little easter bunny

The Easter Bunny's feet
Go hop, hop, hop,
While his big pink ears
Go flop, flop, flop.
He's rushing on his way
To bring our eggs today,
With a hop, flop, hop, flop, hop

(author unknown)

polar fleece toddler beanie

a remnant of spotted blue polar fleece from the Spotlight bag is perfect for making toddler beanies. I used this free pattern to make up the beanie pictured. Although it's a perfect fit for Miss 2, I think it would work better with a little more length added. I'll add 2.5cm on to the length on the next ones I make. I've got 45cm of 150cm fabric and it looks like I might be able to squeeze out possibly 6 beanies. These beanies are destined for the hospital charity. Miss 2 is in love with her beanie, it hasn't left her head since she put it on early this morning.

crafting for charity

my crafting for charity is inspired by my little nephew Jodeci, who was born at 24 weeks gestation. His twin brother passed away at birth. Jodeci is a real fighter and against the odds, he's progressing well. He celebrates his 1st birthday next month.

He was so tiny and needed specially handknitted teeny tiny beanies to keep his head warm. That's what got me started as I'm the only one in my family who knits. From there, I heard that there was a charity programme associated with the hospital that always needed knitters and sewers to make clothes and blankets for babies & toddlers. So I joined the South Auckland wool programme straight away & have been knitting & crafting since then.

I feel connected to my community when crafting for charity. I'm now more aware of the world around me and feel blessed to have talents that I can share.

baby blanket

whenever Spotlight has a sale, I try to buy at least a couple of fabric remnants bags. They're a real bargain at $5 each and are bursting with fabric. I'm always surprised with what I get as I can't see what's inside when I buy a bag.

Today's bags were full of children fabrics including this really lovely muslin in a sweet shade of mint green which I thought would make a nice baby blanket. I rounded the corners and hemmed, adding some simple animal appliques in one corner. This blanket is off to the Middlemore hospital charity. There's also some towelling which would make great bibs and polar fleece for toddlers beanies as well.

mary quant inspiration

Miss 12 has a school project to work on during the upcoming holidays. She has to choose a 'well known person' and then put together a presentation based on their life and achievements.

Inspired by this retro pattern in my stash, she's chosen Mary Quant. As she has to dress up like Mary Quant, she's convinced me to make up this pattern for her. Miss 12 is a Junior size 8/10, so I'll definitely have to do a number of pattern alterations to make it fit. Plus trim a cheap black wig into a geometric bob & find some 1960s styled shoes.

Our flights & accommodation to Wellington are booked, so that we can visit the Monet exhibition. We'll be travelling in about a fortnights time. Can't wait!

pattern making textbook

Last year, with well meaning generousity I lent this textbook to a friend who lost it when she moved house. Needless to say, our friendship was a little strained for a while.

Anyway, today I received my replacement book from the 2nd hand textbook shop. This is my favourite reference on the subject of pattern making. It's well written with easy to read instructions and lots of diagrams. When I have a 'brain freeze' moment (which happens sometimes as my drafting skills are more than a little rusty), this is the book that I turn to for the answers. It's on the recommended reading list for most NZ fashion design courses.

It's pricey (so buying 2nd hand is worthwhile) but worth every penny if you're interested in pattern making. There's a great chapter on creating 'knock offs' from ready made garments. I always have a giggle when I read this section. It reminds me of someone I worked with at Barker & Pollocks years ago. She would pop into her favourite High Street boutique, buy something that she adored but couldn't really afford, take it home, make a pattern off it and then return it for a refund. I know, very naughty! She always had the best wardrobe lol.

simple sewing by lotta jansdotter

from the library is this book by Lotta Jansdotter called 'Simple Sewing.' I've managed to snatch a few quick reads between Miss 2's naps. It's obviously a book more for the novice sewer, but there's plenty of inspiration for the experienced sewer.


I'm really enjoying the photos. Especially the photos of the retro styled furniture and accessories. There's something really appealing to me about the clean lines of Scandanavian inspired design and the clearly defined colour palette. I'm the opposite, living in a colour 'explosion' environment.

another 1950s hard plastic

another bent knee walker by Pedigree NZ. A very lucky find considering that they're hard to get hold of now. Anyway her owner was having a major declutter and wanted to find a new home for her doll. So now she's joined my little collection. There's some repair work to be done, especially around her head and face plus a new wig. Other than that she'll be looking good very soon.

