MUMMY SON TIME...

Awwww!
My heart just skipped a beat when Tom wanted to sew a stuffed animal toy for part of his school term project.

So he got to and searched the Internet for a pattern that he knew he could cope with (ie: one that Mum wouldn't need to rescue him from;)

Raided my stash for some frog appropriate fabric, buttons and eyeballs.

He cut the pattern out himself and was rather creative in cutting out the fabric too, but luckily the polar fleece was quite forgiving!

I did have to help with the pinning together but I reckon that's ok.

And, he steered the sewing machine really well (with only a little guidance from Mum).

He had more fun stuffing his undies with fibre-fill than the actual toy though!
I won't show you that photo...

Ta Dah!!!

COLETTE GINGER SKIRT

I've been wanting a denim skirt for a while now,
but not one of those that you wear with thongs and a mullet!

I have seen plenty of Colette Ginger Skirts on the 'www' and thought that this pattern would be perfect.

I made View 3 and its a super easy pattern to make up in less than a day!

I decided to line it as the denim appeared to be quite a loose weave and I hate it when your skirt 'seats' in the behind!
Thanks Tracy for the lining - it handles really well.

I have absolutely no idea where the denim came from:/

The 'innards'...

I did a mock flat fell seam in thread that is matchy-matchy with the lining.

The pattern called for an invisible zipper - which I LOVE doing, but chose not to in this case as they don't really work well with denim waistbands.

Love the skirt!

Will definitely be making more and I thoroughly recommend the pattern.

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!