Season's Greetings

Because I am not sure whether I will get the chance to blog again before the man in the red suit squeezes himself down our chimney (or strolls in the front door for those of you who have no chimney), I'd like to say;

Merry Christmas

From my family to yours.

Thanks to all who read my humble musings and leave a comment.

Keeping this record and reading your comments really inspires me to be more bold with my crafting and to try new things.

If you're a lurker, I hope that in 2009 you come out of hiding and introduce yourself - I'd love to get to know you.


Have a safe and happy festive season.
Best wishes

Karen

Crazy Christmas Crafting

If I got as much crafting done all year round as I do just before Christmas, I'd be able to generate enough stock for that much dreamed of market stall.

Though my lovely husband would probably leave me...

With three kids under three to care foron my own...

So then I'd get no crafting done at all...

I'll be finished with this madness soon... I promise!

That said I love every minute I spend at the sewing machine making presents and if I had the luxury of a full-time housekeeper/cook (or was happy to live in utter squalor), I'd sew the days away.

There are lots of pics to follow, so take a deep breath and dive on in!

First some stencilling

I'm loving doing these and have been learning lots of new things;

Like make sure you don't use the steam setting on your iron or the freezer paper won't stick and your image will bleed at the edges.

(aaah - thanks Hoppo Bumpo)

And the tip from Lisa to put a piece of cardboard between the layers to absorb the paint and then switch that for wax paper as it dries.

This is for my trumpet-playing 9 y.o nephew

These for my friend's 2 y.o son

and this for his 4 y.o sister

These are the Pink Fig tops I have been making, have I mentioned how much I love this pattern? Yeah I thought I had!

I made these two for friends and loved them so much I repeated the colour combos; for one for Misses L and G.

This is Miss A's - the yellow lover.

This was for a friend who saw the original one I made Miss L and loved it. No more of that fabric left unfortunately - but I will be trying to get somemore - maybe in the bluish colourway as well as I love it for this shirt.

Here's Miss G in her new shirt - and wearing jeans just like the big girls.

Thanks again Cass for the floral fabric in G's shirt, I love it It is some of what you sent me as part of the big Bulldogs vs Swans bet (just had to mention it one more time didn't I!).

And lastly another caped-T - in the reverse colour-combo to the first one.

OK - breathe out now, I'm done.
For the moment.

Totally Tote-able

More Chrissie presents, this time for my two nieces and nephew.

They spend a lot of time at the beach over summer so even if they have a beach towel I am sure a new one will come in handy.

These were made using the tote-able towel tutorial by Anna-Maria Horner.

It's a great pattern, quick and easy but I think, really useful.

The idea is that when unrolled the towel looks like a regular beach towel, but with a fabric panel and small strap at the top and a larger strap which is on the back of the towel.

Then you fold in the sides, fold up the bottom and roll it up.

Then slip the long strap through the short one and voila, you have a rolled towel that you can carry like a bag on your shoulder.

Ideal for ensuring the kids carry all their own stuff home from the beach.

With a slightly shorter strap it would work really well for my two as well.

(check out the hand on my model!!)

Might have to add that to the list - for post-Christmas perhaps!

I've alse been trying my hand at fabric painting.

Inspired by Lisa (who is a bit of a whiz at it and so enthusiastic that it makes you want to try), I went out and got myself some Reynolds freezer paper and some fabric paints.

This was my first attempt. I was pretty happy with it though I might use a small roller in future rather than a brush for a smoother and more even effect.

Guess what???

Someone has cut their first tooth.

And is feeling pretty pleased with herself about it.

I'm not.

She's tested it out on me a couple of times....

Hopefully just a phase.

The man in pink????

We're doing the rounds of Christmas parties at the moment and the fat guy in the red suit has made appearances at two in the last two days, much to the two big girls' delight.

(though sitting on his knee is a serious business!)

But before we get to that, let me tell you about the big 'Santa Suit Saga' that started on Thursday.

I made a Santa suit about nine years ago.

My husband insisted it be the real deal - lush red velvet and white faux fur trim, despite the heat of an Aussie summer.

And no cheap and straggly beard for him, no sir. A genuine theatrical wig and full beard - again not great for the heat but very nice to look at.

For the first seven years it was only my man who wore the suit as we had no kids so he was happy to dress up and and play the role for other family members.

Since the red coat has now been handed on to others, it was decided the suit (which was only ever worn about twice each year for about 30 minutes each time), was in need of a scrub up.

So I washed it.

And all the lovely fur trimmings turned PINK!

Yep, I looked in the machine on gentle cycle to see pink suds. I cried a little, then headed to Spotlight for more white fur and got out my trusty unpicker and started the task at hand.

