Adele's Dress

Cutting it close to the wire, but Adele's dress was finished last night. I had a sewing session the other night till midnight. Well I actually got up out of bed at 11 pm and did a good 90 mins of sewing to put my mind at ease. Thankfully I did as I had issues with my buttonhole maker and then had to sew on buttons. All things that I got sorted but just took a bit of time. Now I have the buttonhole foot sorted, I love it!!!!! It is so easy. Sort of helps if you have the correct buttonhole foot on. I mixed up the foots on my two machines and it just wouldn't work. I even google and YouTube it to try and work out what I was doing wrong. Just the wrong foot.

But all sorted, Greta's dress has buttons now too and the rainbow peak a boo quilt is all finished. Just a pair of shorts to go.

Adele's dress is a Modkids "Addison". It is quite a traditional styled dress. I love the look of it and making it in modern fabrics makes it awesome. I think. Great instructions and easy to follow.

The fabrics are from Spotlight. A friend had made her daughter a bubble top out of this fabric and I loved it. When I went in the store last week I couldn't find any fabric I liked as much so I copied her choice. I think it makes a girlie dress, with out being pink.

I can't believe it is Christmas Eve! I am hosting Christmas this year. I have made a lot of the food already, just a few last minute things this afternoon. It has made my insomnia horrendous though. I am not stressed about it but I lie down and keep planning it, over and over and over. So I am rather exhausted today. Anyway, the house is very excited about tomorrow and the big red man. They are playing "Christmas morning" at the second. I am guessing there will be toys spread out all though the house.

Merry Christmas to all, hope you have a lovely day tomorrow and enjoy the time spent with family and friends xxxxxx

Tx

A few more decorations

I came up with an idea to use the rest of the circles and the yo-yos without pulling them apart. I just didn't have the heart to un do them. That was a lot of time and effort spent making them, even if I didn't like them... for that project.

I used the rest of the circles, put in a layer of batting and then circle on the back. Used a yo-yo and button, strung them all together and a cool, funky bunting of sorts. I haven't used all of them yet, there were quite a few, but I have two buntings and have decorated some photos. Now I think we have enough new decorations for this year.

I have spent today making chocolate Santas. Trying to start making a dent on the things I need to have sorted for Christmas day. Made semifreddo too. Chocolate of course. I hope it last until then as it is so yummy. YUMMY!!!!!

Tx

Everyone needs a Christmas Pillowcase

This year, to add a bit more Christmas to the kids rooms, I have just finished making them Christmas pillowcases. Mostly because they are so tired, constant fighting and I need a distraction from it. Usually I love school holidays, spending time together and all that stuff, but these fast few days. Man oh man. Constant fighting and they are so tired!!!! Which of course means they wont sleep, at all. 9 pm and still away and then up super early, like about 6. So every day is worse and worse. JUST SLEEP!!!!!! I have tried everything, I guess they will have to sleep at some stage. So anyway this morning I have been busy sewing.

I started making a yo-yo tree thingee and the yo-yos were so small you couldn't see anything on the fabric so I have given that one up, after about 30 yo-yo's. This means I have 43 circles to come up with projects for. I was going to cover the pillowcases with the circles but I didn't have enough interfacing. See I need more chocolate! I used what I had with Ryan's pillow. I do still quite like it.

It's funny how all the fabric is snowmen and winter stuff when it is summer here for Christmas. Oh well.

And it got the seal of approval. The quilt was made two years ago I think.

Adele's of course is a bit different,  girls and ruffles is always I nice combination. She wanted the angles fabric. I think this was because she was an angle in the Kindy show. I like it too.

Her quilt was made last year.

So both their rooms are looking quite cool. Secretly I am quite excited as I get to do this all again for Greta when she goes into a big bed, I can't wait!!

I can hear Adele yelling at Ryan as I type. Blair's working long days at the moment so I get the "fun" of dealing with them all day. ALL DAY! He gets home after dinner and bed, I already have a head ache.

Right time to find more circle projects which are no quilts or interfacing.

Tx

Greta's Christmas Dress

Every year, since I have started sewing, I have made the kids an outfit to wear on Christmas Day. This year is no exception, though I have no idea what to make Ryan. He is becoming a big boy. I have some nice, grown up, light fabric that would be a lovely pair of shorts. But for some reason that makes me sad. No pirates or knights or tanks.

