Another non-sewing post, well almost......

Just a quick post to show you what I did today. The hat I am wearing was supposed to be for Lucy but was obviously too big so I whipped her up another one. They are from this book which I am in love with. I also made a bag from here too but I need to iron it before I can post a pic.




This photo is Charlotte in her new shin pads. She was supposed to go to a soccer camp in the holidays but she was sick. She has been itching to wear her shin pads so Jeff took her up to the park today for a kick.

My Little Waterbaby

My little girl is growing up. I can't believe how quikcly the year has gone and that Lucy is 8 months on Monday. So in preparation for summer we started swimming lessons today. Once again I am in the pool but at least it is lovely and warm. She went realy well and there were only tears near the end of the lesson as she was very tired. Here are some pictures taken by our own papparrazi Charlotte.

In The Mail

I purchased this book by Amy Karol last week from Amazon and it just arrived so I am very excited. I haven't had a chance to have good look yet but so far it looks great.

Sew Mama Sew Bag Month

This is my entry for the Sew Mama Sew Bag Competition in the shoulder bag category. I got this Sesame Street fabric from Ebay. It is a vintage sheet and as soon as I received it I loved it. The colours are really vibrant and I immediately thought of using some of it to make a bag. I wasn't sure of the style at the time but I was playing around with an idea for something else and then thought the shape would make a good bag so decided to give it a try. I lined the bag with a bright yellow polka dot fabric and put a pocket and a magnetic clip in it. This bag may find it's way onto my Wahmania store so stay tuned.

And the winner is..................

And the winner is..................

The draw has been done, by Charlotte of course, and the winner is The Humming Cat. A prize will be coming your way very shortly. Email or pm me your address.

An Elephant and A Century

I just finished this elephant for a teacher at Charlotte's pre-school. As she doesn't know what she is having I made one side with green polka dots and the other in a rainbow fabric. I used a ribbon loop as the tail and I finally found a very large bell at Lincraft which I put inside.

I have also just realised that this is my 100th post. Yes I've racked up a century, who would have thought it, certainly not me. So I've decided to run a little competition. Post a comment before Monday morning and everyone will go into the draw for a special package. So all you lurkers out there come in and say hello.

Weekender Bag

I decided to use this bowling bag pattern to make a weekender style bag. It is very rough and I didn't end up lining it at I found the instructions a little confusing for the lining so next time I will just do the lining as I normally line a bag. I used some fabric from Ikea which was only $4/metre, it is interfaced and I used a zipper I got from the op-shop craft sale. There is a small gap at each end of the zip because it wasn't long enough but for my first go I am happy with it and it will do for Lucy or Charlotte's things when we go away for a couple of days in a month's time.

Shopping bag

I whipped this bag up this morning and I am pretty happy with it. Because it was just a trial run I decided not to line it (and depending on the fabric I don't think it really needs it) but then forgot to turn the handles and top in luckily I remembered just in time. Next time the pocket could be a little smaller. I will
definitely be making some more.

A Special Gift

One of Charlotte's friends had a birthday recently and I put together this little package for her. I was really happy with the pencil roll up. I adapted a knitting needle roll up from The Crafter's Companion book and I was really pleased with how it turned out. I also included some hair ties and some vintage note paper as she loves drawing and writing.

A Twirly Skirt

I am so in love with this skirt. I got it cut out and made in about 2 hours. I made it in panels because I didn't have enough fabric but next timeI might just use one fabric. I used 50cm for each panel but you just need to make it as much as you think you need. I did make Charlotte one last week ni a purple dot but didn't use enough fabric os this one is heaps better. I used 2 panels of Michael Miller dot fabric and 2 panels of a fabric I picked up on sale at the Remnany Warehouse. Charlotte was reallu please with it because it twirls heaps and insisted on wearing it today even though it was quite chilly so I had to dig out a pair of tights. You may be able to see peeking through her jacket a t-shirt made by the lovely Belinda. I found it heaps easier to make than the tiered twirly skirts as there was no gathering so it was much less time consuming.


On another note I picked this up from Helen's site so thought I would give it a go:
Instructions: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following…They MUST be real places, names, things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Cassandra (Cass)
Famous Artist/Band/Musician: Credence Clearwater
4 letter word: Cope
NameVehicle: Corolla
TV Show:Charlie's Angels
City: Canberra
Boy Name: Charlie
Girl Name: Charlotte
Alcoholic drink:Cocktails (all of them!)
Occupation: Chef
Flower: Carnation
Something you wear: Coat
Celebrity: Chevy Chase
Something found in a kitchen: Cook
Cartoon Character: Casper
Something You Shout: C'mon
A Country: Canada
A Song Title: California Girls
An Artist (painter, photographer, etc): ??
A Reason to stay home from Work or School: Cramps
Something you’d see at a Zoo: Chimp
A Snack: Chiko Roll
A Character in a Book: Charlotte (from Charlotte's Web)
Something Icky: ??
A Six-letter Word: Christ
Something Breakable: Crockery
Non-Alcoholic Drink: Coke
Something you Whisper: ??

OK so I got stuck on 3 of them, help out if you can.

Pants, Bag and a rainy weekend

Well it's been a shocking few days here in Sydney with torrential rain and fierce winds. Luckily we were spared fallen trees and blackouts but it meant we were trapped inside. A few weeks ago I picked up a cardboard castle cubby house that you put together and then colour in so I bought that out yesterday which kept Charlotte occupied while we watched the Swans. I have managed to get a little bit of sewing done making her some pants and a bag. She's not in a trying on mood so I just had to lay them on the bed. Also a family pic (sans me of course) just because!

