A Prize Winning Dress

Rewind to sometime around October last year.  We were right in the middle of all the weddings, packing up the house and coping with enjoying our new baby.  One night I plonked myself onto the lounge in front of the TV to feed baby F and by pure chance I stumbled across a sewing show.

Sew What A Feeling was a series aired on Channel 31, a community television station broadcasting to Melbourne and Geelong.  The low budget production was aimed at beginner sewers and was a good way to spend half an hour breastfeeding.  I enjoyed the discussion on fabric selection, sewing advice and tips they gave on using an overlocker.  

The ladies hosting the show run sewing classes in Melbourne and are unlikely to be moving to a prime time slot on mainstream television anytime soon, however they were likeable and have obviously been sewing forever and a day. 

A sewing competition was advertised at the end of each show.  Entrants were asked to make something from one of these patterns.

McCalls M5094

Vogue V8363

Butterick B5355

McCalls M5572  

There was no way I could enter, my plate was full enough.....until I decided that I really wanted to give it a try and would just have to try and plug away it at whenever I could find the time.

So, I decided to make a new dress for M and chose the McCalls M5572 pattern and here it is.  

Although a little big for her at the moment, M loves it.  One of M's friends tried it on and it was a perfect fit on her.  She loved it so much she has requested something for herself in the same fabric.  (Lucky her birthday is coming up.)

On the last episode of Sew What A Feeling, I was super excited to see my name pop up on the screen as the winner of the open section.

One must wonder exactly how many entries were submitted for the competition haha!!

Fast forward to today....my prize was delivered!  Thank you Sew What A Feeling :)

Sharing the Love

A quick post to share free patterns from HomeSpun Threads.

Become a follower of the HomeSpun Threads blog and be sure to return the love by sharing the link on your blog.

That sure was a nice thing to stumble across but I wonder how long they will be free for?

The A+ Teacher

This year, so early into M's schooling, we were extremely fortunate to have the best teacher ever. Ms F is everything you hope for in a teacher and is a genuinely warm, caring and compassionate person. From the first day of school this year right up until the last minute of the last day of school, Ms F had M's best interests at heart. It was a particularly sad goodbye, since we have moved out of the area and M will be starting at a new school closer to home next year.

I cried saying goodbye to Ms F and told her that all future teachers will be compared to her.

As a class, we gave Ms F a lovely present however I wanted to make her something as well to let her know how much I appreciate everything she did for M throughout the year.

Ms F is from Canada. She travelled back to Canada during 3rd term school holidays and will be going home again next year to get married. Her fiance is Irish so for both of them I made these cute little his n hers passport covers.

Please excuse the awful state of my ironing board cover

Next, I made some Christmas bunting. Secretly, the idea behind the bunting was to ensure that Ms F doesn't forget us and now she will think of us at least once every year when she hangs her Christmas decorations ;p

Although not sewing, Cookies in a Jar is still handmade and from the heart. I saw this idea on Bakerella's website a few months ago and knew I had to make it for her as soon as I saw it. After M and I assembled it, I couldn't stop looking at it. So pretty!

I am trying to be positive about M's new school next year but have to wonder if I will ever cry saying goodbye to another teacher. Hopefully I will.

In a Nutshell

So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that, reverse it. ~ Willy Wonka

Things have been busy around here, busy in a good way. In the second half of this year alone, my husband and I squeezed a lot in.

We....

Sold our interstate unit
Bought our own house which we actually get to live in
Welcomed with much love our 3rd beautiful child
Packed up the family and moved into our new home
Went to a wedding in Yamba
Went to a wedding in Byron Bay
Went to a wedding in Melbourne
Celebrated our daughter's 7th birthday
Threw said daughter a completely OTT disco party

and are now preparing to celebrate Christmas in our new home with some good friends who will be staying with us.

Life is good.

Life is especially good because of this divine little boy.

He came into our lives late August and is already 3 months old. My second son is such a joy and the icing on the cake for me. How lucky I am to be the mother of these 3 beautiful children (one of which has the remains of tattoo's on both arms!).


Master F is making the cutest little noises, little squeals, giving us lots and lots of lovely smiles and I am only up to him once (if at all) through the night. He looks so much like his big sister did when she was a baby.

I miss my sewing but wouldn't swap the last 6 months for anything in the world.