Fresh off the sewing machine!

Another one of these from Sparkle Power! Probably a long tunic rather than a dress. Not for Jemima, but for a little friend who turned 2 recently. The fabric was given to me last year some time, and I quite like those tiny swans. For the sleeves, I used left overs from the jedi robe, and the buttons are probably at least a couple of decades old, and are a perfect match in my opinion.

Dress ups and pondering

I have been hard at work crafting away, trying to be organised for Christmas. It is verrrrry hard keeping a handmade present under wraps. I usually like to do a big "look what I made! ta da!" on completion of an item. So this secret squirrel business is pretty challenging. I can't even do my ta da! here in blog land for the literate among my recipients might have their surprise spoiled.

But this I can show you... Caleb asked for a "hoodie dress" a little while ago, and once I had surmised he meant Jedi robe, I did a quick google search and found this tutorial. I want this to be a surprise so I couldn't get him to lay on the fabric to get my measurements, so I used my simple servant dress pattern and added the hood and cut and hemmed down the front and added a little velcro attachment. I still need to hem it. I took a sneaky measurement to help in this- I want it to be good to go from unwrapping, not fussing with hemming it on Christmas morning. I hope it fits!

And this is not Christmas craft, and I am also not sure how I feel about it....

I found the veil that came with my second hand wedding dress in a big closet cleanout on Tuesday. I didn't wear it on my wedding day, but the sales assistant gave it to me anyway since she had no use for it. The kids spied it, and both had a go at trying to wear it, but because it was on a hair comb it wouldn't stay put. So I chopped off one of the layers and sewed it to a yellow headband we had lying around and then to cover my shabby hand sewing, sewed some flowers I had made with no purpose in mind, on top. When I finished it, Jemima said in her usual fashion, "I am not wearing that!", but about half an hour later put it on and didn't take it off for about 2 hours. There have been a lot of weddings to attend in her short life, and she is all about the "bride". She even has pretend weddings during her "rest time", that of course have no suggestion of a groom. When I ask her who she married at her wedding, she looks at me blankly or says "Uncle Tim and Aunty Kate."

It's quite funny because I was never "all about the bride". 8 years ago when I was the bride, I was looking forward to being married, but didn't really want to have the "wedding". I don't like being the centre of attention, and it's something that you really can't avoid on your wedding day! But I did want to mark the occasion with a celebration with lots of family and friends, and our service was certainly that. For our reception we had an afternoon tea in a hall in the adjoining retirement village which was just right for us.

I don't want to encourage Jemima to be focussed on her wedding day, but in the end, she equates being a bride with being a princess, a ballerina, a robot or a fairy, so into the dress up box goes the veil!

A new blog

After some lovely comments on this post, I decided to start an additional blog, "My brain popped an idea!", to document the creative pursuits of my children for my own records. You are quite welcome to stop by if you feel so inclined!

Bath Mats Revisted

The last time I made bath mats, they became pot holders. I simplified the process somewhat and now I have 2 new (but old) bath mats made from 2 old boring bath mats and scraps from the stash. I tied them together with my cotton yarn every 10-15 cm or so.

Need a couple more to allow for washing days, but since we have bought no new towels since we got married (adult sized ones) I have plenty of old towels to work with... and need excuses to get new ones.

With thanks to Random.org...

Congratulations Willy Wagtail!

If the result of this giveaway leaves you crochet dishcloth-less, do not fret! If I can learn to crochet this little number, anyone can. I mean it. Truly.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Cardboard Days

We had a self imposed quiet day at home today. Caleb has a fairly mild cold, but started to sound wheezy yesterday, so off to the doctor we went. He is now the proud (yes, he really is) owner of his very own puffer and spacer. He is much better today, but I just felt like the 3 of us needed a break.

The best thing about these long days kicking about at home is the kids always come up with some creative pursuit or another. (The worst things are the peeling screams of Miss Jemima when things aren't going her way.)

Pictured above is a bow and arrow (and "bag" for the arrow made lovingly by me from a toilet roll), and Caleb independently constructed the phone and foot-man-with-feet. We had a good laugh about that one.

Old school

I don't know where I first came across this idea, but I am pretty sure that it was in a couple of articles in Real Living over the past few months. We just got the door up a couple of hours ago after painting it with White Knight Chalkboard paint on the weekend.

I made a little hanging basket using this tutorial and there is an old peanut butter container in there full of chalk and a duster (plastic for safety's sake). I changed the tute a little bit, doing a few extra stitches here and there because I was using cotton and a different sized hook- this made me feel like a real crochet pro. Go me! It did turn out bigger than I expected, but I am still really pleased with myself.

We'll see if I regret this project as chalk dust builds, but for now I have a happy-finished-project-glow.