Quick crafty update

As the school holidays here start to come to a close I give a sigh of relief (I'm over the fighting and mess). Keeping me sane over this period I've been:

• Casting on for a dolls pram blanket:


... after being inspired by these beauties from The Purl Bee:


• Making a start on crafting for the school fete:


• Trying to keep the kids busy with various activities... this one lasting a matter of minutes:


• In love with this new piece of fabric that just had to come home with me after a recent trip to Ikea (points off for re-stashing). Lots of ideas spinning around my head involving this one:


And enjoying pinning kids clothes ideas for KCWC next week.

Hope your marbles are intact (not sure whether mine are) and you have a lovely weekend!

My creative space: noticeboard

Just a quickie today so I can go and finish the project pictured below, a noticeboard for my big girl to hang in her bedroom and use. There's a healthy amount of mother guilt going on behind this... my grumpiness made her cry at school drop off this morning :-( Oh dear, must try harder. Hope you are having a less grumpy day/week.



Pop on over here to see more creative spaces.

My creative space - Sprout dress

Pop on over to "My Creative Space" in it's new home "Our Creative Spaces" to see more crafty goodness.



I finally finished this dress for KCWC in my creative space this week.

So far my KCWC effort has been pretty average. We've had one illness or another in the last few days, so I haven't been able to put in as much time as I'd like. Each night when I tried to sew I would get called to soothe a small person, dadda just not cutting it in the comforting stakes apparently (unfortunately!). So even though all I wanted to do was sit and sew with some music on and snacks at hand, mostly I haven't been able to.



But I did snatch a bit of time here and there. One setback I had was when I tried the dress on the little girl and realised that I had cut a size too small. She's 3 years old, and generally a size 3, but going into a 4. Without thinking (or measuring) I cut a 3, then started thing that the sleeves looked quite thin.



As she's quite petite though I thought it would be OK. I had to tug it over her head, which she always hates, then it was a little tight under the arms. So I spent my hour yesterday (in about 10 minute increments while tending to sickies) with the seam ripper pulling out seams and then today re-sewing the seams right next to the overlocked edges to get maximum out of the seam allowance. I often find that just adjusting the seam allowance in a pattern is enough to make a difference. It fits better now, thank goodness. I couldn't bear it if that beautiful (and expensive!) fabric went to waste.



I loved the pattern, as I do the other Make It Perfect patterns I've tried, and would definitely recommend it. I was concerned at the start that my outer fabric may not have been heavy enough for winter (it's a quilting weight I think), but once it's combined with the inner dress it's bulky enough, I wouldn't go any heavier. Overall I found it a joy to sew, the only problem being my sizing fault.

And what do you think of my dodgy parenting practice in giving her a lollipop as a bribe (um, I mean incentive) to have her photo taken? Well, at least it matches the print on the dress ;-)



Lots more KCWC pics to be found here.

Therapeutic sewing

This week I've been solo parenting as the Mr is away in the US for work for a week and a half. On the whole we parent as a team, as I guess most couples do these days (thank goodness this is not the 60's!), so his presence is always missed greatly, even though the bulk of the day-to-day care is my 'job'. The kids also miss him a lot, the little girl doesn't have her head around the concept of time and distance yet and so has a particularly hard time working out why he can't just come home around bath time as he normally does.

So... I've been feeling the strain a bit. Tantrums, refusals to do things, pulling things off the supermarket shelves, "I don't like you"s etc just feel that bit harder when I know there's no-one to share things with at the end of the day and to take over when I'm feeling at the end of my tether. I try to keep my temper most of the time, but I've lost my patience more times than I'd like to in the last few days. One thing that has helped keep me sane though is sewing :-)

I was feeling that I desperately wanted time to do my own thing when my mum said to me in a phone call something like 'there seems to be so much pressure on mums to do things with the kids these days that you don't get to do anything of your own'. I think she's absolutely right. The whole 'overparenting' thing is another arguement in itself, which I find fascinating, but I won't go into here now. Then also I read a post by one of my favourite bloggers, Mary Nanna from Make it Smirk (woman of style and fabulous sewer, not to mention a great sense of humour). It resonated with me when Mary mentioned that sewing keeps her sane. And I hope she won't mind me quoting her, that, in times of stress "having something else to focus on, something enjoyable and useful, is very therapeutic". Indeed.



Since my 'copy cat skirt' has become one of my favourites it's been in the back of my mind to make one or two more A-line skirts in different fabrics, with perhaps a few little details here and there. So one night I got the skirt out and this time took the time to make up a pattern properly (well, my version of properly ;-). I traced it onto lightweight interfacing, which I love using for patterns as it grips to the fabric and doesn't tear like paper. Then I scribbled down a few steps in case I forget next time. My aim is to have the perfect A-line skirt pattern that I can whip up quickly, so I figured it was worth investing the time. And it was fun (nerd).



