Year: 2008

craft, crochet

2008 CAL Afghan complete!

Just in time, my Ravelry 2008 CAL Afghan is finished!

2008 CAL afghan - complete! by you.

Figuring out the block placement was really difficult, but Mum and I conferred at length and are fairly happy with the finished arrangement.

IMG_7356 by you.

The yarn is 8 ply cotton from Bendigo Woollen Mills, all crocheted with a 4.5mm hook.  I used   these instructions and this video series to join the squares using the flat braid joining method.

IMG_7346 by you.

Well, I am fudging the truth slightly when I say it is finished, as it is actually only blog finished – there are still a few ends to weave in on the back.

IMG_7342 by you.

The joining method really helped to balance out the slightly different square sizes, and I think that the lacy effect complements the lacyness of lots of the squares.

IMG_7339 by you.

Our friend Michelle is snuggled under it right at this very moment!  She always loves a Nanna rug.  Roll on the 2009 Afghan CAL!

by thornberry
children's clothing, kids clothing, sewing

Stella’s Christmas Dress

Although I managed to finish Stella’s Christmas dress in time for Christmas day, she didn’t wear it!  Instead, she wore a beautiful smocked dress that Clare wore for Christmas at around the same age.  It looked lovely, and Clare looked lovely in her Christmas dress too, if I do say so myself!  But here is the dress I made – she’s wearing it today:

Stella's Christmas Dress 2009 by you.

The pattern is  the Tea Party Sundress by Oliver + S, which I bought here.

The fabric is from a quilting range, but I cannot remember which one.  The weight is a light cotton, almost a lawn.  There are coordinating knickers:

Stella's Christmas bloomers 2009 by you.

It’s lovely and cool, was simple to make, and has very pretty details.  The flat piping inserted into the waistline and skirt seams really sets the design lines off beautifully.

Stella's Christmas Dress 2009 by you.

It is so hard to get Stella to model her clothes nicely for me!  Clare makes it so easy, but Stella always moves at a whirlwind pace. 

Stella's Christmas Dress 2009 by you.

We had a lovely Christmas day with extended family yesterday.  I hope that you all had an equally pleasant time.

by thornberry
miscellaneous, musings

Season’s Greetings

It’s the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a child is stirring – but mummy is extremely busy trying to get all those last minute things done!  Almost there, and almost time for me to head off to bed too.  Just need to pack a couple of bags for tomorrow, insert elastic into the knickers that match Stella’s Christmas dress (how is that for last minute?) and fold the washing.  And become Santa’s helper, of course.

It's a tree! by you.

Notice the rather bare tree?  It actually does have quite a lot of decorations but you can’t see them in this photo – they’re all at the top, out of Stella’s reach.  Merry Christmas to all!  Have a terrific holiday and festive season.  Thank you all for reading my blog, for commenting, for encouraging, for inspiring, for supporting, and for being so much fun.

by thornberry
craft, crochet, sewing, yarn stash

A couple more stash additions

When I was visiting my parents in the country a week ago we visited a fantastic patchwork and quilt shop.  They were selling vintage buttons on consignment for an elderly lady who lived in a retirement village nearby.  Of course, I added some to my stash.

Vintage button haul by you.

Apparently most of these date back to the forties and fifties.  The large one was $2 – the small ones 50c each.  Bargain.  The lady selling them was a collector.

This beautiful yarn comes from Live 2 Knit.

 Ginger yarn in Scorcery colour from Live 2 Knit by you.

It has been hand dyed, and is a merino/silk/sterling silver mix.  The colourway is called Sorcery.  Just gorgeous.

by thornberry
craft, craft magazines, fabric stash, sewing, Sunday Stash

Sunday Stash #10

I know – it’s Tuesday, not Sunday, and this post is about 2 1/2 weeks overdue.  That is how things are at the moment.  I posted some Christmas cards today and didn’t actually write anything on them, just quickly addressed them and enclosed our Christmas letter!  I figure that is better than nothing (most people received our letter via email; I only posted to people I didn’t have email addresses for) – and believe me, nothing was almost the alternative!  Anyway, to get back to fabric, here is Sunday Stash #10:

Sunday stash 10 - chenille by you.

This is what is left of my vintage chenille stash – most of it has been incorporated into baby quilts or cushions.  Did you know that before Jodie was the crazy selvedge lady she was the crazy chenille lady?  Most of my chenille comes from Jodie, back when she had a eBay store.  It was actually Jodie who got me into blogging – thanks so much Jodie!  Without your encouragement I wouldn’t be blithering on the internet almost two years later!

Thanks also to Tamara for hosting Sunday Stash.  I am extremely envious of her stash this week – as well as highly covetable Liberty fabric it includes two copies of Sew Hip magazine, which I haven’t seen in any newsagents here at all.  I can’t locate Crochet Today at any of my local newsagents any more either.  Very frustrating!  Thank goodness I subscribe to Interweave Crochet, Yarn, Stitches and Threads.  If any other Aussies have spotted Sew Hip anywhere, please shout out!

by thornberry
craft, sewing

Oliver’s Christmas cushion

Last year I made cushions for my cousin’s eldest two sons, each personalised with their initials.  This year it was Oliver’s turn.

Oliver's cushion - front by you.

Oliver is starting school in 2009, and has to take along a cushion (for naps?  to sit on?  I haven’t quite worked out why).  Here’s the back:

Oliver's cushion - back by you.

