Sweet Dreams

A not so sneaky look at what I was up to last week.

I was testing Toni's latest pattern - the Sweet Dreams cosmetics purse and ladies PJ pants.

I treated myself to some lovely Anna Maria Horner Little Folks Flannel to make up the pants and I can't rave enough about how soft the flannel is and how comfortable they are to wear.

As is the way with Toni's patterns, it came together really quickly and easily, so much so that I think these may be on the Christmas list for a few friends and family members.

The cosmetics purse is a great size, quite large - will certainly fit lots more than just your toothbrush for an overnight trip!

It has lovely pleated details that are well-explained in the instructions so if you've never sewn them before don't be put off, it's easy - I promise!

Pop over to Toni's blog to win yourself a copy of the pattern or find out where to get it, and make a little something just for you.

Wordless Weekend

It's been a while since I joined in....

I say, I hear...

It's been a while since I posted any "I hear, I say" items, so in case you've forgotten or not seenit before, they are the, often bizarre, things I hear my children or myself say in the course of a regular day.

Here are a few gems of late...

Miss A after cleaning her teeth -
"Mummy, can you hear the smell of my teeth?".
uuummmmm??

Miss A - talking about why Henry the Octopus would be great at helping Santa deliver presents...
"He'd be very good at it Mummy because he has eight testicles."

Not so sure that would help him with the presents...
(but given this statement aren't you glad I chose to go with a pic related to the first quote).

Miss L giving me a lesson on how to make a plasticene plane.
Miss L - "Then you put a bit on the front to be the wokka."
Me - "What's a wokka honey?"
Miss L - "You know the thing that goes wokka, wokka, wokka." Said as she spins her hand around in a circle.
Me - "Oh you mean the propellor!"
Miss L (looking at me as though I am possibly the most stupid person on earth) - "Yeah".

And one from a while ago in a discussion with Miss L where we were trying to remember the names of the seven dwarfs...
"and then there's saddish Mum"
Me - "I think you mean Grumpy honey..."

Sneaky peeks

All will be revealed in the next few days I am sure...
But here's a little hint - not for the kids!! For me!!

Ringo rocks

Well I finished the Feliz dress in the last post and it came up really well, but umm... well... I forgot to take a photo of it before I handed it over to its new owner!

It was for a friend of mine so I am sure I will get one soon that I can share with you.

I will say again - ruffler foot!! Get one!!
The hem frill is 4 metres of fabric gathered to 2 metres and it WAS A BREEZE!

So on to pants for the brother of the little girl who got the dress.
His mum had selected this cute "bears at the carnival" fabric and a pattern from Ottobre 1/2008 - the Ringo pants (design 23).

These have lovely detail at the top including little faux pocket flaps and a side zip. They were meant to have velcro on the waistband tab but I substituted a snap for this - because I can!

The waistband, while not perfectly aligned, is more even that it appears to be in this pic - not sure what happened there!

He's a little guy so a slim-fit pant fits better on him, which is what these are.

The little recipient was not as happy with these as his sister (and Mum) were with the dress.

I also have dinosaur fabric to make him another pair of pants and given his only comment when I asked him to try these ones on to get the hems right was "but they're not dinosaurs!", I think he will love the next pants more!

My Creative Space

There's another party dress on the machine over here, for the daughter of a friend.

I've had the pattern for a little while but it's also in the Sewing Clothes Kids Love book - the Feliz dress.

She got the fabulous Kokka Snow White fabric at one of Amitie's sales a while back and we teamed it with the Michael Miller Ta Dot in teal - a perfect match.

There's also something 'frilling' going on.

I finally had a chance to use this fearsome looking attachment - the ruffler foot and boy am I impressed.

Mine is a snap on foot so was super-easy to attach and then after a couple of little practices away we went.

It makes lovely even gathers in a fraction of the time it takes to hand-draw them up.

It will definitely get lots more use in this dress-obsessed house.

Check out what other crafty peeps are up to today over with Kirsty, the queen of creative.

My Creative Space

Despite
fears and insecurities about all crafty pursuits that are 'long fibre' related..

With...
the assistance of the video tute by Kirsty,
the excellent written instructions by Lara,
some YouTube reminders
and the sage words of my friend 'blogless Judy' (two chain in the corners, one chain along the sides) aaahhh now it makes sense .....

