weaving

Weaving done on an Ashford knitter's Loom
Acrylic yarn from spotlight.

I just washed both scarves and have hung them to dry.
You have to wash a weaving to allow the fibers to settle.
I'll steam them both next and press them between a pressing cloth.

I'm finding weaving fun to do and really creative. I want to try some different types of weaving now. I'm going to hassle Pete to make me some frames and try some rag weaving.

Sew,Mama,Sew! Blog � � Handmade Holidays 2008

Sew,Mama,Sew! Blog � � Handmade Holidays 2008

It's on again!! Maybe this is the inspiration I need to get those xmas pressies made?

Rose gets her frock.

Another Enid Gilchrist design. I've blogged a few details on my Enid blog


Rose loves her new frock. I made a stiff underslip to give the skirt a lift.
Fern is pleading for me to make her one of these frocks too.

Swap with Suzanne

I received a wonderful parcel from Suzanne on the 2nd of September. Suzanne is a member of Crafty Mama's (my favorite forum).

It's taken me this long to blog about it. I wanted to finish my part of the swap before I did.
Suzanne your swap is in the mail :) I hope you like it. It took me longer than I thought to complete my part of the swap. I ended up frogging it three times to get it right.

I'll post some photos of my part of the swap once Suzanne has it.

This is the hoody Suzanne made Lilly. The top is a Kwik Sew Pattern in size 4.
The fabric is beautiful and the workmanship and finish top quality.
You do beautiful work Suzanne.
Thank You

Stars Of The Stage

On Friday the kids took part in their first school Production. The play/musical was Young Hercules. The school did two performances a matinee for other schools and an evening performance. Both performances were well attended. Pete and I almost missed out on seats for the evening one. I was so proud of my kids up there on stage. They did a great job.

The school staff and parents worked extremely hard in putting the production together. My children are very lucky to attend such a wonderful school.

The Whole Cast on the Stage for the final bows.

Liam (center) made a very cute Skeleton.

Rose (1st on the left, in the front) was type cast as an Amazon.

James (in the center) was a fierce hunter.

And Fern (1st on the left) was a beautiful junior god and latin dancer.

Yep ... I made 'em!

Chocolate Cupcakes with chocolate buttercream icing.
No packet mixes were used in the creation of these cupcake.
Just all the real good stuff - butter, milk, duck eggs, flour, cocoa, sugar, vanilla
These are for the school tuck shop in the morning.
All members of the household have been warned to keep their grubby mitts off!

The Sewing Machine (song) - a little bit of fun :)

Still OTHER sewing..

Yes .. I know .. I should get on with the quilt... but I did promise Miss R ( Lilly's best friend) I would make her a pretty dress..

Shift Top finished with Bias binding at neck, armhole and hem.
Pattern from Enid Gilchrist's Under 5 fashion

Sundress or Pinafore for Miss R
Pattern from Enid Gilchrist's Kindergarten Set

Fabric is quilter's cotton. I bought it on special for $18 p/m It's so pretty, it shimmers. That's really not so bad as I did get two garments out of the meter and there is still a little left to trim a skirt or put cuffs on shorts.

I put my labels on them, a bit of advertising :) In the bottom right hand corner .. just like a painting. I'm sure Miss R will look, as pretty as a picture, in these pretty creations.

The urge to get on with the quilt still hasn't bitten. The fabrics are sitting on my cutting table waiting for me to decide what they are to become. I've gone off the stitchery idea for two reasons .. 1. It's someone elses design, as I'm getting paid for this quilt it would violate their copyright. As I have no idea where I got the design from I can't ask permission either. And 2, It's really not big enough to be the center of a medallion quilt of 1.5m square. So I'm back to the drawing board. Thinking ...thinking....

Rose still doesn't have her dress and I really need to think about preparing for Xmas, it's not that far away, about 8 weeks. I made the silly suggestion of a handmade xmas for the family this year.

I love sewing for my kids!

I stayed up to 1 am last night finishing the cross over dress. The peasant dress I made this afternoon. I blogged all the details over on my Enid blog as these are Enid inspired creations.

Rose is complaining and rightly so I haven't made her anything for a while. But first I have a dress to make for Lilly's best friend Rebekah. Amazing how much other sewing I get done when I have a quilt commission waiting for me :)

I went shopping today..

Aren't these pretty? I have a "thing" for pink and green.
I bought 1.5 meters of the center bottom fabric. I plan on using it as the border fabric.
There are 50cm of each of the others. Altogether there is 4 meters here.
That should be enough for a 1.5 meter square quilt.
I still have no idea of the design, I'm waiting for inspiration to come.

