My Creative Space - cupcakes and princesses

My oldest, Madeleine, is rapidly growing out of most of her clothes. Being a November baby means she crosses two seasons and I've always had to top up her wardrobe with a bigger size at the end of Summer. She has a school uniform for most of the time but her nighties and pjs are all getting far too snug and short so I made her a new nightie last night to tide her over until the end of this season (and hopefully last a little into next Summer too!).

Miss Madeleine is quite fussy over her clothes. She likes comfort above all. Definately nothing tight across her chest (so empire and princess lines are totally out). She hates to wear layers (unlike her sister who is the layering queen) and stiff fabrics are definately a no no.

Making her clothes has always been a bit of a hit and miss affair. Sometimes I can't get her to change the outfit I made for her and other times, she hides it and refuses to wear it. When I find a pattern that she likes I tend to stick to it and adapt it. I've made dozens of House on Hill Road's twirly skirts for her and Kwik Sew 3169 has been another well used pattern. It's very easily adapted and I've used it to make tops and dresses (and now nighties) for both my girls. It's so quick and easy.

I made this cupcake nightie for Maddy last night. Instead of threading elastic through the sleeves (which I knew would make it uncomfortable for her), I cut them at an angle to make them quite floaty.

I also added a little diamante 'M' that she picked out one day in Spotlight to make it extra special for her.

I haven't shown Maddy the nightie yet because I need to make one for the small person in the house too or there will be a riot. Thank goodness I only have two girls! This is the fabric Eloise has chosen for her nightie.

Both fabrics are knit fabrics which I got in the Spotlight sale a few weeks ago. I'm actually terrified of sewing with knits as I always seem to mess something up. This pattern is so easy though and there is no attaching slippery neckbands so it's definately my kind of pattern for knits. I'm determined to be braver and do more sewing with knits this year. I think it's just a case of practice and know how. If any of you have any good tips, I would love to hear them.

For more Creative Spaces, pop over to Kootoyoo (thanks Kirsty!)

My Creative Space - Fairy rant

Spring has finally sprung (well, we've had 3 days of sun anyway) and the beansprout aka Madeleine, has shot up again. Honestly, this child sprouts everytime I turn my back. Whilst we can get away with flanellette pyjamas that finish above her belly button for the last few weeks of cold nights, I can't really let her go out with her midriff showing in her day to day clothes. Honestly, what would the neighbours think?

  

Appliqued pineapple t-shirt, pineapple print skirt and matching headband



Not only does she keep me busy at the sewing machine by growing too quickly, she keeps losing teeth as well. And that means a visit from the tooth fairy.  Those bloomin' fairies are the bane of my life.

See the wobbly one? Top row, next to that big gap. She keeps wobbling it. Makes me squirm!

Everytime she looses a tooth and the tooth fairy visits, Maddy develops an unhealthy fascination with small winged creatures. Unhealthy for me that is. The tooth fairy always writes a little letter when a tooth is lost in this house (hot tip: type your note up in Word and then make the font really tiny and then print it out. Anything to do with fairy queens, castles,wishes and possibly even unicorns are a sure winner for note content. And remember fairies always have flowery names like Rosabelle or Buttercup).



Appliqued Babushka t-shirt

Unfortunately, after the last tooth fairy visit, Maddy thought she was on to a good thing and decided to start leaving notes for the fairies under bushes in the garden. Oh how sweet, I hear you all say. Let me tell you, scrabbling about in the bushes at midnight with nothing but a light-up Dora watch to show me the way, is not my idea of cute. In fact, when the cat decided this was a really good game and jumped out from said bushes, making me leap several feet in the air, narrowly holding on to my pyjamas, I gave up on the note hunt and wrote a generic fairy reply in the hope that Maddy wouldn't guess.

Pyjama set for Maddy's friend Kate. No my iron isn't broken. I'm just waiting for the fairies to do
 the ironing and they never turn up.

My deceit when it comes to teeth-loosing doesn't stop there either. The same tooth that caused all the fairy trouble, also caused a great deal more trouble when I very stupidly asked Maddy if the tooth was nice and clean for the tooth fairy. She of course took it off to the bathroom and tried to clean it with a tooth brush. It disappeared down the sink within seconds and my poor Madeleine was distraut. My plumbing skills are a darn sight less handy than my skills in pulling the wool over the eyes of my children, so I disappeared into the bathroom with a large number of impressive tools, made a great deal of banging and then re-appeared bearing  the tooth that she lost a month before (now I know why I kept it). I held the tooth firmly in a tissue so that she couldn't get too close a look at it and twig (never underestimate a child's ability to spot a fake). She was extremely happy and sure enough, the tooth fairy came that night with a note about how clever her Mummy was to get her tooth out of the sink like that (the one great benefit of writing fairy notes it the ability to remind your children how wonderful you are). What acts of deceit have you performed in order to keep your kids happy? Go on. Spill. I know you've done it.

