Mrs Beckinsale

New cushions on Made It

2012-01-29T15:05:00.006+10:00

I've finally, finally added all my new W Class Cushion styles to my Made It shop.

Hubby took the kids out for a couple hours so I could take photos and update my shop. Of course, five minutes after they left the battery in my DSLR died! I had to use the little old point & shoot instead. The photos are good enough for now, but I'll have to give in and reshoot them some day. Anywho, if you haven't seen my cushions before do click through and have a look. I'm very proud of them and think they're quite the thing.

By the way - if you're Australian based and thinking of opening an online shop I highly recommend Made It. They do heaps to promote their sellers (that's a link to the Designer Spotlight feature they did for Mrs Beckinsale), and they now offer lots of options for offering specials and discounts. For me, the chance to stand out in a comparatively smaller pool of sellers* and reach a local market is what makes my business a success. When I can bothered sewing, photographing and uploading stuff anyway - if only Made It would send someone around to do all that for me!

* Compared to overseas behemoth handmade sales sites

Happy Wall

2012-01-26T13:08:00.003+10:00

Finally decided where and how to hang these things that make me happy.

I need a bigger desk, but that's fairly far down the priority list, well after lamps, filing cabinet, rug, mortgage repayments... All this stuff is normally on my desk. I tidied it up before taking a pic, and I admit that paint chip is usually the other way up with useful information written on it. So I'll class this as 'edited reality' rather than styling. And looking at this photo I got out the spirit level and straightened those frames! Missing from this picture: my DSLR is usually in that blank spot, but of course I'm using it to take this photo.

Love! Vintage lino flying ducks by Betty Jo, bought from my very favourite shop Gleaners Inc. Made to order. I described to Liz what colours I was planning for my loungeroom, and she captured it perfectly. Get your own. I'm now pining after her amazing vintage lino galah. Amy is pointing at the ducks and saying "Quack quack!"

Pressed flowers from Auslyn Enterprises at the Arts Centre Sunday Market. My mother in law bought this as my Christmas present when she visited last March.

Another present from my MIL - a watercolour (print) of the village of Chilham in Kent, near where she lives. One of the buildings is a tea shop where we had morning tea one day. The most recent BBC adaptation of Emma was filmed in this village. It takes an effort for me not to think of buildings like these as 'mock Tudor' - they're the real thing.

Textile art greeting cards from RR Artwear which I bought at Craft in the Bay, Cardiff. The maker's website is no longer active but you can see closeups of these pieces here.

Beky, hope this shot makes you smile! To Do list and notebook by Pivotal Expressons; exhibition postcard book of 'A key to help make your own world visible' by Gracia Haby. Sewing kit from a posh Christmas cracker; pen from Nanna & Poppa for my 21st birthday.

It was all Yellow

2012-01-22T16:11:00.002+10:00

Something strange is happening in my new sewing studio. One, I've sewn four things in a row for myself. Two...

Yellow has never popped up in my OFMS sewing before, yet it's obviously my colour of the season.

(I'm not sure if it's the cameraman or my hips that are crooked. Probably my hips, as I'm barefoot rather than orthoticated!)

I revisited Nikki's You SEW Girl a-line skirt pattern*, because the finish is so superior to any pattern I've made for myself. I wouldn't have thought I could learn a thing from an easy skirt pattern, but Nikki's invisible zip method has to be tried to be believed!

I was working on the skirt and the cushion cover simultaneously and happened to find a cushion zipper before I found black braid to finish the hem, which dictated the order in which they were finished. I decided to do the black braid to liven up what is otherwise a pretty dowdy skirt. The braid ended up a bit closer to the hem than I wanted, as the stitching had to hold up the hem. I might get a narrower grosgrain ribbon and stitch that a few cm above.

The fabric is a drill from Spotlight's Vintage collection. In the shop I thought the yellow might brighten up my work wardrobe, but now I think it looks like an old sofa. I went to a lot of effort to match the pattern at the centre yoke/skirt, but the print is so large you can't really tell.

The skirt will definitely get worn, as it's really comfy and I'm desperate enough for work clothes that I'll wear stuff I don't really like (as long as it fits). But I've got my sights set on reproducing Nikki's yoyo embellishment efforts next - that's something I'd wear!

* Stocked at GJ's, Duckcloth and Addicted to Fabric, I believe.

Retro Age Vintage Fabrics piped cushion

2012-01-21T18:27:00.006+10:00

In October I bought an amazing last-of-its-kind upholstery remnant from Retro Age Vintage Fabrics. Over the past week I've snatched a minute here and there and followed this Sew Mama Sew tutorial and transformed it into a piped cushion.

I only had 50cm of fabric, 140cm wide to make a 45cm cushion cover. The directional inclination of the pattern meant the back is mismatched. At least I had the sense to put the slightly faded end of the remnant on the back.

I also didn't have enough fabric to cut bias strips for the piping, but I think I got away with it.

Here it is in situ.

Cushions by Mrs Beckinsale, Retro Age Vintage Fabrics and Lola Nova. The ship in a bottle cushion glimpsed in the previous photo is by Villa Hunter.

I wish to blame Blogger for the wonky alignment of this post. Grr.

Pretty Ditty Apron for myself!

2012-01-08T10:34:00.007+10:00

Apron #10 for 2011 was actually sewn in 2012. I don't care, I'm including it in my tally. Finally I found time to make my own apron - mostly motivated by that massive Spotlight sale last week. I feel selfish that after sewing all those aprons as gifts, I got the best one!

This fabric is a lightweight canvas called 'Months To Go' (I think). It's amazing. It looks like a vintage teatowel print. I wanted to have a row of rectangles centred, but the large repeat on the fabric meant I had to have a space down the centre front in order to have my favourite months featured. I didn't put pockets on this side because I didn't want to obscure the wonderful print.

I think the skirt fabric is called 'Red Letter Day'.

The waistband is an offcut from my sister's apron.

The pockets are cut from the 'Months To Go' print used for the front skirt. I HAD to use this part of the print because of the rosette. It's a complete coincidence that the 'Months To Go' fabric also had a rosette. And this fabric must be Australian-designed, because the November picture is of race horses.

I chose this image for the retro 'flying ducks' vibe. I love the textile collage feel of the print, with the printed lace borders and so on.

So, that's my apron. I win. It's the best apron. I still have to make one for Amy's second birthday in September, but unless I make it in identical fabrics there's no way it'll be as good. Sorry Bubba!

Here's all my aprons on Flickr.

Pretty Ditty Apron pattern by Jamie Christina. See all my aprons here.

Pretty Ditty Apron for a MIL

2012-01-08T10:21:00.003+10:00

Apron #9 for 2011 was for my mother-in-law's birthday. I finished the apron on Christmas Eve, the day of her birthday. Unfortunately she lives on the other side of the world so she didn't exactly receive it on time!

For the first time I threw the three prints guideline out the window. This apron uses seven different prints, four from my stash and three purchased especially, and as a result I can't call either side the reverse.

This is the stash side. The skirt fabric is from GJs Fabrics and may look familiar from the You SEW Girl book. The apple waist ties were a last-minute choice as they were the only print in my stash that suited both sides and I had enough of to cut the large pieces.

The waistband fabric is from one of my niece's, MIL's granddaughters', aprons. I like to make intergenerational links between the aprons.

This side is the fabrics bought especially. MIL wears a lot of light blue so I wanted to feature that colour in her apron. The florals are from the clearance table.

I was delighted to find the passport stamp fabric in similar colours to the florals. There's my bold fabric choice I like to include in all the aprons!

I featured the Australia passport stamp on both pockets. MIL likes tokens of her son's new home.

The apron still hasn't arrived with its owner yet... hopefully it'll be there ASAP!

Pretty Ditty Apron pattern by Jamie Christina. See all my aprons here.

Pretty Ditty Apron for a BFF

2012-01-08T10:15:00.000+10:00

Apron #8 for 2011 is for my BFF's birthday. My brief for this apron was 'blue floral'.

I adore this royal blue fabric with the yellow flowers. It reminds me of the bridesmaid dresses and bouquets from BFF's wedding. The light geometric print makes it a bit funky.

The pocket gives a hint on what you'll find on the reverse side.

Now here's one time that the reverse is even worse than intended! The stripes were printed vertically but I didn't want to cut them that way, because then the butterflies would be sideways. Even knowing that my BFF hates wearing horizontal stripes, I still cut it this way. Je regrete! I was going to mix this awful print in with the two nice ones to make two semi-decent sides, but I'm glad I put all the ugly on the reverse.

The pretty geometric print and royal blue pockets attempt to save this side, but it's still dire. At least this way it's easy to choose which side to wear when cooking something messy.

Pretty Ditty Apron pattern by Jamie Christina. See all my aprons here.

Pretty Ditty Apron for my mum

2012-01-08T10:01:00.004+10:00

Let us travel back in time to June 2011, when I sewed and did not photograph an apron for my mum's birthday. This was apron #5 for 2011.

Sorry for the slightly dodgy photos - I nicked mum's apron for three minutes on Christmas day while she wasn't wearing it and didn't spend any time zhushing.

As with virtually everything I sewed in 2011 all fabrics are from Spotlight. I have two regrets with this one. First, the violet is actually a polycotton, which is not something you should do when sewing for a quilter. Second, I broke my trend of including at least one bold print in my three fabric choices. The result is, this doesn't look like it was made by me. I feel like a Project Runway designer who "lost their voice". I think I referenced mum's old Laura Ashley apron too heavily when making my choices, rather than being brave.

I'll have to make up for it with her 2012 birthday present!

Pretty Ditty Apron pattern by Jamie Christina. See all my aprons here.

Garden Hat - You Make Me Happy When Skies Are Grey

2012-01-01T15:28:00.004+10:00

It's always nice to start the year by kicking a goal. Hat pattern by You SEW Girl! and fabric from Spotlight's immense discount sale.

I was very flattered to discover Nikki thinks I have a small head. My last sunhat (purchased) was never quite big enough, yet I've been wearing it for three years anyway. But this one is just right! It's even a little roomy in the crown, although that could be because I stretched the bejeezus out of it on the pressing ham/rolled towel. I had to steam it back down to get the crown to fit the brim. I confess I did consider giving up sewing forever the eighth time I unpicked the crown/brim seam, but once I finally got it to fit I loved it. Nikki promises in the pattern that the assembly gets easier. I'm planning to make this my birthday gift pattern for 2012, so by the end of this year I ought to be an expert on this particular pattern.

The dark grey with yellow flowers makes me think of a stormy sky over sunflowers. Hence, it is my 'You Make Me Happy When Skies Are Grey' hat. And the flowers convince me it's a garden hat rather than a sun hat. I didn't want to confine the contrasting light grey to the lining so I went for a crafty look over a stylish one and let it peep out under the brim. Are you familiar with the Selfish Seamstress's line between handmade garments being chic & unique and being crafty-crazy? Sometimes I want to look crafty. Such as when I'm wearing a massive sunhat.

I prioritised making a hat over making an apron, as it's scorching outside and I burn to a crisp. Hopefully this gorgeous hat will inspire me to be sunsmart every time I step out the door.

Family in 2011

2011-12-30T21:44:00.001+10:00

Favourites from 2011

2011-12-30T21:40:00.001+10:00

Jack in 2011

2011-12-30T21:38:00.002+10:00

Amy in 2011

2011-12-30T21:35:00.002+10:00

Spotlight bargains, and blogging for myself

2011-12-29T14:50:00.003+10:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I've really enjoyed seeing other bloggers' holiday photos and seeing the joys people found in the Christmas period. Our family had a great one too. No photos really, so you'll have to take my words for it.

Now, down to serious business - have you got the Spotlight VIP $10 discount coupon? You can print it from this link. They currently have 30% off fabric and with the voucher you get another $10 off, with a minimum spend of only $10 after discounts. If my mental calculator is working properly that means you can get $26 of fabric for $10.

Personally, I just got 10 metres of gorgeous quilting cottons and light upholstery fabrics for $45. Stuff I'd seen on the full price shelf last week was now on the $6 rack, minus the 30% discount... For the first time I broke my 'no stash building' resolution for 2011 and it was completely worth it! I must share my finds.

This is the whole lot.

These, to finally make my own reversible Pretty Ditty Apron. I don't think I'll get it done by the end of the year and bring my 2011 tally to ten, but it's done in spirit. The rosette fabric was full price and I adore it. The ground is pretty much the alleged 'honeysuckle' that Pantone announced as the colour of 2011. The greys were $6 each, and there's so many variations in the story or family or whatever you call a complementing range.

More of the greys and a complementing yellow, plus a black and white print that looks like a knock-off of a PippiJoe print. I'll make a You Sew Girl sunhat out of some of these. $6 each!

This is a lightweight upholstery fabric, perfect for making bags. I might even try a frame purse. I bought two metres, which I hope is enough to last a lifetime. I'm sure I'll come to wish I'd bought the entire bolt. $10 a metre minus the 30% - a bargain. Get some!

