Cardigan

I did night shift this weekend and I completed this gorgeous cardigan while I suffered it out at work, lucky it was not too bad at the hospital and I got lots of spare breaks to crochet.

I used this pattern after being inspired here- a new found blog I've found.

I made the size L: 11-12 years but only using a 3 1/2 hook which made things pretty tight, it has turned out really small. So I guess it will be a present or go into my Etsy store when I get that sorted!

Crochet

I've been into crochet again at the moment and am finally getting around to putting the finished products on here! This pink beanie is for Lilly using this pattern. But beware if you follow this pattern, it turns out super tiny, so I upsized it with my Dad's mathematical help. Later I found an Adults version, I'd say mine is in between the adult's and the child's. I think the flower is the pattern from Attic 24, have you seen her blankets? they are just so gorgeous. I love that blog! I used Jet 12 ply wool, so its quite thick and warm despite the granny holes.

This one is for Joe, in browns and creams, I've done a Jet blue version in 12 ply as well, but no pics of that one! I have used this pattern for both of Joe's beanies, and again upsized it to fit better.

So after all this crochet, I needed somewhere to keep my tools and patterns. I had made this bag pictured below earlier this year using this pattern, which I had seen on Lisa's blog and got all inspired and luckily was able to make it then and there with the bamboo handles I had in my stash, as you do!!!

I used some of my favourite fabric in Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party.

For the crochet tool organiser, I had no choice but to match it the bag and used some more. I think, possibly, this crochet organiser would be my most favourite 'thing' I've ever made. Not sure if its the fabric choice, the usefulness of the thing, the cute button loop or what,

but I love it.

Here is the inside of my organiser. It's got room for about 6 hooks even though I mainly only use 2 different size hooks, a pen, scissors, unpicker, needle holder, note book and a spot for the current pattern I am working on. I guess this is just a version of a crayon roll.

Mum has just finished the most gorgeous ripple scarf for Lilly in pink, purple, green, blue and orange and a bobble scarf for me. She's been busy, I only took posession of these items tonight, so stay tuned.

Mothers Day Crochet

Nanny taught me how to crochet when I was 12 and that is probably why I can still do it, unlike knitting (another recent failure confirms that!) I love crocheting, I have never really done anything besides round and round blankets and granny squares blankets and those handy teatowels you hang in your kitchen. I saw a pattern recently in Better Homes and Gardens for crocheted flowers and got inspired to make some flower corsages, since Mothers Day is this week and I always try and make Mum something hand made to go in her present. This year she got a Pandora Bracelet, the I LOVE YOU charm, some blue tea towels and this gorgeous thing...

This pattern is from here, a new favourite blog to keep track of and the most gorgeous crochet. I added an extra row of petals (the darker purple around the outer edge). I also made one for Lilly's lovely teacher.

And since I am jumping ship this weekend and missing Mothers Day (don't worry I am sick to the core about it, truly I am) to attend a Conference in Sydney with my second best friend, I had an early Mothers Day with my little treasures.

This little boy couldn't wait to give me the present he made at Kindy, a gorgeous card with a photo of us on the front and a bag of homemade Coconut Ice! It was yum, we scoffed it down together, thanks Liza! I love the way Joey says Liza....Wyiza!


And today at Grade 1 the Mum's had a very special pampering complete with massage, manicures (my pink polish is still gleaming and its staying there for the trip to Sydney!) hair brushing, jewellery making, fruit kebab feeding, puzzles, singing, poems and lots and lots of love and hugs!

Happy Mothers Day to all my friends and family who are Mothers, Grandmothers etc, I will be enjoying this on the day with Kimmy and no doubt very very homesick for those 2 little people pictured above, and my husband of course!

Lemon and Lime Pillowcase Dress

First up check out the cute little boy, with a fresh haircut! Bouncing!

This is a version of the Strappy Sundress. The pattern only goes to a size 6, a very small size 6 so I tried to make it bigger, mainly the bodice, I'd say this is now a size 10 as that's the size my cute almost 6 year old now wears!

