Lost In Stash

Shamless begging for votes haha

2011-09-02T22:15:00.000+12:00

If you liked my crochet rainbow blanket then can you pretty pretty pretty please vote for it here

You will need to like Spotlight's facebook page first :) I'd love to win a few dollars for crafting supplies :)

To refresh your memory...here is my daughters rainbow blanket.

ta lots and lots MWAH :)

Happy New Year .....

2011-01-06T21:03:00.001+13:00

Another year and another round of resolutions. With the decision to have a year off from study I'm hoping that I'll finish a few more crafty projects this year than last. First up on the "MUST COMPLETE" list is Miss 4's Rainbow Ripple Blanket.

I was lucky enough to have a few days visit with a good friend who lives at the other end of the Island meaning I had a few hours of travelling to use to pass the time away with a bit of crochet (oooooh and a visit to a yarn store ;) )

Here are some pics of our Kiwi roadtrip taken from my phone (and I'm actually quite impressed with the phone's pic taking qualities)...

the kids got sooooo excited about the snow capped mountain thinking it was a giant icecream sundae :)

The Giant Gumboot in Taihape (en route to the wool shop)

The Wool Company pitstop for more yarny supplies (just some bold plain colours for me to add to my rainbow stash).

There is something about this pic that captures everything that is the "great Kiwi Roadtrip"

The blanket is now almost finished after 6 months, it has 17 different colours and is 4 colour repeats long. With each colour row taking 2 hours it has definitely been a labour of love (and thankfully Miss 4 is in love with it). It has 5 colours to go WOOOOHOOO, and then a border, I'm thinking in red as this is the favourite colour of the rainbow girl.

The Rainbow Ripple Blanket

Here are some pics of Miss 4's rainbow room in progress.

Teacher Thank You's......

2010-12-20T20:25:00.000+13:00

The school year is over, wow it's actually flown by. My girls are blessed to have had fantabulous teachers at school and preschool so as a wee thank you the girls and I put together some gifts.

I had premade a few of these baubles from Attic 24 that just needed stuffing and sewing, I left off the embellishing due to lack of time (it's times like this I wish I wasn't a procrastinator extraordinaire).

and then I made a batch of caramel slice and packaged it all together in cellophane.

the recipe I use is as follows

BASE
125g butter

1cup brown sugar

1cup coconut

1cup self raising flour

Filling

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 TBSP Butter

1 TBSP golden syrup.

Topping:

1 King size bar of chocolate

Preheat oven to 180 deg celsius

in a largish pot on a medium heat melt butter.

When butter is melted add in sugar and mix (it doesn't dissolve completely)

Remove from heat and add coconut and stir to combine

Finally add flour and mix all together.

Press into a prepared slice tray using the back of a spoon (make it as smooth as you can or it will be too crumbly later).

Bake for 10-12 mins or until top is golden.

Remove from oven

whilst the base is cooking I start on the filling, I generally use the same pot just wipe it clean. Then add all ingredients and stir until butter is melted. (sometimes I double the recipe as I did with the teachers gifts but it's not necessary)

pour onto base and cook for 8 mins until bubbly (if you double recipe you will need to add a bit of time to it but be careful to watch it and make sure it doesn't burn).

Remove from oven and leave to cool completely

when it is cool then melt a block of chocolate ( I do it in the microwave in short bursts) and then pour onto slice. Leave to set completely (the fridge comes in handy here). When set take out of tray and put on a solid chopping block (I have a large wooden one which is perfect). I slice the crusty chewy edges off and feed those to the husband (that's his favourite part). Then slice the rest up evenly. A big sharp knife comes in handy here.

This is a very sweet slice so you only need a few pieces for gifts. I made 6 packages and each got 4 slices.

The Rainbow girl turns 4.....

2010-12-20T19:22:00.000+13:00

My fellow rainbow obsesser turned 4 the other day and of course wanted a rainbow party.

I made her a rainbow bunting using the rainbow fabric from the girls christmas decorations that we made the other day.

I used the print pattern from Grace Designs and instead of using bias binding (I ran out of time as I made this at 2am) I made a casing and ran some thickish cotton string through it. All up I think it took about 30 mins to make.

Then I used all my (new but don't tell DH) tupperware (I'm loving all their bright range at the moment) and some helium balloons to decorate the table.

We also had some Rainbow Jelly, I just made jelly up 1 colour up at a time using half the amount of water (making it set quicker), when it was set then I added the next colour and so on. This is not a day of party food, you will need to have this one started at least the day before.

I made them in clear disposable tumblers but disposable wine goblets would look nicer (I just worked with what I had).

For her birthday cake the brief was that it had to be rainbow and chocolate, so I remember a friend of mind making an awesome cake and I blatantly stole her idea :)

Unfortunately it has been very hot here and there was some meltage on the way home from the supermarket, but it's how it tastes that counts right???? and it tasted DEVINE.

The cake recipe I use seems to be a no fail one, I've used it about 3 or 4 times a year for the past 4 years and never had a bad outcome. So I thought I'd share it with you

Easy Peasy Rich Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 unsweetened yoghurt (although I've used vanilla and dairy food without any failure)

¾ cup premium quality baking cocoa powder

200g butter, softened

2 tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp salt

3 cups self-raising flour

1 cup boiling hot coffee ( I just dissolve 1 heaped teaspoon of instant into some water)

Method:

Heat oven to 160 degrees C (375 F) and line a 30cm (12 inch) round tin

with baking paper. Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food

processor and blitz until combined (or place ingredients in a mixing

bowl and beat with an electric beater). Pour mixture into prepared

tin and smooth the top. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted

into the centre comes out clean.

