I Made a Pouch

It is a such a weird word when you say it a few times. Lots of words are.

As is tradition now at our Monday Modern Quilt group, our December gathering has a Christmas theme. We each make a Secret Santa gift which is then pulled from the Santa sack by a random member of the group.

This year I made the Sweet Child Pouch from the Sewing Loft. It was fairly painless. Although, there's a bit of an angle where the zip sits at one end. I do not like zips. I also put the hair ribbon up too high on the first pouch. I will gift that one to Lucy the niece for Christmas. She is four and won't notice.

I wrapped it up before I remembered to photograph it.

Monday Modern Christmas

Being somewhat satisfied with my 'soft and stable' bag making exploits, I decided to make a regular tote bag as a gift for our Monday Modern Christmas celebration.

I used dark grey linen and grey elephant fabric I won from Stitchbird during the year. I lined it with white and red spotty fabric (and I still have quite a bit left, so it will continue to appear in projects). I like the combo a lot.

I even remembered to put a handmade tag in it before I sewed up the side seam.

I would be quite happy to keep this bag myself. That's always a good sign.

Pirate Pyjamas

I got one pair of PJs made before Christmas and gave them, plus the book The Quiet Pirate, to Lucas for Christmas. He wore them to bed that night!

Then once I knew they fitted, I made a second pair with Richard Scarry fabric. There wasn't enough of that fabric so I supplemented it with some 'Spotlight blue'.

I read the Richard Scarry book out loud at least three times - it's hard work! Each drawing is labelled and the pages are crammed with drawings. He seems to be over finding Goldbug on every page and into announcing "Dingo Dog!" excitedly when he appears, which is then followed by "Officer Flossy!".

I used a very simple Burda pattern and the pjs took about 1.3 metres of fabric and a few hours of my time. Easy peasy. I imagine I will be making more pjs in the future!

Another Oven Mitt

Just because I like the fabrics ...

This one is going under the tree for my cousin, Kell who has a red and white kitchen in her new house.

My last bit of Christmas sewing is pyjamas for Lucas. I found some pirate fabric at Spotlight and some Richard Scarry fabric at By the Yard when I was shopping for grey chevrons for my Lucky Stars quilt. Lucas likes pirates and his Dad's old Richard Scarry book - the one where you have to find Goldbug on every page.

A Chrissy Pressy for Baby Lucy

Eventually I will have to stop referring to niece Lucy as Baby Lucy. She is 1 year and 2 months old but I am pretty sure she will always be the youngest member of our family.

Anyway, I bought a baby mermaid pattern from Bit of Whimsy a while ago with Baby Lucy in mind.

It is a really simple pattern. I used double-sided interfacing to attach the 'hair' to the head and then zigzagged over the wool a couple of times. I also used interfacing on the back of the face - it makes for a nicer finish for the stitching. All of this interfacing has made the head a bit stiff though and not as smooth as I would like.

All the fabric came from my stash which makes this a pretty good present in my books. I am sure I will make more baby mermaids in the future.

Lucky Stars - Progress

I didn't love the three layout suggestions we were emailed. I was after something less ordinary.

 So I went back to Amy Gibson's suggestions for her Sugar Blocks.

I have added 2.5" sashing to the blocks to give them some space and try to calm the design. And then I wet them to get the paper off ... and all over the floor.

I plan to put a bigger star in the centre. Either grey and yellow, or grey and navy, or grey and chevrons. And I might add another border around the outside just to make the quilt into a more useful size.

While I was waiting for the blocks to dry (lucky it was a very warm day) I started another oven mitt using fabric from the stash.

Lucy the Cat did not go far. My chair, the ironing board, my chair, the ironing board in front of the fan and finally this basket. It was a tight squeeze!

A Chrissy Pressy for My Mum

I have had the insul-bright sitting on the shelf for ages. I have been meaning to make an oven mitt for ages too. I finally got organised ... better late than never.

I used Adrianne's template because I can't draw. It's pretty obvious how it all goes together. But here are the steps I took.

I struggle cutting into a piece of fabric to make bias binding (ie binding cut on the bias). It feels like it uses sooo much more fabric than a regular binding! The binding is some crosshatch out of the stash and the linen/cotton birds I bought at Grandmother's Garden a couple of years ago. My Mum likes birds. There are bellbirds that visit the macrocarpa trees at the gate and I keep telling her she should teach them how to talk. When Nephew Lucas visits Nana, he likes to take the watering can out onto the lawn to clean the bird bath. He then crouches down and calls out, "Come on, come on" to the birds waiting for them to come down for a swim.

If I was to make this again I would add another 5 cm to the overall length.

PS The insul-bright is very crunchy ... the oven mitt makes a scrunching noise.

Birds' Nests

These were not every-day biscuits growing up. They were special occasion biscuits. I am not sure why. Anyway, they are faves of my boss' husband, so I made them some for Christmas.

Flying Geese

I offered to make my sister-in-law some cushions ages ago. She requested black and white. I am not a fan of black and white in quilting, however, they are not for me.

I used Quilters' Cache to teach myself how to make flying geese blocks.

The fabric all came from my local, The Crafty Needle, because I couldn't be bothered going any further afield and because they have a good range of black and white prints. I have done some straight-line machine quilting on them - which doesn't show up at all but it does feel nice.

It's going to be awkward if she doesn't like them. I will notice that they are not on the couch!

Plum Pudding Dress for Lucy

Finished in time for Christmas! This was a super easy pattern from Ginger Baby Patterns on Etsy. Again, a beginner sewer could cope with this. The hardest part was threading the elastic through the sleeves because my safety pin kept coming open. Grrr. The best part of this pattern was the big long seam up the side from the hem to the cuff. If I was to make this dress again, I would make the pocket a bit smaller.

