Send a little love - blog swap

This year when I saw Tracy at Mad About Bags was running the Send a Little Love swap again I didn't have to think twice about signing up. I had such fun last year getting to know my partner and we have kept in touch via email over the year.

This year I was partnered up with Debi at Busy Little Chicken. We sent a few emails back and forth and I tried to get some ideas of what to post out. I completely forgot to take any photos but you can pop over to her blog to see what her parcel contained.

I wasn't well prepared when opening and forgot to get the camera to photograph the packages themselves but they were wrapped very prettily, in fact I think there is a picture over at her blog too.

But I did remember to take a photo of the contents before they were too depleted.

We have a pack of nail files, some blue patterned fabric, a heart tea light holder, three fun little pegs and paperclips, a pin wheel, a scented key ring, a bookmark, a little sachet that was full of chocolate mini eggs but is picture containing all the ribbon and thread used to tie up the packages. There was also a chocolate heart lollipop and a box of Maltesers. The photo is a card with a little swap day message inside, it had the book mark in it too.

It was a lot of fun taking part again this year. I shall have to keep my eye out for more fun swaps to take part in. After all who doesn't enjoy receiving snail mail now and again that isn't a bill.

Thank you to Tracy and Debi for a lovely swap day.

What a month!

They say it never rains but it pours and this last month I couldn't agree more. And I am not just talking about our visit from storm Imogen or the rest of the blustery wet weather we have been on the receiving end of down in Dorset.

First our boiler went, so we called had to get that sorted, then husbands car broke down on his way home from a week away, we paid to get the fixed and a week later his car died in quite spectacular fashion, billowing smoke and leaking oil, luckily our lovely garage is not far from his work so he was able to get it there before it finally spluttered it's last burst of steam. He was loaned the loan car of our friend at the garage and we ended up buying it from him as we have no choice with school and work but to have two cars, then I had to tax the new car. The following week I was sandwiched between a truck carrying a crane and a high bank on the way home from school, the crane foot got stuck in our wheel arch as he passed us and 30 minutes and some nerve crunching later we were on our way home. You would think that should be about enough for one month but just to make it really end with a bang I was parked up at school on the home run and some one caught the back end of our car. I think I just laughed much to the confusion of those other parents who were not aware of how our month had been going.

I also had a birthday this month, it was a little overshadowed with the other events and was pretty much of a nothingness if I am honest but I was made a cake.

I have sent off my packet for the Heart Swap and am looking forward to receiving mine and to a better month. Well lets be honest it can't really get any worse.

Making for Mermaids.

My daughter spent the week before Christmas walking around with a pad, writing her list for Ho ho and the Mermaid. On asking who the mermaid was I was told she was a friend, she was coming to tea, we didn't have a name or an address. Our friend the mermaid has popped up a few times since Christmas and friends of ours found a mermaid bath toy which went down a treat.

So with an upcoming birthday this weekend I thought I would tackle the free pattern for a mermaids tail blanket on Made for Mermaids. She has other things that look fun too but that's for another day.

I had a nice spotty fleece I had bought from MyFabrics a few years back with the intention of using it for a blanket, only I ended up using a lilac fleece instead. This I decided would be good for the main body piece. The left over lilac would be the tail and the top. However when I came to it I found I didn't have the required amount of lilac so I decided to wing it. I had enough for the width but I had to make the cuff thinner, as for the tail end I folded the fabric to allow the biggest piece possible and cut a tail shape free hand. I used the suggested amount of fleece for the main section and trimmed it down to fit the tail in a similar fashion to the pattern but again I winged it. ;)

It's too long to get a good picture of here but she is in the other room.

Sewing it together was really easy and fuss free. I opted not to sew the scale effect on mine as the lilac fleece is quite thin and I didn't want to wreck it but I topstitched around the tail and also around the cuff to main body just because I could really.

It turns out the suggested amount of fabric makes a massive blanket and this is the small size however that just means lots of growing room. All in all as a mostly winged but based on pattern I was really pleased with this project and it didn't take too long at all to sew. I just hope the little mermaid fan is happy when she opens it this weekend.

Post Christmas sew up.

I didn't do much in the way of sewing or beading in the run up to Christmas what with moving and everything else going on but on boxing day I pulled out the machine and since then it has had a little use. Finishing up some odd bits, a bit of fixing and some new makes.

This skirt was the last remnant of a top I made dd a long time ago, she must have only just been pulling herself up in those days. She saw this in my fabric box and brought it to me. 'Please Mummy skirt'. How could I refuse such a nice request. Luckily there was just enough left for this pretty little number. She was so excited to watch me sew it. I shall have to let her start pressing the buttons soon. As it's a remnant and the elastic was bought so long ago it was from the euro shop before we moved back I am considering this a free sew. We like free sews. ;)

These trousers are made of a soft fleecy fabric I was gifted earlier this year, I used the Dana Made It kids pants pattern and extended it slightly for her height as she is 2 in a size 4. I added elastic in the cuffs as a jogging bottom feel. The fabric is so soft I want a pair too. I have a bit left and am hoping there is enough for me to make up a pattern for a top to go with them. Ideal for this miserable weather. Another free sew!

Trousers from the Made by Rae new born pattern. These are for my friend whose daughter is due end of Jan. I love this fabric, I bought it a couple of years ago with dd in mind but never came up with a plan. I am glad to use it or it would have been a money sucker. I hope they fit the new arrival.

These are also for my friends baby. A reversible bib and burp cloth. Both from a me made pattern, well the burp cloth was just made up as I went. It has towelling on the back for a bit of resilience to any burp residue that may occur. The fabric was from a bundle I bought a while ago now and have used for a dress for dd and also her dolls cot bumper. I think it stretched to a pen roll too. But this seems to be the last of it. Satisfying when you can use something up completely.

