Colours

I did some experimenting last night with colours and so far so good. I think it has a nice summery feel to it. Now I am up to the tricky bit - sewing it to the background. Lucky someone is ahead of me and I have a few tips.

I have some new favourite giraffe fabric - Amy Butler Daisy Chain.

Pig Cushions

Cushions for Amelia and Grace. Maybe, just maybe they will want to use their own cushions in their little houses they make and leave the other cushions on the chairs.

Weekend

We made a flying visit to Perth this weekend. We had a few things that we needed to do so I managed to make the trip coincide with the Made On The Left market. I am glad I did - there was such great stalls there and it was so good to finally meet a few people in person.
Yesterday we popped into the Fremantle Arts Centre and I dropped some more toys off to the shop.
A highlight of the weekend - on the drive home I drove for an hour and everyone else slept. Peace and quiet and I managed to listen to an entire podcast.

Simplicity 3835

I was not sure about this shirt when I made it last night. I wouldn't say it is the most flattering pattern. It is growing on me today. It was so quick to make. I used Simplicity 3835 and it was done in no time. It is made from voile so it will be very cool in summer and I can easily feed Eva in it so I think I will be making another one soon.

A glimpse of my desk today.
Some fantastic mail I received today. This would have to be the most useful sewing book I own. There is information to do nearly everything from putting in zips to binding to buttonholes to making cushions. It is by Ruth Singer who has a wonderful blog here.

Another One

There are so many things I should do, but the girls were having five quiet minutes playing together so I made another peasant shirt for Evie out of this beautiful Liberty fabric I received as a suprise recently.

Brioche, Vegies and Shirt

Crazy, but good weekend with many visitors. So here are some pictures from last week.
Brioche filled with Chocolate ganache from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It did take longer than five minutes, but well worth it.
The vegie patch. If you never hear about it again lets all pretend it is fabulous and we eat from it every night.

Another Simplicity 4589. Washed and unironed as I wore it as soon as I made it last week. Number 3 waiting to be cut out.

Three Year Old Logic

We saw a fox when we were driving today and according to the girls foxes like soup. Foxes are orange and soup is orange, therefore foxes like soup.

I bought the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for my sister for Christmas. I have just had to order a new copy as that is now covered in flour. I've already made three loaves - all gone before I even thought about taking pictures.

Lawns

It's raining again - usually the start of November has meant sunshine, but not this year. I am sure I can see the grass growing before my eyes. The lawnmower broke down again on the weekend. Chris has been talking about getting a ride on one for ages, so I think between dealing with the crappy lawnmower and this great news today he might get his wish. Then hopefully our summer weekends might be a little less stressful and we can all spend some time doing things we enjoy rather then swearing at the lawnmower.
A doll and some little shoes we dropped off today for a new baby called Charlotte.
I've been experimenting with whales and I think I need to do a bit more experimenting. It is kind of half way there.

Simplcity 4589

A pattern I have been meaning to make forever. I just used some cotton that has been in my stash a while. It is a great pattern and it didn't turn out too badly. It is a bit big and I didn't interface the neckline so it is too big. All things I can fix on the next one which I hope to get around to making soon.

Old Quilt

The girls and I are back from a great visit with my sister. It is so nice to be able to let them be a bit free with their cousin on the farm
Jane has the first quilt I ever made and one I had completely forgotten about until the girls slept with it last night. I think I made it when I was about 16. So it has done pretty well for all those years considering I had no idea what I was doing and it is made from calico and cheap poly/cottons.

I have been debating what to do with the prices in my Etsy shop due to the dismal state of the Australian Dollar. Last week I dropped the prices and the shipping at Two Little Banshees and today I changed the shipping for my yarn so it is free within Australia.

More Peasant Shirts

I know, I know more of the same thing, but they are so easy and quick to make and they look great. I whipped these up last night for my nieces. We are just on our way to visit my sister and celebrate my niece's birthday. The top one is for her and the bottom one (love this Liberty fabric) is for her little sister.

Garden

I seem to have neglected the garden all winter. The roses don't seem to care. I think they have thrived on my neglect.
The vegie patch however didn't and was all weeds a few weeks ago. Chris has slowly cleared it completely and now we are nearly ready to plant some new seedlings.

Eva has spent today laughing and smiling at her sisters as they dance and sing for her. She is always happiest when she can see them and interact with them.

I haven't made an echidna for a long time. The pattern just needed some fixing but I wasn't sure how. Today I had one of those aha moments and it was fixed.

Wondering

Things I have wondered during the last week while sewing more bags:
How many loads of washing can fit on the washing line?
How much can 2 three year olds eat?
How much fabric can fit in my room?
What is at the bottom of my freezer and at the back of the fridge?
What is under the fridge?
How much can a six month old poo?
How much tap dancing on the wooden floor can I stand before my head explodes?
Where are all the tupperware lids?
How can I convince children to go to bed when it is still light?

