a bit of action today

did some more work on my swap item, it's not quite finished yet but not much work left on it (side seams and hems i think). i was really happy with the way the zip turned out though i had to shorten it and reinforced the bottom and forgot you'd be able to see all my stitching on teh outside. i had problems with the neck yet again and am not happy with it but am not changing it as i don't know how and am already overdue with it :(

mum came over today and had a look at the jacquard fabric and it's just so crookedly cut (about 12cm difference between left and right sides) that i can't get my jacket out of it :( :( so i'm going to use it to make this skirt which should be easy to take in as i lose weight.



and she helped me cut my fabric to sell on. i'm so happy with the quality of these fabrics, as well as the price, just such good value :)

more sewing tonight maybe (G's aunt and cousin are here) or definitely tomorrow...

my challenge!

i've set myself a challenge ! I've banned myself from buying fabrics and patterns for the months of august and september.
my exceptions to this rule will be:
notions are ok to buy
op shop cheapies are ok occasionally
if needed for gifts ok

*fingers crossed*! i was just buying wayyyy more stuff than i will have timeto sew for the next few years *rolls eyes*

anyway, luckily i'd already been shopping *snigger* bought some stuff in the lincraft sale, including a gorgeous jacquard i've been eyeing off for months, and not only did i get it 30% off but as it was the last piece i got half of it at half the discounted price :D. unforunatley the piece was cut crookedly and as it was already 30cm shorter than i was supposed to buy according to the pattern i'm about TWO CM short of being abel to cut it out (AAAAGH!) anyway mum is going to come over and have a look and see if she can rearrange it to work.

these are the patterns i got:

latest purchases!

some patterns i won off ebay (LOVE the crossover top, cant' wait to make it!), some vintage fabric i bought from the op shop, and the stuffed animal patterns i bought (hands up if you'd like one! i don't think i'll keep them and i'll ebay them if no one here wants them...)








blogger wasn't working last night so just testing for now

bugger!

i was finding the black too hard on teh eyes as now that ryan is computer obsessed i really only get on at night, so i decided to change my layout. now i've lost all my links. bugger. it will probably be weeks before i geta chance to put them in there and i use them a lot :o(

anyway, i've started my swap item but i'm not happy. i've made so many stupid mistakes. i'm in a 'mood' (ie a pnd mood) which doesn't help. i need to send them this week but i think it's best if i leave the item for another night when i'm not in such a sh*t of a mood.... perhaps i'll find something else simple to make and cut it out, i've been thinking maybe a simple summer item.

the no-sew update

let me see...

got my overlocker fixed today - turned out to be a simple user-error threading mistake as i suspected. i bought a new pair of tweezers to replace my missing ones so hopefully will help. the lady was telling me that in the next few months they will be running 10-4 one of classes on saturday which would be perfect for me to go to. she was a funny lady - she didn't even say hello to me when i got there, introduce herself, ask my name or anything. she rushed through what she showed me at a million miles an hour (she did show me heaps of different techniques etc), didn't smile once. then all of a sudden when she was done she turned into a totally different, relaxed, friendly person! most bizarre.

anyway what else?

i have not been sewing. the side effects of the drugs have only just subsided so i just haven't felt capable lately. also rory has been sick so waking a lot at night and ryan and emelia have been refusing to go down at night, taking up to 2 hours to sleep. so i really haven't been in the mood to sew or scrap or do anything. i do feel like it tonight, but i will have to go get dinner ready now and fold at least a couple of baskets of washing before i 'let' myself sew!

i got a bunch of vintage patterns off ebay, from a seller ingrid recommended, plus a few other odd ones from here and there. i will tryt o remember to take photos soon.

i ordered some fabrics from the fabric mill who make the colorado cotton. fleecy for track pants for geoff and maybe ryan (it's not the colour i thought it would be as i didn't have a colour chart for the fleecy), some unbrushed fleecy for trackpants for me, some gorgeous light stretchy fabrics for l/s. 3/4 slv and s/s shirts for me and the girls. i had to buy 5m of each to get the cheaper prices (about $5-10 pm) so i'm going to try to sell off a few metres of most of them to get some money back as it ended up costing more than i thought. (if anyone's interested let me know!)

