Loads of Fishes Slouch

So many of us make beautiful things for others..... and it's easy to forget that we deserve beautiful things too.


This is my new bag. The pattern is the Small Slouch from Nicole Mallalieu and those gorgeous fishes are a Thea & Sami design, Loads of Fishes*.


It's the perfect size to take everything you need for a night out with good food, good conversation and an amazing person sitting opposite you.


Hey.... why don't you make something for yourself? Go on....


*I'm sorry Thea, but those fishes are way too beautiful to be drying dishes!

Some things for me, something for you

Some lovely things I have been given...


Thankyou to Jolie for these beautiful things.... The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook and some hand dyed yarn. Jolie also kindly sent some extra yarn and bamboo needles. For a girl who wears woollen socks to bed all year round (tragic but true!), I am very grateful.

I'm not sure how I met Jolie but I love visiting her place, Tropical Soup. Aside from the gorgeous photos and cute things she makes, I often find myself laughing because it's funny OR because I am a little scared at the adventures her twins get up to. Hmmmm, fun things for me to look forward to! Jolie is very sweet... why not pop over and say hi.


Thank you also to Kelly for the voucher at Retro Mummy I won in her giveaway. As a very thrifty crafter, being able to buy myself some beautiful fabrics was a real treat. Thankyou so much Kelly.

And now something for you. I have one of Bettsy Kingston's new patterns, the Far Away Tunic to giveaway. Bettsy has a range of patterns you can see here. To win this pattern, all you need to do is leave a ONE WORD comment describing your weekend. Why weekend and why only one word? Well, it's Sunday afternoon and why not! I'll draw the winner on Friday 12th Feb.


Hope your one word for this weekend is a good one. xxx

**GIVEAWAY CLOSED.... Congratulations to Sarah who won!***

A birthday torch

My niece wanted a torch for her 3rd birthday so while I didn't think it was the most exciting present, I bought one for her. And I am so glad I did.


Rather than buy her a cheap and nasty kid's torch, I bought a plain silver, heavy duty torch.... much better suited to a busy 3 year old! I also thought this would be appealing as it was a "proper" torch. I made a carry case for it so it can be worn around her neck for easy access while exploring.

My niece loved the torch. She disappeared with her cousin after the party had finished and they were found hiding under a blanket with the torch. Just them, the torch and their imaginations.

Torches are definately on my birthday-present-list now. They are not expensive and encourage exploration and wonder. A perfect present for a little person discovering their world.

A pram for my boy

So I wrote a big long post wondering why we* are so comfortable giving dolls and prams to girls, but not to boys. But I decided it was too wordy and too long and I was having trouble articulating my thoughts.

So all I will say is that I have been thinking a lot lately about the toys my children play with and how I - and others - influence them with the toys we give them.

All this thinking started with a pram given to my girl for Christmas. When she is not busily pushing Horse here and there, my boy happily pushes Bug around the place. So when my sister offered me another pram, I happily took it for my boy. My girl's pram is pink so I thought I would change this one for my boy (or am I worried what "we" would think about my boy pushing a pink pram..???) so I replaced it with red and blue train fabric. My boy loves trains, as does my girl.

Then clearly on a parenting and sewing high, we went to get some jobs done and the kids took their prams. It was a fun but short trip... and we didn't get the jobs done! But I guess there is plenty of time for jobs.

*we: as in a big general "we". Of course there will be exceptions to the general we. I hope I can be one of them.

My Little Tulip

My girl is wearing a Tulip Dress, made from Nicole Mallalieu's new pattern. This dress is really sweet, with pleats on the front and back of the skirt, giving the dress its "tulip" shape.

The pattern is really detailed, with lots of techniques not often included in children's clothes. Nikki has done a brilliant job of explaining these techniques, together with step-by-step instructions, sewing tips and a heap of photos and diagrams.

Stay tuned to Nikki's blog for more info on when the 'Tulip Dress' pattern will be available.... it's very soon! And if you'd like to win a copy of her new pattern, Nikki's having a giveaway....

Homemade Backpacks

I like the idea of the kids having their own bags when we go out. I know this means another two things to count (and another two things to possibly lose!) but I think it will be worth the effort. The plan is that the kids will be empowered to pack and carry their own bags, and be responsible for looking after their own things. That's the plan anyway!

I used the Toddler Backpack pattern from Made by Rae after seeing the pattern and some very cool truck fabric over at Angie's place. I told Angie I loved the trucks and she sent me some. Sweet her... lucky me!