It had to be ready for a Christmas party Saturday lunch.

It could only be worked on when the girls were napping or in bed for the night. (Mummy why do you have Santa's suit???)

There was fur on pants cuffs, hat edge, hat pom pom, coat centre, neck and bottom edge as well as sleeve cuffs.

I also had three tops to finish for our girls to wear.

There was swearing.

There was much appreciated assistance from the man of the house.
There was a little blood (damned sharp things those unpickers!)

There were two very late nights in a row.

But it got done.

And it looked great.

And the wonder in my girls' eyes when Santa arrived at the parties ringing his bell made it all worth it, every sleepless minute.

He really is a super boy!

There are often great dress-up clothes available for girls in the form of fairy wings or tutu's that can safely and comfortably be worn in day-to-day life.

But what about for boys?

I came up with the idea of a super-hero cape that attaches to a T-shirt so it can be removed when the shirt needs to be washed. I figured the shirt will probably need to be washed about 50 times, to the cape's one!

I planned to have the cape overlap to the front of the shirt so you would see the blue stars coming over the shoulder. Then I realised it wouldn't be a good idea to have the studs in the middle of the fabric, but would better be placed on a seam to take some of the strain.

Now this many not be an original idea - you may comment and say you've seen it somewhere else, but I can honestly say that I never have. It just seemed like a good thing to make to me.

The little guy I made it for really is a super little fella, and given that he spent the afternoon running up and down the hall (so much that his mum joked that evening I owe her for new floorboards!) and flipping the ends of the cape up with his hands, I think he really likes it.

And he certainly looks super-cute in it!

PS - Laura your comment in the last post was right!!

How many days????

It's the time of year when everyone is on the go, and whenever I hear how many days it is til Christmas I have a little freak-out!

16 days to go - Aaaahhhhh!

In more pressing matters, I need to turn these three into finished tops like these ones ready to be given to friends tomorrow morning.

... then I need to get the hammer out and finish this item.

Once that's done I can move on to turning this fabric and pattern into a hat, for another Christmas gift!

The carol should be 'tis the season to be busy!

We have a winner!!

Wasn't that fun - the whole Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway day seems to hae been a huge success.

I found lots of new blogs to look at, some great tutorials to try and even won something pretty for myself from the Ellieboo. Yep - that lovely necklace is coming to live with me!! Hooray!

I was also pretty stunned, amazed, gob-smacked and I must say chuffed to find 274 comments from people all around the globe wanting to win my little skirt and top set. Wow.

Well, I won't keep you in suspense any longer.
The winner is.......


Sylvia who was comment 274.
(I did get the number from a random generator but forgot to save the screen details... ooops! But trust me, it was random!)

Unfortunately Sylvia doesn't have a blog but I'm sure she'd like to thank her sister, Ellie, for suggesting she check out the giveaway's.

Incidentally if you're reading this before midnight Sunday (Aus time), Ellie has a giveaway for some gorgeous stuff that's still open, so pop on over and enter.

Until next time, it's been lovely having you all visit and I hope you come back again soon.

Mushroom magic

It's here!!!

The Sew, Mama, Sew big give-away day!

It seems a few people liked the little adjustable waisted demin skirt I made here so I decided to make another one to give away.

As you can see this one features a linen-look panel of mushrooms along with the stretch denim.

It has a flat front, and adjustable elastic rear waist.
Keep it for your own child or pass it on as a Christmas gift.

It's a size 5 by the pattern, designed to fit a child with these measurements:

Height: 112cm or 44 inches

Waist: 56cm or 22 inches

I have to say I have found it to be a slightly small fit compared to standard Aussie sizes, it perfectly fit my friend's four-year-old who is of average height if that helps.

It comes with a simple yellow appliqued T with a mushroom panel, also in size 5. This is a cotton/elastane shirt so has plenty of stretch.

The weight of the skirt is such that it works for summer for those 'down under' or if you are in the northern hemisphere and it's not freezing - team it with some tights.

I'm happy to send this outfit anywhere in the world and all you have to do is leave me a comment and if you have one, include your favourite online tutorial or free pattern for everyone to enjoy.

I'll choose the winner randomly, all comments count regardless of whether you have a tutorial to share or not, so come on, be in it!

DEADLINE EXTENDED!!

Because of the huge list of blogs on Sew, Mama, Sew for people to get through I'm keeping this giveaway open for an extra couple of days.

So comment to your heart's content!

Now closing when the clocks here in Melbourne reach midnight on Saturday 6th of December, (Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time) and post the winner on Sunday 7th December.

Thanks to Sew, Mama, Sew for hosting the giveaway day.

Check out this list to see all the other goodies up for grabs.

Good luck everyone.