Day two of the Poppy Tunic parade is one that I made for my other sister, Carli. I wanted to show you the tunic with a cardigan (because I am cardi-obsessed) + boots. Cute, huh?
We used a different denim for this one – once again from Kelani Fabric, but a little more light-weight that yesterdays. And darker blue. I love denim. It is such a versatile medium – coordinates with any other fabric and gives a lovely base for the tunic.
I don’t think I mentioned yesterday that I’ve added 3″ in length to these tunics aswell, so bear that in mind if you are looking at these as a guide for the finished tunic length. The pattern cover is the true length of the pattern. Adding length is super easy though, I kept the width of the original hem the same, dropped it down 3″ and then drew a new line from the underarm point to the edge of the hem line. (That way you don’t have to change the length you cut your contrasting strip and the tunic doesn’t get too much of a triangular shape to it.)
I considered sharing my latest three Poppy Tunics in one blog post, but was finding it hard to condense the number of photos I was using, so instead…let’s have a Poppy Parade for the next three days!
This first Poppy Tunic is a birthday present for my little sister, Filipa who turns 28 today. Happy Birthday Filly!!! She is pretty pregnant at the moment, so I’m not sure if she will be able to squeeze it on but I’m sure it will be good and comfy to wear post-baby!
I loved this fabric-combo so much and was seriously considering holding onto it for myself! The denim is brilliant to work with and easy to wear. I’ve had this Anna-Maria Horner fabric in my stash for aaaages and always thought I didn’t like it, but I’m loving it in this tunic!
I’m seriously addicted to this pattern. I love making the tunics and have been wearing mine to death and am just about to choose some more fabric for my next one! It is so much more comfortable to wear than jeans on a cold day!
Well, I decided to join in on Kids Clothing Week Challenge over at Elsie Marley. I’m going to use the week to sew some much needed items of clothing for the kids…things that sit in my “to sew” list for a long time but other more exciting projects always seem to overtake!
Some of my list includes:
long-sleeved tops/short-sleeved tshirts for Tommy
long-sleeved tops for Oscar
undies for Lil
church pants for the boys
leggings for Lil
PJs for Tommy
baby clothes (not for me!)
Yesterday was Day 1 for me (a little earlier here in Australia!) and I churned out a few pairs of undies for little girls. I cut 10 pairs (6 for Lil and 2 each for my nieces) and managed to get 6 pairs finished last night. The other 4 are half-done…all that attaching waistband and leg binding was becoming a bit monotonous so I’ll have a break and finish them later in the week!
I limited myself to the knits scrap basket for these, so they are all pretty similar to last time. It doesn’t really matter what kind of knit you use for the undies, as long as the waist and leg bands have a good hit of lycra in them – Stella is great for this.
I’m feeling accomplished and happy to (almost) tick something off my “to sew” list! And it seems that those little girls are happy to be taking some new undies home to Sydney with them today!
we are having so much fun hanging out with eve, chris, charli and coda…
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
{why does it always have to end in tears? well, in this case it started in tears…yesterday morning was so cold and i stripped oscar and lil off and sat them on the bed to take some valentines day photos. not a good move when oscar had already woken up in a bad mood! he was in total shock that I wasn’t giving him breakfast and letting him snuggle on the couch and was in tears telling me that he was cold and wanted his clothes on and a blanket! what a mean mum…i made him sit there while i took photos, tears and all! then lil started crying too and i started to feel bad so we stopped and had another go this morning!!!}
Fathers Day for Jaron began with Oscar showering him with a custom made Dad’s Bag full of lots of yummy treats and a new CD. Oscar was very cute “helping” Jaron check out what was in the bag…of course he had to help Dad share his lollies! Then off to church where Jaron was able to bless baby Lil followed by an afternoon spent at Mum and Dad’s with lots of delicious food…prawns, pork ribs, vegies, lemon meringue pie, custard tarts and strawberries – YUM! Jaron is the best Dad in the whole world – I could never ask for more for my children. He always has so much time for them and loves to play with them, give them baths and lots of kisses and cuddles.
The two that we have in the loungeroom are constantly in use for snuggling on the couch. And after 2 and 3 years of use they are softer and snugglier than ever. (See them here and here.)
I actually bought these fabrics from Miss Matatabi back in November last year to make Mum a quilt for Christmas, but decided to hold onto them for Mother’s Day when the weather was colder and there would be more need to actually use it!
The quilt is really easy and fast to construct – this one took me 1 hour tops! Essentially, all it is is two pieces of fabric sewn together with a piece of wadding in between. Then when it is turned right-sides out, you “quilt” the layers together using bartacks on your sewing machine. So, so easy and achievable. Mum and I were wondering if the bartack quilting would work for a smaller sized regular quilt – anyone tried it before?
