undie mad!

I have gone undie mad!!! It's an instant hit of creativity when time is not on your side. These little beauties take no time at all (20mins). Best of all my girls (3 & 5 yrs) are LOVING them. As always I'm keeping with my "make the most with what you've got" and everything you see here is from my magic cupboard. All material and elastic and ribbing are from left overs from something else. Pattern is Happy Hipsters page 4 from Ottobre design magazine (winter 6/2010). Little girl sizes below for about 4 yrs old.

not sure if these are a bit toooo nice for little girls??
they are just sooo pretty!



the nice pair

the first pair, the fun pair

the granny pair

What do you think?

camping



  

Way, way, super fun!

LOVE.. LEARN.. LIVE..

do it lots x

baby sleeping bag

My little nephew was my inspiration for a little project I did at 6am this morning! Last night I kissed him good night as he was super snug in his new little sleeping bag.

It has been nearly 1 month to the day that I have had my sewing machine packed away. I think we needed a break from each other!

Keeping to "make the most with what you've got", I experimented making my own pattern, found some fleece scraps of material that I had in my magic cupboard, found a purple zipper(not really long enough, but did the job) and some grey ribbing and made this! Didn't need to buy an extra thing. Not sure if I would put my little boy in this in public, but it's perfect for home. The next one I will make will be with nice co-ordinating colours etc.. Just need to get the pattern right first.

Try making one yourself!

Very basic instructions... really just to show you that YOU can give it a go too.

You could add snap clips over the shoulders or bottom to open, zipper on the side, add arms, extra length etc..

 

Trace onto paper

  

get the "ok" from your assistant

 

Cut



Sew in zipper
Sew right sides together
Add ribbing or hem arm & shoulder holes

me

It was fun while it lasted! I sure as hell followed my own motto to the bone... "make the most with what you've got". I certainly jammed packed as much as I possibly could in to the time that I had off. It's back to work for me.

Now... it's different.

nappy bum pj's

This pj pattern would be perfect for a baby/toddler still in nappies. When I found this free pattern link for pj bottoms, I just HAD to make a pair with some left over material I had in the cupboard. I could have bought/picked nicer fabric but I wanted to do a test pair first with what I already had "make the most with you've got". The blog post by From An Igloo put this free pattern together and has done a gorgeous job on hers. You really should check it out.

The mini model in these photos is my Lacie and she's 5 (no nappy), but really loves them.

For some really groovy knit fabrics for these kind of pants/pj's, check out Crafty Mumas online store.

my low low rider trackie-dakz

Could I wish for anything more in life? Tailored to me, super duper comfy, low low rider trackie dakz!!!!! Oh the little joys of life, how I just love them. Shocking photo below, but picture me slightly beside myself late last night when I finished making them and was desperate to take a photo (while all were sleeping). So this is me, late last night, in my room checking myself out. Can you believe this was the best photo I could manage??! Oh well.. I love them.

pleases note: I am sucking in BIG time!

kind of a better photo??

I made this pants pattern a few months ago by tracing a pair of my fav trackies. I would upload the pattern to my blog if I knew how??? Please feel free to leave me some tips if you know how? Anyways, the other pair of pants I made months ago are from kind of paras-chute material (not tooo para-chutie) really light weight and sooo nice to touch. My darling husband dared me to wear them in public! Hello Heathie-babes I'll do better than that, I'll wear them in our Santa Photos! Ha straight back at ya baby.. and so I did. These pants have been known to cop some pyjama comments, but "be confident and hold your head high" I say.. and I love them too. I'll be using the same pattern for some flannelet pyjamas too.

I had to hold my tummy in for this one! It was a few months ago now..

And yes.... I am wearing my super duper comfy low low rider trackie-dakz right now!

Please feel free to leave me a comment if you have some tips on uploading a pattern so I can share with everyone.

goodbye blue wall!

I woke up the other morning and decided I was over my blue wall! So I changed it. It's now a soft, warm, relaxing wall. Even I was shocked at myself when I just checked out the past colours of this poor wall.. have a look at the colour it was before it was BLUE here! I actually jumped back from the computer and was a little frightened.. yellow?? ahhhh but the joys of confidently expressing ones self. Below are some pretty average photos of the new wall colour "Grounded" by Taubmans. The colour of course was picked due to the name. It rings sooo clearly in my ears... "SARAH, YOOOUUU'RRE GROOOOOOOUUNNDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" my mother would say. So this colour is for you mummy dearest x

dining room / sewing room / computer room / lounge room

I could have tidied up a bit?? but let's keep it real :)

preparing to paint

that's me in action!

chicken, leek & mushroom pie

Puff Pastry is my latest obsession in the kitchen. I have made this easy delicious Chicken, Leek & Mushroom pie a few times now and the whole family love it! Clean plates every time. Recipe here with a few alterations to what I already had in the cupboard "make the most with what you've got". I used chicken breast, plain milk from the fridge, and puff pastry instead of vol au vents and added mushrooms. All I did was cook the filling up, then got one sheet of puff pastry and piled the filling in the middle, then laid the other puff pastry sheet on top and folded edges up, brushed with some milk then in the oven for about 30-40 mins at 180 degrees approx. Served with salad that we also already had in the fridge. Scrummmoooh!

