Stash building & Giveaway #3...

** Giveaway closed **

I remember proclaiming recently that I did not need to buy any more fabric...
In fact I quote directly!...  

Today... "... I also tidied my fabric & reminded myself why I do NOT need to buy anymore (she says knowing how unlikely it is that she will resist next time she sees some yummy fabric on sale!)"

What is it they say about not speaking something into being??!!

Well yesterday I needed to go to Spotlight to buy some more elastic. Unfortunately, (thanks to a kind friend) I knew before I left that they were having a whooping 40% off ALL cut fabric!! That's kind of unprecedented... well I've never known them to have such a huge blanket discount on fabric before anyway - so needless to say I was a little nervous about my ability to get out with JUST my elastic!!

I got out with my elastic...

(like at least I remembered to buy what I originally went to buy!!!!!!)

But lets just say that was not quite all I purchased...
      - In fact I think it's fair to say that I felt sorry for the people waiting behind me in the queue!!....

I won't bore you with too many details of what I bought, because quite frankly it would make you fall asleep!...
I know it may seem a bit excessive but at 40% off I took the opportunity to increase all the basics in my stash - linen, denim, white, wadding/batting (I seriously can NOT believe that 100% cotton batting was 40% off as well - but I wasn't exactly going to complain!!) dots and solids in a variety of colours - all so that I could stretch the designer fabric in my stash a little further...

I thought I did pretty well actually, because with the exception of 4 designer prints which I purchased for me (and half for someone in America) - the rest is all incredibly mundane stuff that I will use to sew for my business...

Still, I bet your thinking that your surprised my husband was still speaking to me after buying that lot hey...? well to be honest so was I a little bit. Which makes the next bit of news all the more surprising...

So, I got home half expecting to see Neil's eyes roll (I knew I wouldn't be in "trouble" exactly - but wasn't quite expecting the response I got either)... but instead he calmly agreed with me that since he was going to be home longer than expected, it made sense I do more sewing for my business (which we'd previously agreed to put on hold until next year when Hannah goes to school).

... and then - get this...

He drove me to the Mandurah Spotlight (the store in the next closest town) so that I could see if they had any of the other DS Picnic & Fairground prints that our store didn't stock, so that I could buy them during the sale as well. Which they did... (and a whole bunch more solids & discounted designer prints too...)

With the exception of the DS prints all were less than $4 per metre!!! Wow what a bargain!

(that was the part I was expecting you to snort at Bron!)

Is he not the world's best husband though?!

So guess what I'll be doing for the next month...
you guessed it - head down, bottom up making things to sell on my website while I have someone here to help me cook dinner & look after the kids!! That, coupled with the fact that I have a HUGE t-shirt order of about 130 t-shirts to make for an upcoming event, should really keep me out of trouble for the next wee while!!

So now it's official - I really DO not need any more fabric... but lucky for you guys, you get to be the benefiters of this good news and my destash...

Today's giveaway is a bundle of strip scraps in all different sizes...

This is approximately half of the bundle... the other half contains a whole lot of brights. It's a mixed lot but some of it (as you can see by that Kokka scrap) is just truly fabulous!!!!

And trust me you will want to win this when you see my upcoming tutorial (check back Thursday & Friday for that). I made it last night and it is just the best scrap buster ever!! Soooo cute!! Even Neil thought so & I have had to wrestle it out of Hannah's hands once already!!

I'll give you a sneak preview but you'll have to wait until Thursday to see the whole thing:

 Perhaps today for your entry, if you feel inspired to, you could link me to your favourite online tutorial! Gotta love free ways to learn!!

Check here for rest of the rules/how tos/details of how to enter if you're unsure.

Fabric protector/Design Wall & Giveaway Post #2:

** Giveaway closed **

I promised I'd post about this in a separate post a couple of days ago then promptly forgot... ooops... sorry (because I'm sure you all totally missed it didn't you!)

Anyway, this week I've had the privilege of hubby home from work during the week for an extra 3 days. We did nothing but rest & spend time together as a family... it was great!
But since we were home, with nothing much to do, it was time to tackle a few mundane jobs that we've both been putting off! Like in his case tidying the shed... and in my case more organizing of my sewing room... (like actually sorting stuff out - not just hiding it in the drawers and forgetting about it!)

