Turning 1...

As I see it, turning one is a huge milestone in a childs life. But when your very first child turns one - there really is double reason to celebrate. All congratulations (of course) must go to the child on the occassion - but the 'new' parents really deserve to congratulate themselves as well.

Because when your baby is first born, you never feel like that first year will end. It's hard work. It's messy. It's tiring. and it's emotional. And while older people will tell you 'it all goes very quickly' - it's difficult to believe that when you're lost in that first year.

But when baby turns one - you deserve to congratulate yourselves.  After all - it's been all the decisions you've made together as a family that have bought you to this point.  And no two families do it the same way.  You've done it your own way, and you've created precedents and traditions that will carry on throughout the years. 

A tradition that we adopted was the Birthday banner - originally blogged about by Soulemama here. I like that it hangs proudly in the background of all our family photo's since our daughter had her first birthday.

And it is with much love - that I made another one this year for our dear friends "The Kelly's". So when the banner arrives in Canada guys, I hope you'll hang it for Stella's first birthday celebration - it will be like we're there with you..  in a special way, not in a stalky way :)

Here's a sneak peak for you Libs

Place mats

I wanted to make something for my friend's Mum, who suffered in the recent floods, and my friend suggested some place mats. I wasn't sure what colour scheme to go with, but I had some beautiful natural coloured linen so I thought that was a good place to start. And then I mixed in my favourite green/brown/leafy fabric which I bought ages ago.  I just loved the fabric but strangely enough only bought 1 meter of it - which isn't enough to make much from.  But I happily cut into it this week to make these place mats. I made 6 in total. 3 are backed with the brown fabric, and the other 3 are backed with the leafy green fabric.

I'm happy with the way they turned out. I have a habit of rushing to get things done (as I'm sure most Mum's do who try to sew in between babies sleeps and toddlers playtimes) but I did my best to focus on the detail and I think that was a good decision.

Silly me wrapped the 6 placemats before I'd photographed them - so the photo's below are of the 'practice' one I made.

A little bit quiet..

Things have been a little bit quiet on the blog front and in our household lately. I'm starting to feel the true meaning of the term 'heavily' pregnant, and with only 6 weeks to go - it's starting to feel very real all of a sudden.

There has been a lot of transitioning going on for our little 2 year old lately as well. She's out of nappies and doing really well on the potty (not quite happy about using the 'big' toilet yet :)) and she's also started to sleep in her own room, in a big girls bed. Getting her out of our bed was something we felt we needed to do if we wanted to co-sleep with the new baby, and I think the change has been harder on us than her! She doesn't even want to come into our bed through the night anymore - but instead she wants Mummy to come sleep in her bed :) It's early days still though, and we're all learning together.

So there hasn't been a lot of sewing of late - but there has been some gift making and ideas going around..

Here's a dress from Heather Ross's "Weekend Sewing" book that I made sometime ago but has only just started to fit 'twirly' Lola..

And here's what the kids in my Mums group will be getting for Christmas:

Image from The Happy Home blog

I loved this blog post from Belinda last week - and went out to Spotlight yesterday to get my shapes to stick the magnets to. I'm going to let Lola loose with the paints on these. I think they'll be gorgeous little gifts.

Drooly babies

So, while I don't currently have a drooly baby to take care of at the moment - this tutorial by Lu Bird Baby really caught my eye.  Maybe it's because I have a good friend who I know loves her Ergo baby carrier - and maybe too because I think I want to trade up my Baby Bjorn for an Ergo when our little boy arrives in 10 weeks time..

But I decided to make a set of these 'drool catchers' for a couple of my Ergo-loving-baby-carrying-friends..

Here's one set ready to be gifted:

And here's the other set already in action:

My most recent gift idea

Recently I've made a few handmade gifts with the same theme.. I think a hat is a great present for a little person (considering they can cost upward from $10 new) and I love this hat pattern from Etsy.  And I think when teamed with a little applique on a bonds singlet - they make a cute gift. And the part I like the best is that they're fun to make!  These gifts will be given out in the next few days to two little boys turning 2, and a new baby girl (I looove polkadot fabrics!).