Cool in tin. Place in a sealed container or freeze if not using at once.

My cake this time was made in a 20cm round tin which made a higher cake but also needed cooking for longer. Just test until it comes out clean.

Here is the birthday girl

Christmas Crafting with the kidlets......

2010-12-16T20:50:00.001+13:00

It's been flat out here this past few weeks with ballet recitals and school/preschool activities so when we finally had a day at home we all wanted some quiet time as a family to relax. The girls wanted to make some christmas decorations and when I was surfing late at night I found this tutorial on The Red Thread for christmas balls.

So as I had a project lined up for some of my rainbow fabric (will post about that later). I thought I'd even out my fabric and then use the strips to cut up for the girls. Our squares are about an inch square and we used 8 colours of fabric.

Here are our pretty colours

and here are my girls working on their creations

and the finish project on some fairy light branches since we don't put up a christmas tree until after the youngest DD's birthday.

Rainbow Christmas

2010-12-07T20:57:00.000+13:00

Yes I know, another rainbow inspired post. This one is for some decorations that I made for a christmas decoration swap with a few friends.

These started their life as birdies from Attic24's pattern but after making a gazillion wings and beaks I just didn't feel the love, I much preferred them as rainbows and the wings just hid alot of the beautiful brightness.

So here is my entry into the swap.

The raindrops were made with seed beads from my stash and I love the rainbow ribbon which was a score at my local emporium, I think they finish these perfectly.

Here are more pics, my gorgeous wee girls and I had fun making different patterns to photograph.

Rainbow Obsession...

2010-12-05T15:43:00.001+13:00

Ok I admit it - I've mentioned before but I LOVE rainbows. I thought I'd show off a couple of my recent rainbow purchases as well as a couple of crafting projects I've been working on :)

My Rainbow Piggy Bank - he's actually quite large I need something next to him to help scale him :) He was on sale at Farmers (they have a couple of different ones) for about $20NZD (normal price is $39.95) I had to have him. He currently has pride of place on top of the bookshelf.

And my other recent purchase was this cushion from Freedom Furniture (about $44.95 NZD from memory)

And here are a couple of crafting things that I've had in progress for a wee while.

This is my youngest DD's Blanket that I've been working on for a few months. It's HUGE currently about the size of a queen bed and is out of 100% wool. She loves it and is often founds snuggling at one end of it while I'm working on the other end.

The pattern that I've been following is this Neat Ripple Pattern from Attic24 (awesome blog - check it out). She has fantastic instructions that even a newbie hooker like me can follow.

Here's a shot of the soon to be owner of the rainbow blankie in her favourite spot at the other end of my WIP.

And then of course my never ending stack of rainbow dishcloths. I work on this stack as my go between project. I can knit them while watching a movie or when I'm in the car on a road trip with DH and the girls. The stack is gifted and then replenished throughout the year. This current stack will probably end up with my sister for christmas :). The pattern I use is the Grandma's favourite dishcloth pattern on ravelry.

Christmas Countdown is on....

2010-12-05T11:38:00.000+13:00

For once in forever I am actually relatively sorted for christmas, being a student along with being a mama this year my time disappeared before my eyes so I thought I'd start early with christmas (and birthdays since my two gorgeous girls have a birthday 2 weeks either side of christmas). So all our pressies are wrapped and now I'm waiting for the day we can put up our tree (which we don't put up till after the youngest wee ones birthday so her birthday doesn't get swallowed up in the christmas season). However we do have a few christmas things going on at the moment...one of them being my gorgeous knitted nativity set that I found at my local hospice (op) shop. I'm so in love with it as are my girls.

Also this year we have a new favourite christmas album - really everyone should own it. The girls and I have been dancing and singing to it for the past 24 hours since we got it :)

Which can be bought from itunes

I've got a few other things up my sleeve but they need to be kept under wraps for a wee while longer :)

Blogging Fail...Baking Win

2010-11-12T09:27:00.001+13:00

Ok I know I'm a bad bad blogger. This year has flown by with me being a student that it's only now, after exams, that I feel human once again.

So to start catching up with what I've been up to these past months I'll start off with some cupcakes I made for DDalmost6's mission day cake stall at school today.

Gradient rainbow iced chocolate banana cupcakes mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (i may have applied quality control to more cupcakes than was strictly necessary).

I thought they needed something extra just to finish them off for the cake stall so I raided my stash of sprinkles that I bought back from our US trip last year (these are like gold in this house, I love my decorating stash from the US but need another trip so I can restock hehe), and found some stars in nice bright primary colours.

These are the cupcakes on their way to school - My piping technique needs a bit of work...or maybe that's my patience that needs to be worked on, and maybe my ability for procrastination as these cupcakes were iced at 6.45 in the morning in 15 mins whooops.

We love rainbows and bright colours in this house, all the colour helps bring the cheer inside, especially in winter and on dreary days like today...so it wasn't a surprise that DD wanted rainbow icing on her cupcakes but how was I meant to do it?

my first stop was to my favourite cupcake how to decorating site - www.wilton.com and looked for something to help me and found a wee vid on how to do brush striping - instead of just using the 2 colours like they have I used 6 colours of gel to get the rainbow effect.