One of those little niggly jobs that I've been putting off is making myself a curtain to protect my fabric. Now while there's nothing I love more in my sewing room than gazing lovingly at this fine stack of fabric and daydreaming about all the lovely things that I could make with it...

mmmmmmm.........

...Sorry... back on track...

Now that I've moved into my new space, it's unfortunately right in front of the window. While we have the shutters up for winter, the room gets quite a bit of afternoon sun (the time when I'm in there working with the blinds open) so I was a little concerned about it getting too much light and therefore fading. Quite frankly that would suck! (I know it appeared before like it was in between 2 windows - but one of those had a car port over, the other had a huge veranda - so seriously it was the darkest dingiest corner of the house & I didn't think fading could be even a remote possibility!)

So it really does need a curtain to protect it now.... B.o.r.i.n.g!

Anyway I made myself do it. As per usual it was painless once I got going and only actually took about 10 minutes (well for me anyway - took Neil significantly longer to create the perfect hanging method LOL...)

All I did was double over a spare (poly-cotton) sheet that we had lurking in the cupboard. Cut off the extra length at the top. Double over a tab at the top to feed the hanging wire through - and wallah - finished! (Helped that I cheated and made the most of all the hems already on the sheet!)

Nowhere near as fun to look at :(
... But then it occurred to me that it could double as a design wall...

That made me somewhat happier!!

I've found since that it also has a 3rd benefit... that is keeping littlest rascal from constantly playing with my fabric. Out of sight out of mind I guess (for now anyway)...

Have you got your fabric/other precious crafty stuff protected from the sun?
If not then perhaps it could be time...?

And now the part that I'm sure you all skimmed too ;)
Today I'm giving away 2 delicious fat quarters in my favourite colour, by two of my favourite designers.... - See I promised they weren't all uglies lol....

(ok if you think these are ugly you are not allowed to play!)

Lotus dots by Amy Butler in blue...
and Butterfly something-er-other by Michael Miller (that's the official name obviously ;) ) in of course BLUE...

Check here for the rules/how tos...
Closes this Friday so you have all week to enter blah blah blah
Maybe today you could tell me your favourite fabric...

Right... off to fix the disaster that was last nights sewing session. That requires a trip to Spotlight for more elastic right when they've got 40% off cut fabric - oh dear - wish me luck getting out with just elastic!!

Giveaway Week...

** Giveaway closed **

Hellloooo.... and welcome to the first giveaway of my giveaway week!!

To celebrate my new found happiness and to assist me in my massive destash (not just of ugly fabric - I promise haha), I have decided to have a week of giveaways for you lovely "follower" types...
I decided that if I was going to get rid of a whole bunch of crafty stuff then who better to give it to than you guys right! :)
I also just wanted to say a huge thanks for all your love & support that you show me & the encouragement you give! You guys are so inspiring and even though I haven't met most of you I still consider you important friends...

So this is how it will work...

Each day I will post a small giveaway as part of my daily blog post. They are all soooo different to each other in what they offer, so make sure you stop back to enter each one!

Entry is simple - just make a comment on each post you would like to enter. I don't have that many followers so you have a pretty high chance of winning something over the week!! International entries welcome. But followers/regular subscribers only please. Sorry guys. (That's not an incentive to follow me by the way - please only follow me if you're actually interested to!)

I will draw all 7 giveaways next Friday 5th August (thanks Juliet for pointing out my error! - you'd make a great editor!!) and announce them all in one post, so you have until then to enter them all. Should make it easier for you to enter them all that way, without necessarily having to stop by every day!

Without further rambling - today's giveaway is:

A charm pack of eye-spy (I spy with my little eye...) fabrics. 

There are approx 42 charm squares in total, all of a variety of eye-spy prints all hand cut by me (so I don't promise they're not cut wonky!). They are well distributed & definitely suitable for both genders - not all girly I promise! Perfect for making an eye-spy quilt to play with a toddler, or even memory cards etc...
... I'm not promising that you'll like all the prints - in fact (in my humble opinion) some of them could rival this fabric for the world's most ugly fabric! - But funnily enough those seem to be the fabrics that Hannah likes the best so they serve their purpose!! (these are left over squares of prints I'm using to make my girls an eye-spy quilt).