getting ready for winter

Ottobre Design Magazine is my new favorite thing! It's a kids fashion mag published in Finland and has been around for 10 years. All patterns are included and is value for money due to the amount of different patterns in each addition. I have seen it around before but never took too much notice until I did my little mouse from their website. Due to my need to "have it now" I found a shop called Tessuti in Surry Hills, NSW that stocked the mag ($22 each), so the kids and I went for a little trip to purchase. By the time I paid for parking in the city and the drive in, it would have been just as easy to order in online and be PATIENT!! You can also subscribe to this mag through Crafty Mumas which I will be doing for sure!! Plus they have some really great fabrics etc..

Ok, so keeping to my trackie dack mode (and left over material) I made this little size 0 jumper from the Autumn 4/2010 edition of Ottobre for Mitch. It's super cute and daggy and I love it. Will be doing some more of these with some fun additions to it.

this is what the mag looks like

Oh look, The Remnant Warehouse has their Easter Sale on NOW! 25% off everything (until tomorrow)... Just what I need. So off I was again today with my new mag at hand and still in trackie mode. I bought some supplies to last me the weekend and get my little mans winter dags done. I bought 1m of black, 1m of grey, 1/2m red & 1/2m white and it ONLY COST $17!!!!!!! I'll get at least 5 tops and bottoms for Mitchie with this.. BARGAIN I say. Plus I grabbed some bundles of ribbing that cost me a total of $7.50 for 5! and some other bits and bobs.

I'm off now to put my Spinach Pie in the oven for dinner :)

finger knitting is cool, ok!

Well we think so! Finger knitting is coooool... Just ask Lacie and her friends at school. Lacie does the one finger knitting chain and her other little bigger friends are doing four fingers across and making little scarves. I think it is awesome that the kiddies are playing elastics and being crafty with their wool. Just send me back in time to live the simple life. A house on a hill and a cow. That's all I want! Maybe a few other things... Check Lacie out leaving the house today with her hands full. Oh and please don't forget her own personal video tutorial she did at Christmas time on finger knitting!!

a mouse in the house!

A mouse only a mother could love! I made this little guy last night and was up till midnight waiting to meet him. When our eyes finally met, I wondered..... hmmmm, are you a mouse or a koala? Maybe a confused mouse? But there is no confusion that he belongs with us! Imperfections are perfections in my household.

introducing mouse

ahhh.. we love you mouse

meeting the family

I was messing about on the computer yesterday determined to make something. It seems to me that the busier I am with my day to day life, the more determined I am to have a few extra hours "just" for me at the end of that looong day. Even if those few house don't start till after 9.30pm! It's MY time :)

If you have fallen in love with my scary beautiful little mouse / koala animal, I found the free pattern here.

I bought the tweed fabric and felt from my friends at Peg's Pieces who are just the best!

Send mouse some love and leave him a comment here on my blog. I will be sure to pass it on!

remember playing elastics @ school??

Last night Lacie went a little mad with her skipping rope. She was skipping inside the house, on the balcony, out the back and in her room! It reminded me of being at school and the games I'd hang out all day to play with my friends in the playground... ELASTICS!!!!!!!!! It was the best fun ever. Hmmm I wonder if I have some elastic??? Err derrrr, of course I do (I said to myself). So, this morning I whizzed a few metres of elastic together, wrote her name in thick black texter (as I did at school), did a few practice runs, wrote out the song to sing as you jump along and popped it in her pocket, packed the elastic in her school bag and off to school she went!

ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND, WALES, INSIDE, OUTSIDE, INSIDE, ON..

The Verdict... Well, Miss Lacie just got home and it was a HIT!! She and her little friends LOVED it.

Did you play elastics at school? Were there any other songs?

The other craze that some kiddies are doing is finger knitting!!! Any other games?

custom made seat belt covers

I've said it before.. you either love leopard print or you hate it! It's in your genes. My mum loves it, I'm a fan, so naturally Lacie should love it??!? My baby turned 5, so the perfect gift of course was custom made leopard print seat belt covers.. I made these for her last week and couldn't wait to give them to her. She told her Grandma that these were her favorite present of all! Wooo hoooo. I told you it was in the genes :)

I also made her this little card and sewed on the little garland flags of material. It was a poor effort on my behalf as I "was" going to make real life size ones for her birthday but just ran out of time! Maybe next year? 

 

I had to pick her cake for this year as she wanted a surprise cake. I bet she didn't predict a dinosaur cake?!? This was the easiest one for me to do, as again time hasn't been on my side over the past few weeks.

