Sewing------finally!

I grabbed these two dresses from Big W yesterday to get some ideas to make a dress for Ellyse.

I used the lower half of the first dress and the upper part of the second dress to create the third dress!

My Aunty gave me the fabric on Sunday, she has had it for years. The dress worked out really well, have a little bit of fine tuning to do but it looks cute on Ellyse. I will get a photo after her bath.

I was happy with this attempt of drafting my own pattern! Much better than last time.

Here is Ellyse in the dress. I meant to mention that it has pintucks and a ruffle, you can't really see that detail.

EB Secret Santa Questions

1. What's your favorite colour? pink, purple, green

2. What's your favorite item to sew? anything for Ellyse

3. What items other people have made would you have loved to have done yourself? I never really perfected the twirly skirt for Ellyse, other than that I have tried everything I wanted to so far.

4. What takes your fancy in the notions world? Rik Rack? Ribbons? Love rick rack and ribbons but don't feel creative enough to get into them that much. Would like to though.

5. What is your fabric weakness? Anything that I can use for Ellyse! Pink, pink and more pink!

6. What's one thing you haven't tried but would like to? Um not sure really, I have tried most things. Maybe just different types of fabrics and sewing more for myself.

7. Is there any patterns that you like in particular? I tend to go for patterns that have more than one style - value for money - that's me!

8. How long have you been sewing for? Since I was 13, so 17 years - wow!

9. What size are your kids? Ellyse is size 1.

10. Do you like quick projects or projects that take a little longer to finish? Either or, I tend to just go go go until they are done anyway.

11. What do you hope to do with your sewing in the future?Selling/Sell more/keep as hobby etc/Design....? I just like my sewing as a hobby. I am happy to make things for friends and gifts but I don't think I am interested in selling outside of that.

12. What is your favourite time of year? I love my birthday and Christmas, especially now we have little Ellyse

13. What is your favorite type of fabric? Not sure on this one, I tend to stick to the safe fabrics!

14. What is you least favourite fabric to sew with? I don't think I have ever sewn with something I didn't like, I need to experiment a little maybe

15. Do you have any christmas traditions? Only with my parents, we are looking forward to developing some of our own. I love the idea of a Christmas decoration.

16. What frustrates you about sewing? My lack of creative ability. I see items in the shops and think "Wow I could make that" but I would never think to do those colour combos together, or add ribbon. I am trying to challenge myself to think more about that type of thing.

17. What 'style' do you dress your children in/ which shop clothes do you try to imitate? I don't think I try to imitate any particular style, I just see something I like and see if I can either find a pattern or have a go myself. I more dislike a lot of the clothes available and I like Ellyse to look like a little girl, rather than a mini adult. I am quite conservative in my dress too!

WHAT A DISASTER...AT LEAST I CAN LAUGH

Ellyse's new party dress

Ellyse really didnt need a new dress, but I had bought this fabric a while ago and then when I bought a Simplicity pattern the dress on the front was coloured in simialar fabric so I just had to make it.
The neckline was a little fiddly, and I ended up making it up myself but other than that it was easy. I am really happy with it. I don't really think that yellow is Ellyse's colour but the coloured dots help.
Here she is all dressed up ready to go out and celebrate her Uncle's birthday.


I had to add this one of Ellyse and her beautiful nephew, he had the best time chasing her tonight, she was squealing with delight when I took this, it was just magic!

Oh I just remembered that when my bil's girlfriend had Ellyse someone commented on her dress - LOVE it!

Some sewing for me......finally

All be it a little headband that took me all of half an hour. It is too wide for my head and thin hair, so will make it narrower next time.

I am madly searching the net for an idea I have for Christmas. I already have the bag sorted, now I am planning on making an apron and art smock to go with the bag. I am trying to find easy patterns for both.
I want an apron like this - can you believe they want $30 for this??

YAY I finally made a library bag

Well I have been thinking about doing this for months, ever since I saw a post in the hobbies thread about handmade gifts. A lady showed a pic of one of these and I knew it would make a great gift. Ferris (Sarah) was a huge help, e-mailing me pics and measurements.
After a test run last night on a smaller version I tried the real thing tonight. It took me a while to work out the pattern but once I had that it was only about 20 minutes to sew it. I have a few adjustments to make to the pattern before making my next one but am so pleased with the out come.
Ellyse's name will be appliqued on with the hot pink cotton, would you believe I could not find the vlizoflex (sp) tonight ( I should get to bed anyway).
Anyway I am thinking that these could be a great item to sell, maybe just to the girls at MG. My friend was telling me about some online that were $50 I think and they don't look THAT great.
http://www.allmineforkids.com.au/files/A3Q7EUN89R/final%20carry%20bag.JPG
Thanks again to Ferris for the assistance.

My BAD attempt at a rabbit softie

My friend's little sister had a baby girl yesterday, Matilda Rose. I thought I would make the baby a little softie like the one Belinda made for Ellyse. I quickly traced off the pattern and sat down and wrote down the order in which to do things so I wouldn't rush.
Well I didn't read my instructions as I went and unpicked the darn thing 3 times! It is not very good and I am not sure if I am actually going to give it away. I even embroided her initials on the back of it. Let's say it is very rustic looking!
I didn't get the measurements right, it is a fair bit smaller than Belinda's but it is cute.
I am looking forward to having another go!

