Pocket skirt.

I've had the most gorgeous week.

Despite the fact that we've had two with the flu and a rather large dose of middle child syndrome, it's been lovely. Filled with the perfect mix of outside and inside. Lots of cooking (old faves and a few experiments), lots of kitchen gardening (weeding and seeding), a bit of knitting, some family time, a few new friends with the same names, an improved reader, less counting, plans for an exhibition, a night out with my boy and some winter sun.

And to finish it off, I've had a little pocket of time to sew.

A not so successful sewing session a few weeks back left a dent in my sewing self. But I'm pleased to announce that after an uninterrupted hour, Nina Bernina, a pattern taken off a skirt I love, a zipper, some stashed fabric and my bias binding maker, I love to sew again.

And what better way to start the weekend than with a brand new pocket skirt?!! Yay!!

Now I just have to find some treasures to pop in my new pockets, start making some food for our gorgeous Saturday guests, feed the fires, download a family movie for tonight and it'll be time to get the girls. Phew!

Have you had a lovely week this week?
Has the sun been shining where you are?
Have you had time to knit/garden/sew/cook?
Do you feel like adding pockets to everything you own?
Do you have plans for the weekend?
Are you happy it's Friday?

See ya!

Thanks Emina for the tights.
Thanks farmer Bren for the dresser pics.
Thanks Mother Nature for the sun!!! It changes everything.

3 dresses I sewed..

So the girls went back to school and I finally pulled most of my clothes out of the caravan. The holidays are over.

And with that realisation came the realisation that I can no longer wear the clothes I wore on the road trip. Strange but true. I guess when you wear the same few things over and over and over and over, there comes a time when you cannot wear them anymore. A bit like the end of pregnancy.

So I decided to get busy and create a few dresses.

I love wearing dresses. They are easy. If it is warm, I wear them as is with sandals. If it is cool, I wear them with a little cardi over the top and leggings underneath. And if it is cold, I wear them with a cardi, a scarf and some boots. Easy peasy.

The old sheet dress.

This one is the prototype.
I'm not mad on that sheet design so I wasn't all that precious about getting it right straight away.
I found a picture I liked in a Japanese sewing book. (I'll fill in the details when I can find it).
I found a dress of mine that fits me well.
And I made a pattern.
And I made the dress.
And my farmer boy thinks it makes me look preggers.
But it is super comfy and great for wearing around the farm.

The old curtain dress.

This dress was made from an old hydrangea printed curtain. The fabric is quite stiff and holds it's shape well.
This front of this dress was made from the same pattern piece as The old sheet dress (above), but with the addition of darts for shaping and a longer seam down the front.
The back of the dress was cut taking about an inch off both sides.
All the shaping means that my farmer boy thinks it does not make me look preggers. Yay!
When I finished this dress and tried it on, I wrote on the twitter that I was thrilled that I had nailed my dress pattern.
I love it.

The old table cloth dress.

I made this dress out of an table cloth I'd been saving for a special occasion.
I really love that print.
This time I experimented with sewing the pockets on straight after cutting it out. After the shaping they became a bit crooked. Lesson learnt.
This time the neckline didn't really work. It's too high and the bias binding puckered. Facing?
But it's a great around the farm dress and a scarf hides all the problems perfectly.

And I like the red pockets. I think they're fun.

So now I have three new dresses. Hooray!!!!
Combined, they cost me about five or six dollars, that's including the binding.
And the best part is that I had everything here already. So that kinda justifies my floral fabric collecting addiction.

I think I'm ready for a new pattern now.
Hemming those three dresses can wait.
I'm thinking wrap around, maybe some crochet lace details.....

So that's me.
How about you?
Are you tired of your wardrobe?
Are you making something new to wear?
Are you making anything?
Do you love pockets as much as I do?

Happy weekend. xx

My creative space.

In my creative space today I am hooking granny squares for pockets. I don't think I've got another granny square blanket in me, I haven't even finished sewing in the ends of my first one, but I do love hooking these little treasure collecting pockets.

I am pattern testing a cute little pair of ballet slippers. I have just finished knitting them in the softest, most luxurious organic merino wool this morning. Details here.

But now its time to felt them and I need your help. What is your felting method? I've only ever done hand felting and I've heard something about a hot washing machine and a pair of jeans for agitation, but I'm not sure.

Help?

And of course I'm sewing some vintage sheet dresses for my shop.

I love cutting and stitching these mixy matchy dresses. The colours and patterns and styles make me so happy. And I love dreaming about their new owners and hearing their happily ever after stories. Check out Tricia's here.