It's been a 'no crafting' zone since Miss 2 has been ill. She's been unwell for almost a week and today's the first day that she's been anything like her happy self. So until she's better, not much sewing or crafting will be taking place. I'll pop in every other day and post photos but probably nothing crafty until she's 100% well again, which is probably up to a week away.

bye bye birdie

Miss 2 (when 18 months old) wearing some bird gear made by Miss 12. She loved to wear the hat and mask everywhere. Then one day, she didn't like it anymore and it was bye bye birdie.

wonky scraps doll quilt

as the title of this post suggests, the 2nd doll quilt which started off really well, has turned 'wonky.' I thought that the small blue floral print had more cotton than polyester. I was wrong. When pressing the seams open, the fabric kind of shrunk a little. Now I have curvy instead of straight edges in some places. I can't be bothered unpicking and replacing the wonky squares. Besides I don't have any other scraps to replace them with. So I'm going to finish the quilt and use it to practice my stippling. I'm sure that Miss 2 will be only too happy to take it off my hands for her dollies.

miss tika at work

Miss 2 has been sick with a really yucky tummy bug for the past 3 days. The combination of poop, vomit and sleep deprivation has me a little loopy. I'm even talking to miss tika (aka wonder pinny). Couldn't resist getting her accessorised and all set to take on the fashion world lol!

pixie beanie for baby

to keep my charity knitting enthusiasm going, I like to have a play around with shapes and colours. Here's my version of a pixie beanie. Miss 12 has nicknamed it the 'wannabe' beanie, which means that she's not sure whether it wants to be a beanie or a tea cosy?

scrap fabric doll quilts

The simple doll quilt that I blogged about last week is finished. It looks really great on the doll bed even though its a little small for this bed. I also made a little pillow to go with the quilt. I found the instructions from this really great
tutorial very useful when doing the binding. I think I did a pretty good job. Even the mitred corners look good. I'll need to practice stippling a lot more before even trying it on a quilt as my earlier attempts were awful.


I've started a second doll quilt with my leftover fabric scraps. This one is more of a challenge as I'm working with a very limited colour palette. Guess that's just what happens when it comes to making something out of scraps. However, I think that I can 'make it work!'

more enid gilchrist books

this morning's post brought a parcel of enid gilchrist books. The sender is a very experienced dressmaker who served her apprenticeship at Ballantynes Department Store in Christchurch. She was working at Ballantynes in 1947 at the time of the fire. The Ballantynes fire is considered to be one of New Zealand's worst fires ever.

She has a complete collection of all of enid's books and these were her extras. Some are missing their covers and have been obviously well used. That doesn't bother me in the slightest. I'm just pleased to boost my little collection. These titles are what I received today:

Boys and Girls 5 - 9 yrs
Boys and Girls 10 - 12 yrs
Pinnies N things
Ten to Teens
9 to 11
Junior Teens
Small women
Girls Gear
Six to Nine yrs,
Boys and Girls 8 - 10 yrs
Maternity Wear
Toddlers wear
Babies wear
Beach and sleep wear (part of)

Off to do some reading!

burda 9607

today we finally found a pattern for Miss 12's top to go with her new jeans. You may remember that I blogged about this 2 weeks ago. She's decided to go with the longer version but with long sleeves, made up in a lightweight khaki drill. She's letting me use her new machine until my Singer is back from repairs. Sorry about the photo quality, I'll take a better one tomorrow.

sewing and fat quarters

While at Sewing Machine World, I saw a perfect sewing machine for Miss 12. She's doing quite a lot of sewing and is finding that her little retro Singer Genie machine can't keep up. This is a Janome MS5027LE (it's one of the Breast Cancer support sewing machines). It was from their 2008 'old stock' and was priced to sell. I know Miss 12 will be over the moon.


They also had lots and lots of gorgeous fat quarters on sale, perfect for all those smaller crafting projects. So Miss 12 will have plenty to inspire her sewing.


Now I wonder if I ask nicely, whether she might even let me use her machine lol!

waitakere ranges rainforest

just sharing some of the photos taken by Miss 12 when she went on a school field trip last week to the rainforest in the Waitakere Ranges. The drive was 1 1/2 hours long and the day was wet and windy. Miss 12 is showing a real talent for photography. Hope she keeps it up.

sewing machine blues

(Photo by Miss 12)

I was just starting the quilting on the doll quilt when clunk, clunk, clunk, the sewing machine comes to a stand still. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't pinpoint what the problem is. So it'll have to go to the repair shop on Monday.

Now I've got the 'sewing machine blues' - boo hoo!

simple doll quilt

last night, after the children had gone to bed, I got stuck into cutting out my squares for the doll quilt. I'm a total newbie when it comes to the world of rotary cutters and self healing mats. So it took a bit of time for the rotary cutter and I to get acquainted.