This morning I finished off Greta's dress. The pattern (Burda 9712) has used over and over and over again for Adele so it feels good to be able to use the same for Greta. New but old. For some reason I am feeling really nostalgic about this Christmas. I think it is because one of the other big kids in our coffee group is starting to doubt Christmas. Kids at school told him stories and asked his mum about it. Ryan is still fully into it and I really hope next year he is still. There is just something magical about Christmas and believing in magic. Anyway I splashed out and bought designer fabric. It is Amy Butler "Love". Greta will be all wrapped in Love. I love the look of it, girlie but not pink.

Adele's dress pattern arrived yesterday and it is amazing! I need to find the time to go fabric shopping without her around. For her I have floral and white in my head. Not good for stains but I think will look super on her.

And of course another batch of biscuits. Adele has her kindy play with shared afternoon tea today. These are Stained Glass Window cookies. Just a plain cookie, cut a hole in the middle and put in crushed up boiled lollies. The lolly melts, let the biscuits cool first, the lolly sets and you have a stained glass middle. Easy but super cute.

I really wanted to have an adults Christmas Party this year, but I think I have left it too late as Ryan got another party invite, we have a class party, early Christmas at my parents, a Hens Day AND Adele has a party to go to before Christmas. Plus I am still trying to lose baby weight, exercise and make Adele a Christmas dress ;) But you know, with all that I am actually NOT feeling stressed, I do love Christmas and spending time with friends and family. I just would love a good wine evening and a bit of dancing

Tx

A bit of Christmas Baking

A lot of fun this Christmas baking, but not so good for losing baby weight. No worries, the guilt only lasts until the next mouth full.

So yesterday Adele and I did our batch of Christmas tree cookies and of course stars. We invited one of her little friends over and I set up a decorating station for the girls and they had free decorating licence to their own cookies. Then they sat down, ate a couple of their art pieces and had hot chocolate. Then once they had played set her home with a bundle of cookies. Was rather fun. So Adele's cookies are all gone now, tasted pretty good. I think last year I cooked them for a little bit too long. This year I think is good!

http://www.thecraftycroall.blogspot.co.nz/2011/12/christmas-tree-cookies.html

Above is the recipe I used.

I did my decorating last night. I know the girls did a great job but some times mummy wants to be able to have a go too.

Since the girls were busy playing I made my coffee group cake as well. Very productive. I usually stay away from making brownie because one of the other girls is amazing at it and so far I have never made one that has tasted any good. But this one, OMG!!!!! Instead of chocolate it has a cup of Nutella. Yum yum yum!!!!!!!! It looks pretty ugly, but I am sure I could eat the whole thing by myself!. And of course I have lost the recipe.... I think my husband has been closing windows on the laptop. I will find it though!!!!

So there is my coffee group offerings, I think I will get a big tick today!

Also, Ryan had his Christmas dress up day at school. He went as Santa complete with a Santa sack. The kids put on a super cute Nativity play and we had a family picnic after. It really was super cute.

Righty, almost coffee time, I brought a pack of Christmas coffee from Starbucks so we can have nice Christmas plunger coffee. Yeah, I may just love a themed coffee group

Txx

A little bit of Hope this year

Christmas really is in full swing here. We got our tree sorted. Every year we get a "Real Live Christmas Tree". Once Christmas is over we plant it on our section somewhere. So our trees tend to be very small, but alive and overwhelmed with decorations. I like it that way, means we can make new things to make the rest of the house festive.

I really wanted to make a wreath I had seen on Pinterest but when I went to Spotlight this morning all the wreaths are sold out. So I remembered another pinned thingee and made that instead. I chose the word HOPE, mainly because the J was all sold as well and well I am hoping a little bit at the moment.

Please ignore the crumbs, I believe they are from breakfast. It is just wool wrapped round wooden letters. I used a bit if hot glue to stick the start and ends of the wool on the back and a bit of glue on the bits I thought might lose their tension.

The fluffy bit is a white and sparkly gold, not that you can tell from the photo.

End of the school year is fast approaching, a week for Ryan to go. I am quite looking forward to the break, just need to train the kids to sleep in

Tx

First Christmas Creation

First of December means... Christmas setting up time!!!!!!!! I have put the quilts on the kids beds, hung a bunting and got the decorations out of storage. Because I knew the time was near, yesterday I made a new table runner. I liked my one from last year but wanted a new one for our coffee table. Festive up another room a wee bit.

I bought the pattern from Etsy by quiltstory.blogspot.com/ I think her Etsy shop is Quilt Story. I am sure there is a link from her blog. It was pretty easy to use. I brought a fat quarter pack from Spotlight and I am happy with how it all turned out. The middle tree is cherub angel kids. They are just so cute!