If you'd like a chance to win this pack please comment on this post. In the interests of getting to know one another, today why don't you leave me a comment telling me where you'd go on your ideal holiday if money (or time) was no object!

... me...
right now I'd love nothing more than to lie on the beach in Samoa, reading my book, eating scrummy tropical fruit (maybe with a chocolate dip ;) ) and having someone bring me cocktails. I'd love my girls to be there so I could still see them - but with someone else there to do all the hard work...
How bout you?

Favourite Things Friday...

This week my favourite thing - the thing that I'm loving is...

Good mental health...!!!!

A few months ago it was probably pretty apparent to all my regular blog readers that I was doing it tough!! Our lifestyle (and by that I mean the fact that my husband often works away for 4 weeks out of 5, we live overseas from both sets of family & we have 2 small children!) is not an easy one - and I think it was fair to say that I'd just about had enough of it!! (the circumstances - not life - lets just clarify that!)

I spent the first half of this year sinking deeper into depression, which was driven primarily through anxiety & stress. Unfortunately, because it happened so gradually, it took me far too long to recognize that I had a serious problem & needed to take action!

Since recognizing that I had a problem I have been spending the last couple of months rebuilding my mental health. It has not been an easy task, and I wouldn't exactly say that the journey was over, but I guess you could say that I'm much further down the road to "recovery" and feeling more relaxed then I have in a long time!

The last month in particular I have been feeling SOOOOO much healthier mentally. I don't know if you have noticed a change!?
... I can tell by the dramatic increase in my motivation to do things, my overall mood, the fact that I am not waking up overwhelmed in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep, I don't yell at the kids (as much), I can love my husband more, I'm way more creative, and most importantly I'm not having a constant attack of anxiety!

So what has changed?

Well first we took a lovely long holiday...

Didn't we travel light!!

Secondly (and pretty large reason!) - this guy has been home more...

Lately I've been feeling like it's ME being held up there on his shoulders!!

Not having my my other half missing has been huge! He's a super star! Such a great husband & father, and he really looks after us girls well!!...

A heart egg he surprised me with, with breakfast in bed earlier this week.
Sometimes it's the little things in life that show the most love!

So it's been so nice to have him home for the last few months & we just found out yesterday that we will get another month of his presence at home too. All the better!

Not to mention the extra help around the house when he is home is always greatly appreciated!

Thirdly - these little pink pills have been a big help...

I hummed and harred about whether to say anything - but yes, I did have to go see my doctor and we decided to try some medication... I've been on it just over a month now and it's made the world of difference! Hopefully it's very short term (as in just 1 more month short term) but we'll just have to see how we go...

So there you have it - that's my favourite thing this week... pretty darn important to life I'd say!!

To celebrate my return to mental stability (no smart comments from the cheap seats please ;) ), as well as to assist me in my destash efforts, I am going to be celebrating with a week of giveaways for my followers to thank you all for your support... I really appreciate all your kind words of encouragement as you walk this journey with me!! If only you knew how much of a positive impact blogging, and you lot, have been on my life...
So if you "follow" then pop over to this post to read about the giveaways...

And have a fantastic weekend!!

Linking up today with...

Work in Progress Wednesday...

I've always really considered myself a 1-2 project at a time girl!
Quite frankly I'm not very good at splitting my focus & I tend to be better off when working on 1 project at a time! But recently... (ok when I moved my new office and therefore had to tidy up a bit!)... it came to my attention that I was harboring a few unfinished fugitives (UFO's) in my work in progress (WIP) drawer...

hmmm... !

Much to my surprise I have 6 projects in my work in progress drawer. That's not counting my July bee blocks which I've been procrastinating with (and the fabric is sitting next to my cutting board eyeballing me to start cutting it!) and the 10 or so other projects which I'd like to start in the immediate future (and have some of the materials littered around all ready to start on).

Oh dear.
That is a few too many over my 1-2 usual!!!!!!!!
(and that is a few too much clutter in my work area for my liking!! - Yes I know it looks so tidy in the photos you've seen - but I assure you it only looked that tidy for about 8 hours (sleep time) after I moved in there!!)

So I've decided I need to join in on Lee's Work In Progress Wednesday & see if I can churn through some of these unwanted fugitives... lets see how I can do!!

These are the current lurkers:

(apologies for the dismal night photos - and my camera died half way through doh!)

