prep graduation

Today Hannah graduated from prep - where has the year gone?! I know she's no longer such a little kid because I have seen her confidence grow day by day. They gave out graduation certificates to commemorate the event. I was either to slow or Hannah was too quick for me - I only managed to catch a glimpse of her running off with the certificate - could this be a premonition for the future?

sabrena and the singaporeans

My friend Sabrena saw the pictures of the things I made on facebook and she showed it to her friends. She's on her way to Melbourne to visit some family, so she and her friends put in an order so I can post it over to Melbourne to save on international postage.
It was an interesting experience to sew on demand. The order wasn't overly large, but it still saw me stressed out. But I finally got the order ready and sent out last Saturday. She should receive it by late this week - I hope!

kenilworth auction

My in-laws have finally sold their farm of 15 years after it being on the market for nearly a year. About three Saturdays ago, they had an auction for all the stuff they can't fit into their new little house. Which means to say, they sold almost the entire contents of their old house.
I gave Hannah the old digicam to have a go at being photographer for the day. She didn't manage to take pictures of the whole auction as she's only five and there were hundreds of people milling about - I wasn't about to let her out of my sight! - but she had fun nonetheless.

pifah's baby

My friend Pifah is expecting her first baby in December and she's asked me to make some stuff for her ... or rather, for her baby. I had a lot of fun making up stuff for the little one. Her name is Maisarah, very similar to mine!

silent auction

Hannah's school is organising a Carnival Under the Stars at the end of August and I've donated a few little bags for the silent auction. Hope they sell!

sports day

Hannah had her first sports day last friday. She took part in the races and mini-olympics events. It was a load of fun. Sean was there to watch her run and she was very pleased about that.

my work sew far

smile, giraffe

Found some onesies at a discount store and bought a whole bunch to applique. Of course I had to start with a set for Emma :) I think it turned out quite well. The onesie is actually a little small for her - well, she's nearly 2 and a half! - so I only buttoned the middle snap fastener on her bottom. For once, I managed to sew the pants so it fits perfectly. (Pat on the back for me :)

hat and bag

I cut out some fabric to make a new hat for Hannah as she doesn't have one that she can wear socially. (I didn't realise how much harder it is to make sure she has things to wear outside of school uniform!) Anyway, it turned out too small so this hat goes to Emma. I'll enlarge the pattern and start another one for Hannah ... soon :)

A friend of mine is having a baby girl and she's asked if I could make some stuff for the baby. She hasn't actually gone into specifics yet but I got all inspired and started this bag.

ipod nano holder

Sean bought an ipod nano for me when he was over in the US recently. I've finally figured out how to charge it after the battery went flat a couple of weeks ago -yes, I know, I am definitely NOT a techie! The earphones that came with it wasn't working out for me so Sean gave me one of his. It is much better because it allows me to wear the ipos around my neck like on a lanyard. I made a little bag for it using a 'Monkey 'n' Around' fabric with a matching red lining.

anzac day

Friday 25 April was Anzac Day. We wanted to take part in the march held in Nambour but unfortunately, missed it. We ended up participating in the celebrations at Quota Park instead.

that's not a fish!

I bought this plain sleeveless white tee for Hannah last summer and of course she had to go and play in the dirt when she had it on. No matter what I did, the dirt would not come out. So I got out all my novelty buttons and came up with this idea to cover up the dirt and spiffy up the tee.

christinas

Received the giveaway from christina's today.
( http://christinasetsyshop.blogspot.com/2008/03/drawing.html )
Emma was very excited to have her own set of colouring things in a big girl's bag. She was so engrossed in her 'painting' - as she calls it - that she threw a monster tantrum when it was nap time. I hung the bag near her bed so she could see it and that appeased her a little.

reversible hoodies

The local Salvation Army Op Shop is a truly magnificent place. Hannah (before she started school), Emma and I always pay it a visit after mainly music, which is held in the Salvos church hall right next to the store - how convenient :)

Last week, I found a huge stash of knit and heavier weight cotton fabric in nice prints, pleasing plain colours and good, usable lengths. I bought them and could hardly fit it all in the basket underneath the pram.

I made a sleeveless hoodie pattern to fit the girls using some of their t-shirts as a basic guide. I made the body piece wider, the hem longer and the armhole larger. I wanted them to have a few sleevelees hoodies to run around in, as Queensland winters are fairly mild and they can often get away with only long sleeved tees all day and night long.

Today I managed to finish one for Emma and one for Hannah. The hoodies are reversible so they don't have to look like matching twins, or worse. (I never liked having to dress like my sister when I was younger and so do not wish either girls to experience that sentiment.)

easter hat parade

Hannah's prep class and the adjoining classes held an Easter Hat Parade today and all parents were invited to attend. It was very nice to see all the kids with the hats they had decorated themselves. There was also a simple play on the story of Easter followed by the Easter Egg Hunt. The kids all seemed to have had a good time judging by the amount of noise they made :)

fat quarter clothes sets

(Please excuse the picture layout. For some reason blogspot has rotated them automatically no matter how I saved them on my computer. Darn technology ...)

When I received the fat quarters from my swap partner, the little nut in my brain started whirring non-stop ... all the possibilities.
I finally decided on making sets of clothes for Emma. Being the second one, almost all her clothes are hand-me-downs from Hannah. Not that it was a problem as Hannah's clothes were in quite good condition when she was done with them. It's just that Emma has a birthday in a couple of weeks and I thought it would be nice for her to have something new, just hers, to celebrate turning two.
Although the pink polka dots is the best looking, my favourite is definitely the orange.

first ever swap

Participated in my first ever swap this month. I joined this group on flickr http://www.flickr.com/groups/fatquarterswap/ and was partnered with SrapStampSew who has a shop here on etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5432361
I really like her choices!

in the mail

Look what I found in the mailbox today! I am in absolute raptures, so it'll be a while before this is made into anything :)

two weeks' shopping

Well, I tried out the bags today and they were perfect! This is two weeks' worth of shopping for my family. I ended up with only one shopping bag - and that was for the meat. Feeling quite chuffed :)

fabric grocery bags

I stumbled upon this recently : http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=177482.msg1837265;topicseen#msg1837265 and decided to make some.

I already have some from Woolworths and Coles but I find that they tear quite easily near the mouth. I also wanted something more unique and let's face it, I was looking for excuses not to clean the house :)
So I raided my linen closet and found quite a few quilt covers bought long ago from op shops that have either never been used or rarely so. After a factory-style assembly, I made 10 bags in a day. These bags are so easy to make that they're very addictive! I think I've found the 'generic' christmas/birthday present to make for this year :)

lucy in the sky with diamonds

This bag is custom-made for Lucy. She came across my etsy shop and was interested in the nappy bags I had on offer so she sent me a message. She's due in about four weeks' time and even though she told me not to hurry, I went ahead and sewed it up quick-sticks. I hope she'll be happy with it.

one down ...

Well, here is the result - after fiddling with it all morning. I had to re-measure and then re-cut several of the fabric pieces as it was too large for the basket. But I think the finished product looks quite good. I can just see this hanging off Hannah's bedpost, filled with her special little treasures. If she had a bedpost, that is :)

project

Spent all day measuring and cutting these fabrics for an upcoming project. I think it's definitely time to invest in a rotary cutter and cutting mat :)

drawstring-less bag

I really need to go to the shops soon. I made these bags today but they're not quite complete. You see, they're drawstring bags - sans the drawstrings. They're all lined with three pockets inside - one big pocket for a book, etc (A4 size) and two smaller pockets for other things.