Overcoming the fear

I have decided that I really must stop buying embroidery designs and things to embroider until I can overcome my fear and actually USE my machine! I have a Janome 350E that I got for my birthday (along with the new sewing machine I got for Christmas), but the hooping thing really gets me. I never know how tight or how loose to do it. The DVD that came with the machine says to do it "drum tight", while the sewing shop lady who gave me my one brief lesson said to do it a bit looser than "drum tight" otherwise you'll stretch the fabric and still get puckers. Well I think I have done it both ways - too tight AND too loose, and can never get it right. I would go for more lessons but find it hard to fit in when I work full time and even though they offer Thursday night classes, I never can go because Austy's Dad works from 3-midnight leaving Austy in my solitary care. I tried to go for one sewing machine lesson too on a very rare day off work, and it was pointless as there was noone else to run the shop, she had lots of customers to atend to, three other class members still going from a previous time slot and no time to really show me anything wasting my whole 2hrs that I managed to get away on my own for.

Today I jumped in the deep end and did a baby bodysuit. Probably not the best place to start. For one it stretches far too easily which means that my colours "spill" outside the final outline because the stretching meant that the fabric shifted a bit as it sewed, and it was very difficult to hoop as it's so small. I thought I would leave it embroidering while I cut out a top for Austin, but that was not going to happen. I had to sit by to adjust the bodysuit every minute or so as it was too small and the rest of the bodysuit kept getting in the way. And my threads kept snapping. The only one that didn't was the Coats Alcazar brand one I used for the mane, feet and tail of Zany Zebra. So I think I will swap all my Janome threads over for those once my original starter pack runs out. Any other embroiderers out there have a favourite thread to share? I'd love to try it.

I adore the pack I bought here after Novy pointed me to the link to the Embroidery Library. The designs are much better quality and also cheaper than the other place I was getting them from, and the colour charts really help too. I don't have any software so it's all black and white on the machine so I have saved the colour charts in word format in the same file as the designs. Overall I think this is ok for a beginner attempt and hopefully, with practise I'll get better.

Uh oh, I think the boy is awake. I promised he could do a design with me if he slept and have it all hooped, colours picked and in the machine ready to go so he can press the start button when I tell him to. I think he might just be a bit of a sewer himself one day! Better go keep my promise or he'll be very upset if he can't "sew with Mummy". Great soggy backyard activity!!

Monkey fun

Okay, so the hand stitching was painfully tedious on those chick blocks. 2 down, 10 to go! But shoved to the back of the desk for now, until I can get my hands on some stuff called quilter's gluestick which hopefullly will keep those pesky seam allowances in place while I stitch everything down. The second block I did wa sthe one on the green background, and it was those funky little chicken feet that made me decide not to do any more without the glue.

So what's a girl to do, but start another quilt?! So here is the beginnings of my monkey quilt. I bought the fabric ages ago and had the plan in my head, just haven't had the time or motivation to get started. The rain today meant we had to sit inside so Austy watched his "Peepo" (Baby Classics) DVDs while I cut out. Then his favourite bit, he got sit on my lap to chain piece all the triangles together... well, half of them. I stuffed up with my cutting so have had to order more green fabric, luckily they still have it in stock. That's about as far as I got until he eventually had a sleep (after I threatened to throw both his DVD player and Justine Clarke CD in the garbage bin!) so I could take more care at trying to match up my triangles without trying to make room for him on my decreasing lap (due to the expanding belly).

This quilt will be the travel quilt for bub, only 1m square so it is not too bulky to carry around, and should be able to find a space that size on the floors of people's houses we visit. The chick quilt is quite a bit bigger so better off staying home.

Starting a new quilt

Here is the first block for a new baby quilt - the first time I am using a pattern! I decided it's about time I followed a pattern as it might teach me something. So far I am learning how to applique the traditional way (with hidden stitches, all by hand). It will certainly test my patience as I am a slow hand stitcher who really doesn't enjoy the process. Maybe I'll get better and faster... who knows. Then it will be time to work on my hand quilting!

In the meantime I will work on some machine pieced mini quilts for the baby's room. I found this gorgeous fabric that will certainly be a feature as it has those cute garden kids as well as the perfect shades of chocolate, pastel blue and deep red, that I have chosen for the baby's decor. I figured these colours would be fresh and modern, but also quite unisex and I couldn't believe it - Austy's Dad agreed! I was worried how he would take my suggestion of a deep red feature wall. Quite a brave move and I know my mother in law will have a heart attack when she sees it (when we get around to painting it) as it certainly doesn't match her traditional ideals of pastels and creams... but hey I know the baby will love it!

