Handy pocket bag

I decided ages ago that my delightful daughter needed a bag of her own. One that was easy to get into, without a flap to get in the way of the treasures which constantly need carting about.

Enter the cargo pocket bag! We always have cast-off trousers that my husband has worn out (or bleach stained, as in the case of this pair), and I thought the side pocket would do perfectly. So I cut the whole thing off, reversed the back panel, added a lining, some bias binding and a strap. Ta dah! One bag, fit for the treasures of an 18-month-old munchkin.



The strap even has extra length. I can just move the velcro on the strap to a new position, and the bag will grow with her!

It was love at first wear.

Cosy

Yes, Christmas was well over 3 months ago, I know. Here's the present I made for my husband, finally (mostly) finished. A small matter of buttons and loops!

I made him a cafetiere cosy, so that our coffee stays warm on even the most hectic weekend morning.

Here's the cosy. Our little hectic-maker couldn't help but get involved in the action:



The backside with the to-die-for buttons I picked up at Darn It and Stitch:



And posing with the yet-to-be buttoned-and-looped mug cosy, featuring the caffeine molecular symbol done in freezer paper stencil:

Viewfinder Skirt

OK, it's been over six months since my last post. It's not like I haven't been a bit crafty, it's just that I was blessed with the Amazing Non-Sleeping Child. Recently said child has begun to sleep long periods at night, and even decent stretches of an hour+ at naptime. I can create again!

I have come to show you my newest creation, a skirt for me.

Ever since I saw this fabric from the Ruby Star Rising line by Melody Miller, I knew it would grace a skirt for me.



The pattern is a Vogue Elements jeans skirt from Way Back When - I bought it at least seven years ago. I'm awfully pleased with my fussy cutting on the hem.

I love the enormous pockets - great for holding a phone and tissues to wipe the ever runny toddler nose.



The inside hem is finished with this great hem facing tutorial I found over at Oliver + S. (The facing fabric happens to be an Oliver + S print too!)



I'm pretty chuffed with it.

Oooh, not posted in ages, terrible I know!

And now I'm posting when I really ought to be in bed!

A quick recap of the last few months:

Kiddo is nine and a half months old! She's as old as a pregnancy! She keeps me busy.

The knitting I've been doing? Well, it's all gonna get ripped out. No point in knitting something in two colours if they're impossible to tell apart except in bright sunlight.

Sewing? Now we're talking!

Baby trousers: (Big Butt Baby Pants pattern)



A tutu for my niece: (I did make it bigger in the end, the niece is three!)



A sunsuit from the Made By Rae pattern: (Sadly it's been too cold for her to wear this!)



Pyjamas, which I didn't manage to photograph together:



T-shirt and shorts for a swap: (t-shirt "happy animals" from Ottobre 3/11, shorts BBBP as above)



I'm so proud of my twin needle hem! Non serger knits sewing FTW!



My knitting group was featured in UK magazine The Knitter, and this was my contribution:



And I won a giveaway! Thanks Ali from VeryBerryHandmade!




Phew! And that's me mostly caught up!

Project Selvedge!

It's almost the deadline for entries into Project Selvedge - the opportunity to post a fabric on Spoonflower and eventually become a designer with Michael Miller! Oh to dream...

I decided I HAD to enter this contest, for which the first challenge is to design a "baby boy" fabric. Now, as the mother of a very small child, I can tell you there is nothing I hate more than simpering pastel blue and pink baby outfits. Oh no, not for my child, and not for my fabric! I'm drawing my palette of inspiration from these colours, which always get read as "boy" on my girl-child.



Of course then I turned around and saw this on my bookshelf:



I'd say it was a colour combo that was meant to be!

I've slowly been whittling away at my design, which is going to be northern North-America nature themed. (If you are in the top 10 of the first round, you move on to design four more coordinating boy fabrics.) This will include a fox fabric (probably foxes from above, perhaps combined with pin stripes?) and a polka dot with paw prints as some of the spots, oh yes.

Anyways, here's my entry in progress. I still need to finish the trees and the shadows, but the bears are pretty much done.



I'll let you know when voting opens! (On the 24th)

Charming scraps, oh my!

I've become very interested in sewing lately. I think my knitting has hit a bit of a rut, and sewing is almost instant gratification.

I'm starting a half-square triangle quilt. (Let's see if I can find a CC image for one of these, ah, here we go:)


By Flickr user Jessyroos

And mine will have zig-zags like that and oh so much more.

With that in mind, I joined Very Berry Handmade's scrap swap, since I love having as many different fabrics as possible in quilt.

Here is what I sent to H.J. of no-known-blog, a scrap bundle which I called "stormy seas":



And here is what I received from Sew Quine Stitches:



A Fantastic selection of prints & solids, plus an assortment of riches in the form of zips, ribbons, and buttons. Awesome, thanks swap buddy!! :D

I have already cut into some of the scraps to start on my charm square-sized pieces for the HSTs.



I "only" need 172 (!) coloured squares, and the same again of white. I just wish I didn't have a compulsion for every square to be a different fabric/pattern. Yikes.

That being said, I'm collecting small pieces of quilting fabric, 5"x5" or bigger. Got any to share, especially in the above palette? :)

Wedding Guest Dress

I had the honour of attending the lovely wedding of Liz a few weeks ago, and as I am a fan neither of pink concoctions nor their prices, decided to create B's frock myself. (I am a fan of party frocks!)



This is based on the Itty Bitty Baby Dress (free pattern!) from Made By Rae, somewhat enlarged and with different straps. All of the dress materials came from our lovely local shop Darn It & Stitch, including these fantastic vintage glass buttons.



The shoes were one pattern combined with another pattern's idea. I used the Pleated Ballerina Shoe [pdf] pattern from Homespun Threads but added lacing loops like the ones at Me Sew Crazy, resulting in something that looks a bit like a highland dancing shoe!



Little minx unlaced them. :D

I think I must like these colours. Before B was born I knit a 1-year size baby cardigan. Here it is, it still needs a zip though!



It's a basic round yoke cardigan, knit in Lana Grossa Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch and some other random red sock yarn. No real pattern, just made it up to suit the measurements. :)

Month-Old Cards

When my niece was born, her parents were gifted with a set of cards, one for each month in the first year of the baby's life. The deal is that you take pictures of your baby with the cards.



I always loved the pictures of my niece that resulted, and before B was born, searched for a set to buy but couldn't find them. What to do but make my own!



And then share them with y'all.

A 6-page PDF with 1 month through 1 year on half-sheets. It's probably best printed on heavyweight A4 stock. It will probably do just fine on US Letter size paper as well, there is plenty of white space on the cards.

Download the cards

Enjoy, and let me know if you get on with them. :)

Baby Trousers

These are fun to make, and pretty darn quick once you know what you're doing. Excellent for covering those cloth-nappied bubble bums.


Big Butt Baby Pants, pattern from Made by Rae

Pair 1, in some insane striped jersey. (The pattern is written for wovens, but seemed to worked fine with this cotton jersey.)



Pair 2, made from a pair of old shirt-sleeves plus a bum panel of fun fabric. :)



The pattern goes way into the toddler sizes, so I'm certain to be making more of these!

And that was Christmas...

...Which I'm only now managing to post about.

I made a few things this year, in snatched bits of time, as B still refuses to nap anywhere but on a person.

I decorated a couple of hoodies for my husband:





And made potholders for my two SILs and MIL: (Lacked in thematic material for FIL. Next year?)







Also, I recieved some faboo Urban Zoology fabric from Ann Kelle, for winning a giveaway at Fabric Rehab. Wahey! I feel lucky. :)



Mostly, however, I just took care of this one: