My Creative Space

I've been under the weather this week and so have the kids.  I've had a really full agenda lately and staying up past midnight sewing has taken it's toll.  I needed to give myself a rest this week from projects and SIT (which will need a post or two to get you up to speed).  I did a mini-service on the sewing machine (ie cleaned out under the needle plate) after a slap on the wrist from a couple of friends and repaired a couple of clothing items that would've ended up going to charity.  Even though I didn't make anything I have been planning...

• First up was a 'shopping trip' at Fabricworm.  I'm making a lion softie for Lewis so I chose the following fabrics plus the star fabric for Max's robot:

• I pulled out the It's A Hoot charm pack I bought a couple of months ago to get some inspiration (last week I bought 4 yards of Trees in Marshmallow and Trees in Raspberry for the backing and a cot skirt).  I'm disappointed with 7 of the 44 squares because they have been cut from large prints from just random parts of the print, I would prefer to fussy cut so that you get a whole bird for example instead of just his legs or half a body... get the drift.  I saw this pillow and really like featuring the large owl panel in the centre.  I also thought using some of the other plainer patterned fabrics for sashing instead of a solid.  I found these other quilts for inspiration: 

Same wavelength with the sashing and backing, link via EatPlaySew

 

 

 

Using a large scale print for sashing, link via Federlily

For more inspiration head over to...

My Creative Space

This week I'm working my butt off to finish these sunglasses cases for the SIT group swap.  It's a pattern I came up with myself based loosely on this tutorial. 

Fabrics from Spotty except the florals which are Central Park

I will post a tutorial here so check back if you're intersted in making them (a good stash buster).

Edited:  In my haste I forgot to mention that you should also check out out Kootoyoo's blog for more creative ideas.

The Best Job in the World

Yesterday I was asked to road test a couple of patterns that have just been written up.  How much fun, I couldn't think of anything else I would rather do.  Anyway, I've spent a few hours looking for fabric inspiration for the first one, it's a Robot softie.  Here's what I came up with, I don't need all of them so I need to narrow it down, such a hard decision:

A selection of fabrics found on Etsy

Happy Monday

This morning in Sydney it was wet and grey.  Despite the dreary weather, I looked out my dining room window to see this lovely glimmery sparkle on a spider web. 

My little angel was sitting in her highchair eating her breakfast.  She's such a joy now, really engaging and smiling.  Clapping, waving and saying "hi", a few new words, Dadda, Nanna, Mumma (the last one very rarely), does a high five, singing and dancing.  9 months old is such a sweet age.

 

What's Cooking - Chocolate Cupcakes

There was some baking happening in our house this weekend.  The boys were very eager to help with all the stages, especially the licking up the bowl stage.

Two little boys devoured their cupcakes in seconds....

As you can see from the photo we cheated and used a packet cake mix, Greens being the only ones I'll use. 

The cakes were light and fluffy, the frosting was not very strawberry as the packaging led you to believe. 

In all though, they were really easy to make, the kids got a kick out of helping in the kitchen and they were nice enough to eat.


PS.  I haven't been happy with our photo quality lately so after these shots came out grainy I changed a setting on the camera to see if things improve.  Bear with me while I try to sort this out.

Renovation Drool - Craft Room Envy

My craft room is also my kitchen and dining room and study.
Makes setting up and packing away a pain and also having craft stuff lying around the kitchen/dining room is making the place really cluttered. 

Enough was enough, I thought yesterday. 

I asked The Man for shelves above my desk to help ease the burden on our kitchen counter/breakfast bar.  This morning I am wading through the paperwork, there are bills to pay and I can't find them under all the mail, kids drawings, unread magazines, filing, scraps of interfusing, receipts...

Time to clean up!!

Oh well, one day I hope to have a craft room (maybe in 20 something years time when the kids start leaving home).

In the meantime....

I spied this oak vintage sewing caddy in my Reader which was a coincidence because Mum told me I could have hers yesterday (unfort. it's pine and 80s not oak and 50s).