And this I simply had to get as I used up almost all my favourite fabric making myself bags.
I hope I'll continue blogging during 2012. Gina of Clutterpunk shared an intriguing idea with me a little while ago, which is blogging for yourself rather than trying to live up to a sense of communal obligation. I do think the local craft blogging community is a wonderful thing with many superpowers, but I personally lack the emotional and time resources to be an active member. But I think I can use my blog for myself, to document my finished projects and write about things that occasionally interest me. I use Facebook for day-to-day life stuff and personal photos, and Pinterest for "This is so cool!" stuff. If you want to keep in touch using one of those let me know and I'll be happy to friend/follow you. This ole blog, I'll continue to find a use for her, but I'll be making her work for me rather than me working to keep her happy.

Gift tags

2011-12-18T18:49:00.004+10:00

I was inspired by Vic to log onto the blog and share some gift tags I made for my work Kris Kringle.

Normally I'm a second-hand paper with pre-loved sticky tape type of wrapper, so I was surprised that whipping up these gift tags took literally a minute each.

I almost embroidered the names but then they would have taken closer to 30 minutes and I would have had to stalk the recipients to make sure they never ever threw them out.

Apart from doing this little bit of genuine spontaneous craft, I've been rushed off my tootsies with all manner of things. Plenty of stressful stuff, but also some nice things, like summoning the courage to hang a few pictures in the new house. After all the hours spent painting those walls it's really hard to start putting holes in them!

I've come back to add - I think one reason I'm not blogging at the moment, apart from the obvious work of being busy and a bit stressed, is that this is the first December I've been in paid work since 2007. I've become accustomed to December being a month of frenetic sewing and crafting, filling orders and sewing presents for family. This year I've hardly had access to my sewing room, until a week ago. I have sewn a couple W Class Cushions which are in my newly re-opened Made It shop, but now I'm going to focus on my mother-in-law's birthday present. There a bit of an issue with her birthday being Christmas Eve and the fact she lives in England, so it's not exactly going to make it in time. But I may still technically keep my year-long streak of making everyone's birthday presents on time. I'll share it when it's done.

"Just sand and refinish it," they say...

2011-11-27T18:20:00.003+10:00

They make it sound so easy in magazines. My beloved/behated Real Living recently had a whole feature on ways to spruce up tables, with the first step for each project being a simple "Sand the table to remove any old varnish." What they didn't mention is that even with a special varnish removing disc attachment for a power drill this can take SIX HOURS.

Anyway. Before:

Nearly done:

I won't have proper "After" pics for a few more days, after a couple more coats of stain & varnish. But I think it's going to look good.

What I've been doing...

2011-11-24T17:43:00.002+10:00

Going from this...

...to this.

Sewing curtains...

...but not quite finding time to buy the right rings and hooks.

And winning this giveaway in my spare time!

Thanks Cathy!

First Australian Exhibition of Women's Work

2011-11-11T18:32:00.006+10:00

My mum bought me this poster/print at the heritage homestead out near Maldon a few months ago. I unrolled it once to exclaim over its loveliness, then rolled it back and up stashed it in a safe place, saving it for my future craft space.

Yesterday I picked up some cheap poster frames at Ikea and figured the poster might survive the move better in a frame (even a $7 plastic one with cardboard backing). I was delighted when I unrolled the poster and discovered both that it fit almost perfectly, and that it's even more lovely than I remembered.

Perfect for a craft room! I lurve it.

P.S. It's big, too: about 50cm x 70cm. I should have included something for scale.

Alternate Ikea couch covers

2011-10-28T18:18:00.006+10:00

Did you know that there's a maker of Ikea couch slipcovers here in Melbourne? Their name is Comfort Works and they make covers for thirteen different Ikea seating collections in 59 different fabrics. I admit I find the options a little conservative - mostly solid, conventional colours; little that would make the front cover of Real Living - but it's a hell of a lot more choice than Ikea offers!

I wasn't really sold on any of their colours until I revisited this favourite spread from Home Beautiful mag:

Now that is one hell of a couch. The mag credits it to Vampt Vintage Design in Sydney.

I had another search through Comfort Works and found an option in a very similar shade, albeit without the amazing white stripes:

Perhaps I could paint some white stripes on it down the track? Anyways, can I put this shade of green in my lovely room, against the cream and gold curtains?

Black & White boudoir chair for sale at Reissued Studios, rear 159 Sydney Rd Brunswick.

(Here's the dark grey option for comparison)

Bemz in the US do a wiiide range of options for Ikea sofa slipcovers, but nothing so amazing that I'm willing to pay postage. Even they lack any amazing geometric or MCM-inspired prints. A wide range of shades of grey, though, and even my ideal blue. I can't link to it but it's Teal Blue Tegnér Melange Textured Cotton if you absolutely must see!

Making curtains together

2011-10-27T20:43:00.002+10:00

You don't know what being a parent means until you get there.

Oh yeah, it's Blogtoberfest!

2011-10-26T14:17:00.004+10:00

Yes, I have severely fallen by the wayside on my first Blogtoberfest attempt. Life is very interesting* at the moment, and it's not ideal blog post material. I can't fool myself that anyone wants to read about my curtain fabric choices every day for a month!

I'm going to follow Punky Vic's example and share a favourite quotation. This isn't wise advice or a polished piece of wit; simply a favourite few lines from a novel.

Emily did not look up from her paper. She was reading about how to peel whole oranges and stew them in caramelized sauce. Emily hated cooking, and she always read recipes, to enrage herself. She could get quite emotional about recipes. She took them as personal affronts.

from 'The Needle's Eye' by Margaret Drabble

Caramelized Orange Cheesecake from Serious Eats

* Yep, like the ancient curse.

Op Shop Trivia

2011-10-19T17:54:00.002+10:00

Did you know:

The St Vincent de Paul Society opened their first Victorian op shop in Ascot Vale in 1926, and it was named "The Waste Product Bureau".

They didn't open a second one until 1962 - perhaps the name didn't lend itself to vast patronage.

Our modern-day Vinnies aren't officially called op shops, but "Vinnies Centres of Charity".

Vinnies has one employee whose full-time job is to drive around all of 102 Vinnies in the state, checking the volunteers are happy, do a spot of shopping, and eat her body weight in home-made scones every week. Nope, that's not me.

I've just had an induction day at work. The community housing agency I work for reports to the St Vincent de Paul Society, and the induction is run for community service employees, home visitations coordinators, op shop managers (sorry, "Vinnies Centres of Charity managers") and everyone in between. I met the manager of my soon-to-be-local Vinnies, and she knows the people who live across the street from our new house! Small world! My local also happens to be the second largest Vinnies in the state, and the largest in metro Melbourne.

The highlight of the day, even better than the history of Vinnies op shops, was a coach trip to Vinnies Ringwood. As well as finding a bunch of hardware for the curtains I'm sewing I also picked up these little indulgences.

A lovely coffee pot which I think I'll keep on my work desk
A swish pair of pink knitting needles

And the cutest little scotty dog embroidery which I think I'll sew onto a dress for Amy or something

And that's what it takes to get me back on the Blogtoberfest wagon - a paid afternoon of op shopping.

Flying Ducks and Floating Shelves

2011-10-14T20:33:00.007+10:00

Today I visited Gleaners Inc, the wonderful new store run by Liz of Betty Jo Designs and Lino Forest fame. If you're into handmade and vintage thingamabobs and fancy something truly unique, head straight to Gleaners Inc in Brunswick. Liz has curated a very special range of vintage items and goodies made from vintage materials and I can't wait to see it grow.

While I was there I ordered a custom set of flying ducks, made from vintage linoleum, buttons and doilies. Mine will look something like this:

A beaut addition to my bird-themed loungeroom wall!

Speaking of that loungeroom wall... I have decided I hate picture rails. Writing a whole blog entry about them really turned me off.

Now it's all about floating box shelves, like these ones in the home of designer Mariana Garcia-Katz (via The Design Files:

These ones were made by the homeowner's dad from plywood. I reckon I can make them myself. But how to combine them with wallpaper?

Tell me which arrangement looks best if you like, but I'll probably have a thoroughly different concept in two days.

The digitally printed wallpaper by Funky Wombat Textiles is a whopping 138cm wide, compared to the measly 52cm or so offered by most commercial wallpaper companies. This means a lot less matching up prints and wasting paper. It also happens to be exactly one third of the width of that wall, up to the doorframe. I've played with a lot of arrangements, including three box shelves with three widths of wallpaper, but most of them look overcrowded. Perhaps only having paper on two thirds of the wall is a good thing. I'd need to play with the proportional heights of the shelving to try to achieve golden ratios and so forth.

I also really like this idea of old drawers and crates lined with wallpaper, but I think it'll be easier to convince the hubby to put newly made shelves on the walls of our brand new house than salvaged stuff I've prettied-up:

More Lyrebird Art

2011-10-14T20:20:00.003+10:00

Here's a few more I found during my hunt for etched lyrebirds.

Art Deco-style window by Australia Street Stained Glass

Stained glass pattern from Chantal's Stained Glass

Plaque commemmorating the first sighting of lyrebirds by whitefellas, in Bargo NSW

Australian lyrebird stamp, circa the days of shillings

More lyrebird-inspired wallpaper, by Justine Missen

This short article about French artist Lucien Felix Henry discusses his use of lyrebirds and other Australian native animals in decorative arts. I'm very sad that the images discussed are not attached to the article, and I haven't been able to turn them up anywhere online. Anyone got a lead on this wonderfully-named fellow?

Hunting for lyrebirds

2011-10-13T17:00:00.000+10:00

Here's what I found when I went hunting the web (like a spider?) for more glass lyrebirds.

A vintage mirror on eBay, sold for $62. It matches my sideboard! It's probably the same as the one inspiring the woman in the Castlemaine house.

Here's another eBay find, with the image etched at a more conservative angle. Sold for $96!

This round mirror with the same etching is still available - currently at $48.

A very impressive wheel-engraved lead-glass tumbler circa 1910, engraved by Frank P Webb, located in the Powerhouse Museum collection.

Its contemporary counterpart - a very clarsey etched latte mug on eBay.

And highest on the pricelist is another offering of pure clarse - an indoor water panel for $4590.

Perhaps the most beautiful is this non-etched glass piece - a stained glass window by Jeffrey Hamilton.

Canvas prints and postcards available via RedBubble.
Artist Jeffrey Hamilton writes:

This bathroom window is installed in a beautiful old mansion at Cremorne Point. It is a recreation of an early Australian stained glass window made around the time of Federation (1901) and published in “The Federation House” by Fraser and Joyce. The provenance of the window is not noted in the book.

So it seems that lyrebirds in glass have been popular for at least 110 years. More research on my part may occur.

Lyrebirds

2011-10-12T16:47:00.003+10:00

I hope you noticed the Lyrebird wallpaper by Funky Wombat Textiles I mentioned the other day.

Here's a variation of the design as a teatowel

And as a lampshade!

Well, I've actually already got a piece of lyrebird-themed decor that would look quite gorgeous under a fraternal strip of wallpaper.

(And I know one other blogger who has the exact same piece of furniture! I got mine at a garage sale for $10 and my sister restored it as a birthday present. It lives under my cutting table, housing a portion of my fabric stash.)

(I've almost abandoned the picture rail concept after trying to write a whole blog post about it last night!)

Today in the paediatrician's waiting room I was flipping through an eco home design mag called Sanctuary. There was an article (read it via Scribd here) about a house in Castlemaine featuring many etched lyrebirds. A quote: "A vintage mirror etched with a lyrebird design was the catalyst for a hunt for similar pieces that eventually yielded three pairs of etched French doors." Wow! I'd had a long-term idea of finding a set of etched glass sliding doors and installing them to give our house a bit more personality, but I hadn't realised there might be some that match my sideboard.

I'm now hunting the internet for other glass lyrebirds. I won't include them in this post because it's plenty long enough, and I'm not interesting enough to find a unique topic for every day of Blogtoberfest!

Picture Rails

2011-10-11T19:03:00.005+10:00

I found the idea for a picture rail in an old Real Living mag. A 'real home' (read: holiday home of a "design and trend expert") features picture rails at the height of the window sashes, wide enough for framed pictures to stand atop.

Real Living mag, Christmas 2010

This picture rail, made from an old cornice, doesn't actually have anything hanging off it. I'd like one that can have thing hanging from and standing on it.

My Real Living mag helpfullly directed me to their own website for instructions on installing a picture rail, but I found a better guide on HGTV.com which includes tips about the length of the nails determining how much weight the rail can support.

Picture rail moulding that you can hang proper picture hooks from can be found at porta.com.au. Cornices like the ones in the Real Living pic are made locally by local manufacturer Northern Plasterboard. But picture rails can also be made from other materials such as copper pipes:

Or an old branch:

Here's an idea for picture rails that don't go all the way along a wall:

Here's some classy picture rail hooks:

And here's how Martha Stewart does it:

I am thoroughly bored of thinking about picture rails.

My big loungeroom idea

2011-10-10T20:12:00.003+10:00

The brilliant thing with computers is you can take a dodgy photo...

(Yep, the loungeroom is a bit of a fixer-upper. That's a lot of the attraction.)

Trace over it...

