Mammajoy

A Spot of Sewing

 

I did it.

I cleared my desk in my studio and found my sewing machine!

There it was, ready to go.  Draped in a pair of Joseph's pants that need to be re-hemmed.  I suspect my mum was about to do them but ran out of time before she had to head back to work after helping me out the other week.

It felt so great being back in my studio and thankfully I had a project waiting to be finished that I could start on straight away.  There is nothing more annoying then fluffing about not sure of what to do....... while the clock is ticking away the child-free minutes very quickly!

I speak from experience my friends.

 

 

I started working on this bunting sometime around Christmas last year.  I've made bunting before but hadn't done any with letters and I wanted something to decorate the lounge room with.  I could fill my house with bunting.  One room at a time.  Except maybe the toilet.  That could be strange.

One of my favourite verses from the Bible is Corinthians 13 or the love chapter as it's commonly known as.

Verse 13 ; 'And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.'   I so love the simplicity of this and wanted a daily reminder of what really matters.

It's so easy to make bunting - I simply made a template, cut out my fabric and sewed away.  The most time-consuming part of all was doing the applique on the letters.  And it took even longer to do the blanket stitch around each letter - my machine has a blanket stitch so thankfully I wasn't doing it by hand - but it was still a bit fiddly!

I used good 'ole bias binding to hang them from.  Usually I would sew a casing in each flag, but this time I simply placed the flag between the binding and sewed one great big line from one end of the bunting to the other.  So easy!

 

 

I love how it turned out.  It fits perfectly across the feature wall in my living room and I can't imagine this room without this bunting in it now!!

 

 

 

 

I also worked on some bags today.  I've been avoiding procrastinating on them because the straps, oh THE STRAPS.  They are giving me grief!

But I am determined to finish them because they are shaping up to be beautiful and my goodness me, it's high-time I re-stocked my local retailer!

Anything exciting coming out of your studio lately?

 

a few weeks ago...

This,

made way for this,

Good bye vintage Janome.  Hello computerised Brother!!

Look at all those buttons!!  When I switch this machine on it lights up and beeps at me and is ever so friendly.  No more clunky dials that get stuck all the time!

Look at all those stitches!  And this machine can do twin stitching, that's two needles, perfect for the bags and nappy bags I want to sew this year.

So far I've sewn two bags, one for a dear friend's birthday and one for me.  Plus a skirt for Jess.  This machine is just lovely to sew with, I can't believe how easy it is to use compared to ye' old Janome.

Which by the way has gone to a good home, my sister is now using it.  I was a little sad to see it go, we've had some good times together.

This machine came from here and the customer service they offer is brilliant.  Love a good chat with ladies about sewing machines.  Yes I'm a geek.
 
  

new projects to add to the long list of projects

Have you heard of Whip Up?

Here's an excerpt from their site;

"Whip up is for experimentation, innovation, self expression and the sharing of information and ideas.

Whip up is against mass produced small plastic crappy stuff designed specifically to extract money from wallets, last less than 10 minutes and spend eternity in landfill.

Whipup is about taking time out of your hectic schedule to make. To make something by hand. And by making something by hand instead of buying it, you achieve personal satisfaction, then by teaching yourself and others new skills you will enjoy life more fully.

Whipup is for the slow movement, slow cooking, slow living, slow schooling, slow sundays, slowly enjoying life. By living life out of the fast lane we will hopefully notice more, learn more, enjoy our children, friends and family, enjoy our time doing the things we love.

Whipup values time over money, values skills over things, and is for creating a space in a hectic life for making.

Whip up is all for the handcraft movement.

Some people say Whip up should be against frilled toilet roll holders, but I say if they are made with love then why the hell not eh!

Whip up is against such polarised views as for and against stuff".

Taken from their 'about' page.

Not sure how I stumbled upon this gem but I've been enjoying this site for about two years now.  Their weekly newsletter is great, and the most recent one contained three, THREE! things that I'm itching to try...

:: how to make your own deodorant

:: pretty quick pillowcase tutorial

:: vintage pillowcase grocery bag tutorial

We ALWAYS forget our 'green bags' (what we have here in Australia) when we head to the shops; it really frustrates me.  I'm thinking that if I actually spent some time making something that I like, I will probably remember to use them!

On a completey un-related topic I had a breakfast date with a friend this morning.  Was lovely.  Hot coffee, tasty english muffins and no children.  For a whole two hours!!  That is the best kind of therapy.

