Kids clothes

"Sewing clothes kids love" is a book having a good influence on me at the moment. My colour combos and trims and not as daring as those in the book, though the patterns are truly delightful weather embellished or plain. The Capable of flying blog is written by the book's author and has some great links to other peoples creations from the book.
It has given me the confidence to try some great colour and pattern combos, with great results. Also influencing me has been Carefree clothes for girls, as yet I haven't made up any of the patterns provided, but the use of recycled hand stitched linen and crochet is adorable and inspiring, the colour palette using lots of linen and natural colours is a complete contrast to the other book I mentioned.
So the two youngest kids now have some good autumn additions to their wardrobes for school and Montessori.

I think I'm all sewed out for now, my temperamental over locker and I are calling it quits for a bit while we are still on good terms with each other, but what a productive week. Quite proud too that out of all of those fabrics only three pieces were bought new all the others have been sourced at the local op shops or as gifts from sewers downsizing their stash.

For a total change of scene and pace this weekend we'll be hanging out at Taste Tasman.
It looks as if it will be a great event.

Garden notes June

I was shuffling through the photos looking for a good one to illustrate my lovely new cottons, but instead all I could see in the photos were the garden jobs I need to get onto.

Fabric drying in the sun, but lurking behind is the glasshouse which needs the tomato plants and weeds cleared out. The chookhouse and run which need their straw changed while the big boysenberry against the shed needs to be tackled. The rabbit run which I'm standing on needs cleaning out and a few repairs made and down in the next photo the esplaired fruit trees need a bit of pruning to neaten them up.
I did make a half hearted start with the garlic today. I separated out the cloves and planted a block of about 150. When I later went to feed the chooks I saw the young roosters had been having a lovely scratch around where I had planted it but hopefully they should be in deep enough not to have been disturbed. It did however motivate me to cage the roosters to fatten them up for the pot. Don't tell skatey, he's not at all impressed with that concept.

For Nelson Fabricaholics

If I was a twitterer I would tweet that Spotlight in Nelson is having a crazy $1 per metre stock take sale. My good friend text me yesterday to let me know and I overheard the lady say it might go on all weekend. It is definitely on today as I rang to ask, look for fabric marked with an orange sticker, including good quality quilting cottons. Happy Fabric Love!!

After school holidays

Winners announced below.

I breathed a big sigh of relief sending the children back to school yesterday. We all really enjoyed the break but everybody was getting to the stage where we were seriously getting on each others nerves! My kids have 3 or 4 years between them, which was brilliant when they were little because I only had one in nappies at a time, but now they are finding it hard to get on. I wish I could say the older ones were lovely caring examples for their younger siblings, but that would be a bold faced lie. The teen is a grump to me and all who are younger, but is perfectly behaved when he wants something! I could go on all day about the sibling rivalry and where I went wrong, but what's the point?
Freya the old black cat and I are home alone, blissfully un- hassled, she sleeping and I sewing. It's rainy and warm, the house smells like tomato sauce which is bubbling on the stove. I'm happy, with my fabric stash all over the lounge, inspired by another new bag. I nearly made my perfect bag a few months ago, but with a few improvements I 'm getting even closer this week.

A bright tote is perfect when I'm going to a meeting or to the market but when I'm hopping in and out the car with a few kids to get in and out, maybe carrying groceries or library books too, then I need a bag diagonally across my shoulder so it doesn't slip off. The pocket on the front is working well for slipping my keys in and finding them again quickly and the size is just right.

I'm putting this delicious brown one in the shop.

I have drawn out names for my wee giveaway, a ball of wool for Michelle (choose a colour) and a brooch for Heart in the country .Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter, nice to meet you all.

Thank you : )

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, I feel a bit embarrassed really because I've been a bit of a non blogger lately, with pretty vague posts, no pictures and not alot of commenting. So I really appreciate people taking time to send me good wishes.

Take a peek at what else I got for my birthday. Beautiful spring/summery retro fabrics.

I've been making an effort to get some bags made:

This one though was cut out before winter out of an old wool skirt. I need to get cracking on some spring time ones now.