Clicky for bigger

And spend simply hours letting your imagination run wild!

Clicky for bigger

(Including pasting tiny framed photos of your kids and wedding on a picture rail!)

My dreamy wallpaper border is the Lyrebirds design by Funky Wombat Textiles, based in inner Melbourne. They can custom print any of their designs as wallpaper in any colourway you please, with orders starting at one tiny metre. I'm currently getting a quote, fingers crossed...

I have way too many wallpaper and fabric swatches saved on a dedicated Pinterest board. I have trashed Pinterest in the past, but I will now publicly confess that I was wrong, and it's an extremely useful tool. (For wasting hours online, imaginary shopping.)

I have one particular person in mind when I say this: if you have grand design ambitions, please download the outline of my future loungeroom and colour it in. I'd love to see what other misused minds can come up with. I've even done a version with badly proportioned floorboards:

Clicky for biggy

Lounge conundrum, continued

2011-10-10T14:10:00.000+10:00

After posting my colour scheme options the other day I sulked a bit over my choice of curtains. The textured grey and mocha fabric I'd bought wasn't really anything like the solid warm grey I'd planned. Adapting to available materials is expected, but it wasn't just that. When I put it next to the duckegg paint chip I was starting to think of using for the walls, the curtain fabric looked like it was from the op shop. In a bad way.

I was starting to have ideas about feature walls and being a bit braver than a grey colour palette, which isn't even my style. I invested more time than I'd care to count on HGTV.com looking at other people's room and colour combinations, hoping that I'd see one photo that I wanted to copy exactly. These two came pretty close:

My duckegg blue needs cream and gold. I can still have grey, but it has to work with those other colours.

So I took my unlovely grey and mocha curtain fabric back to Spotlight, smiled a lot, explained that I'd bought a whole bolt (kind of - the fabric left on the bolt had measured the same as the amount I'd wanted to buy) so it wasn't really cut fabric - and they gave me my money back! Using the lovely yellow curtains in the picture above as inspiration, I've ended up with this fabric combination:

The curtains will be mostly this matte cream with a bit of texture, and the bottom 50cm or so will be the textured woven gold fabric. The cream is a sunout fabric and the gold is unlined, but I figure for the bottom of the curtains it won't matter too much. I can always chop up some of the house's many existing curtains and line the gold with those.

Next question - will I hang my lovely lovely curtains from the top of the windows like the current ones (215cm to floor), or really glam it up: move the curtain rods up to the cornice and go ceiling-to-floor?

Kids' rooms

2011-10-09T15:05:00.003+10:00

I puzzled for about three minutes over how to choose a colour scheme for Jack and Amy's bedrooms. Then I realised all I had to do was match stuff to the beautiful quilts made by their grandma.

Here's Jack quilt and matching curtain fabric:

And here's Amy's quilt and curtains:

Simple! That leaves so much more mental energy to figure out my lounge room colour scheme. It's a lot easier having a fixed object to work around than doing a whole room from scratch.

Sitting-room Selections

2011-10-07T13:18:00.003+10:00

Are you all thrilled with my continuing tales of good residential fortune? Do let me know when I become obnoxious.

I'm currently obsessed with choosing a colour scheme with the lounge room. I already bought curtain fabric when it was 30% off at Spotlight the other week, and it's a warm grey with shades of mocha. The colour is actually called Mocha but I insist it's grey.

I had planned to paint the walls a light shade of grey and find a greyish-blue fabric to make slipcovers for a Karlstad sofa. However, an affordable fabric in exactly the right shade is proving elusive so now I'm pondering what I can do with a standard grey or black ("dark grey", allegedly) slip cover instead. Probably not team it up with grey curtains and grey walls, for a start!

I've gone back through my Pinterest boards to find some walls I really like.

First, there's greys:

And straight-forward white is a popular backdrop for eclectic interiors:

Then for something slightly more adventurous there's my favourite shades of duckegg blue:

Through the magic of Photoshop I've created a mock-up of my loungeroom with different walls, carpets and couch colours.

Click to embiggen

What do you think of these options? Do you have any far-out ideas that I should consider?

I don't actually own a Fler SC58 armchair (see some revamped ones by Reissued in Brunswick) but I have got a hard rubbish find of a similar shape which I plan to recover, which will hopefully last until I can afford the real thing.

And yes, we are definitely going to be putting down carpets. I don't care that Every Single Lounge in Every Single Mag has floorboards. We've been living with tiled floors for four years and have been promising ourselves wall-to-wall carpets in our lounge room when we finally get the choice.

Amelia's First Year

2011-10-07T07:54:00.002+10:00

Click to embiggen

Hurrah, harroo, hooray! Little Amelia Roxy is one year old. We made it!

She's off on adventures, both physical and gastronomic. She wants to join in on all her big brother's games - which usually has bad results!

She likes to draw, which really surprises me because Jack wasn't interested in drawing until he was about two. Her preferred medium is spit-dampened chalk on concrete.

She waves bye-bye when we leave her at childcare and laughs when we appear in the afternoon.

She's our Amelia Roxy.

See Amy grow.

Cushion Fabric

2011-10-05T16:35:00.004+10:00

For our new lounge room I'm going for a restrained-eclectic feel, leaning towards Mid-Century Modern. Warm greys, textured two-tone fabrics, a couch that'd fit into the offices of Sterling Cooper.

When I saw this fabric on the Retro Age Vintage Fabrics website I lurved it, but did not buy it. When I found myself still thinking about it a week later I knew it was worth the investment.

It arrived in the mail this afternoon. It's truly beautiful. The woven pattern is incredibly detailed. It's about 50cm x 110cm, which is enough for one good-sized cushion or a small bolster. I guess I could do just one side of a cushion in this fabric and back it with something else, but that feels a bit like cheating. Surely such a beautiful vintage fabric should remain as whole as possible?

A Spotlight Box Hill today I fossicked through the marked-down furnishing fabrics and found a bolt of this nice geometric weave for only $6 a metre.

I thought about buying tonnes, but then I remembered how well I've gone this year resisting stash-building and limited myself the half a metre, the same as the vintage fabric. Another big square cushion perhaps? I have no sentimental scruples about mixing this fabric with another.

Won't these look grand on a Mad Men couch?

Ten things you might not know about me

2011-10-04T19:43:00.002+10:00

I thought I was going to fail Blogtoberfest on Day 4, but Cate saved my bacon.

1. I work in community housing. I'm a veteran of ten weeks! I mostly process invoices but sometimes I get to do more interesting things like prepare reports. Usually the highlight of my week is ordering stationery online. It comes in big boxes which I save for our house move.
2. For a couple years I've vaguely been thinking of getting a post-grad thing in archiving and information management, but as of today I think social research methods would lead to a more interesting and challenging career.
3. My existing degree is in Mass Communications. That's media theory. I'd count it as one of the ten least useful things to have a degree in.
4. My hubby has pretty much the same degree as me.
5. My hubby's home town on the other side of the world is nearly identical to mine as far as being boring goes. I think his is duller.
6. My hubby's dad and my dad have exactly the same first and middle names, but my dad goes by his shortened first name while Hubby's dad goes by his shortened middle name.
7. My hubby's mum is a hospital chaplain and my dad used to be a lay preacher - another point of strong similarity!
8. If my hubby's sister hadn't named one of her daughters Skye I possibly would have given my daughter that name.
9. Hubby and I planned that if we had a daughter we would name her Emma, by my sister who had a girl after Jack was born used it first!
10. I picked the name Amelia because it's what I think of whenever Jane Austen describes someone as being "amiable".

Enjoy this random picture.

Craft Room Decor

2011-10-03T20:02:00.003+10:00

I've been filling my Pinterest boards with ideas for my new house. A work friend put me onto these wonderful wall decal swallows by local business Wall Allure.

You can buy them through their website in a huge range of colours, or at Incube8r.

(It's hard to find something to blog about after a full day processing invoices followed by taking care of the kids and watching a dumb time travel show on telly!)

Amelia's first birthday!

2011-10-02T18:17:00.003+10:00

During the week the reason why I didn't attempt Blogtoberfest last year turned one.

We had a small party today, and once again I faced my nemesis - the Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book.

This year I kept it simple - the 1 cake, decorated like the 9 cake. I followed all the instructions for crumb coating and freezing and felt a lot more confident. I didn't bother reading the instructions for the actual cake, particularly the bit where it said to split one packet mix between two bar tins. I saw that it required two tins, so made up two mixes! After filling them both to nearly overflowing they rose like misshapen volcanos. But after freezing they were easy enough to level out, and I was happy enough with the result.

I couldn't find those little musk lollies anywhere so instead I sliced up some musk sticks to get little pink stars. I think it's pretty cute!

Blogtober the First - My New Craft Room

2011-10-01T15:18:00.003+10:00

I'm going to attempt Blogtober for the very first time. What better time to try blogging daily than when I've got a brand new house to tickle my creative fancies?

Are you ready to drop simply dead from envy?

Then take a look at what will be my new craft room.

This is a brick garage, accessible from the house via that door on the left, converted to what the real estate agent called "a home office". On the day we first laid eyes on (and almost immediately bought) the house, the agent said half of the couple ran an online business. When we went back a few days later to measure up I told the agent the garage was going to be my sewing room. "That's what the last owner used it for," said the agent. "She had a computerised embroidery business." I looked more closely. There are double power points the whole length of the room, at sewing machine/ironing board height. This room was literally made for sewing.

There's sliding glass doors overlooking the outside area where the kids will play. There's a skylight. There's heating and even air-conditioning. There's an aerial socket for watching telly while you sew.

My friends, my family can have the rest of the house. I shall be living in the garage.

I'm quiet coz I'm busy

2011-09-25T09:01:00.003+10:00

What have I missed telling you?

It was Jack's birthday. This year I opted for a packet cake mix, shaped cake tin and packet mix icing with red food colouring. He was thrilled.

His grandma made him an I Spy quilt, which we have a lot of fun "spying" with.

I'm trying to find time to make some little things for Amy's first birthday next week, although that might not happen as my paid work has just increased from 0.4 to 0.6 (yay!). I should probably look into doing something more than a packet mix for her party next Sunday. Will I make my brain explode again this year, or be a little more realistic in my goals? I'm hoping for the second!

And - we bought a house yesterday! It's conditional on getting a good building and pest inspection this week, but once that's out of the way I'll try to get some photos of what will be my amazing new sewing studio.

I was thinking the other day that perhaps the thing blocking me from blogging recently has been our frustrating house search. But now that it's resolved, maybe I'll have room in my head for things other than real estate. Things like Ikea, paint colours, carpet samples, gardening websites... Anyhoo, hope to see more of you now!

Eleven months!

2011-09-05T09:31:00.002+10:00

My eleven month Amy.
Hardly a baby any more - really becoming a little girl.
Pushes her walker around the loungeroom and cruises around the furniture.
First top tooth finally broken through, with the grizzles to prove it.
Two parents required for a nappy change - one just to hold her down.

I can't wait for next month's photo.

Retro Renovation

2011-09-04T13:52:00.004+10:00

I've only just discovered the Retro Renovation blog and am thorough immersed. Here's some absolutely tip-top retro renovations submitted by readers.

Kersten & James's retro bathroom

Carrie's retro kitchen

Karen's retro kitchen - check out how the builder included the clock from her old stove!

I'll be lost inside this blog for a few hours yet!

Preparing for Dressing

2011-08-23T19:29:00.006+10:00

At work one of my tasks is collecting the mail from the post office box. The local post office happens to be directly opposite a cheap fabric shop. Some days I coordinate the mail pickup with my lunchbreak. Today was one of those days.

On the left, a cream ground with leafy swirly bits in navy, coral and tan. Possibly some cotton content. $4 a metre.

On the right, a pale blue ground with a yellow, coral and brown floral-ish print. Interesting slub texture. $3 a metre.

The question is, which dress to make from which fabric? Speak your brains!

My Punky Shirt

2011-08-22T13:56:00.003+10:00

Aaaages ago I won a giveaway on the mighty blog of Vic, Punky & Me. The other day I got a surprise package in the post (about time too)!

It is fitting that I wore this today while spending nearly $70 at Spotlight. Mostly fabric for another Pretty Ditty Apron and for baby presents, but I also picked up New Look 6968 after seeing how devastatingly handsome it looks over at Lower Your Presser Foot (and again). Now for the fun of going through the stash and selecting which fabric gets first go at making this pattern a favourite (I hope).

Today I've sent out the first batch of orders for my new style of W Class Cushions. Go forth and create joy, little cushions!

On Saturday we bid on a really really lovely house at auction, but someone else thought it was worth more than we did. It's tough knowing that we could have bid more and maybe it would have been ours, but I have to console myself that we stuck to the rational limit we set before the auction. But it was such a nice house... I think it's going to be a situation of, it takes one to get over one. If anyone wants to sell me a charming house within 1.5km walk of a Melbourne train station for cheap, get in touch.

Ten months!

2011-08-19T09:22:00.003+10:00

And numerous weeks late, as usual!

