Thursday, December 27, 2007

treasure chest





Found a kit at Bunnings for a treasure chest and could not resist it. Kit included everything needed sans paint. Am currently putting it together and have had several swearing sessions already - girls were having a nap, so I don't feel too guilty :)

  1. The screws they provided in the kit were not properly marked - as in, which should go where. I know your average handiperson could soon figure it out, but it took me a little longer than it should have.
  2. Also, it wasn't stated how many screws there are, so if I have a few extra after putting it all together, should I be worried?
  3. The longest screws provided were not nearly long enough to hold the bottom to the sides. I found this the hard way when I tried to turn to the chest over to the other side to screw the pieces on - the first side came off the bottom piece. In the end, I had to glue them together before screwing them back together.
So now I've got the main body of the treasure chest together. I've decided to pause for a cause for the moment. I think I need to paint it first before further assembly. I wonder what colours would be nice? The girls room is red and white. I don't want a red and white chest as it would blend in. I guess brown and black are the natural choices, but I wonder if anyone else has a better idea?

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

boxing day





Christmas day came and went. The girls had a lot of fun at great-grandmother's place with all the other family. Sean managed to finish the bulk of the doll's house on christmas eve. It still needs a lot of work to make it 'livable' but the girls don't seem to mind.

I managed to sew the curtains, cushions and bean bag covers by christmas eve, phew! Although I'm going to have to take down the main one in the living room because there's too much white cutout fabric - it looks all rumpled and sad. The other three windows look fine. I would have preferred the white cutout fabric to have had a bigger cutout feature, though. It looks fine for smaller things like a skirt or dress, but for things like curtains, it seems a little dainty. I'll leave it for now, but secretly, inside, the quest continues ... :)

I love the way Emma's dress turned out. It was a fusion of the twirly skirt pattern and the halter dress pattern. The fabric combination worked out better than I had expected, so that was a big bonus.

Well, now that the holiday sewing is all done and dusted, I have to think about the new year. I have yet to come up with a solid, viable plan to approach some shops to sell my stuff. I quite like the idea of doing the markets, but they are too dependent on the weather. We wanted to go to the Noosa markets last Sunday but cancelled on account of all the rain. I definitely need some help but don't know whom to ask :(

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

let's roll


I manged to stamp the twill tape - arrived in the mail about two days ago - with the label and the result was .... satisfactory. I think it would have looked better if the tape was a little thinner. I'll have to remember that for next time. These pencil rolls turned out better than I expected; they are stiff enough to withstand daily use and pretty enough to encourage neatness - I hope!

bottle holders


Well, finally managed to get all the bottle holders finished. I couldn't think of a way to tidy up the ends of the drawstring cord. Initially I hot glued the ends to stop it fraying. This worked well, but it wasn't as neat or as pretty as I'd like it to be. It also hurt if you happened to flick it at anyone! Then I got my yo-yo makers in the mail and after trying them out, I decided to try them out on the cord ends. It turned out quite well. I thought it softened the look of the cord itself and it made the hot-glued ends less dangerous :) Can you see them nestled in-between the bottle holders?

Saturday, December 1, 2007

hold this bottle


One of the staples of my childhood in Singapore was a water bottle holder. I had plenty of them over the years. Now that the girls are old enough to go a-wandering on their own, I've decided to make a few for them. I've noticed that there aren't any - or more accurately, many - in the shops here in Australia. I've made this lot for the upcoming market and I hope they'll be well received. I'll sew the rest up tomorrow.