I hope this Thursday brings you some wonderful surprises.

See ya. XX

Sewing & selling & shopping.

I was walking through the most gorgeous shop the other day when all of a sudden those familiar thoughts started talking to me. They were saying things like: Hey I could sell my stuff here. My little dresses would look so great hanging up on these racks. How wonderful would it feel to see my clothes as part of this stunning collection...

But pretty soon after it started, it stopped. I don't have to have that conversation in my head anymore. Now I have my own shop.

And I love having my own online shop.

I love that I get to make whatever I want, how I want, whenever I want, as the inspiration drives me.

I love that the customer pays the price I think is right rather than double that.

I love that I 'know' so many of the little princesses my dresses are going to live with and I love the interactions and stories and feedback and photos I get from their Mamas/Grandmothers/friends who buy them.

Blog posts like Vic's and Catherine's make my day!

I love that I have my own paypal account with my own money in it. As anyone who runs their own business knows, often you don't actually get paid a wage for the work you do. So I feel happy and guilt free spending a little bit here and there on some craft supplies. Some yummy hand dyed yarn, a knitting pattern, a Foxs Lane stamp or a book, I've earned them myself. Yay!

So I guess this is just an enormous thank you to everyone who has bought something from my shop, has commented on something I've made, has been supportive, has suggested something or sent me something that they thought I could use.

Thank you Vicki for the parcel of doilies.

Must be off now. Indi gets home from camp in an hour and I still have to make her bed and make her favourite dinner.

So do you buy online? Do you have your own little shop? How's it going?

Bye for now. X

Weekend end.

This weekend we walked through the top orchard and picked some apples and pears and quinces. We filled a crate but left most of them on the trees to ripen some more.

We hung upside down and sang songs that I used to sing when I was little. We drew with chalk and ate toasted sandwiches for lunch and we practised tricks on the trapeze.

We walked around the farm and were carried and we weeded the vegie garden. We painted a bit of the caravan and knitted a couple of rows. We've washed and labeled and packed Indi up for camp tomorrow.

We hung out at The Hepburn Folk Festival where Farmer Bren took some film and then later edited the footage into a little film. Its made him so happy working on that film and that's made me pretty happy too.

And I made another small dress. Ha! Did you think I was going to do an entire post without a dress?

The Blue Granny Pocket Dress.

Its in my shop if you were wondering.

Its got a granny pocket for treasure collecting.

All clothes must have pockets these days according to Miss Pepper.

And this one has long sleeves because although the days are bright and sunny, they can get chilly when the sun goes behind the clouds.

What have you been up to?

I hope this coming week is a fantabulous one for all of us!

I hope some really exciting things happen.

Bye for now. X

Snatching moments...

My creative space...

...snatching moments...at school pick up...during snack time at bush kinder...waiting for dancing to finish...when they are asleep...when I should be asleep...

...hooking squares...

...dreaming about colour and pattern combinations...

...over locking edges...

...finally finishing a little dress and popping it in my shop...

...only ten rows left of the main part of my cardi...then the sleeves...

Have a wonderful and creative Thursday...

Today so far...

Today I woke up wishing it were still the weekend, we were given lots of lovely cards about love from our girlies, I scrambled around for bits of underwear and uniform, I offended the eldest with a comment about her social life, I let the youngest wear shoes that are waaaaaaaay too big for her, I reminded the middle to remove her potions from the freezer to take to school,

I went for a walk with my boy, we did a pilates class and then met his parents for an early lunch in a court yard, I had a coffee and a lentil summer salad mmmm, I came home, I tidied up a bit and put some washing on, I read some emails, I gathered up the dress for a little girl to wear to a wedding and then I changed my mind and decided it wasn't quite right so I cut out some fabric and made another one, I sewed one of Wendy's divine little pockets on for treasure collecting,

I took a couple of photos of the dress and then came inside and decided I like the other one after all, I think I'll send her both and she can decide.

Soon the girls will be home, I'll bring the washing in and make lentil bolognese for dinner, then its craft night, a drink, a spot of knitting and a gossip and hopefully not too late a night.

Nice.

What are you up to?

I hope your Monday is a Funday. XX

Making.

Last night I cast off the Stripey Green Skirt test knit.

I am a slow knitter but this pattern used thick needles and chunky yarn and knitted up quite quickly, even for me.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love how different sequences of purl and knit make such great shapes. Pleats! How cool!

Now I'm just knitting the icord, (thanks youtube lady for the how to), that ties around the waist and holds it up. An icord is a pretty cool thing to know how to knit I think. All you need is some yarn and two double pointed sticks and you can create a cord. Knitting geek! Knitting geek!