Sewing for Lucy

Just to be clear, I do mean baby Lucy and not Lucy the Cat!

I was having an email conversation with my cousin Kell a couple of weeks ago and I said, I think I might make Lucy a dress for Christmas. Very briefly, she thought I was talking about Lucy the Cat. The only thing I have ever sewed for my cat has been a blanket!

I have made this 'Perfect A-Line' dress by TieDyeDiva on Etsy.

The choice of fabric was very deliberate. Lucy's Nana and Grandad grow apples for export and pears. Lucy lives on an apple and pear orchard. It was an easy dress to make. I learnt (after one million years of sewing) the difference between clipping and notching curves. I love that it is lined so all the seams are hidden.

Then I made some matching frilly pants also by TieDyeDiva.

They are as cute as anything! It's been a long time since I did gathering to fit and the leg holes barely fitted around the arm of my sewing machine, so that was a challenge.

I have started a Plum Pudding Pease dress by GingerBabyPatterns using the lovely Japanese lawn I used for the apron. (I feel like sewing myself something with it! I love the colours and I love paisley.)

I need to find the gold spot fabric for the sleeves so I can get it finished.

I hope the clothes are all big enough. I have made them in size 3 - 6 months - Lucy is almost 3 months. They look like dolls' clothes to me!

Four Cushion Fronts

I am so productive when I don't have to go to my paid job.

After some hand sewing to secure the visoflexed (I called it double-sided interfacing at Spotlight and the girl had no idea what I was on about!) letters, the fronts are done.

T is for Taryn, P is for Poppy, B is for Bridie and J is for Jayden - my cousins' children. If only I could find some white bobble trim, I could finish them. I do have a plan b if I don't find any white bobble trim, but it's still a week until Christmas so I will keep looking.

These are pretty easy to do. An absolute novice could make them. The main thing to remember is to print your letters out in reverse so they come out the right way on the fabric - most printers have this function. It took me four goes to get the P up the right way on the right side of the fabric! I used a small blanket stitch with four strands of thread on the J. If I did this again, I would make the stitches bigger because I think they look a bit cramped and uneven. On the girls' cushions I used a chain stitch with four threads. I think it looks a bit more girly than the blanket stitch.

Four Cushion Backs

Clearly not for the black and white flying geese cushions. I got distracted by much prettier fabric.

Three girl cushions and one boy reading cushion made from a variety of linens. The darkest linen I bought from Global Fabrics is a very loose weave ... hard to cut a square square from it. The best linen is the lighter coloured one I used for Jarrah's apron. It's a good weight and a tight weave.

Now for the hand sewing on the cushion fronts.

Cake

I forgot to tell you about KTR5's annual cupcake decorating challenge. Their Tutor Teacher, Jarrah, is a bit of a baker and every year she whips up a couple of batches of cupcakes for her tutor class to decorate and give away. I ended up with three on my desk. I gave one away, but ate two!

A couple of weeks ago I was up at Albany Senior High School for PD with the Sydney Centre for Innovative Learning. We had the most delicious date cake at lunch one day. I googled and found this recipe for Sticky Date and Coconut Cake.

It is super moist. It went down well at our Whanau Leaders' meeting. I made it in a square cake tin, which was probably a bit too big so the cake isn't very high. If I made it again, I would make it in the recommended sized tin and use less topping or add more butter to the topping to make it a bit thinner.

I also stirred together some of fellow English teacher Melissa's Mint Chocolate Truffles for our Modern Monday Christmas meeting. I lack the patience needed to do a smooth job when covering things in chocolate. Despite their outward appearance, they are super delicious.

Polaroid Swap and Xmas Sewing

My polaroid swap blocks arrived a week or so ago. Not sure what I am going to do with them!

I have bought some fabric for a Christmas sewing project. I went to Centrepoint Fabrics in search of linen, but I couldn't find any 100% pure that I liked. Fortunately, 5 mins up the road is a fabric shop with the worst parking situation in the world, Global Fabrics. They make up for the parking situation with a great range of linen. I was nearly distracted from the natural linen by the pink, the blue, the green and the orange.

I added to my linen finds with some cottons from Spotlight at Sylvia Park. (I loathe Spotlight - the mess and the slooooooooooooooooooow service.) Now I just need to find some enthusiasm and time for sewing.

Meanwhile, just a couple of weeks left in the school year and there is so much to do in that time. In my calendar this week are the Year 8 Learner Experience Days - three days and 250ish Year 8s. This has been the busiest Term 4 ever.

A Seasonal Stocking

Our next project for our Modern Monday group is to make a Christmas stocking, fill it and donate it to Women's Refuge.

I found a free pattern here, and used leftovers in the stash.

I used french seams (which I learnt 25 years ago in Intermediate School sewing), rather than lining it.

We are not a Christmas stocking family. It seems a bit rude putting out an empty stocking expecting it to be filled with presents!

Christmas Journals

Instead of going to school to move offices, I stayed home and sewed. I got two journals made. Not sure they will get to Mount Gambier by Christmas though.

All of the fabric (except the one at the top of Sarah's diary and middle of Chelsea's diary) and the ribbon has come from Patchwork Passion. I am quite liking orange at the moment.

Summer Hols Pt 2

Using my new Panasonic TZ10 to capture the second phase of my summer holidays.

Bunny Runner

My first Christmas present is finished and well before December!

Pattern: from Occasions by Whimsicals (2007)

Fabric: wools (Designer Textile Outlet and Savemart) and flannels (Grandmother's Garden)