Here is my submission to the July/August Tie One On apron collection – the theme is Local Pride!
And in close-up:
Local pride? Although it may at first seem a little obscure – remember, I’m from Melbourne, Australia. Where the predominate choice of colour for clothing is black. Therefore, a black apron! Made from stretch suede with cornelli fabric edging. No proper pattern used, but guidance obtained from Amy Butler’s book In Stitches.
Anyone for cake? Chocolate cake, to be precise!
Chenille cake designed by the talented Jodie, available from Polka Dot Chenille. This example sewn by me. I love it!
Edited to add: I just realised that this is my 100th post! My subconscious must have known and made me post the celebratory cake photos. I’ll have to think of another blog-related celebration (maybe a teeny give-away – stay tuned)! Thanks to those of you who read it.
Last weekend I made these pincushions. Amazingly, I didn’t have any! Now I’ve got one for upstairs and one for downstairs. They’re just two circles sewn together, stuffed, then I used embroidery thread to wrap around and make the “petals” before sewing buttons into the centres.
The yo-yo brooch was originally made as decoration for the little romper-dress, but it was just too much. So now it’s a summer brooch for me! And now for a photo showing the reverse sides:
Note the HUGE pile of bias binding – I needed some for the romper-dress, so thought that I’d try making my own. From a 22 inch square of fabric I now have a massive amount of bias binding that you will probably be seeing on every project I undertake for a very long time. I used the directions in Amy Karol’s book Bend The Rules Sewing, plus a bias tape maker that I’ve had sitting in the drawer waiting to be used for far too long! I’ll make more of my own bias binding in the future.
It’s done! The shell stitch scarf. Unfortunately I have photographed it draped around the bannister rather than draped around the neck of a person – sorry about that!
I really love the texture, both of the shells and the ridges that have evolved lengthways. Here’s a close-up of the shell stitch:
Many thanks to bella dia for the inspiration! It worked up quickly and I found it very satisfying to make something that I sort-of made up myself. In the end it took five balls of yarn – yikes! Mum thinks that it could have been narrower – maybe the next one I make won’t be as wide, but I think that the width works for this scarf.
This little romper-dress has turned out quite nicely (if I do say so myself).
I think that it should be perfect for summer! The pattern is Simplicity 5115. It’s made pretty much according to the pattern, other than the zip and neck binding. I used an invisible zip (simply because I prefer them) and made bias binding from the same fabric for the neckline. Rather than using the bias as a facing, I bound the neckline and hand-stitched the bias on the inside. It should be a practical little outfit and matches those baby shoes I posted earlier. Trust me, you’re going to get sick of seeing that fabric – I haven’t used it all up yet! I was going to add some trim, but in the end anything that I put with it seemed too much – that fabric is busy enough on its own. One of the great things about sewing baby clothes myself is that patterns seem to allow room for cloth nappies. So many bought baby clothes are obviously cut for disposable nappies – since we mostly use cloth it’s nice to have clothes that fit them!
On another topic, I recently found the website to Simpsonize me – so here is mine! Uncanny resemblance!
I was tagged a little while ago by Luv Abby – so have had to do a little thinking! This seems at first to be a fairly simple tag. It has taken me a long time to respond to it, however (sorry about that Luv Abby).
The rules are:
(a) each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves
(b) the rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed
(c) at the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
The most difficult part of this for me is thinking of which 8 people to tag. I might leave that part out … anyone who reads this and would like to participate, please go ahead and consider yourself tagged!
Okay, here goes, 8 facts/habits about me.
1. I can touch my nose with my tongue. Go on, you try it!
2. I was the “best man” when a male friend got married. The matron of honour was a little disconcerted to be escorted down the aisle by another woman.
3. I still have a baby tooth (actually, up until about two months ago I still had two baby teeth – unfortunately one has finally come out, approximately 30 years later than usual).
4. I have three completely unrelated Bachelor degrees, but no post-graduate qualifications. Jack of all trades, master of none. Most people build on their studies and refine their qualifications – no, not me! I return to university each time studying something different, not getting any credits for previous subjects.
