Making new dresses look good

Here my daughter is (in her own special style) modelling a couple of my halterneck dresses in some of the new fabrics that i have bought. I must say she makes them look good.... thank you my gorgeous girl!

If you neeeeeed one of them you can find them (and me) at Mathilda's Market at Moore Park on Saturday. We will be there between 9am-1pm. Hope to see you there :)

Oh forgot to tell you that i have now added size 10 & 12 to my halterneck dresses and my kaftans. I am frequently getting asked to do bigger sizes so i am quite excited about this.

what to do with out of print and hard to find fabrics that you adore?

One of my all time favourite fabrics is the Bohemian print from Moda's Urban Chicks 1974 collection. When i first started making clothes i made a few dresses in this fabric for sale but then i got a bit stingy with it. Ever since it's just been sitting in my 'do not use for anything' stash - until now. I decided to make a new doona cover for Freya's bed. That way I can look at it every day and it has cleared some space on my fabric shelves. Isn't it the best? My lovely friend who made the last lampshade for Freya just recovered it in this coordinating fabric from the collection. I still have a fair bit and i have a few ideas of what i can make with it. Given my track record it will take a lot of time before i get to it :)

growing up too fast... or not?

One second my seven year old daughter is all about Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Ke$ha and weird dancing. The next, she wants me to make her a figure from Fluffy Gardens!!! Back to my sweet little girl :)

So first she had to pick one character that she liked (I was not going to do all of them which was her first request) - she picked Mr Johnson (panda in the middle).

It really was a family affair with my husband drawing the figure, Freya cutting it out and tracing it on to the felt. I sewed and she stuffed. We are very proud of the finished product :)

What do you think, pretty good huh?

Handmade Market Canberra

It's time to go to Canberra again :)

I have done the market a few times now and it's definitely at the top of my list of favourite markets. It's always buzzing! I got my lovely daughter to model a couple of my new kaftans as well as a new dress with fabric from Amy Butler's new line Soul Blossoms. I was only allowed to take the pics if she could model the way she wanted - this is her modelling!

Hope to see you there!

i am still here...

Even though I have been slack with the blog I have been superbusy everywhere else. I did the Canberra Handmade market which was 'just nuts'. So much fun and crazy busy. Again, met loads of lovely people. Both customers and other stall holders.

The next day I had Mathilda's in Lane Cove. Even though it wasn't as busy as last year's Christmas market, it was still a great day.

I am going to be at Bondi tomorrow so hopefully we will have great weather as it is only two weeks until Christmas. I am hoping that people will favour handmade over the crazy busy malls.

I have quite a few things planned (crafty stuff) for the holidays so when I have a spare moment I will share with you all :)

Back soon...

A ridiculous amount of people

Saturday's market turned out great in the end. It rained for the first 3-4 hours but then the sun came out and with it the crowds. Thank you to my wonderful son who was such a fantastic help. I know he will be checking out the blog later ;)

Didn't bring a camera so I don't have any photos from the day. I did bring the camera on the Sunday though when Liam, Freya and I (hubby was working) went down to Bondi to check out Sculptures by the sea. I just could not believe the amount of people around. I don't love crowds...

We walked for about an hour or so but it was impossible to see all of them as you just had to move with the crowds, no chance to slow down or stop if you saw something you liked. Liam and Freya took turns with the camera when they saw something they liked. Here are a few of them.

Third time lucky!

This was my third year trying to get in to the Avalon Market and I finally made it! I am thrilled to get in to this yearly event as it's supposed to be pretty crazy. Now the only downer is that it's supposed to rain on Saturday - fingers x 'they' are wrong.

If you live near or in the area you should come and check it out. I think there are close to 300 stalls - with everything you can imagine.

Avalon Market
Saturday 6 November
Old Barrenjoey Road, Avalon Parade and Dunbar Park.

Here are a couple of the things that I will be bringing. Hopefully I will see you there!

