Shirt graffiti

We've been having lots of conversations here lately about what constitutes art, as opposed to graffiti.

I'm not sure into which category the girls would put me painting all over their T-shirts - but I suspect it's graffiti!

I have a new tool to assist me in 'graffitiing' old and/or plain T's - this book, Stencil Me In.

It comes with 28 reusable stencils of varying size, in lots of great designs that will suit children and adults.

Images that can be used on a variety of projects - be they cushions, bags, clothing or of course you can use them on surfaces other than textiles!

I decided to try something new this time to assist with a clean finish.
I sprayed the back of the stencil with quilt basting spray to hold it in position.

It worked a treat - even for this very intricate design - I am really pleased with how sharp the results are.

Quilt basting spray is repositionable too - so if you put it in the wrong spot - just peel it off and try again.

I'm off to get  few more paint colours as I can see this book being experimented with a lot in the coming months.

The glory of a fete

We went to a fete today at a local church - they were raising money for an orphanage in South India so we were happy to contribute and to take a few goodies home in the process, like this golden find!

Do you remember these from when you were a kid?? I do.

I would swear that this set came straight from the 70's and had never been touched.
It's probably been sitting in someone's cupboard for years by the look of it.

The man said he wanted $1 for it - but that just felt like stealing so we gave him more, which is even easier to do when it's for a cause.

The smallest child used them to make herself a puppy.  See the two red ears and red tail?

I think it's sort of 'reindeer-ish'!

Imagination is a wonderous thing isn't it.

PS - thanks for the good wishes for our little kinder festival - the weather last weekend was glorious, we had a huge turnout and made about four times as much money as last year (when it rained!) so can do lots of good in the kinder with that.

How. Lucky. Am. I.

If you thought these toys by Jodie were gorgeous to look at (and they are!) - you should feel them!

Not only are they made of the most divine wool felt - they are weighted in such a way that they just feel right in your hand.

She really is one very clever lady.

These two lovelies have now taken pride of place in my sewing room - and are not to be' kid-handled' by the small folk who live here.

Something they understand so well that they refer to them as "Mummy's toys"!

In case you were wondering how I came upon them, I was the lucky winner of the Queensland Flood Relief raffle on Jodie's blog last month.

She's a fancy-shmancy pattern designer now with the folk at Creative Abundance recognising her patterns need to be sent out far and wide.

Go get yourself some.

My Creative Space

Is all about what I am plotting and planning to do in the coming weeks, months and years!

I was recently been given these two amazing books.


So much to look at and take in that I have been reading them in little grabs over the past few nights and days, whenever a quiet moment presents itself.
(which means of course there is still a lot to read!)

They are quite different and while there are projects from both I will undertake, I have to say that 'Sewing Clothes Kids Love' has captured my heart.



It is filled with the most divine colourful images of clothing made in gorgeous European fabric (boy do they have a great range compared to us!).

The book also has some great tips for sewing stretch fabric, embellishing items and an excellent section about measuring your child properly and then making clothes to their size, to ensure a good fit.


Then of course there is this gorgeous pic of a Redondo skirt made by a lovely Aussie gal, well done Sara!


I also got a subscription to Ottobre which included a free back issue.

After checking out their website I came across this one which has two versions of a leotard (something the girls are dying for me to make for them)

And also some very lovely dresses and skirts with ruffles down the back that I would like to tackle for winter.

Should keep me busy for a while don't you think!

Check out what other peeps are contemplating in their crafty world by popping over to Kirsty's place.

Felt folk for festivities

A few people were wondering about getting supplies to make up little felt clothed folk such as the kings I've been making for my nativity, so I thought I'd get you all started.

(go on, you know you want to make some!).

Here are the updated pics of the kings - all they need now are their various gifts.

I'm using 10cm tall wooden flexible people and 100% wool felt because once you've used it you'll never use the acrylic stuff again.

Various bits and pieces such as the small cross and star on the kings just came from the haberdashery department at Spotlight as did the gold tie at the waist of one of them and the cardboard for two of the crowns.