Sneak peeks - 11 baskets.. 5 days to go..

Here's a little look at the easter basket that I'm working on replicating for the kids in my Mothers group for our Easter Egg hunt this Sunday..

This one was created by Leisl, and blogged about here

All the baskets are sewn (but not put together), JulieC is cutting and sewing up the ears, and I'm making the handles and hand stitching the faces...

I will add a post after Sunday to show the finished project - and hopefully include some photo's of the happy recipients filling them up with chocolate!  I can't wait for the big Easter Egg Hunt!!!

Giggle and Hoot..

Picture courtesy of ABC for Kids website - Giggle and Hoot show

I try not to think it's because our daughter watches too much ABC for Kids - but these days she is loving Hoot from Giggle and Hoot.. In the few minutes that him and Jimmy Giggle popup between shows on ABC2, she runs around calling out 'Hoot!' 'Hoot!'...

It's so cute, I decided she needed her very own Hoot softie. And it coincidentally tied in nicely with the March challenge (hosted at the My Favourite blog)

So I sketched him off the tv, then set to work making him for her. He's all made out of felt, embroidery cotton, and stuffing :)  She definitely knew 'Whooo' he was when I gave it to her, and he went to bed with her last night which is a sure sign that we're on to a winner :)

So here's a photo of Lola's new Hoot softie.

4 year old girls?

I actually had to google 'what do 4 year old girls play with' to help me decide what to make for our cousin's daughter's birthday party this weekend (I will quite readily admit to not being in tune with what 4 year olds are up to these days)

And I decided to buy her a notebook and some new crayons - and make her a clutch to carry her crayons around in.

I used the instructions provided by on the skiptomylou blog - which I found to be really clear (thankfully!).

Here's hoping they are well received at the party on Sunday.

 

What did I learn from this project?

 

- Must spend more time using pins and less time unpicking

- Practice sewing on ric rac (yes, it is meant to be on all 4 edges)

- Next time modify the pattern if you buy 'jumbo crayons'..

- The darker the fabric, the better it will look after the crayons have been pulled in and out the first 50 times.

 

Sweet Emmeline

Emmeline is turning 1 soon, and we will be celebrating with her next weekend. I'm ready in advance with her present - it was made and photographed last week.

The fabric is from a set of my old bed sheets that mum gave me recently. I'm sure I went through a phase of loving it - then hating it when I was younger, but I'm back to loving it now :)

Having a baby girl has done unexpected things to my tastes. The more cutesy the better these days.

Sunday

This weekend didn't go to plan. We had anticipated relaxing and cooling ourselves on a Northern NSW beach, but instead had to make do with the baby bath in the back yard.

It all started with an icecream (a chocolate Billabong). And it ended in the bath/bucket in the only patch of shade in our backyard currently (between the washing line and the shed).

At some point during the afternoon, I put Lola in the wetshirt and hat that her grandma Lily made. Lily had picked up some fabric at a closing down sale, and wasn't sure what to do with it. Originally she made the hat (in the photo's) and thought it would be good for Lola to wear in the water. That gave me an idea, so the next time Grandma came to visit, I sent her home with Lola's wet shirt (which she's about to outgrow) and asked if she could please have a go at making one of these (my sewing skills aren't there yet). She did a great job - but I'm not entirely sure that it's going to be sun proof enough for our QLD sun. I think it's just a lycra fabric? I might have to do some googling, but if anyone can advise - I'd be very appreciative.

The sun is so hot here right now, and I think I'd need to be 100% sure that my baby's skin is protected before I let her go too crazy in the sunshine :) Although having said that - I couldn't keep her out of it today (nor the dirt for that matter).

Softies for Mirabel

I read about the Softies for Mirabel project at Meet me at Mikes months ago. I really wanted to be involved, and I'm very proud of myself for making my softie, packaging it up tonight, and uploading a photo to the flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/softiesformirabel.