The recipe I use for my cupcakes is my all time favourite recipe for using up bananas and is from the Joy of baking website - Banana Chocolate Cupcakes. These cupcakes are soooooooo moist and they keep moist for ages and also freeze well (without icing).

Such a hooker ....

2010-06-03T09:32:00.001+12:00

A few weeks ago I went on a craft retreat with a few lovely friends. Whilst I was away the lovely CrazyCrafterNZ taught me how to crochet. I'm finding it so fun and quick but as of yet I'm unable to read a pattern. But I can do granny squares :)

So with my new found skill I've decided to make some blankets for my girls.

This one is for miss 5 and will just be one big continous granny square - atm it's at about 12 balls and I think it will need another 12 to make it the size I want

And for my wee rainbow loving 3yo I wanted to do her one too, but unfortunately all the wool in bright colours wasn't available :( so i am doing one in acrylic for her dolly pram.

I'm 2 squares down. I think it will be 3x3 squares

I also found a basic pattern for a hat from Laughing Purple Goldfish that I worked up from Miss 3 from yarn that was gifted to me by PurdyPeas,

And the flower is from this youtube vid Crochet flower

Injury Inspired knitting.....

2010-06-02T18:26:00.000+12:00

Ok yes I'm an egg, I tell the children everyday not to run in the house so I SHOULD know better....but I don't listen to my own advice and ran to the kitchen buzzer and on the way smacked my toe on my newly rearranged dressing table....result. A well broken toe.

So to keep my swollen and bandaged toe warm (it really wasn't the time of year to get a foot injury as it's too cold in the morning not to be able to wear a shoe), I made this quick sock. using This ninja sock pattern minus the toe cap.

Turns out it wasn't needed for long as I saw specialist today and had my toe straightened as it was sitting on top of my little toe still and so now I'm in the most fashionable of accessories.....A moonboot

For some reason this photo makes me want to sing.....I will fly you to the moonboot and back, if you'll be, if you'll be my baby ;)

Oh and apologies for the hairy and very very white wintery pastey knee, that is just not acceptable ;)

So I think my enforced rest during study time is telling me something....That I have no excuses not to study since I can't go anywhere or do anything.

Cerys Baby Blanket

2010-04-21T09:14:00.005+12:00

After knitting a mitered dishtowel I thought I’d use the same concept for a baby blanket but instead making it 4 mitres insted of just the one the dishcloth had.

I'm in love with it - it's so modern and makes a pretty bassinet blanket. It is a simple, mindless knit and if you weave in the ends as you go then there is virually no sewing.

Mine was knitted in Bella Baby Layette which is an 8ply bamboo/wool blend which is so soft. But could be made in anything you desire, just adjust the needle size to match your yarn.

PATTERN (it's just basic but if you have any queries shout out I'd be happy to help.. or convo me on Ravelry)

Cerys Blankie Ravelry Link

Using Yarn of your choice and corresponding needle sized.

ETA:24/02/11 - It’s been bought to my attention that bobbling issue tends to occur if using acrylic yarn or a yarn with no memory. For this blanket I’d suggest making sure that you have a decent percentage of actual wool in it so that it will hold it’s shape after blocking. The yarn I used had 25% wool and is still holding up almost a year later :)

Cast on 6 stitches

divide on needles (or magic loop) and mark beginning of row.

Round 1-kfb into every stitch =12 stitches

Round 2 -kfb into every stitch again 24 stitches

This forms the foundation for the mitre.

Round 3 ***kfb k4 kfb place marker*** continue to end of round

Round 4 knit

round 5 -****slip marker kfb knit to one stitch before marker kfb*** continue to end of round

Continue round 4 and 5 pattern until it's the desired size

NB: my stripes are 8 rows wide in 8ply on 4mm needles

BORDER:

Girly Option:

Picot edge as follows - yo k2tog all way around then knit decreases in place of increases for at least 4 rounds (though it would look best if done for entire colour block - 8rounds).

Cast off - fold over picot and whip stitch closed

Boyish/Neutral border - I’d do a fold over border again by purling one row forming the foldover crease and then knitting the decreases, cast off and whip stitch

You could also just do 8 rows of garter stitch

The options are endless

Once completed it is important to block the blanket to make the mitres into a nice square.

I'll add more photos when I get my nice camera back as I don't like my little PnS camera hehe.

ETA: Pattern renamed from Mitred Modern Baby Blanket Pattern now that baby is here :)

Pretty Pirate Princesses

2010-04-06T16:58:00.000+12:00

I made these costumes for the Halloween party we attended at Disneyland on our trip last year, but I thought they would work well for The Wiggles concert as we are HUGE Captain Feathersword fans and it was much easier reusing the outfit than attempting to make yet another Pettiskirt. We at least caught Murray's attention as he stopped to talk to Miss 5 and comment on her outfit.

