A little bit of 'Sewing Past'

My sewing machine has been a little quiet over the last few weeks - my quandary is 'sewing or housework?'  Unfortunately housework has been the winner, not that others in the house would necessarily agree (i.e me a good housekeeper?).  So I'm revisiting some of my past creations. I'm a little, a Huge fan of Cath Kidston and her gorgeous rose prints, very english, shabby chic.... Now she is UK based, so the cost of the her fabrics and her other delectable homeware's are, unfortunately out of my price range so I look for fabrics here that are CK inspired instead and create and sew accordingly.

 

This is an apron I made for my sister's birthday, very shabby chic!

 

 

 

And I made her a matching bag!

 

 

 

I also have 3 of Cath Kidston's books, Sew! Make! and Stitch! All 3 contain wonderful crafty projects to make and inspire you! 

So now you know,  I'm a Cath Kidston fan - check out her website here.

 

 

Heidi 



 

School Holidays mmmm...

I'm not sure about you,  but I love and hate school holidays.  We get a sleep in, there's no great rush in the mornings.... but then if you're getting up late you just don't seem to get much done in the day.
I always have BIG plans (like sewing and maybe getting the kids to tidy their rooms) but they all seem to fall by the wayside as I struggle with housework and spending some quality time with my children.  The first day of the holidays we made 4 lots of different coloured playdough - there was flour everywhere!  and by the time I sent them outside to play with the playdough (which they did for only half an hour) I was still cleaning up the kitchen for the next project - lunch!  

 

We made some very yummy pizza scrolls, and vegemite and cheese scrolls for lunch.  We had Pink Lemonade with it, which oddly enough was lemon lime flavour? 

 

 

We also made jelly in oranges. I have been wanting to try this out for a while and as you can see, I finally did.  I've seen it done so many times in rainbow colours for kids parties and it looks great, however there must be a trick to cutting them once the jelly is set as my jelly kept getting squished, maybe my knife wasn't sharp enough to cut the orange neatly? Let me know if you have any hints or tips on this one.

 

So anyway, till next time!

 

Heidi

 

 

100 days to Christmas!!

Less than 100 days until Christmas!   Are you organised?  I'm not,  I have plans to make some wonderful goodies for Christmas presents. So now it's up to me to put this plan into action! Time to set aside a few hours a week to sew and make a list of recipients for these items and still yet to make. 

 

 

This is a tote bag set I made for a teacher a few years ago, (sorry about the photo quality, the laptop died that had the original image). Both bags are fully lined, and the owl on the front  of the tote is also a pocket.

 

 

I also have made this lunch bag - its lined with oilcloth for easy wipe clean.  Maybe something like this for a friend or even a teacher?

 

I find the hardest to craft presents for are men. My son had a male teacher last year so there were no handmade goodies for him, found out which footy team he barracked for and went with a gift that way.  Does anyone have any suggestions for a male?

 

 

 I've had an obsession this past year with mexican oilcloth - here are some goodies I've made. Some extra roomy totes, a lunch bag and also a cosmetic purse. All co-ordinating wonderfully.  I will definitely be making some more of these oilcloth lunch bags, they are very cute - I modified the pattern and added a handle, they will be very easy to carry now, my daughter has already put in her order.

 

I also need to finish a few projects - I have many! How about you? do you get sidetracked with something new too? There is some gorgeous vintage inspired bunting just waiting to be strung together, and skirts with just the elastic waist to sew.  I am setting aside a day this coming week to complete some projects - no more procrastinating!

 

I will post pictures of my progress along the way, and maybe my first tutorial, any ideas on what you'd like that to be?

 

 

 

Heidi

 

I've made it, the Fabric Purse

I've finally had a chance to do some sewing!  I've made the pouch from the Tilda Magazine I talked about in my last post.  It was super easy, and took only 30 min's from start to finish - very quick.

 

 

These are the pattern pieces, only 2, very simple!

 





 

Very easy to follow instructions - and wella! all done, now just turn half back in on itself.

 

 

 

All done! Now just to hand sew the clip on.  That may take a while, I procrastinate when it comes to hand sewing, what do you think? Do you like fabric I chose?

 

Heidi

 

Getting Excited over my Gift with Purchase

So I saw this in the newsagent's the other day,  its a sewing magazine with FREE FABRIC, yes, Free Fabric!!!  There is barely enough fabric in it to complete the project in the magazine, so its really no bigger than a swatch of fabric, but it's so yummy!  I have read a few of  'Tilda's' books and they are ever so pretty, she is based in the UK so it's awfully expensive to purchase her fabric here in Australia, so I jumped at the chance to purchase this gorgeous magazine pack!

As well as the rather lovely (though small) pieces of fabric, there is also full patterns and instructions on how to make a petal kitty cushion, mobile phone case,  the dolly pictured on the front, a purse and many other little projects.  So the only dilemma is, what to use my fabric for? and can I bare to cut it.......  I will post pictures of what I finally decide to make. 

Here are some of the patterns included with the magazine pack, there is also a little birdie and heart shaped cushion to make, very pretty!


Heidi

Spring Skirts!!

With Spring fast approaching and this wonderful warm weather, it's time to dust off the machine and make some skirts for my girls.  This one won't be for my Miss 4, but for a friends 5th Birthday.  This gorgeous floral fabric is from Pam Kitty Morning.  I've teamed the skirt with a matching shirt to complete the outfit, I know she will love it!! 

This is another skirt I've made recently from the gorgeous fabrics from Prints Charming. Prints Charming fabric is now available from Spotlight - as you can see I have their book!  with some fantastic craft projects and how-to guide on screen printing.  Screen printing is not my thing - I'll stick to my sewing for now, but I will certainly be completing more of the projects in the book now I can easily get my hands on their fabric.

Heidi

Cath Kidston Project: Birdie Cushion

Hi Everyone!

I made this a little while ago now, it's a project from Cath Kidston Sew!  I used this wonderful fabric from Pam Kitty Morning, very cute isn't it?  Now all I have to do is make a few more to share with my daughters and I can have mine back.

 

 

Heidi  

My Very First Blog Post!

Hi there Blogland!!

I am very very new to all this, I'm a Mummy, a Wife, a Daughter, a Sister, and I love to create and sew.  I studied Fashion Design when I finished High School, but never pursued it as a career.  Fortunately I've been blessed with 3 gorgeous children, and have been able to indulge my passion for sewing by creating for them.

That's all for now,

Heidi