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

Mental list.

A while back Miss Indi declared that when the count down til the caravan adventure hit 30 days, then it was real and we could start getting excited.

This morning we hit the first day of winter, one of the hardest frosts I have ever seen, the first time all three of my children slept in until 8am...and 30 days until our departure date!

Along with all the squealing and high-fiving going on this morning, I felt a bit of panic in my stomach. My goodness have I got a lot to do in a very short amount of time.

So I thought a to-do list. I know most organised people write lists, but I am not one of them so I didn't.

The first thing on that list is to finish all my crafty commitments, starting with The Hottie Challenge.

Details for the enormous crocheted flower raveled here. I made the actual hottie out of an old grey blanket and bound it in black. For future reference, perhaps I should have considered binding it all together before sewing on the chunky, impossible to get through the sewing machine, flower. Just a thought.

This hottie will be winging it's way to Ms Curly Pops this afternoon and from there to the Open Drawer people where it will be exhibited between July 1st and July 24th and then hopefully sold to raise some bucks for research for heart and lung transplants.

Ok, next on the list is my brooch swap brooch.

I have no idea where to start.

Is it weird that something is making me sift through lots of washers and fittings in Farmer Bren's shed in hope of inspiration?

So that's me for this afternoon. One challenge done, one swap, one test knit and one crochet test to go and then the serious business.

Whatever you do do not let me partake in any more swaps or pattern tests or any other bloggy fun until I have ticked off if not completed my mental caravan list (pun intended).

I hope this afternoon finds you organised and inspired.

Bye now. x

Making me smile...

...a new haircut, a pile of old table cloths and a bag of bias binding scraps from the church fete, sunshine, love, giving somebody exactly what they have been looking for for ages...

...the most wonderful cushion as a surprise in the mail, (thank you so much Jenni, you have no idea how in love with her I am!) time to sew, the thought of how happy Indi will be when I tell her I've remembered to book her a haircut for this afternoon...

...three skeins of wool that Bren's parents bought me from a market just because, the sale of one of our Maremma puppies to a twelve year old boy setting up his own egg business, bargaining Indi down from seven girls to sleep over to three girls to sleep over...

...my Farmer Boy cutting a bucket full of my favourite food from just outside the front door, rocket and feta salad for lunch, a new crochet pattern to test...

...a new dress for my shop, finding out that every other child is allowed does not actually mean every other child is allowed, bumping into and chatting with lots of lovely girlies on a Friday morning, an email about a surprise pregnancy...

...other people knowing me so well and cutting the lace off their Mum's doona before chucking it out (thanks Rifka), long weekends, listening to the farmer boys chatting over their lunch in the other room, Miss Pepper promising me that she will never grow up and become a pre-teen...

...buzzy bees in the ballerina trees, our town being filled with rainbows for this weekend's ChillOut festival, lovely emails, Jazzy's new friend coming for a sleep over...

I hope your weekend brings with it so many things to smile about.

Love Kate XX

The Fancy Flower Dress.

Good morning!

What's going on in your world today?

Its been pretty warm for the past few days so the boys have been starting work at 8am. We've been taking them morning tea after the school drop off and they are dusty and hot after slashing and ploughing and mowing for a few hours.

There's only a few weeks left of school for the year but my girls have been spending many days at home. They are tired and need some time out and me and Pepper are glad for the company. It also means I can get a bit of sewing done and I have a bigger sized model on hand. Its win win really.

This is The Fancy Flower Dress.

I think Cath sent me that embroidered bit of flower a while back and its been sitting above my sewing machine begging to be sewn onto something. Not just anything mind you. It had to stand out and be made a fuss of. Featured. Framed. Now it is.

Its in my shop.

I'm off to make cupcakes with the girlies.

I hope your day is ace!

My creative space.

In my creative space today I am binding,

overlocking and gathering,

crocheting a trim,

and putting together surprising colour combinations.

I cannot believe that I am considering sewing with this orange trimmed table cloth but somehow this combination looks summery and fun to me today despite my dislike of the colour.

Oh, and I'm also still hooking away at my Softie for Mirabel, knitting my Tea Leaves cardi and my test for Tikki but I haven't got any recent photos of these. I also have a whole pile of projects that will realistically never be finished so I'm not even going there.

I know I should probably stop starting new projects until I finish some of these but that wouldn't be fun now would it?

Over to Kirsty's for some more creativity.

Happy Thursday y'all. XX

The patchwork dress.

I guess I've had the idea of making a quilt kicking around in the back of my head for a while now. I've got lots of bits of gorgeous vintage sheet fabric and more than enough inspiring bloggy photos. So yesterday afternoon, when I had a few hours to sew I thought it was time to get started.

I ripped (sorry) up lots of 2.5 inch strips, over locked the sides and then spent AGES sewing them back together again.

Oh my goodness you quilters are a patient lot.

At this stage it was time to pick up the girls, do dinner and bath time and bed.

This morning I looked at it and knew that it was meant to be a dress. A mixy-matchy, patchwork dress. The quilt would have to wait.

I think it is about a size 5/6.

I was planning on selling it in my online store/market stall but to be honest, the skirt took HOURS and I have no idea how much I would charge.