Here are the girls getting their Wiggle on

Party Party Party

2010-01-10T09:29:00.003+13:00

Here are some pics from DD5's party yesterday with a finished cake pic update from this post

The finished cake (well the decorated cake before i dusted all the cornflour and stuff off it....not great but DD5 liked it so that's what counts right??)

and the candle blowing out by the birthday girl

Cutting into the cake (this was follwed by gasps....of horror maybe at how much food colouring is about to be consumed?? hehe)

And a stash of felt crowns to be decorated by the kids (though most of them preferred them plain - I had glue/glitter/jewels/felt pieces and stickers to decorate them with).
Idea from here and here (though mine are primitive versions of these amazing ladies crowns...one layer of felt with a piece of elastic for the back) ...I might make a few more to keep in my gift box :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GIRL....School starts in a couple of weeks...eeeeeekkkkk.

Bake By Colours

2010-01-08T12:30:00.001+13:00

My big girl turned 5 yesterday and we are having her party this weekend. So I have to make a cake.

She saw this rainbow cake on Purdy Pea's blog and asked me to replicate...except she wants a present cake.

This is how far we've gotten today....I'll do another post with the finished thing (if it turns out haha).

Butterfly Pixie Bag

2009-12-23T23:01:00.002+13:00

My niece absolutely loves butterflies so I wanted to make her something from some fabric she chose whilst at my place one day. I was going to make a dress but it turns out I didn't quite have enough so instead I decided to make her a bag :)

I used Keyka Lou's pixie Bag pattern

Fabric - Butterfly fabric from spotlight and random dots from stash

Modifications - Snap in place of button (because I suck at buttonholes)

I absolutely love this pattern. It's so quick. This is the 3rd one I've made

Kids Christmas Crafts

2009-12-19T20:40:00.002+13:00

While mama has been busy making her decorations for her swap the girls have been busy making some of their own decorations to go on the tree

Snowflake

Wreath

Felt and RicRac Christmas Tree

Felt Birdy - using the same pattern as I did for my swap birds but in the DD5's favourite colours - purple and pink

And this very cute Pom Pom Peg Princess fairy which now graces the top of our christmas tree

Christmas Decoration Swap

2009-12-19T20:25:00.001+13:00

I am very fortunate to be part of a group of very talented crafty mamas. As a last minute swap we decided a few of us would do a christmas decoration swap.

These are some of the beautiful items we received

A cute snowman from KnitNotWhat

These two cute felt decorations are from Raincoats and Gumdrops

This was from Kath -she needs a blog hehe
This one is so pretty, the ball is wrapped in fabric strips and then has sequins pinned/tacked into snowflake shapes all over it. Very Beautiful.

From Crazycrafter

One of my favourites for it's originality. Aren't the needles cute??

From Little one crafts

These ones are my daughters favourites as they can hold their little toys

These birds were my contribution to the swap made from scraps of fabric using the pattern from Spool Sewing which I downsized a bit for some of them (I think to 85%)

RAINBOW BRIGHT

2009-12-02T09:04:00.001+13:00

YAYAYAY My socks are finished. And in less than a week. Much better than my last attempt which took me 18months to complete(whooooops)

But I love them and I think they work with my favourite shoes

Pattern:

Jems Yarn Basic Sock Pattern

Yarn:

Kaffe Fasset for Regia

I love the colors of the yarn but even though they were from the same lot number the stripes didn't match up so I had to search through the ball to find the right colour repeat and I lost about quite a bit of the ball in order to get my stripes even. Luckily I still had enough in the remaining ball to get the sock done without having to join in the part I had to cut off.

Mum's caught the bug....

2009-12-01T19:20:00.001+13:00

The crafting bug that is

My clever mummy has been busy getting ready for Christmas. Her needles have been furiously clicking away to create some beautiful bits and pieces. And because I'm so proud she's my mama this is a post for her magnificent creations ( I just played the part of the photographer all kudos goes to her)

Enjoy

Bertie Bloomer by Jean Greenhowe

For Size comparison - this is my fairly tall almost 5 year old getting in some snuggles before he goes to his new home at my Aunties place

The amount of detail that has gone into making him is amazing...I wouldn't have the patience

His Flower Pot

His Watering Can

A Butterfly on his Shoe

And a caterpillar too

and a wee pack of seeds tucked into his pocket

And that's not all, She's also made a small topsy turvy doll (these are 2 dolls in one, you flip them over and there is another dolly underneath her)

But wait there's more

On the first day of Christmas my truelove gave to me

A Partridge in a Pear tree (Now lets all sing along)

Sprinkled With Love....

2009-11-30T16:01:00.001+13:00

Today is mine and Mr Flea's wedding Anniversary so the girls and I decided to surprise him with a wee tasty treat for when he gets home from work.

These are Banana cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing and a sprinkling of love

Sock It To Me.....

2009-11-29T16:11:00.000+13:00

Finally....socks. I've been trying to knit socks FOREVER, and they just frustrated the bejeezes out of me and many a sock was thrown across the room during one of my temper tantrums (blush). But Finally I have a PAIR of socks. I started knitting these at my nieces first birthday....she's now 2 1/2years old. I love the feel of them so much I've almost completed a 2nd pair. Now lets see if I complete them in under a year :)

Pattern: Lion Brand Magic Stripe
Yarn: Patonyle Sock Yarn
Mods: None

Pattern: Jems Yarn Basic Sock Pattern
Yarn: Kaffe Fasset design line for Regia
Mods: None

Out of the 2 patterns I used I prefer the 2nd one (Jems Yarn) as it a slightly longer sock and on a smaller needle. I also prefer the rounder toe.