I wanted a really utilitarian skirt that I could chase the kids in, wipe my hands on etc (I'm a grot ;-) without worrying about it, so used a heavy-weight denim with a little stretch that my mum gave me from her stash over the holidays. I have plenty of it, which gave me that nice sense of freedom to just cut into it. And as I wanted it to go with patterned tops and possibly leggings I made it very plain, just binding the pocket openings and hem with a blue linen.



As time goes on and my sewing skills improve I'm finding that simple designs with a few nice little details (hopefully executed well!) is the way to go for me - fun to sew and nice to wear.

So hopefully this one will be as wearable as the copy cat skirt, and in any case, I made a few mistakes which meant I learned some more things along the way, which has got to be a good thing, right?

And most importantly, the process of making it got me out of the frustrated mother headspace for a little while, which is definitely a good thing.

Coming over all sentimental

This grand old Japanese lady departed our family this evening, making way for a suave middle aged German gentleman. She's lost some of the lustre she arrived with 12 years ago, but has served us well with loyal service and hardly a complaint, being passed from me to the Mr at a point in our lives when we needed to plaster the back seat of a car in wall-to-wall baby seats and she couldn't quite cope (who'd blame her?!). She even dealt with a run-in with a bus with grace, and took a skirmish with a Woolworths delivery truck in her stride.



I felt extremely sentimental watching her drive away, I think because of what she represents to me: a time in my life when I was independent, I earned and spent my own money, I serviced a loan by myself, I was just me. A relatively carefree time. Before I had a mortgage, a marriage and 3 children. Before we lost my father, and my father-in-law too.

She's seen me through more than a quarter of my life, with its ups and downs. Goodbye old friend, I'll miss you.

Stitches of a different kind

I've been a bit unwell this week and so decided to get out the hooded scarf knitting kit I won recently and finally start! This is my progress so far. I think I'm about halfway through the hood section, and I'm really enjoying it so far.



The boy is also enjoying it - a little too much actually, we've had a few tantrums where he's held it then wanted to pull all of my hard work apart! Do your kids want to play with your knitting? I do have an extremely inquisitive 18 month old, but then, maybe he'll enjoy knitting when he's older. Anyway, so far it is relaxing and satisfying and all the things I'd hoped it would be.



The other type of 'stitch' that this post's title refers to is of a kind I don't want to have again soon. I've recently been guilty of doing that mother putting the kids first and not attending to herself syndrome. A strange thing on my face that started changing (I meant to ask the doctor about it one day) ended up being one of these little beasties. I had it cut out this week, and all's fine, but maybe if I'd put myself at the top of the list I'd have spared myself some pain and a small chunk having to be taken out of my face. It's a bit of a wake up call not to get too wrapped up in daily life and look at the bigger picture. Sometimes being a stay at home mum feels like I'm living in a bit of a fog, but I've got to remember to put my head up out of the clouds from time to time. Know what I mean?

When I developed a head cold the next day, the Mr insisted on taking the day off work to look after the littlies so I could rest. A morning in bed felt luxurious when there was all the usual stuff to attend to, but felt like the right thing to do. I think, as most mothers do, I put pressure on myself to be superwoman, but sometimes it all comes apart and I'm reminded to just take it a bit easier, let myself off the hook a little and take care of myself.

Have a lovely weekend.

Wayols and Ligas and other stuff

This motherhood gig is hard at times. But you knew that already. And it's only the little stuff I'm talking about! No catastrophies here at the moment, just everyday annoyances.

I'm feeling guilty today for yelling at my big girl this morning for playing instead of getting ready for school. It's not her fault that I have 2 other littlies to get ready, that I can't find any shoes that fit no. 2 and that no. 3 is still running around bare bottomed when we have to go NOW! Or that I'm tired because I stayed up too late working on a dress for her birthday that I'm not even sure if she'll like. Or that I subsequently woke up late and so now have no time to have my morning sanity-saver coffee before rushing to school... arghh! Does it sometimes feel hard to hold all the little things together for you too? Those flash points during the day can get me down.



But then I look at her gorgeous drawings and first attempts to spell. And marvel at her sense of imagination: "what's a Liga sweetie?" a shrug of the shoulders and "half lion, half tiger, mum" of course. My heart melts and all the little things don't matter.



