Getting Ready For a Birthday…….

In just over 4 weeks I will have two birthdays to celebrate…..my eldest daughter who turns 7 and my youngest daughter who turns 5…Yay!…that is until you remember that there is only 4 days separating their birthdays (yeah I know real good planning) so we always have on birthday party one weekend the and the second party the following weekend. I am also usually really organised for it, but not this year….lol. But in saying that I have now got my elder daughter two of her birthday presents ………

So firstly I would like to thank Steph at MooBear designs for doing a swap with me, one of her wonderful t-shirts for one of my shrugs.Isn’t just gorgeous! My daughter is very horse mad and is going to love finding this on her birthday!!

But that wasn’t all that was in the package from Steph…she sent it in this really nifty bag that she made from a placemat, included one of her fantastic scrappy broaches and a whole lot of crafty things…  

You can find a picture of her daughter Bubbles wearing my shrug and a Pinafore that I also made here.

In addition to this I have also bought my daughter a new Sunhat for school….Ok I know a sunhat doesn’t sound like a very exciting birthday present, but for my daughter sunhats have always been a struggle as her head is quite small so most hats tend to fall off and then I found this wonderful business called Babybanz, through Skout and she has adjustable hats and so of course we ordered one on Wednesday and it arrived on Saturday and its brilliant. Seeing that its a birthday present I haven’t been able to actually try it on her yet, but I have tried it on my other daughter …so here it is…. 

Its just perfect for our needs and is so light that it will fit in her Chair bag at school with ease! Definitely well worth checking her site out as she also does neat sunglasses and for those whose kids don’t like a lot of noise, she is also now stocking a range of very funky earmuffs….

Going Cross-eyed….

Well that what it feels like as I sit here struggling to unpick a buttonhole that decided to go a bit wonky. Button holes were never something I enjoyed doing, especially on my first sewing machine as it didn’t have an automatic buttonhole function, but my current machine does and while it is a blessing it makes the initial stitches so tiny, it can be a real struggle to see them when things go wrong. Today of course after doing 6 perfect button holes it decides that the next one could be a little bit crooked….too crooked for my liking and so now I’m trying to unpick it so that the machine can try again!

The weather has been pretty sunny here lately, which for winter is really nice and makes up for the very cold mornings. So over the weekend to make the most of the beautiful sun, we went exploring Tauranga a little bit more. We have lived here for just over two years now …well at the Mount any way…and still haven’t explored everywhere yet. Saturday morning we chucked the kids in the car and we went across to the suburb of Greerton (though if they are like us in Mount Maunganui, we don’t like to think of ourselves as a suburb!), and had we nosy around at the shopping centre there. Well I will be planning a trip back with friends sans the kids as they had quite a few Op Shops and discount type stores that really need to be explored/rummaged through more. We also found a delightful cafe that had quite nice selection of GF food…much to my youngest daughters delight…. her eyes almost bugged out when she realised that the yummy looking lamingtons in the cabinet were GF and according to her they were yummy!

I have just realised that I haven’t included any photos for a while….. naughty me, must get snapping again!!

More planning has been done…..

Well in so far as that I have worked out what I want to do with my piece of Blue denim… I was thinking a nice tailored jacket for my almost 7 yr old, and of course it wont be just plain denim, i will work something a little bit funky into it some how! I have also decide on what I want to make for my friends little boy, but now I’ve just got to decide upon the fabric…. blue plaid or lime green cord..hmmm will have to decide soon if I want to get it finished in time for the birthday party next week.

Have had more news about the Market i was hoping to go to at xmas time…and so far it’s looking good! Yay hopefully more details on how if any changes to its structure/layout will affect me will be known soon…and then I can go mad getting things made up! In addition to this market I am planning to run a stall at my my kids school Gala Day next year…if I’m really organised i could turn it into a mini launch….but will have to see how organised I have been… but its a good goal to aim for! That means I’ll need to write up lists to ensure everything is covered and nothing forgotten…luckily I don’t mind writing up lists!

Today is a very nothing day….

Not much of anything gets done, with my youngest having her first school visit today…boohoo…! She is very excited about it all and when the bell rang she gave me a kiss and waved good bye and ran to sit on the mat with her friends. So between the visit and then kindy this afternoon not much will be done….but once she goes to school i will be free to potter at the sewing machine without worrying about the noise and if I need to go and get more supplies I can just go get them!