I challenged myself to use only a pillowcase, a vintage pillowcase at that! But I had to call on the trusty spots pile of fabric for the green as there wasn't quite enough. So I used the green on the back casing and bodice lining otherwise the rest of the dress is made from one pillowcase. Bougainvillea's don't smell Lill! But seconds later we spotted a tiny blue butterfly nearby to this which we need to identify. Stayed tuned for our caterpillar-butterfly news we've got going on here, got stacks of photos of the whole process, more to come on that...

Here is a pic of the dress I made prior to the yellow one.

I used 2 vintage pillowcases for it and nothing else, except the new elastic but that's it, so this dress cost $1. And unfortunately didn't get a good pic of it while it was being worn roller skating the other day! The front of the skirt part of the dress has a white pillowcase with embroidery on it sewn into the blue floral main part. I used part of the white case to make the straps and line the bodice.

More Wildlife Warriors

Here is a full view of Lill's new outfit! Details below.
The back of the singlet and yes, the square and heart is supposed to be wonky!

Cute little Croc girl!

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These are...wait for it... Burda 9793 shorts in a size 6 that I've made a million times already this year! I think I could make them with my eyes closed now! Lilly picked out this fabric when she helped me choose the fabric for Joe boy's shorts so I've finally made them for her.

Of course I didn't buy enough for her size so I had to use pink spot for the pockets and a camo print for the waistband, which as it turns out looks great. Half a metre only does the front and back on these shorts for a size 6, must remember that!

I had this Australia Zoo badge in my stash which is perfect for these shorts. Now to make a matching singlet.


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This is an appliqued singlet with ROAR in jungle animal print and leopard/camo prints for a little 4 year old boy's birthday!

I am hoping to make mostly handmade gifts this year for my friends kids birthday's...trouble is they are all mostly in April!

I'll give it my best anyhow.

Wildlife Warriors

Here are my little Wildlife Warriors wearing their new Jungle Party Animal print matching shorts, well kind of 3/4 length shorts. I love love love these shorts. They are trusty Burda 9793 just lengthened a little.

I did leopard print pockets. We had a great day at Australia Zoo on Australia Day! We saw Bindi and Robert and watched John Williamson sing!

Quick Skirt

This is a Burda skirt I quickly made for myself using Spotlight $3.99/m fabric! So for $6 plus the cost of the zip (the doily is from my stash and the buttons thanks to Nanny's stash of which I've got a few things and treasure sooo much) its a pretty cheap skirt, and very comfortable I might add. Unfortunately this fabric is fairly see through, whoops, so I either add a lining or save it for round the house!!! I quite like it, so I might line it...

And here is the cutest little Royal Doulton teacup in the pattern of 'June'.

My second best friend Kimmy found it down near Iluka during her week long family beach holiday, she is so good to me, she loves teacups as much as me, but she chose to give it to me!!! It is so tiny and very old, I love it Kimbo! What am I going to give you for your birthday next week old girl!!??

SHFMOCD...

...nope it's not a mistake!!!

Those letters stand for:

Sandi

Henderson

Farmer's

Market

Obsessive

Compulsive

Disorder/Disease

It's a very serious condition I've developed and probably will never recover from! I just love all this fabric so much, so finally I've made something for myself in it.

I've ordered some more Vintage Cherries from Kelani, since she's just got a new shipment in stock, to make myself another wrap skirt and canvas some for my bedroom wall so I can stare at it forever. Is that abnormal!?! Make sure you check out Kelani, there is an excellent competition on there at the moment, which is really easy to enter.

So anyway, this is my second Make It Perfect, Versatile Wrap skirt, and the info on the back of the pattern is 100% accurate in that this skirt would indeed have to be one of my favourite items of clothing. It is so comfortable and you get to wear your favourite fabrics. I've got another cut ready to sew in Anna Maria Horner Garden Party and so does my second best friend, I'll be blogging her creation as well. For this skirt I cut the 5 panels to make the contrast trim and tie an inch wider than the pattern says, I think this gives you a little more of a look at the contrast fabric!