The pyjama top.

Now, I'm not sure if she is still on holiday or not but it's worth popping in just in case... For more Creative Spaces, pop over to Kirsty's. 



Grabbing Spring with both hands

The sun is definately starting to shine a bit more around here. And we're making the most of every minute it does.

I decided to make a start on Maddy's Spring/Summer wardrobe yesterday. I was so pleased with the way the skirt turned out.

I made it using Butterick 5778 which I found in an op shop and seems to be out of print. It's a great easy little pattern if you can find it. I made a little yoyo brooch to pin on the skirt. So cute. Eloise has asked for some yoyo brooches too for her cardigans. Thank goodness they are really quick and easy to make. If you fancy making one, you can find a tutorial here on how to make yoyos. To make a brooch, Make two yoyos, one larger than the other. Pop the smaller yoyo on top of the larger one, add a button in the middle and stitch them all together. Cut a length of ribbon and a length of skinny ric rac. Fold them in half so you have 4 tails. Stitch the fold to the back of the yoyos. Sew a safety pin or brooch fixture to the back of the whole thing and it's all done and ready to go!

I bought the t-shirt in the sale at Farmers and appliqued a cupcake onto the front.

Miss fussy pants was actually pleased with this outfit so no doubt I shall be making more for her.

Hope you get your own little patch of sunshine today!

Baby Wallabies

I finally got around to restocking some appliqued t-shirts and onesies yesterday. I got two orders for appliqued baby onesies on Thursday too, which was lovely. Friday is (usually) my child free sewing day but Maddy was home from school yesterday with a cough, so she came with me to buy the onesies to applique.

This is my new favourite fabric combination for the baby elephants.

Maddy was very helpful in the shop, although we did have a little negotiation over exactly which onesies we needed. I have no idea where she gets the strong minded nature from ;o) .

This is unfortunately the last of this toadstool fabric :o(

If any of you have seen it anywhere, do let me know.

Maddy was helpful again in the car, taking all of the tags off so the onesies would be ready to do the pre-shrink wash when we get home. 

This is fabric and a design that Sarah M of Songbird Designs gave to me when she stopped making t-shirts.

We were nearly home when Maddy suddenly started asking about wallabies and when were we going to see some. It took me several minutes and lots of questioning before I clicked that she had heard me talk about the onesies and thought I had said wallabies. Very cute! Poor love was a little disappointed when I cleared that one up. I think we might have to plan a trip to Auckland zoo soon to make up for it!

Hope you are managing to keep dry on this horrible wet day. My girls are having a great game with the dolls house. I might have to go and join in in a minute!

Cold

It's cold, I'm cold and I have a cold. Stink.

I thought I was so smart taking my vitamin C religously everyday but it seems like one of those evil little viruses have got past my stoic immune system and I'm sick. I was fighting it off all weekend which meant we had a quiet one.

We had a visit from friends on Saturday. There was a very small person so we got the blocks out.

All four girls, from oldest down to youngest were totally engrossed in their game.

They built this fabulous town and drove cars through it. Even the baby joined in. Wonderful!

There was some crafting.

I got this birthday gift finished for one of Maddy's friends and I made myself a gorgeous top.

I will post a pic of my top when I don't resemble Rudolph. 

I have a to do list to finish this week as long as my arm but it's going to have to

wait while I ditch this cold. Bed and lemsip for me I think!

Hope you are keeping well.

Sarah x

My Creative Space

Madeleine's ballet cardigan is FINALLY finished.

And I have a new love which is going to be keeping me very busy this week!

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Is it wrong to love a machine this much?

For more Creative Spaces, pop over to the crochet queen Kirsty's

Note to self...

... dressing ones youngest (and already adorable) daughter in a homemade recycled sweater top that makes her look like a flower may SEEM like a great idea.

It does however, take quite a bit longer to do the shopping.

{Thank you to all the lovely people who stopped to admire Eloise's outfit this morning!}

Pretending it's Spring

It's hideous weather here in Auckland today (and I don't think we are alone. The whole of New Zealand seems to be getting a taste of winter today). It's been bucketing down with rain all night and all today. After a late night visit to the Emergency Room with my youngest (who is fine today), I'm feeling in great need of a pick me up today. A day sewing with some gorgeous floral corduroy was just what was needed. Looking at these beautiful flowers and butterflys all day has allowed me to pretend it's Spring (in my head anyway!
The rest of me was freezing!)

I've just listed this little dress and hat on my Felt Shop. It's size 3-6 months but the dress would probably last longer than that. It's made from a printed cordouroy.

The hat has a soft rib edging.

I've got some homemade bread rolls baking in the oven and I'm going to make leek, potato and bacon soup to go with them. We're planning on doing quite a lot of this after dinner.