Then today, as Miss 2 had her afternoon sleep (thankfully she slept 10 minutes longer than usual) I was able to complete step 1 of the doll quilt tutorial. Hopefully tonight, I'll be able to make a little more progress.

the scrap fabric stash

yes it's finally time to take a hard look at the scrap fabric stash and give it a good sort out. I don't like waste and try to do all that I can to reduce my environmental footprint with my crafting as well. So all the scrap fabric is put aside to use in one way or another. Apart from the fabric balls and my crazy patchwork dorothy bag (both still 'work in progress'), I've been on the lookout for some other small projects to use up my scraps. My pattern stash yielded this Kwik sew pattern for pin cushions, which could be great.


I discovered these liberty fabric scraps hiding at the very bottom of the pile. They were a $1 op shop find. These could make up a pretty doll quilt using Sew Mama Sew's doll quilt tutorials and there's enough scraps to make 2 doll quilt panels.

If you have any little project suggestions, I'd love to hear from you.

pasifika

every year at this time the Pasifika festival and Polyfest cultural secondary school competitions bring a uniquely pacific flavour to Auckland. It's a chance for many Aucklanders to get a real feel for the taste, sights and sounds of the pacific islands. I feel quite nostalgic when I go to these events. Te Vaka's very popular song 'Pate pate' (one of my all time favourites) brings it all together for me. Hope you enjoy the song too.



Pate Pate (Log drum)

LYRICS and Translations

tu la ki luga ke fai malama
get up stand up let your feelings be known
taimi tenei e fai na hiva
the time has come to perform the dance
tu la ki luga ke fai malama
get up stand up let your intentions be known
lue lue malie te gali o na hiva
swaying ever so sweetly the message in the dance

aue aue Oh! Oh!
tama mimita the boys are very bold
aue aue Oh! Oh!
teine mimita the girls are very bold
aue aue Oh! Oh!
hihiva mimita the dancers are very bold
aue aue Oh! Oh!
kikila mai la fakaakiali atu Watch me now, it’s my turn to show

e a mai tau faiva e a mai
“How is the fishing with you, how is it?” (Girl)
taku ika e fofou ai au
“The fish that I truly long for” (Boy)
e a mai tau faiva e a mai
“How is the fishing with you, how is it? (Girl)


CHORUS
hihiva ki luga hihiva mai ve
dance on up, dance just like that
hihiva malie ki te pate pate
dancing ever so sweetly to the Pate Pate (logdrum)

chant: hiva ki luga hiva ki lalo dance on up, dance on down
hiva malie ki te pate pate
Dancing ever so sweetly to the rhythms of the log drum

inspired by enid gilchrist

I have a small collection of Enid's pattern books. Now that I've tidied up the sewing/craft room and see that I have some shelf space available, I think I might collect some more.

Enid Gilchrist's pattern books are full of inspiring patterns and ideas. It's not hard to see that her patterns would have been a great resource for mothers during the 1940s to 1970s. Her patterns are easy to follow and draft and are as stylish today as they were when first published. Knowing that the patterns have been used by past mothers to make clothing, toys etc for their families is a very special feeling to.

pattern stash now sorted

This morning I dropped off the fabric and a box full of retro and vintage patterns to my local hospice shop. The ladies at the hospice shop are a very friendly bunch and were pleased to get some new stock for their crafts section. Going through my pattern stash brought back lots of happy sewing memories.

This was one of the first patterns that I ever bought. It made up really well in a reddish coral coloured muslin with matching cotton lace. I thought I looked quite stylish at the time wearing this top with my flared jeans.


This wrap around skirt pattern was very easy and made up in next to no time at all. My skirt was made up in a floral printed chambray. Although it looked nice, it wasn't a very practical skirt especially on a breezy day.


My mother made me the view 3 dress for a church social when I was a teenager. The skirt had huge pink swirls on a white background with a lacy bodice and sleeves. I thought it was the prettiest dress ever. It was such a popular style that I remember being a bridesmaid for 2 weddings wearing this same styled dress. Love those flirty sleeves.

Parting with patterns was nowhere near as hard as the fabric stash. There was over 30 plus years worth of pattern collecting to rationalise. It didn't take long (quite a few patterns were either 'stuck in a time warp' or 'not age appropriate') and I'm very pleased that it's done.

rationalise the stash

Yesterday I filled the whole bottom half of the shelving with fabric... lots and lots of fabric. This morning at 6.30am, I got onto the job of rationalising the stash. There was a sea of fabric around my feet and I'd no idea what to keep and what to part with. Working methodically, I've been able to part with quite a bit of fabric (now all bagged) ready to deliver to the hospice shop tomorrow. Yikes, the photo is a little blurry, sorry.

