And the winners are...

Thanks for all your lovely comments and great to see a fellow twin-mum delurking too, I get glimpses of my future when I read your blog Kelly!

Misses A and L each drew out a name and my lovely husband picked one too and the three 'Pay it Forward' winners are:

As I mentioned it won't be in the next few weeks that I send your little gifts but I am aiming for them to arrive before the man in red comes down the chimney.

Have a great day and don't forget to check out Cass's blog for her Pay it Forward people.

Fabric favourites

Nearly there on the summer/spring outfits for the girls - but at least I have these ones finished!



I went for capri-style pants with a little slit at the base of each leg to make them more summery and of course my old favourite - the cross-back top.

I really like the buttons on this one too...


Last chance to be in the running for this (scroll down). Don't miss out, it doesn't take much to enter, just leave a comment.

Did someone say applique?

The machine has been humming here!

I'm really getting stuck into the girls summer clothing and decided to have an applique day.

Here are the results:

Cotton pants shown previously, with matching tops

Tops with pink spotted shorts and green spotted fabric destined to become more shorts;

And the last two tops:

As part of the process of being tagged I came across the "Pay it Forward" exchange on Summer Pickles' blog, she in turn saw it on Kwoozy . Here's how it works...

I will send a handmade gift to 3 random people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week… LOL… but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

I think it sounds like a great idea to share the crafty love, so have decided to do the same.

I'm not sure yet what I will make so if you're a lurker coming out (and I'd love you to!), make sure you include a link to your blog or some details about yourself.

It will probably be kids clothing, a pincushion or a softie I think as that's about all I do! Anyway we can clear that up once the selections have been made.

Any comment on any post between now and Friday 28th September will be in the running.

So hop to it!

Tag time

Last week I was tagged, for the very first time, by the lovely Cintia over at My Poppet (check out the gorgeous things at her store if you haven't already).

I've got a spare few minutes while the lovely ladies are napping to finally respond.
So here are the rules;

A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.
B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog...

So here are some wierd and wonderful facts about me, I hope at the end of this you don't think me too strange!

When I married my husband he'd lived and been schooled for most of his life in the one suburb. After being married my initials spelled that suburb, prompting me to claim that was why he chose to marry me! (he of course denies this as all good husband's would!)

I can't stand moths, they scare me. A large moth flapping around a light and occasionally diving down near my head makes me jump around like a deranged lunatic.

As a chid I always said "when I grow up I'm going to have twin girls", and 18 months ago I did! (I also claimed I would marry a prince or a millionaire but that one didn't quite pan out!)

My husband claims I am borderline obsessive-compulsive as some things almost tip me over the edge. For example, if the wipers are in the 'up' position on the windscreen when I turn off the ignition I HAVE to turn it back on and put them down; I have a certain way I fold towels and arrange them in the linen cupboard; I have a compulsion for things to match or coordinate as you'll have noticed by my fabric selections.

This one is really freaky;
My husband's grandfather taught my grandmother! I grew up in the country, he in the city, we met when I was 18 and after my grandmother died we found a photo of her as a student in a South Gippsland high school and on examining it found my husband's grandfather was in the same pic sitting just a few people away from her!! Is that fate or what!

I love stationery. This includes all paper items such as books, magazines and newspapers. Officeworks is one of my favourite places to visit, all the lovely post-it notes...

Despite my love of sewing I have not sewed anything for myself since I was a teenager. There was no big disaster that caused me to stop, just a bit of a loss of confidence really. One day I will get the courage up to try again.

I find it impossible to choose a seat at the cinema or in a restaurant and despite the fact that I am normally a pretty decisive person always leave this to someone else.

OK so there you go - I've done it.

And now I'd like to tag some ladies who, like me, are relatively new to the world of blogging, and a couple who are not so new. Go on girls, give it a go:

Kerri
Heids
Sahra
Belinda
Jen
Suz
Juni
Ali

One down, 15 to go

Here's the first item made from the VW Vans fabric, and there's plenty left for another top and possibly some shorts too.

I've got some Enid Gilchrist pattern books on their way to me and might try one of her tops with the remainder.

I'm pretty happy with the way this little one came out. It perhaps looks a more squat than I expected and so as I haven't had the chance to try it on either of the girls yet, I'm hoping it's OK for length.

I'm making some bright pink with white spot shorts to go with it. Once the weather is better I'll see if I can get an 'action' shot!

Oh yeah, the 15 to go refers to the number of items I still have to make to complete the summer clothing list I made for the girls.
Wish me luck!!

Vans, bikes and look-alikes

Well after a busy weekend spent chasing chickens and playing on the pier with some lovely members of our family who live bayside (you know who you are!) we're back home and ready to tackle the remainder of the week.

I got a very exciting parcel the other day, my very first OS fabric order from here. This little package of loveliness was all bundled up like this, just waiting to be pulled apart by my very eager fingers!!

It included Dream Bikes and VW Vans from the Heather Ross Lightening Bugs range, which are destined to become shorts, summer pants and little tops for the girls, with any left over scraps to be used for appliques on matching T's and singlets.

These lovely fabrics from the Denyse Schmidt range called Katie Jump Rope, will become a twirly skirt for a Christmas gift so no telling who for;

And these two lovely Joel Dewberry fabrics, from his Aviary range, will be made into skirts for our own two little lovelies.

I've also got a few things finished, one of which was this little top.

It's a variation of this one, made from an Ottobre pattern.

On the advice of my two very fashion conscious nieces I made it longer and will have the girls wear it with a little pair of red leggings that I am yet to make.

When my Mum was here playing nurse she said she really saw a strong resemblance between Miss L and me and the next time she came over she brought this photo with her...

Everyone is a bit surprised at how much alike we are, even though that photo of Miss L perhaps doesn't show it as strongly as IRL.

Lastly, I have been tagged by the lovely Cintia at My Poppet so stay tuned for my responses, and to tag a couple of you of course.

Bad habits

Do you ever wonder if you talk on the phone too much...

I'm sure my lovely husband would say I do, and it seems Miss A wants to spread that story as well, if only she could get a dial tone on the hose so she can call and tell Pa.

Oh and by the way, I do dress my children in outfits other than these tops, these were taken the same day as the pic in my last post!!

Oops, how embarrassing...

Just wanted to say thanks to all for the wishes for a speedy recovery after my unfortunate basketball injury last week - oh well these things happen, and fairly frequently to me!!

I am hobbling around off the crutches, and can move my foot enough to work the pedal on my sewing machine, Yay!!

However, before the ankle accident you might recall I couldn't get the foot on my machine to work. It happened after I finished the smock top for Miss A so as mentioned I pulled out my old machine to sew the top for Miss L.

Well, my mum very kindly carried the machine in to the repair shop when she was here looking after us all (thanks Mum :-), and the man tried it out and it wouldn't work, phew, but then.... he pushed the automatic button-hole lever all the way up and voila, away it went.

As you can imagine I left the shop a serious shade of red... he said he wished all his repairs were that easy.

So I am back up and running, if not not in the literal sense.

Lastly, not a great shot but here are the girls playing on the trampoline we were never going to have, that we picked up at a garage sale last weekend...

PS - Happy Fathers Day Davey xx