five

Happy Birthday to our dear, sweet Grace!
The beautiful girl with the kindest and loving heart.
It only feels like yesterday,
when we kissed those chubby baby cheeks.
Now you wrap those long arms around us,
and hug us tight.
oxoxox

two of a kind

Yep, I have totally overstepped my boundaries on this one, and given in to the real nerd inside. The girls have mama made matching outfits (oh, how painful!). The thing is, they like dressing the same, and to be honest it is so much more time efficient sewing two of the same outfit...I didn't have to change the thread on my machine once!
The pants are 'Kim' pants from Farbenmix, and the tops are from Ottobre 6/2008...slightly different designs. One has shirring on the sleeves, and the other across the chest. Maeve's top is actually the same pattern as the apple shirt in the post below.

the last of the apples...

This apple fabric would have to be some of my favorite, and can you believe it, I think I have finally reached the bottom of my supply. Such a shame indeed. I will treasure these few items of clothing!

A shirt for Maeve for the cooler Autumn days to come.
Yep, its another Ottobre. From issue 6/2008.
For some reason my shirring turned out really tight, can anyone give me any tips on this?

And 6 more pairs of undies to use up what would have been useless scraps.
I can't believe I have now made 18 pairs of knickers! I mean, who does that??
Seriously though, my kids look way too cute in these!

new knickers

The girls were in desperate need of new knickers. I had this pattern floating around, so I thought it was time to give it a go and use up some of my stretch supplies. I don't know if I have mentioned before, but I have a bad bad habit of buying too much stretch knit. They got 6 pairs each, blue for Maeve and green for Grace. Yep, we had the serious production line thing happening and I am sure it saved me heaps of time. Sewing them individually would have been a nightmare!
The girls love their new undies, and I am really happy with the fit. Very modest on, slightly boy leg-ish. Not sure that it is entirely appropriate to add in photo's of my children in underwear, so you will have to trust me...they are super cute.
Thanks to that*darn*kat for such an awesome pattern!
Oh, and if you have boys, the boy version of these is great, maybe a little more fiddly to sew, but so worth it!

sakie and long tee

This is Grace's very precious friend, Sakie the dog. She has a collar, necklace and leash...all the essentials of a well loved pup. I have been doing a little sewing in preparation for the cooler weather to come. This shirt was the result of a big fabric spend up at the latest '50% off fabric' sale at Lincraft. A quality cotton/spandex, the colours suit her so well. Pattern is another Ottobre, basic slim-fit tee.

Somewhere along the way I forgot to blog about this little shirt I made for Maeve at the beginning of summer...

And these little shorts...

Ah, soon I will be packing them away. The warm weather is slowly disappearing. I must say though, I am loving the slight crispness that is in the air. Grace's is sad that summer is on its way out, but Autumn is a welcome relief for me!

mohair granny squares

It's always so much fun creating for a new baby, especially when the baby is mine! These granny squares are some I have had on the go for the past month or so. I am dying to piece them all together. The green yarn is a mohair/wool blend that I picked up from the op shop. 5 balls for 50c each...my kind of bargain! I brought a ball of white and blue mohair to blend in for a little colour variation.
The thing I love about mohair is how warm and toasty it is. A mohair rug on the bed beats an electric blanket any day! I am hoping that my little Winter baby will sleep like a dream with this cushy blanket on.

hello baby

I am hoping these photos will bring some kind of explanation to my lack of blogging as of late. Yes, this Mama is growing another beautiful baby, and is so blessed to have the chance at being Mama all over again. Our little one is due late July. Tiredness has been my second name, and hanging out in blogland has fallen low on my priority list. I am hoping to be around a little more before bub joins us, because the crafting/sewing never stops at my place! It's just uploading and picking photos that seems so unappealing.

And a great book on childbirth that our whole family have been enjoying is 'Hello Baby'. Beautiful illustrations by the very talented Julie Vivas. It's a story of home birth, but I would recommend it for any kind of birth you are planning. My girls find it fascinating!

shirt for cedar

A shirt for a friends new baby girl, Cedar. I love how this one turned out. The not so traditional baby colours look surprisingly calm and I guess in a way babyish (not that either of my babies really came under the 'calm' category...perhaps when sleeping). I am finally getting the hang of the whole stretch, binding, applique thing and my persistence to get it right is starting to pay off.

nana & humpty

Got to love some of Grace's drawings.
No, Nana looks nothing like that. She most certainly will not be seen in short skirts with her belly button hanging out. She is much more classy in real life!
And Humpty, well he actually looks the way Humpty should.
Hope these bring a smile to your day.

stretch for summer #2

There's a lot of practical sewing going on in this house as of late.
Plenty more stretch for summer. Nothing very exciting, more every day kind of clothes.

A pineapple shirt for Grace

Grace has been begging me to make her a shirt with a kangaroo on the front, so here's what we came up with. She wrote 'kangaroo' for me on a piece of paper, and I stenciled it on with fabric paint. Love this shirt! Came in very handy for Australia Day.

Some simple legging for Maeve.
Fabric is really floppy, so they may end up as PJ pants.

Comfy long shorts for Grace. I am loving the honeycomb stitch on my machine at the moment.
It's great for detail and hems on stretch. My tip would be to use the 'walking foot' on your machine. Best machine accessory ever!

And a cool little dress for Maeve. I have so much of that pineapple fabric to get through. These dresses are great for summer, she loves wearing them.
All these patterns are sewn from Ottobre. Let me know if you want specific pattern numbers.