Amy has two teeth. Amy pulls herself to standing. Amy is very affectionate. Amy loves a bit of gentle rough & tumble (she doesn't know the definition of 'oxymoron'). Amy doesn't always cry when we say goodbye at childcare. Amy is back up to the tenth percentile for weight! My eight kilo girl.

See Baby Amy grow.

Unsynchronised Travel with Punky's Mamma

2011-08-14T17:19:00.004+10:00

I'm experimentally travelling with Vic (by way of Lonely Planet)

1. First stage is your starting point (Take a photo).

2.Walk in any direction for 50 or 100 paces, then turn 180 degrees (photo).

3. Continue walking in that direction until you see something blue (photo).

4. Make a left turn & walk 50 to 70 paces (photo).

5. Walk in any direction until you see something that either is or looks like the number 7 or

11 (photo).

6. Take the first left & continue walking until you find somewhere to sit (photo).

7. Choose any direction & walk for 25 or 50 paces (photo).

8. Continue walking until you see an unusual colour, shape or texture (photo). Turn 180 degrees. *I didn't turn 180 degrees because I didn't want to walk past the same group of smoking teenagers a third time.*

9. Keep walking in any direction until you see an archway or an unusual architectural feature (photo).

10. Head for home but continue looking for something that catches your eye. When you find something, take your photo with it. *Whoops, didn't write down the instruction about being in the photo!*

That's All Nations Park and surrounds on a late Sunday arvo. Join more travellers here.

Pretty Ditty Apron for a Fairy Goddaughter

2011-08-13T09:12:00.004+10:00

Last month I sewed this cheerful apron for my turning-four Fairy Goddaughter's birthday. Her birthday was on Thursday so now I can share!

My initial plan for this apron was to cave in and use pink. I started with some pink fabrics, but then the kalidescopey one was so much fun, and the black ground with hot pink and teal is something I would have loved as a kid. Plus it nearly matched the jacket her mum, my BFF, had made for her, so I was confident there wouldn't be any contretemps about me making her preschooler a black apron.

I ended up being not at all keen on the reverse side. The colours of the folksy circular pattern are just too dull. I think it was only $6 a metre, which isn't even why I'd chosen it. I had trouble browsing for fabric that day because I'd taken Amy into Spotlight without a pram, and was trying to juggle bolts of fabric with a wriggly fussy baby. Not a good look! But the most important thing is that my Fairy Goddaughter loves it and has been insisting on cooking with mum just so she has a reason to wear it.

Thankyou for taking the time to recommend your family paediatricians, consult with colleagues to get a name, or simply offer support. I took the recommended names to our GP and got a referral to one of them, who referred us to someone more specialised, who our speech therapist then said is one of the best people to go to. We have to wait until October for Jack's assessment but the other specialised paediatrician didn't have a spot until Feb or March next year, so we're grateful to only be waiting two months! We've got some paperwork to fill out for the Early Intervention group therapy public waiting list, which apparently takes forever to get into. Not really 'Early' then, is it? We're probably going to be handed a 'delayed development' assessment rather than ASD. Jack is a happy, healthy and affectionate little boy who approaches the world with curiosity and excitement. He just needs a bit (okay, a lot) of assistance with communication and socialising.

No craft going on around here. My tonsils have noticed I'm under a lot of stress and taken the opportunity to swell to the size of Fitzroy*, as they always do under these conditions. It's really hard to rest your voice while looking after little kids but I'll do my best.

* Melbourne's smallest suburb, but still too big to be in my mouth.

Help me help my son

2011-08-08T21:08:00.003+10:00

I've tried to put an attention-getting title on this post, because I am after recommendations, hopefully from local parents (Melbourne's northern suburbs).

I've mentioned before that my son Jack has been on the local community health centre's waiting list for speech therapy. He finally started a week and a half ago, having been on their waiting list since January. If we'd known it'd take this long yada yada yada, but this is how things have worked out. The therapy is great, the therapist is lovely and Jack responds really well to her. Turns out he'll say a lot to get toys with novelty value from a stranger.

The speech therapist has advised us to take Jack to a paediatrician for a full developmental assessment. I've booked an appointment with our GP for Wednesday to get a referral, and this is where I thought I'd harness the power of Teh Interwebz. Do any of you parents (or healthcare workers) out there have experience with a paediatrician around Melbourne's north who you can recommend? Having waited this long to get to the speechie, we've decided to see a paediatrician privately and avoid wasting any more time.

Jack does a Duplo Dance

I don't feel like writing a full 'honest' post tonight. I've managed to sound incredibly breezy in what I've written above, considering what it means for Jack and how it makes me feel. I've also noticed this is my 400th post, but I'm not in a celebratory mood. There's a lot going on, not all related to Jack. Hopefully I'll have something more exciting to talk about on the weekend.

Thankyou.

Giveaway winner!

2011-08-04T19:20:00.004+10:00

Wait, what? Oh yes, there's been a secret giveaway going on! A while back Jodie of Vintage RicRac had a secret giveaway for a random commenter from recent entries. I thought it was such a lovely thing to do - rewarding regular readers without attracting people who'll comment on anything with 'giveaway' in the subject line.

I lined up all the comments on my three last posts about my new cushions and used a good ole random number generator.

Number one! According to my list, that's the lovely Mookah sisters from Inverloch! Lucky ladies, they just won a giveaway last month as well! The Mookah label makes cushions too so I hope mine make the grade. Wonder if they'll flip a coin to decide whose couch it lives on? Hopefully they won't be flipping a coin to decide who gets to not live with it...

Can't wait to fill my first custom cushion order and I'm delighted to be making it for one of you nice people out there. Mookah, check out my newly relaunched Made It shop for a listing of the different styles, destinations and route numbers.

New W Class Cushion pics

2011-08-02T21:07:00.004+10:00

Finally the weather and my timetable have aligned and I've been able to take some proper photos of my new tram cushion designs. Photo obese, as they like to say on Craftster!

I'm still trying to figure out how much they'll cost so I can repoen my MadeIt shop - or should I follow the lead of some other crafters and go for a BigCartel shop instead? Can I figure these things out without actually having to think about them?

On the one hand I'm very excited to finally bring this new cushion concept to fruition, but on the other it's been such a lovely break for the last four months or so not running a business. When I've had a busy week I haven't had to be afraid of opening my email and finding orders I have to fill. I think I'm ready to get back into it. But I'm also in the third week of my new Actual Job (I get paid to do stuff!) and we're starting to get serious about house hunting and I'm not sure this is the right time to make myself available to the craft-consuming public again. But is it ever the perfect time for anything? Sometimes, yes, but most of the time no.

I will reopen my shop and start taking orders for these. Just need a few more good sleeps first.

Patterned printed cushions

2011-07-26T17:43:00.002+10:00

Pardon the poor photos - I sewed these last night and was at work today, so I haven't had a chance to do daylight shots yet.

Here's a redux of last year's Geometric cushion which went down such a treat in Frankie magazine:

And here's a completely new pattern concept, inspired by the chevrons all over people's Pinterest interior design pins:

I plan to tone down the roof a bit and use more contrasting greens and yellows next print run.

And here's the whole happy family!

Still loving 'em!

Spoonflower Delivery!

2011-07-25T17:30:00.004+10:00

Oh yeah, oh yeah!

I went for the organic cotton sateen instead of the linen/cotton canvas I tried last time, and it's miles better. The colour saturation is better than the linen/cotton, and a vast improvement over the quilting cotton I used to order. It looks and feels luxe, compared to the linen/cotton which made my image look cheap. The print is still way off square - why can't they fix that?

I still need to increase the white space around the image (ie make the image smaller) so it appears flat on the front of the cushion, rather than being distorted by the shape of the insert.

I've been dying to try this - a border of paisley on the sides to elongate the tram image and make it look a bit more handmade. What do you think?

Perhaps my favourite new feature - tags printed in the Spoonflower design's selvedge and trimmed with pinking shears.

Still need to experiment with the smoothest and quickest way of doing the reverse applique inserts. Not that you can tell they're anything less than perfect from this distance. ;-)

These are just the 'classic' prints - I haven't tried out the gorgeous patterned prints yet! I think I'll be spending some time in the sewing room after the kids go to bed tonight.

Anxiety

2011-07-18T19:36:00.003+10:00

No, not me, I'm feeling fine. Maybe a bit nervous about the first day of my new job tomorrow, my first time doing proper work in nearly three years, but otherwise I'm dandy.

Beefranck's Emporium (on the always wonderful Mr X Stitch) has featured stitcher Lindsay Joy's Anxiety Series. I love them. Particularly this one.

'Maybe Attending' is the saviour of those of us who dread social gatherings where we don't know anyone, but don't want to seem rude by admitting we'd rather stay at home and watch the extras on a DVD box set.

Little Bag, Big Bag

2011-07-13T14:18:00.005+10:00

Last week I made a darling little Wristlet purse from Nikki M's book You SEW Girl!

I really loved it but it wasn't quite big enough to fit my wallet, plus button loop closures and I are not compatible. I thought about making another Wristlet with the body 5cm longer in the same fabrics, but it seemed a little silly to make almost exactly the same thing again. Flipping through the book I realised there was something bigger I could make, in the same fabrics, without feeling like I was repeating myself.

Behold: my matching City Shopper bag!

I had just enough of both the travel and orange fabrics to cut out the necessary pieces. I would have loved to make the strap orange but didn't have enough left. I had to go buy more of the aqua - shh, I'm meant to be strictly sewing from my stash this year! I used rectangular rings rather than O rings, simply because I liked the look of them when I went through the options at Nikki's studio shop. I have lost count of how many times I've dropped in there in the past fortnight - I really don't plan my sewing projects ahead of time!

I referred to Nikki's Mod Bag pattern method to do a magnetic snap closure instead of the button loop, but couldn't resist sewing a button on anyway.

Even without a gusset the City Shopper is a very roomy bag. I used a light fabric rather than the same black lining as the Wristlet, in the hope it'll make it easier to find things. The print is a green cityscape.

Now, for the regrets - I screwed up the interfacing. This time I read all the way through the preparation instructions in the pattern, and then read the book's section on interfacing. I wanted a stiffer bag than my Wristlet so I'd bought a heavy fusible backing, which I wouldn't have touched if I'd read the book's warning on it being like cardboard (it was). After experimenting with all my different options (heat, interfacing first, wadding first) I decided I was going to do one layer of medium non-woven interfacing, then medium fusible wadding, then another layer of medium interfacing. But when it came time I went into a pressing coma (y'know, when your whole world shrinks down to counting to six, moving the iron, counting to six...) and fused both layers of interfacing before the wadding. The result is that the bag is very easily crinkled and I can't quite get the fabric around the darts smooth. I'm trying to convince myself no-one will notice from a distance, but it still makes me a bit sad. I did the flap differently - that's one layer of wadding then one layer of interfacing - which turned out fine but has the squishiness I was trying to avoid by putting down a layer of interfacing first. I have to avoid letting the designer see it or she'll deny knowing me.

Sigh. Next time I'll get it right. And spend the extra few bucks on woven interfacing.

I'm sufficiently proud of my City Shopper that I'm sure to use it every day. And I was very pleased to find the set strap length is just right for hanging the bag off the handles of the double pram. Versatility! I can use the bag on work days and home days and avoid the hassle of transferring everything back and forth all the time.

I'm sure to make another one in time! In fact, I'm already mentally making fabric combos...

Pretty Ditty Apron for a 30 Year Old

2011-07-12T16:47:00.006+10:00

It was my little sister's 30th birthday party on the weekend! She said she'd like her apron to go with her two year old daughter's apron, and picked this apron from designer Jamie Christina's Flickr stream for my inspiration photo.

Here's what I came up with - my favourite so far!

The pockets on this side use fabric left over from my niece's apron, to make them more matchy.

All fabrics from Spotlight, as usual. They do insist on emailing out vouchers for 20% off quilting fabrics!

If this apron looks a little familiar it's because I used the offcuts to make Baby Amy's Preschool Backpack.

Happy birthday (on Thursday) Christine!

Completed project: Wristlet!

2011-07-07T21:09:00.002+10:00

The kids were in childcare again today, adjusting to when I start work in a week and a half (!!!). What to do with a day to myself? I've been very jealous of Baby Amy's chic Preschool Backpack so I decided to make something for myself for once. The You Sew, Girl! wristlet touted itself as a quick project and it looked like a lovely little thing to tuck into my work bag.

Of course, once I picked the project I had the eternal problem of what fabric to use. I didn't want to do the fallback of black, white and red, and I didn't feel like using linen. I always admire the bright, funky things other people sew so my keyword for this bag was bold.

The whole thing came together when I remembered finding a scrap of fabric the other day and thinking, "This is my favourite print in the world". Unfortunately I didn't have enough of the black colourway left, but even with the lesser brown background I still love love love this fabric. The aqua is a reproduction of a design in the V&A textiles collection - I don't know more than that because I don't have enough of the selvedge.

The original plan was to have the orange as the front and aqua as the back. When I went to attach the flap it was clear that the orange really emphasised the brown in the travel print, while the aqua tended to neutralise it. Every time I'm mixing prints I end up making the planned back into the front!