Kids Crafts

2009-11-19T16:09:00.000+13:00

The kids made a very cool piece of art today.
They used up a pile of old alphabet and number stickers from my scrapbooking stash and a blank canvas I had lying around. It needed a spray of craft glue as they had lost their stick over the past 5 years since I bought them haha.

I might get them to make a set for my craft room wall.

Work in Progress

Finished :)

Quick Crafts.....

2009-11-19T15:48:00.000+13:00

I'm trying to get ontop of all my clutter, we've spent the past 2 weeks decluttering our house in a big way. In an attempt to keep my desktop clear I made some quick pen/tool holders. Just some tin cans, wrapping paper, ribbon and glue, Nice and simple and they are pretty cute :)

If anyone is interested I got the wrapping paper from a gift wrap party (like tupperware but with cards and ribbons and wrapping paper). The people that run them are Phoenix Trading.

Quilting.....

2009-11-15T09:52:00.001+13:00

I've decided that I want to make a quilt....this is my first attempt. I've been roaming various blogs and websites searching for something when i came across this quilt along at Old Red Barn Co. It's an old quilt along but it gives me the breakdown of what I need to make a quilt.

I am lucky enough to have an aunty who is an amazing quilter so hopefully I'll have a bit of guidance as needed along the way.

So this week I've been shopping for some quilting supplies, I have a new iron as it was time to retire my 10year old beast that no longer ironed very well and i bought a 12.5" square quilting ruler and some new machine feet :). Hopefully this is a good basis to what I'll be needing as I work on this quilt.

First up I had to choose some fabric...I chose the Ginger Blossom line by Sandi Henderson which was in my stash (oh yeah I'm trying to use stash fabric because hubby is building me my dream craft storage unit but the condition was I had to part with half my stash....so far I've cheated and vacuum packed it down so it takes up half the space until the unit is built and I'm hoping by doing a quilt for each of the girls I'll bring the stash down some more).

I washed, dried and ironed (I love my new iron) all the fabric and cut it up into 2 1/2 inch strips.

I'm now ready to start the sewing....check back in next week to see how far I get.

and if anyone else wants to join me in the quilt-a-long please do so. I need all the support I can get :)

Crayon Rolls

2009-10-13T10:06:00.005+13:00

To help keep the crayons together on our upcoming 12hour flight I made a crayon roll.

This one is Em's - Izzy was lucky enough to receive an art portfolio wallet made by a clever friend of ours so she will be using that.

When I was measuring the crayons I made a wee whoopsy and forgot to add a seam allowance to my calculations (the joys of sewing something at 11.30pm at night) but the ric rac helps hide that and they still work the same )

Fabric Flowers....

2009-10-12T20:07:00.001+13:00

Wasting time tonight I used some scrap fabric to make some Minnie Mouse inspired Fabric Daisies.

They will be an embellishment on a couple of dresses for the girls to wear to breakfast with Minnie Mouse while at disneyland (pics of dresses to come later).

I'm going to turn them into brooches with a couple of pins so they can be removed for washing and giving me a couple of options on where to place them on the dress.

I plan on making more out of all my favourite fabrics so I can display them.

Pirate Peasant Tops

2009-10-11T20:34:00.001+13:00

For the girls Pirate Princess Costumes we are making for halloween I wanted a top for them to wear under the corset style top (for a bit of modesty). So I used some fabric that was gifted to me that reminded me of a pirate shirt. It is all kinda scrunched and ruffley (so no need for ironing).

I used Carla's Portrait Peasant E-pattern available from You Can Make This ... I love e-patterns because there is no need for tracing the pattern just print the size you want and cut. Carla's are some of the best I've come across. They are packed full of instructions so perfect for a beginner sewer and the sizes go from 6m up to size 8years and even has an option for dolly too (which I've been commanded to sew up for Maia and Addison).

I used the Elongated Top version with the ruffle neck and ruffled cap sleeves (there are many variations of peasant top/dress in the pattern..... more bang for your buck).

Dora the explorer......

2009-10-10T10:22:00.001+13:00

My first venture into a farbenmix/studio tantrum pattern. The instructions made no sense.....it almost needs to come with a health warning. But I found a Laguna Skirt sew-a-long online and it really helped. I think it's one of those patterns that you need to be sewing for it to make sense.

So here is my first Laguna Skirt, Double Layered. I love the look of the skirt, so girly and fun. I added a cotton/lycra stretchy waistband instead of an elastic one as it is nice feeling on wee ones tummies.

It is quite hungry on fabric for a double layered one like I made so could end up being an expensive project. A single layer one will use about a yard for the size I made (98-104) for my almost 3year old (though she's just a wee thing) so a double would use almot 2 yards. It is a bit short so my next one I'll probably move up a size because I like skirts to fall below the knee.

Not a very good "modelled" shot. My model is being a bit of a diva at the moment. But it shows you the layering.

And for her big sister, A dora spiral skirt. 9 Gores on this one. This is currently my favourite skirt pattern. I think it's even easier than a tiered skirt. See my other post for the dolly ones I made too :)

Doll Size Redondo/Spiral Skirts

2009-10-10T10:03:00.001+13:00

I've been making spiral skirts for my girls. I love the look of them. I was put off for so long because they looked too difficult but in fact they are super easy. I used the this pattern and wasn't sure what to do with the circles that the pattern leaves behind. They are too small for anything useful but too large for me to feel I could throw them away....I hate waste...especially of the fabric variety....So I drew up a pattern using the inside circle to make my "grandbabies" some matching skirts. And best of all the circle left over from the dolls skirt is the perfect size for fabric covered buttons to make matching hairties, even less waste.