Anway, so while I was out enjoying the above-mentioned Matt took some photos of the kids.  And when I say 'took some photos', I mean he didn't just whip out his camera and click away.  Oh no, it means he set up his flashes, his umbrellas, a backdrop and HE.TOOK.SOME.PHOTOS.

This is one of my favourites - Samuel at 8 months.  Those blue eyes just melt my little heart!

Hope you all had a great weekend!
 

when my creativity drives me nuts

'Mmmmm, these bags look a little plain'

"Nah, they're just Kindy bags, they don't have to look pretty.'

'Oh, but they look so boring'.

'Amanda, they're JUST KINDY BAGS.  Don't worry about it.  They're going to hang on a hook all year, nobody will even see or really use them'.

'Look, I'll just add a bit of patchwork detail, just to break up all that plain fabric'.

'See?  Now doesn't that look pretty?' 

And so, three days since I began the first simple drawstring bag I'm finally finished!  I do think they look great though and I had so much fun sewing them.

I didn't really follow any pattern, but it's basically a strip of fabric 95cm x 50cm with seam allowances of 2.5cm, so the finished bags are 45cm x 45cm.  (Rachael's Kindy for some reason was very particular about the size of the bags.  One bag is actually 43cm x 47cm.  I'm a rebel like that).  I folded the fabric in half, sewed up each side, turned the bag right way out and then did the casing.  The ties are just bias binding pressed in half and stitched (see the fancy scallop stitch?).  I used a button hole on the outer side of the casing to thread the tie through.  Actually the longest part of making these bags was the patchwork detail I did.  And trust me, I tried to fight my inner urge to decorate, I really did!  But I just had to do something!

So Rachael is all packed and ready for Kindy tomorrow.  After I have dropped her off I will only have the two boys and wow, I'm looking forward to coming home and spending some quality time with my little men!

Hope you had a good weekend.

P.S. Kindy = Kindergarten, just in case you were wondering!

 
 

 

 

she sews!

It's been a while.  The whole having-a-baby thing really cramped my sewing style.  I mean these newborns want to feed all the time.  It's crazy.

Oh I kid.

I jest.

Moving on.

I have found my way to my sewing desk during the past two weeks and it felt so good to get a bit creative again.  There were days when I was just itching to sew something, anything.  So I waded through my growing list of projects and picked one I've had on my mind for a while.

A kidlet.  When I first saw this tutorial I thought it was such a great idea.  My girls' are forever carting around 'stuff' all day and it all inevitably gets left on the floor.  The idea behind this little beauty is that now they have a designated place for the 'stuff'.  Anything but the floor really.  That's the goal here.

Here is the tutorial (sure hope it's okay that I put the link here because it really is a great tutorial!).  It was easy and enjoyable to sew and before I knew it the girls' had one each.

(Side note: how is it that in a colour photograph my sewing desk looks messy - yet in a black and white it just looks....creative?  Think I might photograph my entire house in black and white.)

I'm very fortunate to have a good fabric store nearby and if I stand at the counter long enough I can always find some gorgeous prints.  And this one is no exception.  These photos don't do it justice. Neither does my sewing.

I also managed to whip up an oliver & s skirt for Rachael which was a delight to sew, love it when it all comes together in the end.  Didn't take many photos though.

Sewing at the moment is still a bit like quick-just-sew-this-now-before-someone-wants-me-to-fix-them-some-more-food.

Doesn't really lend itself to much photo taking.

 

 
 
 

it's so pretty it hurts my eyes

Look at what is gracing my entry unit at the moment!  (Just down from the pile of 'stuff' that gathers there for their annual get-together). 

A dear friend of mine gave me Handmade Home, Amanda Blake Soule's latest book and I just.can't.wait to start sewing again and this book is the perfect way to begin.  Remember this big cupboard clean-out?  Well that big basket of old t-shirts and dresses is, um...still sitting beside my sewing desk, and I'm dreaming of a quilt made with a mixture of the girl's old shirts that are so full of memories.

This book is full of great projects that are practical and family-friendly.  I love sewing.  And sewing something that I know the family needs and will use everyday is super satisfying.

Thank you friend!

the embroidery bug

I love embroidery.  Love the way a heap of tiny stitches on crisp white homespun transform into a beautiful pattern, or a picture or whatever I've designed them to be.  Lately these little birds have caught my eye.  Little birds make me happy.