I want to make a few more things but this year is going by so fast. I am only making one present this year. An outfit for my niece. And of course an outfit for my kids. But that's it. More time to do Christmas baking and stuff for the family. They were pretty pleased to see their quilts. And that makes me pretty pleased too.

Tx

Ryan's Sports Day

Ryan had his sports day last week. His house colour is yellow, he was dressed in yellow. Myself and the girls went along to watch and I thought that we would dress in supporter colours in something that could be wearable, yellow and still nice. You know wear again outside of school.

Adele has a silly amount of clothing and so does Greta, already!! Adele got a hat. She seems to always be missing a hat and at kindy they aren't allowed outside if they forget their hat. So now she has a couple of spare. I also spied some sequin fabric so made a skirt. I figure this can go in the dress up box. And wee Greta got a little top. Adele's hat I used the "Make it Perfect" bucket hat. The skirt was a super basic elastic waist band skirt and Greta I made a tube, put in 6 rows of shirring and a basic tie shoulder. Simple, easy and they looked pretty good. One of the teachers made a passing comment and I replied "oh yes house colours, made this morning" and he was all like wow what will you do next year. Yeah, I hadn't really thought of that. All ready starting to plan that. he he

It was a great day and I was very proud of Ryan, but notice I have no photos. Eck, bad mummy moment.

Tx

An Izzy and Ivy Little Vicki

The thing with following blogs and store Facebook pages is that when they make something cute I, of course, want to make my own.... RIGHT NOW!

My fave quilting store, Donna's, posted a picture of their version of the Little Vicki dress I thing it was the next day I was in buying the pattern. It took a bit long to fin d the right fabric for it. They used the fabric I used to make Adele's quilt and since I was making the dress for Adele I thought that might just be a bit weird. I mean there is matching and then there is weird.

So the other day  it was raining so I went to Spotlight. Usually during kindy time Greta and I go for a walk or a run by the river, so since it was raining I had to find something else to do. Spotlight was having a sale, I got a bargain. I brought three different floral in blue fabrics. I let Adele choose which ever one she wanted. I had one I thought she would pick, no, she picked a different one. I love the one she picked and I went back this afternoon and got the matching small flower version to use as the band of the dress. It makes the dress look old fashioned (in a really good way).

Even found the perfect buttons for a bit of detail. After a dreadful start to the dress it finished off perfectly. And yes, the buttons are a bit crocked.

I love this photo, she is such a personality plus girl! And she HAD to have Greta in the photo. She just loves her to pieces.

The bigger flowers does have the smallest flick of red in it, so the small flower fabric complements it so well. I want a dress like this!

I chipped a way at it though the day. It took a bit longer than I thought because I kept making mistakes. It was a hard day to concentrate, wet weather, stuck inside, fighting kids, awesome. But all done now, she can wear it tomorrow and look cute!

Tx

Bloomers!

I bought a couple of new patterns of Etsy "Vintage to New". She makes baby and wee girl patterns and you have to buy them as a PDF download. I usually stay away from down loads, but this time I am so glad I bought them. Super duper cute and a little bit different.

Ruffle bloomers, really what could be cuter!

I went with a very colourful over skirt with complementing spotty bloomers. It is from the same fabric line called "Fly Away". The best thing about making baby stuff is you can splash out and buy the expensive fabrics, you need so little of it. I brought a half metre of each and have enough left over to make another set. Not that I will but I could.

She isn't sitting by herself, you can just make my arm out holding her up, I was trying to get a good picture of the outfit but I just couldn't. Trust me, it is very cute. (Could I use the word even more??!!??)

On Saturday night Blair and I had our first night off. We went to the Coldplay concert and it was awesome. We even went out for dinner, had a drink, a coffee and then of course the concert. Greta woke just as we got home so perfect timing. Mum and Dad did a great job of looking after the three of them.

Tx

Re-vamped Sewing Room

I have a friend who restores furniture, waaaay out of my price range but it got me thinking. I needed a buffet type thing to house all of my sewing and crafty things. A few hours later looking through a whole bunch of pieces on Trade Me (NZ E-bay) I found what I was looking for and even better, in my region and in my price range! We picked it up this afternoon and I think I am in love with it.

This evening is the cleanest my sewing room has been since I moved into it. I feel things sort of have a place now. Next I am saving for a decent sewing table. Friends gave me a table, which has been brilliant, but my space is quite small and the table is quite deep so on the look out for something a bit thinner. Then I can put my shelf back in and my little side table. I really want to sew now, oh and I need a wee table top ironing board. Buy one thing and it leads to a million other things needed ;)

Tx

A new hat

I have made another hat for Greta and this time it fits much better. Still a little bit big but wearable.

