My Pincushion.

Well I am in sewing limbo land at the moment. Working on my softie, shhhhh, top secret though! I’m up to the hair, that’s all I am saying.

Thought I’d post a picture of my pincushion though. Humble little chook it is. Mum actually gave it to me a few years ago, a friend made it for her, and she had 5 pincushions in her sewing room while I was starting out sewing and had none. "Oh, you have to have a pincushion!" and handed me the chook. Now Milly is older I have to remember to place it up higher as a few times over the last week I have walked into the sewing room to find every single pin pulled out and scattered over the floor and a cheeky smile from Miss I'm Nearly 2 and Shouldn't Be Doing This!

Here are some interesting pincushion links I'll save for future reference.
Pincushion challenge.
Pincushion gallery.

Not loving this top!

I hate this top!

There I have said it! Started off loving it, loved the fabric, “borrowed” from Mum’s fabric stash actually, but now its finished I'm thinking erk! It has just been a nightmare from the start, front and back panals weren't the same when I had sewed the shoulder seams, so I cut an inch off the side of each of the front panal. Totally puckered up the arm hole hems, first experience with biased binding for a long time and such a tiny difficult circle to sew! Then using my rolled hem foot with overlocked seams??! How does that work?!! Shall I go on? Haven't even mentioned the back doing up with a button hole and fudging the overlap!

But I continued to the end. Now its all done though, don't think I really want Milly to wear it! And I was thinking of doing a matching twirly skirt... The pict of her wearing it below was taken before I did the hem. Look how much I cut off! She's asleep now so I'll try and get a finished shot later on and add it. At least this daughter willing models her clothes without issues!

Latest Baby Quilt.

Well I have been waiting to load picts of the latest baby quilt I have made, waiting till I knew it arrived safely at its new home, didn't want to the suprise to be spoilt! I'm not sure if the baby's mum checks my blog or not, just didn't want to risk it. I'm sure you fellow EB sewing buddy's know what I mean! :) Anyway, it arrived and they love it which is always nice to hear. Wonder what would happen if someone said, nope, hate it! What do you do then?!


I started blanket stitching these flowers back when I was in hospital the week before Milly was born. She was an elective C and due to her lying transverse the doctors wanted me in a week before the C date in case she came early. She didn't though, knew she wouldn't, but I had a week of sitting in my hospital room doing lots of hand sewing. These were intended for a cushion but I had sewn so many we already had 3 flower cushions, so they have sat in my UFO box since then and Milly is nearly 2! Anyway, really pleased with the end result, nice and bright. A simple design but effective. Can't really see it in the above photo, but in the inside boarder was a decorative fancy wandering flower and leaf stitch. Hope baby Z gets to poo and spew on it often! Here's what it looked like on the 17th last month.

Recieved news today that I have a part time job! Well casual, part time, just a few days a week to start with then as Christmas gets closer more hours. Lets just say it is with an Australian wide department store and fingers crossed I'll get to work in the children's clothing department! On the down time, less sewing time. On the plus, more money to buy sewing stuff!

Grace's new Pants!

Well I finished some new pants for Grace yesterday and suprise suprise, she will wear them! So I'm really happy with that which is great as I'm also really happy with these pants! From the Simplicity pattern I got the other week, just cut a few inches off the length and did the ruffle just made up. So chuffed as I actually did the ruffle the "proper way" with two seam, loose tension, pull to ruffle. Bit of decorative rick rack from Spotlight.

I've been tagged again!

The lovely Brazen has tagged me. And in return I'll tag Ingrid and Cass. Got you girls!

1. What is your current pet peeve? The girls getting colds again! Its spring! Why are we still sniffling and coughing?

2. Would you rather be annoyed or bored? Neither! But between the two I'd go for bored. Being annoyed just eats at you and makes you grumpy.

3. When did you last drink champagne? Too long ago! New Years Eve I think.

4. Who sleeps in your bed? Me and DH! Grace comes in when she wakes at 6.30am ish and Milly comes in when we get her out of her cot!