Tutorial and comments left on my blog

If you didn't head over to Shabby Art Boutique to check out my tutorial, never fear. I decided to post it on my blog as well. Thank you to the people that took the time to leave a comment on my blog as well as Kerryanne's. It was very sweet of you and I love getting comments.

Now to the topic of comments. I have recently come to realise that my replies to your comments don't reach you. I am not sure what is happening but if you have left a comment for me in the last couple of months and not received a reply from me, it's not because I didn't reply. I have replied to every comment that has been left for me. I am trying to see if there is something in the settings that I need to change, but I never changed anything and it used to work. If someone has had the same problem please email me and let me know how you solved it.

Button bracelet tutorial
Say it with buttons! I understand that not everyone has these things laying around the house. If you check out http://www.ebay.com.au/ (or .com) and http://www.etsy.com/ and search for button blanks (I used size 24) and link bracelet blanks, you too will be able to make these fab button bracelets at home. After trying a few different glues I have found that hot glue works best (in my opinion).

I realise that I should have had a manicure before my hubby took these photos, so sorry about the monster fingers…

Simply Christmas

I know I have been rubbish at posting lately, sorry. I have been flat out with markets, children, work, life etc.

I am doing a guest post on Wednesday at Shabby Art Boutique. Kerryanne says "This year I’m going back to basics and preparing for a simple ‘old fashioned Christmas’ and I'm putting the homemade and home baked back into the season."

I decided to jump onboard with a tutorial for an inexpensive Christmas gift - head over on Wednesday to see what it is :)

Ursula the flying unicorn

My friend's sister has a brand new childrens' book out - Ursula the flying unicorn. It's aimed at children aged 3-8. As I am not a writer i'll let Carmel tell you what it's all about -

"Ursula The Flying Unicorn celebrates every child’s need to dream. It takes the child’s imagination into another world. Think of the fun it would be to have a pet that could help with cooking or gardening and can fly you to any place you like by riding on her magical wings.

Children can easily relate to the characters in this book, simply as they too are involved in various day-to-day activities as those outlined, but with the added joy of having a pet unicorn by their side. Ursula The Flying Unicorn helps the child familiarize the days of the week and also helps to understand the meaning of words used to describe the events of each day."

I have a few of the pages for you to check out below!

The author is Carmel Prasad and as she is brand new she hasn't got a blog or a website yet but you can contact her here and you can also buy her book on ebay.

If you woud like to meet her in person and get a signed copy you should head down to the Bondi Junction Village Market on Saturday (Waverley Council is hosting a "Play Day in the Mall" which will host activities and fun for parents and kids) where she will be selling copies of her book. I will be there as well so come and say hi :)

Thank you Canberra

Saturday was quite fantastic. I had such a great day at Handmade market in Canberra. The crowds were amazing and people were just so lovely and friendly. Thank you everyone that came by for a chat or bought something (hope your little one loves it) - thanks for making the day so great.

I will definitely be back so I will see you all at the next one in December. I was going to walk around and take pictures of other stalls and chat to stall holders but it was crazy from the beginning so unfortunately I ran out of time. The only pics I have is from my own stall!

Today's photo shoot :)

Ok, it took a little longer than I anticipated but I am really happy with the result. Here are some photos from our little photo shoot today. My daughter and niece had a ball and looked gorgeous in my new dresses. I will bring them with me to Canberra on Saturday and on Monday I will list them in my shop. (ps. it is THE most gorgeous cotton voile - so soft and wonderful!)

The tiniest little sneak peak

I know I am very stingy with my sneak peak but hopefully it will make you all the more curious to come back and see the finished product ;)

I haven't been blogging much but have been super busy working on a new something (sneak peak below). I want to say thank you to all the lovely people that i met at Mathilda's last weekend. I had a wonderful time. My gorgeous son was there with me as always and he is such a great help. Thank you Liam!

Thank you to everyone that has been emailing me asking about products (as my shop is painfully empty) I am now going to spend the next couple of days adding things. You can of course still email me regarding sizes etc.