5. I am an organised person. I like to make lists. I like to follow instructions. I am law-abiding. I join committees. Am I also boring, inflexible and unoriginal?
6. I can read maps. Without having to turn them around to face the same way that I am going. I rarely get lost.
7. I love watching talent quests. That includes Australian Idol and Dancing With The Stars. I loved Young Talent Time when I was little.
8. I like to sing. I was in choir and madrigals when I was at school, and started singing in a choir again last year (although I’m currently on hiatus until Stella is a little older). I’m not a good solo singer but do okay in a choir – my voice blends quite nicely! I really love singing big choral works and unaccompanied pieces.
Which eight facts will you share with us? I’m going to be checking your blogs for them!
This afternoon I sewed these little fabric baby shoes.
I used this pattern and tutorial from stardustshoes. They’re to go with the romper dress that I haven’t made yet – maybe this evening? Unfortunately though, I think that I’ve sewed the upper the wrong way around to the sole – the fronts should be at the wider end, not the narrower. Will I just live with it, or will I sew another pair? Is Stella likely to notice? Probably not, but will I notice every time I put them on her?
Tiny Happy makes the most divine baby shoes from embroidered linens. Maybe I could try something similar for Stella? Just need to find some embroidered linen that I could bear to cut into!
But not to buy a fat pig! Today’s excursion was to the Magnolia Square Market.
Aren’t those little magnets cute? Great to pop into all those fairy bags, I think!
I went especially to get some Aunty Cookie fabric, and came home with this.
Half a metre each of two of her terrific fabrics, and some appliques. Not certain what the fabric will become yet; the appliques will possibly go on t-shirts. I ordered a “family portrait” too, and will blog it for you when it arrives!
Another purchase was this tea towel from The Lark which will be a Christmas present for a good friend who hopefully doesn’t read my blog!
Gee, wouldn’t it have been good if I’d ironed all those fabrics before photographing them?
I also met the woman behind the patterns and kits for Miss Buttons. I bought the pattern a week or two ago, and will make one this weekend if all goes according to plan. It was really great to meet the women and creative forces behind the blogs – hello Shannon, Allison, and Angela!
I also ate some lovely cupcakes and drank nice coffee. It’s quite a good market, about 40 stalls, but I really think that most of them are way too expensive. Children’s t-shirts for $50, patterned gumboots for $200, I don’t think so! Maybe I’m just not from the target demographic. I also discovered that because I spend so much time on the internet reading blogs, I already know what is out there in the crafty marketplace. So it was a pleasant afternoon, and I achieved my aim of buying Aunty Cookie fabric, but not necessarily something that I will go to each time it’s on. I bet that it was very successful for the stallholders!
Here is the latest incarnation of Melly and me’s Sherbet bag pattern.
The fabric is Michael Miller’s “Walk in the Park”, with a floral poplin that I think I bought from Spotlight last year some time . . . this bag went to cousin Freya. With spring coming up soon, I thought that it would be appropriate! Here’s a photo of the inside:
The lining fabric is also from Spotlight (recognise it from the fairy bags?) and I added inside pockets out of the floral, and a magnetic snap closure.
It is quite fortunate that I made Freya a new bag – as she just found out the hard way that bags made from vintage curtains don’t wash well in the machine … we are now trying to figure out how to repair the disintegrated areas … it’s a good thing that I can make her another one if necessary (maybe from a reproduction print though)!
My cousin’s son Ollie turns 4 years old this week (he and Clare are great mates). So I made him the Simple Drawstring Backpack from Lotta Jansdotter’s book Simple Sewing.
It was certainly simple! I think that it took about three hours total, maybe even a little less, including cutting out time. Lotta says to allow a day – only if you’re an absolute beginner! Hopefully he’ll like it and it will be useful. The fabric came from my stash (the print bought from Lincraft ages ago, and I think that the plain was an op-shop find!) The instructions didn’t say anything about finishing seam edges, but I overlocked them all. Particularly important for something like an unlined backpack which could be gettting lots of use – I didn’t want the fabric to fray down to the seams. I am happy with the finished product, and think that I’ll be using this pattern again! Next time, I might add an inside pocket and make the strap length adjustable.