He was so excited when he unwrapped his parcel!  I was really surprised – I didn’t expect that a cushion would be so well recieved by a five year old.  But it obviously hit the spot.

by thornberry
bags, craft, sewing

Carry-all bag

Poor Nikki has been desperately trying to get this bag pattern released before Christmas, and has just been waiting on final feedback from her testers – um, one of them is me.  But yes, now it’s done!  I have made my Carry-all Bag and within about two hours of completion I was carrying it around.

Carry-all by you.

This bag can hold a huge amount of stuff – which is great for me, because my minimum amount of stuff is glasses case (with my prescription sunglasses, Clare’s sunglasses and Stella’s sunglasses), mobile phone, filofax, purse, cosmetic pouch (with panadol, bandaids, nail file etc – no actual cosmetics in it!) and generally also nappies, wipes, bib, facecloth, water bottle, snacks … you get the general idea?  Anyway, back to the bag …

The fabric was gifted from the generous and talented Kirsty at Brown Owls a month or two ago.  Speaking of Brown Owls, they’re featured in the latest issue of Frankie!  Congratulations Pip on a great interview. 

Carry-all and Frankie by you.

The bag closes with a zippered gusset.   The flap is just for looks, because with the zippered gusset I didn’t need it to be functional as a closure. It is piped and has a decorative O-ring attached. 

Carry-all flap detail by you.

My version of the bag has two handles, attached with O-rings.  There is a pocket on the back which has a sew-in magnet to keep it closed.  Luckily for me the fabric came complete with top-stitching, and I made it a feature along the top of the exterior pocket and the gusset.

Carry-all back by you.

Inside the bag are a zippered pocket and a compartment pocket.  The insides of bags are really hard to photograph!  I included a key leash as well, sewn into the side seam between the facing and the lining.  I figure that with a bag this size I need to maximise my ability to find my keys!

Carry-all zip pocket by you.

All the supplies (interfacings, fusible wadding, O-rings, zipper pull, magnetic catch, etc) are all from Nicole Mallalieu Design.  This pattern has loads of variations.  It’s not for beginners, as you need to be confident sewing curved pieces to straight pieces, but is incredibly versatile and as always Nikki explains the bag construction in fantastic detail.  You can finally tick this one off your list now Nikki!

by thornberry
bags, craft, sewing

Chemisette for Mum

We are spending Christmas day with hubby’s family this year, so last weekend we visited my parents and exchanged gifts.  The girls were absolutely thrilled with their cubby house (which was installed a couple of weeks ago at our house) and I made Mum a Chemisette handbag.

Mum's Christmas bag - exterior by you.

This is such a quick and simple pattern to construct, with a highly effective result!  The inside:

Mum's Christmas bag - interior by you.

There is a patch pocket on either side, and the bag closes with a magnetic snap.  Mum seemed genuinely pleased – yay!

by thornberry
children's clothing, kids clothing, sewing

Clare’s Christmas Dress 2008

In recent years I have made each of the girls a special dress to wear on Christmas Day (I usually do the same thing for their birthday).  Here is Clare’s dress for this Christmas.

Clare's Christmas Dress B by you.

The pattern is Claire by Sandi Henderson, which I bought here.  The fabrics are all from Anna Maria Horner‘s Chocolate Lollipop line (now a couple of seasons old).  I made a few simple changes to the pattern as I went along.  Firstly, I used contrast bias binding casings on the outside of the dress for the neck and sleeve elastic, rather than turning the edges to make inside casings.  Have to love that bias binding maker!

Clare's Christmas dress - sleeve and binding detail by you.

I also attached the waistband and ties differently to the instructions.  Rather than sewing the band to the outside of the dress, I constructed it so that it was attached in the seam between the bodice and the skirt.  This gives Clare the option of folding the waistband up or down, which will give the dress a slightly longer lifespan as she grows (it will keep the proportions looking right).

Clare's Christmas dress - hem and apron detail by you.

The skirt was fractionally short – I didn’t use the skirt pattern piece, as I had a limited amount of fabric and just cut the entire amount into two for the front and back skirt – so I added another contrast band to the bottom of the skirt, then bound the hem in more of that bias binding.  The attached apron was only cut one layer thick (rather than double as suggested) and then bound in bias binding.

Clare's Christmas dress D by you.

The twirlability factor is fairly high!  I had a small amount of bias binding left over so tied it in a bow on a hair elastic.  And have you realised that the dress matches the hat I made last month?

Clare's Christmas dress E by you.

She likes it so much I don’t quite know how I’m going to stop her wearing it before Christmas day!

by thornberry
craft, crochet, Uncategorized

A little CAL afghan progress

The Ravelry 2008 CAL afghan is coming along nicely!  Here are the final 25 squares, before being edged in Cappucino 8 ply cotton (from Bendigo Woollen Mills, the same yarn I used for all the squares).

 Rug progress by you.

And here is how the edging on each square is looking:

2008 CAL blocks - edged by you.

Once I counted the number of stitches on each side, most didn’t need adjusting and were ready for edging.  I had to adjust the size on about eight squares, making some smaller by ripping out the outer row, and adding a row to others.  Now they’re round about the same.  Once they’re all edged I’ll start joining them, but before that I’ll have to decide the placement of each square.  Almost as bad as working out the placement for squares in a patchwork quilt!  I wonder if I’ll get this finished before Christmas.  I did manage to edge three squares while having a spa pedicure treatment yesterday – the first time I’ve had a pedicure (and I’m 40).  So relaxing!

by thornberry
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