tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8859423158615967372024-02-22T18:27:37.074+11:00And so, I sewTrace, Cut, Sew, Repeat (as often as possible!!)
A life of sewing for three young girls means lots of frills, ruffles and high twirlability factor!
Join me as I chronicle the adventures of my sewing and life in general, with the occasional motherhood-rant along the way.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.comBlogger611125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-73243032380107687532014-09-24T15:00:00.001+10:002014-09-28T13:03:12.633+10:00Splash!Coles Creation bathers, pair number two.
This pattern is a definite winner.
These were made to compensate for the fact that the last pair didn't fit her and so went to her sister...
She's very happy with my colour combo of dots and bright pink, and I have to say I am too!
&Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-68824700238802658602014-09-23T16:30:00.001+10:002014-09-23T16:33:37.263+10:00Holiday readingI love the luxury of being able to sit and read an entire book in a short period of time, as in days rather than over weeks, and this book really kept me turning the pages. It's set largely in Germany and then London pre-World War II and tells the story of cousins who are part of the resistance movement that existed in Germany and then later in exile and all they tried to do to warn the Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-15336017745528943262014-09-14T16:57:00.000+10:002014-09-15T11:55:53.768+10:00A Cole's creation Swimsuit number two.
This pattern is the 'Cole's Corner and Creations Patterns' One 4 All Stylish Swimsuit, and there are several different variation for this one piece swimsuit.
The combinations that you can make are many and there's something to suit all tastes.
This was meant to be for Miss A - and despite measuring her and then also adding 1.5 inches to the middle band (the Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-26854070165102935772014-09-12T14:18:00.000+10:002014-09-15T11:56:21.530+10:00Calling Summer!It's been a long cold winter here in Melbourne and as we are very close to the end of the school term I just can't wait for the warmer weather and the school holidays, HOORAY!!!
My children are part fish (or mermaid they would say!) and with school swimming lessons coming up in term four and school holiday intensives as well, there will be lots of swimming in our future.
As always, the bathers Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-57550317127470835592014-09-05T19:12:00.002+10:002014-09-12T13:52:51.645+10:00A magnificent villainLet me clarify that title - I am not saying I am a magnificent villain - but rather that Malificent, the wicked fairy from Sleeping Beauty is a particularly magnificent villain.
So when the school trivia night was on earlier this year with the theme of 'Heroes and Villains' I chose to go as a villain.
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you'll know that this all took place a while ago - Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-50234493414575411732014-08-30T23:38:00.001+10:002014-08-31T17:51:55.045+10:00Filling the voidHello!!
Yeah, it's been a while...
This year has taken us by storm. Lots of things new and, mostly exciting, things have happened.
It took me a while to get into the swing of being a stay-at-home parent with no kids at home during the day.
Someone turned six!
Once I got used to that I found my feet and a number of job opportunities each as diverse as the next have, serendipitously, come Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-90670224836253722012014-02-11T20:33:00.000+11:002014-02-11T23:04:35.746+11:00Keeping it clean
Clean, neat and tidy for art at school of course - what did you think I meant??
The smallest needed an art smock for school so I let her loose in the stash and didn't even baulk when her love of all things green lead her to some of my Sandi Henderson stash.
Long enough to cover her dress so there should be no accidental spillages.
I used the ever-reliable Oliver+s smock pattern - from Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-69544983471281333792014-02-04T21:28:00.002+11:002014-02-04T21:28:53.654+11:00See how they grow...
It's that time of the year again, school's back!!
This year our littlest has donned a uniform and headed off to join her big sisters and she couldn't have been more delighted about it all.
Having all three children in one place - one drop-off and pick-up point will make life much easier for me, also the fact that there is now one fair, one concert, one art show, less committee Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-43222618904712475032014-01-29T01:57:00.000+11:002014-01-29T09:00:38.487+11:00The 52 Project
'A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014'
There's a little bit of mischief in this one...
I started this project last year with great intentions - but I found that I didn't want to 'force' the portraits of the girls and that at times that is what I would have had to do to get a portrait of them every week.
Waiting for the waves to come into the sandcastle...
That Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-66502972471393204222014-01-24T09:00:00.000+11:002014-01-24T20:35:07.306+11:00Developing skills
This year is a year of big change for me.
The smallest kid will be heading off to school soon and there is much I want to achieve this year; some goals family-related, some personal and some business/career related.
One of the personal things I want to do is develop my photography skills, learning to use my camera in a more manual way to achieve better results.
Very nicely, and without Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-628138352951229032014-01-21T23:53:00.004+11:002014-01-23T01:24:04.645+11:00First book of the yearEvery year I get at least one book for Christmas and as I no longer buy as many books as I used to, this always feels like a bit of a treat for me.
This year much to my delight, I was given, Tim Winton's latest - Eyrie.
Tim Winton tends to polarise readers across the country,
There are those who can't fathom why he is revered as one of the country's greatest writers and thereKarenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-9491462952746699292014-01-18T20:22:00.000+11:002014-01-18T20:22:06.449+11:00Feathered friends
School holidays provide the opportunity to slow down and do things that you might not otherwise get to do.
For me that means having time to do some sewing with the girls.
We started these sweet toys earlier in the week - on the first of five days where the temperature peaked at around 44 degrees celcius (around 110 farenheit!).
It seemed like a good activity for indoors, in the Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-21138224482114032452014-01-11T13:03:00.000+11:002014-01-11T13:03:15.261+11:00A Christmas NegroniMy Father-in-law is perhaps the easiest person in the world to buy for.
He has a very quirky sense of humour, enjoys a good joke gift and is also quite widely read and interested in many different topics.