It's a shame it's so hard at times to not 'sweat the small stuff'. I read blogs of women with older children and shudder at the things I'll need to deal with in time to come. So I try to tell myself to relax and enjoy the here and now, even if I'm not having a wayol of a time (haa haa). And make sure I get that coffee early ;-)

PS. Have a look at what Trula has done with her drawing sessions with her daughter - too cute!

My creative space

I'm playing along with Kootoyou's Thursday 'My Creative Space' this week. Lots more creativity over there to check out.


I'm sitting having a cold drink and reflecting on a bit of a double whammy upsetting mama morning: First the little girl screamed for me not to leave her at pre school. I left with tears streaming down my face, listening to her desperation mixed with rage and knowing I had to leave her. And then the boy screamed his head off in the doctor's surgery before he went in for his 18 month vaccination. The doctor and nurse were so lovely, showing him toys, offering him stamps and stickers and even getting the bubble solution out and blowing bubbles to try to make him happy... and I just wanted to leave him there :-) My GP is truly wonderful. It took ages to find her amongst the not-so-great, and takes ages to get an appointment, but I can cry and laugh and cry again with her and I always leave feeling better. This doc has bedside manner in spades. Which is lucky for me. And my kids.

Anyway, enough of my mothering woes, on to my creative space...

Last night I turned my back on the mountains of washing needing to be folded and treated myself to getting on with altering a recent op shop find. I'm a sucker for soft cotton fabrics, rows of hooks and eyes and a mandarin collar, and this shirt had all of those. BUT, it was yellow - great for some but terrible for my colouring.


So the plan was to dye it, alter the seams slightly to fit better and make some sort of decorative fabric element to sit on it (a brooch/flower type thing). The unpredictable nature of dying has put me off doing it for a long time, but I thought this was worth a go. The dye took beautifully (I think the dyes have come along since I used them in my 20's) and is just the shade of midnight blue I was after (difficult to photograph though, maddeningly). But the stitching has not dyed, which must mean it's polyester. At first I thought I'd have to stitch over it in blue and then remove the original stitches, but now I'm kind of warming to this look. What do you think - keep the stitching or ditch it?

Household Chores I Despise

"Muuuuum!"

As soon as I saw the title of Wondering Willow's latest blog post, caps and all, "Household Chores I Despise", I knew I would enjoy reading it. There's a weird kind of solidarity in people's almost universal hatred of housework, don't you think?

Like WW, as a stay at home mum I do feel that the housework is largely my 'job'. And because I am at home a lot of the time I see it all needing to be done. The mental list of chores sits in my head nagging away at me.

I thought I'd join WW with my top 5 at the moment:

1. The mountainous washing piles.
Arghh. I know that we have it easy compared to our mothers and grandmothers, but the sight of overflowing baskets of clean washing waiting to be folded sometimes makes me want to cry. Seriously. There are 2 across the room from me now, mocking me.

On a practical front, I have a reasonable system going with 3 laundry baskets on the go to ferry the dirty clothes out of the house, down the stairs and to the laundry, into the machine, out to the clothes line and once dry, back up again to the house. These bits I don't mind, it's the mountainous piles waiting to be folded that kill me. All those different things belonging in different parts of the house. When I do tackle them, sometimes all in one go on one evening dedicated just to folding, they end up in precarious piles waiting to be put away into overflowing cupboards that are only ever neat and tidy for a matter of minutes before some little hands are tugging at the piles and pulling them down again, only to be worn for 5 minutes before having vegemite smeared on them or icy pole spilled down them, taken off and tossed onto the floor (don't get me started on that one!). And so the whole cycle starts again. Sound familiar?

I sometimes daydream that when the littlies are a bit older I'll introduce an incentive scheme where the person who dirties the least clothing in the period of a week (excluding underwear!) wins a prize.

2. The aftermath of my 3 children under 6 eating a meal.
Cold, sticky rice stuck to the wooden floor can only be cleaned by picking each grain up individually, otherwise it gets squashed into the floor, sets like concrete and is almost impossible to remove later. Food is slipped into drink cups when my back is turned, making an awful 'soup' that is apparently highly amusing to youngsters. The most brightly coloured food on the plate ends up mashed into t-shirts (see point 1). Drinks are spilled at almost every meal. Sometimes onto papers or other things that need cleaning. And on and on... Why do they not tell you these things when you're considering having children?!

3. The fridge.
Sticky unidentified substances gathering in small pools, watery remains of vegetables seeping out of bags, ends of bananas going black, and to cap it off, all that guilt at throwing out unused food and unloved leftovers.

