Introducing...

My other packets arrived from FS on Monday. Gosh I love getting squishy mail deliveries like this. Wanna see?


This one is for me. I am going to make a bag with it. It's lovely.

This is some cute cord. It was on sale and I'll use it to make the girls some bits and pieces for winter.

The top 2 on this are the new bits I got from the Little Menagerie range. I photographed it with the stuff I already had to show you it all together. Ridiculously cute. Actually, checkout to see the entire range in its full glory.

The top one is what I ordered to go with the Delilah fabric I previously purchased to make that bag I was talking about. But it's wrong. It doesn't go properly. As you can see. So, not sure what will become of it. It is exquisite, though, all lovely and silvery.

The top one here is some flannel. It was in the sale bin for something like USD5 per yard and I do need some new winter PJ pants. The other 3 are fabrics I bought for the girls jackets. The pink is supposed to go with the lovely butterfly stuff I got from Two Little Fairies but it's the wrong pink. The bottom 2 are supposed to go together. But, I might put the pink with the very bottom one, save the middle green one for something else, and get something new for the butterflies. Probably just locally, though, so I can colour match properly. I'll also colour match something for the Delilah fabric so I can get the bag I want to sew with that done.

And that's all. One of these days (real soon, I promise) I'll be sticking up pics of things I have actually made rather than just me buying more fabric. Other than the 2 bits I just mentioned, I am setting a ban on fabric purchasing for a while. My cupboard is now overflowing and I really do not need to spending any more $$$$$.

Sneak Peak

Wow one packet of fabric arrived from the Fabric Shack on Friday. That was quick. Just 5 days. Nicer than the 6 weeks I waited for my fabric from FQS just before Christmas or the month it took to arrive from Melbourne. I was just on my way out to door to Spotlight to take advantage of their spend $100 get $40 off voucher when I noticed the packet sitting on the letterbox (for all to see - thanks Mr postman!). I ripped into it and was delighted to discover that of the 3 fabrics in the packet, one of them was for the Kids Clothing Sewing Swap on EB. YAY. So, now I have all my fabric and my patterns are cut and ready to go. Just need to wash and dry the fabric and get sewing!


(oh and I'll post a pic of the other fabrics that arrived with this later on. Haven't actually taken one yet).

Much to Catch Up On!

Whilst I may have been neglecting my blog (REALLY missing that old work laptop and the freedom it gave me to access internet anywhere in my home at anytime) I haven't been neglecting my sewing. In fact I have been collecting projects (and more fabric but more on that later...). Here's a list of what I've got on the trot:

1. outfit for EB kids clothing swap
2. 2x Little Uptown Girl winter jackets by Make it Perfect (gotta get my butt into gear and buy me the pattern)
3. 2x little over shoulder bags for my girls (using some of the little menagerie range of fabrics)
4. A few bags for various people (not least of all my lovely, lovely friend - am off to spotlight tomorrow to get the fusible fleece and interfacing so I can hurry up and get started) - I have 3 in all so far but may do some more
5. some winter outfits for my girls
6. A table runner for my table (my lovely, lovely friend was going through her fabric scraps with me and I 'inhertied' a lovely piece that will be perfect for the top - waiting on the backing to arrive from the Fabric Shack)
7. A soft case for my new pink Dell Inspiron mini 10 that I ordered yesterday for my birthday (so then I can internet anywhere at anytime again) and I might make one of these also for my sister who received a little netbook from her husband for her birthday last year

And then there's the cute tutorials and patterns that keep cropping up on CraftGossip (oh my, discovering this site has given me SO much inspriation) like some gorgeous retro rompers (next summer, I think) and some cute dragon slippers (I have nephews, you know!). It's also where I found the pattern for the bag that I am making my lovely, lovely friend (no link to this one people's until after - gotta keep it a surprise) and the pattern for the softcase I will make for my netbook.

Speaking of my lovely, lovely friend, she asked me to sew her a bag for her youngest son who was about to start daycare. In all honesty, most of my fabrics are all pretty and girly but I was determined there must be SOMETHING in my collection. Turns out I was right. Here is a shot of everything I could pull together that I thought would be suitable (some of this came from the scraps that I 'inherited' from my lovely, lovely friend when we went through her stuff).

And here is what I did with it. She justed wanted something basic so I went with drawstring but made straps from the strings and added a pocket.

Then I made it reversible. The strings/straps have snaps on them to attach to whichever side of the bag she wants externally facing and with a pocket on each side it means she has an external pocket and an internal pocket. Perfect for any items that need to be slightly safer from little hands.

While we are talking drawstring bags. Here are the little ones I knocked up a few weeks back for my own girls to store the sheets they need to take to daycare these days.