....it would seem that I am doing it!

Now just to Google 'how to join on the next ball of wool when crocheting' and we'll be off again...

Background fabric is from Kitty Yoshido's Brooklyn Heights range - for a future project, for me.

For a range of ideas on great ways to keep warm in winter take a trip to Kirsty's place.

Eight things...

When I read Kate's 'eight answers' I thought I would join in and play along.
I like to learn more about the people whose blogs I read and I haven't done anything like this in ages, so thought it might be fun.

So here goes nothing...

Favourite meal?

That's a hard one - I can't think of any one dish that I would choose as my 'death row' meal.

I love Thai and Indian food, the flavours and smells created by the spices contained in these styles of cooking make me very happy.

Truth be told, I have to say that at the moment any meal that I don't cook and that I am able to eat hot and uninterrupted would be my favourite!

Do you have a quirky eccentricity?

Yep, lots of 'em!

I can't choose the seats in the cinema - whoever I am there with has to choose, it renders me immobile even having to consider making a selection.

I have a weird thing where I try to make up mathematical equations in my head from the three numbers on a numberplate when I am stuck behind another car in traffic.

I know, it's seriously odd.

I feel great joy when I find a typographical error in a newspaper or a book, it makes me feel as though I am justified in making them if major papers and books read and re-read many times have them. (So if you find any in this post, that's my excuse!).

I don't like cooked fruit in savoury dishes. No Apricot chicken, hawaiian pizza or sweet and sour with sultana's in it for me (YUK!!).

I'll stop now or you might never come back!

My middle name is

Elizabeth, very hard to learn to spell when you are small.

More interesting than my middle name is the fact that my initials spell the suburb where my husband grew up and went to school and where we first lived when we were married.

I sometimes wonder how much this had to do with him marrying me...

I am passionate about

Parenting and community.

I want to be the best parent I can. I know I do a lot of things wrong, and will continue to do so, but I do strive to do things better each day and to not repeatedly make the same mistakes.

I get annoyed by people who wait many years, or try for many years to have a family and then can't wait to shove them into childcare for vast amounts of time or ship them off to kinder/school as quickly as possible.

(sorry if that offends - it's just my opinion!).

I think every kid deserves to have people around them who love, support and care for them - and it makes me so sad to think of the number out there who don't have a loving and caring home environment.

When it comes to community, I think it's the country girl in me that makes me want to know my neighbours, to help them where I can, to get to know them as is appropriate.

I think everyone should be involved in their local community in some way, be it through volunteering to help with meals on wheels, being on school/kinder committees or joining a service organisation.

There's lots we can all do and if everyone did a little it would mean that others don't have to do a lot.

I know time is a valuable resource but I think dedicating some of it to others is invaluable.

(No that's not the twins in there, rather this pic was taken a few days before my petite 4.706kg third daughter arrived!)

Thongs or Birkenstocks?
Birkenstocks definitely.

I have two pair for summer, red ones and black ones and then I have a fabulous pair of Birky Dorians, and would quite like to add this ladybird pair to the collection too!

They were the best thing ever for my "7mths-pregnant-with-twins-in-a-4o-degree-plus-summer" super-swollen feet!

And I have loved them ever since.

Who was I before I had kids?

Someone with lots more disposable time and income!

I was a features editor, an aerobics instructor, a training coach, a much better basketball player, someone who was always up for a movie, the theatre or dinner at the drop of a hat, a convertible driver, someone who read avidly, possibly a more reliable friend and a very involved aunt.

Toward the end of my time as a person with no kids I was also a very envious non-parent of those who were parents.

I'm more than happy to have less of the above things for what I have in return.

Have I ever been arrested?

I feel very dull when I say no, not even an overnight stay in the lock-up for me!

This weekend I will...

Be visiting my in-laws on the south-west coast of Victoria where we will be walking along the beach and through the bush lots, I will be being treated to a morning of great indulgence here a gift from my 'significant' birthday in February, I will be playing lots of games and reading lots of stories and probably braiding hair a lot too.

I will get time to read and to work on my Granny Shrug and hopefully trace and cut a few patterns.

It should be great.

Now you know more about me than when you started, maybe more than you wanted to know!

Feel free to join in and add your name to the list on Kate's blog (it's at the bottom of the eight answers post), so we can all get to know you better.