NEW LOOK 6805 and BUTTERICK 6582

My first project for 2012 is a 'mish-mash'.

I love the New Look 6805 pattern and have made this up a few times with View C but wanted a different neckline so chose the View A version.
I also wanted a different skirt so I rummaged through my patterns and found the perfect skirt in Butterick 6582 (View C).

I have plenty of fabric left over so I will certainly make myself a matchy-matchy belt.

I bought this Vintage Style cotton voile from Spotlight a few months ago and here's the result.

I love the fact that the gathering stops at the front princess seam panel so it lies flat across the tummy. I certainly don't need any extra volume in that area after all the Christmas Cheer!

And a gratuitous twirly shot!

And for the neat freaks out there, here are the innards!

I couldn't get a nice green for the lining as they all seemed to darken the bodice too much so I just used cream which worked well.

Check out that fabulous hand sewing:)

I chose to just sew a narrow hem this time as the fabric was quite fine and I thought that hand sewing a blind hem may pull on the fabric too much.

I didn't have to make any alterations to the bodice as I'd made this up (in a different version) before so new it fitted and fitting a gathered skirt isn't exactly rocket science!

Off to do my Colette Ginger skirt now....
See you soon.

Happy, Happy!

Just popping in to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Lots of sewing planned for 'Twenty Twelve'.
Promise!

CHRISTMAS PREPARATIONS

I whipped up some Christmas Bunting this week,
something that I've wanted to make for a long time...

Made with some fat 1/4 packs from Spotlight.

I also made this fabric gift pouch with the left-overs with thanks to this tutorial

I reckon I'll be making lots of these little gems!



It reminds me of a big, fat, juicy strawberry!

Hope your Christmas preparations are going as planned!

GRADUATION TEDDY BEARS

Remember these?

They have morphed into 'Graduation Teddy Bears'.

First, their hats were decorated with the school logo...

Then their ties were made...

Their collars were next...

Ta-dah!
Aren't they cute???

All 66 of them!!!

It has been a school tradition to send off the current Year 6's with their own 'Graduation Teddy Bear'.

I took over the role of decorating the bears a few years ago when Bec graduated Year 6 in 2008.

Tom will graduate next year, so I may have to pass the baton on once he's into middle school.

I love doing these and it's not a hard job, just lots of fiddling around and waiting for glue to dry before the next phase is started.

And I'm sure these little suckers all have a personality of their own! There was one teddy that looked rather smug, and another I nick-named Dopey!

Anyway, they're done for another year and all packed up ready to head to school.

All the best to all those parents sending their babies off to middle school next year!!!

Have a great week!

WORK IN PROGRESS...

This is what I'm working on at the moment.

I'll keep you posted...promise!

MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL...

We were invited to a (story book themed) 21st Birthday not so long ago.
Do you realise how hard it was for the four of us to agree on a theme? We had plenty of warning but we all couldn't agree on what storybook characters to go as until about 10 days before the party!!

With work commitments and a JRock Eisteddfod to help organise, it didn't leave me with a lot of time, so I took a few shortcuts.



It actually wasn't worth making Bec's Snow White costume - I picked it up for around $20 from ebay. I just added a red ribbon sash around the waist to give it more shape, a pair of long white socks and a wig and hers was complete.

Tom wanted to go as Dopey and the kids and I thought Glen would make a perfect Grumpy because, well, just because;)
Both the dwarf tops and hats were made of polar fleece. I used McCall's 2895 for the tunic-style pattern and made some huge yellow felt buttons for the front. Thick wide elastic was used for the belt and I just added a large belt buckle. As time was running out, I just bought some cheap tracksuit pants and dyed them and they wore ugg boots.
I didn't have a pattern for Grumpy's beard so I just whipped one up and stuffed it a little with wadding and added some elastics at the end to hook around his ears.
No pattern for the hats either so I just made them up as I went along and embroidered them with their names (Darn it, I didn't have my own embroidery machine then!).

I was the old woman (kinda hoping that was obvious though...)
I used McCall's 2853 with panne velvet and tied black rope around my waist. I bought a cheap wicker basket and cane and added some apples. I do regret using black nail polish though, it took ages to get off and stained my nails considerably.
My rather yellow teeth and nose were a great addition - except that they kept on falling off into my apple basket all night, but that may have been due to too much champagne!!
Mwahahaha!



"Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?"

MISSING IN ACTION...

Life around here the last few months has been pretty craayzee, to say the least!

Apart from my secretarial job which I absolutely adore (I get to frock up a couple of times a week), I got another part-time job which has left me very tired and with little time to do the one thing I really enjoy....sew!

I won't mention where my second job is as I really don't think I'll be there for much longer for it has been rather disappointing so far, and I guess I'm just used to being around for the kids during school holidays.

So please bear with my lack of posting for a while longer until I pluck up the courage to resign;/

But alas! I have a new toy!

I've been pretty much embroidering everything that's not tied down but Bec has done the first piece that is actually 'Show and Tell' worthy!!

Bec had a birthday party to go to last night and wanted to make her friend a makeup purse.
She did a smashing job I thought (but I might have to hide my new toy!)

And a sneaky peaky inside...

OK, yes, that is lime green nail polish you see in there, along with flouro pink and flouro purple!
I've been told she'll grow out of that...one day...

Have a great week and I'll keep you posted on the job front.