5. What TV hunk can come knock at your door? Ben the Wiggley dancer! LOL

6. Do you wear perfume? Yes, Dior something at the moment. Got a little mini gift box of Dior perfume last Christmas and am working my way through the bottles. Dune?

7.If you wrote a book what type would it be? A best seller! Who knows? Most likely a gracie Lou story book. And that may be a reality sooner than we think! :)

8. When did you last go to the dentist? About two years ago. I took a chip out of my front tooth when I was taking a tag off a shirt for Grace, right before we were to go to a Hooley Dooleys gig. I looked like a freak! Went to the dentist to have it refilled and the edges of my teeth filed down. Hate the dentist.

9.Ooops, you've just had boy/girl twins- what are they called? I have to think up a third girls name? I've already used up all the names I like! Boys names, well we're lucky we had girls cause that one is just too hard.

10.How do you get your news- TV/Internet/paper? Through EB or my sister calling me saying "Did you hear the news about...."

11.Do you believe the story that Naomi Robson was going to save a boy from cannibals? I had no idea about this until watching Media Watch the other night on the ABC! Who knows? I'd say most likely not....

12. If you could go back in history where do you want to visit? Either England during Pride and Prejudice times or the South of the US to be Scarlett O'Hara.

13.I am having a fancy dress party. What are you dressed as? Might just continue that answer from the above, I'll come as Scarlett O'Hara!

Okay, enough about me. Back to the sewing!

My first attempt at pants!

Well one of the patterns I got last Friday included pants and so thought I'd try making some. Never made pants before. Grace is a size 2 waist but a size 3 length. And Milly is a size 3 waist with her cloth nappy bum and size 1 - 2 in length, little petitie munchkin she is. I have yet to get the hang of adding in a seam allowance as you go, thats why I ended up making two pairs, the first pair looked massive, so I took an inch of each side and whoops! They were then too small for Grace so adjusted the length for Milly. Even then still a bit too tight on her bum but should be okay for the summer.

Grace flat out refuses to try her's on for a snap. The joys of being 3 and a half....... I have already cut out another pair for her, working on mastering the seam allowance. Thinking a ruffle at the hem and maybe some more fancy ribbon detail?

My sister rung this morning. We both have our kids in day care (well school for her oldest 2) so I'm packing up my machine and heading over for a day of sewing! Looking foward to it and its only Tuesday!

Co Op Fabric Arrived!

Excitment in my driveway this morning when we arrived home from Mothers Group to find a big white garbage bag sitting on the doorstep! It was fabric I had ordered back in April and May through a US Fabric Co Op I belong too!

4 yards of PUL for my cloth nappy wet bags.
5 yards of KP Kids Prints.
5 yards of Strawberry Shortcake flannel.
4 yards of Sesame Street flannel!

So paid at the end of June, arrived today by surface, 2 and a half months to get here. Not that bad, was expecting longer. Had to go surface mail as it was $$$$ to go air with so much!

And when I was going back through the database, realized I have paid for another KP Kids bundle in July which is also ready to be shipped. So should have that soon too.

Now, what to sew with it all?

Grace's Baby Doll top! Shirring Success!!

Well after a day of running around visiting friends, we finally made it back home early afternoon so I could do some sewing! Put Milly down for her nap, set DH out mowing the lawns and popped Grace in front of Finding Nemo to settle down and do some sewing! I was itching to finish this top! So 9 rows of shirring later..... here it is! Got a bit creative with my ribbon, sewed it on with a wandering wavey line stitch and then just 2 rows of straight stitch, just for something different. I actually sewed the straps in as is, no ties on the shoulders for Grace unlike Milly's. She doesn't really like frilly stuff like that, always complains it gets in her way, and I figure with the shirring, it will give enough for her to get her arms in it.

Thats the last thing I am going to make with this material. Two tops and two skirts, I'm starting to get sick of it! Put it down the bottom of the fabric stash.