No other real sewing today, am just trying to get my head around the library bags I want to make. I am not a visual learner/person at all I am more hands on. I will make a little practice one first.

I am sewing again!

Well it feels like ages since I have sewen, but yesterday and today I have been back into it big time.
Yesterday I made two hats the same. One for a friend's DD and one for Ellyse. It is a little bit small and because of this Ellyse hated having it on her head. Today was a new day though and she was more than happy to try it on - you will notice though that she was restrained at the time!

I went to SL today to get some denim to complete my fabric challenge. I had pictured in my head exactly what I wanted to do. I was supried at the cost of denim ($14.95 m), lucky I am extremely happy with the outcome!
Thanks to Novy who came to the rescue with some close up pics and instructions on how to do a cuff. I did ok until it came time to fold the cuff up and I realised I had forgotten Nivy's original tip about making sure it was stitched first! Oops. There is now no cuff, it is folded under instead. I am still happy with the look.
I am not so happy with the top, it is clumsily made and is a bit small. She will get a little wear out of it.
I love the completed outfit though and am looking forward to seeing what others do with the fabric!

My darling husband and a day every woman dreams of!

Well my husband has really outdone himself this time and I don't know what is to come.

It was our wedding anniversary in September and DH decided we would celebrate with a weekend away....without Ellyse. Because of the night marking job I was doing at the time and school holidays we delayed it and are heading off this weekend. Everything is a suprise to me. I know the location, I guessed, but apart from that I have no idea. DH is great at keeping secrets, and I have had to resist the temptation to look at the credit card statements and our hotmail account. I don't want to spoil the suprise so up until now I have not ventured there. As the weekend approaches it is getting difficult though and I just want to know what we are doing!

Last Friday night I went out with some friends to the movies and coffee. When I got home there was an envelope with my name on it on the bench for me. Inside was a letter outlining my mission, which was to take the large amount of money and spoil myself on a shopping spree. I was breathless. DH has been doing some private jobs and has been stashing the money away. He has been working so hard for us to enjoy this weekend away.

So today my great friend H and I went shopping. We spent most of the day spending DH's hard earned money. It was so much fun. I had a lot of money to spend, more than I have ever spent in one shopping trip in my life, but somehow it didn't seem enough. You know when you have something you always want more! In saying that though I did really well for my money and am so happy with everything I got. I am a pretty bad shopper, I often get frustrated as I don't have a design bone in me and also as I have mentioned before I am quite tight with our money, so to be let loose with this money was very different for me.

Needless to say my summer wardrobe is sorted!

I love my husband so much, not just for the material things he provides for me but for his every thought and action. He is always out to make me feel great and loves to suprise me. I love the way he loves me. Right now he is doing the washing up I was supposed to do after dinner, he was happy for me to get my thoughts down.

I am so looking froward to this weekend, to connect with DH, to have fun, to wear my new clothes, and to seeing Ellyse when we get home! I am going to miss her a lot.

So look out for Monday's entry!

Not sewing related

Well this is not sewing related, but this morning I was waiting for a friend to pick me up for MG, I was taking some fun shots of Ellyse with our dog Mollee. I noticed our clothes line with the cloth nappies I had just hung out. I had a moment where I realised that I had been washing cloth nappies for 18 months!
I am the only person I know that uses cloth on a regular basis. My neighbours think I am crazy and one friend said "You're a better woman than me." To me it isn't about being a better woman, or saving the planet - I am a tight $#@! and I figure if I am a stay at home mum (6/7 of the time) then I should really have time to rinse and spin a few nappies. Most of all though it comes down to cost. I want to stay at home for as long as I can and if this helps then I am going to do it.
I actually love seeing them hanging on the line!

Thought I would add a photo of Ellyse and Mollee too seeing as that was what I was actually doing!

Softies

Ellyse's softies find their home!

A big thank you to Belinda for the absolutely adorable softies she so carefully made for Ellyse. They are so professional, no one will believe they were hand made. Belinda we love them and really thank you for taking the time to make them so lovely. As I said in my post I think this group is amazing. As I am sewing my softie I am thinking of the children that will be holding them and cuddling them and it is truely special. For someone to have done the same for my daughter is special to me.

The finished skirt

Just thought I would show you what I had done to the skirt hem!



I will post of the gorgeous Ellyse in it tomorrow!

Patterns and bow on skirt!

Blogger wouldn't let me put more pics on the other entry so I will quickly try again.

I have made a tie to wrap around the skirt and tie into a bow. I am yet to sew it on but I like the look!

Ellyse's New Party Skirt

Well what a busy sewing day I had today. I made the little skirt for my friend's 6 month old DD, it is to match the one I gave her other DD. I did this while Ellyse was sleeping. I desperatley wanted to start on a skirt for Ellyse for a BBQ we are going to tomorrow, but really needed some of her other clothes to help with measurements.












So I managed to sew this when she was up. DH was mowing the lawn so I had to try and keep her away from the machine to get it done. I am such an impatient sewer, when I start it I want it finished NOW!



















