I am so lucky!

I was lucky enough to win some cute fabric in a give away that Chaletgirl was doing on her blog. It arrived yesterday, beautifully wrapped, and with another little present inside - a lovely little tissue holder made from the sweetest bird fabric. It's the first give away that I've ever won, and I've entered a lot! It's actually the first crafty thing I've ever had in the post (that I haven't ordered online) since I'm not brave enough to participate in a swap - I have actually had a nightmare involving a quilt swap :) So this is my first experience of the incredible generosity that is out there in the online crafty world!





Thank you so much Chaletgirl, you absolutely made my day!

Quick apron sewing

Ok, so I have decided that I love aprons, it's all part and parcel of my love for all things vintage. Not to mention that I really need something with pockets that can also handle being covered in chewed up food from my son. The pockets are essential for my ipod (I listen to audio books and craft and writing podcasts while I do housework) and for all those little things that I have to remove from my son's reach as I move around the house.

I found a lovely apron pattern from Sew Liberated - the same lady who made the messenger bag pattern that I used for my messenger bags. Her patterns are very easy to read and there is no guesswork involved - she clearly spells out every step for you. She has a really pretty (and probably the best known) apron pattern called Emmeline, but I ended up choosing the Lola apron because it included a pattern for a child's apron, and I wanted to make something for my daughter to use when she's crafting. There is a growing fashion to wear aprons as part of your every day clothes - if the aprons can look this fashionable I don't see why this couldn't be a great look. When I was little people wouldn't be caught dead outside in their slippers, but now ugg boots are apparently outdoor wear, something I still can't get my head around :) Why not aprons as well?

Anyway I made my Lola apron the other day, having purchased the pattern from the fantastic Crafty Mamas shop. I made it from the same chocolate brown voile that I made my daughter's Felix dress from, it has the benefit of being extremely light and cool, and quick drying. I really just wanted it made NOW so I did a really quick and dirty version - I rushed through it and as a result there is a mistake in the decoration (can you spot it? I'm damned if I'm pointing it out ;). The sewing is sound but not exactly meticulous, but it looks good on and it does the job. I have more fabric for another couple of aprons, but I'm actually tempted to buy the Emmeline this time and make that one as well.





I must apologise for the fingermarks all over the mirror in my daughter's room - my kids love to stand pressing their noses to their reflections and banging their hands on the glass!

Hairclips for Spring

I've had a go at decorating some hairclips with felt - at least I've made the decorations, I have yet to find the best way of sticking them to the hairclips :)

Feliz - Spanish for happy

This is the first version of the Feliz dress that I've made for my daughter. I have never made clothing before so this was a bit scary, but it didn't have any really complicated bits, just trying to get my head around the pattern terminology :) The underdress is made from a chocolate brown voile so it's very light and cool for summer.

My daughter loves it and insisted on wearing it to preschool this morning. I took a couple of photos before it gets covered in paint and dirt - she's not really a girly girl and usually comes home quite grubby!







I really like the look of this apron style dress. My husband thinks that it looks as though it comes from the Sound of Music, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing :) And I'm also into layering which is why she's got on her jeans as well.

Now for some more of these dresses - I'm going to make her one for a wedding we're going to in November, hopefully that will give me enough time to work out how to sew ruffles...

Patterns for Spring and Summer

Now that spring is here I've put aside my knitting in favour of some warmer weather projects - sewing summer clothes for my daughter. I've bought some great patterns from the Crafty Mamas shop, have a look at some of my favourite pages from the Ottobre pattern magazines I bought:








And this beautiful dress - I plan on making several versions of this in different fabrics.


I'm really into aprons at the moment :)

Mushrooms!

I'm not really a great fan of mushrooms, but a few weeks ago I bought a mushroom growing kit because I thought that it would be fun for my daughter to water it each day and pick the mushrooms. I took a couple of pictures of the first mushrooms coming up, and then I forgot to take any more after that, but they grew so big that they were lifting the top of the box off. My daughter picks them and I cook them up with a little butter and garlic, which makes them quite yummy. We are certainly getting a lot of mushrooms, and they grow satsifyingly quickly, making way for the next crop. The mushroom straw is meant to be a good mulch for the garden once all the mushrooms have come up.