I'm hoping to have the pattern available for free as soon as I figure out how to get it on here.

This is Maia...the skirt still needs hemming (rolled hem) but I'm doing a whole batch at once because I hate changing my settings on my overlocker constantly.

Blogtober...

2009-10-09T18:25:00.000+13:00

At the moment there are some wonderful competitions taking place as part of Blogtober. Unfortunately I fly out in a few days so can't take part....but if you are after a chance to win some wonderful freebies then please look at these blogs

Crazy Crafter is giving away a beautiful handmade interchangeable needle holder, sewing pouch and stitchmarker holder

Shortly's Stitches is giving away a beautiful handmade Project holder full of goodies.

Please go check out these lovely ladies blogs :)

Tiedyeing Mania

2009-10-07T19:41:00.001+13:00

We are going to a Halloween Party dressed as Hippies so it gave me a chance to test out my tiedyeing skills. I must say that it's very addictive and I now have plans to hunt out all our stained whites so I can give them a new lease on life :)

Missing in action....

2009-10-07T19:35:00.003+13:00

I've been working on some clothes for an upcoming holiday.

if you want to see them they are being blogged seperately over at Two Kiwi Princesses.

I'll hopefully be back to posting again here when we are home from our trip :)

Here is a teaser of what I've been up to this past week.

Corset top (hopefully I'll post a tutorial for this when i get back...it's super easy and looks fantastic with the pettiskirts)

Claire Dress from Portabello Pixie

More Pettiskirts

2009-04-13T19:56:00.005+12:00

Testing the twirl factor

A million metres of rufflefluff

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm breakfast of cat food

Made for a friend as a super special request.

2 matching black pettiskirts

These came together very quickly, and without too much hassle (for a change). I managed to take some photos as I was making them this time so I can hopefully finish off my pettiskirt tutorial (finally).

My girls had to model them before they were delivered to their new owners.

Wicked Red Shrug

2009-04-13T19:36:00.007+12:00

I love the Wicked twisted rib and I wanted to make my dd a shrug so I combined the two - the confection baby shrug is in 10ply so I had to do some adjustments

It is a wee bit large on my small framed dd (she’s probably more of a size 1 across the shoulder) but it also fits my large 4 yo as a shorter sleeved shrug - (pics to come when she’s home from kindy) so it’s going to get plenty of wear. It’s a shame that my big girl doesn’t really suit red.

Pattern: Confection baby shrug crossed with the twisty rib of Wicked

Yarn: Woolganics in Chilli

Mods:
CO 34
Row 1 - P7, pm, P20, pm, P7

Follow pattern doing 23 repeats

Sleeves were done for 6” then 10?? Rows of twisted rib pattern.

Body of shrug is same as pattern SS for 11rows

Picked up stitches then continued twisty rib pattern all round

Wicked Mama

2009-04-13T18:47:00.003+12:00

This was my first big adult knit - scary - but I love having something for me. It’s my gift to myself for losing weight (9ish kgs now) - I promised myself something for me and in a good yarn too (and that i can now knit a smaller size it was quite exciting). I love it - I wear it all the time. I went for short sleeves so I can wear a long sleeve underneath.

Closeup of the twisty rib

Pattern: Wicked by Zephyr Style

Yarn: Woolganic in Raindrops - 7 balls

This woolganic is absolutely gorgeous to knit with. The drape of the fabric is lovely. It’s squishy and snuggly. What more can I say.

Mods -I knit neck on 3.25mm and body on 4.5mm and in 8ply.

6 bust decreases…followed by 3 waist increases.

Length from underarm increased to about 17inches.

Hem in twisty rib instead of moss stitch.

No Pocket

Oriental Orchard

2009-04-13T18:35:00.005+12:00

A lovely quick knit for a friends new baby girl (I made something in 6mth rather than nb as I know she’ll be spoilt for choice with nb stuff)

Dress

Pattern: Oriental Lily

Size: 3-6mth

Yarn: The Wool Company Orchard (my favourite colourway sadly deleted and merlot.

Mods: - short sleeves - as I think it would look cute over a long sleeved onesie.

Longies

Pattern: Picky Pants Longies

Size: Medium

Yarn: The Wool Company Merlot

Mods: knitted in 8ply instead of worsted

Lets Get Ready to WIGGLE..........

2009-04-13T13:12:00.009+12:00

Finally the Wiggles have come to New Zealand. I'm not sure who was more excited, the girls or me (I think me hehe). I've been waiting for the Wiggles to come to NZ since I became a mama and I certainly wasn't disappointed - it was a great show.

Keeping to tradition of being a procrastinator - the night before the show I decided the girls needed something special to wear to the show. So I went stash diving and pulled out some wiggles fabric and just a plain white poplin.

The pattern that I used was the Portrait Peasant Dress designed by CarlaC aka "the scientific seamstress" - It was really quick to sew up. I love how Carla has given so many possibilities for the top/dress and explains all directions clearly. This would be a perfect pattern for a beginner as the instructions are thorough.