In order to get as much width to the quilt as possible, I left the writing on the selvedges showing. I like it like that, Nani IRO has cool selvedges! I love these fabrics, the floral one especially reminds me of Mum. The soft pink spot is actually metallic, a subtle interesting detail. Pretty sure the pink one is out of stock at Miss Matatabi now but keep checking because she is always getting new stuff in.
Happy Mothers Day, Mum! Might have to sit under this blanket when I come over next because I love it!
I don’t care much about fancy gifts for Mother’s Day. I really, really look forward to the cute handmade gifts that my children have made me at school or church. It is so sweet – especially when they run into their bedrooms after school to hide their special presents from me until the big day! This year I got lovely pasta necklaces, a collage, a masterpiece on a canvas, some delicious homemade biscuits and more.
The biscuits came with a copy of the recipe so that the kids could make them with me. So last Monday we got cooking and made a big batch for the week.
These are really yummy. I decided to sandwich them together with homemade raspberry jam – yum! We left some plain with only icing and no jam too. We wanted them bite-sized so used the little measuring cup that you get with kids panadol as the cutter. It was the perfect size, especially for the kids.
Kiss & Cuddle Biscuits
250g butter 1 cup icing sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla essence 1 cup SR flour 2 cups plain flour
Cream the butter and icing sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Add the flours and mix until a firm dough forms. Roll out to 5mm thick (I like to do this between two sheets of baking paper). Cut into shapes using cookie cutters. Place on baking paper-lined trays and bake in 180 degree celsius oven until lightly golden. When cool, ice with icing and sprinkles. Sandwich together with raspberry jam, if desired.
I’ve been playing along with the Instagram May Photo A Day Challenge (via Fat Mum Slim). It’s been a fun way to take random photos of things around here. I’m loving taking photos on my phone – it’s a convenient way to capture memories that I wouldn’t be able to if I don’t have my camera handy. I thought you might like to see the photos I’ve taken for the first half of the challenge…
1. Peace – this is my one child-free weekly work day…sometimes stuck at the computer and sometimes in front of the sewing machine. Trackies and slippers make it comfy!
2. Skyline. Driving home from the shops. I love where I live.
3. Something you wore today. My new pink jumper.
4. Fun! This is where it all happens – the playroom/sewing room.
5. Bird. My logo.
6. You. After a refreshing Sunday afternoon nap!
7. Someone that inspires you. My dear cousin – I love this reminder on my fridge to live life to the fullest.
8. A smell you adore. Anything baking!
9. Something you do everyday. I’m obsessed with checking the weather forecast multiple times a day!
10. A favourite word. Pray.
11. Kitchen. My kitchen at a random moment through the day.
12. Something that makes you happy. When the kids play (or cook!) with Dad.
13. Mum. My Mum with Lil and Nancy.
14. Grass. My toes were freezing!
15. Love. With my love.
(a note about my Instagram account…I’m mindful of social media taking up way too much of my time, so my Instagram account has been set to private and I’m not following many people or allowing many followers on my account – mostly because I know I’ll get addicted and spend too much time on it if I do!! So please don’t be offended if I don’t allow you to follow me. I’ll share pics on my blog from time to time though.)
These were fun to make and have been on my “to sew” list for a long time. I can’t believe how easy and quick they were – like 15 minutes from cutting to finish! I’m never buying leggings again!
The pattern I used was based on “Cinnamon Leggings” in the Spring 1/2011 edition of Ottobre magazine. These leggings were a bit short though so I also used a pair of store-bought leggings that we like and lengthened them and made a nice, narrow hem at the bottom.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned on my blog before how I like to finish the hems or do any exterior stitching on my knit fabric sewing. I did use a twin needle for awhile, which was great. But it was fussy too – always having to switch the needle around and making sure that I had two spools of thread plus a bobbin to use each time. Plus I would break the needles ALL the time and they aren’t that cheap to buy! I was looking through the stitches on my sewing machine and discovered a “triple straight stitch” – it is awesome. Basically it sews forwards, backwards and then forwards again over every single stitch and while doing so, it creates a stitch that looks like a thick regular stitch but has a good amount of stretch to it too! I use it all the time now and love it. Looks much nicer than the other option of zig-zag.