i also go my new ottobre magazine this week too, which i like but am not thrilled about. i do want to make a few simple items for emelia. i need to write a list of what they need i think. all 3 kids are lacking in certain items in their wardrobes, so that we keep running out - such as sweatshirts and jackets for all 3, pants for ryan, warm pants for emelia, l/s t's for rory.

secret sewing...

i finished rory's item which is the practice item for my eb secret swap. it was a BIG learning experience so they are far from perfect but i like them anyway :) i had to put a zipper in them and boy the ottobre way of doing zippers is weird. i think i'll use my own way from now on! lol

can't show a pic for a week or two, until i finish my swap one and send it on it's way...

here are ryan's trackpants

love them! design 6/7 from ottobre 1/2006

this mroning i needed them finished for ryan to wear so i unpicked half of the waistband, planning to cut out a small piece of elastic then resew the waistband. i finished and realised... i had forgotten to cut out the small piece!!! ack!

love the style of these pants and will be making more from fleecy and denim and cord LOL

oh, this was the size 92 (though i think i cut hem when it was already included) and ryan is 100cm! but look how long they are!

bit of sewing

i have decided i don't like sewing polar fleece! it stretches as i sew it, grrrr i'm finding it easier zigzagging on the machine rathre than using the overlocker though, which is surprising. i've had to start using my machine because there is something wrong with my overlocker and i don't know what. the threads keep breaking and i've rethreaded it several times. i'll have to try to get to the shop to work it out. what a pain.

anyway, i've nearly finished ryan a pair of ottobre trackpants. i've just realised that they're the same ones i tried to make rory when she was first born, and they were a dismal failure! anyway, ryan's have worked much better. i used the pattern on alice's recommendation. I like them on (though i made the elastic a bit big but that's easily fixed) so now i'm goign to make ryan a few pairs, he is always running short on trackpants.

i was goign to use it for emelia too but i have ingrid's easy pant pattern now in emelia's size so i'll use that instead.

i also have my eb sewing swap item to make, and one for rory too. i can't say what it is but it's from here http://www.ottobredesign.com/lehdet_js/2005_1/frameala2.html

and just for those of you who only read me here, i've just been diagnosed with pnd :o( it seemed quite mild at first but didn't stay that way, so i'm now on horrible anti depressants. here's hoping i can sort it out soon...

sids for kids crop

even though rory wouldn't sleep all day i still powerscrapped through 5 layouts :) (albeit very simple ones)

WOW! ingrid's 'easy pants'!

I just whipped up these pants in literally half an hour, including handcutting the flower (from felt) and sewing it on!

i am soooo far behind on my baby gifts for new babies that some of them are about to turn one *blush* and i simply can't afford to buy them all. so i am using my creative talents (and mum's fabric stash hehe) to create some gifts for the mums and kids. i have choc chip cookies all packaged up ready to send, so i need to get 4 pairs of these made today to be sent this afternoon (yikes!)

i used a picot stretch fabric, and ingrid's pattern which consists of two pieces, one for each leg. sooo simple.

when i get to the boy's pants they might be a little more complicated though as i'll have to straighten the legs a bit i think, and i might design a little pocket to go on the side of each leg (what's the name of that style of pants? i've totally gone blank LOL)

oh, so now that i'm expecting blogger to rotate the photo it won't! :-S

vintage overalls #1

well, i can't upload my pic here as it keeps turning it sideways again - so frustrating!

i've put the pic on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/brazen20au/175324722/ i can see a bigger version i hope you can too... (aagh!)

will be back to add notes later :o)

ok, so i used the vintage overalls pattern in this entry. it only came in a size 2, which i thought would be plenty big enough for emelia, given my experience with newer patterns, but once i had it laid out i knew it wasn't going to be big enough to have any growth room, so i decided to use this cheaper cord instead of the vintage paisley i wanted to use.