My softie challenge has been put on hold today while I finished this. I have two pairs of pants cut out ready to sew tomorrow. Feeling a sewing frenzy coming on this week! LOL

Latest fabric finds.

Well its becoming bit of a Friday ritual. Pop the girls in FDC and then head off to my local Spotlight! The bottom picture of fabric I got for $3 a metre, end of season clearance. Thinking another summery dress? And the Fat Quarters were on special, so how could I resist so many! Always good to have in the stash. And some ribbon. Never really sewn with ribbon before as an embellishment, but again, it was on special!

And I picked up two patterns, Simplicity 4262 and Simplicity 4557. Hope they live up to their name, Simplicity!

T'keyah's quilt top is finished!

Yahhh! Finished T'keyah's quilt last night. Here it is! Posted it off to Sarah in the ACT this morning. AJ we deserve a pat on the back. :)

Billie's Quilt goes to its home!

At last! After being born 4 months ago and despite me finishing the binding on this quilt, 2 hours before he actually entered the world, it has taken all this time for us to arrange a catch up visit with baby Billie!

So here it is! Pattern taken from a pattern in the Patchwork and Stitching mag. But I added the black and white boarder around the horse panal so had to make the rectangles the hearts were in a bit wider. Was a challenge working in blue tones as everything is usually purple and pink! His mum loved it which is always lovely to see. She is one of these girls that is just born to be a mum and after having so much trouble falling PG, it is such a delight to see a 4 month old baby on her hip! And I was proud of myself too, even though I felt a bit clucky holding him and gooing and gaaing away, as soon as I handed him back, the feeling vanished! So thats the trick, don't hold any babies Helen!

T'Keyah Angel's quilt part 1.

Well at last I have finally completed two of the boarder panals for T'Keyah Angel's quilt. Yes, I know one is longer than the other, I'll trim it when I sew it to the rest of the quilt top. I'm happy with it, just hope she likes it too. And AJ as well! I feel like I'm just complementing her hard work as she was the one that sewed all those squares together!

So hopefully at the end of the week it will be all done and I can work on some other stuff. I have promised myself that I must NOT start anything else till my current projects are all done. So I have to do the following:

1. Sew on the label for Z's quilt. Wash, deliver.
2. Softie swap for EB!!! Must start that!
3. Grace's shirring baby doll top to match Milly's, all cut, ready to do the shirring!
4. Redo the waistband in the skirt for Grace that I adapted from an adult skirt. Now I have discovered non roll elastic, I want to fix that!

Okay, off for some lunch I think. Pesto spagetti and a diet coke! Oh, talking of food, thank you all for your lovely comments about Grace and our potato stash! Great to read that so many of you also grow your own veggies and fruit. Wish I lived closer to you Ingrid with that mango tree! Mmmmmmm!

Our first potatos

Okay, so its nothing to do with sewing or quilting... but yesterday we pulled up our first few baby potatos from the back yard that Grace and I planted a few months ago. We have never grown spuds before, yes I know they are small but hey! We grew them ourselves!

Okay, back to the sewing!

You have been tagged!

OMG, I have been tagged! Didn't even know what getting a tag was till I got one! Thanks Ingrid!

The rules of the tag are: List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. Dont forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog! So I will tag, Angel and Natalie.

Cass has already taken the other girls I would have tagged! I have lost two blog addresses of girls when I recently changed blogger formats so when they reply to my PM's I can maybe tag them too. But I can't rustle up 5 people! Will 4 do??! LOL

So, 5 weird things about me.... or maybe not so weird!

1. I can flare my nostrils!

2. I sew standing up. Yes thats right, I don't use the foot presser thingy, I just hit the start and stop button!

3. When I get hot chips for the girls at a drive through fast food outlet, I always hang the boxes outside to cool them down! Didn't used to think that was weird, but have recently got a few odd looks from other cars driving past!

4. I use cloth nappies on my youngest daughter. I know that is not really weird here in cyber space, but nobody I know IRL uses cloth, they just think I am loopy!

5. Oh I can't think of another! I have a blog, is that weird enough?? LOL

My Fabric Stash.

