KCWC Days 3 - 7

Ok, so I didn't get as much made as I had hoped, but life kind of got in the way - a migraine wiped out Thursday, and a party on Saturday, for Alannah, wiped out two days with preparation work (more on that another day).
But I did manage to get one other project finished...

Project 2 : Cord pants for Levi, with contrasting fabric pockets.

Pattern : Shwin&Shwin 'Nowhere Man' Pants pattern
Size : 2T (a little long for Levi at the moment, but still cute)

Such a great pattern, and I really like the finished product - the little model is pretty spunky too :-)

xxx

KCWC Days 1 + 2

Project 1 : A fleecy swing jacket for Alannah for school - tick!

Pattern : McCalls M5743
Size 10

Now onto my next project!

xx

Littlest Man's Hoodie & KCWC

When I was in Adelaide a couple of weeks ago, I finally finished off this hoodie for Levi - all it needed was the buttons...I'm happy that it is finished and it fits him perfectly..(really wouldn't have wanted to procrastinate much longer with the whole 'sewing buttons on' thing :-P)

Little spunk!

And for the first time ever, I've decided to join in with Elsie Marley's KCWC (Kids Clothes Week Challenge) which starts on Monday.

The idea is to spend at least one hour a day sewing/knitting/crocheting/cutting out an item of clothing for a child/your children, and as I have a sewing to-do list that is sooo long, I thought this may be what I need to do to get my sewing mojo moving again.

Fingers crossed I get some things ticked off!

xxx

Crochet Hook Holder - A Sewing Tutorial

On the weekend, I was sorting through my craft nook, and finally found all of my various sized crochet hooks. I popped them in a jar for the time being, but then thought, why not make a crochet hook holder?
So while I was at it, I thought I'd write up a quick tutorial on how I make them (I've made one other before, for a friend) for any readers who may be looking for something similar.

Ok, so here goes...

You will need :
2 cotton fabrics
Small square of felt
Ribbon (approx 90cm)
Fabric pencil
Ruler

 First up, cut out your fabric :
1st fabric - Cover - Cut 1 - 23cm x 44cm piece
2nd fabric - Lining - Cut 1 - 23cm x 44cm piece
2nd fabric - Pocket/Pocking Lining - Cut 2 - 11cm x 44cm piece

Your pieces should look something like this...

Next up : Pocket

Prepare pocket by sewing across the top edge - fabric right sides together.
Fold right side out, and press flat. Topstitch.
Lay pocket onto main lining piece, both right sides facing up, and pin all 3 sides.

Baste stitch each side, to hold in place while we measure out and sew up the individual pocket sections.

Cut a small square of felt, approximately 6cm x 6cm, and pin about 3cm in from each side on the top left hand corner.
Sew a straight line down the centre, attaching the felt to the lining piece. This is for your wool needles.

Next : Sectioning your pocket

From right to left, measure out the following :
17 of 1.5cm spaces
4 of 2cm spaces
1 of 2.5cm space
1 of 3cm space
1 of 4cm space

The last one may end up a little larger, but that is fine :-)
Mark the lines in using a fabric pencil.

Straight stitch over your lines. My tip is to sew from bottom to top, holding the fabric taut as you do so, to limit any puckering with your pocket sections.
Trim loose threads.

Next : Assembling

Pin the cover to the lining piece, all the way around, right sides together.
Start sewing at one end and follow around, but leave at least a 5cm gap opening at the end you started, to be able to pull it through the right way around.

Trim corners, then turn right side out.
Press.

Take your ribbon and fold in half.
Place the folded end into your 5cm gap and pin in place, with raw edges tucked in.

Top stitch around entire holder.
Fill with your crochet hooks and wool needles.

Roll up and tie with the ribbon, and ta da! a new, easily portable crochet hook holder.

Have fun!

Oh, and would love to hear if anyone gives it a go :-)

xxx

Wiggle and Squirm

WARNING : Worms ahead!

Yesterday it was such a beautiful Melbourne autumn day, and with the kids at their grandparents for the day, Roh and I decided to spend it in the garden together.

One of the first things on our agenda (after coffee, of course :-P) was to buy either a worm farm or compost bin....we went with the worm farm...

I'm very excited about our plans for the garden. We planted up some herbs and fingers crossed they thrive, or at least start growing. We are trying out a new rockery plant for right by the steps where currently we've had no success in keeping plants alive. I planted a mass of pansies around the base of our baby japanese maple tree, and a few english box hedges went in along the path.

But my next exciting project is two raised vegetable garden beds.

They will be going here...

So as you can see, lots of prep work to get started with...fortunately we are up for a few more sunny days, and hopefully a couple of 2-3 hour naps for Levi, so I can actually get some work done.

I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to gardening, but I enjoy it and that's the main thing!
And I'm sure I'll learn a few things along the way.

And as for the worms - well, the kids finally have some pets - a thousand of them! :-P

Joining up with Make : Grow : Thrift..
xxxx

Bored? Are you sure? (Mwahahaha)

So, I don't know about your children, lovely readers, but my children seem to start up the "I'm bored" chant, almost as soon as they walk out of the school gate on the last day of term.

It could kinda drive a mum a little batty, right?
Bored? Really? So, that room full of toys - useless? That bike? The humungous backyard with adventures awaiting? Apparently there is still  N O T H I N G  T O  D O :-P

So, I made up a little jar full of things for them to do....(this is where the mwahahaha comes in)

Now, it's full of a combination of family chores/helping out, projects and maybe a couple of fun things but mostly things that are helpful.

The lesson was to hopefully make them stop and think before bellowing out those ever-annoying chants of "I'm bored" and if I had a jar full of fun things to do, they would think it was fabulous, and would chant away.

No, definitely not what I was after. What I do want is for my children to be able to entertain themselves most of the time (well, the oldest two who are 6 and 8 - I'll give the 2 year old a couple more years ;-)) and to think about things before complaining, and to be proactive in fixing the situation...possibly even a bit of a life lesson.

So I filled the jar with things such as :
* Tidy your room (this is one of their jobs, but they tend to put it off but then again, what children don't?) (oh and to increase the odds of their picking this one, it may be written out maybe 4 times among about 25 things :-P)
* Unload the dishwasher
* Ride your bike
* Do a 2 page project on your favourite animal
* Put away all the toys in the living area
* Read a chapter from a novel
* Rake the driveway
* Do 10 laps up and down the stairs
* Draw something
* Play/Build blocks with Levi

And a few more things.

Funnily enough, after the first round for both of them, they seem to have kept themselves busy enough this school holidays.

That equals success! (I think)

How do you deal with 'I'm bored'? Would love to hear any other ideas.

xxx

Little Boy, Little Vest

Over the weekend, I finally put the finishing touches on Levi's little vest.

It really shouldn't have taken me long, but I did manage to drag it out over about 6 weeks...gotta love that procrastination ;-)

 

But it's done now, and that's the main thing, and doesn't my littlest dude look spiffy?

 

And I couldn't resist a quick snap of two of my boys looking all snazzy (yes, I said snazzy..he he)..

 

xxx