The navy (bakelite?) button comes from Daylesford Bazaar, and has a sibling in author Nikki M's button collection. The navy isn't very bold, but it really suited the vintage feel of the travel images.

Inside - bold black and white! I teamed my travel theme with this fab Britannia print. Ideally I would have had the little Routemaster bus centered on the inside flap, but the borders around the Big Ben clocktower and Tower Bridge were much prettier.

And to finish it off, a Mrs Beckinsale label (I'll place it higher next time), a purple zip and cherry print. Choice!

I feel that this is me, represented in bag form. If I saw this in a shop it would kill me that I hadn't been the maker. It took under four hours to make (and will take less time now that I know to block fuse the interfacing and the wadding before cutting out - I really need to learn to read instructions!). I'll do the wrist strap tomorrow - I need to drop into Nicole M Design headquarters to pick up a swivel hook.

I think this could be my 2012 birthday presents project, like my 2011 Pretty Ditty Aprons. Such fun!

Completed project: Preschool backpack!

2011-07-04T19:47:00.002+10:00

Here's Baby Amy's new little backpack, from the wonderful You Sew, Girl! book. After making Jack a half-hour library bag last week it was a bit of hard slog spending hours on this one, but just look at it! It's so gorgeous and so well made, and will last for years.

All the fabrics are from my stash, apart from having to buy another 30cm of the paisley for making straps and binding. The fact I went to Spotlight and back without reading all the way through the materials list, and so don't have a proper cord for the drawstring (and don't own any large wooden beads), means the bag is done up with a thick cotton tape for now (ie, for the next four years). That will teach me to be so cocky when approaching patterns. It wouldn't kill me to slow down and read something from start to finish before jumping into it.

I couldn't resist putting a bird on it. Wish I'd done the self-cover button in a different fabric though - it goes missing a bit with all that paisley swimming around.

And here's Jack's equivalent bag, which looks rather sad now.

Sorry Jack.

You Sew Girl Preschool Backpack

2011-07-01T17:15:00.005+10:00

I've finally got my hands on a copy of Nikki's tome You, Sew Girl! My bestie bought it for my birthday - as a rule, presents between us must be at least four months late (but I think I may break that rule this year with my apron-making streak). The first cab off the rack will be a Preschool Backpack for Miss Amelia Roxy.

It's much swisher than Nikki's previous half-hour library bag tutorial, which I knocked up last weekend for Jack (pics someday). So many opportunities for mixing and matching fabric! I've made six Pretty Ditty Aprons so far this year (again, pics of #5 and #6 someday) and have grown a great rainbow stash of offcuts as a result. But what combo will make the perfect backpack for my bubba girl? I've decided to do a polka-dot body and paisley pocket, with a third fabric for the flap (and possibly more contrast for the bias binding trim, inside of the flap, and so on).

I am very taken with some of these blue combos. The first pic has a corduroy flap rather than craft cotton. Perhaps with a bit of purple trim around the flap?

The red end of the spectrum is also very tempting.

And again, I've got a corduroy flap option.

What would you choose? I think I've already made up my mind!

Nine Months!

2011-06-29T19:48:00.001+10:00

Nine months! Amy's finally got a tooth. She's had her first taste of daycare and did pretty well. What a big brave girl.

See Amy grow.

I still love 'em

2011-06-28T13:53:00.007+10:00

Filling a couple orders for the first time in ages. Even after 2+ years of making these, I still get a thrill when I turn them right-side-out and see how amazing they look.

One's a genuine paying customer, the other is a long-organised swap for Amy's birthday present.

A Nini & Wink family to go with Amy's Lilly dolly. I'm going to make a tram for them all to ride in. Somehow. Perhaps in the style of Jodie's Animal House.

(Blame Blogger for the pixelated photos!)

My crystal ball...

2011-06-21T20:32:00.004+10:00

...Shows me this.

I've taken full advantage of Spoonflower's Free Shipping Monday. Now I have to wait a month or so for the future to arrive.

P.S. Thanks everyone who commented on my breastfeeding/weaning post. I've been running around like a headless chook and haven't had the chance yet to reply to each of them individually. But - it does mean a lot to me to have you share your experiences and offer support for whatever (safe & healthy) way I look after my children.

P.P.S. My wish for 2011 was "Babies for those who want them". Today I've had news of yet another pregnancy for a person who's been waiting an incredibly long time. It's got nothing to do with me wishing, of course, but it makes me very happy. Only one left on my "Wants a baby but hasn't got one" list, and she only joined the list this month so she may have to wait a bit! Hooray for babies!

If you look closely...

2011-06-19T17:31:00.003+10:00

...You might glimpse the future.

A vague approximation of it, anyway.

(I feel like I should have my blog confiscated for taking photos with a flash.)

Spoonflower has free shipping everywhere in the world if you order on (American) Monday, so time to get those design kinks sorted out and start uploading.

Quick question for cushion fans - big squishy 45cm, or neat cute 40cm (of which I can easily fit six panels into a yard)?

(Thanks to Margaret for workshopping this with me today, and thanks to Cathie and Nikki for a perfect opportunity to do so!)

Secret Mummyhood Confession

2011-06-19T09:08:00.004+10:00

Crazy Canadian Tawny Bee joins in with Secret Mommy-hood Confessions on the weekend, and today I've got my own confession to make.

I stopped breastfeeding Amy a week ago and haven't said anything anywhere because I'm afraid of being judged by pro-12m+ breastfeeders.

My first bubba, Jack, was the worst breastfeeder. Right from the start he screamed and fought breastfeeds, and we ended up in a routine of me having to walk around the house jiggling around while breastfeeding him so he'd stay calm. If I so much as spoke while he was feeding he'd have a tantrum. He had his first formula top-up at eight weeks because I was so sick of the Maternal & Child Health Nurse's program of using the breastpump for ten minutes after every feed to increase my supply. At five months I replaced his bedtime feed with a bottle because I simply had no milk at that time of day, and a slow weaning program saw him have his last breastfeed at eight months. I was so glad it was over.

Second bubba Amy has been the opposite. After the first two weeks breastfeeding has been simple and it was wonderful to be able to leave the house knowing I could breastfeed quietly in public - something I could never do with Jack. I tried several times to get her to drink expressed milk from a bottle and she wouldn't have it. At six months I finally convinced her to take a bottle, and as I'm searching for work I replaced one feed a day with a bottle of formula. We casually adopted a slow weaning plan and a couple weeks ago we got down to two breastfeeds a day. As it did with Jack at this point, my body gave up on having milk ready at feed times and the remaining breastfeeds became very difficult. One of the last two remaining feeds was swapped for a bottle, and then last Sunday it took so long to achieve let-down, leading to Amy getting very upset, and I knew it was the last feed. Despite breastfeeding being so simple this time she was weaned at exactly the same week as Jack.

This is a major thing for me, having spent most of the last three and a half years pregnant or breastfeeding. My body is my own again! I went to Myer yesterday and got professionally fitted for three brand-new (25% off) underwire bras. I can have a drink without calculating how long it is until Amy's next feed. I can get a new tattoo (if I save up all my pocket money for a year and convince my hubby it's okay). I am happy.

And yet - I haven't mentioned this major event because I feel guilty about being happy about stopping breastfeeding. Even though this time I managed to get to six months without using formula, which I so badly wanted to be the case with Jack, I still don't want the women I know who happily breastfeed for twelve months or more to think I'm flippant and selfish. This is what the 'Mommy Wars' does to a grown, rational woman even when she's achieved her personal goals. I realised it's important to me that I do say something as a bid against the Mommy Wars, to say I believe we can all be proud of the jobs we do as mothers and none of us are in a place to judge another mother for using formula, or breastfeeding a toddler, or whatever is best for our individual families or personal sanity. And none of us should be afraid of the imaginary judgement of imaginary mothers, the way I have been.

That's my Mummyhood Confession. Find more at All Work & No Play Makes Mommy Go Something Something. (Love the Simpsons reference!)

Wasting my time

2011-06-18T08:41:00.004+10:00

What's the latest way to waste time on the internet (which has been around I don't know how long)? Pinterest, of course!

In a way it makes me cringe - the number of dream wedding boards and dream nursery boards by people with no engagement ring or BFP*. If it weren't for the "Please be nice" commenting rule I would be snarking all over the fantasies of dreamy gals saying "Ooh, I'm going to do this when I've got a baby!" having repinned someone's highly personalised, meaningful and one-in-a-million-chance-of-baby-smiling baby portrait.

But on the other hand, I know if Pinterest had been around when I was planning my wedding (or nursery) I would have been fired for spending all my time repinning images of starry garden wedding receptions. Pinterest is completely compelling and I can't deny I get a little thrill when something I've freshly pinned gets repinned. Ooh, I'm popular with the Sofia Coppola-loving hip chicks who think their future husbands will go along with sleeping in a hand-crafted nook with 'Dream sweetly and go to hell' engraved above the pillows.

Sorry, don't know where I went just then.

Anyway, my Pinterest bits are at pinterest.com/mrsbeckinsale. My boards are full of house deco ideas my husband would hate, Australian indie craft and design stuff I own (or wish I owned), tattoos I'll get when body modification is a higher financial priority than buying a house, and some stuff that makes me laugh.

If you want to play with Pinterest let me know and I'll send you an 'invite'. The invitation system beings to mind Groucho Marx - I don't want to be part of any club that would have me as a member!**

If you're not (P)interested perhaps I can entertain you with some of my scrapbooks from circa 2001***. Enjoy:

Click to embiggen (and fully appreciate that fake-fur-trimmed Kinki Gerlinki vest!)

* Big Fat Positive - a positive pregnancy test.
** I'm going to paraphrase as this is quoted differently around the internet.
*** I was trying to find my teen years scrapbook filled with dreams of my future wedding. I'm sure I haven't chucked it - hopefully it'll turn up when we eventually move house.

Maternity Dress Refashion

2011-06-05T12:07:00.005+10:00

After several nights of good sleeps (I think Amy understood when the Maternal & Child Health Nurse threatened her with CIO) I am utterly exhausted again - because I was at an awesome wedding last night! Getting to bed at 1am is not a good idea when the kids start waking at 6:20am.

This was an evening wedding at NGV International - that's the National Gallery of Victoria on St Kilda Road. I tried every dress I owned and nothing fit, thanks to several years of pregnancy and breastfeeding. I flirted with the idea of buying some fabric and designing a new dress, or even buying a pattern, but nothing in the fabric shops or pattern books inspired me. I looked back to my wardrobe and noticed the maternity dress I made for my brother's wedding last April, which I don't plan to ever need again... Why not give it a new life?

Before and After!

I didn't get a wonderful photo of me wearing it as the Great Hall at NGV is dimly lit on a winter evening, but you get the idea - a new contrasting boned bodice (what I need most from a dress is a waistline!) and a short, straight skirt with a... whatchercallit? Thingo pleat in the back so I can move my knees.

In progress, and fabric detail

My 'new' dress cost:

$8 approx for boning, Shapewell interfacing and new zip

$5 for black brocade fabric, found in Spotlight's upholstery section

Free black delustred satin and anti-static lining left over from a dressmaking client years ago

That's it!

I used the upper bodice from the original dress. I drafted a new skirt pattern, cut the front skirt piece from the original skirt and the back skirt pieces from leftover scraps which I found after twenty minutes of increasingly panicked searching. I drafted the central bodice to my measurements with mega-support undies and no ease, which meant I had to gather the upper bodice to make the sections fit together. As the hours ticked away on the day of the wedding it was chancey how 'finished' the dress was going to be on the inside, but in the end I managed to fully line it. The lining isn't stitched to the zip and and fusible hemming tape on the skirt didn't last the whole night so there's a bit more to be done before I can wear it again!

I could write a mistakes and mishaps section, but perhaps I'll keep those to myself for once. I will say that if I'd realised the existing zip in the dress wasn't going to be long enough for the black bodice section and I'd have to unpick and replace the whole thing and make a mess of the back neckline, I probably would have chucked the refashioning concept in the bin and made a new dress from scratch.

Good points said and bad points forgotten, I think my 'new' dress is ace. The corsetry and short skirt give it a bit of an eighties rocker glam feel and I was worried I might win second prize in a Stevie Nicks contest. But I think I pulled it off, and it made me look like the woman I feel like (on a very good day).

For your patience, here's a peek of what a wedding at NGV International looks like:

Bride's dress by Mariana Hardwick, lucky duck!

Eight months!

2011-06-03T09:27:00.003+10:00

Baby Amy is eight months old! Still no teeth. In this photo she's getting over a virus and her eyes are still a bit red. After three and a half months of waking multiple times a night, she's just done eight hours straight two nights in a row. Three times is a routine, so fingers crossed for tonight.

I'm going to have to go back to the original photo files next month and construct Amy's montage from scratch - these images are getting blurry from being resized so many times!

More Mixmaster Love

2011-05-24T08:20:00.002+10:00

Still dreaming of a candy-pink vintage Sunbeam Mixmaster?

Here's one on eBay - display only - starting at 99c, and it's in Melbourne! The seller's included a tonne of arty photos on the listing so even if you're not bidding you can still go have a drool.