Colourful scrappy log cabin bee blocks - 

better pictures of the whole lot here...

Scrappy wonky house bee blocks for the girls playmat -

all the pictures of these here...

Baby boy quilt with no particular home - 

was intended for a friend, but I ended up making her another instead
so now this awaits a reason to continue...

A quilt in progress for our lounge - 
Perhaps I shall call this "the lounge around" - too corny?! LOL... (with 4 matching cushions intended as well - but I'm totally going to call this 1 project! otherwise my list might get a bit depressingly on the large side...)

This photo does not make them look the best - but I assure you they are actually very nice!

This was only started this week. I have a rough plan going in my head for it and have started the cutting. That is about as far as I've got! Masterchef has been a far more electric lure, especially given how cold it's been this week!

Random improv squares - 
Another project I have on the go in a bunch of random improv squares that I started piecing with the idea of putting together for one of my besties. But I ended up gifting her this quilt instead. The blocks now sit there abandoned. They are quite nice so I should really do something with them!!

"Work quilt" - 
The last main project that I have in my drawer is one that I started for my website. I got stuck & it got abandoned. What can I say, the motivation to finish something for "work" just wasn't there!!

- No pic for those 2 I'm afraid because my camera battery died. I guess I should pay more attention when it started flashing battery signs at me about 4 photography sessions ago! They're really not much to look at at this stage anyway...

So there we go. There's my current list of WIP.

I have finished a bunch of projects this week, including as you know a bunch of cute quilted purses (which probably don't really count). I also today I finished a very necessary and quite useful dual purpose fabric protector / design wall. I will blog that tomorrow though - this post is long enough as it is!!

Therefore this week's stats:
New projects -1 (or 5 if we count purses)
Completed projects - 1
Currently in progress - 7 (better count my bee blocks I think)

Just a little bit to do.

Pop over to this weeks WIP Wednesday to see what everyone else is up to.

PS followers - in case you missed it I am having a giveaway week starting this Friday to help me destash. So remember to stop back & see what you could gain ;)

A little bit of Ugly fun....

Last night I had possibly the most fun session of procrastination over the internet with a "bloggy friend" Susan from Canadian Abroad... It was laugh-out-loud funny & at one stage I actually disturbed a sleeping Hannah with my laughing!!
It turns out that we are both having a little destash session of our "ugly" fabrics this week... {a.k.a. those fabrics that we purchased early on, before we gained the wisdom to only buy fabric we truly like... not just fabric for the sake of it because it was cheap!}

... so for a little while over email we swapped photos of our "uglies" to see who possessed the most ugly fabric. Having seen me post this photo yesterday of my destash, a very cocky Susan thought she had it all sewn up... but she sooo didn't. I had some secret weapons that there was no way were even being listed on my blog to be given away...
so I totally blew her out of the water!!


After seeing the following photo Susan quickly had to admit defeat...
Have you ever seen a fabric more ugly than this? Go on... beat me if you dare... I'd love to see you beat me!!

Disclaimer: I do not mean to cause offense with the photo!
- it is all in the name of some light hearted humour!

I would just like to state for the record that I did NOT purchase this fabric. It was sent to me as a "free gift" from an online shop for purchasing fabric there. I have to say that they are under grand disillusions if they think sending me this fabric was an incentive for me to repeat my business with them!! LOL....

After some further discussion with Susan we have come up with the perfect use for the fabric. Now Susan is just dying with excitement for me to send it her way (haha Susan, I jest I jest! LOL...) Ok, actually I promised Susan that I would not send this to her - she was very rude to me about it actually - saying that it would be a curse... but haha I don't blame her!

Lets just say though that at some point in the near future you will see a return of this fabric on my blog in a project....
I'm sure of it!

In the meantime I am more than happy to take some of Susan's "uglies" off her hands & send her some of mine in return. I think this may just be the first online "ugly fabric swap" ever. Shall we copyright the name Susan?
(Edited to add... I can't believe some of the "ugly" fabrics that Susan is itching to give away and she doesn't see anything wrong with most of mine either - just goes to show you that beauty is totally in the eye of the beholder!! and just goes to further prove my recent point that fabric swaps are the best things ever!!)

Do you have any "uglies" hiding away in your stash too... or do you exercise far more wisdom than me?

