knitting for my girl

This is the jumper I started a few weeks ago and finished the other day. Thankfully it's still too big for her so I've timed it nicely. We'll probably be well into Spring before it fits but with the mad weather we've been having I don't think it'll be too warm for Tamsyn by then.
The pattern is from an Australian mag called Creative Knitting, and was very user friendly. It also reminded me how much I enjoy knitting cables.

Right, back to reupholstering the lounge suite......

maybe there's hope for me yet

Some may know that I've rarely enjoyed making softies, they're small and fiddly and I can never get the stuffing right - always lumpy.

However I think I may be passing a corner.
This bear was actually a tad enjoyable. It's a Wee Wonderfuls pattern I bought a while ago and is a present for a friend who had a baby boy on Saturday night. I had made the kitty for their first-born so it seemed only fitting that I make something else from the same pattern kit.
I've also made some new blinds for the kitchen, which were looooong overdue. These windows face almost due north so they cop a lot of sun in summer and I also needed to keep the warmth in in winter.

I suppose you call them 'reverse' blinds, in that they have a thick piece of dowel in the bottom and roll them up by hand, fastening them with the ties. They're attached to the window frame with velcro and the dowel can be slipped out so they can be easily washed. This was the only type of blind that I could do that with, other than making curtains. They're also backed with blockout, which I don't know if it will wash easily. Has anyone washed blockout?

umm....

I couldn't decide on a title for this post. It was either "new challenges", "something to look forward to", "am I mad or just stupid".

Maybe I'll pick D - all of the above...
So the other day when I was at the op shop (opportunity shop/thrift store etc etc.) buying my yummy Cornishware jug, I spotted this dolls pram. Although I left it there I couldn't get it out of my head.

Yes it needs a bit of work but hey, if it comes out looking pretty good and my daughter falls in love with it on her first birthday then I'll be a happy Mum.
... if Gracie doesn't pinch it first.
She seemed quite taken with it.

my sewing bible

This was either a birthday or Christmas present from my parents when I was about 10 years old, and I can't live without it. Debs has recently been showing her old sewing and pattern books and I thought it was a good idea.
I clearly remember pouring over these pages as a child, itching to do everything in it.
.. but childhood gets in the way, plus a lack of pocket money to buy the necessary bits and pieces.
I have made things using ideas from this book, using leftover fabric from Mum's stash. She made most of my clothes.
My first quilt was inspired by this book, an English paper pieced hexagon using more leftover clothes fabrics.
And the bookmark? It's a smocking sampler from high school, I think it was Grade 8. I enjoyed doing it so much I finished off a few of the other girls samplers as well. I haven't done any smocking since but the urge has always been lurking in the shadows, waiting to resurface. Naturally a little smocked dress may evolve...
There are so many things in this book that I've never done (I did do the macramé once), but I think that's what keeps us going - that yearning to do something new and different. I still use this book on a regular basis, it's one of my greatest resources.

I recently found the 'Readers Digest Complete Guide to Sewing' in a second hand bookshop. It's amazing too although I don't seem to feel the need for it so much.