Tartan

I bought this fabric a year ago to make pants but Snugglebunny grew. I still had enough but needed to put a seam through the pants, and I've covered up the seam with some lovely tartan ribbon. I gathered the tartan ribbon with gathering threads then sewed it down the middle with zigzag so that the pants would still be able to stretch when needed. The beret is one I knitted last year to match a jumper I also knitted. Note the model will not stay still so all the shots are blurry!

Surf Brand?

I'm probably kidding myself, but I think Snugglebunny's new sweatshirt looks a little like one of the surf brands. I was having trouble finding ribbing for the cuffs and band, so I ended up buying some stretch velvet. It is sparkling in the photos with the flash, but it doesn't really sparkle in normal light, it just has a slight sheen to it that helps it match the marle of the pink part. The pink fabric was a gift, ages ago, from Belinda, in an EB Valentine's day swap, along with the heart buttons and applique!

Knitting goodness

What is the one thing guaranteed to inspire a bit of knitting?

- Procrastinating about an assignment for which the due date is imminent! The weekend my uni work was due I got these pants knitted (and the assignment done). I'm consequently now on a knitting kick and have whipped up this little pinny, AND two more lots of lovely wool are currently winging their way to my needles.

The model was being particuarly disobliging but still looks rather cute. The stripey pants look a bit short but they're good with boots on, and I have a left-over ball of wool I can extend them with when she grows.

The pinny was fun, and knit up very fast in lovely thick yarn. The maths involved just about did my head in, but at least it did result in even holes in the end.

Best bag ever

OK so this is not something I made, but I am in love with it. I bought this bag from Glorydaze and it is just exactly what I wanted. It is nice and light so it is perfect for carrying heavy folders and papers when I go to meetings for work. The strap is lovely and long to go over my shoulder and there are plenty of pockets at the front so keys and phone etc don't get lost. The workmanship is fabulous, I couldn't fault how straight and even all the stitching is! Best of all the fabrics are beautiful. The red and white I chose from the Glorydaze website and the Paloma bird fabric I sent my own piece to be sewn up - the front panel is interchangeable (bargain!) There is only one negative, and that is that I am not going into the office tomorrow so I have to wait until Friday for all the compliments LOL

Pressies, belated ones for MIL and niece. I have no idea why the apron photo is so washed out but the oven mitt photos show the beautiful colour of the fabric much better. I bound the mitt and pot holder with polar fleece and the inside is a pre-quilted corduroy.

Niece loves horses so hopefully will like a horsey bag. I love the look of bags with clear plastic over fabric, and am waiting for one I ordered too.
This necklace was made by Technogirl for her cousin - she and Glamourpuss have been having a jewellery making marathon inspired by this book that Glamourpuss got for Christmas. It has the most gorgeous ideas for using shrink plastic. I will post more of Glamourpuss's creations shortly.

The hat is one I cut out a while ago and is made from the scraps of some very cool trousers I made a long time ago. I had endless trouble with the curves not fitting each other, but perservered until they fit in the end. Apparently it is very popular with the other girls at childcare - so much so that Snugglebunny keeps telling me, "it's my hat, NOT ella's hat. It's my hat, not Anne's hat...LOL

Well my 2 weeks holiday from work is nearly over and I have sewed frantically the entire time. I now need a holiday, but I do feel a great sense of satisfaction at how much I got done. I still haven't blogged everything I made but here are some more.
This is a shirt I cut out about a year ago, and realised was going to be massively too big so it got shoved in the UFO pile. It is still too big for Tigerboy, but should be just right next winter.
French seamed the sleeves just in case he wanted to wear it in Summer with them rolled up and sure enough he likes it so much he wore it to a b'day party on Sunday. The close-ups were taken indoors and seem to be showing the colour more accurately onscreen - it is more purple than blue. The boy did have a moment of looking sceptical and said, "it has flowers on it", but I just informed him it is paisley not flowers and he seems to be ok with that LOL.









The shorts are the same pattern as the shorts I posted in my very first blog post. I love this pattern and I love the groovy guitar fabric. It is the same as some I sent to my secret santa - I couldn't resist some for me too!

A Quartet of Short-ettes

This is one of those moments when I get to justify my enormous and overflowing scrap-basket, which includes various bits and pieces from the last 15 years of sewing.

Some of them have been through four house moves, like the tiny floral which was leftover from a dress for the toddler Technogirl. Some are more recent, like the blue floral, which was in a $2 bag of sheeting offcuts I scored at the op shop a couple of years ago. So many scraps means essentially free shorts for Snugglebunny. I think my favourites are the hippos, made from Ikea fabric which I thought was too rough and scratchy for delicate toddler lege, so I fully lined them with some very light soft voile (also from the scrap basket). I turned the hems and waistband outwards purely to stop the rough fabric from chafing and was rewarded with a rather serendipitous and charming cuffed effect.

The little top was made a few months ago from an Ottobre pattern and is not my best sewing but I'm attempting to catch up and blog all the 2008 sewing that missed out on its 10 seconds of fame.