Little Girl Dress

A little while ago, I had a good friend visit and I showed off some of my sewing projects that I was in the middle of to her. One of my projects is to make some of these gorgeous dresses, among other things, to sell on Etsy in a few months' time. Well, I hadn't even starting sewing yet - I'd cut out the fabric only - and I'd made my first sale. Hooray! It was a great boost to my confidence, because I wasn't sure if I was being too optimistic.

Here it is.

It's made of corduroy, and the facings and pocket of cotton (Riley Blake's Rainy Days and Mondays line). Perfect for winter!

Finders Keepers Market

So, who else went to Finders Keepers on the weekend?!

I did and, wow, it was amazing! It was so, so exciting. So many stalls with gorgeous, arty, super cute things to buy. I just soaked it all in and immensely enjoyed myself, and then kicked back with some lunch while listening to the Bon Scotts perform live. Ash - ever supportive of my addiction to markets and handmade things - came with me too, and really enjoyed it too. And was pleased when I pointed out that there were actually a fair amount of other guys with their girls too.

To top it off, my sister gave birth to a baby boy just the previous night! Wooo! So, what better place to look for the cutest baby outfit ever. And, yep, I sure found it. About 6 months ago we were at the Magnolia Square market and came across Oishi-M who make baby/children's clothes, but different to anything else I'd seen. I loved them, and so was delighted when I saw they had a stall at Finders Keepers on Saturday.

This is what we bought for Master LJ:

I looove hoodies!

Front of the Jeans. They have a stretchy and expanding waistband, modelled on the maternity band concept, and the cuffs roll down. So it means that these will last for ages.

Back. Some extra nappy room.

And they come in this! (I'm sure my brother in law thought he was getting pizza .. he he)

Obey your parents

This post isn't really related to sewing, but it is craft based so I thought I'd share it with you all.

I've been teaching Sunday School to 3-5 year olds for the last couple of months and last week we all learnt what the word "Obey" meant. So, seeing as this week is my last one, I wanted to do something a little special for them to take home so I had this idea ...

Cool right? I got the idea from the gift that Ash gave me (see here), so I explained to Ash how I'd like it to look and this is what he created! The idea is, that the kids are going to colour in the letters of "Obey" and then I will laminate it and they can take it home.

I think this is one thing that their parents may take pleasure in displaying at home ... !

(Anyone is welcome to use this, just leave me a comment and let me know how it was enjoyed)

One Year

Ash and I celebrated our One Year Anniversary on the weekend (6th March)!

We'd decided earlier on that we'd keep our Anniversary simple, yet special, and make each other a gift each year. So this is what we both received:

I made this for Ash, it's a toothbrush and toothpaste holder. Remember the Camo Backpack Cover post from last year? Well, I used some of the material from the Camo Poncho to line the inside so that it's water resistant. The idea came from when we went away a few months ago and were complaining that we could never find a holder to fit both our toothbrush and toothpaste in, so I thought I'd try making one.

This is what Ash made me! Isn't it great? I'd saved a poster similar to this to our computer a few weeks ago to show him, and I was going to order one for myself. But, stupidly, I couldn't find where I'd spotted it. Ash didn't know any of this, so I was completely excited when he gave it to me.

I'm so glad we decided on handmade gifts, they just add something extra personal. I love it.

Owl Purse

Do you like my cute little owl purse? I do.

I've been meaning to make this for a little while now, as my wallet has been literally bulging and I decided I would store all of my "Shop Cards" (you know, the ones that offer you discounts or just a sense of belonging) in a little purse. Of course, in true Librarian style, they are in alphabetical order so I can locate the one I want quickly!

I made this purse last night during my sewing lesson - it took an hour and a half from start to finish, which I was fairly impressed at seeing as this is only my second attempt at sewing with a zip! And the best thing is, it hardly used any fabric at all and could easily be a project to use up some scrap material (because I can never bring myself to throw any of it away ... )

My Crafty Day Out

Today was a good day.

Ash and I drove into Fitzroy, to the wonder that is Brunswick Street. My main reason for wanting to go there, was to check out the Blackbird Market in the Worker's Club, which was very good. A little small, but lots of kinda cool vintage clothing (which I wouldn't normally be interested in, but some were quite funky).

Next, we walked past Meet me at Mike's which I'd heard lots about from my work colleagues, and had checked out some of their books, so that was an unexpected surprise also.

But (saving the best for last ... ) the big excitement had been when Ash had seen a shop called The Fabric Store. Initially, it looked so trendy outside that I was convinced it was actually a clothes shop and not really a seller of just fabric. But, yes, I was wrong. Oh man ... It was incredible! The range this place has is just beyond words (especially for someone who hardly ventures out of just the local Spotlight store), and it had 50% off pretty much everything!! So I of course made some purchases, and hopefully they will be used for future projects that I can show off on here.

Then we walked back to the car and there was a parking fine on it. Oops. We decided that next time we may just take the train instead :)

Setting up my Sewing Area

At the end of last year, I decided I would need my very own sewing area, as opposed to everything sprawled out onto our dining room table (usually resulting in a frantic relocation whenever we had visitors around). This was easier said than done, seeing as we live in a Unit with smaller than usual rooms. The final decision was that we would merge it with our music room, so we now have a Music/Sewing room (which should prove interesting when we have friends over for a music jam!)

I spent a lot of time measuring and planning so that I could prove to Ash it could actually work - by looking at the original setup of the room, you never would have believed it.

We picked up a desk off ebay for $10 (it's actually a really good and sturdy one!) and Ash has already drawn up plans to make me a cutting table which will go in the corner between the desk and the piano (the unit with the tub drawers will sit underneath it, that's where most of my sewing supplies are kept).

I need to fit all of this stuff, plus my fabrics, into these few shelves ...

I decided to make a few things to make my Sewing Area a little bit personalised (and to save some $$$). So I found some scraps of material and made myself a very simple pin cushion, and also a pen holder for all my bits and pieces (made from a tin can).