Cardboard Gingerbread Men

I saw a wonderful wreath on Martha Stewart's website made out of real Gingerbread Men but I didn't want to hang real edible decorations on the door, not with MY kids (and dog) around so I made it out of cardboard instead and used 3D paint for the icing and raisins.

I will get a proper, nice red tartan ribbon for it, that is all I have to hang it with at the moment.

The Tree

If we were hamsters, and our house was their cage, the RSPCA would come round and rescue us for being overcrowded. Seeing as we are just humans however we just have to lump it.

So, lack of space means no space for a tree, not even our usual slimline artificial one so I decided to make one instead.

Its made from MDF, it's painted BRIGHT green, the baubles hang inside sawn out holes and it looks fabulous and I LOVE it!!!

Still here

Do not fear, I'm still here!

I have been doing a LOT of crafting for the past couple of weeks but it is all for my Secret Santa so I can't show any of it until after Christmas in case she sees it!

I am however making a fabulous Christmas tree which I designed and my husband is doing all the hard manly stuff with the holesaw and jigsaw but I shall be uploading the photos of it's various stages of development tomorrow and hopefully it's completion!

Where has my baby gone?

My wickle baby waby Pops Pops has started playgroup, it's 3 hours a morning for 3 mornings a week, sob,sob.

Of course she doesn't HAVE to go but she is getting bored at home and absolutely loves it there, on her first day (Tues) she didn't want to come home and today she cried after her nap as she wanted to go back.

She has to take a  spare set of clothes with her so I thought what better way to mark the occassion than by making her her very own bag, I'm very pleased with this one as I made it up as I went along and even lined it!!! It took me about an hour, maybe less.

Cherry Pops

Another a-line dress, each one gets better and better, this one was 98% perfect, I am still having trouble with the joins on the bias binding but I will get there.

This one is baby soft needle cord and I put red bias binding on it. I managed to make this one in one afternoon, with kidteruptions of course.

Busy Bee

Yes, I have been very busy, Poppy's band new and rather expensive (especially when you have just lost your job) scooter was stolen from the park less than 2 weeks after I bought it for her 2nd birthday but a wonderful cyber buddy of mine emailed me and asked (begged) if she could could buy Poppy a replacement.

I didn't know whether to accept or not, I didn't want to say no in case I looked rude and offended her by snubbing her very generous offer but I was worried it was far too expensive for her to buy, and I didn't want to say yes in case it looked like I was taking advantage or something, arrrgh, you know how it is, situations like that are difficult!

Anyway, I discussed it with dh and we decided to accept, I was very emotional about it, I mean just how kind and generous was that?????

I came up with the idea that I would make her some dresses for her daughter who is the same age as Poppy as a thank you and it's taken me a while because I had to wait until I had a bit of cash for the fabric and then finding time to make them has been hard but at last I have finished them !!!!!!!

I would have completey finished them if I could find the tiny red button for the Christmas dress, I am sooooo annoyed, I wanted to post them off tomorrow but I'll have to go to the haberdashers first, Isaw that button the other day too, grrrrrrr

So here they are, a cup cake dress, a Christmas dress (for wearing at Christmas, it will look great with a red jumper and red tights) and a bag  for the wonderful Mama herself.








And I actually made something for myself yesterday too, I managed to make it in an afternoon with constant kid interruptions so it would proably take an hour in all.
I bought the fabric and the lining from Husseins Fabrics in Forrest Gate for £2 a yard and it was a double fold yard so huge, I can get several bags out of it.
I just need to buy a button for it tomorrow and it's finished!

Wilful Neglect

Yes, I have been neglecting this little baby of mine due to school holidays, 3 children and a dog to look after, disaster befalling us in the form of my husband  loosing his job plus a bout of illness that has inflicted us one after the other and which is still on going. Who'd have thought you could squeeze all that into 6 weeks ??

 Anyway, I had been working on something which is almost complete, I just have to hem it plus completely re-do the bodice because it doesn't hang right on me, is there seriously any such thing as a standard body shape because I'm sure as Hell not it!!!!!

Here are a couple of photos of the unfinished dress, they were taken on my mobile phone because the battery has run out in my camera and I can't find the charger at the mo, so not that great quality but you can get the idea......

Getting Better

Here it is, I'm so proud of this dress even if there are bits that haven't gone quite right but now I know what and where I can correct it next time.

 I bought this fabric from an ebay seller in the US as you just cannot get decent, cheap fabric for love nor money in the UK, God I hate living in England sometimes :(

I put bias binding around the neck and armholes for decoration rather than on the inside as the pattern suggested and after some trials and errors with the 'button loop' I finally decided to use some very thin ribbon and it works perfectly.

 

 

A bit more than a toile

Ages ago I bought a HUGE piece of fabric with pink butterflies from the remnant box for about £3, I had no idea what I was going to with it but it was too much of a bargain not to.

The other day I bought this pattern..

http://www.simplicitynewlook.com/index.phpmain_page=product_info&products_id=1790#

...which is also the pattern the Ikea trousers came from, this time I had a go at  the dress but without the puff sleeves because Pops could get more wear out of a sleeveless one by wearing tops under it.

So I used the butterfly fabric as a kind of toile that she could wear if it turned out ok.

I had a few troubles with the weird bias binding on the arm and neck holes but it's wearable....

Now to make it in some funky fabric! Come back tomorrow to see what it was!

Poppy, my Guinea Pig

I'm thinking toddler clothes should be a lot quicker to sew what with them being so much smaller right? So using that theory my 23 month old daughter Poppy gets quite a few items made for her....like these trousers made from some left over Ikea fabric I had!

They are meant to be cropped but I think I made a big mistake sewing them up by sewing the wrong legs together so the front and back are half front and back if you know what I mean and they have taken on a slightly odd shape but, ho hum, it's all a learning curve right?

Anyway, they are great for mucking about in the park and I can always make another pair, they were so easy I think if I didn't have any interruptions I could make them start to finish in a hour.

I love this fabric......

My First Time

Ooh, my first blog post, very exciting!!

Another reason to be excited is I have just bought a new sewing machine, the one I have already I bought second hand a couple of years ago and it really is on it's way out, it probably just needs a service but I'd rather upgrade and get a new one.

I have settled on the Janome 4623 as it was the best I could get for my budget, I'm waiting for it to arrive, it should come any day, maybe tomorrow!

In the mean time I have been practising and making some simple items with my current machine.

The first project I tackled was this dress by the April 2007 Prima Pattern which came free with Prima Magazine. I bought the fabric from Husseins Fabrics in Green Street, Forest Gate, the fabric along with the thread, zip and a collosal sheet of interfacing came to a grand total of £9.

The pattern and instructions were very easy to follow and the bodice is all one piece, no sleeves, yay!!! (I hate sleeves, attaching them that is , not wearing them) the only bits I had problems with was the interfacing on the V-neck, I spent ages trying to work out how to get the 'point' at the 'v' to lay flat, crisp and sharp, mine kept puckering up, I got it in the end, well nearly.

The other bit I had a HUGE problem with is putting in the concelaed zip but that was due to the fact I'd never done one before, had no-one to show me and didn't have the appropriate foot.

Here is the finished result...