I am so so happy with the skirt. It still isn't sitting as nicely as I would like. I have a little theory on how PP cut the fabric for the skirt. I am thinking that maybe it is much wider at the top than the bottom - what do you think? There skirts just seem to be so gathered at the top but there soesn't seem to be the same amount of fabric at the bottom IYKWIM??

Anyway I am going to test the theory on a scrap bit of fabric and see!

I struggle a little to think of tops that Ellyse can wear with these skirt I continue to make her. She has one gorgeous white top that my sis sent over from London, I would love to try and copy it but it looks a little tricky. May head to the shops tomorrow and see what is there. I sooooo want a SL near me (or do I?).

Well hopefully I will get a chance to finish my softie and then will pack the sewing machine away for a bit!


Just wanted to add these pics of some patterns I picked up for $1.50 the other day. I like the dress in the second one. I loved Ellyse being in the hospital gowns when she was a bub so I got the other one to make some for bub number 2......whenever that may be???

Shirred top close up

I am so excited!

WOW thanks girls for your gorgeous comments, they made me feel really good!

I am so excited about this little top that I finished this morning. My friend showed me a Pumpkin Patch top that was shirred, thinking I may be interested in trying to sew one. I sat and looked at it for a long time. I knew the body part would be easy, but was a little tricked with the sleeves.

It ended up being sooooo easy, once I got my head around the shape of the sleeves I was right. I even made up pattern pieces as I thought if I wanted to do it again it was all there. I also wrote down little instructions for myself so I would do it in the right order!

I am so happy with the result and can't wait to try it on little Ellyse.

I mentioned in the EB sewing thread to share photos of ourselves. I thought I would do that today by sharing one of my family. DH, Ellyse and I at my 30th birthday party earlier this year. Excuse the make up, I had a voucher to use and the lady went just a little over board!

Happy Holidays

I always love it when the school holidays come around. So many of my dear friends are teachers and have happened to settle into their married lives all up the east coast of Queensland. I miss them all so much! Many of them make the trip to Brisbane for some part of the holidays and I love being able to catch up with them and their little ones.

This morning my friend S and her daughter C came over for a play. C is about 3 months younger than Ellyse and it is so lovely to see them play together. S has had a rough time over the last 3 months, she had an ectopic pregnancy and lost an ovary. She amazed me with her optimism and contentment with C.

When they left I got into my sewing, it had been a week and I was ready to get back into it. By nature I am a generous person and love to spoil people with gifts of love. I just adore the moment when the gift changes hands. The look on the face of the person and their joy at being made feel so special. Today I made a skirt for my absolutley adorable neice M. We have always had a special bond and I love doing special things for and with her. Sewing for someone else is an amazing feeling. I kept thinking of M the entire time I was sewing, thinking of how she would like the skirt, what she would wear with it and the joy of her telling her friends that her Aunty Andie made her that skirt! This is another reason I love school holidays. My neice M and her brother C come to stay every school holiday, they always have. Now that Ellyse is growing up it is even more special. We have a little tradition of making pizzas and going on a special outing. They are such amazing kids that they are just so appreciative of whatever it is I have planned, even if it is just a trip to the park!

When Ellyse woke from her sleep I visited another friend who was here from Mackay. We worked together at a little country school up there. She had her third daughter 3 months ago. She was such an important part of my life when I was posted to Mackay. I didn't know anyone and she was one of my rocks while I was there. I treasure her friendship and love catching up with her when I am in Mackay, or when she is here. Her newest addition A is just gorgeous.

Next week I am seeing another friend who will be in town. We are meeting at a park. She has a little boy who is so different to Ellyse. I just can't wait to see them play together again! She is another dear friend who I am so pleased I take the time to stay in touch with.

Sometimes it can be hard work to maintain these relationships, especially as we are all mums. I value all of my friendships as they all offer me something different. I love knowing I have a place in these people's lives and that they love to catch up with me too.

It is very unlike me to pour my heart out like that, I am not sure why I felt the need to do that. It feels good though and has made me think that I need to let these people know that I appreciate them and the time they give to me. Anyway this is meant to be a sewing blog......

A skirt for my neice

I used to sew for my beautiful necie all the time when she was a lot younger. Now she is 9 I thought she would love a teired skirt. I got this fabric at Spotlight and it is exactly the same as a skirt I bought Ellyse from Big W.

I spent a lot of time working out the measurements, all in proportion to Ellyse's skirt, I wanted to get it just right. I am so very happy with it. It is the most professional job I have done so far. I really took the time to sit and think about the order I wanted to do it in and it worked out perfectly.

Eventhough I wasn't going for the twirly skirt look, I would still would have liked there to be a little more flare to the skirt. I am thinking that instead of cutting rectangles I should make the top part a little narrower. I will play around with it.

I have already given the skirt to M, I just couldn't wait. I am looking forward to seenig her and Ellyse wearing their skirts together!

My next sewing job is to finish the softie for my swap with girls from EB, and then I have drafted a pattern to copy a PP shirred top. I can't wait to try that, I think Ellyse definitely has enough bottoms!