The thing I like most about embroidery is that it's a go-anywhere craft.  I can have three different projects going at the same time and various hoops spread across the house and in the car - just waiting for a few spare minutes when mamma can stitch.  And isn't stitching so calming?  I can feel my breathing slow and my body relax with each one.

See this cushion?  (Well, don't look too close 'cause you can see the under-thread through the fabric...oops).  I did not measure anything when I threw this baby together.  Not.one.thing.  I usually measure at least three times for fear of anything being crooked!  But this time I just went with the sewing whim and threw caution to the wind!  It was great.

And is it crooked?  YES.  But I don't care.  Because I enjoyed sewing it and the girls love it!

Now, on to the massive pile of clothes to be mended....

Hope you are having a great day.

ric-rac is evil

Yes that right, I've tried and I've failed and because I'm a good sport I'm blaming the ric-rac.

How are you supposed to sew a straight line on something that clearly isn't straight?  I just can't wrap my brain around it.

I also had a close call with a zipper last week but that's another story for another day.

I picked up some of the Fredrika fabric from Ikea while we were car-shopping (we had to eat somewhere) and I'm making some large floor cushions for the kids play room.  This fabric is perfect for this because it's thick and heavy and will wash really well.  I originally wanted to use a big heavy duty zipper but after about an hour of reading through my sewing books trying to teach myself how to do it I settled for buttons.  So.much.easier.

And these little cuties are my early Sunday morning quick-before-the-kids-wake-up-let's-do-some-sewing efforts.  Usually when I do this I'm so stricken with the possibilities and the fact that I'm alone and about to sew in peace and quite that it usually leaves me frozen with excitement and therefore unable to actually decide what to sew already.

Well to counteract my own crazy I've stockpiled a heap of quick and easy tutorials from the wonder that is the internet and these little roller coasters are one such project.  I've got headbands, totes and cushion cover ideas coming out of my ears now.

These coasters call for the use of ric-rac and in case you missed it I'm not much of a fan of this sewing enigma.  So I'm thinking of just leaving them round but they do look like they are missing a bit of trim bling bling.  Maybe ribbon?  Maybe yarn-tassles?  Maybe some wooden beads stitchen in place?

Yes, I'm thinking the beads.  Anything but ric-rac.

i decided armholes would be handy

I finally finished this top.  Remember?  My first proper sewing project.  Well I sat myself down and managed to fix my rather unfortunate mistake.

Wasn't that a hoot.

But it's finished.  And she can wear it.  And I'm so happy.

It needs an iron.  Jess has been in and out of this top so many times since I finished it - she loves it and I LOVE that she loves it.

 

The way it sits on her is just perfect - it really is a great pattern (oliver & s).  My sewing on the other hand is rough, real rough.  But I figure I can only get better.  And look?  Now it fits her which in my book is a great place to start!

Because it rained so much over the weekend I also whipped up another lazy day skirt for Jess - she starts kindy on Thursday and needs more bottoms.  My favourite thing about sewing for my babies?  Watching them pick out the material and the trimmings (always anything in any shade of pink) and then hanging around my sewing desk waiting for me to finish.  Asking every five minutes is it done yet?  So sweet.

Next project?  A top for my little Ray Bear.  Maybe this weekend.  I must say I do love the rain - it means mamma can sew.

Have a great week!

arms? what arms?

So.

After a 'take 2' (the kids decided that sleep was purely optional on the night of my big sewing plans) I have sort of finished the top.  I ended up using a nice pink cotton with a small white flower print - my reasoning being that since this was my first attempt at what I like to call 'serious' sewing (what with a PATTERN 'n all) I should opt for the cheaper fabric hence I make, you know, A MISTAKE.  And let's just say that I'm glad I did.

Because I kind of made a mistake.  I have sewn the armholes together.  You can laugh now.  It's okay.  I've moved on from frustration to humour.

  

In my defense the instructions were a little vague in some places, and detailed in others.  I read them word for word and I think that was my error, maybe taking them too literally?  Anyhow, it's fixable I think.  Just a tad annoying.  I may have to re-stitch the armholes by hand.

Apart from the whole arms thing I really enjoyed sewing this top.  Watching it all come together from what first appears as just a pile of funny shaped fabric is quite addictive.  J was a little upset that she couldn't wear it, it won't even fit over her head!

See?  I can laugh about it now, but earlier notsofunnythankyouverymuchstupidpatterninstructions.

But it's not over until the fat lady sings.