P.S - So what do you think Shay? You wanted to be the judge... I win right ;)

Tuesday Tidbits...

**  I am having massive internet problems at the moment, so I apologize if I'm a little quiet at leaving comments over on any of your blogs... it's not by choice!

**  Hopefully I will have it all resolved this week & will be going with a new provider!

**  I have been making yet more pouches (surprise surprise!)... I'm sure you're all sick of seeing them by now but this is the latest attempt...

Front

Back

Lining & magnetic clasp

**  This time I wanted to try something new & make up a pattern with rounded corners, a flap & a magnetic clasp...

**  ... at first I hated how it turned out, but now it has grown on me. It will be a really good size to carry around teabags for a tea-a-holic, or perhaps a pencil case...

**  I know exactly who it'll be going to, but that would be telling ;)

**  I have been having a massive clean up of my sewing area & have decided that it's time for a massive destash....

**  I have a huge amount of fabric which I bought when I first started sewing. I bought it all on sale not because I loved it, but because it was cheap & I had no stash...
... now I have a large(ish) stash it is time to accept that I really will not use this fabric. It's not that it's not nice, it's just not me! Most of it I have kept a fat quarter of, but do not need to keep a whole metre which was the minimum cut!

**  So here is a photo of some of the nearly 50 fat quarters that I have to destash.
If you see anything of interest to you please make me an offer...

I'm open to swaps, or arrangements where you pay the postage etc... (I have paypal facilities through my shop)

basically I am just wanting this gone - so no offer is too silly!!

if you want me to email you a larger photo of any of it please quote the lot # and I will...
All lots are a minimum of 3 fat quarters - in some cases a half yard & 2 fat quarters...

**  Also please be aware that as part of my destash effort I am going to be starting a week of giveaways for my followers starting this Friday.
(It will be for my followers only though - because you guys rock & I really appreciate the support you give me!)

**  More will be revealed later in the week!

**  I have just discovered the world of sewing supplies on etsy

**  It is bad for me!

**  Lets just say that's part of the reason for the destash... - I need to clear some room lol...

**  But now that I have ordered what I "needed" (like ahem 48 zips in a rainbow of colours & sizes for making more purses - oh brother!) I have put a self-enforced ban on browsing etsy!!

**  Because I have NO self control - it is best not to look!

**  At least it will be an exciting mail month ;)

**  Neil has taken the rest of the week off, so I am looking forward to some quality family time before he next goes away!

**  Linking up today with Fabric Tuesday

**  Right... back to sewing...

Refreshing my goals...

There once was a girl with grand visions
which didn't turn out quite how she envisioned
She got off to a great start
But shortly after had brain fart
So the girl had to rethink her decision...


At the beginning of the year I set myself some pretty huge crafty goals!!...

I wanted to set myself the goal of finishing 52 projects in 52 weeks for 2 fundamental reasons...

     a) I wanted to make sure that I crafted a little bit every week (and day if possible) so that I stayed sane.
     b) I wanted to make sure that I was continuing to develop new skills & be adventurous

Lately for a long time I've been feeling like I let Project 52 go a bit. I haven't been very regular for the last couple of months at posting "show & tell Friday" because to be honest it's been yet another thing that I just didn't need to put pressure on myself about!

But this weekend I've been reflecting on it in a bit more depth...
I looked back at when I first started the year and holy moly I've come along in leaps & bounds in my sewing!! Not to toot my own trumpet too loudly or anything - but if you'd told me 6 months ago that by now I'd be able to sew a zipper so competently, make a cathedral window pillow, sew purses & bags without a pattern, foundation piece a couple of different blocks, and look at many quilting blocks & work out how to do them in my head... I'd have looked at you as if you were mad!!
Then I look back to last April when I sat in front of a sewing machine for the first time since primary school (about 12 years old at school) and I think sheesh - how much I know now compared to then!!

And I really have Project 52 to thank for all of that! (and obviously you lot, your wonderful tutorials & amazing support & encouragement that is!

Looking at how far I've come just made me even more determined to keep pushing myself to learn even further!

Therefore I've decided to rewrite my list of goals, checking off what I've learned since the beginning of the year & adding to it what I'd still like to learn in the coming months.