Well the addition of Tessa to my sewing "room" has made me have bit of a tidy up. Grouped all the colours together, FQ's and anything less than a metre in the box or bag, everything else folded neatly. Wonder how long it will last?!

Love that first shot, the colours are fantastic. There is a line in a Crowded House song who's title I don't remember but the line "colour is its own reward" is a line close to my heart. :)

Spilt Cheerios...

Milly spilt her Cheerio's over this runner this morning so I had to wash it and am amazed at how bright it has come up! I made it ohhhhh, trying to remember, last year sometime? The year before that maybe? From a pattern out of one of my Patchwork mags. Love the colours and it was my first go at prarie points!

Anyway I have done absolutely no sewing today despite it being a Friday and the girls are in FDC all day. Been shopping and visiting Nan. *sigh* there is always tomorrow.

Shirring Success!

Well I have done some shirring! I thought it would be so hard and it was sooo easy! The hardest thing was winding the elastic on the bobbin. I ended up doing it by hand as I couldn't get the tension right on the machine way of winding.

Anyway more of this pink flower and butterfly material, I'm not sick of it yet. Lucky cause I still have like 3 metres left! Its so light and summery. Not that we are having any summer weather here in Perth, its sooo cold at the moment, an icy wind straight off Antartica I think.

Milly's not looking too impressed though with it is she?! Maybe next time for the shoulder ties, just do one strap and have a button or a press stud at the back? That would work. Although the bow is cute!

So next plan is to do Grace a matching top and then maybe some dresses, the same style. Different fabric though!

What is with blogger and the new small text??

My new best friend!

Look at this! We have a new addition to the family! I think I might call her Tessa seeing as though the name of the make is Contessa. Does anyone else name their machines??! LOL Isn't she lovely!!

My Mother and Father In Law are moving overseas (ahhhh, to Rottnest!) and MIL is having a clear out and I asked if I could have her overlocker. She said sure! She even had it serviced for me so runs nice and smooth and has a sharp blade to cut. She said she's about 20 yers old! Makes me think, will I be giving my machines to my daughters in 20 years time?

Wow, I'm not going to know myself with all these professionally finished seams!

Patchwork? Whats that??

Ahhh the irony! I set up a blog calling it the Patchwork of Mini Grey, hoping it will inspire me to do more actual patchwork and do we have any patchwork in here? Not much! LOL

Really enjoy the fact that I can finish an item for the girls in a day or so rather than the months it can take to sew a quilt. Well thats the excuse I am using!

But am feeling a bit neglectful and so have started on T's quilt. Finished 4 x 9 square blocks for the corners and I have the letters of her name to vizofix tonight. Dipping my toes in back slowly..... AJ if your reading this picts for you! Sorry its so small!

Have finished the flower quilt that was on the felt wall a few posts back, but no picts of that till it's on its way to its new home.

Waiting for this Perth weather to warm up into spring too so the girls can actually start to wear what I make them!

Milly's Mini Twirly Skirt.

Well at last I have sewn a twirly skirt for Miss Milly. After the last two being for Grace.....

I think its too short though. I mean she's two in November, actually yesterday being the 1st, her birthday is now less than 2 months away. But it just looks too short? Maybe the bulkiness of her cloth nappy underneath? Maybe cause its only two tiers? Liked the rick tack on the bottom though, that was fun to do. Have memories of wearing rick rack on cord overalls when I was little. Finding it really hard to get my hands on some hot pink rick rack though! Can only find white or pale pink. This butterfly fabric I brought 4 metres of as I was intending to sew some cot sheets for summer but skirts are just so much more fun!

Fridays Fabric Frenzy!

Well not exactly a frenzy, only 2 metres!

Thinking some comfy pants for the girls seeing as though their Bonds ones are looking a bit sad and they don't make those Bonds strippey pants in a size larger than a 2.

And the flower print? Who knows? Found myself looking at it in regards to applique. That big daisy down towards the bottom would look great on a Tshirt.