More birthday present prepping!!

Remind me next year, that if I'm going to buy only handmade items for my girls birthdays then I need to get sorted at least a month before their birthday, not a week..... none of the items I've bought her have arrived and we leave for New Zealand tomorrow!! So I need to add something to the little satchel I made her earlier in the week

A long while back I tested out an Art Caddy pattern for a friend of mine - Miquita from Damaya Designs back then my little miss wasn't really into drawing, well, not on paper anyway - fridges and walls? Yea, sure!

So I thought I'd get that pattern out and make her a new art caddy and get her some new crayons to go in it. The pattern itself is really easy to make - no printing necessary, just cut the measurements as per the pattern and away you go!

I adjusted the width of the dividers to fit in some textas I bought her as well - easy peasy - instead of 3/4" apart I made them 1.25" apart - sure it meant I can't fit as many in but she really only uses a few colours anyway!

I used some scraps left over from the satchel to put some little appliqué's on the front and back of the caddy. I wonder if she will notice that Twilight Sparkle (her favourite pony) is on the back of the caddy and not the front... someone wasn't paying attention!!!

I think when we get home I'll be making a few more of these as Christmas presents for her little friends.

T xx

Movie Inspiration - Breakfast At Tiffany's

I saw a dress on a non-handmade website a while back and immediately thought it was reminiscent of  Breakfast at Tiffany's, so after buying the Boo! Designs Gallery dress I thought I'd give it a go to make something similar for my daughter.

After a little chat with the lady at my local fabric shop, I decided on some suiting fabric - it drapes really well and doesn't require ironing!! Wait?!? What?!? NO IRONING!!!! My heart was screaming BUY ALL THAT FABRIC! My head of course said "don't be a clown, lets see if you're even capable of sewing it first!"

The fabric was a little slippery, so I had to go a little slower than I normally sew and it was my first attempt at this pattern and an exposed zip as well. But it was exactly what I wanted and looks exactly the way I pictured in my head!

She wasn't really up for the elaborate photoshoot I wanted to do but she did agree that for two pieces of chocolate, she would let me take 10 photos .... I took about 50 and these were the best of them all hahaha

The pattern has collar options as well if you'd like to add a collar, as well as many sleeve lengths and cuffed or elasticated sleeves. As well as the option for a tunic length. I added the contrast panel myself by measuring the length I wanted for the contrast, adding in the seam allowance and then chopping that length off the dress pattern.

To add the lace in, I laid the lace down on the contrast panel, raw edges matching - I used fabric glue to tape the lace to the fabric so it didn't move.

 I then flipped it inside out and upside down lined up with the raw edges of the dress so that the lace was sandwiched between the dress and the contrast panel - right sides together, raw edges together.

I then overlocked all the layers, flipped the contrast and lace panel out and top stitched it so it would lay flat.

All up, it was a great blank palette pattern that you can use to create any look you're trying to achieve. Boo! Designs also has a sewing group on Facebook where you can ask questions relating to the Boo! patterns and share your creations.

Happy Sewing
T xx

Birthday present prepping!

So, of course I've left it till the last moment to start organising my daughters 3rd birthday presents!!!

While I wait eagerly on the mail man to (hopefully) bring her gifts before we fly to New Zealand on Saturday, I decided to make her a couple of things as well. 

A couple of weeks ago I made her and a little friend of hers, some matching My Little Pony Skater Skirts and had a bunch of oddly shaped scraps. The girls loved the skirts so much!! And ummm cute much?!?

Anyway, back to the oddly shaped scraps!! I was going to make them matching tee's using the scraps as appliqué and then I saw the Make it Perfect Mink Messenger Bag in a PDF pattern group on Facebook and I knew I had to make one for my girl - she had been asking for a 'hangbag' for a while now, for her all important crayons and trinkets and frankly I was over finding them on the bottom of my 'hangbag'.

When I downloaded the pattern I noticed you needed bias. Let me preface this with - I HATE BIAS!! Hate making it, hate sewing it! But I had nothing remotely matching bright, rainbow coloured ponies in my stash so *sigh* I resigned to the fact I'd have to make it myself!

There is a method in the pattern instructions, but I'm a really visual learner and a friend of mine had sent me the link to a great tutorial for how to cut long lengths of bias, so I watched that one again - 20 times... Maybe 25... Yes, it took that long for it to click.... Have I mentioned I hate bias???!?

Once the bias curse was sorted, the rest was super quick. I put my daughter to bed at 8 and had two 90% made by the time hubby had finished his emails and was ready to watch some more House of Cards with me at 9.30! 

I know I said it was for her birthday present, but I may not be able to wait that long to give it to her

I mean, seriously? How can I wait?? 

Now to start on the next item - an Art Caddy to keep all those crayons safely in. 

T xx

Collaborate for a Cause

One of my favourite things about the handmade world, and I have a lot of favourite things about handmade, is how wonderfully charitable the people are. There are always charity auctions to raise much needed funds for a variety of causes, none bigger though, than Collaborate for a Cause

Handmaidens from all over the country unite and form groups to create a package of goodies to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, with all profits going to their chosen charity.
This is my second year being involved and I've had a great time getting to know some new people and also working alongside some ladies I've come to call good friends over the year.
The bidders, to me, also deserve a super big round of applause here. These ladies bid so so so generously.
C4AC is run by the very talented Jen from One Thimble, along with a team of helpful admins.
You can also check out the submissions and some behind the scenes action on Instagram using the #c4ac15 or #collaborate4acause 
This is my first collaboration with some lovely friends of mine, using the gorgeous Michael Miller Spring Fling fabric range. We hope you love our Summer Holiday Wardrobe






















Left to right: Blouse and Shorts - LishyLou Handmade,  Blouse - LishyLou Handmade and  Skirt - Applegail, Dress - Sweet Saturday, Kaftan - Damaya Designs

My second collaboration was also with a couple of good friends and a whole lot of ladies whose work I'm very familiar with as a handmade buyer haha



You can check out the album full of goodies and, if you're interested please register to bid. The Collaborate for a Cause Charity Auction will begin on Friday 24th July at 8pm EST and finish on Sunday 26th July at 8pm.

Top Row (L-R) Darcy-Doo Handmade, Little Jem Handmade, LishyLou Handmade

Second Row (L-R) Oh Baby and Ellie's Handmade

Third Row (L-R) Cocolicious and Lulu and Milly

Bottom Row (L-R) Zahli Petite, Yumminess Textiles, Ric-Rac & Retro

The aim was to create a gorgeous, funky wardrobe that would have a little girl covered from the beach to casual to party time!

I'm looking forward to seeing all the other submissions and also really excited to see how much we can collectively raise for all the very deserving charities this year

Happy sewing

T xx