Somebody Turned 6!

So that meant there was to be lots of presents and cake (2 cakes to be exact).

In what seems to be becoming a tradition, many of DD's presents were handmade. A dress, Farbenmix Roxy, the pink was some old fabric (it was from my grandma's stash - feels like cotton and seems quite cool to wear).

A soft toy - one that I have had traced for nearly 18months and that she had asked for about that long ago (it was meant to be a Christmas present back in 2010 - but I ran out of time). It is Bubbles the Unicorn, from Melly & Me - in her book Kaleidescope.

And lastly a camera bag, pattern by Keyka Lou, from some fabric leftover from a pillow case that our neighbour made her for Christmas. I had promised to make it into a bag - and this was it. She also got a brand new camera to go in it (our kids love to take photos!)

Cake number 1 was had on her actual birthday - a chocolate sponge with a (kind of) smartie rainbow lol

Cake number 2 was for her party with her friends, and was a doll in a cake.

Cheers!

Blossom Number 2

Title says it all really - I made another Blossom, from Melly & Me. The original can be seen here.

Why 2? Well, Blossom 1 had a day trip to school when DD got to take her favourite soft toy in. The teacher took quite a liking to Blossom, especially because her wings were removable, therefore she would be quite handy to demonstrate the life-cycle of a caterpillar/butterfly (The Very Hungry Caterpillar was being read often at this time).

So here we have Blossom 2, and she even got her very own cocoon this time - hopefully it will help keep her safe in a classroom full of little hands :)

 

Cheers!

My First Crochet Item

with armholes and shaping and stuff! That is wearable :) And isn't a scarf or shawl.

I have been spying so many lovely knitted or crocheted items lately, from many of the totally talented Crafty Mamas in the forum, that I was completely inspired to have a go. Then the lovely Tracy started up a Yarn-Along, and I decided to jump in feet first, not expecting to even finish an item.

But I did, and it is gorgeous! I love it! DD on the other hand, isn't as impressed, as it is a bit big. Pfft! She is doing nothing but growing lately, and really, it was my first ever cardigan. I think she should cut me a bit of slack lol

I do know why it is slightly too big, and that is because the pattern calls for a size 6mm hook, and I only had a 7mm. I knew it was going to be slightly bigger, as I did do a gauge swatch thingy.

Anyways, the pattern is the Bebop Cardi. I found it on Ravelry - it is a free pattern and is rather easy for a beginner. It was also quick. I managed to have it finished in 4 days - about 10 hours tops. The yarn is BWM Luxury in cream - DD picked that out of the colours that were available. And I must say, it is an absolute pleasure to work with such beautiful wool!

I added some button loops as I was finishing the edges, and they are a bit hit and miss - but they seem to work ok. Two extra rows were added when I was working the bottom, so that it had a bit more length and I think that works well.

Mis-matched buttons, just because they were there and it is helping to reduce the stash :)

Also crocheted lately is this simple granny square blanket for my niece. She drags her bigger ones everywhere and trips over them. So this one is to drag around with less chance of tripping.

Cheers!

Pencil Tubs (made from a collection of bits and pieces)

A note was sent home from school after a few days, asking the children to please bring in 2 tubs/cups for their pencils to live in on their desk (this is for DD's class). I could've driven to the shops and bought some, but then they would've been like the other kids ones. Can't have that now, can we?

A chat with DH on what sort of size we needed, and dig in the recycling box for some tins..... Then DH comes up with the idea using PVC pipe. He even had some in the right diameter. So I left him to it and went back inside to cook tea. Not long after he brought 2 inside, complete with an MDF base - nice and sturdy!

So as we sat watching TV after the kids were in bed, I was armed with the fabric, and DH had the hot glue gun (because I am not very good at it, and managed to have the first attempt go hard before I even stuck the fabric to it, and then burnt myself when I tried again - some things are best left to husbands), and between us we managed to get them prettified :) Not perfect, but DD certainly thought they were wonderful.

Cheers!

New Iron with a Difference

A while back my iron started giving me the fits. I wasn't too surprised, as it was a hand-me-down from my sister, and had had a good few years of regular use before me.
I spent some time researching, as I wanted an iron that had good steaming abilities, and had a bit more weight as it would be a sewing tool, and very rarely used for just ironing clothes (pfft!).

A Philips was my final choice, and a lovely purple one too :)
Except it had a few annoying qualities - like timing out and shutting off when I tried to press interfacing on, or having to reach under the ironing board to turn it off at the wall switch when I was done pressing a seam.

So I gave it to DH and asked him to work his magic :) Now it has a magic switch on the side and no longer has automatic shutoff hindering my interfacing pressing abilities. DH has a few more words on this, so do pop over and read his blog.

Cheers!

Silk Skirt and Burda Top

Another wedding, another outfit :) After I accidentally shrunk my red silk dress (and possibly gained some Christmas pudding), I had to make a new outfit. What a shame! lol

I wanted simple, yet dressed up, but also with the potential to dress down slightly. I think I achieved that.

The skirt is Ottobre 5/2007 #18. Fabric is Dupion Silk from Spotlight that was on sale for $8/m - thankfully, as it is normally $30/m.
I lined the skirt with cotton voile as the wedding was in the middle of summer. This made it beautiful to wear.

The top is Burda 11/2008 #113 in a poly/chiffon fabric, also on sale for $8/m. What a bear to work with!! OMG! It slipped and frayed and was a real pain in the behind. Until I mixed up some starch and painted all my seam allowances to make them stiff enough to work with. Worked like a charm.

As the chiffon was very see through, I made a camisole from the cotton voile. I had picked up a copy of the Kwiksew Lingerie book at the markets late last year, for a grand sum of about 50c.

To finish the outfit I wanted a thin black belt and a silver bag. The op-shop came to the rescue for me, with both :)
A friend gifted me the gorgeous necklace.

Cheers!