I'm still going to think of it as Project 52 - but if I don't post about something new every week then who cares. At the end of the day it's all about the learning not the timeline! And the idea of this list is not to put pressure on myself, but rather give myself direction so all these ideas aren't floating round in the crazy ethos that is my brain!!

So here goes...
This year thanks to Project 52 I have learned to...

** write my first tutorial & make scrapbook magnets
**  cut vinyl with my Klic n Kut
**  sew a zipper
**  follow a pattern
**  sew a buttonhole
**  make a lined purse
**  make a bag
**  make up my own bag pattern
**  make a self covered button
**  use textile vinyl to make personalised t-shirts
**  basic html & designing a website
**  make personalised sublimation items (e.g. mousepads etc...)
**  started a business & all the stuff that goes with it
**  took part in a Doll Quilt Swap & made a doll quilt
**  designed & applied vinyl wall art
**  applied rhinestones
**  made a sewing machine cover
**  made a cathedral window pillow
**  made a pinata

Not a bad list of new stuff I've learned really!! I'm sure there must be more that I've forgotten too!

So now the list of things that I'd still like to master have an attempt at... (in no particular order)

**  paper pieced hexies
**  foundation paper piecing a block
**  designing and then making my own paper pieced block(s)
**  learn some hand stitches
**  learn some basic embroidery stitches
**  actually utilize some handstitching and hand embroidery ON a couple of projects
**  make a boxed zipper pouch (boxed at the top & bottom)
**  make a bag with a zipper closure at the top
**  become more competent with magnetic closures
**  follow through with a quilt along
**  learn some decent free motion quilting stitches
**  sew a garment for myself
**  design a clothing pattern
**  challenge myself putting fabrics together with a totally crazy scrap quilt
**  learn how to make a zipper that goes off the end of either side of a purse
**  sew some clothes for my children
**  learn how to run one of those linky party things - few ideas up my sleeve for that...
**  piece circles
**  hand piece
**  turned applique
**  journal cover

And really I think that should be enough to work on for now!! Lets not get too carried away :)

Although in saying that - do you have any fun things that you have on your "to learn" list that I might want to learn too?

Today I'm Loving!!

**  Catch ups over scrummy morning tea (filled with missed & much savored NZ delicacies) with other kiwi mums & the promise of regular playdates with the new found friends...

**  "Family Friday Fun night"  with my precious family...
McDonald's for dinner (*gasp - look away food police), funny animated movie (Despicable me), chocolate, cuddles under a cosy homemade quilt in front of the heater. LOVE!

**  The promise of 2 whole family days ahead with hubby home from work... (and the sewing that will hopefully result!).

**  Newly discovered private fabric swaps on Flickr & the yummy scrummy (in some cases out of print designer) fabrics that will be soon adorning my stash as a result...
all for the small fee of paying postage & sharing some of my (sitting on the shelf collecting dust) stash fabric. HOW COOL is it to get new awesome fabric & not have to pay for it!
(lets not get technical about that shall we! ;) )...


Such a lot of stuff to love this happy friday!

Check out more cool stuff to love over at Paisley Jades Things I'm loving & Quilting in my Pyjamas Favourite Things Friday...

Patchwork lined zipper pouch...

I am very sorry, this pattern is no longer available as a free tutorial... It has now been written up as a pattern and is available in my shop.
The new pattern has been improved from the free tutorial and now also includes modifications you can easily make to obtain 3 additional sizes & styles of zipper pouch to the one in the main pattern:
Smaller make up zipper pouch, flat pencil case & flat coin purse.


More photos...

Thank you...

My creative space...

Today I continued my pouch sewing frenzy (frenzy? - hmmmm.... at a loss for a better word...) & whipped up this pouch for a dear friend. She has been a little homesick recently, so I thought I'd surprise her (ahem - SURPRISE!!) with a little pouch to remind her of home...

The green feature print is a NZ print & it is of a NZ Pohutukawa tree....

Image

The natural linen symbolises the natural landscape of NZ and reminds me of the shelly pebble beaches near where my friend comes from, or the dried natural tussock grasses around the inlet.

The zip tags & the lining are both green... the first colour I think of when I think of NZ.
(Well... other than blue for rain of course ;) )

& hidden inside, appliqued to the lining, is another little secret NZ symbol that I'm sure will make her chuckle...

A "Gumboot" with NZ Maori designs on...
Aka... A Wellington boot....