I thought I would share some new fabric that just arrived from Two Little Fairies Fabric. The top one with the lovely butterflies will form one side of one of the Little Uptown Girl winter jackets. The two underneath that are part of the Little Menagerie collection (I won/purcahsed them in a charity auction for flood affected victims in QLD - what a great way to raise money. They get my $$$ and I get some lovely fabric!). The back 2 is some really sweet and divinely soft flannel. Not quite sure what to do with that yet other than that I have this lovely fabric that my lovely, lovely friend gave me as part of my baby shower gift. It's a velveteen type fabric with little silver ballet slippers printed on it. I have it in dark pink and light pink. I though the flannel might make a nice lining for the hood or something. I also though it might make a nice lininig for the softcase for my netbook. The outside will be some lovely japanese print scrap fabric I picked up from Spotlight the other day. I'll get around to some photos in due time.

And last but not least, as mentioned, I'm awaiting a delivery from the Fabric Shack.

Contained in this order is some of the fabric for the kids clothes sewing swap, fabric for bags, more Little Menagerie, the backing for my runner, some sweet cord that was on sale for some winter outfits, and the rest of the fabric for the Little Uptown Girl jackets. I think that's all. It left there Friday last week so hopefully it'll be with me mid-late next week. Oooooh, how exciting! Oh, and I might have trawled the scrap bin at spotlight and picked up some cheapies. See, I told you we kinda created a monster!

Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwls!

Mum used to do this thing with us when we were kids that her mum used to do with her when she was little. You sit opposite each other with the very top of your foreheads touching. Then she'd roll her forehead down so the bottom of your faces come together and say, "owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwls" as she was doing it. Because of course your eyes look all big and close together and funny at such close quarters.

Anyway, I wasn't able to continue the dress I started last week at this week's sewing course lesson. I found the pattern a little unclear as to what exactly you need to cut out. The teacher at the course, my mum, and my stepmother (both of whom sew) also found it a little confusing. So, I cut out what I thought was right only to have a later epiphany and realise what it was the pattern was trying to tell us. At this point I also realised that whilst I still had plenty of fabric left, due to the way I'd cut out the other pieces I could not get the remaining peices from my fabric in the dimensions in which it's needed. So, I've ordered another 1/2 yard with my FS order and will put it aside for now.

Means I needed a new project. I purchased this cute owl fabric in my original FQS order. It was end of roll for them so I could ony get 1/2 yard. When I originally ordered they also had a white version but that was all gone by the time my order was cut. I've decided to make some PJs from this and then I'll find some kind of more plain fabric in a coordinating colour (probably just at spotlight) and make the second pair from that. I'll give it a little mix-n-match by doing the pocket on the owl pair from the other fabric and vice versa. The pattern I purchased is long sleeves and pants but I'm doing these for summer so have cut down to short sleeves and shorts. I quite literally had just enough in 1 yard - 1 meter would have been a more comfortable amount. I had to pin and cut one piece, then butt the next piece up exactly to the edge I'd just cut. Not a mm to spare. Will be slightly less finnicky with the second pair as purchasing in Aus, I'll get it in metres. That extra 9cm will make all the difference. Got it all cut out this week. Next week I'll start sewing. This is my chance to learn how to do button holes. In the meantime, need to go buy myself some buttons. Here's a little piccie of the fabric.

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

Still no third package from the Fat Quarter Shop (henceforth known as FQS because I'm sick of typing it in full). Nor have I seen the stuff from Hanc**k's AND now I have a new fabric order to add to the list of things I am waiting for. I re-ordered the backing fabric for my Christmas Table Runner (TR) swap since it's in the missing package from FQS. I ordered it from the Fabric Shack (FS) as they had a half price delivery deal (cost me all of $2.50) and it was cheaper there. I have heard from a few others on the EB web forums that they've ordered fabric from the US that has taken a month or more to arrive. We are jointly concluding that Aus customs may have had a minor meltdown with everyone taking advantage of the current state of the AUD and doing so much shopping online from the US. It has instilled in me a little hope that maybe, just maybe that third FQS package will arrive and in so doing made me feel impatiently cranky every day that it doesn't. Boo to that!

I'm also still waiting on my new camera and iPhone from my insurance claim along with a new pram (that was in the back of the car). Oh, and some new sandels for the girls. They found our car, by the way. The rotters (for want of a better word) who stole it took it for a joy ride through the bush (it's a 4WD). It was found dumped in the rather up-a-beaten-track carpark of a hardware store that sells to tradies. It was covered in mud and scratched down the entire length of each side from trees they didn't bother steering clear of, has a few dings in it, stinks of cigarette smoke (they kindly ashed all over the drivers door), has been so thoroughly cleaned of all it's contents I am surprised they didn't vacuum it for me, and is devoid of number plates. Currently with the insurance mob getting all fixed up.

Hopefully I will take delivery of the camera and/or iPhone this week (when I spoke to the case manager chick on Friday she'd received quotes for them and was going to authorise them so I can get my stuff) and then I can share some picks of where I am up to with my current creations including what I'm doing at my sewing course, the TR swap, and a few other bits and bobs. Might even have some fabric arrivals to share with you too by then.

But for now, off to internet research/shop for some new car seats for the girls for when we get the car back.