4. The bathroom.
Old and shabby, mould in the silicone that never comes out, grout that never comes clean. Grrrr.

5. The oven door.
It doesn't get done. Makes me sad.

What are your most hated household chores? Go on, do play along. I love to hear people apart from me having a whinge :-)

A product of my mother guilt

Or maybe 'mother anxiety' is a better term...

My little girl was booked in to have her adenoids out yesterday, and it was also the first day of school for the big girl, another anxiety raising situation. So the Mr and I had decided that he should take the day off work and take the littlie to the hospital, while I'd do the school start. Which sounded fine until a couple of days before when I suddenly felt overcome by a feeling that I should be there. Even though it's a very small, routine operation, and she'd be home in a matter of hours, the thought of my baby going through it without me made me feel quite sick. When the idea of making her a new nightie to wear to theatre came to me, it suddenly made me feel a little better, like I'd be there with her in some small way.



I'd been told she'd be allowed to take a toy into theatre with her, so Harriet, the doll I made for her 2nd birthday, also got a new matching nightie.


I used a stretch fabric from my stash, made a simple pattern from an existing nightie and added some pink ribbing for the bands and a little apple pocket for a touch of detail. Harriet didn't get as much detail - I found it challenging enough just sewing the tiny garment without trying to add extra bits. I take my hat off to people who make doll clothes!

The Mr reports that the nightie was worn (and thrown up on - poor little poppet!), and Harriet was taken into theatre. My girl is fighting fit again now and will hopefully breathe and sleep better now. And this mama used some sewing therapy to make things just a little easier :-)

Domestic roles

Most mornings I feel like a short-order cook... breakfast for 3 hungry little mouths, trying to accommodate different tastes and allergies and still provide a healthy, nutritious start to the day. There is whining if it doesn't happen quickly, and screaming from the boy if I take a break to refill his bowl!



I also feel like a barista most mornings. It's been a long time since I've been able to have a quiet morning coffee (as any parent of small children will know) and these days the whole morning coffee routine is quite a saga with 4 drinks to make (hot chocolate for the kids of course)!



We use my favourite Koziol cups that I enjoy collecting. They come in varying sizes - huge for me (or 'bucket sized' as the Mr calls it - well, it does have to get me through the morning :-), medium for the girls and small for the boy....



who insists on holding his own cup...


"Yes? Something wrong?"

and needs a lot of cleaning up afterwards!

Then there's my role as washerwoman and the absolute mountain of washing to address all the time. If you're in the neighbourhood and feel like an exciting evening of clothes folding, drop in!



Although I loved taking part in the kids clothing week challenge it came at a bad time for me as we'd just arrived back from holiday and when I looked around the house I realised just how grubby it was - all the holiday sewing I'd been doing had been to the detriment of the cleaning. It looked like the the grubby fairies had been in and messed up. Now we need a visit from the cleaning fairies... wait, that'll be me... oh dear!

So I've promised myself no more sewing until I can get a bit of control back in the house. It's going to be tough, I'm sewing addicted at the moment, but maybe that's just the incentive I need!

Cook Clean Craft has some great cleaning tips to help. Now if I just had the time and motivation to do a huge spring clean on the house... the desire is there, the problem is that the sewing machine is too :-)

Any tips for me? Ways you motivate yourself to do the not-so-fun stuff around the house? I'd love to hear them.

Bright spots

Some bright spots in a particularly frustrating morning that I wish had gone differently:


Beautiful magenta bougainvilleas set against a clear blue sky on our walk to the park...


... picking up a large coffee on the way...


... blessed sleep means a less clingey and grumpy 1 year old and...


... watching her play independently and then with her buddies. I also get to talk to my buddy...

Added bonus: she let me put piggy tails in her hair, a rare occasion :-)

Have a nice weekend.

Toddler sing-along

Recently I designed the flyer above for my friend Rebekka's new Toddler Sing-along groups and it was lovely to participate in one of the first groups today.

These days I find myself really enjoying music and singing with the kids. Which seems kind of strange for me as I'd always thought of myself as not particularly musical. BC (before children) I remember being mortified if anyone heard me sing, I thought my voice was that awful. And it possibly was, but these days it doesn't seem to matter so much and I so enjoy singing all the kids songs. And they don't care if I sing off key, well at least not for now they don't :-)

There seems to have been a lot of talk lately in the media and on the streets about parenting and whether it makes us happy or not, and whether mothering is joyful or hard work (see Fi's interesting post 'Motherhood Lark' here). One thought I had was that for me, an unexpected lovely side effect of having children is a greater general enjoyment of music and singing. Seeing their little faces light up when music comes on or we sing is fantastic, and I finally enjoy participating too.