Which also happens to be the name of the city that we both grew up in (Wellington that is - not Gumboot haha) (& yet we didn't meet until we both moved to Perth - hmmm....)

So, Tammi...
You hinted earlier this week that you "needed" a new pouch, so here we go, this one's for you hun.
Question is... will you read this before I see you at our Kiwi mums morning tea tomorrow? Haha... we'll soon see won't we :D

And for anyone keen to make a zipper pouch similar to this I am halfway through writing up a tutorial for one.
I should have it finished & posted tomorrow.

More creative spaces here...

Pouch attempt 2...

Well I think I might have gone and got myself a little addicted to making pouches...
... They are so fun, so quick & so easy, not to mention that they only take such a small amount of fabric (I think that's the part I like - it's so much easier to cut into my favourite fabrics if I'm only using a teensy bit!!). So after having so much fun yesterday making the first pouch, I decided to make a second option for my swap partner & see which one she likes best....

Well actually... probably a more accurate way of putting it is that I've grown a little too attached to the first one I made (doh!) so thought I'd peruse her favourites and set out to make one that she liked better {so that I could keep the other one}. Hey, at least I'm honest right LOL...

The back/other front...

The trouble is... now I like this one too. Haha what am I like! I draw the line at making a 3rd attempt (which I will no doubt want to keep as well!) and will instead just offer her the pick of the 2. Either way I still will end up with a really useful pouch that I love.
I think I can see rather a lot more of these cute pouches in my future!
Guess what you'll be getting for Christmas family & friends!!

And you'd think after all my mishaps yesterday I'd remember to open the zip halfway for turning right? I didn't. Perhaps if I make another one it will be 3rd time lucky!

LOL...

Right, off to sew something different before I get totally & utterly addicted. Or perhaps I should tidy up my sewing space first - because I have to say that making scrappy pouches is a M.E.S.S.Y business!

Linking today with Fabric Tuesday

Weekend's "work"...

Well it has been a really productive weekend in this house.
After a really full-on week of sick kiddies, 3 trips to the doctor, 2 middle of the night trips to Emergency & multiple sleepless nights, we have been taking a well earned rest to recuperate! (so that's what I'm counting as productive!)

I have been treated to breakfast in bed, takeaways, lie-ins & multiple sewing sessions by my darling husband {and spent the grand majority of the weekend in my pyjamas}.
Talk about bliss!!

So yesterday I decided to pass on the pampering and give our eldest "baby" a bit of looking after. Izzy has been rather neglected recently since we've been on holiday & so busy and she was supporting rather a bit too much of the "nobody loves me" dreadlock look. So after a really good bath, & a long overdue groom she is looking much more loved {and much happier!}. Only trouble is I had to cut her so short to get all the knots out. It's rather cold here at the moment for such a short do, so there was only one thing for it...

I'm not usually inclined to dress up my dog - but it's a bit cold for a short cut & no jacket, so a quilted jacket it is. I'm really pleased with how it came out & it also came together really quickly, so I can see myself making a few more. The slowest part was making a pattern & even that wasn't too taxing.

I've also been working hard at making my Pretty {little} pouch swap for round 2:

Yes, I know... I swore that I was off swaps!!
...and I was - I promise!
Then miss sweet talking Kelly twisted my arm & promised to give me a good partner. Since this swap is so fun & not that time consuming I caved, and I'm glad I did. I had a lot of fun making this!

The back:

actually remembered to put on my of my labels for a change!!

I kind of just started playing around with scraps with a rough idea in my head but no real overall plan. But I couldn't be more in love with the final result!
In fact I am going to have a REALLLLLLLLYYYYY hard time parting with this!

Especially as I made EVERY silly rooky mistake going while making it - like forgetting to open the zip halfway so I could turn it - and even at one point picking up both the front & the back together by accident and sewing them together with a decorative stitch - DOH - cue tears & rude mutterings!!
I lost count of how many times I had to un-pick sections of it and you know how much of a fan I am of that!!

Luckily it all ended well & if I do bring myself to give it away I'll definitely have to make myself another one!

The rainbowy goodness top...

Stats: 16 inches wide x 6 inches tall - so really on the large side. Plenty of room to store all her .... {haha that would be telling!}

Hope you're having a lovely weekend too!

Linking up today to Pyjama Party Sunday