Taking a little break......

while we move into a new one of these......

with lovely big sunny windows, enormous backyard, room for a veggie patch, a sewing nook for mama and a cosy little fireplace. sigh....see you at the other end!

I found it!!

the camera that is :) It's been on a holiday thanks to the three monkeys that reside here and I finally found it when I decided to fold the washing that had been sitting there forever. As I was putting it away in hubbies sock drawer lo and behold there was the camera was hiding up the back! It had been missing for weeks :P Shows how much I do the washing!

ANYWAY......I have actually been doing quite a bit of sewing, not all that exciting, lots of school things, jumpers, trackies etc. I've been practicing doing the side pockets on trackpants and think I may have finally cracked that nut. I like to learn something new every couple of weeks so that hopefully by the time the girls are asking for really tricky things like formal dresses I won't have a heart attack!

On the downside though all this sewing has taken it's toll on my overlocker and I think the blade might be dull as it's not cutting quite so well and having a hard time coping with a few layers :( Very sad but I'll be dropping it off today and hopefully it won't be too long before we're together again!

So...here's a few things that have come off the production line lately.

First is a little blazer for Hannah, Miss 5. She's been eyeing this one up forever....and I think it suits her quite well. It's a "girls blazer" and is pattern 15 from Ottobre 1/2006. I used a fine pale pink cord to make it. There were lots of teeny tiny pieces to cut out and lots of topstitching but I was able to get it cut out and sewn in one night so it wasn't too bad. I did have trouble getting the front to sit flat but I think that was my bad cutting rather than anything else. It was a great fit and I think the only thing I would change next time is adding a bit of length. She's pretty happy with it so it's all good!

Next is a skirt for Becky, Miss 4. It's from 6/2008 and is called the Tammy pleated skirt, pattern 16. I did version A and left off the fabric belt. It's made from magenta cord and for lining I used the same colour homespun cotton rather than proper lining fabric as I wanted it to be a bit warmer. The pleats were a little fiddly and doing a lining was a first for me but it came together fairly quickly and I think it suits her :)

Lastly is an outfit for miss 2. The top and skirt are from 4/2007, a great Autumn issue. The skirt is a the pleated skirt, number 14. I've used this skirt pattern before as a school skirt and really loved the pleated look at the front. I did lengthen it a little and added little round pockets to the front as my little girl is obsessed with "pocks". The fabric is called "wintella" and is from the current spotlight range, this piece was a little remnant though and cost me all of 80c...bargain!

With the top I wanted to do the design from number 18 in the mag but it didn't come in a smaller size so I used a creative workshop 301 t-shirt but added a turtle neck with lettuce edge and also the same on the hem. Fabric for this was "stella" from the Crafty Mamas store. It's super soft and lovely and stretchy thanks to a smidge of elastene. Lovely :)

Well, that's all from me for now! Back to Mt Washmore :P

Here's a few of the 'outakes'