Peach Patterns

Scandinavian Stitches

I know I'm a little late to the party on this one as this lovely book was released way back before Christmas but I only recently bought a copy (the price came down on Fishpond!).

Kajsa Wikman, who creates under the label Syko, is pure genius when it comes to applique, free motion and creative stitching.  My favourite image in the book is definitely the "Love Machine" - how incredible is that tiny patchwork quilt?  (And I see you can buy the image as a stand-alone print in her etsy shop.)

 

While we were in Finland last year I was lucky enough to stumble upon an original Syko.  I found this little pouch in the crafts shop attached to the tourist office on the main square in Helsinki.  There were quite a few of Kajsa's original items in the shop: cushions, prints, pincushions and her signature little stuffed houses.  All so lovely.

The work on the pouch is really amazing.  I've been playing a bit with free-motion stitching lately but it'll be a while before I'm anywhere near this good.  Look at the detail on the daisy!

 
P.S. I haven't bought much fabric of late - just the odd bit here and there - the prints above are some cute Lecien spots and stripes from sewdeerlyloved.

Flower power party

Just a few pics from Cee's Cee's 6th birthday party on the weekend.  The theme: "Flower Power".

I figured I'd better take a snap of the birthday girl looking picture perfect prior to her getting tomato sauce stains all over the t-shirt. 

I appliqued the t-shirt with a flower from a large scale flower print fabric and it did the trick for the top part of the outfit.  A tutu completed the bottom half and we were in business.

Other handmade touches were some flowery bunting and some cute "Blossom" party favours made with a downloaded template from the lovely Go Make Me on etsy.  Cate, the designer behind Go Make Me, is a multitalented Sydney-sider who also makes lovely jewellery and blogs here.

All in all a success.  Oh, except for my cupcakes.  There's a reason we put eggs in cupcake mixture I discovered after leaving them out in my rush to get them in the oven.  The resulting "rock cakes" were disguised with some heavy-handed icing and liberal sprinkles and jelly-beans.  I was mortified but noone complained!  Lesson learned.....

Patches & ruffles

I love this pretty lemon yellow stripey tee but decided it needed a bit of a boost.  Instead of applique-ing the t-shirt directly I made a little pocket with an applique patch in the middle:

It makes the perfect little late-summer play outfit teamed with pink and yellow ruffle bottoms from Barefoot Babies, so beautifully made by Sophie and her sis.

 
 

Simple drawstring bag

This a simple project using the template from my ballet slipper charm pattern (available as a free download here).

  

This time around I used the pattern as the basis for an applique and altered the design slightly by adding some small straps across the middle - instant Mary-Janes!

 

The shoe shapes were appliqued to a coordinating square of fabric which was in turn appliqued to a larger rectangle (used as the front of a drawstring bag).

Here's the finished bag.  The method for making the bag itself is super easy-peasy and I've listed the steps in a photo gallery which you'll find in my blog sidebar.

 

Note: this is an unlined bag and more suitable for soft shoes, lingerie, pyjamas, ballet clothes etc.  If you want a bag to store or carry heavier items like toys or books you may need some reinforcement and I'd recommend you Google a tutorial for a lined bag pattern.

Singlet weather

All of Sydney is a bit shell shocked from the heat at the moment.  And we all know that when the mercury rises to such giddy heights a crafty mother's thoughts turn to ..... yes .... embellishing singlets.  These ones were started at The Craft Room on Sunday and because I was far to busy talking and eating lollies I had to finish them at home.

I had lots of inspiration from Corrie, who had every Clover Yo-Yo Maker known to mankind on hand (!!) and who completed about about 5 yo-yos to every 1 of mine.  Thanks to Corrie for organising and incidentally, hop over and check out her latest and most fab giveaway involving the gorgeous new Rosalie Quinlan fabric range.

And while we're on the subject of singlets, I also made Miss Wink this little singlet/skirt number.  The overlocker did not like this project at all, however, and threw the mother of all tantrums when I tried to serge the two bits together.  Readers, trust me when I say that the seam is not a pretty sight!

Luckily I trusted my instincts and used only an old singlet and some cheap Spotlight cotton for the experiment.  Unless someone can advise on how to do these with an overlocker (??) I will stick to the regular machine next time I attempt one.