Day Three of KCWC was a fizzler. But I got to do something waaay cooler…I got to be with Ty and Sam while they had their first baby – Nancy Mae. She is the most adorable thing EVER (seriously, she is one of “those” perfect looking babies) and the whole experience was absolutely amazing. Sam was an super star trooper through her 30-hour long marathon labour and I feel so blessed to have been there. I’ll share photos of little Nancy later on, once her Mum and Dad have had a chance to share them first but for now, here’s a pic of my brother just a few minutes after Nancy was born – true elation and pride!!!
It seems as though we just get one holiday behind us and another is just around the corner. Mother’s Day is 2 weeks away and Citrus pOp is offering FREE POSTAGE on orders over $25!
To top things off, I’ve been getting creative with some new styles and combining my love of fabric with lovely jewellery…
First up, my new Lace ‘n Flowers range. Lace ‘n Flowers necklaces come in two styles –
And Pendant Necklaces, featuring a large single lace-covered pendant with floral embellishment in a choice of 7 colours (Madeit/Etsy):
As a special bonus – all Lace ‘n Flowers necklaces come with a FREE pair of matching lace-covered earrings!
Then I got thinking about my favourite fabric designers and decided it would be pretty cool if we could wear their fabric as a necklace!
Designer Fabric necklaces feature 5 pretty fabric-covered charms mixed with a little bit of floral fun. I want to make more of these and feature some of my other favourite fabric designers. Also happy to take custom orders for these if you have a favourite fabric designer/range you would like featured.
And a quick FYI…my Mini Earrings are back in stock, they were very popular last time I had them in store – I have a few different colours and love them…pretty colour, simple statement (Madeit/Etsy).
So, what are you waiting for? Get your Mother’s Day shopping over and done with, not sure when I’ll end the sale but will keep you posted 🙂
So excited about Sew, Mama, Sew’s Giveaway Day! Can’t wait to head over to their blog later on today and see who else is participating.
I’ve got THREE giveaways happening…feel free to enter all of them…everything is made by me!
GIVEAWAY #1
One funky patchworky zippered pouch One frilly mini-journal Two Make It Perfect patterns (Pinny & Pinny #2) Set of 6 handmade magnets
To enter, simply leave a comment!! (If you don’t have an email address linked to your profile, please leave an email address with your comment so I can contact you!) Winner will be chosen via random number generator on Thursday 20th May. I will ship worldwide!
I’ve got THREE giveaways happening…feel free to enter all of them…everything is made by me!
GIVEAWAY #3
Make It Perfect Pinny #2 kit CONSISTING OF One Make It Perfect Pinny #2 pattern Fabric to make Pinny #2 in sizes 6 months – 5 years (winner to specify)
{Fabric information: Wendy Slotboom, Treetop Birds in Brown Wendy Slotboom, Retro Stripe in Red Jennifer Moore, Mingle, Circles in Espresso Blue unknown}
To enter, simply leave a comment!! (If you don’t have an email address linked to your profile, please leave an email address with your comment so I can contact you!) Winner will be chosen via random number generator on Thursday 20th May. I will ship worldwide!
I’ve got THREE giveaways happening…feel free to enter all of them…everything is made by me!
GIVEAWAY #2
Four vintage-inspired “Meringue Pie” Citrus Pop hair pins One frilly mini-journal Two Make It Perfect patterns (Pinny & Pinny #2) One doily canvas art
To enter, simply leave a comment!! (If you don’t have an email address linked to your profile, please leave an email address with your comment so I can contact you!) Winner will be chosen via random number generator on Thursday 20th May. I will ship worldwide!
Sharing another new pattern tonight…this is one of my favourites ever. I love it because it is not gender-exclusive and includes sizes to fit the whole family. It looks tricky but is really easy…great to sew up for a quick gift (most of my Christmas presents this year will be Lazy Day Hats) and it is reversible! Definitely a pattern worth having in your collection.
Lazy Day Hat
Set yourself up for some Summer fun with this totally unique Summer sun hat! Whether you are frolicking along the beach, playing at the park, pottering in the garden or enjoying a sunny walk, Lazy Day Hat will be perfect for keeping the harmful rays of the sun off your face and neck. Lazy Day Hat is totally reversible, giving you two stylish hats in one, a perfect fit for the whole family. While you’re at it, whip up a quick and easy flower embellishment that can be used to adorn your hat, a bag, hair clip, the top of a present or anything else you desire!Once again, not available to purchase until November at Quilt Market.
I have lots to blog about but have left my camera at Mum’s house so no photos to share until tomorrow. We leave on Tuesday so tomorrow will be devoted to cleaning the house, sorting stuff and packing. I’m not much of a last minute packer (or last minute anything really). Packing for me usually involves the initial pack and then realising that I don’t actually need to take the kitchen sink so a bit of unpacking, debating on whether we are really going to use it and then the final put everything in the suitcase and zip it up so the kids can’t pull everything out! Then writing a long list of things to do on Tuesday morning before we leave and last minute things to pack! Oh fun, we are really really looking forward to taking a break though and can’t wait to be able to chill out for a bit and spend some family fun time together!!