The stash is rationalised at last!

tidy up time

today was the day for tidying up. The craft/sewing room has been a mess for days with stuff now being piled up on the floor. So this morning with children in tow, I went shopping and bought some second hand shelving. It took 2 trips and the help of Miss 12 and Mr 10 to get the shelves into place. Then it was sorting through all the fabric. I didn't realise until today that I had so much fabric stashed away. I'm even embarassed to admit that there's lots of material that I couldn't even remember buying (sigh!)

Anyway, it looks like the weekend might be swallowed up by my 'attempt' to rationalise this rather large fabric collection.

As for my other stuff, Miss 2's dress is finished and ready to wear, the cushions are cut but not sewn and the curtains are hemmed and ready to be hung. I'm waiting for dear hubby to put up the new curtain rails. Miss 10's sewing requests are on hold, as she can't decide about her tops or her dress for the school social. And the A+O pants, I haven't even touched them this week.

surprise

the courier pulls up the driveway this morning catching me unawares. It's 7.30am and I'm still in my pyjamas desperately trying to tame Miss 2's wild hair and urging the older 2 children to get ready for school. It's our usual school morning chaos!

The parcel was quickly unwrapped by the 3 children to reveal 2 repro Barbie sets. Who sent them? I have absolutely no idea. So whoever you are, thank you very much!

vintage doll knitting

today's post brought me a friend's lovely gift of two wonderful vintage doll knitting patterns. I'm really excited to finally have the knitted dresses and cape pattern. Sadly, doll knitting will have to go on the wait list until I've finished my current projects.

I'm adding the finishing touches of hemming and buttons to Miss 2's dress. Then it's on to completing the hems on the curtains.Next is making the cushions and then onto Miss 10's tops.

ps. the a+o pants are still a work in progress.

today's song choice

is the beautiful 'Time to say goodbye' sung Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli. So turn up the volume, get your hairbrush, wooden spoon or whatever ready and give those high notes the best you've got...

mending time

it seems as if not too many people these days bother with mending. Probably because we value our time so much that we'd rather be doing something else and maybe because it's just easier to replace than repair. I'm determined to make mending a habit, rather than think of it as a boring and uninteresting activity that I've got to try and avoid for as long as possible.

So the mending basket came out today and I got to work. Hemming, fixing tears in pants and replacing lots of buttons seemed to be a consistent thing this time round. The worst part is digging through the button jar trying to find a similar button without success and then ending up by having to replace the lot.

Dear hubby's work clothes are always in need of repair. Meanwhile Mr 10 is equally hard on his clothes. On top of that, the children are growing like bean poles. So every bit of wear that they can get out of their clothes is a bonus. For now, I'm as pleased as punch that I've finished all the mending.

sew little time

The Scream by Edward Munch
all of a sudden I have lots and lots of sewing to do and 'sew' little time to do it.
Here's a quick run down of what needs doing by the weekend:

1) Miss 2 needs her dress finished for church this Sunday.

2) Miss 12 needs a couple of tops to go with the new jeans that we bought last weekend.

3) Miss 12 has a school social coming up and wants me to make a start on her dress.

3) Mr 10 has several shirts and pants that need mending.

4) Dear hubby has clothes that need mending.

4) The lounge curtains need to be shortened and ready to be hung this weekend.

5) The lounge suite needs new cushions.

and I'm not even going to start talking about all the 'other' sewing that I have on the go. Just thinking about this makes me feel tired, makes me want to scream aaahhh

fabric sale and free patterns

A quick visit to Spotlight this afternoon, had me having a mini splurge on some $4 per metre sale fabric. I just couldn't resist such cute prints. As I was taking a photo of the fabric, I noticed that I have something of a colour theme going on of red/white/blue. More fabric destined for the ever growing (also groaning) stash.


Whenever I'm shopping at Spotlight, I always make sure to check out their free crafting patterns. They're a great source of inspiration. Today I picked up 4 quilting patterns and a vintage inspired pinny pattern.

There's also heaps of free crafts, knitting and sewing project patterns on the Spotlight website.

print gocco

One of my 2009 goals was to try gocco printing. I've finally found a print gocco kit on ebay that didn't cost me a fortune. Luckily this kit is ex Australia so postage is more affordable. Most of the second hand kits ex Japan charge crippling postage charges of nearly $70-$80 US to ship to New Zealand. The current USD=NZD exchange rate is terrible at around 49c/50c US for $1 NZD. Not very encouraging for us Kiwis. So I used up the last of my US currency in my Paypal account buying up gocco supplies to keep me going for a while.

