Loose Ends

I got the sewing machine out last week. It's been a while. I had a few little unfinished projects hanging around that I wanted to get sorted.

Firstly, some Modern Cloth Nappies (MCNs). I sewed these for my girls nearly a year ago when they needed a bigger size (my mum and stepmother sewed the first batch when the girls were tiny) but I'd run out of thread to finish the casings on the elastic for the last 4 of them. I had enough to get by and just never quite got back to it. So, finally I got some new thread (except that when I got home I found out I already had some more and it'd been sitting there the whole time - ooops) and finished those casings. Tada...

(I've fabric for another 4, 2 of which are promised to my lovely, lovely friend, so I'll get moving on those soon too.)

These nappies are pocket nappies (in that they have a outer waterproof layer, an inner water resistant/stay dry layer and and opening between these at the back so you can stuff some absorbant fabric in there). Some of my inserts are a getting a little threadbare so I picked up some cheap offcuts of bamboo fleece from Green Beans Australia (http://www.gbau.com.au/ - if you buy the offcuts by the kg rather than by the metre you save around 70-80%) and have so far sewed about 8 new ones. I've enough fabric for another 4 or 5. They are pretty crude, just 2 rectangles zigzaged together around the edge because I don't have an overlocker. These are then folded in thirds and into the nappies they go. Their role in life is to collect wee and poo-juice so I figure "pretty" is not something that they need to be.

I had reupholstered our dining chairs a few weeks back as the final touch on a project to overhaul our dining setting and sideboard (my brother in law took care of the timber work for me and what a fantastic job he did). The furniture is about 70 years old and belonged to my grandparents who bought it second hand along with their first house (where they then lived for the next 50+ years). We were given it when they relocated to be closer (next door) to my dad as they got older and needed the day to day assistance. It was still in it's original state (although not original condition) and sorely in need of a facelift. I had some of the frabric I used for the chairs left over and my husband asked me to make a throw type thing for the back of the lounge and I wanted to do some more cushion covers. So I made the thing for the back of the lounge + 3 cushion covers. I also went to Spotlight and purchased some other fabric for a few more cushions in different colours to inject a bit of "happy" to the colour scheme. I'm not quite finished those cushions yet so will share a photo of them once done. But for now I will leave you with a pic of the chairs.