And oops, I sewed the Everything But The Thread bit upside down.

Thanks to Candace for the vintage bits of fabric.

Thanks to Fii for the zip.

Thanks to Gina for the doily.

Thanks to Lizzie's Mum for the pink bit of fabric.

Thanks to the op shop fairies for the bias binding and the little girl pillow case.

Oh and if by chance you wanted to have a go at my crochet ric-rac tutorial but only speak French, you'll be happy to know that Christine has translated it. Click over here for French ric-rac.

Have a happy weekend y'all. XX

My creative space.

Its cold and wet and windy in my creative space this morning. I have been wandering around the farm, trying to be creative with my photo taking and have had to rescue my dress from the bushes where its been blown away on more than one occasion.

Eventually I took the pics in the hot house next to the house which is a bit protected from the elements and the light is brighter than inside the house.

I am soooooooooooo over winter this year.

There have been some gorgeous interpretations of bunting used around blogland in the last few weeks here and here and here and here and here and here and I have been oh so inspired and decided to join in the party.

Introducing the bunting dress, which Indi insists on calling the red team dress. She has even asked me to make her one for sports day.

Its still got a bit of work left to do on it but it makes me feel happy and festive and that's what counts on a cold grey day like today.

I'm also knit, knit, knitting away on a cotton version of the Eden dress. This one is coming together so quickly as the cotton slips right off the ends of the needles but now that I am up to the straight knitting round and round bit it isn't all that exciting. I do have plans for a bit of fun on the hem if I can work out how to do what I want to do.

And finally, last night I cast on Tikki's scarfette.

If you look very carefully, down the center you'll see a cable. Yep, I can knit cables now. In fact I love the cable, even though I have no idea how slipping two stitches off and knitting them afterwards creates that twist. I am so obsessed with the cable that I'm thinking I might have to knit one of those fisherman's jumpers. Actually considering the weather we've been having, a fisherman's jumper and an ark might just be what we need.

Off to put another log in the fire and click on over to Kirsty's.

Have a Thursday day y'all.

Ella's skipping dress.

Not so long ago I wrote here about my passion for sewing. About how sewing just one seam can help make my world make a bit more sense.

But then just under a month ago two things happened:

1. I discovered and fell in love with knitting.
2. A little symbol came up on the screen of my sewing machine telling me that it needed to be serviced.

So I turned it off and walked away and knitted and didn't deal with the fact that I really had to book Nina Bernina in for a service.

The funny thing is that I didn't want to take her in for a service in the first place, because I couldn't bear to be without her for as long as it took. In actual fact it has been so much longer.

Today when I couldn't put it off any longer, I switched her on and the symbol was gone. I felt so grateful to her that she was letting me sew, that I promised to take her in for a service this week. And I will.

This skipping dress is made for a princess that lives in a patchworky castle. Check out what Andi made my Jazzy for her birthday as a swap. Isn't it the best!

This dress was made from bits of cord and vintage sheets from my stash, an op shopped zipper and bias binding and a crocheted by me motif and ric-rac. This time I stitched the Everything but the thread bit straight onto the binding.

Now I just hope it is pink enough for the princess.

Ok, now the sewing is done I can do a few rows/rounds of this before school pick up.

I hope your Monday is a funday. XX

Busy's skipping dress.

This is dress number three in my Everything But The Thread range.

This dress is heading up to Northern New South Wales to live with a gorgeous princess and for lots and lots of skipping and dancing and spinning.

Its made from op shopped pink and blue denim, four vintage sheets, op shopped binding and zipper and a heart doily crocheted by me.

It is a bit small on my Jazzy so hopefully it fits the little princess perfectly.

The problem now is getting it off my Jazzy and into the post. She loves it. She says its the most perfect twirly, spinney dress she's ever worn.

While we were away at the beach we celebrated a belated Mothers' Day. The girls had packed me an outfit to wear for the festivities that included my green dance party tutu. Let me tell you I had lots of fun twirling and spinning and dancing that morning. I totally get the little girl fascination with the skipping dress.

Have fun and maybe a bit of dancing and twirling out there. X

The Flutterby Skipping Dress.

This is dress number two in my Everything But The Thread range.

I started this dress a few days ago. It started out as an a-line dress made from the tablecloth fabric at the bottom.

As is usually the case with me, I made some of it, got interrupted and then hung it on a hanger on a hook in the kitchen so I could look at it as I went about the rest of my day.

The more I looked at it the more I didn't think it worked.

So the next chance I got, I cut it up and made it into a completely different dress. A three tiered Skipping Dress.

One of the first skirts I ever made for Indi when she was about four, was a three tiered skirt and she called it her Skipping Skirt. From then on, all tiered skirts/dresses have been called Skipping Skirts/Dresses in our house.

This dress has op shopped denim, sheet, table cloth, lace, bias binding and a zipper. The corduroy is from my scraps drawer. I think it is a size 5/6.

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday. Its the first one we've had off in six months (apart from the farm chores that still need doing). I'm about to make some toasted sandwiches for lunch and then head into town for Indi's singing concert.

Have fun out there. X