There Is Now An 8 Year Old Living In My House

And he still loves his Mummy made presents best of all :)

Sewing clothes for him this year was a little more challenging, as he is tall and skinny, so I need to make sure that pants will fit. So once I had got to the waistband part of his pants I blindfolded him (he was very excited to do this lol) tried his pants on him, marked where to hem them and roughly how much I needed to gather the back of the pants with elastic. Which was a fair bit. He managed to get in and out with the blindfold on and not pin himself once. Then he went on his way without peeking.

A top and pants, both from Ottobre. The top is a size 140, and this should give him enough room for growth and to get him through to the start of the cooler weather next year as well. It is #37 from 4/2010 made in stella from Crafty Mamas.

Pants are #39 from 4/2009 in a size 134. I love the details on the pants - pin tucks in the back yoke, shaped back pocket flaps, and that fantastic shaped front of the pants. Love it! There is nothing boring about this boy sewing.

The other challenge was that this year our Easter holidays were quite late, and I misjudged how much time I would have to sew while the kids were at school. This meant I had to sew when they were at home, but without them seeing (night time is no good as I make too many mistakes). So when it was rest time, I shut the passage door and gave them strict instructions to knock before coming out. It worked wonders and I got everything finished in time.

 Melly & Me - I Come In Peace alien - he is the favourite present and totally loved.

A new camera case to go with his new camera - I used the Keyka Lou pattern again, but changed the straps to make it more boyish, and added velcro to the back pocket to prevent the spare batteries falling out.

And we can't forget the cake - he picked out an octopus as a number 8, from one of the Women's Weekly cake books - they are just wonderful for kids cakes.

Cheers!

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!

Super Dooper Quick Christmas Present Roundup

(coz I forgot to do it before now).

For the kids, they both received a mummy made outfit. Ottobre shorts for DS, with a Farbenmix Hilde t-shirt. Ottobre tee and Farbenmix Carolyn skirt/leggings combo for DD. All fabrics are from Crafty Mamas, also the ribbon embellishments.
EDIT: The Otto patterns are: shorts - 1/2004 #24 (I think they were pants, but I made them shorts, in a size 134).
DD's tee is 3/2010 #31 in a size 116 - I found it is on the small side, or intended for a very slim child.

They also asked for a set of beanbags - so I did 4 sets, so my nieces received a set each too. Except I was a little overzealous making these, I made the outer with velcro so they could be removed and washed - never, ever, again!! That was pure madness - though they will be easy to wash :)

For my younger cousins, and another young family member, I made covered journals. Super happy with these. The bigger ones are A4, and the smaller ones are A6. Embroidery designs are all from Huups.

A lanyard for a great Aunt. I was unsure of the colours in this before sewing it up - but it is just perfect for her.

And lastly, a Keyka Lou Half-Moon Bag in Meadowsweet fabrics. This was for my Aunty and she loved it! So do I :)

Cheers!

Keyka Lou Pouches

The kids had a Mother's Day stall at school this week - they both needed to take a gift to the value $3. Well as I despise shopping so much, and trying to find a lovely gift for $3 to take - I gave up, stayed home and sewed one instead lol

I used one of my new Keyka Lou patterns - The Pyramid Pouch. Small yet useful and cute too. I did modify the flap slightly, as I wanted it to have a button closure like the Boxy Wallet - as I had no small snaps on hand.


I used some lovely mushroom fabric and some spots (love them spots).



The kids came home from school today - where they bought something for Mother's Day from the stall - and they were both a little disappointed that the pouches weren't there when it was their turn to buy - as they wanted to buy one for me! :)

Hope all the mums out there have a lovely Mother's Day!

Cheers!

Christmas Has Been and Gone

And left a mountain of photos for you to view :)

Now that the day of giving has passed, and I have had a chance to catch my breath and pause in the indulgence of wonderful food and sit quietly, I thought I should share my Christmas sewing with you all.
I am very pleased, as I managed to give a lot of handmade gifts this year. So in no particular order.......

Teachers presents - a boxy pencil case and a bar of handmade vanilla delight soap.

All of the pencil cases.

One of the individual presents.


3 aprons, for my cousins, I also did a jar of cookie mix for each of them to go with the aprons, and a little triangle headscarf instead of a chef's hat. The aprons are from Cindy Taylor Oates - More Retro Aprons pattern.



A bag for my mum, from a pattern by NapKitten. Lots of turning to make the handles, but it worked out wonderfully.



A bag for my SIL - Lots Of Pockets Tote by KeykaLou. I love this pattern - it was so fun to make, and very easy to do.



A crochet project bag for my Aunty - I made up my own pattern for this, to a size I was happy with.


Some vanilla soap, made especially for my Aunty, but given away to many, so much so that I only ended up with one bar for myself. But never mind, it means I can make more.


Pencil cases for the kids, as they both asked for one :)


An outfit for my DS. It looks so big, as he is only 6, but it fits him perfectly and looks gorgeous on. Both the tee and shorts are from Ottobre, the tee - #20 from 2/2005 and the shorts #23 from 3/2009.





An outfit for my DD, Modkids Emma top and skirt, and a pretty little tee from Ottobre, #29 from 3/2009. She looks so gorgeous in this outfit, and the mish mash of fabrics suits her perfectly! lol





And on a very exciting note, a few days before I finished my Christmas sewing, my labels arrived! So I popped them on the kids clothes. And a good thing too - as the first thing my DS said when he opened his up on Christmas morning was, "Where is the label?!" He wants my label on all the stuff I make him.


I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.

Cheers!