I was right about the size. they fit her just nicely now (in a disposable) but when i make pair no 2 (whcih i still won't make from the good fabric i think LOL) i need to make them longer in the body - maybe by 2". the legs probably need to be 1-1.5" longer. the straps need to be about 2" longer. they could be just a little bigger in teh body - jsut a few mm on the sides of each pattern piece.

i had a lot of learning experiences with these overalls! i didn't have enough fabric to make the facing with so used homespun instead. great idea as i don't like the homespun for the purposes i bought it for, so might as well get some use out of it. i sewed the straps on teh wrong way at first - must remember to stay slow and steady and concentrate on what i'm doing. i used snaps for the first time and had no instructions for them (they were old ones mum had). i did an ok job with them thank goodness but did bash one a bit too hard so it deson't work now *blush* will have to see if i can get it apart to replace it. i was proud of my button sewing (so far LOL) and it was the first time i'd done buttonholes on teh new machine and i was surprised at how easy it was! i also used my twin needle for the first time to do some top stitching which gave a really lovely effect.

definitely a pattern to make again, with some alterations...

more karen heritage layouts

as you can see i'm on a total basic grey binge, plus i'm also making my pages simpler and simpler. it took me about 2 hours to do two such basic pages and that was with the papers already picked out!!! ack!
as you can see i have nothing to journal on any of these pics

and the patterns (the 80's one is sooooo weird LOL )

pictures at last... (click to see the pics in more detail)

good mail day yesterday :)

yesterday was a FABULOUS mail day as i got
my atomic boom fabrics - the pink paisley i bought it for (the others were just to share postage ) is even more divine in RL. and i didn't realise that it's a flannel, so I have washed it up already so i can make some overalls with it! the domestic goddess FQ (michael miller) is gorgeous and the floral i bought for me is a bit too in your face for me but i think it might match with our sofas as cushion covers. (i must remember to buy some zippers, i need to start a shopping list for myself so i don't keep forgetting to buy what i need)
vintage kids patterns - i got a bundle of 3 for 99c (actually i paid more!). the one i wanted i don't like as much in RL but there's another in there i adore! so i'm going to make the overalls for emelia from the paisley flannel. the 3rd pattern is a really bizarre one from the 80's i think with weird applique designs LOL i will scan them all to show you!
missymuh - my third bundle (meanwhile i had ryan saying open mummy open!) was a gorgeous bundle from missymuh - jingle pants, overalls, and two birdies (which i'm sorry to say emelia calls ducks! we got maybell and peter ) which ryan says when 'attacked' by them 'no daddy, babyroar's!' hehe

here she is :o)

too long in the sleeves but just about perfect everywhere else for my BIG girl !

today's effort for emelia

Ottober 4/2005 #15 (without the trim at bottom)

made with some of the fabric bought yesterday.

i'm so pleased! it was soooo quick and easy and yet looks special!

aaagh it's turning my pic sideways again! will have to fix it later, baby needs me now!

oh good grief!

tonight i decided to put some of today's purchases to good use and make some sweatshirts / jumpers for R&E. got my ottobre mags out and found a design for each. emelia's with a cute folded / rolled over collar and ryans with the stripes going the opposite way on each side of the top. so i traced off emelia's no probs. went to trace off ryan's - this was from teh magazine that I have lost... i copied the instructions from alice's a while back. i had lent molly one of the pattern sheets and some instructions. do you think i can find the other pattern sheets ANYWHERE???! aaagh! so then i cut emelia's top out and decided i would cut a little kimono style jacket from the leftovers, only to discover that the pattern (which i filched from mum) has no instructions! i decided i could probably figure it out only to realise that i don't quite have enough material left to make it.

now i'm too damn tired to sew! LOL

aaagh again with the sideways pictures!

why why why???!!!!

Scrapbooking

I have actually found some time to scrap in the past 2 weeks, and did 2 layouts each time. i still havne't got myself organised to print photos of the kids so am working on my own childhood shots. am currently having a basic grey fetish LOL have been using just basic grey patterned papers, cardstock, ribbons, stamps and inks / paints. no embellishments needed (takes too much time and effort!)

finally the pants!

the velour ones to match emelia's top that is...

it's annoying to see that the foe on the top still isns' t sitting right, but i think she hasn't worn it since the first wear. the pants were changed to try to be more her size - and they only just fit as you can see! LOL

i also made the tie dye longies for rory, but i have to buttonhole aroudn the bottoms before i take a pic...

today i took advantage of spotlight's 'staff only' discount (courtesy of someone on eb who's dh works there ;o)) and had a little spend athon. got some twin needles, denim needles, cute crochet flowers etc as well as some fabric. off to sew now...

