A small diversion to the sewing machine

There's no denying I love fabric, just as most of the bloggers I follow and love.  However my downfall is that I have so many fabrics I can't bear to use yet, they're still too beautiful to cut up.  Therefore some of the untouched fabrics I own are nearly 20 years old.

Sad, scarey or just plain bonkers, I can't help it.  I can still pull out these fabrics and hold onto them, remembering when and where I bought most of them and at what stage I was in my own life.  I guess they've become keepsakes, but I've always believed that the right purpose for them would present itself.  Which in most cases is true (and I still hold out hope for the pure linen knit fabric that I only have 2 metres of..... too beautiful and too expensive not to use!).

So to prove myself right I came across a pattern on Pinterest the other day for a wool bunny.  Then digging around my old stash of wool blanket off-cuts I discovered a piece that would fit my pattern perfectly, with little to spare, and enough fringe to make a cotton tail as well.

The girl was stoked.

I must do this more often.

Blog about clothes makeovers that is.  I've done quite a bit of it lately and don't have any photos to show for it.  Naughty me.  So here's a fresh start -

A nice little op shop (thrift) find.  An older girls' hipster skirt in little girls' colours.  I knew I'd regret it if I didn't fork out the $2, and felt confident I could convert it into a dress for my girl (I had already taken out the side zip when I took this photo).

I thought I could do enough shirring on the yoke to bring it down to size enough but I think there was too much bulk, and I didn't want to start cutting bits out of it to make the shirring work.  It needed to be simple.  Luckily the skirt was lined, which meant I could sew a few parallel lines of stitching and thread hat elastic through.  Easy peasy, and has also given it a lovely fulness.  Sorry it's not the best photo, we've had a dull rainy day here today and this was the only photo where she kept still.  Although I do like this photo as well -

She's a very busy girl you know......

Oh and that footstool she's leaning against.  That's on the makeover list too.

Because I needed a break from knitting,

and before I became all knitted out.  I picked up the crochet hook and gave it a whirl (having only done granny squares in the past).  One little baby rattle later I felt enough confidence to tackle a full on teddy for the new nephew -

(yet another Drops design)

It's far from perfect but I'm sure little Hugh doesn't mind, especially as Angus tested it before posting to Canada and gave it the thumbs up.

Spurred on but not wanting to get too bored with only 'double crochet' ('single crochet' in America), and even though I love all the cool Amigarumi out there I felt the need for a bit of variety.  Hence the Queen Anne's Lace Scarf....

It's just enough of a pattern to make it interesting without being too difficult, and I've done enough repeats now to feel confident without the pattern sitting by my side.  That's a win:win situation in my books.  

And hey, who knows but I might make it back to regular blogging again.  Cripes!

still sewing

Amazingly, but as this girlie grows she's sleeping less (naturally) so time is precious and my nearly-six-month-old is entering the clingy phase. And you know, I actually don't mind that. It's nice to have someone who's so dependant on me, who takes comfort in my presence. Also, I'll lap it up now because I'm sure there'll be a time when she doesn't even want to know me! Bless 'er.........

So I squeeze in some sewing here and there, although what with Tamsyn's christening and family staying, along with the Mini Fest in Hobart last weekend things have been rather mad of late.

For those who have known me long enough may remember this quilt, made in memory of my friends dearly loved Weimarana dog Char (blogged about it here). Rosie was left with Char's granddaughter Yazmin, who unfortunately had to be put to sleep a few weeks ago due to pancreatic cancer and tumurs on her lungs. I wanted to make something in memory of dear Yazzi too but knew it would take forever to make a quilt, and I wanted to make something that would complement the quilt anyway -
Even though the Char Quilt was a surprise the Yazmin Cushion wasn't, but this allowed Rosie to supply the photo she wanted and compose a lovely little message.

But what's this about Mini Fest you say? I'll leave that for the next post, in the meantime here's a little sample -

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?

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.