Celeste turned 3 a few weeks ago (yes, I’m a little behind with my blogging!). Her birthday was on a Friday and on the Monday before, I suddenly realised I hadn’t made her a birthday dress. Aaagh! I can’t not make her a birthday dress! I sorted through my patterns and Ottobre Design magazines, looking […]
Let’s Get Gathering Skirt
After the Angelina Ballerina Costume and Peppa Pig T-shirt, a quick skirt (not related to any TV show!) for Celeste was in order for Kids Clothes Week (yep, Jacob missed out this time!). I’ve never used the gathering foot for my sewing machine and it was time to give it a try. I started with […]
Angelina Ballerina Costume
After the Peppa Pig T-shirt for Day 1 of Kids Clothes Week, my next project was something Celeste has been asking for for months: an Angelina Ballerina Costume. It’s still missing a few details – the flower on the waistband and big pink bow in the hair. I have a very observant (and demanding) little […]
Peppa Pig Applique – Kids Clothes Week Day 1
Kids Clothes Week is on again – the fun challenge to sew kids clothes for an hour each day for seven days. This time around, I’ve had a dilemma. My kids don’t really need more clothes. They are both on the skinny side and their waist measurements haven’t changed much since last summer. All their […]
How to make a Ballerina Tutu Lampshade
Last week, I promised another tutu craft project. After painting Celeste’s room and finishing her butterfly quilt cover, I’m slowly adding more handmade touches to make it perfect for her. Next up is a combination of two of my tutorials, to create a Ballerina Tutu Lampshade: I started with an IKEA OLLSTA shade with a […]
How to Sew a Full Tutu Skirt Tutorial
Celeste sometimes refuses to answer to her name, claiming she’s Angelina Ballerina (and can get quite angry if we don’t call her that). So it’s taken me a ridiculously long time to make our little ballerina her first tutu. It’s one of those projects I don’t know why I put off. They are so easy […]
Sew Ready to Play – 2013 edition
After my UNO shorts in 2011 and Commodore 64 T-shirt in 2012, the lovely Louise from I’m Feelin’ Crafty has once again invited me to join in on the Sew Ready to Play series. It’s funny how when I’m asked to join these events, one idea gets stuck in my head and I can’t get […]
Butterfly Quilt Cover
After making Jacob’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles quilt (doona/duvet…) cover, I had to make a quilt cover for Celeste when she moved into her big girl bed. She was in baby sleeping bags last year. I had to make it before winter so she’d have something to sleep under! I fell in love with the […]
A Little Girl’s Birthday Gift
One thing I love about having a fully-stocked craft room (well, I could always buy more craft supplies…) is that I can whip up a quick present in no time. Celeste was invited to her friend Rebekah’s third birthday party and the night before, I realised I hadn’t organised a present. To the craft room […]
Green Cords and Reflections on Sewing
Back during Kids Clothes Week, the last thing on my list didn’t get finished – a pair of green corduroy pants for Jacob (item #11 for the week – no wonder I had sewing fatigue!). I thought I’d power on the next week and get it done, but it ended up taking me a while […]
Baby Shower Gift: Flat Teddy Tutorial and Pattern
Abby from Things for Boys is due to have baby number 2 soon, and Laura from Craftstorming had the great idea to throw a virtual baby shower. And today’s the big day (hopefully my gift arrived in time!). When I first got the email from Laura, I knew exactly what I was going to make: […]
Kids Clothes Week – Done!
I went into Kids Clothes Week with an ambitious plan of sewing 11 items of clothing for my two kids. I’d cut all the fabric out ahead of time, and just had to get down and sew. I’m happy to say I sewed 10.5 items. I didn’t expect to get so far, especially with school […]
Hoodie for the Boy
When preparing for Kids Clothes Week, I headed to my local fabric chain with a long list in hand. My kids have next to no winter clothes that fit, and a hoodie for Jacob was on the list. I was so uninspired by the boy fleece options – the boyish colours are just so drab. […]
Two days of kids clothes (so far)
Kids Clothes Week is on and I’m up for the challenge. One hour a day of sewing kids clothes – I can do that. I’ve set myself the ambitious target of sewing 11 pieces of clothing for my kids. I probably won’t quite make it, but we’ll see how things go (and my kids desperately […]
Getting Sassy Again!
Way back in December, I made my first Sassy Librarian Blouse and mentioned that I had the fabric picked out for my second one. Surprise, surprise, it’s taken the motivation of the Spring Top Sew-Along at Made By Rae to actually get it sewn! The fabric is a soft and silky voile, which I’ve never […]
Sewing Diversions
Why is it the smallest breaks seem to throw my routines out of whack? A short Easter break (plus an extra kindy-free day for Jacob) and the house is a mess and I haven’t achieved anything this week. Well, that’s not quite true – I just haven’t done the things I planned. With Kids Clothes […]
Quilt as You Go Puff Quilt/Mat Tutorial
This post has been a long time in the making… I made this Puff Quilt Mat (using my own quilt as you go method) for my Mum as a Christmas present in 2011. I really procrastinated writing the tutorial for this. It was a fiddly project and when it was done, I didn’t want to […]
Sewing with Knits
There haven’t been as many crafty projects on the blog lately. I’ve been busy doing the Sewing with Knits course, run by the lovely Deborah from Whipstitch. If you’ve been following me for a while, you may be wondering why I’m doing a course – I sew with knits all the time! While I have […]
Fav Fabric Friday: Chevron Flannel
While we’ve been having heatwave after heatwave here in Perth (Australia) and the hottest summer on record, it’s time to start planning my kids’ winter wardrobes. This is the first year that I don’t have a big pile of clothes in waiting from last year’s end of season sales – a great excuse to get […]
Miss Mod Top Pattern Review
When looking through the patterns for the Sew Fab Pattern bundle, I was happy to see the Miss Mod Top from Seamingly Smitten on the list. I’ve been eyeing off this pattern for a while in Go To patterns and it was the first thing I wanted to sew from the sale. This pattern was […]
Classy but Casual Boy’s Pants
I’ve had this idea floating around in my head for a while to make formal boy’s pants in a casual fabric – dressy tracksuit pants. Something that would look smart, but be comfy and easy to play in. I like mixing different fabric types to make boy’s clothes more interesting. And so became the Classy […]
More Travel Art Kits
After the success of the travel art kits I made for my kids (Jacob’s here with the tutorial and Celeste’s here), I thought they’d make great Christmas gifts for my two nieces (who are five months younger than my two). Searching through my stash, I found Happy Flowers in Blue from the Birdie range by […]
Ripples and Ruffles and Spots Dress
This week’s theme for Project Run and Play is Stripes and Polka Dots. This was the perfect excuse to try creating my own stripes, using the slashing or blooming technique: The stripes are made up of layers of fabric sewn together every 1/2 inch, and all but the bottom layer is slashed (cut open). After […]
Quilt Block of the Month
Quilting is on my crafts to try list. I’ve dabbled with pot holders and small projects, but I’m intimidated by making a full quilt. So many decisions to make about fabric and designs – it gets a little overwhelming, plus finding time to complete a big project like this. When I saw the Quilt Block […]