June Measurements

Rory - 54cm (3 months)
Emelia - 91cm (21 months)
Ryan - 97cm (3 years)

Fun tie dyeing :)

the other day i had fun trying a method of dyeing wool using food colouring and the microwave. you can find the directions here http://www.withawareness.com.au/CraftDyesFooddyemethod.htm

i used some beige wool jersey that a friend had given me to make nappy covers. I'm planning on making some longies (like pants and cover all in one) for rory and another baby girl i know... i have the first pair all cut out but my overlocker is not working properly and needs rethreading, and i've lost my tweezers to do it with - boohoo!

Fun tie dying :)

pics

am fdg atm so excuse size of pics etc. will delete this post later

sewing at long last and an OVERLOCKER woohoo!!

yay! i was 'allowed' to buy an overlocker last week :oD i bought a janome, fairly basic model that was on sale at the sewing bug in belconnen. got myself some pretty variegated threads and now i think i'm pretty damn clever ROFL

it's been WEEKS since i've had time to sew - i've joined a group on eb trying to get everything done around the house. only problem is that i NEVER get everything done, you can NEVER (rarely) tell i've even done anything and i NEVER get time to do anything fun :o( so yesterday i decided to sew no matter what... except miss rory seems to be going through a bit of a growth spurt and fed 2 hourly for 24 hours *yawn*

today i finally got her to sleep and i sewed!

i used teh little 2 piece pattern i traced off a pair we bought http://brazenscrafts.blogspot.com/2006/04/rorys-pants.html and i cut it a bit bigger - as she has grown a LOT since that photo was taken! i cut it out of gorgeous stretch rib velour. i used my rainbow variegated thread to edge everything and the only sewing i did was the initial attaching of the waist elastic to the pants.

i got so carried away i broke my first needle on my overlocker LMAO!!!!! i was trying to do a decorative overlock but *ahem* didn't quite manage it (thank goodness i decided at the last minute to do it on a scrap LOL)

the pants took me about half an hour from start (getting the fabric and pattern out) to finish, not including the breaking the overlocker bit LOL

eta: this is my overlocker

hat part III

The hat part II

aaagh!! the lining really was way way too small. i couldn't be bothered to recut it as i was so annoyed so i just top stitched the brim up as it was. of course i hadn't zigzagged the inside of the hat as it was going to have a lining in it, but too bad. i think the corduroy must have stretched as the hat just seems huge and i tried it on emelia this mroning and it's quite big on her (i measured her head at 53/54cm, so i did the 56cm size).

anyway, i would probably try it in a summer fabric but it was just all too hard in cord...

ottobre hat, winter style

it's been so long since i've sewed! i am making emelia a little winter hat out of corduroy (sp). i hadn't looked at the ottobre freebies in a while so am going to make this one

after rory barely sleeping all day til mid afternoon i finally got to cut the hat out. i had just done one seam when she woke :o( so after the kids were in bed i have just been making it - it's going to be SO cute!!!

but..... i followed the directions exactly - to make the lining seam allowance sligtly smaller (so the lining fits inside the hat i guess) unfortunately now the hat is probably 2-3CM bigger than the lining. not the millimetres i cut but CM. there is NO way i can fit the lining in OMG

i am so frustrated i have given up for the night.

crafty bits n pieces

went to the mall this morning...

got some felt to make finger puppets
got soem bits and pieces for a craft box for the kids
got some $1 balls of feathery wool to make a scarf for their brand new dressup box

i'm gonna be busy LOL

Memories...

well, not really, i don't remember back THAT far! lol but these are pages of me at 2yo.