I got all my first supplies and the guidance to get going from Shelley at Little Sparrow.

She has a great range of all things related to doll making, felting, knitting and hand crafts in general.

And she's knowledgeable, helfpul and friendly to boot.

What more could you want.

A friend picked up some additional little folk from Sylph in Croydon and I grabbed some extra felt from The Steiner Store in Kew, who also stock the little people.

Today I went to Winterwood in Park Orchards and got this fabulous book

from which I will make my donkey and more animals in the years to come such as the camels, sheep, pigs and cows, but probably not the penguins or the polar bears!

I also got some supplies to try my hand at dry felting so I can embellish the cloaks for the shepherds and put fleece on sheep.

These four shops are all based in Melbourne but I know Winterwood and Little Sparrow both do mail order.

Let me stress I am very much a beginner at this and am crafting by the seat of my pants!

To see how the experts do it check out Sam and Peta's blogs - they make felty friends that are to die for. Stitching that is so perfect... aaahhhh.

Sam even made the most amazing nativity last year, and then gave it away.

If you are a felt crafter I'd love to hear what you do and any tips you can pass on to those of us who are new would be much appreciated.

Happy crafting.

Oh what a feeling

Come on - we've all had that feeling of joy when completing a project.

Satisfaction, happiness and a sense of pride at acomplishing something.

You can see it here in Miss L's face, holding up her first item of sewing. (which she later taped to the window in our study she was so pleased with it!)

I debated whether to ask the 'man in the red suit' to bring the girls a small sewing machine for Christmas but received advice to the contrary from my online sewing buddies.

Instead it was suggested by Cass that I teach them to use my machine properly.

This was met with a sense of amazement from a few of my friends as even they expressed fear at the sight of that sharp needle bobbing up and down and after all my older two girls are only three and half years old.

But with careful guidance (use your hands to guide the fabric, don't push it through or hold it tight, don't drop the presser foot lower it down) and establishing safety rules (never put your foot near the foot pedal until you are ready to sew, only ever use the machine with Mama there to help as it is not a toy) the girls took to it like ducks to water.

I placed the machine on their little table and they sat on their stool to sew so everything was at an appropriate height for them, making it easy to control.

Now I fear only a couple of things, my fabric stash being diminished for doll clothing and not getting enough time on my machine for me!

Hello Kyoko

I'm back!!

With new camera in hand and stacks of new sewing to show you.
Firstly, the sewing.

I have a couple of new patterns to play with. These two from Modkid's Patty Young.
I love her stuff.

These struck me as versatile pieces that could be adapted for summer or winter wear.

So here's the first, a Kyoko made in lightweight denim and my favourite red pinspot with navy grosgrain ribbon on the obi-style sash.



I chose to keep it pretty simple with regard to fabric combinations and I am really happy with the result.

Despite there being a decent amount of binding to make, doing it was really not as 'bad' as I had expected - in fact I cut way too much and have enough for another top.

The instructions are clear and easy to understand and I will let you know about the fit tomorrow when my model has a chance to try it on.

Check out other Kyoko designs here - including the dress length version.

Now, the camera.

I know for all you serious photography chicks that DSLR is the way to go, but at this stage of my life I don't feel that I have time to develop the skills that would justify a fancy (and let's face it, expensive!) camera like one of those.

So this is an 'in-between' model.
Many more features than our old camera, but not a DSLR.

I found out tonight, while taking a few practice snaps that I can fix red eye on the screen before even downloading the pics.

Which is great as red eye seems to be a problem in this household.
(Can someone tell me is it a blue-eyed person thing as our bluest eyed child seems to be the worst??).

It also has a fabulous 20x zoom, perfect for sneaking up on unsuspecting kids doing cute stuff without allowing them to see me and get all 'posey'.

And of course you can take 'movies' on it, and stills as you are recording a 'movie'
I'm pretty happy - can you tell??