The Women's Weekly kid's birthday cakes
"huff & puff" page 42

I feel soo guilty that I didn't make more of a effort with the hand and home made little things for her birthday. Maybe next year! Happy Birthday Lace x

little trackie dacks

My Mumma would have been soo proud! My first pair of home made trackie dacks.. a good old family tradition continues on. Totally daggy but totally awesome!! I can remember clear as day growing up with my brothers and cousins and we all would have our own hand made tracksuits and pj's sewn with love from our Mumma. Tradition is something I want to hold onto as tight as possible in loving memory of our Mumma. She was the best.



I used a home made pattern I had and bought some School Grey Tracksuiting Low Pil material $12.94 p/metre and School Grey Ribbing $12.94 p/metre from Lincraft. Works out to be about $4-5 for 1 pair. That's pretty good I reckon.

too cute tunic dress

This is my latest dress from Pip Lincolns "Sew La Tea Do" sewing book. It's called the "too cute tunic dress" on page 54. It's a dress that you can have done and dusted in one evening sitting for sure! The patterns in this book basically has small to medium and medium to large. I assumed I was a small to medium... as I am usually a size 8-10. Once I had finished the whole thing the small to medium was perfect. I used a really really light weight cotton fabric that I picked up for $2 a metre. So $4 for my new top/dress. It's a bit see through so tights or jeans will be a must. I am loving making things for myself at the moment! Oh and this dress has pockets too!

this is the actual photo in the book

My sewing and blogging and my life in general has had a slight shift lately with my husband being on crutches and 100% out of action. My mind has been chock-a-block full of stuff. I have still been sewing but just not posting them on my blog so quickly. I have finished hemming some things and making a few little things for Lacie for her birthday, and cause my mum is visiting I have sat with her and crocheted some more granny squares..

i sang

I sang today. I sang very loud. Bon and I gave each other a concert and we sang and we sang.. Rip your heart out ones.. A bit of Barbra Streisand's "Memory" (for you Mumma) and "When I was walking in Memphis" and "Someone like you" by Adele. Bon thought I sounded great! If you sing directly in to the speakers it's pretty loud for one thing, and you blend in a bit and sound like your singing with the singer! It also probably looks a bit funny too.. My microphone was an over sized basting brush and Bons was a spatchelor.

I'm pretending to prepare for a fun family concert that we are having in May for a farewell to my Brother-in-law and his girlfriend. It's compulsory for each family member to sing one song!! We can't wait... the girls will be singing Baby Baby Baby ohhhh and Heath is thinking Jon Stevens "Take Me Back". Heath and I just had a quick conversation right that second as said that we are already nervous and embarrassed, but we will sing!

Music in my brain HAD to continue tonight as I have loads going on and music takes me away to Sarah land. I also HAD to get rid of some way over loaded energy, so I ran to the gym once the kids were sorted and pumped music in to my head. I escaped for an hour and it felt fantastic. After a run and a bike ride I laid on the floor flat on my back, by myself, closed my eyes and stayed there for a few more songs. I'm home now.

my own skirt design!

10pm last night all was quiet. Just me and a family block of Kit Kat. I had had a pretty busy mum & wife day. It was time for me to relaaax... So that meant sitting and looking in my magic cupboard for something to make! As the butterflies jumped around in my stomach with the idea of making something. I decided to "wing it" and make something for me, free hand. No pattern. Hmmm I thought.. let's see. Perhaps a skirt? Can't go tooo wrong here??!?

I used up the left over fabric from the dress I made for work the other day and whipped up a kind of A Line skirt that has a double sided waist band that's thick and stretchy enough not to need a zipper or additional elastic. Need to tuck in the mummy tummy as much as possible. (Oh yeah, the fabric is called Ponte De Roma..)I like it a little "harry high" just over my belly button. I tried it on last night with a little black top to see if I could get away with wearing it to work??? I think I'm happy with it. Actually it's awesome to wear!! Sooooooooo comfy. And I'm a bit proud. Bad photos but it was nearly mid night. 

I still need to do something with the length as it's a bit tooooo long.. I was thinking of gathering up just one side and making it a little more fun, but still work like.... I was just a little excited to share my new creation.

Soooo, because I thought I was a legend last night (in an overtired delirious sense) I headed over to Pitt Trading with a friend today and bought some more material to make some more "work" clothes.

I also bought myself a little pink flower today for a pot that my sister-in-law bought me at xmas. It's now sitting on our little wooded table on the porch. I can see it right now. Hello there flower!

Is anyone interested in the pattern??

new dress for work??

I'm on count down to returning to work from maternity leave :( So I thought I'd try to see if I could make something wearable for the business world. I found this heavy, with a bit a stretch camel coloured fabric from Lincraft yesterday. It was only $12 a metre, so it cost me about $20 in total! I used my trustie Coastal Breeze pattern that I have used before in my all dressed up post, cooking, kids & sewing and a lesson. This is my latest work one!

I made the neck binding a bit wider than what the pattern says and I still need to hem it to finish it off. Just need to get some matching thread.

Maybe with my hair done, some makeup, some accessories and heels etc it could be a work dress???? What do you think?