Little Lambs

Here are my two little lambs!
I made these costumes for Lilly's Prep Christmas Concert. I just used a basic children's costume pattern in white tracksuit fabric using the fleecy inside as the outside and made the hoods look more lamby by lowering the ears and making them floppy. I think they look very very cute. They are the Large size on the pattern, which I'd say is a 5-6. The back has a velcro closure and the tail attaches just below.

Strappy Sundress Christmas Dress

Here is my most favourite fabric of the year Sandi Henderson's Farmers Market, in particular Red Vintage Cherries. Love it!

I got the last piece from Kelani and also the co-ordinating Apples in Spring and Red and then made it into the Strappy Sundress, all purchased from Kelani, my favourite online fabric shop.

This is a great dress for twirling!

This pattern is so simple and yet the finished dress is really very special with the elastic back and pretty straps tying in a bow attached to a loop. The skirt part is 2 rectangles (or in my case strips joined together for lack of enough cherries) joined together to make 88 inches of fabric which you need to gather, i.e. lots of fabric involved!!

This is the size 6 and I cut the bodice a little bigger and added an extra row of casing for the elastic back. If I make it again for Lill, I'll have to cut the bodice even bigger as this is a squeeze as it is, great big 5 year old unit she is!

Also, I have to mention my sewing friend Novy, who made this exact dress completely in the cherries for her little girl. It is just gorgeous, check it out on her blog. Thanks Novy for the inspiration!

Thanks Kelani!

Here is some very lovely mail I received today! From the fantastic Kelani Fabric Obsession's Elissa. Check out the Kelani link button to the right.

I recently won a comp just for submitting a photo to the inspiration gallery of something I had made after I had purchased fabric or patterns from Kelani. The prize was a $25 gift voucher. I got some more gorgeous Sandi Henderson Farmers Market and the Make It Perfect - Versatile Wrap pattern, which obviously came to more than $25 but you get that! I think the best thing about Kelani is the free postage together with the personal service and quickest delivery, the prices compare with anything available here in Australia at the moment. Thanks Elissa.

The vintage cherries fabric, on top in the pic, is going to be turned into a christmas dress for Miss Lill. I really wanted to do the Strappy Sundress like Novy's, but I won't have enough so I have to come up with something else...

L O V E purple

I am not sure that many people are going to like this outfit (no particular reason, just not everyone's cup of tea)...but that's ok, cause I DO!!! And so does Kimmy (my second best friend, that is a joke by the way!) who hung out with me while I made it. We had heaps of fun and I made plenty of mistakes due to laughing so hard at Tonia Todman jokes and remembering our old days of making hairclips using hot glue guns to stick massive flowers to stuff. We are sure the glue fumes made us go troppo.

So this is a vintage tablecloth turned into a twirly size 5 Simplicity skirt like this one and a matching chesty bonds singlet in size 8 with LOVE appliqued on.

Luckily I decided to make a few things that are not in Lilly's size otherwise this one would definitely be going in her wardrobe. And during the fun of making this outfit, we came up with heaps of other ideas for cute singlets using simple words. So watch this space cause there are a heap more coming...

Sesame Street Shorts

These are for Charlie that match Ella's outfit. It's the same old Burda pattern that everyone (my sewing friends listed below that for some reason are not listed below anymore!) is loving at the moment. These ones are a size 4, I'd say they will be a little bit too big for Charlie.

I love this material, why can't they make stuff like this again these days!

The Madeline Dress Meets Old Doily

Here is The Madeline Dress, yet again, in a size 7 using nothing fancy blue floral... ...with what seems to be my favourite red spot for the waistband and a gorgeous old doily for the apron! I didn't cut this doily at all when making the dress. It is just slipped under the waistband, so when little Miss outgrows it, I should be able to unpick and retrieve the doily intact. I am not too sure what the person who made it would say, seeing all those hours of work tacked onto a dress that will no doubt be well worn and loved! But then again, I wasn't the one who dumped it in the Op shop...at least it is getting a second chance at life!...and here is the really cute but tired little girl modelling it... thankyou my gorgeous girl!