I WON THE CUSHION SWAP!

2011-05-23T15:12:00.003+10:00

I've been devotedly checking the completed widget for Vic's Cushion Swap 2011, and while they're all great there's one that's been my favourite since the start.

I thought someone had already received it. I was looking forward to seeing which of the lovely cushions on the list would turn up in my mailbox.

The postie did his drop-off today. Ooh, something for me! I recognised the name Lola Nova and knew they'd done something cool, but couldn't remember what it was. Inside...

I delayed my gratification by reading the note on the back of the postcard before unwrapping it. But all my maturity disappeared when I saw the message, "I hope you enjoy your Call Me cushion!" I had a massive fangirl meltdown and tore the wrapping open.

Would you look at that. It's mine. It's in my house and it belongs to me.

I'm a huge Blondie fan and the chorus of Call Me is going to ring (ha) in my head every time I see this gorgeous, sassy cushion.

I apologise for the light in these photos, it's raining here and there's poor natural light in our house at the best of times. Please head to Lola Nova's blog to see this cushion at its best. I hope the cushion she receives is made of sunshine and golddust.

And with superb timing, my cushion arrived at its new home at Clare's Craftroom today too!

Thankyou Vic for somehow managing to arrange this swap while looking after two little kiddies. You're a gem! Please do it again soon!

Yardage Design scarf

2011-05-14T15:31:00.004+10:00

I finished this scarf on Mothers Day - it's taken me so long to get around to posting it!

I was looking for suitably wonderful projects to feature my Yardage Design fabric packs and remembered Holly Two Cheese Please's rainbow patchwork scarf. To properly show off the prints I cut much larger pieces than in Holly's scarf. It also seemed the perfect purpose for my bit of Ink & Spindle fabric which I've had for nearly a year (which I wish was in charcoal or inky blue rather than teal, but never mind). I popped black pieces (once again, left over from that summer dress) in between so it'd match my winter wardrobe better.

I arranged the pieces with the blues up one end and the reds up the other, so that if I drape it one way it matches blue and green outfits...

...And if I drape it the other way it matches red and purple outfits.

I shaped the middle pieces so it would fit more snuggly around the back of my neck.

I love these fabrics.

I had planned to back it with black coral fleece but Spotty only had this midnight blue. Well, there were other colours but they all clashed horribly with at least one of the prints. Now that I'm used to it I think the dark blue is even better than black.

I've worn this scarf almost every day since I made it. Absolute love!

Cushion Swap Reveal!

2011-05-14T14:56:00.005+10:00

Ever since Vic created a list for completed cushion projects I've been feeling very "Me Too!" Wanting to show off what you've been working (or not) on sure is a motivator to get the thing finished.

When I got my recipient's name Vic also told me they didn't like a particular element, and it's an element that turns up in a lot of things I make. Feeling worried, I headed to my recipient's blog to see what they did like. I scrolled through pages of blog posts, wondering how I could please someone who had such a different aesthetic to me. It wasn't that I didn't like her stuff - it just wasn't the kind of thing I make. Then suddenly I found a completed project so wonderfully wonderful that I immediately knew what to make them, and I even had all the bits already in my stash. Can't wait any longer to show you - even though if my recipient finds this through Vic's list she'll instantly know it's for her!

Some left-over cotton dobby, a doily, some vintage buttons and a sheet of inkjet printable fabric and Bob's yer missus!

I sneakily used some of the recipient's own photos to create the vintage button cards. Shh, don't tell her!

I wish I hadn't tinted that there card green. It's way too matchy with the dobby.

As well as button cards and doilies my recipient also loves vintage sheets. I don't have any as they're not quite my thing, but I found this piece of pastelly florally fabric given to me a while back.

Normally I'd finish a cushion cover with an invisible zip, but I couldn't have so many buttons on one cushion without at least some of them being functional! I've never attempted a button-up cushion before but I managed it alright without resorting to things like instructions.

I need to make one of these for myself. It's the girliest thing in the world! And I never would have thought of it if it weren't for the random allocation of this particular blogger.See more cushions here.

Remembered Dresses (a recollection of rara skirts)

2011-05-14T09:29:00.006+10:00

Mum made pretty much all our dresses when we were little. When I see a scrap of fabric from one of my childhood dresses in her stash or in a quilt she's made, I immediately recall every detail of the dress, the first time I wore it, whether the top button choked me and how good the skirt was for swirling. I wish I still had all my homemade dresses so I could line them up in chronological order and have a fairly complete history of my young life. But strangely, this week I've had the clearest memories of dresses I never owned.

Being a little girl who loved dresses I pored over the latest catalogues from KMart and Fosseys looking for the latest in girls fashions. It was a time of peplums and rara skirts, and it makes my heart beat faster to see the same styles on the girls racks at Target now. How many years ahead can I buy my own daughter's clothes, and dress her for the next six years in the styles I coveted? I never thought I'd be swayed from my stance that putting non-walking children in dresses in completely impractical, but my current favourite thing to dress her in is a cheap little dress from KMart, like this one:

In Target last week I saw a similar little tunic and leggings in the Girls 1-6 section, in a dark pink with black dots. Immediately I was transported back to around 1987 and laying eyes on the Dannii range in a KMart catalogue. There was a tunic with a rara skirt and bow at the back and matching leggings with a ruffle around the waist. I was concerned that the ruffle on the legging would be covered by the bottom ruffle of the rara skirt, and why would Dannii waste a ruffle this way? I longed to have this outfit. I think I may have even talked Mum into saying maybe we'd drive to KMart in the next town to have a look.

The next day my best friend flouted the school uniform rules and wore her new Dannii outfit, the one from the catalogue, to school. It was beautiful. Never had I seen such a sophisticated pink and never had ruffles and a bow been combined in such a stylish way. My best friend proudly proclaimed that her dad had bought the last one and all the Dannii clothes had sold out. She was right - you can hear more about it on John Safran's Music Jamboree. This outfit was never to be mine. I'm seriously considering visiting this week's 20% off kids clothing sale at Target to get Baby Amy the outfit I never owned.

By the next year I had recovered sufficiently from my disappointment (but obviously hadn't forgotten it) and was looking through the latest Fosseys publication fresh from the letterbox. Inside I spied a surprisingly charming summer dress. It's no surprise that I was seduced my the rara skirt with alternating spotted and striped layers, but by the fact it was blue. I think the catalogue even said there was a pink one, but the blue one pictured looked so good that I was converted to this new colour. It was available in my size, I think it was $12 (considering Amy's KMart dress was $10 that must have been a decent amount of money back then), and I made my desire very clear to my parents. I don't specifically remember doing that, but young girls have no subtlety so I must have done. I went away to school camp for a week, the image of the blue ruffled dress tucked away in the back of my mind.

I arrived home from camp having survived bush walks and leeches and was greeted by my little sister wearing that dress. She casually showed it off, not overly humbled by having been bought a rare spontaneous present (even a shop-bought dress!) and clearly undeserving of this ravishing garment. I was heartbroken. I asked to go to bed early and, when asked if something was wrong, just said I was feeling tired. That was the first time I was aware of telling a white lie to protect someone else's (my parents') feelings. At some point a trip to Fosseys to get me the same dress was made and I clung to the promise to get me through to shopping day. When we got to Fosseys the gorgeous spotted and striped dresses in my size, in blue or any other colour, were all gone. I was bought some weak substitute which I didn't love and have no recollection of.

Perhaps I wouldn't remember these amazing rara dresses if I'd actually owned them. Perhaps the unfulfilled longing is what has stamped them indelibly on my memory. I'm sure my mum will be surprised to read this and probably not remember any of it. In wanting to buy replicas of these lost dresses for my daughter I'm partly trying to avoid her experiencing these relatively insignificant disappointments in life. But if I remember these dresses only because I didn't own them, there's no way I can protect her by buying everything she asks for. Especially when she's only seven months old and has no idea what clothes are. Maybe she won't even like dresses. What irony that would be for a dressmaker's daughter.

I won lots of dresses now. With the combination of patternmaking and dressmaking skills and a large dress fabric stash I can make myself as many dresses as I want. Unfortunately I don't have the time or energy to do so or the panache to wear a frock when I spend my days looking after two kids, but in theory I could have a new dress every week (so don't feel too bad, Mum). Today I'm heading off to Rathdowne Remnants to find the stuff for a dress (I love in Laura Ingalls Wilder books when she refers to "the stuff for a dress") for an evening wedding at NGV International. I'm taking Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing as my general style inspiration and may attempt something like her recent black eyelet dress, if I can afford the fabric. Or I might be more realistic about my available time and simply make a high-waisted skirt to go with a top I've already got. The one thing you can count on is I won't be wearing a rara skirt.

Seven Months

2011-05-07T18:18:00.000+10:00

Late as usual, here's Amy's latest portrait!

This is how my baby smiles. No teeth yet but a very tender lower gum! Commando crawls like it's going outta fashion.

Amy's new hat, and local mushrooms

2011-05-02T19:14:00.002+10:00

My mum made Amy a hat.

We checked the measurements over Easter weekend and decided it was going to be much too small, so Mum made it bigger than the pattern.

Now I may have to take it in a bit!

All Nations Park in Northcote was built on top of a tip, and at this rainy time of year it's full of mushrooms. Here are some we saw today.

Pretty Ditty Apron for a two year old

2011-05-01T08:06:00.005+10:00

ANZAC Day was my local niece's second birthday. That girl's never going to have to go to school or work on her birthday! I used the toddler size of Jamie Christina's Pretty Ditty Apron pattern. My niece is blonde so I thought she'd look lovely in blue.

Side note: I've made one change to the kids pattern, which is the length of the ruffle. I made the medium kids ruffle piece 1 inch shorter and the toddler ruffle piece 2 inches shorter. I did this after making my first medium kids apron and the ruffle being so gathered I could hardly pin it on.

The most enjoyable part of constructing these aprons is deciding how to match up the different prints. On the first one I made I followed the pattern directions, with two prints on one side and one print on the reverse. The two I made for my overseas nieces I swapped things around a bit, but made them match each other. I had planned to make this one in the same way, as I'd selected the same balance of prints, but when it came to the last step of assembly I turned the bodice the other way around. The bird print is my favourite, but I loved the mix of polka dots, dark skirt and bird pockets. And this way if she loves the birds too she can wear the all-bird side!

All fabrics from Spotlight. The greenish one is actually a reproduction from something at the V&A Museum. I don't have all the details as I didn't buy enough to get the whole selvedge.

I asked for a photo of my niece modelling the apron but all I got was photos of her having a tantrum and throwing it on the floor! So here's one I prepared earlier.

I only got one photo before Jack took the shortest route to a mud puddle so you'll have to be satisfied with this for now!

A circly skirt

2011-04-21T13:40:00.003+10:00

I've 'finished' my first project with my Yardage Design fabric packs. It's not really fully finished because I have to go back and do major alterations!

A skirt, woohoo! When I drafted and tested the pattern a couple weeks ago it was a perfect fit. However I'm mysteriously dropping kilos at the moment, and when I tried the skirt on today I was able to pull it off without using the zip. I need to take it in at least 4cm, grr. Very annoying when the lining hem has been hand-stitched to the skirt hem. That's not a real waistband you might spy - the piece of fabric I was using was too small for the pattern piece so I stitched another bit on top. When I cut out the skirt I discovered the darts had to go into the added-on bit. It sits fairly badly, as well as looking like I intentionally drafted a fake waistband without closing off the darts.

The black linen blend fabric is leftovers from my summer dress of 2009-10. Being a summer-weight fabric and this skirt being for winter, I fully lined it with an orange floral cotton fabric I have way too much of. The zip is a leftover from last year's skirtmaking for Olive Grove. Didn't spend a cent on this ill-fitting beauty! Plus, my sister just gave me her cherry Docs from when she was 15 so I've got free new shoes to match. I might have to give them back when my niece grows up and goes through an alternative phase. I'm desperately hoping my own daughter does that because I've got three pairs of Docs I'm saving (and occasionally wearing) for her.

I traced circles onto the backing paper of some fusible webbing, fused it to the reverse of the fabric and then cut out the circles. You know how applique works. After top-stitching the circles I used the 1/4" mark on my sewing machine foot to stitch circles in white and dark red to match the inks. I know I've seen this embellishment idea somewhere before. I checked a bunch of blogs but the closest I could find was one by Jodie using reverse applique. I checked the Olive Grove photo albums on Bookface and couldn't find it there either, but I suspect it was a Grover design that's influenced me.

So, I would be pleased with it if it came close to fitting. Instead I'll be pleased with my mysterious slimness. My next Yardage Design project is in progress and I'm lucky it's not something that has to fit!

Pink Sunbeam Mixmaster lurve

2011-04-20T14:53:00.002+10:00

For those sincerely jealous of my yellow vintage Sunbeam Mixmaster (and who wouldn't be), eBay has a PINK! one for sale starting at $50, and the seller will post anywhere.

Two matching bowls! And it comes with a juicer as well. Get bidding, silly sausages.

London Prints

2011-04-19T09:42:00.003+10:00

While I get around to taking photos of my latest project, here's some London prints. I was inspired to look for these by Oh Meaghan's post about These Are Things letterpress prints.