Izzy chose Dorothy and she decided that Em wanted to be Henry (good old big sister talking for the younger non talking sibling)

This was my first attempt at Applique and I'm not keen on repeating the experience - it was so fiddly (especially at 11pm at night - I really should start thinking of these projects sooner than the day before they are needed)

Here's an after the show shot - food, show purchases and waiting for our chauffeur aka Dad

Welcome .............

2009-04-13T12:23:00.003+12:00

Welcome to my new blog, I lost inspiration with my old one so I'm hoping a new home, new style will help to get me back into the blogging spirit

I'm hoping my tutorials will find their ways over here as soon as I figure out how to do so - atm you can find them at my Old Blog both the pettiskirt tutorial and the frou frou tutu tutorial can still be found there and I'll still be answering questions from there too, Just new projects will be on this blog.

So bookmark me and hopefully I'll be offering up some crafty goodness for your viewing pleasure.

Hope to see you around

Pettiskirt Tutorial - WIP

2009-01-19T16:02:00.003+13:00

After chatting with a few friends I thought I'd share how I made the Pettiskirts :D It's actually really easy - just a tiered skirt - but time consuming. Put away at least a day's worth of free time ;)

There is a bit of math involved so I'll try my best to explain it (I hate maths :oops: )

Ingredients

6m +(maybe 7 just to be safe) of 150cm wide Nylon Chiffon - also called Fairy floss at Spotlight - it's about $5.95/m (this made the size that fits my 2 yo and 4yo

but has an adjustable waist so could fit longer)......the amount of fabric you use is totally dependent on the size you make - your layer widths and your ruffle factor....err on the side of needing more not less. You can always make ruffles to add to singlets and nappy covers to make a matching outfit :D oh and another thing... PLEASE make sure

it's NYLON and not Polyester or you could have an awful time sewing it together as polyester unravels.

1/2m Approx of Satin

Elastic

Ribbon

A ruffler foot (or Lots of Shirring Elastic and a billion pins)

Thread

Rotary cutter (I actually cheated and used a guillotine as there is lots and lots and lots of cutting involved)

Directions (I'm hopefully going to have pictures to go with this - whatever isn't clear please ask - I suck at explaining things )

Step 1. Measure childs waist and multiply x 2 = A (ie 52cm x2 = 104cm)

Step 2. Measure the "drop" so waist to wherever you want the skirt to end up - (the ruffle fluff will make this sit a little higher so add a bit of length if you want) and divide by 3 = B

Step 3. Do a test ruffle on a strip of chiffon .5cm from edge in your preferred manner (ie shirring, hand gathering or ruffle foot) the length of measurement B - Re measure once ruffled and then divide the non ruffled width by the ruffled width to get your ruffle factor (150cm / 50cm =3) NB: remember your results may vary depending on your machine and method of ruffling

Step 4. Do the same as Step 3 but the width will be 6cm and do the ruffle in the centre of the fabric - This will give you the ruffle factor for the "Ruffle Fluff" (the stuff at the bottom that gives it its poufiness) so 150cm /25cm = 6 NB: remember your results may vary depending on your machine and method of ruffling.

Now that you have these results you can work out your fabric etc.

Taking your measurements work out how many strips of fabric you will need.

Waistband: Fabric needed SATIN: Width =A (ie 104cm ) Length =Bx 2 +about 2cm seam allowance (so 15cm x2 =30cm +2 =32cm ) So Cut satin 104cm x32cm (with me??)

The skirt has 2 layers an inner and an outer layer - so you will basically be making 2 tiered skirts sewn together one on top of the other.

Tier 1 = A x ruffle Factor from step 3 (so 104 x 3 = 312) so fabric is 150cm wide - I just rounded my total to the nearest 150cm to make it easier on myself - so 300cm (THIS NOW = C ). and the length you make them is B (15cm) (I didn't worry too much about seam allowance but you can add it if you like) - if you fabric is 150cm wide then you will need 2 strips (selvedge to selvedge) 15cm long for each layer (inner and outer).ie.... 4 strips total 15cm in length by 150cm wide
Tier 2 = C x Ruffle factor from step 3 = D (so 300 x 3 = 900) again you will need 2 layers so multiply x 2. =1800 (divide by the width of your fabric to get the amount of strips required) so 1800/150 =12 strips (selvedge to selvedge ) x 15cm in length

RUFFLE FLUFF

Again you need two layers. So here we go with the maths again. Use measurement D from above - x Ruffle fluff factor from step 4 ie 900 x 6 = 5400cm (divide by 150 to get amount of strips required ) 5400/ 150 = 36 strips (x 2 for the layers) = 72 strips 6cm wide. You can make them thinner but I wouldn't go any less than 4cm as this is what makes it fluff up.

Putting it all together

......work in progress......

There will be pictures to come as soon as I get time to make another one :D

For the moment I'll start on some basic steps.

WAISTBAND:

Take Satin and fold it in half (lengthways) wrong side together. With a cool iron...Press so you can see the crease when unfolded.

Now with short sides together (right sides facing) and making a circle. Sew together to crease using a 5mm seam allowance. Back stitch. About 1" (or however wide your elastic is) from the crease start sewing the other edge together - the gap left will be for you to thread your elastic/ribbon tie through.