Hope your evening is warm and snuggly too.

Gathering insanity - Day 5 Elsie Marley Kids Clothes Challenge

I spent the day sewing at the beach today. My lovely friend Soo has just moved into the most incredible house right on the beach. I took one look at her dining table in the brightly lit front room and invited myself around for a day of sewing, coffee and chat. So much nicer than sitting in my basement sewing room on my own!

Look at that gorgeous Marimekko fabric.

Lunch. Homemade Leek and Potato Soup. Yum!

And this is what I made. (The skirt and one happy little girl.)

Kipper the cat had quite a lot to say about being disturbed from his nap for a photo shoot.

(and if you are wondering about the title of the post, that's what it felt like everytime my gathering thread snapped whilst making the skirt)

Visit the Elsie Marley Flickr Group to see what the others have been making.

My Creative Space and Kids Clothing Challenge Week Day 4

Today's Creative Space is tied up with the Elsie Marley Kids Clothing Week Challenge that I'm joining in with (check the last few posts to see what else I've been making).

My Creative space is this 1970s reversible pinafore dress that I have nearly finished making for Madeleine. There are just two pattern pieces (if you don't count the pocket!) so it's really quick and easy. Maddy loves that she could change her mind about what she wants to wear while she is out. I used a white light weight denim on one side and cord on the other. I love the white print fabric but have been too scared to use it because I've had visions of whatever I make being wrecked by tomato sauce, paints or mud on the first wearing. Now I can relax because even if it wrecked the other side can still be used and my time hasn't been wasted. (edited post: Ive just realised that the flowers are upside down on the white dress. Doh! Now I remember why... I didn't have enough fabric to do them the right way around on both sides of the dress and intended putting that side underneath so it wouldn't be noticed. Oh well... it'll serve me right trying to make things too quickly!)

I'm also in the middle of making korker hair clips using this amazing tutorial by CJ of Pink Tea (check out the rest of her blog while you are there. She is a very talented lady!) I haven't had much luck finding the crocodile clip style hair clips yet so if any kiwis know where to find them locally, please do let me know!

Eloise and I popped into our local op shop on the way home and a dig through the fabric section turned up this gorgeous cotton-lycra print which is going to be a skirt for me. I also found some wonderful old kids books and a fantastic Debbie Bliss knitting book (because obviously I don't have enough knitting patterns already!). The best find though had to be this dinner service. I am totally in love with it and can feel a collecting spree coming on to try and find extra pieces of it. Don't you love the green?

I'm going to grab a coffee and spend an hour or two on the computer today gathering inspiration.

Visit the Elsie Marley Flickr Group here to see all the amazing kids clothes being churned out this week.

And pop on over to Kirsty's to see what other creative genius is going on.

Please all excuse all the pink

Day 3 of the Elsie Marley Kids Clothes Challenge and my sewing room has been a whirr of activity. My overlocker is speaking to me again (I think she just wanted to be used but I've been grumpy with her for so long I've been ignoring her and she has just got stiff and noisy and was dropping lots of stitches. Now she has had a good work out, she seems to be working again.) Okay. I'll stop talking about machines like they are people now. Obviously the fabric fumes getting to me.

Here's Eloise wearing the merino top I made for her yesterday.

Please excuse all the pink in this post. It's not just the little girl thing. It's because my overlockers is threaded with pink thread at the moment and I was trying to save time by getting all the pink stuff out of the way. I promise to show you other colours during the rest of the week!

I made her the leggings last week and the skirt is one I made for Maddy years ago

that she refused point blank to wear.

Both my girls have been home from school and kindy today. It actually worked really well as they play really well together most of the time so I was able to get a lot more sewing done than I would have done if it was just one of them. Eloise could have gone to kindy in the afternoon but Maddy was begging her to stay at home and they were playing some great games so I let her wag off kindy. (Bad Mother!)

I finished the little tunic dress and thought I'd try it on Eloise just in case it did fit. It fits perfectly so that's another thing ticked off the list for her winter wardrobe.

It twirls quite well too!

I mentioned yesterday that the bulb had gone in my sewing machine. I still haven't replaced it so there's no night sewing for now, but I made use of yesterday evening to do lots of cutting out. I made this hoodie for Maddy using Butterick 5164. It's another pattern that I have used a lot and is really quick and easy. Great if you want to start using knit fabrics and want to start somewhere simple.  It does make up really big though. Maddy is wearing the size 4 and she is a tall 6 1/2.

And because I had just enough of the pink star sweatshirting left, I made their babies hoodies too. Jasmine on the left belongs to Eloise and Caitlyn on the right is Maddys. The girls were very excited and pranced about the house for about half an hour in their matching tops. Very cute!

I got most of a reversible dress finished for Maddy but it needs hemming and buttons on it so I will save that for tomorrow. Phew. I'm off for a cup of tea and a lie down now!