Hope you are all staying cool and enjoying your week so far....

Fleecy

I've made some patchwork scarves for the shop. 

The ones I made last winter were quite simple and I wanted to do something a little different this time around.  So I appliqued the little birdies and flowers onto the linen panels after doing the patch-worky bit.

Also, the scarves are special because they're lined with 100% organic cotton fleece from the Michael Miller organics range.  I got some last winter from equilter - a quick check looks like it's still in stock.  Fabric.com also has 100% organic fleece (in other colours as well) at a much cheaper price (but not from the MM range).  Theirs is called "sweatshirt fleece" but I'm guessing it's the same thing.

 

The fleece is incredibly soft and warm - highly recommended for sensitive kiddy skin.  Actually, for any skin - I think I'm off to make one for myself....

Festive, fabulous, fun....

What can you say about cushions & bunting?  Nothing much except that they are festive, fabulous & fun to make.  These are the last of the Matryoshka cushions that will roll off the Wink production line (can't find that little Russian doll print fabric anymore - let me know if any of you have a secret source?!) teamed with some bunting made from Prints Charming and other coordinating fabrics:

 

And some bunting for the boys:

Giving and receiving

Despite the rain, random breath testing units, parking police and other authorities waiting to pounce on Christmas revellers in the local area, a lovely dinner was had by some Sydney blogging girls on Wednesday night. (I even ate the dessert, which was considered brave by the others due to its, lets just say, "unique" consistency....).  Amy, Bettina, Kristen, Melinda, Belinda and myself enjoyed several hours of lovely food and crafty chat followed by an exchange of gorgeous Christmassy gifts.

 

I was the recipient of a beautifully made Emmeline Apron from Amy.  It has a Christmas theme on one side and on the other a lovely springy flower applique.  The apron alone would have been totally fabulous but, to put the icing on the cake, Amy threw in some lovely fabric and trim (in particular, the gorgeous Moda scissor print I had been lusting after).  I've included some detail shots but you can see a better snap of the apron in its full glory here.

 

 

On the subject of giving, I've decided this year that considering the amount that I spend annually on fabric I can certainly afford to give to someone else who could do with a bit of help.  Here are a few community development style artisan and crafter related projects that I've found via this link:

CARE Australia Manual Sewing Machine Purchase and Training

OXFAM Sewing Training

World Vision Australia Art Supplies for Indigenous Communities

 

I'll be choosing one of these and hope you might consider doing the same!!

Silver lamé superhero

First, thank you so much for all the lovely blog birthday wishes.  Keep them coming (if you feel so inclined) and I will make a draw for the little giveaway in my next post.

Back to business.  There is a golden rule of parenting that says you should never make open ended offers to children.  Instead give just two or three options at most.  Well I broke that rule when I asked Cee Cee what she would like to be for Halloween and she answered "A rainbow coloured superhero.  And the rainbow has to sparkle...".  Of course.

Where was I supposed to find rainbow fabric that sparkled at short notice?  Just not possible unfortunately.  But good old Spotlight came to the rescue with some rainbow cotton and for the sparkle we improvised with silver lamé applique on the back.  I started to make my own version of a superhero cape and then, after getting stuck on how to do the neck part, Puking Pastilles (gotta love that name!) came to the rescue with her tutorial which I found via Google.  The top part is just like an oversized bib turned around to the front.

 

And of course, we had to have a little matching cape for Cee Cee's beloved Souris (translation: souris = French for mouse):

  

The superhero in action:

   

And traumatising younger members of the family after trick-or-treat induced sugar overload:

 

 

Cute and cuter

As space is at a premium around here I recently took to rearranging my fabric stash.  When it comes to storing fabric, I fall squarely into the "themes" rather than "colourways" camp, i.e. retro, floral, abstract, etc. (you get the idea......).

Once I'd made a little pile of "cute Japanese novelty fabrics" I got no further because I decided they were so damn cute I just had to make something out of them there and then.

So work began:

 

And soon enough a little stack of pouches and gift card sets came into being.  They're in the shop.  So much for spring cleaning......