Peasant top

This my first attempt at making a pattern. I'm pretty pleased with the result. Not sure if J will wear it though. I'm making another one for Iz.  Hopefully it will turn out well too.
 

After a hiatus

So with three kids now I don't have an awful lot of time to do the creative stuff I like to do. But that doesn't mean that I don't keep thinking about things.
Fortunately my daughter is now in school and so has themed events so happily I've been able to dress her up for the latest. She went to a pirates and princesses disco and (happily) chose to be a pirate. And how can you be a pirate without a cutlass? Here is what I made for her just out of cardboard, paint, ribbon and a few 'jewels'. She loved it.

And I have been meaning to make her more occlusion patches and this was the perfect opportunity. I found nice black material with a silvery milky way pattern and painted a skull and cross bones on it in silver. It was also a big hit and she has been wearing it ever since.

So for the moment I'm a stay at home mum so hopefully I will have more time. I can dream!

Pressie

Well the motivation hasn't been working all that well but hopefully things will change as I have finally got my sewing area set up. So here is the play food that I have made for my niece who has just turned two. The sandwich has cheese, lettuce and tomato. I have embroidered sprinkles on the donut as my kids tried to pick the beads off my original one which made it look funny as well as being a bit of a choke hazard. The chips are crinkle cut (!) and the carrot was just made on a whim. It turned out quite well but I have promised my oldest that I will make one for her too and I am sure I can improve the carrotiness.

4 Months on

Well work has definitely put a hold on my creative pursuits. I still have ideas but simply not enough time to get to them. I watched a lady on the train carefully blanket stitching around motifs that she had stuck onto baby singlets. She was so even with her stitching I wondered if she was making them for herself, friends or if she had a stall at a local market. They were very cute. There's another lady who knits on the train. I've chatted to her and she is making things for her grandchildren. I'd love to sit on the train and do something but I am generally engaged in feeding the kidlets. Maybe in a year or two or maybe not. I suspect I may end up lugging books to and fro and reading to them on the train but that would be kind of nice.

The closest I've come to any sort of creative stuff is repairs to kids clothes which isn't all that exciting. I did make 4 patches for the big girl but she managed to lose all of them in one week and it is hard to get too motivated about making more if they are going to just disappear.

The biggest disappointment at the moment is my favourite blogger has closed her blog to invited guests only. Very sad as I really enjoyed following her crafty pursuits, her children and her perspective on life. Alas, I suspect someone has been horrible and she has shut up shop as who needs that kind of thing in their life? I'll keep checking in with the hope that she changes her mind.

Time

Big changes have been afoot around here. I started my new job 3 weeks ago and it is fantastic. I'm really enjoying what I do and the people I work with. This is a first for me as in the past I have usually had one or the other but never both. I hope it stays that way.

Of course this has meant that I haven't had all that much time to do stuff. I seem to always be saying that. I have made another twirly skirt for Izzy that just needs the elastic sewn. I'm hoping she will wear it even though it is not pink. My other creative pursuit is decorating our lounge room in anticipation of Christmas Day because I have somehow managed to invite 8 people to our tiny 2 bedroom house. Despite the fact that I am working full-time and don't have time for anything I am really looking forward to the day. I think it is because I really like all the people invited - non-stress people. It should be fun.

Luckily I have between Christmas and New Year off which means I might have time to do something - although it will probably be just sleep!

Twirly Skirt

I've been a bit beside myself since I was told I got the job and realised that I am going to have even less time to make stuff. Here is my latest installment though. It's a twirly skirt for Isabel. She loves it. It was very easy to make just time consuming with adjusting the gathers and then removing the thread after sewing. I neatened it all up by overlocking the seams which makes it look really professional.

Felt toys

So I have been making a few things although I have been thinking about making things more.

I saw some felt food online and thought that would be fun to try. You can buy patterns but being the frugal person I tend to be I thought I'd just make it up as I went along. So here is my first attempt which I think turned out quite well.

I really liked the donuts I had seen online and so wanted to try making one first. If I make another one I think I will triple sew on the beads as the kids seem to try and pick them off. I have some other felt cut up to make some other things which I will hopefully post when I get around to that.

And here are some finger puppets I made after seeing them on the Fiskars website. I'm really pleased with how they came out. Isabel helped choose the pearl for the clam and the tentacles threads for the squid. I haven't made the felt background/pocket but I might do so just to have somewhere to store them.