Birthday sewing

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I've managed to set up my sewing machine in the corner of Keith's office (my room won't be ready for a while) and have done a bit of sewing for Keira's birthday. I really enjoyed making her a pencil roll (from this book).

Going through my stash of fabrics and matching them up to the pencils was good fun. (I'll even admit to selecting the pencils with the nicest colours!)



I embroidered her name in running stitch on the outside.



I'll definitely be making more of these.

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Projects

Bought this fun fabric by Moda yesterday with the plan to make a library/music bag for a girl who is leaving our school next year, and has very kindly passed on her brand new (& v.expensive) school duffle coat to Keira.


The sewing had to wait till the kids had gone to bed. It's quite hectic this week as the school year comes to an end. Today was the Infants Nativity performance, which Caley's Year 2 class stars in. The kids wait till Year 2 to get a speaking part, and as my two seem to have quite a liking for the stage, Caley was determined to have some lines to say. He did very well and I was quite proud, especially as I hadn't helped him learn his lines at all and had delegated that to Keira who is definitely the Drama expert around here!


I had made a bag like this for Keira at the start of the year, so just used it as a guide for this one. I enjoy mixing the fabrics up and these were fun to work with. A local shop has just started to stock some more interesting fabrics which is great. Usually, I have to travel further (or order online) to find fun stuff to use which isn't so great when you want to make something on the spur of the moment.


Now it's on to the next project - which is to make 16 cheerleading pom poms for a ballet performance of the Wizard of Oz (yes, apparently there will be cheerleaders along the yellow brick road). These need to be ready for a rehearsal on Saturday. Kind of regretting volunteering for this one now that I see how long it takes to put them together (!!), but it's the only help I'm providing for the show so will be glad in the end . . .

I am so ready for the school holidays to start! And to start decorating the house for Christmas, a bit behind schedule in that department this year!

Hand Stitching

The weekend went by in a blur.

There was lots of baking (custard tarts and damper), very yummy.

There was lots and lots of hand stitching, so much so I think I've suffered my first 'sewing' muscle injury! The middle finger on my right hand was actually aching on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning the joint seemed swollen, visibly larger than on my left hand! A work-place injury, with only myself to blame cause I actually couldn't stop sewing. I was on a roll, with lots of ideas taking shape, and was not going to let a sore finger get in my way.

Keith thinks I'm going mad . . .

Above, is a calico tablecloth I was asked to hem for my childrens' school. A teacher, who taught both Keira and Caley in Kindergarten, is leaving soon and as a present all the children in the Junior school are going to draw a small picture and sign their name onto the tablecloth. We've seen tea towels done like this to great effect and another parent has donated fabric markers for them to use. They just said to hem it, but I thought some hand stitching, in red would be fun and add to the overall look. I probably should've thought about how long the tablecloth was before I started.

Holiday Craft

Enjoying not rushing in the mornings, having time to sew and get messy with glue, seeing our friends and family, The Hobbit, bike riding, hot chocolates . . .

Birthday Treats

This is my very special birthday present . . . a pfaff all of my own!! After borrowing my mum's pfaff machine to sew my patchwork quilt together, I became addicted. It's just perfect. That's all there is to it. I had to have one . . .

Now to start on all those planned projects - although with a deadline to finish a largish painting on Saturday, I might have to wait another week. Oh well, it gives me such pleasure just to see it sitting there on my desk.

Also wanted to show these fun shoes, also for my birthday (!), also found at the treasure chest that is the Victory Theatre Antiques. I feel very "I Dream of Jeanie" wearing them!

Embellishments

I recently made the little purse above that's not quite finished (like most of my projects at the moment . . .) and much to my surprise really enjoyed sewing on the tiny beads. I think it makes it look a lot more special and started thinking about ways to add sequins and beads to lots of other bags/purses I have in mind. So today when I flipped through one of my favourite magazines and saw lots of wild combinations of all sorts of lovely embellishments, I couldn't buy it quick enough! I really like the idea of just "going for it" with the design, and sewing them on in which ever way takes my fancy as I'm doing it. It's pretty radical for me not to plan or at least have a picture in my mind of what I want it to turn out like. Can't wait to get started.

A Bag for Mary

After telling my sister about my new found love for making bags, she lent me some of her Japanese craft books, which then inspired me to make a few purchases of my own . . . (I know lots of other people have been using these for ages but I'm kinda new to all this!). I love many of the bags and purses in this book by Onishi Junko which I ordered from Kinokuniya in Sydney, and can't wait to try making more of them. Mary saw the bag above and loved it, so we decided to have a go using some of her beautiful merino felt in red. I'm slowly gathering material and hopefully will be able to make a start soon.