the lovely Donna also gave me a set of circular needles and a crochet hook.

The following day was spent perusing the Arts Centre Sunday Market with Lisa from the Princess and the Monkey where I managed to buy some lovely yarn...time to get those new needles clicking.

Anyway, I especially wanted to say a huge thank you to Sheridan for taking on the organisation for such a spectacularly successful event. I’m hoping to make it to the Sydney event next year!

I know there are no pictures in this blog, I can't find my camera cable but as soon as I can I'll update this post.

Saturday Market Skirt

Saturday Market Skirt made for Maddie's 4th birthday last week! The pattern was a taster for Sandi Henderson's new book Sewing Bits and Pieces. I loved making this skirt for Maddie and as it's quite long it should fit her for some time. It was quite time consuming as every single seam was top-stitched and the I always find gathering quite a faff. It would have been easier if I'd had my new overlocker then!

Stitches and Craft loot...

Apart from the overlocker here are the goodies that I picked up at Stitches & Craft on Saturday:

A monster kit from craft schmaft; a wonky kit from Juicy Roo, a cushion panel kit from Auntie Cookie, bird and tree fabric from Ink & Spindle, felt shapes and little girl buttons from a felt shop somewhere in South Melbourne (completely forgotten the name of the stall), a sewing box from another nameless stall destined to be filled with sewing goodies for my sister (who hopefully doesn't read this blog), a brooch kit for me and some lovely rainbow yarn from Pear Tree Yarn for a scarf for Maddie.

Stitches and Craft

I spent the day yesterday at Stitches and Craft. Unfortunately no photos were allowed, which is a shame as there was so much to see. I went last year and I thought this year was just as good, the incubator section was bigger and that was where I spent most of my time (and money). Unfortunately I didn't get to try any of the free craft bars as they were always too busy and I'm not very good at waiting...

I did a fantastic stencil printing workshop run by Ink and Spindle and printed a couple of tea towels. I'll be back with some pics later. I'm planning on going along to one of their open studios as I'd love to see how they print on a large scale. The workshop was run by Lara from Harvest Textiles who was a great teacher. I'm definitely going to do some more printing at home.

As predicted I bought far too much at the show...including an overlocker! I've been thinking about purchasing one for ages and got the Janome 8002DX. I'm so excited about finally having one. I'll be back with pics of my other purchases later but I got a couple of hand sewing and knitting projects for me to take to Sew It Together next week.

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to all you mummys. We're off for a yum cha banquet in the City.

I need to turn this around

and stop neglecting my blog! I'm off to Sew It Together this month and really need to do it justice by getting this blog going again! I promise I'll try!

I'm a bad blogger...

Once again it's been quite a while since I last posted about any of my sewing exploits...

I saw this purse over at The Princess and the Monkey and loved it, just what I need for all my cards, receipts, etc. I briefly thought about trying to make one myself but then asked Lisa if she would make one for me. It arrived quite a while ago and accompaying it was this rather gorgeous bib for my own little monkey. I have had so many compliments on both the bib and the purse - thanks Lisa!

I made myself and Sam a Mei Tai carrier from this tutorial, it was much easier than I thought although my machine didn't like sewing through 6 + layers of fabric and needed a lot of coaxing to get it done. The only variation I did was to make the hood a little larger as I didn't think the one in the tutorial gave enough coverage. I used denim, minki and Heather Bailey. I so love that HB fabric. Up until now I have been using a hugabub and this one is so comfortable to wear and causes no pain on my shoulders whatsever. I've also just started to carry Sam on my back, which makes getting things done round the house and playing with Maddie so much easier. Needless to say I'm a huge fan of this carrier. A local baby shop also asked if I'd be interested in making some for sale in the shop but after a bit of investigation, some sums and the fact that I don't own the copyright to the pattern meant that it wasn't worth my while. Still, it's nice to be asked!





I also tried out my first Ottobre pattern and made M this skirt. It was a pretty easy pattern, although I didn't like how the waistband works with the drawstring and elastic so next time I'd change that. The fabric is SL corduroy and some upcycled linen from a pair of Dom's old trousers. I did a cheat and just appliqued onto a shop bought top. M loves it but wants a more twirly skirt next time!



I also made this Matroyshka doll from an issue of Homespun magazine for a friend's new baby and added a bell inside and intialled the apron.



Lots of other things have been made but I've failed to photograph them...a baby blanket, tote bag, more appliques tops and some pot holders...

I'll try not to leave it too long next time!

A present for Mum

My Mum and Gran were out visiting recently and left the day before Mother's Day. It's always horrible to see loved ones leave and it left me feeling particularly flat on Mother's Day (although hubby, M and S did make me a lovely breakfast and dinner). Anyway, I decided I would spend the day making a present for my Mum. She's a keen knitter and had asked me to make her the Two-Kates knitting bag from this blog and then I made her a knitting needle roll/organiser to match from this tutorial. The roll has space for needles, scisors, circular needles and darning needles. Fabric was picked up in the sales at SL last year. On the whole I'm happy with them, although one of the pockets on the roll is a bit wonky but hopefully Mum will like them.

Catching up

Almost a month without a post, that's not good! I've been busy sorting the house out and trying to make it look presentable for when my Mum and Gran visit from the UK later this week as well as sorting out things for Maddie's 3rd birthday fairy party in a few weeks. Anyway, here are a few things I've made in the last nearly-month...

A girly superhero cape complete with personalised initial:



A personalised reversible drawstring bag using Japanese fabric and denim. Made as a gift to hold home-made playdough, rolling pin and dino cutters:



Two hat and taggie blanket sets for two bubs yet to be born:



I'm also in the process of making an elf hat for Sam to wear to the fairy party, a mermaid hand puppet for the birthday girl, a Miss Madeline dress. I also need to think of Mother's Day gifts too...sew much to do, sew little time!!

A Stationery wrap

I made this stationery wrap as a birthday present for my MIL. It is pretty much based on the Gratitude Wrap tutorial from soulemama.

I filled it with some notecards, a pen and a notebook. As my MIL lives in the UK I even included some UK postage stamps

The outside and pockets are made from a fat quarter of Flutterby fabric by Tula Pink and the interior is just plain canvas and I trimmed it with some binding that once belonged to my Great Nan.

I hope she likes it.

Finishing off...

I started making this dress for Maddie months ago and this baby quilt when I was just pregnant with Sam and had just begun my sewing adventures. I managed to finish both on the weekend. Fortunately I made the dress in a size 3 so it will still fit Maddie next summer (hopefully). She has called it her rainbow dress. The quilt is far from prfect but it will be going to a friend who is due to have a baby girl in June.

Stitches and Craft show...

I went to the Melbourne Stitches and Craft show on Saturday with some girlfriends and Sam (Maddie was at Sound Relief with hubby).

I had a lovely time and met some fab people on the many, many wonderful stalls. Amazingly I managed to stick to my self-imposed budget and came back with the following gorgeous goodies...



So then, what's inside the bag...



The kinder doll pattern, a mushie and gnome kit and selvedge keyring from Jodie at ricrac. I have been admiring her dolls for quite a while and am really excited about making one of my own for Maddie.

A fat quarter from Kristen Doran. I have also fallen in love with her robot fabric but she had run out at the show. I'll definitely be purchasing once she restocks her online shop.

Some lovely fabric and a Make it Perfect pattern from Kelani. Some more fabric and purse snaps from Amitie. And some pretty purple beads.

There were some lovely quilts on display too and I was also rather taken by these super cute fabric bird houses. I have no idea who made any of them so unfortunately cannot add a credit here.