Speaking of sewing I have cut out the brown denim for a pair of trousers for my son…might have to go and get some elastic to to give them an adjustable waist as the poor boy is very tall and skinny! I also need to sort out a pattern and fabric to make an outfit for a friend’s little boys first birthday…. I have a couple of ideas but there are only a couple of weeks to do it so I’ll have to make my mind up quick!

I keeping running out...

I always seem to keep running out of things when I'm sewing, usually its just the thread on the bobbin. Today I could of done with more bobbins for my machine so that I could easily change colours, rather than waiting for a bobbin to run out of one colour thread just so I can put a different thread on it...currently the bobbin has pink on it and I really need to switch it back for cream.....oh well I might need to pay a visit to the shops next week and stock up on lots more of them, and while I'm there I had better get more open zips so that I can get some jackets finished for the kids too.

Last week I did score another really could find...picked up some really good fabric from the Op Shop really cheap. I got 150cms x 140cms of Blue Denim. 100cms x 120cms of light Brown Denim for $5 all up! Not sure what to do with the blue denim, it will either get turned into pinafores or funky cushions and the brown denim is destined to become trousers for my eldest......so now I also need brown thread on a bobbin..lol

The Countdown is on…

Until my youngest starts school, it really isn’t long now – 7 weeks to be precise.and then I can spend all day at my sewing machine, but until then my days are spent trying to do a little bit each day in between the trips to kindy and of course now the very important school visits! Its definitely coming up real fast..and i must admit while I’m looking forward to her going to school I’m not very well prepared fro the birthday party and presents that go along with it!

I have managed despite the looming chaos managed to get at least one more thing finished.

This a Size 1 Pinafore in corduroy fabric and buttons up at the back…..

 

Right now its time to go get organised for lunch and then off to kindy!

oh dear maybe i shouldn't

fiddle too much with the settings of my blog! lol didn't realise that it would look so funky, oh well you live and learn!

What a wonderful surprise…..

A fellow blogger passed on the two very nice awards to me

Rules:
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award

 

This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award

 

Thanks very much Stephanie from A Pocket Full of Buttons. She makes these very cool Rock Chick girls clothing…so please go check her out!

Now this is the first time I’ve taken part in this sort of thing so I do hope I do it right!

7 Things About Me

* I love to eat Chocolate

* Knows the words to Bob the Builder Songs

* I love all things Japanese

* I love sunny days at the beach

* I walk everywhere, even in the rain

* I can’t wait for my youngest to start school

* I am a Facebook Addict

And now I will pass these awards on to my friends and favourite  blogs

Steph @ Moobeardesigns 

Jacqui @Mee a Bee

Lou @Buttons By Lou Lou

Trina @Lola and Ben

Louise @Moving on up

Gina @Peke Moe

  I know its not 15 blogs….. but these are my favourite blogs to check up on!

My Market is closing....oh no!

The market I was planning to go to again this summer has been closed by the local arts council and while something else similar is suppose to take over its space, it may only be open to 'artists' and not the general arts and crafts that it was previously. I am so hoping that this wont be the case as it was the only indoor permanent market in the area...... fingers crossed!

busy busy busy…… Well I try to be!

For once I actually did sewing in the weekend..its not something I would usually do but it was cold outside and the kids were happy watching movies and I had a few projects that I wanted to finish!

 

This was the first one I got finished and I’m ashamed to say that it has been sitting by sewing machine fore the last 4mnths just waiting for that last bit of bias to be put on….. This is for the end of year tourist market…the kiwifruit fabric was very deliberately chosen has the area I live in is known for its Kiwifruit exports! 

 

 

This one is a Size 1 and I have a Size 2 waiting to be completed!

 

 

 

 

This one is another Xmas inspired outfit. It is not completely finished its just waiting for the buttons to be lovingly attached to the back!

 

 

 

It is also a Size 1 and I really love this fabric its got such a nice feel to it and the gold and the cream is just beautiful to look at. I really hope the photo’s do it justice.

 

 

Last but not least I have managed to complete some knitting recently as well and Have done a gorgeous shrug in Orange/Pink Bamboo yarn.

