My photography mojo is back!

I have been kicking myself for not trying very hard to take nice portaits of Maddy each month like I did with Austin. I always thought I would take MORE of her than him bnecause I am better at it now than I used to be, however having Austy as a subject put me off a little. Not because he isn't super cute (because no matter how naughty he can be he is always 100% adorable!) but because he never stays in one spot long enough to use manual settings. Since I am still without a DSLR, I have to use buttons to change exposure and focus rather than lenses. So it does take time. And as soon I get it right, he's out of the shot and in different lighting and I have to do it all again. As a result I have just been using the camera like a standard point and shoot and the photos have been uninspiring.

However after the shots I took at my friend's wedding on Saturday, I felt confident to give it a go again with a much less mobile model. Here are the results!

And one the girls set up while I was photographing the bride - it was screaming at me to pop the colour out a bit with photoshop for a bit of fun!

Wedding wind up

So how did I go with those wedding projects? Unfortunately Madelyn's little cardy is still on the needles as Andrew decided to play golf all day Friday leaving me TRYING to sew to finish my skirt. I met him at the golf club for lunch and the plan was for him to stay home in the afternoon and watch the kids so I could sit at the sewing machine uninterupted and get it done, which would have left me with a relaxing evening snuggled up next to him on the couch as I did the button band on Madelyn's cardigan. Instead, he had taken too long to get up there (he's never out of bed before 9am) and decided to stay there for the afternoon. So I sat alone in the sewing corner while I finished it off once the little ones were asleep.

Oh well, at least I got the skirt finished - there wasn't much else in my wardrobe that fitted me (I'm still 2 sizes above what I normally am with baby weight to lose) as well as allow me to breastfeed and suit the wedding. I hate those unflattering auto timer shots that are never in focus unless you have someone else in the photo to focus on while you press the shutter button, and unfortunately the kind lady who offered to take a family shot of us at the wedding cut me off at the waist - and me holding a 17kg Austy probably didn't allow me to show off the skirt properly anyway. If only it wasn't so difficult to get hubby behind the camera sometimes...

So here are a couple of hanger shots. I love the gathering at the sides of the waist ties, and this was the first time I'd done a rolled hem. I was really happy with how it turned out, although at first I thought the fullness made my bum look huge! It had just enough sparkle to make it wedding-ish and still comfy enough for me to flit around being the wedding photographer for the couple. I did nearly stack it at one point though - the Australian bush doesn't really suit high heels on people who are staring at the world through the lens of a camera. Thankfully I didn't make too much of a spectacle of myself and a few other guests caught me!

I was really stressing that the photos I took wouldn't be good enough - I didn't want to stuff up one of my best friend's wedding photos, but luckily I took a few nice shots and have enough good ones to turn into a photo book to give the happy couple when they return from their honeymoon in a few weeks.

WIP Wednesday: Bamboozled!

I actually have a WIP Wednesday post for a change... but only because nothing is getting finished. My cute little distraction hasn't been very happy the last day or two, particularly sad today and no idea why. She is loving being carried in her sling...hang on, make that Austy's old sling that I made when he was about 6 months old. Hers is still sitting in the form of pretty fabric on my sewing desk. I have chosen some from the delicious Ginger Blossom range (soooo pretty!) to team with cream canvas fro the straps and inner.

So perhaps I am being a bit ambitious, expecting to complete this little cardy for her to wear to a wedding on Saturday. I am knitting it with a bamboo cotton blend, so it's silky soft - much softer than plain cotton, and hopefully not too warm, but keeps the wind off her still.

And even more ambitious - suddenly going out and buying fabric and a pattern to make a skirt for me to wear to the wedding. This will be made from bamboo too, just because I loved the gold embellishment across the fabric.

Hopefully the little Miss will let me do some sewing tonight. The knitting I can do with both kids awake when Madelyn is happily swinging in her swing, spinning the animals around that hang from the arches of her play mat, or snuggling up to someone else (she does love those cuddles!) But for now it's back on feeding duty so that she might go to sleep at a reaonable hour.

Getting there...

Okay, so I actually do have something blogable, but it just seems like not much compared to what I am seeing filling up everyone else's blogs in blog land, and still only just one step closer to having Madelyn's room all finished. But hey, it is something.

We purchased this kidsline clothes hamper when I was pregnant with Austy, and as cute as it was at the time with the matching mobile (that had to go back because it didn't fit the cot) and the matching lamp (which has since been broken by a certain 18 month old boy pulling it down on himself), it no longer "fits". For one thing, his room decor has changed - not a baby jungle room anymore, but a big boy's cars, trucks and airoplane room (and I wish I could find wooden planes to hang from his ceiling!). The greens, oranges, yellows and blues no longer match his bold red/white/navy colour scheme with splashes of green and yellow. And the hamper could have been made better as it tore at the seams over the years, and after a certain little boy thought it would make a fantastic hiding place. So no longer will it stay in Austin's room (a much sturdier option is on the cards) but it has now been redecorated for Madelyn.

I am yet to get the Dad of the house to paint it - it is likely she will have jumped in it and ruined it and changed her decor by the time that happens, but I have asked him to paint the frame white to match the walls and curtain rods... we'll see.

Still to do in Maddy's room:
*Hem the curtains
*Finish her knitted teddy bear mobile
*Hang her birth certificate
*Make a couple of cushions
*Perhaps some bunting
*I was thinking of a quilt wall hanging to match the room colours... but doubt I will get time, I'm almost over working with those colours now and want to make PRETTY DRESSES! (droooooool)

ETA: I wasn't meant to actually post this yet! I was writing it while I had the chance with the kidlets in bed, and accidentally clicked the wrong button. The plan was to go out and buy some velcro after playgroup this morning and post with completed pics. But since I'm a doofus, I have added "almost finished" pics until the real ones come - it's pinned to the frame...

