November 22nd, 2007
I’ve been busy over the last few weeks sewing this and that but much of it I can’t show you here. This is mainly because they are Christmas and Birthday presents for people who are likely to see the pics!
What I can show you is what I made for Keziah the other day. Yes these are basic but I don’t mind, she loves them! She wouldn’t take them off when I was trying them on her.
This is for my mother-in-law for her birthday, she doesn’t browse the net so I should be ok:
This is for a girl from our church:
and I’ve gone a bit mad with the self covering buttons hair clips lately (oh and some polymer clay ones too) for Keziah:
After Christmas I’ll be able to put up photos of the other things I’ve been busy making. Theres a lot more to come!
October 31st, 2007
NOTE: If you are a sewer, I’m looking for hints, read the bolded part at the bottom of this post (after reading the rest) : )
I have long admired those who can sew bags and then enjoy looking for fabric in op (thrift) shops. Op shopping is like treasure hunting and you never know what you’ll find. Within 3 mintues of me, there are at least 6 op shops, one within walking distance. I used to go in there to look forgood second hand clothes or even kitchen stuff but now I hone right in to the stash of fabric and patterns in each one.
I’ve learnt now where that is each time. Keziah is fine to take op shopping, she sits there in her pusher and plays with a toy. When she’s bored with it (usually within about 3 mins) she hands it to me and says ‘finished’ and I give her a different one. So far I’ve only had to spend about 50c at a time on her for a book or toy in the op shops while doing this.
Last Friday I had an op shopping day and came back with a great stash. Here’s what I got:
There’s courderoy, knitted houndstooth and cotton in there.
The top two are actually pillowcases which I intend on making into dresses for Keziah. They are quite large so I’ll see how I go. I’ve heard you can make pillowcases into dresses without unpicking them but I like the front of these better than the reverse so I might not do that.
This one is Japanese in style and has a few holes in it but I’ll try to cut around them when I make it into something, maybe a bag.
I also managed to pull off another bag using the green dot fabric. I know there are a lot of flaws and next time I’ll do a few things different but this is my first bag like this. Oh and I got a better shot of the little zippered bag too so here it is.
Long post I know but LAST BUT NOT LEAST……….if you are sewer of any kind and have more than 2 and a half weeks experience in sewing (like me) then I’d LOVE some handy hints. Please add them to the comments and make them as simple as possible because I really don’t understand ’sewing machine’ (the language patterns are written in) just yet. Leave your best handy sewing hint in the comments and I’ll possibly add them to a blog post at some point. Thank you in advance!
October 30th, 2007
In September Keziah turned 2 but we have only just had the last of the celebrations for her birthday last weekend. Another little girl from our church also turned two recently so we decided to have a combined party at an indoor play centre for them.
Saturday morning at 10am we, along with quite a few others went to the indoor play centre at Riverton Leisureplex and Keziah ran around like a crazy nut! She had such a great time and you can tell from these few photos.
The other Mum and I thought we were very clever organising it like this. Each family paid for their own kids and then she made the cake and I made the lolly bags. No mess, not a lot of organisation and fun had by all!
Oh, and she wore the little top I made for her last week and it survived all that chaos so I must be doing something right!
PS. If you’re wondering where the photos of the other little girl/kids are, I haven’t asked their permission to put their kids faces on the web.
October 23rd, 2007
For a long time now I’ve observed a lot of stay at home Mums who buy fabric from op (thrift) shops and reinvent it as something else. Finally today I got my chance to do this. This fabric was for sale in a couple of op shops which are around 10 minutes walk from here so Keziah and I took advantage of the sunshine today and went for a wander.
Now, seeing as I’m very new to all this I can’t tell you too much about the fabric except to say that the top and bottom ones are cotton and the middle is fleece. The prices are great in op shops for this sort of thing!! There are around 1-2 metres of each piece of fabric.
I also did a bit of a dig through the pattern box in the op shop and found a couple that I thought I could try. One for babies (probably too small for Kezi but there are plenty of others I can sew for when I get good enough) and one for soft toys:
I really love the idea of upcycling things so I can see this being a new obsession!
October 21st, 2007
So, amongst other things this weekend I’ve managed to sew the other half of Keziah’s outfit. This is the first top I’ve ever sewn and I somehow managed to follow the instructions. It came out really well and all I need to do is finish it off with some press studs and then I can get her to model it properly. Here it is;
I also managed to sew the first of the bags and as dodgy as it might be in the even-at-the-sides stakes, I’m pretty pleased that I managed to figure out how to a)follow instructions b)put a zip in!! So, again, brighter than it looks due to the light used but here it is:
This now holds all the little bits of sewing things I need to use now such as scissors, measuring tape etc… I really need a sewing box now!!
Today was a good day really. Church was great, good message (my hubby preached today), good conversations, only one event where Keziah drew blood (she’s had a few bumps from trying to be a big kid!) and time to sit and listen while Kezi enjoyed creche. She loves the creche as its pretty much her only interaction with other kids all week.
This week there are few things on including some meetings, a Bible study tomorrow, a combined birthday party for Keziah and another little girl who also turned 2 recently next Saturday…..plus polyclaying, sewing, curves and fun with Kezi!!!! I’m tired just thinking about it all. (not to mention the usual houseworky stuff that happens every week/day/hour).
Anyway, have a good week everyone!
PS, plenty of polyclaying going on behind the scenes and now I’m getting back my painting itch again!
Stumble it!
