what to sew...?

Feliz or chair bag?


eta I did the Feliz- i need to go back to the great big *you take all my money* shop to buy more fabric for the chair bag.

ETA again, and this is what I get when I am 2 steps from finishing.  Can you see it?

this might be a better view? 

yup- make sure you needle is strong enough to go through 6 layers of fabric!

just edited again to clarify, the needle didnt go through my finger, it did break and go flying (with me in its path)

frills and frills and more frills- oh and dont forget the bias!

Its the little girls birthday coming up soon!  And of course she is frilly and pink.  So what should I do?

Feliz of course

Now we all know that a project this size cannot be completed without some sort of stuff up!  Such as ruffling 3.5mt of purple gingham instead of the pink!

And then of course you have to chose the colours of the bias to hem it with... white, pink, purple!  And of course  'they' don't sell powder pink bias anymore, making the colour choice that much more interesting... I turned to the white bias!

So it will be 5.5mt + 3.5mt (9mt) of ruffles plus 5.5mt + 3.5mt+ 3.5mt (12.5mt) of bias! that's not including the 3.5mt that I ruffled by accident!

Well its either the bias or I am making best friends with my rolled hem.  Not yet fully decided on that.

sorry OL- it will probably be the bias.

Lets hope I finish this soon, as I still have a chair bag and library bag to complete!

you know one of those days

when you feel like you are cleaning up constantly yet achieving nothing

when you just feel like the word NO is the only word that you know.

when the small child tugging on your arm makes you want to burst.
dont run in the house, dont jump on the couch, leave your sister alone, can you please flush the toilet!

im hungry, im thirsty, i want lollies, just seems never ending.

Am I the only one?

thoughts are with those in the Queensland floods

75% of Queensland now considered a disaster zone

Pic from news.com.au

Please stay safe all those who live there!

Summer days: the beach!

We have been a little slack in taking the kids to the beach.  te idea of sand between the thighs, in the hair and up the nose has put me off.  But there comes a time where we need to put these things aside and just pack a could of towels, a few drink bottles (and about $50 for fish and chips) and head down to the coast!

It was Lilys first time at the beach too... it was like it was her 1000th!

Us adults did spend most the time splashing, putting hats back into heads, smothering sun screen, running after Ellise as she fearlessly waded into water and supervising the bigger boys jumping off the pier.

for this reason we dont have many photos, and I will say with much disappointment, I didn't bring my camera!  All these were taken on my phone.  In my defense, I didnt want to get sand in it!

It was the most glorious afternoon, very little wind, just warm enough for the beach, but not hot!  I am so glad that I put aside my bias and took the plunge!

a THANK YOU giveaway

I want to say thank you to everyone who participated in my meme in 2010.  Ive met lots of nice new people and blogs.

so anyway, I dont want to commit to making anything for you.  I find sewing for someone else very stressful!  I want to give away something that I know that everyone will jump at!

I know- another Ottobre!

conditions of entry are that you must have entered at least 2 sign ups!

When entering you must 
b) you must want an Ottobre. 
c) you must chose and Ottobre that is still available.  All issues from year 2000, 1+2+3 2001, 1/2002 and 3/2008 are sold out.  
d) if you chose a popular version you might get the instructions on a separate piece of paper and the mag may be in Finnish.
e) I must be able to contact you somehow.  If I cant then I will have to redraw the prize.
f) comments must be made on the blog (not FB) please.

this giveaway will be announced at 6pm 31st January my time 


 Ottobre posts world wide too.

The reason I chose to give away and Ottobre is that I felt it would not discriminate.  Even if you don't sew they are pretty to look at (although the point is that you do sew from them)

I really like the ones that I have, and its hard to really chose one that I really like.  I know I like the 1/2009 and have made a few things from that issue.  But I have so many other Ottos that I cant seem to part with... so its really up to you (the winner).  

For those who don't win, you can head over to Crafty Mamas to get your own Ottobre. They also have Farbenmix too and some yummy fabrics.  Also over at Crafty Mamas is a forum, so that you can ask questions about your Ottobre projects.

I have been really pondering over the ladies 2/2008... might have to save for that one!

Ottobre Sudoku skirt X2!

These were meant to be finished prior to Christmas, but playing a little of fabric chicken (as apposed to yarn yardage chicken which is when you are not totally sure if you have enough yarn for a project) anyway, I ran out of fabric for the ruffle on the bigger skirt.  So the project got out on the back burner untill I figured out what to do.

Not a good thing to do!  When I did finally get the fabric, I got all excited and started sewing it all together.  Put them on the girls, presented it to all my Crafty Mamas, and realised that each piece is meant to be a different height!  EEEKKKKK! 

Not sure if you can see it here or not, but this is the other one I made a couple of years ago.

thats ok though, its still a gorgeous skirt! Plenty of twirly action.

perfect to play Barbies in.

or just to carry your baby around in your Ergo. 

And coz I love it so much- a collage.

Ottobre 1/2009 Sudoku skirt.

Summer days: Berry Picking

Today for a bit of a treat we took the kids berry picking.

can you spot Ellise?

Walking up and down strawberry isles looking for the illusive red berry!  And reminding Lily that you cannot eat the green ones!

Lily following along behind, stuffing as many blackberries and raspberry's into her mouth as she possibly can.  

Raspberry's, blackberries, strawberries, and also a few others that I have no idea what they are called.  And then on the way out some export quality cherries! 

One of our little helpers.

Show off what you did in December

My last month of this meme and I got slack!  I didn't post the widget for you to sign up to show off your December creations!  I am very sorry.  I am sure that you all can appreciate that December is a very crazy time of the year and so some things get overlooked.

Anyway, I don't want to overlook your creations- so we would love to see them. Sign up below!