Being an artist he is also very attuned to hand-crafted items and loves to receive something made just for him.
See the water over his left shoulder, nice view for breakfast each morning!
InKarenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-84012892980452873962014-01-09T09:00:00.000+11:002014-01-23T01:40:40.927+11:00Floral Tulips
Our girls have always been very 'girly' girls - loving wearing dresses and skirts, with frills and flounces in abundance.
Lately though the focus has switched a little and now there is a desire for more shorts in their summer wardrobe, so I hunted around and found a cute pattern on Etsy.
This is the Tulip Short by Cali Faye Collection.
It's a very sweet little shortKarenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-66110754775590668472014-01-07T09:00:00.000+11:002014-01-07T09:00:02.842+11:00So, what have I been doing??
Days for Girls kits provide vital sanitary supplies for girls in developing countries
Despite the lack of blogging there has certainly not been a lack of sewing here - just that I either forgot to photograph it or didn't think it was interesting enough!!
I made a bunch of things for the kinder fete, then the school fair, some skirts for a lovely friend to give her daughters for ChristmasKarenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-44157824664609683212014-01-05T17:05:00.000+11:002014-01-05T17:15:19.462+11:00Starting anew...
People often use the New Year as an excuse to start afresh - and I am doing the same.
It's time to rejuvenate my poor neglected blog and in some ways, apply the same thinking to my life.
I spent a lot of 2013 serving the needs of others and while there is always good to come from this, it left me Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-32566704564694684052013-11-25T08:30:00.000+11:002013-11-25T13:00:34.314+11:00City Adventure
This cute girl starts school next year and with the end of the year looming I am enjoying taking her on a few special adventures of late.
We've been to the museum, to a gymnastics centre and last week ventured to Heide, all with another little friend.
This week it was a joint adventure with her lovely aunt - to the city.
First off a trip on the train...
Such a happy little Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-77718221954807175652013-11-24T08:00:00.000+11:002014-01-23T01:39:07.271+11:00They were all yellow....
Miss G was lucky and got two completed dresses from my sewing weekend - ironic really as she is the one who gets the most hand-me-downs but she is also not yet in school uniform every day. (That's my excuse and I am sticking to it!)
This is a very sweet little Kwik Sew pattern, number 3940, a yoked dress with button up back.
More awkward smiling...
She insisted on including her lizard inKarenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-50443020173742314392013-11-22T08:30:00.000+11:002014-01-23T01:39:07.225+11:00Flowers in the garden
A dress for Miss L in her favourite colour - blue - or a version of blue that she loves.
This is the Geranium dress from Made by Rae.
Pleated bodice and flutter sleeves for this geranium
It's a great little pattern - PDF so it arrives quickly and there are lots of options you can choose from; dress or tunic/swing top, flutter or faux capped sleeves, gathered or pleated bodice and three Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-8701990591557837962013-11-21T08:30:00.000+11:002014-01-23T01:39:07.286+11:00Field of Poppies
Another Sewjourn make...
This is a Little Lisette Simplicity pattern 1893 that I found on Ebay one day.
It's a darling pattern and was really easy to make, and I love that it's something that I believe the girls will be able to wear for a number of years given the style of it.
She was very pleased to find her shoes matched...
There are three bodice options - the other two with Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-71363331594460929132013-11-19T09:00:00.000+11:002014-01-23T01:39:07.259+11:00Little Red Rides again
As I mentioned this time at Sewjourn I decided to sew for the girls - and this was my fourth make, the second dress for the smallest kid.
This is a Riley Blake print that I could resist, it tells the story of Red Riding Hood, with a slight twist as it mentions her 'harmless wolfie friend'.
Design wall photo!
I used a very basic A-line pattern from Kwik Sew 3862 - I love that Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-70889391570038614012013-11-18T09:00:00.000+11:002013-11-18T09:00:00.670+11:00The end of the earth...I've been sewing - there was a lot created at Sewjourn last week, nothing for me, but my head wasn't in the right space to pack for me when the time came.
Here's a glimpse of where we spent the Cup Day Long Weekend (yep, here in Melbourne we get a public Holiday for a horse race - pretty amazing huh!).
We went to what is the 'end' of the mainland here - the most southern tip of mainland Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-78933262129583342432013-11-17T17:17:00.001+11:002014-01-23T01:27:11.116+11:0046/52
You may have thought I dropped of the face of the earth...
Blogtober turned into Floptober for me - I really bombed out...
Wendy's became Flogtober - or What-ober!!
Never mind, life is busy and full and I won't make excuses for spending time with those I love rather than getting to blog about them.
I've missed many weeks of Che and Fidel's 52 portraits in a year - but Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-37478106846591514382013-10-13T22:18:00.000+11:002013-10-13T22:35:33.347+11:00A day for 'Days'
As I mentioned in my post back here, Days for Girls were staging sew-a-thon's around the globe as part of the Day of the girl - a day when we can all get together and do something to break the poverty cycle by helping girls stay in school longer.
Things to consider are that in some countries girls are not able to attend school when they have their period and so they lose days of education.
Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885942315861596737.post-86113824157445447392013-10-09T16:22:00.000+11:002014-01-23T01:24:04.681+11:00On the bedside table...
I make no secret of it, I love a good book - there's nothing better than having a book you can't wait to get to each day, stealing moments when you can read...
...while you stir the dinner, waiting for the kids to get their shoes on, or stealing a page or two while you eat your lunch, and THE ROSIE PROJECT was one such book for me.
Cover image from Text Publishing.
It was suggested by a Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593818335616365129noreply@blogger.com8