Month: June 2009

bags, sewing

Felicity’s Chemisette

Clare has had a delightful young teacher this semester.  Sadly for us but luckily for a school in London, Felicity is jetting off to expand her teaching experience in the UK for the rest of the year.  I made her a bag as a thankyou/farewell gift.

Felicity's Chemisette Handbag by you.

The pattern is the Chemisette Handbag by lovely Linda over at Craft Apple.  This is the third bag I’ve made from this pattern.  It goes together quickly (which was good – I had two evenings in which to make it) and always looks nice.

Felicity's Chemisette Handbag - inside by you.

There are simple patch pockets inside.  The main fabrics are from Amy Butler’s August Fields line, which is the perfect home decor weight for making bags.  The pockets are in Mingle.  All interfacing, fusible wadding, magnetic snap and key leash come from Nicole Mallalieu Design.

Felicity's bag by you.

Best wishes for a lovely semester abroad Felicity – and we hope to see you again next year!

by thornberry
children's clothing, kids clothing, miscellaneous, patterns, sewing

Speed sewing

Clare had a 7th birthday party to attend yesterday, at 2.00pm.  At 11.00am I said to her “would you like me to make you a new pinafore to wear to the party?”  Of course she said yes, and dashed upstairs to help me to collect the supplies.

New Look 6477 by you.

Firstly, to select a pattern.  A few were rejected by Miss Clare “because they’re not really my style”.  So it was back to an old faithful, New Look 6477.  Last time I’d made this it was in a size 4, so I had to tape the pattern tissue back together (luckily I keep it for that reason) to recut it in a size 6.  If only I’d taken Nikki’s  advice on transferring multi-size patterns to card!  Clare busied herself getting out the matching thread, zip, ric-rac, choosing the contrast fabric, and finding the perfect accent button.

New Look 6477 in action by you.

Ta-da!  Shiny cotton/spandex/metallic denim from the remnant table at GJ’s Discount Fabrics.  Not exactly my style, but I knew that Clare would love it!  I cut the pleat pieces out of the front skirt pattern and recut them in contrast fabric, remembering (for once) to add seam allowances.  Clare was quite adamant that there be a flower applique on the bodice front.  Just the sort of extra details that take that little bit of time – time I didn’t really have!  I talked her out of adding a trim to the bottom of the skirt and just focused on the ric-rac around the neckline.

New Look 6477 top detail by you.

There is an invisible zip in the back, and I managed to get it lined up perfectly the second try.  By then I was sweating as the clock hands seemed to be moving faster and faster!  But the last stitch was sewn with about one minute to spare.

New Look 6477 - off to the party! by you.

The party was wonderful – and there was even face-painting!  Little girl’s heaven.  Clare was very happy with her pinny and had a ball.  It was all worth it!

New Look 6477 & painted face by you.

Gina of Clutterpunk has a great post on curing craftstipation.  I definitely managed to cure some of mine yesterday!

Oh, a reminder to the people that expressed interest in attending a Melbourne Northern Suburbs (and friends) Blogmeet – we have a dinner planned for Wednesday 15th July at 7.30pm – a great opportunity to meet and chat without the kidlets!  Please leave a comment on this post if you want further details and I’ll contact you (if you haven’t received my email already).  Thanks for being so patient.

by thornberry
craft, miscellaneous, sewing

Morning tea with crafty bloggers

You’ve probably already read about the morning tea that Nikki hosted on Friday morning.  Nevertheless, now it’s my turn to rave about what a lovely time I had.

IMG_9626 by you.

Masses of crafty bloggers and some of their offspring descended upon Nikki’s studio, all bearing loaded plates of delicious offerings.

IMG_9624 by you.

Even though I’d met many of these wonderful women before, it was a good thing that we all had name tags with our blog names on them as well as our real names!

IMG_9616 by you.

Nikki had set up a huge craft table for the kids which kept Stella occupied when she wasn’t busy throwing meringues away in favour of brightly iced cup cakes.

IMG_9619 by you.

Many of the women attending have businesses where they sell the results of their crafty endeavours.  Craft takes on a whole different context when money is involved, not surprisingly.  As most of you know, I sew and craft purely for my own satisfaction – I don’t sell anything.  So my input into discussions of markets, business, what sells etc was entirely from the consumer’s perspective!  It was all very interesting.

Nikki, the hostess with the mostess by you.

Have I already mentioned that Nikki is definitely the hostess with the mostess?

IMG_9625 by you.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful morning!  Attendees included (list unashamedly stolen from Nikki’s blog):

Cath – Mobble Gobble
Cathy – Tinniegirl
Nikki – My Black Cardigan
Tania – Myrtle&Eunice
Fi – Dear Fii
Melanie – Sugarlemon
Anna – Polly Pratt
Margaret – Konstant Kaos
Gina – Clutterpunk
Cathy – Miss Marzie
Louise – Lululollylegs
Liz – Lino Forest
Jodie – Ric Rac
Lara – Kirin Notebook / Ink&Spindle
Teegan – Ink&Spindle
Sandra – Pepperberry & Co
Ann Marie – Crafty Girl With Ruffle
 
IMG_9627 by you.
by thornberry
fabric stash, Sunday Stash

Sunday stash #31

Without Sunday Stash, vintage crochet Friday and the ability to share my shopping stash-building exploits, this blog would be pretty sparse!  Not many finished objects appearing at the moment, but lots of planning and mental crafting is taking place.