Anyone for mint slice?

I haven't done a whole lot on these this week - just stitched the elastic in and the pocket on today so I had something to show for the week. Instead I have been busy working on Helen's round robin border which took me much longer than I thought, but well worth the effort as it came out even better than I had hoped! It's off to Emma as soon as Austy is well again and unlikely to infect anyone. Yep, that's right he's sick again. Not gastro this time but a "virus" which sounds suspiciously to me like a chest infection in the making. He has had a temp over 39 which needed regular doses of panadol to keep down since yesterday afternoon so I took him to the 7 day medical centre this afternoon to get it checked out and have been told he looked alert (hyeah righ - he could hardly keep his eyes open and was glued to my lap instead of tearing around the waiting room like he usually does) and if he still had a temp tomorrow to bring him back for antibiotics. Hmmm... we'll see, although I'm certain I will have to take him back tomorrow.

Anyway, back onto the longies... I tried to make these for a 3m old sized baby considering we're due in December and bub would be much better off in just shorties or soakers at that time of year, but this wool begged to be longies rather than two soakers. They look minature to me, fit only for a doll but Austy's dad thinks they look too big... we'll see. I am not as impressed as I thought I'd be as I was hoping for a unisex look, but the chunkiness of them as well as the cables makes them look a bit boyish, and I have an incling we are having a girl (of couse it is just that - a hunch - and we could just as easily be having another boy!). Oh well, maybe if we do have a girl I can team them up with a girly top with maybe a green appliqued bird with brown beak and legs or something.

I added the pocket for a bit of a smile - I love the supurflous pockets on baby clothes. It gave me a giggle when Austy was born and I remember a chat with my sister in law about how ridiculously cute tiny pockets were, even though there is minimal chance anything will ever go in them!

Something girlie!

Since my good friend Emma's little girl Eleanor was turnig one, I took the opportunity to sew something girlie. I did have a lot of fun planning and sewing it, but was up well into the night on Friday to make sure it was ready for the party yesterday. It wouldn't have been so last minute if it weren't for first Austy getting gastro the week before last and then sharing with me last week. I was off to the fabric shop on Thursday as soon as I was on the mend and only started tracing patterns and cutting on Friday night, so it was a close call!

The top is about a 0-1 (the pattern was from Ottobre Autumn 07 which uses measurements rather than age related sizes) so that should fit nicely with a little bit of growing room. I made the pants size 1, a simplicity pattern that is a quick and easy favourite of mine, I have made it 7 times now and the simple and practical design makes it great for kids. Here is a pair I made for my nephew last year. The knee patches are perfect for crawlers and early walkers. Only problem is I think I messed up a little with the seam allowances as they are more generous that Ottobre patterns and I think I did them the same (it was after midnight when I cut them out!), so it's closer to a 2 and Emma told me yesterday that se's still in 00's!! So I will be making another pair soon to be worn with the top and this pair can wait till she's bigger.

I forgot to blog this little hat I made Austy for childcare - a very easy design that looks cute too. Also very cheap (just a scrap bit of fleece I had) so it doesn't matter what happens to it at childcare. And all childcare things need names. Instead of messing around with name labels I decided to tackle the embroidery machine. Glad I did!



And a sneak peak at something quilty that I just know someone will be eyeing off:



Finally, a knitting WIP for bubs. Big tip - don't tackle lace with a 2yr old around... or a HUSBAND for that matter!!! It took me four tries at setting the pattern since someone kept asking for things...

Oh and an action shot of the apron from Novy - we made jam drops today after watching a kids play in the city.

Playing catch up

I seem to be chasing my tail at the moment and not getting anywhere, but finally I have some projects finished and on their way. One of them is for a bub that's over 2 months old, and the other is a month late. I just can't keep up with all of the things I want to do at the moment.

I have also received some crafty goodness:


First we have a very cute apron from Kerri from Ontario, Canada. I was totally spoilt with all the wonderful effort she put into this apron, so beautifully made too.