Fold along crease - wrong sides together. Sew about 1" in from crease making a casing. I like to topstitch 1/8" from the crease so it makes a nice channel in which the elastic can run through.

Make waistband elastic a bit shorter (about an inch of so ) shorter than what is required (measure so it's not too tight but not too loose) then sew the ribbon to each end of the elastic.

Thread this through the waistband. and tie off :D

To stop ends of ribbon unravelling use a lighter and slightly melt the ends.

Putting the skirt together.....

I like to start from the middle and work in steps

Sew your tiers into strips - you will get a very long strip per tier.

I like to use shirring elastic for this part but you can use whatever your prefered gathering technique is.
Sew a strip of shirring elastic at the top of each tier
Then attach your tiers together (just like a tiered skirt)
The skirt has two layers - an inside layer and an outside layer.

Once the tiers are sewn together (you should have 2 pieces - an inside layer and an outside layer) I do the ruffle fluff. I prefer to use a ruffler foot for this and I don't bother sewing my ruffle fluff into a long strip I just slightly overlap it and run in through the ruffler foot...if you are using a ruffler foot you can just attach the ruffle fluff straight to the skirt - it's so ruffly you can't tell it's not joined. I have used shirring elastic to do this and i do the same thing except I sew the ruffle fluff seperately and then attach it to the bottom tier...hairclips come in handy here - the ones that snap closed. I prefer them to pins as they stand out more and less chance of running over them with your machine.

Once the ruffle fluff is done then it's time to attach it to your waistband. You will notice on your waistband that you have two layers. Attach the top of each tier to one of those layers. You can either join it into a circle or if like me you can just sew the chiffon around the waistband and when it reaches the beginning again I just keep sewing it around. You can't tell that there is no side seam as the skirt is so full :) I'm all for easy.

Once both layers of chiffon are sewn to the waistband you can add a ribbon, or elastic or a combination of both (this is what I do so both girls can wear the same skirt - just sew ribbon to each end of some non roll elastic and then it becomes adjustable) then your pettiskirt is finished (apart from all those billions of pesky threads you need to trim if you don't trim while you are sewing.

I do have pictures I just need to find them on my computer and make some sense of them :)

ETA: This is just a rough copy - any mistakes let me know I'm just trying to get this on here for those that want it :)

Frou Frou Tutu Quick Tutorial

2008-01-01T16:25:00.003+13:00

This tutorial has been taken from my old blog - it will be deleted from there as soon as things are up and running here .

As of the 1st Jan 09 I have decided to stop making Frou Frou Tutus for sale - feel free to use this pattern and if you are after fabric let me know as I still have some available :). I've got some more ideas in the pipeline so keep your eyes and ears open :D

I've decided to share my pattern (well instructions) of how I make the Frou Frou Tutus (WORK IN PROGRESS -PHOTOS COMING

These tutus are great for parties, dressups or even everyday wear (what girl doesn't want to be a princess or a fairy or a ballerina :D - though mine often want to be wee witches (and they are very good at it too )

The Sewn waistband gives you a practical skirt with a nice finish. Unlike no sew tutus this one will last longer and look tidier.

The Ribbon tie closure doubles as an adjustable fit - one size will fit for ages - or fit children of different sizes - The ones I make fit from 6ish months to 5ish years - great value for money :D

Time to make - about 30-45mins all up :D

So here we go (remember this is a WIP hehe)

Ingredients

For a size up to 5ish larger and you will need more tulle

3 or 4m 150cm Tulle (you will need 5 or 6m if it is shorter) - 2m each of 2 colours -the softer the better, I use bridal tulle but you could use tulle from spotlight, it's harsher but have a feel and get the softest one. If you have 6" spools then you will need 2 spools for a tutu UPDATE : 1 Jan 09 - Spotlight now have a softer Tulle for $5.95/m in some pretty colours.
10mm or wider non roll elastic
2x 50cm of Ribbon
Matching thread

Other useful tools - Rotary cutter and mat, Ruler, Chair ;-)

Take the waist measurements (I take 1 or 2 cm off as the elastic will give a bit to fit nicely) and the waist to knee (or wherever you want the tutu to fall) measurements - multiply length measurement by 2 and add 1inch
Cut your Tulle into strips 6inches wide by whatever your final length measurement is (this is where a rotary cutter and ruler come in handy as you can do multiple strips at a time)
Cut your elastic to the waist measurement
Sew the Ribbon to each end of the elastic and then seal the ends of the ribbon with a lighter so it will not fray
This is where you use the chair :D Tie the Elastic around the chair - be careful not to twist - make sure elastic is stretched reasonably firmly so that you get a nice gather for the final product
Take a strip of Tulle and fold it in half lengthwise (pics coming) with the folded end facing down infront of the elastic - pull the long pieces over the elastic and through the loop made by the fold (I know it doesn't make sense - the pics will clarify)
Repeat 6 until the elastic is completely covered
Make sure all the ends are facing down and are quite firm
Using a 3 stage zig zag (reasonable wide stitch length) sew over the tulle across the width of the elastic
Lay tutu on the mat and with the ruler and rotary cutter trim the bottom edge so it's nice and even

Voila 1 tutu :) now go and make more :) or if you would prefer - then contact me and I can make you one (or 5 lol)

If you do make one please send me a pic or a link - I'd love to see it :D

Here are some of my other creations :D

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