Presents for C

I really hope my beautiful little nephew enjoys these things I made for him. They were hand delivered to him interstate today, an unforgivable 2 months after his birthday. I'm sure at 3 years of age he didn't notice the absence of a gift from us on his actual birthday, but belated present giving was on my list of NY resolutions and it seems I still have some work to do in this department.

I wanted to make C a pair of Little Explorer pants and a matching Lazy Day Hat. Due to some major brain dysfunction on my part, the pants pattern and I just did not get along and I could possibly be the only person in the world that had trouble with this pattern (which I think is classed as easy). Now that I have finished the pants, I would agree that yes, this pattern is easy! I used the ribbon trick and added a little piece to show the back of the pants. Unfortunately I ran out of time to put together the hat, even though the pieces are cut out and sitting here waiting to be sewn. I will finish it this week and post it up instead.










I had C in mind when I posted about the texta roll. You will be pleased to know that the display textas were replaced with brand new textas, perhaps his mum would have preferred crayons though? Personally, I always thought textas were more fun when I was a kid ;-)

And last but not least is the reversible Superhero Cape. When I saw this tute I knew I had to make it for C. I'm so glad I made this last weekend when G took the kids out for the afternoon (since I ended up running out of time to do the hat). It was an easy little project but I was nervous about drawing out my own neck shape. I copied the tute as best I could and it turned out quite well. I loved using the felt and fusbile web. It also gave me my first opportunity to try applique which was much easier on the straight lines and a bit tricky around the curves. Again, I'm really happy with the cape and will have to make a couple for my kids and they will also make fantastic gifts, more things to make for the present box!

And thank you to my sister in law for her fabulous compliments on my sewing, it was so nice to hear such fantastic feedback on the presents.

Texta Roll

Aren't crayon rolls so sweet!

I actually have someone in mind for the one I made tonight but his/her mummy may read this blog so I won't mention any names for now. I wasn't going to blog it but I just couldn't resist, I love the colours going on here.

I'll have to make a few of these up and put them in the present box since I think they would be the perfect addition to a present or even a gift all on its own.

The texta's in the pictures are display only (knicked from the kids stash), hence we have a texta roll and not a crayon roll ;-)

I used Novy's tute but forgot to pin the front pocket onto the inside fabric before sewing the lines in so instead of unpicking I pinned the pieces together and just stitched again.

Being the lover of interfacing that I am, I also interfaced one of the large fabric pieces.

The beautiful red ribbon was part of my goodies haul from Chris, thanks Chris!

I love the dotty fabric and love how it looks with the stripes. Next time I will use different fabrics for the inside and outside pieces, I would've killed for some yellow stars, why didn't I just grab a metre of that when I was buying the other fabric??

Rolled up


Unrolled, flap down


and....







Unrolled!


and the back

4 Li'ldarlins Hair Accessories Giveaway

Congratulations to Chris from 4 Li'l Darlins for the successful launch of her new website for beautiful bows and hair accessories. I know first hand how fantastic Chris' sewing is and when M's school bow arrives, I will be able to tell you how awesome her clips are too!

Chris is hosting a giveaway on her blog, a very generous one at that. Be sure to take a good look around the whole blog though because there are lots of clips, crochet hats, bows and headbands but also make sure you check out the sewing posts (which stopped at the start of June due to a sudden clip and bow post explosion LOL) and you will see how clever and creative Chris is.

Mention this giveaway on your blog for an extra entry into the draw and at the same time you will be helping to support Chris in her new and exciting venture :-)

Happy Birthday E

Last Saturday night, mum suggested I make a bag for E's birthday on Wednesday. It was a bit last minute, but how could I say no? E is a beautiful friend of mum's who I claim as *my* friend too :-D

With a full day already planned for Sunday, I whizzed off to Spotlight for some fabric on Sunday morning, knowing only that E liked "earthy" colours. I would have much preferred to order some fabric from Etsy but alas, not enough time.

I loved the combination I chose but then halfway through the bag I started having doubts that it would suit E's tastes. On completion of the bag, I changed my mind again and love the choice of fabric. (That is the Libran in me!)

I wanted the bag to be really structured so I used a heavy interfacing on the lining and then sewed pellon on top of that. It was fusible pellon but I didn't realise you can't fuse pellon onto interfacing, hence why I had to baste it in first. At least now my fear of using pellon has been confronted.

Both fabrics were furnishing fabrics which helped to add body to the bag. The weight of the fabric combined with the interfaced lining and the pellon made for a very thick bag. I'm glad I left such a wide gap in the lining for the turn through. I was dreading sewing the straps in but was surprised at how my (ok my mum's) machine handled it. It was thick and sometimes needed a hand but overall it did a great job.

I'm disappointed with the length of the zipper, I bought one a tad too small and can hardly fit my hand into the pocket. Maybe E can keep a 50 stashed in there for emergencies.

Other than the zipper, I love this bag. I love the size of it (not too big, not too small) and I loved making it. I think I was so much more confident making this bag more so than the Dick and Jane bag that I made for the bag swap and will definitely be using this pattern again.

Thank you so much to Emma for sharing this pattern with me.