These Are Things Europa Touring/London letterpress print

Robert Rat Prints Double Decker NO. 9 hand printed art print

Two Ems Big Ben print

KokoHome London Bus print

Mike Lemanski London lithograph

Abbey Nekola Revitalising Elephant and Castle print< This one looks the most like the London Hubby T knows and loves. His favourite noodle place is in Elephant and Castle. You get about three people's worth of noodles for £3.50 and they go light on the vegetables. Yet somehow I don't think I'll be framing any pics of Elephant & Castle to adorn my walls.

Help find this bag

2011-04-17T07:53:00.003+10:00

Visit Curlypops to get the HTML code to add this image to your blog or copy the image to share on Facebook/Twitter.
The picture says it all.

This bag was possibly stolen by someone who went to the quilt show with the goal of stealing as much stuff as possible, rather than by a genuine quilt show visitor. The thief possibly does this often. I know the Northcote Kris Kringle market usually gets hit by thieves on the final night, stealing everything from little things on stalls to one stallholder's wallet holding $600 she'd made that night.

The thief will possibly either try to sell this bag (and the other things they stole), or give it to someone as a present, claiming they bought it. You might spot it anywhere. It could be at a trash-and-treasure stall or on the shoulder of an unsuspecting recipient of stolen goods.

I once worked in a boutique toyshop and it was only myself and a new teenage staff member on duty. A pair of experienced shoplifters came in and immediately made me suspicious. I tried to follow the one with the bag but her partner distracted me while she stole £100 of stuff from the shelves. I confronted her and got her to give one £20 item back but they ran off with the rest. Even beyond the expensive loss of stock while I was in charge of the shop I felt violated - these people had come into my space and brazenly stolen from me, even as I stood in front of them and said I could see what they were doing. Nikki's loss is so much worse because she made the bag herself and it features a beautiful button from her grandmother's stash.

The police told me the best thing to do in shoplifting situations, or if you see stolen goods later, is to call the police on your mobile while following the thieves at a discreet distance - preferably they won't know you're onto them - and wait for the police to arrive before approaching the person with the item. I worked with someone who got their stolen car back this way, months after it had been taken! I'm not sure exactly what you'd say to the emergency operator in the circumstance of tracking a stolen sample bag. In the era of camera phones it might be easier to take a few covert photos of the suspect and the bag and take the pictures into the cop shop.

Knowing me and my smart-arsery, I'd probably approach the person, start raving about the beautiful bag and asking loudly where they'd got it, and cause a massive scene. I'm not very appropriate (or necessarily safe) in these situations.

Share this image on Facebook, Twitter or wherever. The bag has probably moved beyond the craft community and the search needs to as well!

Naughty Librarian mag bag

2011-04-11T17:36:00.002+10:00

Here's a project I finished back in January but only just gave to recipient. My bestie and I went to the Stitches & Craft Show last year and started some charming Sublime Stitching pieces at one of the Craft Bars. My piece lay around for most of the year (as the permanent wrinkles attest) until I resolved to finally finish it off and show it off. Where better to display it that on a magazine bag for my librarian bestie?

Book bag in all her Glorie!
(I don't know, maybe Glorie is the librarian's name.)
Sized to fit great works of literature.
Black is velveteen; grey suiting is the same I used for this summer's dress, before I discovered it stretched.

Lined with alphabet fabric, carefully cut to include recipient's initials.
Just remembered I never got around to hand-stitching the lining closed.
Haven't done that on the bag I made myself circa New Year 2009/10 either.

And a close-up of the lovely librarian, creases and folds now permanently set with interfacing.

I made the pattern myself and followed the construction method from a Nicole Mallalieu pattern. Nikki M's pattern was a great reference as I had no idea what a zipper gusset was until I followed her instructions for making one.

Hopefully the recipient will now be inspired to send me the photos of the other 'literature'-related present I made her, which she's had since December! We are the slackest present exchangers.

Something for me

2011-04-08T13:01:00.003+10:00

It's been a difficult week. Baby Amy has her first tooth coming through and was additionally unsettled by her six month injections. Jack's experimenting with headbutting as a means of communication. I didn't get a job I really really wanted. I'm tired and impatient most of the time.

On the positive side, I made choc chip cookies with my beyoutifool Sunbeam Mixmaster and now love it even more. I used setting three - 'Mixing cookies and fruit cakes'. (Really should invest in the smaller size bowl though!) We had another photoshoot to celebrate.

And the thing that cheered me up the most was receiving a somewhat belated birthday present from my bestie.

I am the delighted possessor of two Yardage Design fabric packs, which are so lovely I can't bring myself to untie them. I've been trying to think of the perfect project to showcase these six lovely fabrics together. At the moment I'm leaning toward a pieced scarf, wantonly ripping off Two Cheese Please's rainbow scarf. But then maybe I should wait to get my hands on Nikki's nearly-here You Sew, Girl! book for more ideas. And waiting means I don't have to untie my little fabric parcels just yet.

Baby Amy's having her first nap of longer than 30 minutes all week, so forgive me for dashing away to take greater advantage of the semi-quiet time.

My birthday present - Sunbeam Mixmaster in yellow

2011-04-03T12:00:00.002+10:00

So here's what I eventually chose.

This ticked all my boxes for spending birthday cash. It's a big thing I could never usually afford which I can look at for years to come and know it's the result of my 2011 Birthday Cash. It's for the house we are yet to buy. And being a lovely yellow and black, it'll blend much more easily with unknown decor than the candy pink one I blogged yesterday. Plus there's the fact Hubby T does most of the cooking and he's not much of a one for pink.

And it works! It's not just a showpiece. I can even rationalise that my old blender broke after last year's train birthday cake efforts, so I'm not really adding another appliance to the collection.

Spewed 4 out of ten is for 'juicing citrus fruit'. Do you imagine one simply peels them and throws them in the mixing bowl? Maybe there's more attachments for it out there. (It[s alright, I've seen the pictures on eBay now. There's at least a smaller bowl, a juicer and a mincer to go with it.) I'm going to have to look around for a manual. Mill Markets did have a large colour advertisement for this Mixmaster for sale. Not much practical help, but perhaps something for next year's birthday spending!

I can read more about the Sunbeam Mixmaster here, about its design influences here, and an interview with a collector here.

Spending my money - finally!

2011-04-02T19:42:00.003+10:00

On Saturday I took Baby Amy on an impromptu roadtrip to Mill Markets in Daylesford. I was hoping to find either a canister stack:

This one on eBay has a cracked lid and is currently $31.05
or hopefully an adorable bakelite cookie jar:

Who knows what this collectors item is worth!
Surprisingly Mill Markets didn't have either, so I spent hours deciding whether to spend my money on lots of little things...

Nally flour canister, $16

Mitsubishi dark pink blender, $48

Tarax and Schweppes soda spritzers, $22 each

Library file card drawer, $12

...or one big thing.

Sunbeam pinky pink pink Mixmaster, $1xx
So what did I choose? Find out tomorrow!

Six months!

2011-04-01T16:43:00.002+10:00

Amelia can almost sit up on her own - here she's being helped out be her latest ted.

Amy the whinger. Amy who in the last seven weeks has only slept through the night twice. Amy the shrieker. Amy who laughs like a fat old man when you blow raspberries on her tummy. Love you, Roxy Girl.

Still trying to spend my money

2011-03-31T12:25:00.002+10:00

I've had some wonderful suggestions for how to spend my $120 of Birthday Cash. But then I went and typed 'Bakelite' into eBay.

It's a ring box! Stunning.

OMG BAKELITE DUCK MEASURING CUPS!!!

Why am I being so carefree in sharing all these auctions with you? Well, I haven't shared the ones I REALLY want to win. Nyah nyah!

An office dress?

2011-03-30T16:46:00.005+10:00

While applying for jobs and taking a break from cushioning, my mind turns to work clothes. I've never used the long-sleeved version of my favourite pattern, McCalls M4769. However I can't move past the idea of making it from this fabric combo already in my stash:

(I'd do longer sleeves but still with cuffs, and probably only do the button closure on the top with a less full skirt.)

Maybe I should secure a job and check out the dress code before adding this to my work wardrobe?

Burning a hole in my pocket

2011-03-29T10:51:00.002+10:00

Six weeks ago 'twas my birthday, and I was thrilled to receive some Birthday Cash. We've been in hardcore saving mode for the house for over two years and I've rarely spent money on myself in that time. That makes Birthday Cash so much sweeter, and really puts the pressure on to spend it wisely!

Last weekend I visited Lost & Found and Memorabilia on Smith St, Collingwood, certain I would find exactly the right thing that I could look at for years to come and say, "That's what I bought with my 2011 Birthday Cash." With the size of Lost & Found I was very surprised that I didn't find a single thing I desperately wanted to own. I was less surprised at Memorabilia where I found about a dozen things I desperately wanted but they were all either ten times more money than I had (I asked the guy behind the counter if they had any authentic tram scrolls he could give me for 90% off) or not for sale. I was perplexed at the amount of stuff in that shop that's not for sale, until I saw a note saying many items were available to hire for set dressing.

As well as a vintage tram scroll I'm now in a mind to acquire some old milk bar signage for the kitchen of our new house. This one's $750 on eBay:

Ice cream is health food!

Seeing as the stuff I really want is way beyond my means I'm opening the floor for suggestions. What can I buy with the $120 I have left (having already bought a magazine and something else I'll have to reveal in another post)? I'd like something for the new house, but I'd also be delighted with something indulgent just for me (but don't have enough for a new tattoo). Give me a link of what you'd buy if you were in my position. It could be on eBay, Etsy, or the website of a maker whose work you adore. Help me spend my money!

Taking a break

2011-03-28T11:49:00.004+10:00

Our little household has had the good fortune this month of having the kids' British grandparents staying with us. They haven't seen Little Jack since October 2009, and had never met Baby Amy. We spent three weeks cramming in as much intensive Quality Time as possible, and I took advantage of the chance to stretch my wings as much as possible while still being responsible for a fully breastfed baby. It's hard adjusting back to not having those extra pairs of hands around and not being able to pop out for half an hour on my own.

Now that the in-laws have flown back home I've got my sewing room back. I've been looking forward to jumping back into my business and getting my cushion production line chugging again, but...

I'm feeling really run down.

I'm applying for jobs so we can buy a house later this year.

I'm trying to teach Amy to take a bottle so that when I get a job I don't have to hide her in a filing cabinet drawer, and she despises bottles.

Also trying to increase Amy's intake of solids as her MCHN visit last week revealed she's dropped from 25th percentile for weight, which she's been since birth, to 5th.

I'm doing a lot of work on Jack's delayed speech development following his first speech therapy appointment about two weeks ago. Completely changing the way I talk to him is hard.

And every time I open my business email I cross my fingers that I won't have any orders because I just don't want to.

So I'm taking a break from Mrs Beckinsale. I've put my Made It shop in holiday mode. Olive Grove has a good stock of W Class Cushions so I should get away without restocking for a few weeks. Apart from the winner of my Japan fundraising auction (the same winner as my Queensland fundraiser! She's keen!) I won't be making any cushions until May. The most important element in getting the business going again will be if and when I start a new job, because the family is going to need time to adjust to new routines and childcare and trying to get Amy sleeping through the night again...

I'm so happy to be taking a break. It won't necessarily be a break from blogging - not that I've had much time for blogging anyway since Little Miss Roxy arrived six months ago today. We'll see.

Twin Pretty Ditty Aprons

2011-03-18T16:55:00.003+10:00

I finished the second of the pair of Pretty Ditty Aprons for our turning-six nieces in the UK.

I love this fabric combo! Making this apron reminds me of the Project Runway episodes where they're working with clients and have to make someone else happy while remaining true to themselves. I don't do pink floral so this is my interpretation of what a little girl would like.

Although I am worried this is far more orange than a six year old girl can handle.

Here's the two aprons together. So cute!

Japan Quake Appeal Auction: W Class Cushion

2011-03-17T20:31:00.004+10:00

It's really sad to need to raise funds again, so soon after January's Queensland Flood Appeal.

Jojo of A Bit of This and a Bit of That has taken on the task of coordinating an international blogger handmade auction to raise funds for the massive tragedy affecting Japan. She'll have a master lists of auctions and giveaways soon, I'll link to it when it's available.

Again, I am offering a custom W Class Cushion to the highest bidder.

W Class Cushions celebrate Melbourne's iconic rattly W Class trams in huggable textile form. These trams can also be spotted in Seattle, Copenhagen and Savannah (according to Wikipedia). If you're not familiar, here's the real thing:

And my version:

W Class Cushions have been featured in The Age's M Magazine, Frankie magazine, and on www.indie.com.au.

The winner will receive a W Class Cushion in Classic fabrics, as pictured...

...and it'll feature your choice of destination and route number. Any word, any number! It can be Reykjavík 888 if you fancy.

At Olive Grove Studios the price of a custom cushion is $95. If you've always wanted a W Class Cushion this may be your chance to snatch one up for a song - or make a grand gesture of philanthropy and receive a stylish reward.