PJ bottoms for me. My first pair for me. Another free make, the fabric was left from the dress hubby made from his challenge in Germany. He bought a lot as he hadn't chosen a pattern when he found the fabric and it became a summer dress so lots for me to play with. The pattern was from Lauren's book but I just made casing for 1" elastic as couldn't be faffed with the adding ties. The elastic is doing me well I bought a huge roll in Germany from ebay and have loads left still. It has more than paid for itself over time. I have yet to wear them but they do fit. I tested before completing.

Trousers. I can't remember the pattern, I cut them in the summer as long shorts for dd but I made them too small and never finished them. Now there is a new baby on the way I finished them off. I know looking at them it's blue and boyish but my dd loved the second pair I made her that fitted. I admit initially I bought it for my son but he grew out of trains too fast unlike his older brother and indeed his sister. Still it came in handy in the end so no loss there.

I made this dress after our trip in the summer for dd. She choose the Minnie fabric in the US and I added the black from left overs in the scrap bag. Buttons were from a card making kit just for show and the pattern is the Good Deed dress. I finally got around to adding the red ribbon to finish it off. Needless to say she was over the moon.

My final make was this skirt. Father Christmas bought some 'Halloween Skellington' hair bands. She has developed a real thing for this film and the squeal when she opened them was incredible. It made Christmas. So when I saw this last remnant in my box, originally for hubby's pj bottoms from our American trip, I knew I had to create something for her. Again a bit of black from the scraps bag and voila her very own 'Nightmare' inspired skirt. I love this and so does hubby and dd.

I also fixed a few odd bits and made plans in my head for other bits but all in all I was happy with my little stash and UFO buster.

In other news hubby has laid the matting for the tiles in the bathroom. We hopefully will have a tiled floor before he goes back to work on Monday. I will show you a picture when it's done.

Merry Christmas

The weather is cold, damp and windy. It rains and rains and rains, though we are lucky and are too far south for the floods that are affecting so many right now.

But we had our first Christmas in our own home with our crazy excited children. Small girl squealed when she found Nightmare Before Christmas hairbands in her stocking and after two presents on my lap suddenly realised there were lots of presents and had to be held back a few times for fear of the tree getting knocked over and her brothers loosing out on gifts.

It was an incredible day. Luckily our huge oven did the perfect job and we managed to all squeeze in around the table despite the lack of a proper kitchen. The food was delicious, the children were happy. What more can we ask for.

I hope you all had a wonderful day too.

A new project

I have been a bit quiet recently as we have a new project on the go. When we bought it you had to go up the grass and under the bush to the door, we have since found the path that was hidden by bushes. Inside needed a lot of work and we are slowly but surely getting there. I have a half cupboard and a broken cupboard in my kitchen but running water and a Rangemaster 110 ceramic hob in cream. I love my oven. I can cook more than one thing at a time and grill too! It's the simple things. The tins are piled up on the floor between the oven and the fridge and I have to empty the cupboard every time I want to cook but we are kitchen shopping in the January sales. The bathroom had to be ripped out and we have had the new suite plumbed in but that is all for now. Again, it's a work in progress!

When we bought the house you couldn't get into the back garden very easily at all. It was completely overgrown, we found a bay tree in a pot that was taller then the house and my sons could open their window and pick blackberries. However we had left it as we had more pressing things to be getting on with, (mould removal, painting and papering, choosing bedroom carpets. . . ), but then next door were having some tree work done so I had a word with their contractors.

And this happened! My garden it turns out is pretty big when you clear out all the brambles and overgrown shrubs! 

SO that's why I haven't been around much but I hope to get back into the swing of things again very soon.

Sewing up a storm.

So we are back. The holidays are over though the memories are still fresh in everyone's minds. We have 100's of pictures to sort through and a rather amazing stash of new fabric to sew through!

I felt it would be rude to travel across the ocean and not bring home a bit of American fabric with me.

Unfortunately the picture of the stash was deleted after sending it to a friend. But there was a lot of lovely stuff, starting for $1 a yd in the sales. Amazing!

My first project was for hubby, Jack Skellington PJ or lounge bottoms. I used the GBSB pattern in a small size and they are perfect, I had to use a ribbon rather than a tape for the tie as our hobby craft had no tape in stock. But I was happy and so was he. Next up was the same pattern but in this fantastic $1 a yd fabric.

I then used the CKC pj bottoms pattern to make two pairs of Iron Man bottoms for the boys. The pattern comes up huge in case anyone is thinking of using it. But we fiddled around and they are both very happy, they were on before I could get a picture.

Finally I made madam something last night. It's the Good Deeds pattern. I had the black off cut already left over, and the buttons were in the button jar. Mini Mouse was an American purchase. Pleased to say she loved it this morning when she saw it. I just need some red ribbon to trim the waist with and it's done. A little big so good with a top in winter and will still fit in the summer we hope.

 

My last make was using up an off cut from Mr Skellington. It's a Christmas gift so ssshhh.

 

It's a tablet stand for hubby. Modelled by my tablet. I am pleased with the result but were I to make another I would add more stuffing. It was fun and easy to do. Using an idea from Half Yard Home. I may make more as presents for others as I found it very stress free and I have lots of odd off cuts that I refuse to part with. I have lots more projects to be getting on with but for now I will enjoy a quiet afternoon with my little one after her first busy morning at preschool. Before we have to collect the boys from school later.

Have a Tiggeriffic day!