The beetle is from this book http://www.penguin.com.au/softies/books.cfm

I thought he was good for either a boy or a girl, and hopefully he'll make someone smile.

Happy Birthday banner

This is the happy birthday banner I made (got the idea from http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2005/03/a_birthday_bann.html)

I loved the thought of having it hang over all the birthdays in our family for years to come. I even asked Si to put two permanent hooks on the wall so we've always got somewhere to hang it up.

It got its first 'run' today for Lola's birthday. She kept pointing at it all day long. I think she liked it :)

Reversible Hats

I lost Lola's hat and she needed a new one - but I thought they'd be pretty easy to make so I didn't rush out and buy another one. Instead I bought this pattern off Etsy http://blog.betzwhite.com/2009/08/reversible-bucket-hat-pattern.html

It worked out really well I think? It took me about 3 hours to make the first hat (in light pink corduroy and calico), and 2 hours the next night to make the 2nd hat (the bright pink 'nana' fabric with purple flowers on the other side). I was watching tv while I was pinning and ironing though..

Lola does not like wearing any hats. so getting photo's was a mission..

Family picnic blanket

I loved this blanket when I first read about it in Handmade Home.. http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2009/08/handmade-home-beach-blanket-togo.html

I got the chance to make it last week. I can't wait to see all the journeys it goes on in it's lifetime. I used old sheets from my sister in law - and it's backed with the orange chenille bedspreads that used to be on Nana's spare beds when we'd sleep over.

hoot hoot

I copied this picture of the owl off a shirt I bought from BigW. It was my very first applique attempt. I cut out my fabric, sewed it together, picked out some buttons from Nana's stash for the eyes, then wasn't sure what came next. I visited the helpful ladies from Sewco and came home with tearaway and vliesofix. After ruining my ironing board cover - I finally worked out how to get the owl onto the shirt :) I think the very first recipient of the shirt liked it very much!

Babushka

My neighbour Kat found a pattern for this Babushka doll in a sewing magazine she borrowed from the library. I've since found out it's the work of Johanna from one red robin (http://oneredrobin.com/)


The doll it made was HUGE!! I wasn't sure what I was going to do with her when I'd finished - but I decided to give her to my cousin's daughter for her Christening.

She didn't stand up too well - but I still think she looked great.

Little Smappy Doll

This is the first pattern that I bought off Etsy from the Whosies and Whatnots store.
It made the cutest doll for Lola. The pattern was easy for a beginner.

birds on a stick

I had every intention of sewing these birds and making a beautiful mobile for Lola's room like on Sew Liberated's blog http://sewliberated.typepad.com/sew_liberated/2009/02/birds-on-a-branch-in-the-babys-room.html So I made the birds, but that was as far as I got. I couldn't find a twig that I was happy with. Then Lola got a hold of the birds, and she just loved chewing on them. In the end, I chose to let the birds remain free..

easter chickens

My inspiration for my next sewing project was from my neighbour Kat. She found it at http://sewing.craftgossip.com/sew-a-stuffed-lovebird-with-this-free-pattern/2009/02/12/

I wanted to make my daughter something special for her first Easter - so I made her these chickens. Then I wanted to make one for all the babies in my Mothers group (with a chocolate easter egg in their front pockets). Then my sister wanted me to help her make a load for the students in her yr 2 class. By the end - we were totally out-chickened.

bye baby bunting

$70 bucks? - no way, I could totally make that!

And I'm sure with those words, many sewing careers began..


My lightbulb moment came on a trip to Sydney in January of this year. We were at a shopping centre and I saw some gorgeous 'flags' that I wanted for Lola. On checking the price - they were so expensive! So the flags (which I soon learned were called 'bunting') became my first sewing project. My husband helped me measure up the fabric (to get the most flags possible) and then I sewed them up. They now hang proudly in our family room. Our awesome neighbours tell us they can see them through our windows, and they love them too.