I've sort of been pottering in the garden in between working and trying to practice positive parenting. I planted some early seed potatoes which I plan to cover with frost cloth when they pop up, I put in some carrot seed, ever the optimist that one day I'll have a really good crop of carrots. I'm still holding off on planting alot of seed, the hardy herbs and sunflowers have popped up as well as the tomatoes and peppers on the window sill. I've been enjoying reading the New Zealand Gardener magazine lately the collector edition book at Christmas really got me hooked. The monthly magazine suggests to soak the glasshouse for a week to get rid of salts that might build up in the soil. I'm giving that a try as last year the glasshouse plants didn't take off very well and that might be why.

Belated 100th post giveaway

I'd been looking forward to doing the 100th post giveaway but when I looked I was up to 105. I've really enjoyed sharing my garden, crafts and family challenges benefiting alot from the feedback I've been receiving. Bloggers are a great bunch. My favorites make me laugh, make me think, and inspire me often. Thanks so much.

The top bag is my current favorite and if I didn't already have about 10 bags I'd keep it for myself. I'd love to give it away instead of selling it. The handles and contrasts are made of leather, the fabric is old curtain fabric and it has a simple pocket inside. The bottom one is also old curtain fabric, another favorite because of the colours. I'm offering it as a vegetarian option cos I know not everyone approves of leather. (I use leather that would otherwise be going in the landfill though) The middle one I would have loved when I was 18 cos purple was my favorite colour, orange is now.
So please post a comment weather you've commented before or not. I'll draw one winner and they can pick the bag they like best. I'll send anywhere in the world.

Patchwork garden

This blog is being a little neglected as summer settles in and Christmas quickly approaches. Middle of summer is a stupid time to have Christmas, there's far too much to do in the garden to be inside sewing or even worse shopping in town. Motueka is a tourist town and a summer work destination so traffic is terrible at this time of year, a quick trip to town for groceries can take hours during the summer months. I have had a great week though, just not alot of spare time. There were heaps of garage sales on in the weekend and I'm rather pleased with the bright tea towels I got for 50c each. I was going to cut them up for bags but I'm getting quite attached to them the way they are.
I was also a winner on Sally Anne's blog! I haven't won anything for a long time so it really made my day when I read I had won. It was meant to be because my daughter gets called "sweet pea" on the rare occasions that's she's not driving me nuts! I watched her sing solo at a performance for the old folks club on Friday. I was so nervous for her, but she was amazing. Huge credit needs to go to her wonderful teacher who nurtured the shy girl who didn't even want to go to school to a point where she'll sing on her own in front of an audience. What a treasure she is.
I Love how the garden looks in summer, it comes together to remind me of a patchwork quilt. These views are from the top of the kid's slide. I am disappointed that a new plum tree I bought seems to have silverleaf. From what I've read nothing can get rid of it and it spreads very easily. I'll be devastated if I have to start cutting trees out.
Mating stink bugs got squashed today with a satisfying crunch. I am not a Buddhist gardener! The aphids in the tunnel house will be dealt to tomorrow as soon as I decide weather it's better to make a garlic spray with the last of last years garlic or pyrethrum spray which has the disadvantage of killing ladybugs too, which we don't want. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Worrywort

Some pretty big weather events in Tasman in the last couple of weeks. I have to go over this bridge to get to work and town, it's pretty skinny and scary on a good day but it really freaked me out seeing the water up this high. I am a worrier, often asking myself, OK what am I worrying about? It may be a kind of comfort or habit to be worrying. The bridge collapsing while I'm on it is a fairly common worry as is our old shed blowing down onto the road and causing an accident, being too decrepit to insure makes the worry worse. So after the rain subsided the wind started and a couple of earthquakes shook me up for for good measure. It would be fair to say I've been in a state. It runs in my family, my dear Aunt doesn't go into "the Warehouse" in case there is an earthquake and every thing falls off the shelves and won't drive around rocks road in Nelson when it's raining in case the hillside comes down.
While I sewed for the festival the weeds grew thick and fast in the front garden so it looks more like a wild lawn with flowers in it at the moment than a cottage garden. Never mind I'm more into vege gardens anyway but it will need some attention I guess before all the weeds set seed. My sewing was worth it though, I got lots of nice comments at the festival and made some good sales. Lots of organically grown seedlings went to new homes too so I have alot more room to plant in the glasshouse now and a bit more time on my hands to get the garden set for summer. I had anticipated being alot less busy this week but it's not working out as planned either, I may need a holiday it's all becoming a bit of a slog. Roll on summer!
Fabric hunting is getting to be a huge challenge too I found 2 pieces in a small antique shop round the corner from where my Mum lives but I wouldn't want to buy at antique shop prices very often! The mushroom bit is from Spotlight the day after the festival, 20% off was too good to resist. I have a theory that the red cross ladies are getting all the yummy fabric before it goes out into the shop. I have been contemplating my career options in the last 6 months there are about half a dozen paths I'd bee keen to explore but nothing that I just know is right. Perhaps volunteering in the op shop would be a good way to contemplate?

