A couple of months ago I bought an Umbrella Trimmings pack intending to enter this competition.  The pack sat in my 'to do' pile for months, and with days to spare before the competition closes, I decided to finally make this softie.  The Trimmings pack is essentially a little pack of offcuts of random prints from the Umbrella Prints range. The pieces range in size from 3 x 15cm to about 10 x 12cm.  My pack started it's life looking like this...

 

 

Chop, sew, chop, sew, stuff, stitch...

 

My good friend had a baby boy on the weekend, and since I would make her a gift anyway, the trimmings pack was perfect for a little softie.  It has been ages since I have made a softie.  I made this one up as I went.  Yes he has pink on him and this is for a little boy, but this little boy has two older sisters, so he better get used to pink!  The only fabric that is not from the pack is the beige linen for the face.  The  nose is pink suede.

 

Umbrella Prints is a lovely South Australian screen printing business that make beautiful fabrics.  You can read about the competition in the link above.  I will be checking out the Umbrella Prints pinterest board over the weekend to have a look at some other creations.  The winner receives $300 of gorgeous Umbrella Prints fabric!  Fingers crossed...

Linking up with My Creative Space today.

 

**Sorry Umbrella Prints - the pic of the fabrics is not my best (taken with my old camera a few months ago).  The softie shows off the fabrics much more honestly! 

Today I made this sweet little skirt for Isabella.  It is a very simple project - one for beginner sewers.  It takes a bit of time to put together but there are no complicated techniques.

It is gathered at the waist with one row of elastic.  The skirt is lined - with the lining peaking out below the hemline.  The hem is edged with two rows of ric rac.

1.  Scraps of fabric for outer layer - you will need them to be the skirt length you like plus 5cm.  You will need enough to allow for a skirt that is about three times your child's waist circumference in width.

2.  Lining-  I lined my skirt.  Again you will need the desired length of your skirt (I added an extra 2cm than my outer layer as I wanted my lining to peak out the bottom).  You will need the same skirt width as your outer layer - approx. 3 x waist... but cut your lining after your outer layer is assembled.  For example, Isabella's waist measurement was 57cm, so I used 180cm in length of lining.  You don't need to buy 180cm of lining though.  Fabric is usually 115 - 150 cm in width.  With a seam, you could achieve the required amount for Isabella from twice the skirt length (ie. 45 x2), so you would need 90cm off the roll of fabric.

3.  Some 2.5 mm width elastic (You will need 10cm less than your child's waist circumference).

4.  Ric rac - 3 x waist measurement again.

My cut pieces looked like this...I paid little attention to matching colours/patterns.

Linking up with Sew Country Chick and also taking part in Skirt Week with this one at Crafterhours.

After some teething issues, Juliette is finally in her big girl bed.  Which means I need to get cracking with her quilt.  I started it a while back but it has been on the back burner for the last couple of months.  I wanted to get back to the true roots of patchwork with this quilt by making something to keep my girl warm from scraps I already had.  So far, I have only spent about $20 on the quilt.  Most of the fabrics come from my stash with some generous donations from my sister Jules.

I wanted a soft, feminine quilt so have chosen pastel florals, solids and prints.  I am not being fussy with placement (apart from alternating each square with the cherry and cream floral).  The pieces are approx. 10cm squared.  I have estimated that I will be sewing approximately 540 squares together!  Sounds like a marathon but I have got an efficient little system of sewing worked out.  I sew pairs one after another on the machine, then snip threads and join two pairs together to make quadruples.  Then I piece the quadruples together to make strips.  

We then played shops and I became the "copsheeper" while the girls filled their baskets with colourful wares.

My budding artist at work...

 

Linking up here today.

I'll be posting on projects the day after I sew them as I do most of my sewing at night so they will be photographed the following day.

On my first day of the kids clothes week challenge I made these two bibs for Emily.   I love a project that decreases (ever so slightly) the size of my scrap box.  I have had the main pieces of fabric for these bibs in my stash for about four years.  They were both not wide enough for a real garment but could be used here.  I traced the bibs from one of Emily's that I always reach for because of its good shape and closeness to her neckline (so no food slops on her collar!).  The one on the left is backed with polar fleece and the one on the right with jersey.  I like something soft on the underside to mop up any mess on little baby faces!  I made the binding myself which added some time to putting these together.

I have finally got around to putting pics of this little project I completed a while back.  I gave the girls' cradle a new coat of paint and fitted it out with a little mattress, pillow and quilt.

Isabella is in love with these two 'Emily Button' books.  She loves reading them and has requested them every night for the past two weeks.  She knows most of the stories by heart and I have not seen her as excited about any other stories.  These two books were given to her by her Aunty, Uncle and cousins in the UK as a Christmas gift.  They lay quietly on the book shelf for a while, but once they were discovered, we have not heard the end of Emily Button!  Luckily Stefan and I like the books too - they are really sweet.

Her sidekicks, Bobble and Mousey the Mouse help her along the way.

Since my crafty mojo has been creeping back, I am starting to think of birthday gifts for Isabella (late July), and thought how much she would love a handmade Emily Button, Bobble and Mousey.  So, as much for my enjoyment as for hers, I have decided to embark on 'The Emily Button Project' where I will make all three characters as true to the stories as I can. 

Emily - I plan on using Fiona Dalton's Poppy doll pattern as a guide for Emily, although she will be shorter and her head will be longer.  I have sure had some mileage out of that awesome pattern.  I have some beautiful cream wool flannel which I will use for her body and face.  I will have to get my hands on some good quality pink wool felt for her hair and will make the two outfits that appear in the book (equipped with little bits and pieces for her pockets of course!).  I will mostly use scraps from my scrap box for her outfits but might have to buy a few bits and pieces.

Bobble - His face and body are knitted in two shades of pink.  I have wool that will suit and will have to knit the body and face.  I will make up the pattern for him and use scraps from my scrap box for his limbs, tail and ears.

Mousey - This guy will be the quickest and easiest.  I will use button/hinge joints for his arms and legs so he can sit and (hopefully) stand.  Fabrics from scrap box.

These books are sold through the Marks & Spencer chain, and unfortunately you can only order them through their site.  Through my little internet search the other night, I found there are two other books which I will see if Isabella's Nan can find and send to us for her birthday - let's hope she still loves the books then!

For my creative eye candy, check out Our Creative Spaces.