A half finished project finally done

The school holidays, as always, seem to be sapping most of my energy. I've been doing some sewing and we've been doing some kids craft projects but frustratingly there's not been much time to write about it...

Earlier in the week I finished this doona (duvet) cover and pillowcase that's been hanging around half finished for a while. My motivation for finishing it was our broken washing machine, but that's another story (tedious but top of mind - 4 weeks with no washing machine in a 5 person house - arghh!).



Anyway... I used a lovely piece of printed linen that a friend had given me a while ago. She had intended to make it into curtains for her girl's bedroom but changed her mind.



If you've never made bedding, and have a large length of fabric to use up, I'd urge you to give it a go. I've made a few now and each time I just sew around all 3 sides, leaving the bottom edge open, then sew some velcro on for the closure and sew in a little on the left and right sides to close it up a bit.

Of course if you have expensive fabric or it's not wide enough it can be a pain and also more expensive than buying a set, but if you've got the right fabric, it's a quick and easy project. Mine needed a join in the middle but it's not too obvious. I also find it pretty hard to find bedding that I like in the shops, so it's a way of getting something you like.



OK, pretty much out of time, must go and prepare more food for the hungry hoards. Hopefully I'll get a chance to pop in here again sometime soon. Geez, at the moment I feel like something between a short order cook, entertainment manager, conflict resolution coach and housemaid!

* Apologies for the gloomy pics, it's been overcast and rainy here - just what you need for school holidays!

More creative spaces to lose yourself in over here.

Giveaway winners

And the winner is (it's a very serious business, you know!)... no 7, KathyB


... and the mystery 2nd prize goes to (no peeking!)... no 5, Adriana

Congratulations ladies! And thankyou everyone for entering, and for your kind words. I wish you could all have won, sook that I am!

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In other goings-on, I finally made a second cot doona cover for washing rotation, this time using up the last of my stripey Ikea fabric . As there wasn't quite enough, and I wanted to have a matching pillowcase, I put it together with two other orange toned fabrics. I quite like the look, and seeing as I'm still not game enough to try to make a quilt (chicken!) it slightly satisfies that urge! I repurposed a piece of an old worn out queen sized sheet for the underside. That stash is starting to go down!



Have a happy Monday :-)

Stash guilt dress

To quell some of my guilt about recently adding to my stash I made this dress for my little girl the other night. I knew the fabric would make a fabulous dress - all cotton, good drape, hard wearing and with a cute animal print (including some Australian animals!).



And luckily my girl thinks it's good too. She wouldn't let me take a shot of it without her in. And as soon as I'd finished she put it on - for the 2nd day in a row!



I cut a pattern from a dress she already has that fits well. It is a simple 2 sided sleeveless dress with buttons (don't know what this style is called?). It has a facing on the back and front and that's it. Pretty simple but effective. I did consider putting pockets on it but at midnight I decided to declare it a day and be happy with what I had rather than turn it into a more complex project.



She's wearing it with long sleeved t-shirts and leggings in the cooler weather, and if it still fits in warmer weather I think she could wear it alone.


So, quick and easy for me, a hit with the little girl... maybe the stash busting lapse was not such a bad thing afterall ;-) Hope you're having a good Tuesday.

Falling off the wagon

Oh dear. It's a mere 4 weeks since I posted about stash-busting and yesterday I fell off the wagon by purchasing some fabric. I didn't go out to buy fabric, I wasn't even in a fabric shop, but somehow I found some and couldn't say no. Does anyone know if there's a fabric equivalent to AA? Coz if there is, I need it!!



From the moment my friend and I walked into the Corban & Blair sale yesterday and I saw this gorgeous piece of animal print fabric, I knew it was coming home with me. No questions, no justifications, I was just not putting it down. Tragic.

$5, 2 x 2 metres, great print, good quality fabric. It's too late to start trying to justify my fall from grace. It's done, washed and ideas are forming in my head as to what I can make with it. Definitely a kids messenger bag or two.



I also got a lovely birdy brooch to add to my little collection ($2).



And this great roll of numerous sheets of printed paper (another $2).

Oh well, I'm human. I'm going to try to make it up to myself by using the fabric quite quickly (mm hmm) and also making a doona cover for the girls' bedroom out of the stash - that should reduce the bulk a bit ;-) And next time I'm tempted I'll try to stop myself!