Within Australia I'll post the winner's cushion with an insert. Internationally I'll post just the cover which can easily be fitted with a 45cm/ size 18 insert. Without an insert they look like this:

Please visit A Bit of This and a Bit of That for details of many many more auctions and giveaways, all raising money for the terrible events in Japan, and probably not tram-related (in case trams aren't your thing).

How to enter: Leave a comment on this post with the amount of your bid. It makes sense to bid more than the highest current bid, of course. Make sure I've got a way to contact you!
Winning: The winner is the person who makes the highest bid. Please bid in Australian dollars. They're about equal to US dollars at the moment, you can check exchange rates here.
Deadline: The auction ends at 8pm Aus Eastern Daylight Savings Time, Saturday 26th March.
Payment: The winner must donate the amount of their winning bid within three days to Australian Red Cross. I've chosen this charity as they accept Australian dollars.
Postage: I will cover the cost of postage. Cushion will be sent with an insert within Australia, or flat internationally.
Delivery: I'll finish your custom cushion within two weeks and pop it in the post! If you're local and would prefer to collect it from a location in Melbourne's northern suburbs we can arrange that instead.

Bidding opens at $40.

Good luck!

Prett Ditty Apron for a six year old

2011-03-15T10:23:00.002+10:00

The in-laws are staying with us at the moment. Usually the master bedroom is my sewing room but for this month I've had to push everything up against the walls to fit in a double bed and international quantities of luggage, so there's been little sewing going on here. But yesterday Hubby T took the in-laws and Jack on a roadtrip which meant Amy and I had a day just to ourselves for the first time ever, and of course we used it to sew!

I've got a limited window to take advantage of free door-to-door delivery for family in the UK. I'm getting way ahead of my 2011 sewing list and making presents for nieces for their 31st July birthday. Once again, I'm using Jamie Christina's Pretty Ditty Apron pattern but this time in the medium child size. I don't have a child mannequin so please go along with my chair and coathanger model!

I did the optional ruffle this time as it's for a little girl. I can't see myself putting a ruffle on an apron for a grown woman!

I wanted something girly without being pink and overly floral. The two prints have a reddish pink, and the polka dots are red. All fabrics from Spotlight.

Now I have to finish another in the next nine days for the twin sister. It's about a third done. I'll need to convince T to take everyone out for the day again so I can finish!

International Women's Day

2011-03-08T08:29:00.003+10:00

Dame Judi Dench and Daniel Craig team up to present sobering statistics about the lives on women in 2011. The upside is, you get to see Daniel Craig in stockings. Read more about the video here.

Have a thoughtful International Women's Day.

Five months

2011-03-02T16:44:00.003+10:00

Hat by Twisted Stitches - find them at Made N Thornbury markets

While I can believe Amy's been part of our family for five months, I can't believe she's five months old already. I can't believe we've got this far without using any formula - after surviving Jack's babyhood, that's a big deal for me!* And though I've been job searching for a little while we've now reached the point where Amy should be at least six months old before I make my big return to the paid outside-the-home workforce. I'm glad for her 'n' me to have had at least this much time together.**

She's slowly transitioning from sleeping in a hammock in the Big People's Room to a cot in Big Brother's Room. She's having a little taste of rice cereal and pear for afternoon tea. She's just about outgrown her size 00 Bonds Coverall - surely she's not ready to go into her first 0's just yet? Everyone knows Bonds run small - it doesn't count until she's outgrown her Target duds. Best of all, English Grandma and Welsh Grandad arrive in two days to meet their littlest granddaughter for the first time. We hope they're bringing presents!

Travel back in time:
Four months
Three months
Two months

* This is purely a personal expression of our family's circumstances, not an opinion about what anyone else's family does. We all love our babies.

** See above.

More Pretty Ditty aprons by Jamie Christina

2011-02-20T17:06:00.002+10:00

I would love to own all these Pretty Ditty aprons by Jamie Christina. I simply can't choose a favourite!

(This one informed my fabric choice for the one I made my sis-in-law!)

Check out all Jamie's patterns here, buy them postage-free in Aus from Kelani Fabric here, and also check out Jamie's fabric shop Phat Fabric.

Completed project: Pretty Ditty Apron

2011-02-20T16:31:00.003+10:00

One of my favourite crafty things is a fantastic indie pattern. I love the thick pattern paper, the detailed instructions, the customisation options and the fact you can find extra tips and photos on the pattern creator's blog.

My sister-in-law's birthday was a week ago, the day before mine, and I was determined to stick to my 2011 crafting resolution to make more things for family and friends. I found the Pretty Ditty apron pattern by Jamie Christina in the Kelani Fabric shop. The reason why I chose this particular apron is that for your $19.50 - which seems like a lot for a mere apron pattern - you get three adult sizes and three child sizes, which means I can use it for almost every birthday present I'll be giving this year (except the men in my life who wouldn't be flattered by the gathered bodice). Bargain!

Pattern designer Jamie Christina runs her own online fabric shop, Phat Fabric, and her Flickr album of aprons she's made from Echino fabrics make me drool. I can't really afford to spend about $80 on apron fabric (less if you go one-sided rather than reversible), but Jamie's samples did give me inspiration of what colour and print combos to search for in the Spotlight clearance sale.

My sister-in-law's wedding colours were chocolate and caramel or something like that, so I used those a guideline in my fabric choices. I wanted something pretty without being totally girly; something that could be worn to prepare for a party and then kept on for the event. I mixed up the pattern's recommendations on which pieces to cut from which fabric because I wanted the neck and waist ties to match, with one girly side and one groovier side. This is my result.

She loved it! It's a great present because the recipient gets a sized apron with fabrics chosen just for them, and I get to sew something that isn't green, yellow and tan. I can't wait to make more.

Paradise Lost

2011-02-18T16:51:00.002+10:00

I write with the sadness of one just returned from a long-awaited holiday.

Wish I was here.

Four months

2011-02-08T15:56:00.002+10:00

And here's my baby girl at four months, which I think was a week and a bit ago.

Such a strong neck! Such a drooly girl!

Three months
Two months

Three months

2011-02-08T15:52:00.002+10:00

I'm a bit behind with my monthly photo chronicle of Baby Amy's life! Here she is at three months, end of December 2010.

She is so adorable in yellow. In a blink (or as long as it takes me to create another blog entry) she'll be four months!

Two months

The invisible zip that ate my afternoon

2011-02-04T15:38:00.005+10:00

I've probably made about 120 cushions with invisible zippers in the past two years. So why am I suddenly getting it wrong?

I sew the first side of the zipper down and it opens and closes without a problem.

I sew the second side down and now it won't close. If I pull really hard the tab moves up while the teeth stay open.

This has happened a few times this year (hmm, since I got my latest delivery of zippers). I sew three cushions at a time and I'll get the zippers in two right, and one goes berzerk.

I'm sewing slowly and carefully, making sure the teeth are going through the invisible zipper foot properly.

Today when a zipper went berzerk after having opened and closed smoothly when only one side was sewn down, I unpicked the second side and reattached it carefully. Again, the zipper wouldn't close. I unpicked it AGAIN and reattached it VERY carefully. It wouldn't close. I unpicked the whole thing and it closed without a murmur. I got a different zip, sewed that in and the bastard wouldn't close!!!

I rubbed some soap on it, although I don't know that works for plastic zipper teeth, and after another ten minutes of finessing I finally got it to close, skipping a couple teeth here and there.

So what is my problem? Is it:
a) Defective batch of zips;
b) Defective invisible zipper foot; or
c) Defective machinist?

In other news, this afternoon Jack learned his first crafty word: 'thread'. He pronounces it the same as that old playground swearword, 'frick'. Last week he learned to say 'flag' but pronounces it the same as that old sailor swearword also beginning with F. It was quite difficult for Hubby T and me to keep straight faces through T's citizenship ceremony while Jack waved his Aussie flag saying "F***! F***!" Jack's lucky he wasn't the one applying for citizenship.

Zip image from DIY Fashion

$99,089

2011-01-27T07:58:00.001+10:00

Get your blog badge from Toni at Make It Perfect. Well done, guys!

Raffles still open! Plus, auction results

2011-01-25T07:33:00.003+10:00

I'm thrilled to declare the winner of my W Class Cushion (plus!) auction is art quilter Linda of Blue Jacaranda. She and my mum "know" each other through the power of the internet. Pay a visit to her Made It shop, she has some lovely stuff.

I won one auction (that I know of) - a designer WeePantz Modern Cloth Nappy and matching bib in Alexander Henry fabric by Sew Sew Sew.

WeePantz nappies can be bought online here and at markets around Melbourne.
Have you heard that the raffles being run as part of Make It Perfect's fundraising efforts have been extended to midday Wednesday (Australia Day)? If you've woken up this morning and discovered you didn't win any auctions this is your chance to buy up big on raffle tickets! Check out the full list of raffles here or check out these ones which you currently have a decent chance of winning:

Superhero costume by Weathergirl
Needle felted robins by Maidenhair Tree
Rabbit softie by Ruby Star's sister
Needle felted toadstools and babies by Radish and Ruth
Necklaces and bracelets by Spotted Lime
Mini quilt by Relish
Lap quilt by Bec Clarke
Baby capsule canopy pattern by Elizabeth Wyatt (This is quite cool)
Kids alien shorts by Tikki
Kids pixie shorts by Tikki
Toddler skirt by Aimee in Stitches
Blue fairy skirt by Fred & Cissy
Blue and mauve fairy skirt by Fred & Cissy
Pink fairy skirt by Fred & Cissy
Baby dress by Sewing & Other Fun Things
Carry bag by Cloth to Creation
Bag and clutch by Little Boozle
Granny square scarf by Mad Quilter
Robot tee by Electric Boy
John Doe tee by Electric Boy
We Are Wizards tee by Electric Boy (This one is AMAZING. If you like Harry Potter and stacking dolls this is the tee for you!)
Train tee by Electric Boy
Handmade cards and more by A Country Cook & Crafter
Moda layer cake and more from Chocolate Coated Patchwork (Seriously, guys! Any fabric fan needs to buy an entry in this one.)
Moda layer cake and more from Want It, Need It, Quilt!
Heart artwork by Emily Parkes
Vintage chenille homewares by Cloth to Creation
Bunting by Bake & Sew
iPad case from Eleven Polkadots
Vintage fabric cushions (multiple raffles) by Monkeemoomoo
Montessori flashcards by Montessori Goldmine

What can you do? Make a $5 donation to buy an entry in any of these raffles (or check out the full list on Make It Perfect). If you're all donated out, put a link to the raffle list on your blog or feel free to copy & paste my list of under-subscribed raffles from above. Hopefully they'll all have a lot more entries before noon Wednesday!

Auctions & raffles you have a good chance of winning!

2011-01-19T08:13:00.002+10:00

Feeling disheartened by clicking on auctions and finding the bidding's already up to $1,000?

Got a fistful of $5 notes to donate and hope for more than a one in 180 chance of winning a raffle?

(Huge love to the mega-popular craft bloggers who have this much awareness-raising and fundraising power!)

Here's some auctions and raffles you stand a chance of winning.

I Spy pram quilt by Two Bits Patches. That's my mum! She started her auction last night and it's just been added to the Make It Perfect master list. Bidding currently at $30 (thanks to my sister).

Robot quilt by Eleven PolkaDots. Raffle with $5 donation to enter - only five entries so far! Get in!!

Luggage tags by The Crafty Nomad. Bidding starts at $15 - be the first to bid!

Fine art photography print by Sarah Birks Photography. Bidding open at $10.

The auctions organised by Handmade Kids & Rudy & The Dodo on Facebook raised $17,000 over the weekend - amazing! I get the feeling the quilt section alone of Make It Perfect's auctions may raise that amount again. Gosh, I can't believe the amazing quilts people have donated. If you've got half an hour to spare take a look at them all - and the leading bids!

I'm thrilled that my auction is up to $120. I simply couldn't afford to donate that amount myself, so I'm pleased to have been able to reward someone else for donating. Remember to check back on the auctions you've been bidding on, and if they've gone beyond your limit think about spending your budget on 'raffle tickets' instead. As Nic of Yardage Design said, I wonder what the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal are making of all these $5 donations!

More cushion auctions!

2011-01-18T10:31:00.003+10:00

If you're looking for my auction it's here.

Make It Perfect's master auction list has been updated with dozens more auctions and raffles. And joy of joys, there's heaps more cushions!

Bunting cushion by Glitter, Vinyl & Thread (she's international! I've been a follower of her blog for donkey's years. I love political crafters.)

Floral cushion by Marelle (with a tonne of additional bits & pieces)

Dr Suess bunting cushion with surprises under the flags by A Cuppa & A Catch Up (Raffle alert! I'm so entering this raffle.)

Crochet cushion by Sweet Birdie Blue

Custom name cushion by Julie Oliver

Union Jack cushion by Curious Stitch
(another raffle!)

Henna Garden Rainbow cushion cover by Stitch 'n' Bits

Henna Garden Crazy Nine Patch cushion cover by Stitch 'n' Bits

I love me some cushions!