It’s back! And this year it’s bigger and better than ever! I’ve joined together with 26 fabulous PDF designers to bring you a HUGE Boxing Day Sales Event.
Running all day Boxing Day you can get 30% off your PDF Pattern purchases from these businesses with the code .
So by Boxing Day do we mean Boxing Day where you live?
YES, Absolutely! The sale begins 12.01am 26/12/15 in Samoa and continues right through till 11.59pm 26/12/15 in Baker’s Island … it runs for 50 hours to make sure we cover Boxing Day world wide!
… and don’t forget to check out the facebook pages of participating businesses for your chance to win pattern bundles! There’s 4 pattern bundles up for grabs! What better way to get set for a Sew-tastic 2016 than by picking up patterns at an extra special price!
This naming a baby business is doing my head in! How do you do it? Naming a baby is such a big deal – you are responsible for giving this little person the title that they will be referred to for their whole life. If that isn’t difficult enough, getting both Mum and Dad to agree on one name is even harder!
Oscar’s name just clicked one day, I don’t think we actually thought about it that much, it just popped into my head and we both liked it and it was done. I heard Lil’s name in a restaurant one day…one of the wait staff called out “Lil” to someone in the kitchen and I was sold! Tommy is a family name (after my Dad) and it’s completely fitting that we named him Tommy because he has SO many characteristics and similarities to Dad.
But this one…it’s so tricky.
I could name a zillion girls – girl’s names can be pretty and sweet and cute and quirky and tomboyish…but it seems that a boys name needs more thought and attention.
I’ve got a handful of names that I actually really like, but Jaron isn’t coming to the party with any of them!
Thanks to Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends I think we have agreed on one. (Really, I was lying in bed one night and picked up the Thomas book sitting on my bedside table and read them all out!)
But I’m not spilling the beans because you already know that we’re having a boy so I’ve got to surprise you with something, right?! You’ll find out soon enough…today is week 39, so I’m expecting to have this baby boy in about 2 weeks!
I’ve been consistently 6 days overdue with all of my babies, so am planning on it happening that way again this time…I’ll be in for a shock if this one decides to make an early appearance because I’ve got my schedule planned for the next 2 weeks and am still whittling away at my list of things to do before baby!
I did, however get myself a little bit organised today and finally made a start on the hospital bag. With Tommy, I didn’t start packing until I was actually in labour (I know, 6 days overdue…what was I thinking?!) and his labour was so fast that it was very rushed and a little bit stressful leaving it until the last minute!
We keep chatting about what this little one is going to look like…our other three have been totally different as babies. From completely different moulds so I wonder whether this one is going to have a different look altogether or take after one of the others?
Spent 4 hours walking around outside today and it was finally a warm, sunny day. Boy did I feel i, after pushing the pram around the craft fair walking the whole of Deloraine (well, not really, but it felt like it!) I was left sweaty, tired and sunburned. But it was good exercise and better than driving any day. Best thing about the whole day?…the kids were PERFECT so I could enjoy the stalls and have a fun day out.
First of all…blogging has taken a Summer back seat again! We’ve been enjoying some warm days and they are too infrequent this Summer to waste time on the computer 🙂 Also, Aunty Whitney has been staying with us this week, which has been lots of fun – Oscar and Lil love all of the attention and I love the company and extra help!! Yesterday we made the most of Australia Day and Jaron having a day off work and took a trip to Beauty Point to visit Seahorse World. Oscar loved it – his new favourite topic of conversation is seahorses! It was a nice little outing, a little overpriced maybe, but fun to do something different. Beauty Point has breathtaking views, Seahorse World is set on a huge kind of jetty – really pretty, but kind of freaky with two toddlers and no side rails anywhere! My mind overreacts when there is lots of ocean and no boundaries! We finished off the day with a play at the beach when we got home, some beach cricket with friends and the customary Australia Day BBQ. I wish it were a Public Holiday every day…
3 years ago Oscar didn’t know what Christmas was. 2 years ago he opened his presents on Christmas day and said “wow” over and over again. 1 year ago he was excited when Christmas day came. This year he has been asking us every single day for the last week if we can put up our Christmas tree with heaps and heaps of decorations and lights and presents underneath.
We couldn’t wait any longer…the tree is up and the carols are playing…we like it!
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