Last night I had a couple of the EB girls over to scrap and i did a page and a half (rory was very unsettled again, i swear she knows when i need her to sleep most) and finished one off today.


the green one was a scraplift from a recent mag (i am too lazy to get up and check what or who!) and the blue one was an original design (*gasp*, where did i find that much brain power? ROFL)

i like them both :o)

a new craft forum

pass the word...

http://craftfavourites.com/forum/

finger puppets

I've decided to make some for ryan's birthday. this is just for me to work out what i need to buy to make them:
elephant - grey, pink felt
rabbit - grey, pink, white, black embroidery thread
mouse - grey, pink, black embroidery thread
cat - black or orange, pink, white embroidery thread
tiger - orange, black texta, black embroidery thread
galah - grey, pink, white

emelia's crossover top from ottobre

what a lovely easy design! if only i wasn't finding sewing stretch fabric and foe such a PITA!!!!!!!!

i made this from a stretch rib velour so emelia can wear it as one layer or over a T. i thought it would be wayyyy too long but as you can see it's not - though the sleeves are too long. it could probably do with being bigger in the body as i'm not sure it will fit next year...

i have the matching pants cut out but haven't had a chance to start them. trying the whole bootleg concept again.

here are some more pics (because i can't work out how to add more than one pic in an entry here) http://www.flickr.com/photos/brazen20au/

UPDATED Robert Kaufman / Cradled in Cloth co-op

brazen's crafts: Robert Kaufman / Cradled in Cloth co-op

unfortunately a couple of the ones i picked were dropped as not enough people wanted them. my updated list is:

#31 - ladybeetles, to make New Look 6473 styles C&D need to buy contrast fabric later
#17 - adelaide, to make fitted shirt for me, ottobre woman #15
#19 - firetrucks, to make summer pj's for ryan
#21 - cats on purple, to make summer pj's for emelia
#22 - pink butterflies on chocolate, to make ottobre 1/2006, design 11, Girl's blouse
8 yards @ approx $10 pm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CradledinCloth1/
http://www.robertkaufman.com/fabric/over_the_rainbow.asp

oh thank goodness!!

I was starting to be scared I'd never scrap again! LOL i have just been sooooo uninspired, and the longer I left it the harder it was to get going! i was scared my pages would be absolute crap. anyway, i was supposed to go to my monthly crop today for the first time in months but i just couldn't find the energy to go. this morning geoff took R&E out to the botanic gardens and i got stuck into tidying my scrapping desk. this actually got me inspired! i still have piles all over the floor in there but at least i did a layout ROFL

this layout uses
bazzill card
basic grey paper in the blitzen, fusion & oh! baby girl ranges
maya road stamps
versacolor inks (cardinal & pink)
corner rounder
rubons - Heidi

and was inspired by an Elsie Flanagan layout in a recent CK

WHY is my layout sideways?????! AAAAAGH!

Plans abound...

will be interesting to see how much i get made LOL i got my ottobre mags today so i'm making plans.

4/2005 (girl with pink coat on cover)
#1 baby dress - pink ribbed stretch velour (rory)
#2 swing top - pink / green ribbed stretch velour (emelia)
#3 skirt - pink paisley cord (emelia)
*** #19 dressing gown - polar fleece (ryan)

3/2005 (green & striped outfit)
#15 jeans - black velvety denim stuff (ryan)
#23 cord pants - blue striped cord (ryan / emelia)
#7 skivvy with zip neck - CC (ryan)
#40 trackpants - grey marle fleecy (geoff)
#40 hooded jacket - grey marle fleecy (geoff)

1/2005 (baby in overalls)
#4 bonnet - pink ribbed stretch velour (rory)
#25 jeans - black denim (ryan)
#13 yoke l/s T - CC (emelia)
#14 skirt - black cord (emelia)

3/2006 (green frill dress)
#19 dress (make as a shirt) - printed cotton (emelia)
#7 jacket - ribbed stretch velour (rory)

2/2006 (ottobre woman)
#13 pants for me
#6 fancy collar shirt
#3 placket tshirt - CC
#5 blouse - do i have fabric?
# 7 skirt - when i get back to work or out of velour?
#17 jacket - velour (co op)
#2 l/s T with v neck