Mutiplying Peasant Shirts

I scaled up the peasant shirt pattern and it seemed to work. The girls were happy and insisted on wearing them even though it feels a bit like winter again today. This is such an easy pattern and so quick to make. I think I'll be making a few more this summer.

Peasant Shirt

A peasant shirt for Eva inspired by the one in Sew Hip. I was too lazy too enlarge the pattern in there so I just drew my own with shorter sleeves and it seems to fit quite well. It probably needs to be a bit longer. Love this fabric - can't believe i found it in Spotlight. Now to try and make bigger ones for the other two.

A new red doll - in the shop.

Caterpillar

Where has the year gone? I made a caterpillar yesterday something I've been meaning to do since I made my first one in January. I was going to be so organised this year. Mmm, maybe next year.

Flower Arranging

Mum has been visiting which always means some help with the flower garden. The girls love picking flowers and arranging them in vases.

I have been experimenting with colours. These are drying and then I will wind them into balls and see how they knit up. I've also been experimenting with semi solids which I seem to prefer knitting with at the moment. Hopefully I will have pictures of them soon.

Orange Elephant

It was wishful thinking that I could read in the chaos, but I did have a look at Sew Hip and it is fantastic! I'm already planning a peasant blouse for Evie from some lovely Liberty I have.
For those wondering where I got the Marie Claire Idees - I got them here on ebay. She is a French seller who sells a lot of previous issues.
And because I don't have any other pictures here is a little orange elephant I managed to sew up yesterday.

Reading

I might just lay down in the middle of the chaos and have a read.

More Hats

I sized up the hat pattern I made for the girls. The Lotta hat I made last year needed so much altering before I could wear it that it was easier to make my own pattern up this time. I think there is a couple of people who will be getting these for Christmas (I can't believe how close it is!!). Meanwhile these are in the shop.

This and That

The craft room is jam packed full of 'stuff'. I have no idea what is in here anymore and the only way to find anything is to get move things out. So I have a plan to finish projects and get down to a manageable number of works in progress. Here is a few things finished this weekend.
A custom ordered baby quilt to go with this wombat.

Another gocco printed skirt - now in the shop.
I wish I could show you more of this, but it is on it's way overseas and this is all I can show for now.

Gocco Hats and a Skirt

The school holidays are over and Chris is back at work. Eva obviously didn't realise this and decided that 3.30 was wake up time this morning for a few hours. At least she is having a good morning sleep.
The girls chose some fabric for hats and skirts. Their taste in fabric is a little different to mine at the moment. At least they are happy and will wear what I make them.

Soap

Chris took all the girls out the other day so I could try soap making. I bought some ingredients from here and used these books. It is curing now so I'll let you know in 6 weeks what it is like.

Hair update: It has been about 3 months since I used shampoo or conditioner and I don't think I'll be going back. I went to the hairdresser yesterday and she didn't mention anything was wrong with it which is kind of unusual. In the past people would always suggest products to stop it from being too oily or too dry. I am a bit worried about summer though - has anyone any suggestions about what to do after swimming - at the beach and in chlorine?

Spinning

I finished plying this the other night. It is superwash merino from Sakina Needles. The colour I think was Fruit Salad. There is 110g and 270 metres. It is getting easier to spin thinner. I just need to keep repeating to myself predrafting is my friend, predrafting is my friend....

Gocco Hat

A new hat for Eva with gocco flowers. You can never have too many hats.

Gocco Flowers

I've been experimenting with the gocco and printing on fabric. More experiments today and hopefully some sewing.

Shopping

I braved Coles yesterday with all three girls. I usually do all my shopping at the local store in town, but there are some things I just can't get there. So we went for a drive to the next town and I was prepared for the worst, but it wasn't too bad despite not having any double trolleys left. Grace and Amelia had their own shopping lists. Amelia needed tomatoes and strawberries and Grace needed kiwi fruit. I think you can guess their favourite colours.

We have never forced the girls to eat fruit - we encourage it, but have been happy if they at least try new fruits. I think a bit of reverse psychology helps. "You can't have any strawberries until you eat your sandwich". That kind of thing. I used to do this when I was teaching. Going to the reading corner was the ultimate reward even for the children with learning difficulties.

I managed a little dyeing last week and experimented with semi solids. This one I am keeping - it turned out just like it was meant to.

Baby Surprise Jacket

You have to love a pattern that states 'work will start to look very odd indeed, but trust me and press on'. So that is exactly what I am doing.
Thanks to Jodie of The Haby Goddess for featuring me on her blog this week!