These fabrics from Joel Dewberry’s Deer Valley line will be combining with the Heather Bailey Freshcut fabrics I bought in April make a quilt for my bed.

Deer Valley by Joel Dewberry by you.

I suspect that the fabric buying for this quilt isn’t quite complete yet – there are a few more colours I’d like to add.  These all came from Quilt Home.  I also bought a large enough piece to make myself a skirt.

Deer Valley - Joel Dewberry by you.

Thanks to Tamara for hosting Sunday Stash!

by thornberry
adult's clothing, crochet

Freya’s floral fantasy

It’s great to have the opportunity to partake in a little alliteration!  Freya’s floral fantasy is the Divine Hat, crocheted in black Lincraft Cosy Wool, with colourful flowers added around the brim.

Freya's floral fantasy by you.

I’m looking forward to seeing this on Freya.  She requested a black beanie with colourful flowers – and that is exactly what she got!

Freya's floral fantasy by you.

And I swear that I am not going to crochet from this hat pattern again for a very long time.  At last count I’ve done this one thirteen times.  Now that’s a tried and true pattern for you! 

by thornberry
crochet, vintage crochet

Vintage crochet Friday #24

Fridays roll around so quickly!  Today is a great Friday, because it’s the start of school holidays.  I love the change in routine, not having to always be home in time for school pickup, and sleeping in – although we won’t be sleeping in during the first week of holidays, because Clare will be doing swimming lessons at 9.00am (egads!) each morning.  But on to the vintage crochet photo!

IMG_8698 by you.

Groovy baby!  But she obviously hasn’t learned that black undies aren’t a good idea under white lacy crochet.  This is another one of those styles that I think would be better on Clare than on me.

by thornberry
planned projects, yarn stash

A little of the yarn stash

Just realised that I’d forgotten to show off my $1 per ball yarn buys from Shepparton Spotty a few weeks back.  So here is it!  It may be a while before you see it transformed into crocheted splendour.

Moda Vera - linen mode by you.

Linen mode, by Moda Vera (Spotlight’s own brand) which is a cotton/linen mix.  I’m thinking I might make a Walking After Midnight skirt (Ravelry link) for myself from this yarn.

down to earth - bamboo/cotton tape by you.

Bamboo/cotton tape yarn, to make something shrug-like or poncho-like for Clare.  I thought she’d love the colour combination – and yes, she does.

down to earth - bamboo/cotton tape by you.

Some bamboo/cotton tape yarn for me too!  I’m considering something poncho-like for me as well, maybe the Farpoint Topper (Ravelry link) or something else by Doris Chan.  Or maybe something vest-like.  Wait and see – other suggestions welcomed too.

by thornberry
fabric stash, planned projects, sewing

Fabric and buttons

I received the Winter 09 fabric club samples from Kimono House last week.

Winter 09 Kimono House fabric club by you.

These are all charm square sized.  My original plan was to use all the squares form the fabric club in my entirely hand-sewn Japanese Kaleidoscope quilt.  Since the class was back in March and I’ve still only done three blocks, I now reckon I have plenty of fabric club squares to play with, so might make a Value quilt instead.  Another project on the ever-lengthening queue.

These beautiful badges were purchased from Lark last time I visited the Sister’s Market in Brunswick.

Badges from Lark by you.

Terrific for kids party bags, I think!  These vintage buttons are also terrific – but no way am I donating them to kids party bags!

vintage buttons by you.

These come from an elderly button collector who sells them through her local quilt shop.  She knows the history of every button.

by thornberry
miscellaneous

Penguins

We went to the Aquarium with Brown Owls on Sunday.  And wow, I did not expect to be so enamoured with the penguins!

IMG_9523 by you.

Suze from Brown Owls is a penguin keeper – how cool is that!  She organised a terrific deal for us and told us all about the penguins.

IMG_9527 by you.

Each penguin is named, and have particular quirks.  We learned that they really do “sing” to one another (Happy Feet wasn’t all imagination)!

IMG_9541 by you.

The way that they slide through the water is incredible.  So smooth, so sleek!  And then they pop out looking dry!

IMG_9533 by you.

For some reason I hadn’t anticipated how close we’d be to them and how much we’d see of their interactions.  Clare had a terrific time moving her hand up and down to one penguin which copied each movement with its beak.

IMG_9544 by you.

Amazing birds.  And that was just the start of our Aquarium visit!  Fish, amphibians, crustaceans, sharks, stingrays, cuttlefish, and jellyfish.  I love those blobby things too – it’s mesmerising to watch them moving in circles through the water.  Thanks so much to Suze and to Pip for organising our trip!

by thornberry
crochet

Keeping the tea cosy

Tea cosies look great and they’re practical!  Not that I drink tea very often – I like my long black decaf coffee.

scallop tea-cosy by you.

The pattern is a free one available here – it’s by a generous Australian known as Crochetroo.  She’s kindly provided the pattern in both Australian/UK terms and US terms.  I’ve become quite “bilingual” with crochet terminology to the extent that I wasn’t certain which I should follow!  I used a 4mm hook with 8 ply wool and acrylic.  My tea cosy turned out fairly small – I think it’s important to measure your teapot and then adjust the length of your starting chain according.  It could have done with another couple of rows of the scallops as well.

Scallop tea cosy - detail by you.

The scallops were a little tricky when I started off, but I quickly got into the groove!  I’d like to have another go at this pattern and make a much larger tea cosy.  But I have so many projects in the crochet queue already it may have to wait.

by thornberry
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