Finally finished

It seems like I have been making this bag for weeks but it is finally finished. Nestled between sick children, a dreadful ear ache and Jeff being way I made this childs bag(or could be a small bag for an adult). There are a couple of things I woud change next time but overall I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I will be listing it for sale shortly.

New Bag

I made this bag yesterday and I really love it except I made the handles too short for how I like them so I think I will sell it. The outside is white canvas with green dots and it is lined with chocolate corduroy. This bag is now for sale here

I also recently made Charlotte this skirt.

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by a few people so here goes.

And the rules are:
• Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself, that others may not know!
• People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog
• Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names

1. I worked with my partner Jeff for 10 years before we became romantically involved

2. I would love to live in New York

3. I hate driving up steep hills, I am afraid of not making it.

4. I'm not a very good housekeeper.

5. I have become addicted to sewing (but I guess you know that).

6. I fantasise about winning Lotto and have spent the money already.

7. I watch too much tv and I love it!

There's not too many left to tag so sorry if someone else has already gotten to you.
Andrea
Belinda
Brazen
Marie
Liv
Tigerfilly
Angel

Mothers Day Swap Part 2

Just got home from shopping and there was a package waiting for me from Andrea. Inside were 2 beautiful "cupcakes", one for me and one for Charlotte and a lovely taggie for Lucy. We were very spoilt!

Mothers Day Swap

Now Shibley has recieved her EB Mothers Day swap I acn post details. It included a snail pincushion (with magnetic sides), a vintage apron, some fabric, some pins, some vintage magnets (which will soone be available here) all packed in a drawstring bag, which hopefully one of the girls can use.

Baby Blocks

Seems silly but I have been working on these for ages. It seemed to take ages to get the squares cut and then sewn and stuffed but I finally finished it today. It is a simple block for Lucy to play with and with all the tags going around at the moment I added a few but didn't have too much ribbon floating around. These will be available for sale soon in the Snailblazer Shop.

Excuse the photos my camera won't turn on so I have had to use Charlotte's

Lucy's Christening

We had a lovely day today for Lucy's christening. There were 3 children being christening and Lucy started the crying when the water was poured over her head and the others followed suit, but that was it.









Lucy & I in the church Jeff, Lucy, me, Michelle & Phil (the godparents)

The Remnant Warehouse

Finally got to the Remnant Warehouse today and they have heaps more stuff than the last time I went. I got the following fabrics:

Black school days Michael Miller - this was reduced to $8/m and I thought I could use it for a library bag next year when Charlotte starts school

Retro space rascals Michael Miller - 1/2 m of this

The red/grey one with the lady on it is a fat quarter - not sure what I will do with this but Charlotte fell in love with it

The pink and green have groovy figures on them and were both $6/m so I couldn't pass them up.

I could have gone berserk but thought I should refrain myself but I will definitely be going back.

More pants

I made these for Charlotte yesterday. I love making them because they are so quick and easy.

Matching Pants

I have actually sewn something for Lucy. Being such a dribbly, chucky baby I decided she needed separate pants and tops so only half an outfit needs changing. So I grabbed a pair of pants she already had and made these. Had plenty of fabric left so whipped up a pair of pants for Charlotte to wear around the house over winter. Excuse the mess behind them!

A Rainy Anzac Day

Charlotte did this drawing at pre-school before Easter but it didn't surface until this week. I really loved it and decided to make it into a softie for her. So I made it today while she has been out with some of the fabric from the kitchen swap from Ingrid. I really should have been making Charlotte some pre-school clothes as she doesn't seem to have anything now the weather has turned a bit colder but this was fun!

Snail for Samuel

Now that Bec has received the snail I made for Samuel I can show it off here. I was extremely happy with this one made from a Michael Miller fabric with some cellophane inside to make it crinkly and also some chennile circles for texture. I loved him.

Cushion

This is one of the cushions I have been working on. It is a Alexander Henry cowgirl print on one side and brown cord on the other. I am really happy with how it turned out. It is 50cmx50cm

so quite large.

EB Kitchen Swap

As part of the EB Kitchen Swap Charlotte and I were extremely lucky to receive 2 beautiful aprons from Ingrid. Here we are modelling them, you can just glimpse the Lemon Meringue Pie cooling on the stove.

EB Kitchen Swap

Here are some pics of the swap parcel I sent to Helen
It included a vintage apron for her, a potholder and some fabric I hope she can find some use for. I also sent the Grace and Millie an apron and a placemat with chalkboard fabric on the reverse for drawing (sorry the piece of chalk was a bit small but it was all we had). I popped a set of peg dolls in for Grace's birthday next week as well.

The Wiggles

Last night we went to our friend Marshy's 40th birthday party as The Wiggles. Unfortunately Lucy had a big meltdown so we only got 1 photo as Jeff left early to take her home. To all those who were there she has been a nabsolute angel today and slept last night from when she got home until 4.00am this morning.

The photos from above left: The Wiggle; Charlotte on the jumping castle; Ash serenading Michelle; Sonny, Cher and Gene Simmons; the Construction Worker from the Village People and Meatloaf.

We had a great night and a big thanks to Steve and Maria who hosted the party.