Ruffly cuteness

I don't really have anything blogable of my own at the moment, the sewing machine has just been working on little bits and pieces whenever I catch a few minutes to myself. My brain has been thinking up ideas, but it's frustrating to have such limited time to make them into a reality. Still, the kidlets have been so adorable lately so I have been enjoying them instead.

BUT... how cute are these skirts!? I simply HAVE to try my hand at one for Miss Maddy one day when she's at twirling age. And even more wonderful is that just by blogging the link, I'm in the running to win one that Maddy can grow into.

Applique fun

I have known for a while that my embroidery machine can do applique designs, and I much prefer them over the straight embroidery but thought they would be a bit tricky to master. However when I decided to join the kids clothing swap on EB, I thought it was time to get brave and give it a whirl, since it was sure to make the outfit extra special.

I can't show you too much here of that one since it's supposed to be a surprise and will be revealed after the recipient has it for her little boy.




I can however show you the design I did for Madelyn. I love the cherry print knot I found at spotlight - she already has a nappy (almost grown out of) and scratch mitts (no longer used) from the print and I am still not sick of it. There's enough left for two more nappies too when I get around to making mediums for her.



The only problem is that it's such poor quality - very thin and bad recovery when stretched. so the sleeve bands I added to pull the sleeves in a little at the wrists (to stop it hanging over her hands and getting in her way) didn't really do what they were supposed to And I also discovered that just because one Ottobre pattern LOOKS the same as another, they are generally not. I loved the swap top I made from Ottobre 4/06 but couldn't find the magazine when it came to drafting Maddy's. I found a similar pattern that I thought was identical in Ottobre 1/07 but the neck opening is much larger and I'm not happy with it, the swap top is soooo much better, so I am thinking this might end up being a pyjama top, perhaps with some matching longies for this winter.



I also had trouble with the snaps -Andrew discovered that I was trying to put the sockets in upside down - I was sure they were up the right way. That's what they call baby brain I think. At least I got it right for the swap top as I used Madelyn's top as a practice run before I snapped that one. Swap pants to follow.

And for those who love a give away... head on over to Kylie's blog to see what she has up for grabs, something every day in the lead up to her 100th post.

Woolly legs

Just because it looks as if these won't fit her next week, and the weather's about to warm up again anyway, I thought I should post a couple of photos of Madelyn in her "Tannenbaum" cable leg longies.

Bushfire stars

I don't think I need to say anything much about the devastation that the Victorian fires, the biggest, fastest and most fatal of all Australian fires in history, have caused over the past six days. The world already knows since the impact has been so huge. What I will mention though is how wonderful people can be in response to such a tragedy. I watched my normal morning TV show this morning during Madelyn's early feed, and saw the bushfire appeal clock over the $50 million mark. How fantastic is that!!? And the collection centre in Adelaide closed it's doors today after they had received more than enough clothes, toiletries, toys etc. from the public to send over to the surviving victims who have lost everything, including family and friends. What we are told they need now is love and support as they do their best to make it through each day as they rebuild their lives as best they can.

So when Tia set up this flickr group to collect quilt stars to make quilts stitched with love that will not only warm victims bodies but their hearts as well, I jumped at the chance to participate. Of course with a newborn and a toddler at home, and since I'm pretty slow at quilt making anyhow, there was no chance of me making a quilt to send over, but a few blocks I could handle. So four scrappy maverick stars have left my house today to go into some beautiful quilts made by people all over the world.

If you are a sewer/quilter and want to participate, click on the link above or the button on my side bar to find out more. The stars are easily made up from scraps, so cost next to nothing to make and are lots of fun since there isn't much measuring involved. I think I like the brights the best (my last two) and have decided to make a baby quilt for one of my nephews using the scrappy centre blocks as they are so liberating to make and will make a dent in my scrap bag too!

I have also packaged up lots of charm squares to swap for primary colours to make another little boy's quilt. So I will be keeping a close eye on that letter box for fabric mail!

Time for a change

A change mat that is! When I made my nappy bag before Madelyn was born, I decided that I had enough fabric left to make a matching change mat, but it was waiting on me getting brave enough to try sewing with plastic to make it "wee-proof". Since I have conquered that, it was time to make the mat, with those favourite Timeless Treasures "Amelia" fabrics.

Just a simple little quilt type thing, the perfect size to fold in half and fit in the front pocket of the bag. It's not large, but it's fine for her now. When she's a toddler it might be too small but I'm figuring it really just needs to fit under her bottom area and by then I'll probably carry around a little changing tote rather than a whole nappy bag anyway, so I can make one of those fold out mat/tote things.

And someone asked a while ago to see my bag "feet". I'm sorry I can't remember who, so here is the pic.

And some Mummy shots - Austy eating lemons while we baked today:

And my little princess looking as chubby as ever - now 6.2kgs at only 7 weeks!:

The best thing about sewing

... is seeing your child loving what you have made them, just because... well, you made it! Here's my precious little boy, snuggling with his baby (who is also wearing a mummy made'ems set), on his "daddy made it" bed, snuggled under his "mummy made'ems quilt on his mummy made'ems cushion, wearing his mummy made'ems robot pj's. Okay, not pj's - just the pj top. I still have to make the matching boxer shorts, which is why I haven't blogged the top yet.

Woops... the flash disturbed him - it was a pitch dark room, despite the brightness of the photo. I really shouldn't take photos of him like that, but... aaaww... I couldn't help it!