 

I used a Izzy and Ivy pattern to make a quite funky cap. The instructions are quite easy to follow and I am happy with how my first attempt turned out.

And of course Greta looks so super cute in it. I am thinking of making a couple more for presents as I think it is such a great hat. I borrowed the pattern off a friend but I think I might invest in this pattern for myself, I think it will be worth it!

Tx

Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl Cookies

The blogtober has been great. I have been looking at many blogs and getting loads of new ideas. I came across the recipe for these cookies and knew I was going to have to make them. I made these this morning for the kids lunch box this week. I think they taste rather nice, Adele... these are yuck! Thankfully a little friend of hers came over and thought they were pretty tasty as well.

http://www.aspoonfulofsugardesigns.com/2012/10/chocolate-and-vanilla-swirl-cookies.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+aspoonfulofsugardesigns%2FrnqK+%28A+Spoonful+of+Sugar%29

I had a bit of kid free time today, well big kid free time. Meet a friend for lunch and coffee and then a walk along the river. Was so nice getting a break from it all.

Tx

Gutted...

I haven't done markets in a while. With being pregnant and the baby, plus (shhhhh) I find them very frustrating. People tend to be out for a bargain here in NZ. After all my quilts were $40, I very much doubt that would cover the costs of the fabrics if I brought them outright and the my merino is waaaay cheaper than in shops. I sold three baby hats, so $30 for an evenings work. But, it was a night out of the house and I managed to catch up with a bunch of friends and people I hadn't seen in a long time. And I keep telling myself we are coming into summer, but my quilts??!!?? I thought I would have sold at least one

I didn't get home till after 10, so a bit, well a lot, on the grumpy side.

Tx

A finishing sort of day

I have been going crazy busy this afternoon finishing projects, I brought batting, did some binding and now have three completely finished quilts.

I am doing my first market, post Greta, so whilst I have a whole heap of merino things to make I finished a few quilts and am hoping to sell them. I am rather nervous as it has been a while and markets just do freak me a bit. Standing there trying to sell stuff. I might try and talk a friend into joining me.

So here's some finished work..

My Cartwheel Quilt

I love Moda. Their fabrics are awesome and they have this great website filled with free patterns. It is great just to read for inspiration.

I had spied this quilt a while ago.

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/08/cartwheels-quilt.html

And I really wanted to make it. I had brought some beautiful fabric for a project and I hummed and haaaed about cutting it up for this. But in the end I pulled out some large scraps I had and cut them up. So whilst the other fabrics would have looked amazing, deep down I knew I had brought them for a reason and I am glad I used a bit of self control as the fabrics I used look pretty nice too.

I like the greeny/blue of the fabrics with the bright splash of colour. It is quite a neutral quilt which is nice as usually a planned neutral quilt ends up looking rather girlie. I am going to do scrappy binding of the fabrics I used. Still haven't had a chance to go and buy batting so the quilt tops keep being finished, folded and put on the shelf.

I do think this quilt would look nice as a big throw and maybe one day I might just do that.

I really am enjoying making these baby quilts. It has been great being able to try out some of the many patterns I have seen and loved. I am about to start a much larger one. So that will be nice for a change. I have so many of these baby quilts though that I really am going to have to part with some. So I am going to finish off a few and sell them. I counted, I have at least 5 baby quilts, two cot size and a few more sort of cut out.

Thank you have the kind messages left about Adele. She is doing much much better now. Amazing how being at home can brighten the spirits. So far the medicine hasn't messed with her tummy like we were warned and she is looking a million times better.

Tx

Colours

I brought a fat quarter Dr Seuss pack and made a quilt, then I made another. Still from the same fabrics AND I still have enough to make another one. Only baby size quilts but still I am pretty pleased with how well I am making the fabric stretch.

This one is for a friend who is having a wee boy, November I think. I keep forgetting, there are a lot of babies. I was going to do a blue quilt but everyone tends to buy blue or pink so I thought I would do something a little different and bright and funky. I think I will throw in a Dr Seuss book too. I do love his books and the colours and well everything!

I know I have said a bit about Adele being sick, well Thursday....

we were sent to hospital, just got home this afternoon. She was pretty amazing with all the tests and stuff they did. Glad to be home and on the mend. It is going to be a bit of a long process, but at least she is improving.

Tx