When I'm done I'll get Miss Pepper to try it on for size. I'm thinking it'll look a bit cute with a white t'shirt and leggings.

This morning I hooked up a couple of grannies, lined them stitched them on, unstitched them, sewed them on straighter, for the dress for a little Busy girl to wear to a wedding. She's into pockets at the moment apparently. I wonder what treasures she'll put in them.

Actually now I'm seeing it from a bit of a distance, I think I might replace the green one with a cream one. Less in your face I think.

Actually, now I'm not even so sure about the grannies. I think they take over a bit. Hmmm.... better think about that one a bit more.

Today I received a package in the post FULL of gorgeous old patterns from a lovely lady called Glenda who reads my blog and thought I might like them. I do!

If I had time in an oppy to rummage through a pile of patterns, I would choose these ones to buy and to sew for my girls. I love them all. They are just my style.

Thank you so much Glenda!

And I've been baking meringues and making jam for a produce market this weekend. My house constantly feels sticky and smells like cooking fruit but my taste testers are happy.

So on with the week we go.

I hope its a happy and healthy and fun and creative one for us all.

Bye now. XX

A couple-a thank you's.

Thank you Lou Lou for the wonderful button/magnet/ring package you sent me. I love it all and so do my girls.

Thank you Abby for the Lunch Punch cutters. We just love punching our sandwiches, play dough, cookies and anything else that is flat and sitting on the kitchen bench for long enough.

Thank you Wendy for the most divine pin cushion I have ever seen. Love, love, love, love it. It is gorgeous and pretty but most of all it is huge enough not to get lost under the crap that resides on my sewing table. Thank you also for the pile of pretty pockets. I look forward to sewing them onto my everything but the thread creations and watching them work a bit of their Wendy magic. I am so thrilled to have a little bit of your gorgeous style in my house with me.

Thank you to Kate for the link to the Turkish bread recipe. I have one word for you, YUM!! Actually I have two more MAKE THIS!!

Thank you to Tamara for letting me use the little blurb on the top of my comment form.

And lastly but firstly and hugely, thank you to my wonderful Farmer Boy for taking these pics of my girlies and I on our way to the wedding on Sunday afternoon. They might not look like anything special to you but they are the only photos of all four of us wearing clothes that I sewed. Yep, I was pretty proud that day.

Actually I've got one more. Thank you dear reader for inspiring me, encouraging me, putting up with me, leaving comments for me, reading along with me and traveling along this wonderful and wild journey with me.

Have a fantabulous Tuesday. XX

Jazzy's Dortjes.

Last night I stayed up way too late sewing these Dortje pants.

Everyone was asleep and it was so quiet and after cutting them out last Thursday, I was itching to finish them already.

I did have one disaster when I tried to rip a seam apart (I've lost my quick-unpick), and ripped right up one whole leg front. But other than that it went pretty smoothly.

I'm loving sewing the patterns from Sewing Clothes Kids Love but I'm still irritated by the annoying tissue thin/enormous pattern pages.

I do love the little details on this pattern that look a bit fancy, like the fake fly and the pockets in the front you can fit your whole hand in.

At one stage right at the end, I held the newly sewn pants up against another pair of Jazzy's pants and they looked too wide. So I turned them back inside out and cut a few inches off the outside pant legs. I think they are possibly a bit narrow now but the girl lives in leggings and hates baggy jeans so I think they'll pass.

She tried them on this morning so I could test the length and waist measurements and now wont take them off for me to finish them so they must be ok.

Funny how things change so quickly sometimes. About a month ago I would have sworn that I was a pattern maker uperer and couldn't bear to make other people's patterns but now I can't seem to stop. And I'm learning so much along the way, so when I do get back to drafting my own patterns, I'll know so many more tricks.

I hope you are enjoying the weekend where ever you are, whatever you are doing. XX

Oh and one last thing, does anybody know what dortjes actually means?

My creative space.

In my creative space this week I am working on my name tag for the big swaperama. Once it is finished covering up my partner's name, I think the crocheted ric rac will go around the inside of the ruffle to cover the stitching.

We are painting eggs with the local school holiday program.

I have just cut out the pieces and started stitching together a pair of pants for Miss Jazzy. These two bits go from the waist (under the waist band), to just above the knee. The pink sheety bits peeking out are the pockets.

I am sewing grey borders onto my grannies.

I am considering this as the start of the back of the cushion. I am not convinced though.

And I am crocheting this fancy trim to be sewn on the pants above.

So what are you working on today?

Why don't you head on over to Kootoyoo and pop in your link.