This has been done for Steph at MooBear Designs for her gorgeous daughter Bubbles! (I am so loving my camera, the colours look awesome!!)

Just when the time was right to use…….

………….the overlocker, the silly thing goes and runs out of cotton! Oh well I’m pretty sure I have another one somewhere in amongst all my boxes of fabric, just might take all day to find it! Doesn’t matter much now as the weather is looking rather wintery and the kids are now busy watching movies on TV.

I wonder if they make a whisper quiet overlocker?…

It would make life so much easier as then I wouldn’t have the kids telling me to stop all the time, because they can’t hear the TV. Well I suppose thats the downside of a smallish house, where your workspace takes over almost every part of the house…..today I’ve even commandeered the kitchen table as its getting all the sun and I need to match buttons to a dress……….Maybe I should Clean up the garage a bit more, no wait its winter and really cold in there, think I’ll stick with the status quo!

I am trying to be more organised this year and have started making up items to sell at the markets at Xmas time…hence the xmas inspired pinafore on the left! Last year it was October when I decided to share a friends stall and only had time to knit shrugs….this time i want more dress’ and pinafores as well!

I have included more classic colours of gold and cream as well the fun xmas inspired fabrics with xmas trees and angels on them. Just something a bit different to Red and Green!

Now I just need to make sure that each dress/pinafore has a at least one matching accessory!

Soup Day……

Wednesdays are Soup Day in our household, as the girls have netball practice after school until 5pm and it is so much easier just to through everything in the crockpot in the morning and forget about it until its tea time! Tonight its Potato and Leek and its smells yummy already.

Right here are so more pictures that I have taken with my lovely new camera, some of these I’ve probably posted pictures of before, but I wanted to show them on my dummy (who is a little drunk).

First up is the Chiffon Polka Dot Top      (sz 5-6). It definitely looks much better displayed on the dummy! An easy way to accessorise this would be to add a belt to nip in at the waist would look great paired up with denim shorts for the summer!       

 

 

 

This as also been posted before but again, the dummy shows it off way better, and the new camera catches the detail on the dragonfly perfectly.

 

 

                                                                               This skirt has been made using recycled fabrics and has a plaid pattern at the top and a very fine blue and red floral pattern on the bottom. It is a a size 7-8 yrs.

This photo also shows the drunken lean my dummy has ….which really doesn’t do much for the way the skirt hangs! I wonder if there is a Rehab centre for tailors dummies!!!

The new camera is here…….let the snapping begin

And Queens Birthday weekend provided us with lovely weather (though very cold) for trying out all the settings on our new camera!

As promised I have taken photos of some of the clothes and accessories that I have made while i had no functioning camera! So here it goes.

This is my daughter molly and her new pair of trousers I made for her yesterday…actually I finished them first thing this morning as she decided she wanted to wear them to school! I just loved the fabric as it was so bright, and it being cordoury just made it even better. I’m such a sucker for texture and colour!  And to make it even better it was all on special …gotta love spotlight specials, I got heaps of fabric there over the weekend so are going to be very busy!

Ok back to the photos, and I do have to apologise for the drunken posture of my dummy, she likes to drink! Not really, the kids pulled on the pole a bit too much when it arrived, to try and get it off the boxed and the bent the pole :)

 

This one of the pinafore’s I’m doing for Xmas Themed range this year…. Its a really neat pattern as its a simple wrap round design, with options of making it reversible. I have made heaps of these up for my daughters in the past, as they great for pulling on over a skivvy and tights in the winter or as it gets a bit shorter a pair of jeans, and in the summer it can be worn over swimming togs…… Because Xmas is during the summer here, it is lined with towelling…perfect for the beachside Xmas BBQ!

This lovely White Capelet, would be perfect for that special occasion. It is 100% Acrylic and uses two different textures of white yarn for contrast and has a simple button loop closure.

This one is a Sz 8-9

 

 

 

This another sz 8-9 capelet/poncho. Again this one is 100% Acrylic, so perfect for spring/summer months. It has a slight cowl neckline, to just make it a little bit different!

 

 

Right now I had better go make lunch for my fashion diva, before she has a diva size tantrum about being hungry and running late for kindy!!….will post more pictures tomorrow.