Ok, back to work :)

Same dress - 30 years apart

When I was about six or seven we had a crafty neighbour/friend that would sometimes make us things. One of my favourites was this dress that she made out of an adult size skirt - she just added some lace and a bit of ribbon and i think, for the sleeves she used a bit of an old curtain! I wore it on my last day of Year 1 and I even remember how I felt back then. I really felt so lovely in my blue dress. I know the quality of the photo makes it look like I was born in the 1920s!

When my mother visited from Sweden at Christmas time she brought the dress with her to give to my daughter. Freya loves it but it's still a little long for her. Spot the difference...

My Canberra trip

We started off early on Saturday as I was super keen to make it to Shop Handmade. Of course I wanted to check out my stuff, but also all the other goodies that I have seen in photos over the last month. I LOVED the shop, it's so gorgeous, with sooooo many beautiful things. I was quite restrained and just bought two books, handmade chocolate, a pin cushion owl, and a little hat for my daughter but could have bought so much more if my budget had been a little higher. I also had a little chat with the lovely Julie (I was checking out all the goodies and she had a few customers).

After the shop we went on to Cockington Green to see all the little houses from around the world. We also went a couple of laps on the miniature train (freezing with the wind blowing). Then we headed to Parliament House and to my son's joy it was open. It started well when we had to be scanned as if we were getting on a plane to get in (children loved it). Found some gorgeous statues on the roof of Parliament House (two are ours and the other two belong to friends that came to Canberra with us) and an amazing view!

On Sunday it was time for Mathilda's Market (while hubby and daughter went to Questacon) and my son came with me and as always he was a great help and wonderful company. He insisted that I take a photo of the bathroom (at the Hyatt) as he thought it was bigger than our house, lol! Jennie's son (from Posie) took a photo of Jennie and I but I looked so terrible that I decided to use another one instead!

Mathilda's in Canberra

I am still alive :) I have been struggling with a bad back for a few weeks now but it is starting to get a bit better.

Very excited to be going to Canberra in a week and a half. I have never attended a market there so hopefully it will be great. I am also super excited to be visiting Shop Handmade for the first time. I always oogle over all the photos and oh-ing and ah-ing over all the handmade goodness.

I will be bringing a few new things to the market. I have made kaftans in a few new fabrics and some new tunic dresses and skirts with matching shirts. If you are in or near Canberra please come to Mathilda's market and have a look as I know for a fact that there is going to be heaps of gorgeous things for sale.

rain, rain go away...

that's all I wanted to say...

Shop Handmade - big YAY!

I am so super excited! I am now part of Shop Handmade with some of my things debuting the other day. The talented ladies at Shop Handmade (Julie and Rachel) have displayed my things beautifully and it all looks so inviting - Thank you :)

I can't wait to visit in June!

Courtesy of the absolutely lovely, lovely, lovely Jennie from Posie Patchwork, I have some great photos to show you below. Thank you so much Jennie for taking them, I really appreciate it.

I don't just sew...

I do other things, too. Before I started sewing I used to make cards - for weddings, birthday invitations, Christmas cards (using the customers photos) etc. I have just started to make some cards again but this time I am using some of my illustrations (made on the computer). You may remember, if you have been with me on this blog from the beginning, that I made some babushkas that I had printed on to fabric via Spoonflower. Even though I liked the fabric with its retro look, I was a bit disappointed that the reds had become orange and the overall 'washed out' look. So I decided to print them on to card in the colours that I intended.

Anyway, the reason that I am rambling on about this now is that the lovely Virginia over at Mum/Toddler/Babe is having a one year blog-iversary giveaway - and my cards are in the mix of goodies! Head over to her blog for a chance to win some gorgeous things :)

What a wonderful day!

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there. Wasn't today just magical with the blue skies and sunshine? Perfect for our barbeque (my darling husband did EVERYTHING).

I was very spoilt today for Mother's Day and my lovely children made me some gorgeous cards.

I was doubly spoilt as today is also my birthday (I am still in the thirty something bracket, hehe) and they made this fabulous card below. Isn't it great?

I hope you too had a great day being suitably spoilt :)