Button stuff

Awhile ago I made myself this fabric brooch, it always annoyed me cos it didn't seem to have any character. It's been tossed around the living room and in and out of the toy box since then. Yesterday my "skatey boy" sat quietly and created his own version of the brooch without any input from me except to ask "can I use this material?' I think the boy has more creative talent in his little finger than I'll ever have. He was also inspired to make some button jewelery after spying a vintage jewelery book I got from the library. I made the cushion for him to display his work at the festival next weekend. We might have to whiz over to Nelson to buy some clasps for his necklace unless anyone has other ideas of a nice way to join the copper wire on the necklace?

Hello again

I didn' t realise I'd been absent from my blog for two weeks. I've been pre- ocupied with life. I felted those gloves they need another go through the washing machine but it's going to do the trick. Thanks for the suggestions. Instead of reading and writing blogs I've been gardening, sewing and sorting. The garlic beds are manured and dug over and I've been redesigning other garden beds and making compost now that everything's died down a bit. We had a couple of hard frosts last week so I spent an afternoon piling straw up around my young citrus trees and covered them with frost cloth and hessian for winter. I had a massive power bill, $170 for a month so I've been looking for more work, I sewed a few bags as I had visitors who wanted to buy bags and none to offer. I used some of my recently aquired ric rac on one of them and have a few more in various stages of completion. I might get them finished if it keeps raining. I got really frustrated with not being able to find sewing stuff so did some sorting. All the lace, ric rac, bais binding and buttons were in a big chest and I discoved alot of stuff I forgot I had including this adorable golliwog. I'm going to make her some friends her body is made from old wool stockings, I think my Grandmother or one of my Aunts made her the old gingham is beautiful. The sorted stuff will make me alot more efficient I hope, I really am such a hopeless hoarder. Why do I have a huge boxful of zips I ask myself? At least I'll be able to find one to suit now.I've also been staking out Trade me trying to find fabric bargains for more bags but have been bitterly dissippointed so far as the bits I like, everyone else wants too. Bahh.
My Mum had a pretty rotten experience with her recent operation and then her leg got badly infected, the public Health system in New Zealand is getting scary all I hear now is horror stories! She's feeling a little better now and hoping for the all clear on Tuesday to go and visit her grandson in Australia. Thanks for asking.

More fabric

I found these beatiful fabrics and ric rac at a church fair last Saturday, now they are sitting on a pile in the lounge room waiting for me to find some inspiration. I had a character ballet skirt when I was 7 which had beautiful ric rac round the bottom. My daughter doesn't like it, she's starting to be influenced by what other girls think is cool and not cool. I'm thinking I may be able to incorperate it into my bags and onto the bottom of pants, I'm excited about it even if she isn't. Then on Sunday I put my back out really bad again, I wish I could figure out what's causing it because I wasn't even doing anything I'd consider to be heavy work. I felt like an invalid and was so depressed watching 50 year old Suzanne Paul whirl around the dance floor on dancing with the stars the other night. Thank goodness for the drugs the Dr's given me! I couldn't move yesterday, even knitting hurt!

op shop goodies

The other day after a long day in Nelson visiting people and an appointment with the chiropractor I decided to call into my favorite op shop on the way home. I just wanted to stretch my legs really. Imagine my delight when I found this bag of quilting " fat quarters" and a few bigger bits too, it was just what I needed to inspire me to do some sewing. I don't quilt yet but love flowery fabric and will use for applique. The browny bits are very inspiring for autumn. I'm half way through alot of projects but instead of working on them I'm full of excitement waiting for my brother to send me photos from Adelaide of my new baby nephew. I'm a first time Aunty so it's pretty exciting. I'll have to settle with photos for now as I visited them last year for their wedding, I'd so love to be cuddling a new baby today though.
I'm off to make booties for my nephew now. He's a darling.