I'm thinking a medallion quilt.. maybe using this:

A stitchery which has been a UFO for a long time.
It's not my design, I think it came from a Handmade magazine?
I can't remember why I stitched it or what it was to be used for.
The more I clean, the more UFO's I find. A couple only need binding added.

Gathering and shirring with a Bernina 153 is easy

I was struggling to shirr with my machine with the elastic in the bobbin. I finally thought to read the machine manual. I bought my machine from an interstate dealer so didn't get to attend any lessons.

It pays to read your machine manual. I've always struggled with gathering fabric. My threads break or I forgot to loosen the tension so the threads won't pull. Now I find it easy and simple using my machine. You need to use stitch 27 ( gathering stitch) and buttonhole foot 3.

I'm going to gather this fabric.

To do it:

• I cut a length of crochet cotton twice the length of the fabric I'm gathering.
• I fold the crochet cotton in half and hook the center over the front center prong of the No.3 foot.
• The thread lies under the foot and falls behind the machine.
• I place the fabric to be gathered under the foot and using a gathering stitch stitch along the edge to be gathered. Going slowly and making sure the crochet thread is feeding under the foot and not tangled.
• I find I need to stop a few times to stretch out the fabric, as it will gather as you go. I like to stretch the gather out to pull the crochet thread through this keeps the crochet thread from breaking.

Here it is before I pull on the crochet thread to gather the fabric.

I've pulled on the crochet thread here to gather the fabric. I get a really nice even gather. The crochet thread pulls easily. This method is used with shirring elastic. I find this easier than placing the shirring elastic into the bobbin. I get a more even shirr using this method.

If you have a newer machine you may find you too have this handy stitch for gathering. Read the manual.

A morning in the park

Is she not a cutie? No, not one of mine. Her mum is Bec from Bec's babies blog

Mickalee and Brandy enjoyed the ride on an plane.

Lilly enjoyed some construction work.

Bec got some exercise! I take the photo's, so no photos of me. I prefer to be behind the lens.

Weeeeeeee! Down the slide we go.

Time to go home and have our nap.

Thank you for the beautiful comments left on Toohey's post.

I hope they have rabbits to chase in heaven..

Toohey

Toohey passed away today at 4.15pm.
My big beautiful girl will be so sadly missed.
She was such a special dog.
She was so gentle and loving.
She gave unconditional love to us all
I'll so badly miss the weight of her head on my lap.
I'll miss her lying beside the bed.
She used to follow me like a shadow and just a pat would make her happy.
Rest peacefully good friend.

First day at pre-school

I am just about to head off to take Lilly to her first day at pre-school.
She is sooo excited and has been ready for over an hour!
Wish us luck .. I hope I don't cry again....

Well I was good, I didn't cry until I got into the car after dropping her off. She's all on her own, no big brothers and sisters, no mummy and daddy, just Lilly. Lilly is in pre-entry so I get to pick her up at 11.30. I'm sitting here waiting for the phone to ring. I hope she's okay.

Toohey has made a full recovery. Amazing what a few antibiotics and a vet can do. She'd be 11 now, old for a big dog. When she does go I don't want another dog, I don't want to go through the trauma of losing another. The down side of having a wonderful relationship with a pet is the pain when they die.

I have another quilt commission :D!!
The design brief :
It's for a baby, it's to be girly in colour. The client wants a square quilt to go on the floor for baby to play on so probably 1.5m square? The rest is up to ME, just the type of commission I love.

I'm thinking of a medallion quilt, pinks and greens, maybe a touch of yellow......

Lilly's new dress - more photos

Appliqued with horses and finished with a fancy machine stitch.

This is one of my favorite decorative stitches. I put it on the neckline.

and on the hem.

Those plastic snaps are probably a mistake they really don't suit the dress.
Or maybe it's the colour, I may of been better off using brown?

And here's my little superstar model. She loves the dress.
I need to sew for the other kids too they are starting to complain that Lilly gets all my creations.

Applique made easy.

I have some horse fabric that I want to applique onto Lilly's new dress without using satin stitch. I really don't like fussing around setting stitch width and tensions. This method is much easier on larger appliques.

I use non-iron non-woven interfacing. I place the interfacing on the top of the applique.

I then sew all the way around. Trim the sides nice and neat and snip a hole into the interfacing.

I then turn the applique through the hole.

I roll out the sides and push out the corners. Then press my applique.


The raw edges are now folded in nice and tidy.

I've done three for a dress for Lilly.

I pin them into place, ready to be stitched down.

I topstitch around each applique.

Matching the thread on the top for each one.


And here is Lilly's new dress.

Michael's Tunic Top and pants

I blogged about this little outfit over on my Enid Blog.
Michael wearing his new suit