The kit and supplies are due to arrive within the week. So while I'm waiting, I'm drawing some designs for cards and checking out some tutorials, like celestefrittata and visiting the gocco flickr group plus getting stuck into cutting out my A+O pants.

today's song

is 'C S Lewis song' by Brooke Fraser. Her songs have a haunting, soulful quality...



Lyrics

"C.S. Lewis Song"

If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flessh that I fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I'll feel nude when to where I'm destined I'm compared

[CHORUS]
Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan as I wait for hope to come for me

Am I lost or just found? On the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way?
is this a soul that stirs in me, is it breaking free, wanting to come alive?
Cos my comfort would prefer for me to be numb
An avoid the impending birth of who I was born to become

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]
For we, we are not long here
Our time is but a breath, so we better breathe it
And I, I was made to live, I was made to love, I was made to know you
Hope is coming for me
Hope, He's coming

1950s hard plastic

I've always had an interest in the 1950s hard plastic walking dolls. Especially in the New Zealand made Pedigree walkie talkies. On my wishlist for the longest time was the bent knee walker doll which are becoming harder and harder to find now.
Luckily last year, I discovered this poor doll. Of course, she was in need of repair. There's no way that I could afford an original, pristine doll although in hindsight, if I add up how much she's cost me to fix up, I probably could lol! She was missing a lower leg, had sparse hair, no eyelashes and as you can see, was very age and play worn. I met the doll's owner who told me that she'd received this doll as a childhood birthday gift. Sadly she was parting with it as she didn't have the money to fix it and no daughters or nieces to pass it on to.




It took a year before I got her back (long boring story about doll hospital delays). With a vintage doll like this, I personally prefer the 'improved' look rather than the 'make it look like new' look. After all, she's over 50 years old. I'm sure you'll agree that she looks a lot better now than when she first arrived.



She's due a new outfit. I'd love to knit her a vintage styled set like the pale blue pattern in the photo. She'll also need a name (I'm open to suggestions) and some nicer photos too. I'll get onto those all very soon!

swimming & colds

Mr 10 battled a cold today to participate in his school's swim sports. He was happy to finish 1st in the 50 metre breaststroke. Miss 2 and I cheered him on from a warm sunny spot as it was cold and windy today. After the races were over, we headed straight home.

I think I'm coming down with a cold too! (sneeze!)

make it fit (a+o pants update 2)

when I was sewing for myself years ago, I was working in an office. To stand out in a sea of dark suits, I made my own tailored suits. At the time, I had the most beautiful fabric stash, thanks to Barker & Pollock Queen Street where I worked part time when I was studying. I had a lovely size 12 body with a perky bust and no fitting issues. Everything I made for myself fitted me beautifully. 20 years on things have changed alot. Time, 3 pregnancies and extended breastfeeding have contributed to my change in figure. Now I have a fuller and rounder tummy, hips, thighs and a butt...


For the a+o pants I referred to this book in my sewing books collection by Pati Palmer. Years ago, I learnt to pattern draft & adjust using the flat pattern work method. This usually gets me close enough and then I start to pin and fit from there. The measuring and number work can be confusing & bothersome and the results aren't always precise. That's the way I've always done it. The plesch/palmer method is worth learning, the fit is great and as for getting a good fit in the crotch area, it's the best I've seen. So with my pattern adjustments complete, I'm cutting my test pants this weekend. I've also set aside some fabric to practice my back welt pockets.


For general fitting issues, Sandra Betzina's 'Fast Fit' is a good reference book. She deals with a range of body shape fitting issues and solutions using a flat pattern adjustment method. I've found this book to be a handy reference when sewing for others.

The a+o pants are still very much a work in progress. I'll post another update soon.

cutting fabric

todays crafting task has been cutting out lots and lots of segments to make fabric balls to go to the South Auckland wool programme. I used the purlbee pattern/tutorial to make the smaller ball. I'm trying to use up at least 1 bag of fabric scraps to make these balls.

inorganic

I went grocery shopping this morning and saw an old school desk put out for the inorganic rubbish collection. You should see our street. Piles of inorganic rubbish heaped up in front of houses. The rubbish collection usually happens in our district every 2 years. This year we've got the weekend to get the rubbish out and then the pickups start on Monday.

It's an odd phenomena... the rubbish goes out, the hunters and collectors come, find, gather and go... and the left over stuff goes to the landfill.

This has to be the ultimate in thrifting!