I sewed!

My Sunday went a little like this:

I sorta feel like sewing but I'm not in a hurry and I want to wander around the net/read a book too. I have that beautiful fabric I bought to make a copy of this favourite singlet top of mine:

But I haven't cut a pattern off it yet. I know.. I'll start cutting the pattern and see how I go. I cut the back pattern. Man, I've had enough of this.. I'll get a coffee and wander through facebook land. I'll go back and cut a front pattern and facing pattern. That's enough.. it's raining outside so I'll read some of my novel. The Hubby is picking up Mr 10 from a sleepover... I'll cut out the fabric while he's gone. That's done. Time for some lunch. I fancy a little nap on the couch. Hmm... I might start sewing that singlet top together. Yawn.. had enough of that. I'll potter around the house and straighten up a bit. I might sew some more of that top now. The hubby is reading up on relativity again (my brain goes cross-eyed) I'll go sew the last bit on that top.

And before I knew it I'd enjoyed every bit of my meandering Sunday and had a brand new singlet top made. It looks like this:

I wore it yesterday and got a few compliments. :)

Wrap Up Paintbrush Holder

Little Miss going on 8 will be 8 soon. I know... you guessed didn't you? She loves nothing more than to draw, colour, collage, paint and make stuff. Let me tell you what she decided to do on the weekend.

The cat has an olive green, fake fur covered cat box thingy that cat's just LOVE to play in, hide in while they're stalking their prey and use the pole to sharpen their claws. Except our cat has never been in the box. ON the box inside the warm, lounge room window... yes. IN the box? No. She loves the pole thingy though. So much so that she has been sharpening her claws so vigorously the pole fell apart. Oh, you know that fake mouse toy hanging on a string to entice cats to play? She rolled her eyes, looked at me disdainfully and said, "How unsophisticated do you think I am?" and never touched the thing.

So Miss 8 decided that the box was actually a jungle scene. All it needed was some trees, vines and assorted wildlife to make it so. She drew some trees and vines, coloured them in and put them inside the box. Next for animals. For this she turned to her trusty friend Google for a little research to find out which animals would be lurking in her forest. The first animal she drew was a lion, coloured it in, cut it out and blow me down if it didn't actually look like a lion. I can draw lions. You might not be able to recognise them as lions but I can draw them. Miss 8 can draw lions that look like lions. So she spent a good two hours on a Saturday afternoon stocking her jungle. THAT's how much she like to create.

In an effort to encourage her artistic talents without fobbing her off onto the wonderfully talented Bob I've purchased some real art supplies as a birthday gift to replace the tacky, cheap kids artistic stuff that we seem to have an endless supply of. I thought she needed a box/container/bomb shelter to keep her brushes in so that they wouldn't become damage and wouldn't be lost.  In a previous post I linked to a tutorial for a crayon holder and I've adapted that to make a paintbrush holder. Only I'm kinda lazy and did it the easy way. ;)

Vicki's lazy tutorial for a paintbrush holder wrapper upper thingamabob.

Materials:

The original tutorial calls for fabric, wadding, stiffening.. yadda, yadda, yadda.. it's all too hard already.

Go to Lincraft or similar store and buy 2 heavy cotton placements that are reinforced with stiffening. Cost: $2

Go through your stash (if you have one) and find some matching ribbon/ric rac/lace/shoelaces/anything else to use as a tie or decoration. If you don't have a stash.. go through your Mum's/a friends or buy something suitable.

Cut one of the placemats in half lengthways like so:

Use a zigzag stitch on the cut edge to stop it fraying. This will be for the little pockets. I sewed crossgrain ribbon onto the cut edge with a fancy stitch on my brand new Janome. *sigh* Love my Janome.

Place the half placemat on top on the full placemat. Line up the bottom edges and the sides.  Stitch them together along the sides and the bottom.

Now for the pockets. What you need to do is stitch vertically starting at the top of the half placemat, sewing through both layers of placemats right to the bottom of the placemats. Leave a 3cm gap and then stitch another row exactly the same as the first. Keep stitching in 3cm intervals across the width of the placemats. I deliberately kept one section about 8-10 cm wide in case Miss 8 wanted to store something wider in the wrap in the future.

Finishing touches: Sew on some ribbon/a shoelace/next appropriate thing to make a tie. Decorate the wrap if you wish to. Taaa Daaa. You now have a unique wrap perfect for keeping long, thin stuff in. I reckon you could use this for: cutlery (keep it in the picnic basket or near the bbq), hair brushes and combs, tools (use leather or vinyl instead of fabric for the complete Malboro Man look), whatever else would be handy in one of these.

The pretty flowers on the outside of the case are Fozz Felt from my craft stash. It is self adhesive. Just peel off the back and stick it on. 

This took me less than an hour to make from start to finish and included time to stop and talk to the cat, take some photos and chat to the delivery man. Enjoy!

Sewing Machine

I have a brand spankin' new one of these!!!!!  I used it on the weekend!!!  I'm in love. ♥

I have a very basic little Brother sewing machine I bought about 22 years ago. It has served me well seeing me through sewing droughts, patches of sewing bliss and travelling up and down the East coast with me a few times. But it's starting to break down. Bits don't close, the light hasn't worked for years, some parts are bent/broken from all the moving and the front loading bobbin is painful to unravel all the time.

So my Mum bought me a brand new machine. Bless her. ♥

What did I sew? I hear you asking. Let me share.

 I had a black skirt that was an awkward length. It's a tierd skirt made of soft, cool cotton that wasn't long but it wasn't short and the length just made me look dumpy. So instead of giving it away to the op shop I decided to lengthen it by adding a piece of ribbing to the top and adding elastic around the waist. As I never wear a tucked in top this won't affect how I wear the skirt and now I have a brand new wardrobe item!

I did the same with a pair of long pants made of stretch crepe. They fall beautifully and are soft and lovely to wear but slightly too small around the hips now and keep falling down because they are hipster pants. I've sewn a piece of ribbing on to the top of them the same as the skirt and now they'll be more comfortable.

I also... attached a shoulder strap back onto a top, patched a tear in one of my favourite summer dresses so that I can wear it again this summer, sewed some seams on two pieces of clothing where the stitching has broken and started making one of these for my daughter's brand new "grown up" paint brushes I have for her upcoming birthday. I'll take some photos and make a tutorial on how to use recycled items to make a quick and easy roll.

I used to sew a lot. I started drafting patterns for my dolls at 12 from one of Mum's old drafting books. We didn't have a lot when I was growing up so I used to enjoy making new clothes to go out in. Then I got busy. I moved to Sydney, worked in a bank and jumped on the end of the 80's "Greed is Good" train. I ended up broke, in debt and had to move back home. A tough lesson but one well learnt. Since then I haven't been a big spender. Although we live very comfortably accumulating stuff just isn't important to us. I still shop the sales and don't spend extravagantly. We have a budget and we stick to it. I'd rather have the money to travel a bit, show our children some of the world around them and live an uncomplicated life.

Now I'm rediscovering the thrill of creating with the sewing machine. :)