Next we have my doll quilt swap 3 parcel contents - a cute little quilt and a huge pile of Fat Quarters! This was from a girl called Sara in the US, although I don't know her blog address (if she has one) so can't link to her. It is the second quilt she's ever made and despite having trouble with her sewing machine (and trying three others before she was finally able to get the result she was after) she percervered and did her darndest to get me a quilt eventually! Thanks Sara!

And finally, something that put a huge smile when the generous and talented Novy surprised me with a pic on her blog last week, and put a huge smile on my sick little boy's face when it came in the mail today. An adorable little apron made just for him with a cute guitar print that he absolutely loves (and so do I!) Austy's dad thought it was pretty cool too and showed him how the pockets can hold his playdough tools. Austin loves to bake, mostly cupcakes but today it was fresh playdough which he was playing with just before this arrived. He wanted it on straight away, and won't take it off! Austy has a gastric flu at the moment so no cupcake baking for him right now, but when he's better there'll be no stopping him! Thanks so much Novy!!

The Game

I got this off AJ's blog and thought since it's a cold yucky day outside, I'd play too.

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One Word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name.

Word is out!

I have been extremely tired the last few months, and this has been the culprit. No... not the cardy, that was just a simple project I managed to work on FOR the culprit while my eyelids fluttered and I curled up on the couch each night.

So Austy is going to be a big brother for Christmas! We're all a bit excited now after it being a bit of a shock at first - we weren't planning on trying for baby number 2 until July/August, so this one was a bit of a surprise. Austy is very excited and has decided the baby is called Oliver. We don't know why, but he also thinks it's a sister called Oliver, and asked if he can hold her hand when she comes out.

The scan pic isn't very clear as it took an hour of poking and prodding to get the baby where it had to be for all the measurments and I think the sonographer was sick of me by the end of it all and just printed off the last shot she took. We thought Austy was stubborn... hmm I think we have our work cut out for us with this one! The poor thing was rubbing it's eyes by the end of it, I think it finally decided to lay on it's back out of defeat.

Apron mail

My apron swap parcel is on it's way. I am a few days late but, late is better than never. I hope my partner enjoys the summery citrus flavour! Unfortunately I don't get much chance to see the sunduring the weekdays at the moment so these horrid flash photos will have to do. Hopefully my partner will snap some pics outside in the sunshine for me.

Cars and Stripes!

This little hoodie caused me and Austy a little grief! I decided to use some cute cars print inside the hood, a soft cotton drill that came from Quilt Fabric Delights. It was just too cute to refuse, despite the fact the pattern (Ottobre - Fall 07) called for a cotton knit.

When I went to try it on him the morning after I had made it (a distraction from the tears he already had over the fact I had to go to work), I couldn't get it over his head. Austy was very certain it would fit, tellling me "It's okay Mummy, I can make it fit" and he continued to force it. He somehow managed to get his face through the face hole without actually putting it on and called out "I got my hoodie on!" with a broad cheesy grin. Then he realised it wasn't on properly and he started to get upset, so I broke into laughter... I had to or else I would havecried with him! He was a bit startled by my response but then he started laughing too and I promised I'd fix it. Several hours with the unpicker and then a bit more time at the machine and here it is.

Not as cute as the cars version, and now with the stripes I could very well have used the original embroidery design (a blue tractor) that I had tested out with plans of going on this hoodie until I realised it was the wrong type of vehicle to match the car and roadworks vehicles in the lining. Oh well, I will have to embroider the tractor on something else! The jumper is a good size (I had to do size three) although I think if I made it again I would do the sleeve cuffs much narrower, that way they won't hang in the dirt or in his food when he eats. I had thought this might happen so cut them slightly smaller than the pattern, but as the sleeves are a tad long, I didn't cut them small enough.

I am also working on my apron swap - slightly late (oops) as it was due to post on Sunday, but hopefully it will be in the post on Thursday evening, along with the other goodies the swap calls for. It's very bright and summery, trying to make me THINK it's warm in my freezing cold sewing room at the opposite end of the house to the toasty warm gas heater! My partner is a bit bigger than me, and since I have not much idea about American sizings, I went for a more OSFA approach. A design I made up as I went along with one main criteria, that the ties wrap right around and tie up at the front (as my swap partner requested). I made them pretty long since I don't know how big she is, so they should tie into a nice big bow at the front.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to post again on the weekend after a button hunt - I have some baby knitting to show off!