Then I checked out Alissa's crafty quilting space on Apartment Therapy and was impressed with how neat and organised it was.
























And that sewing machine!!!!  Imagine having that for quilting!  I better start saving my pennies.

I love that wall hanging

For more of Alissa's creative space head to Apartment Therapy.

My Creative Space

Here is the finished Infinity Scarf made following this tutorial. Just in time to pop into an Express Post envelope to arrive interstate tomorrow (nothing like a bit of pressure to push me along).

I under-ordered fabric (only 0.5 yard of each) so I had to reduce the length of this scarf cutting from selvedge to selvedge.  I also wanted to make this scarf narrower as my MIL is a petite lady and I didn't want the scarf to swamp her frame.  The pieces I cut were 8" x 52" (the flannel was not as wide as the voile so I had to cut that as two 26" pieces and piece them together).  Next time I would like to make the scarf longer so that it sits a bit lower.  I already have a custom order from my Mum who was staying over last night!

EDITED:  I forgot to mention that I didn't twist the scarf per the instructions in the tutorial because I didn't want the flannel to be a feature. 

My Creative Space

The next project on my To Do List is a scarf for my mother-in-law's birthday which is coming up next week.  I bought 0.5 yard and this Little Folks voile which is one of the most beautiful fabrics I have ever felt.  I understand what buttery soft means now, it literally feels like butter in your hands!  I also bought 0.5 yard of this Robert Kaufman flannel which is very soft too.

I'm kind of stuck with where I'm going to go with this scarf now.  Originally, the flannel was to be a lining to make the scarf warm since MIL lives in Melbourne.  I also love the idea of an infinity scarf, originally seen on Traci's blog.  I'm just not sure whether the flannel would look too 'basic' as it will be seen more.  AMH does her Figuring the 8 scarf as a voile/velveteen combo which sounds divine, wish I had bought velveteen instead!  Anyway, I still have a few days to mull over it as we are heading away to Mollymook for the weekend tomorrow.  If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

This is the secret project from last week's CS.  I took these photos today as the ones I had from earlier in week were not that clear.  Details on the bag are in this post.

 For more creative spaces you know where to go....

Show and Tell - Nikki Tote Bag

I made this Nikki Tote Bag as a gift for my niece who had her 30th birthday on the weekend.  Unfortuntely, I started mid last week but the whole process took so much longer than I expected so I didn't get it finished until this afternoon.  I hope she likes it! 

 

Nitty Gritty:

3hrs to trace & cut fabric
2hrs to trace & cut interfacing
2-3hrs to iron on interfacing
8hrs to sew

Amy Butler, Love, Cypress Paisley in Mint  (1.125 yards)
Eleanor Grolsch, Zoo Menagerie, Blossom in Purple (1 yard)
Fusible Woven Interfacing for exterior & interior fabric
Vilene Fusible Fleece H640 for handles

I used much less fabric than the pattern suggested but it was a squeeze and I had cut each inner handle as 3 pieces and piece together which you can see if you click on the picture (I didn't want to do it as 2 pieces and have the join sitting on the shoulder where it might get annoying).



Buttons 40mm (1.5") from All Buttons Great and Small but you can get them for a fraction of the price on Etsy if you've got the time to wait.  Also 2" would've worked better. 

Next time I would like to put some contrast piping between the band and body to break up the exterior fabric OR just use a solid/third fabric for the band and handles.  Also, I might think about using a contrast colour for the topstitching.

My Creative Space

Can you guess the fabrics?  Tip: There's only 2.

Ssshhhhh!  There's some sewing going on this week.  It's a present so I can show you what I'm making until after the birthday girl receives it (provided it all works out OK).  Check back on Monday to see what it is.

Forgot to say check out other CS's at Kootoyoo.

Renovation Drool - Clever Storage

Check these out, I'm all for using wasted space:

CD & DVD Storage, link via

This is really clever! Link via

Link via

Finally, I saved the best for last:

Link Via