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By the way, I've hatched an idea for a giveaway to celebrate my recent blogiversary, I just need to get the pics together. I'm hoping to do a post on it tomorrow or Wednesday - hope you are going to like it.

My creative space: boring dress

I'm not really selling it, am I, but that's what it is - a boring dress. So far though (a few hours into wearing it - time always tells!) I'm really enjoying it. My sewing fatigue is gone (yay! - more on that another time) and I made this dress over the last few days. I'm trying to pace myself and not rush through my sewing to avoid fatigue again too soon!



This is another Simplicity 3835, this time the top design but in the mini dress length. I used a very soft, lightweight denim from my stash - yay, one for the stash busting tally over on the right. I wasn't sure about the fabric and the idea seemed like a very boring one, but you know when you can just see something in your head and it won't let you rest until you've made it? Hopefully that's not just me ;-)



I wore it today with a colourful scarf which I think lifts it, and also a jersey cardigan, my new blue tights and my boots. For the pocket detail I used this tutorial, and loved doing the shirring, even though it didn't gather as much as I would have liked (fabric too thick maybe?). I didn't like the straight patch pocket design that comes with the pattern and I think they wouldn't have added anything to the dress, whereas hopefully these add a little softness. I think denim dresses have a chance of looking like a prison uniform, so hopefully I've stayed away from that here!



And just as an aside, the shot above, with the weird lighting, is much more the shade I wish the fabric was. Maybe I'll dye it or see if it fades a bit with washing, throw some bleach in a wash with it or something, hmm.

Pop on over here to see more creative spaces.

Stash bustin' no.1: cot set

I've had this green and white cotton print from Ikea in the stash since I was pregnant with my boy. I initially made a baby wrap with it, which I didn't use and now gets put on teddies.

I had intended to make some trousers for him in it but I went off the idea. He doesn't really need any trousers at the moment anyway, but what he did need was a cover for the cot quilt that my mum gave us for him.



So I measured a rectangle to fit the quilt, cut a piece of white flanelette the same size to use as the backing, sewed up 3 sides and put some velcro on the 4th side for easy changes. Then I made a matching pillowcase with an envelope closure.



I wasn't expecting to like it that much, it was just serving a purpose, but I'm actually really pleased with how it looks, and also it's kick-started the Stash bustin' tally, yay! I have a piece of stripy Ikea fabric in the stash that would make another great set so I'm intending to make one in that too, for one on and one in the wash.


This is a happy squeal, by the way!

Have a lovely weekend friends.

Stash bustin'

Tidying my stash recently I realised that I've really got to reduce it. I'm always thinking that, lets face it, but this time I mean it (I do, I do, trust me ;-) One day we are going to have to move out of our 2 bedroom house and I don't want to take more than 4 plastic tubs of fabric and associated bits with us. At the moment it's bursting out of 5 (probably would be 6 but I don't want to admit it!). So that's about a third I want to clear.



Trying to work out strategies to get there I decided I needed a plan. Here we go:

1 • No more fabric buying! No excuses, and no thrifting either - it all adds up to volume!
2 • Put together a list of clothes and household items we need that I can make. Plenty of times I've made yet another something cute for the kids when really they just need plain leggings or something, or the oven mitts are threadbare.
3 • Don't be precious about fabric choice - if it's not entirely perfect, use it anyway. Near enough is good enough here!
4 • If there's any fabric lurking around that I don't particularly like, donate it to charity.
5 • Go through the scraps tub (yes, there's one whole tub devoted to this) and weed out any bits too small or useless looking.
6 • Finish projects lying around, or if I don't want to make them anymore, throw them out!
7 • No more pattern buying for now. As much as I'd love to (there's a Chinese jacket I'd love to make for winter), I have at least 3 patterns laying around that I haven't even tried yet.

To motivate me to actually carry this out I'm going to put a new "Stash bustin' tally" over there on the right. I'm hoping to see it grow in the next few months and report back each time I add something to it.



I'm quite excited about no. 2 - making the list of useful things to sew. It appeals to my organised side to reduce the stash and fulfill a need. Actually I do have a finished project that does exactly that, which prompted this post. I'll post it tomorrow. That way I'll feel like I'm on my way ;-)

Do you have any tips on stash busting for me? I'd love to hear.