I used denim as the base for the backpacks and laid out a heap of fabrics for the kids to pick one for the front. My boy chose the trucks and my girl chose purple on green 'Pets and Bones', a super cute print from Thea & Sami.

The instructions were easy to follow but they are a lot of work to make. Even though I used a heavy denim and added extra structure to the base, they don't hold their shape very well. I saw that Karen has also made one and is going to add interfacing next time, which would help.

This project challenged my "when to make, when to buy" thinking in terms of time and costs.... especially when my boy let out a very loud squeal of delight at a $5 Thomas the Tank Engine backpack in Coles.... hmmmmmmm!

Edited to add: Karen has used interfacing and template plastic and purse feet to help with the structure of the backpack. Check out her hints here....

A saved tree, another tradition and Merry Christmas

We didn't have a Christmas tree and didn't really want to buy one... real or artificial... for lots of reasons. But when my Mr and I drove past this dead tree lying on the side of the road, we knew we'd found our tree. It is different and odd and not what you would expect and we love it.

Hanging on it are decorations that have meaning to us including two new ones this year, the first of a new tradition (who would have thought that having children would make me get all tradition-y!) - each year we'll make a new decoration for the tree. This year, I made my two little reindeers. Next year my little reindeers might make their own.


Also on the tree are two little stockings made just for my reindeers. Thankyou Trixi. They did make it off the kids' fingers and onto the tree!


So all that's left to say is Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you. Thank you for stopping by my 'place' this year. It has been amazing to meet so many wonderful people whose paths I would never have crossed until I started blogging. I hope you all enjoy the time spent with your special people, whatever you are doing and whatever you are celebrating. I look forward to chatting to you again in the new year. xxxx

Woof woof, woof woof

It's full steam ahead in the 'Handmade Christmas Present Department' over here at MBC Headquarters. On the finished list is Poppy and her Puppies for my dog-assessed niece.


My Poppy has 4 puppies, including twins. I thought my niece would think this was pretty special as her mum is a twin and she has twin cousins.


There is also lots of discussions with my niece at the moment about families and how they are all different.... just making sense of her changing world and the world around her (as we are all trying to do I guess!). So joining Poppy and her puppies is Mr Poppy.


This cute pattern is an Audrey & Maude design available from here and here. I made Mr Poppy at 100% and Poppy and the puppies at 90% of the original pattern. The pattern says to use felt for the ears, tail and legs but a lack of appropriate coloured felt and a need to get started and finished, resulted in machine sewn bits.


And a big thankyou to all the good wishes you guys sent me about getting back to work. It was ridiculous how nervous I was! This motherhood thing can do wonders for your self confidence in some areas, but it can take a battering in others. Anyway, I am happy to report that within a few minutes, it was like I had never left. I even wondered at one point if I had actually had children! So it all went well and it looks like I'll be doing some more work in the new year.

My Creative Space - Recycled Musical Shaker

We had a hard rubbish collection round here not long ago, and when I saw an old vaccum cleaner on the side of the road, I was reminded of a session I went to at uni about making your own musical instruments. So I grabbed the vaccum cleaner hose and now we have some shakers for the kids to rock out with, with Mr on the guitar.

Here's how to do it....

You'll need a hose of some sort (I used a vaccum cleaner hose), electrical tape, rice or lentils or stones and a stanley knife.

Form a circle to decide the size of the shaker.

Cut it with the stanley knife. This is what you'll have.

Use the piece of paper to make a funnel to pour the rice/lentils/stones into the hose.

Cut about 3cm into one end of the hose. Be careful not to spill the rice/lentils/stones out the other end.

Cutting the end helps to push one end into the other end of the hose to form a circle.

Cover the join with electrical tape.

Wrap the tape around several times to make sure it's secure. You could tie ribbons or pieces of material on it for extra bling.

That's it. Not only does this reduce landfill by a little bit, the kids get to play with something they helped create and they can make beautiful-ish music! All they have to do is shake, shake, shake.

And it seemed that a bit of bouncing, jumping and rocking from side to side helps too!

For more spaces that are full of creative stuff, stop by Kirsty who is also making music...

Ready to play in the sun

It's all about hats, hats, hats round these parts at the moment. After making sure my friend's girls are ready for the sun, I finished off hats for my two kidlets.


Using Nicole Mallalieu's Kids Hat pattern again, these are made using lightweight denim with a band of fabric on the crown that matches the fabric used for the brim lining.

I've almost finished another two hats for a friend's kids and while I'm almost hatted out for this Summer, I can see my sewing skills have improved.... which is great for the next project....