recycled vintage dress

My sewing machine has been very busy of late, believe it or not. Unfortunately, my blogging is falling behind, due to computer troubles (like having our 3rd new Mac in a month...who does this happen to??). So I have been working on this old hack computer which has a mind of its own, and randomly shuts down when the going gets tough. Things are looking good though, and the newest computer is behaving, so when we set it up properly hopefully I can blog away.

Anyway, about the dress...I found this pattern at the op shop a couple of years back, and finally decided to sew it up. Cute hey! I made mine slightly longer than the original.

The dress is made out of recycled fabric's, also found at various op shops. The main fabric was a table cloth, and the trims were a place mat that someone had lovingly cross stitched. So essentially you could eat off this dress...almost like this one!

The white ric rac was also off the place mats, and even the yellow buttons came from my Grandma's sewing supplies. So the dress is made from 100% used materials, re-fashioned and given a new life! Does anyone else find this satisfying?

dance leotard

I finished this little dance costume last night for Grace's friend Mikaela who just celebrated her birthday. She was at our house earlier in the week flicking through my Ottobre 1/07 magazine, and spied out what she wanted. I made one for Grace earlier in the year when she started dancing...although it doesn't have the frill attached. She has a skirt to match.
This was also my first attempt at cropping out the background on my photos (thanks Tim for the tutorial over the phone!). It took me a while first go, but hopefully next time I will be super speedy.
Ok, I think I'd better go, I can hear Grace playing 'duck duck goose' by herself (if that's at all possible), surprisingly she seems to be enjoying herself! We have a dance lesson to catch.

spots, clips and birthday cake

We had a party for a little friend on the weekend. I recently brought this spotted voile to make a dress for Grace (photos to come) and had a quite a lot left over. I ended up making two little shirts out of it, one for Maeve and one for her friend Scout.

I also had a go at decorating some little hair clips for her. They turned out cute, but I dont know how well they will hold together! The tutorial for the covered button ones is here if you are interested.

And here is the birthday girl with her beautiful felt party hat on...she has a very creative Mama! Maeve was loving that cake.

cute skirt

This little skirt arrived in a bag of hand-me-downs, looking rather boring (big Disney embroidery along the bottom). To freshen it up we added a wide strip of fabric and gave it a new life. I am so glad she likes this one, because it's one of my favorites!

the sweetest thing

Maeve in her new outfit- how sweet she is! Being the second child, I don't sew for her as much. She lives in all Grace's pre-loved clothes, and I figure if I sew for Grace then I am also making it for Maeve because she will eventually wear it somewhere down the line. Anyway, such a sweet girl was in need of her own sweet outfit- made with love from Mama just for her. The dress and the blouse are both from Ottobre 1/2008...such a good issue this one! And the little rabbit on the front was embroidered from an iron on transfer from my Grandma's sewing things.

this & that

One very nice bag I found at the markets, for a special friends birthday.

Fresh macadamias from another market. Why is it that the shell looks like chocolate, and therefore you want to eat it more than the nut? After eating these nuts, I don't think I will be buying the packet ones in a hurry. These were so moist and buttery.

This is Charlie the Galah I found out the front in the bushes. He was looking rather friendly, and lost at the same time. Lucky for him his owner came looking, and he found his way home. They had been out looking for him all day, so he was showered with kisses. I think the girls would have liked to keep him.

And a sure sign that the seasons are changing...our lizard is back. We spotted him on the roof this morning sunning himself, and madly dashing around. This guy can run really fast and is actually a pretty big size. I really should find out what he is.

maple butter

Warm, homemade Banana Bread with Maple butter anyone? This was so so good. And if you have never made your own Maple butter- watch out...it is seriously addictive.

* recipe added for Ansia!
- 300ml Maple syrup
- 200g unsalted butter
Bring maple syrup to boil in saucepan. Boil until it reaches 120'c, on a sugar thermometer. Cool slightly then whisk in butter with an electric mixer for 5-8mins until thick and creamy. Store in refrigerator. Makes 400g.

fathers day

Happy Fathers Day to one very 'awesome' Daddy...you make our world spin round!
And in the words of Grace:
Thanks for giving us good big kisses and cuddles.
And thanks for getting Maeve when she cries because it hurts my ears a lot.
Thanks for getting the flies too, because we don't want them on us. Thanks for smacking them off the window.
Thanks for taking us for a drive in your car if Mummy smashes hers up some times.
Thanks for all your good prayers,
Love Grace

*photo thanks to my little bro

tag it

A very easy way to label your handmade clothes. Using a plastic letter/number stencil paint the size you want onto some white fabric, iron it to set, cut them out and sew them on. I used Permaset fabric paint and it works great. Mine are rather rough and splotchy, but I like them like that.

dye play

At 11pm a few weeks back (for some unknown reason) I decided to have a play around with the fabric dyes. This might have been ok for someone who actually knew what they were doing, but for me it was only my second attempt at dying...and not a good idea. I wanted to dye a few pieces of wool flannel and while I was at it threw in some white stretch knit, that I had cut into pieces months ago to make Grace a shirt. Here it is all sewn up and she kind of looks like spider woman. Its the same pattern as this white shirt.



Then I thought it would be fun to dye a white floor length dress (from a bag of hand-me-downs) for Grace as a princess/dress up outfit. This was a big hit and she has been wearing it everywhere...much to my embarrassment (its the kind of thing you hope no one asks if you made it yourself). I hung the dress over the laundry sink to drip dry for the night, which was fine apart from the fact that half my cloth nappies were sitting in the sink. I now how a crazy collection of pink speckled nappies.



Then I received this amazing hand dyed shirt in the mail from the very talented Sara! It totally put my efforts to shame and made me appreciate the amount of skill that goes into a good dye job. A true artwork- thankyou Sara!