I declared today a sewing day

And then I promptly did everything but sew.

I changed the beds, did four loads of washing and hung it out, checked the chickens, gardened for an hour, did some grocery shopping, baked a cake, heated leftovers for dinner...... and then finally I sewed.

I did not attack any of my many many uncompleted projects. But I did start and FINISH a project. I made a pile of pillowcases for the pillows in the caravan.

Now this might seem like a daft sewing project but I like 100% cotton, crisp and cool pillowcase to lay my cheek on at night. The caravan gets the rejects - the old towels, the grotty old pillowcases etc and I was sick of yucky polycotton that does not stay cool at night.

I had a fat quarter of the cool retro car and caravan material, the boys immediately tried to commandeer those ones. Then I used another camping themed material.

The main body of the pillowcase was a queen sized valance I purchased from the Op Shop (Charity Shop) for $3. It is a really good brand and 100% cotton.
The total cost of each pillowcase ending out to be about $2.00 each. My kind of price!!

The retro car and caravan material

The other camping themed material

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A finished refashion and a new tool

About a year ago I bought this nightie from and Op Shop. It is a really pretty cotton lawn but rather old fashioned in it's style. Gathered from the top with lace it just kind of hangs over you. So I never really wore it. Then one of my nighties got so old the fabric ripped in the wash. I cut it down the middle and used it as a pattern to refashion this.

Old style top the the nightie

I cut the skirt off at a reasonable height and then gathered the material onto some piping that I had made for the bean bag refashion. Then I cut a new top out and sewed with some piping and bias binding. I was halfway through making this and it was sitting on my sewing table when my purchase arrived in the mail.

What excellent timing. A 2.5cm bias binding maker. No more boring shop bought bias for me, funky stuff to come!! (well that is the intention - we will see how it pans out). I tried it out on some matching red fabric and it made lovely bias binding for the shoulder straps.

The whole outfit even looks a bit Christmassy.

Linking up to Finish it up friday as well as many other places - check out the links here.

Refashion an Op Shop find.

Well my latest refashion I did complete in a night. I guess it could just be called an adjustment. I chose the top at the Op Shop for several reasons -

Before

After

• I loved the pale pink colour
• It is linen
• It has sleeves

But it was too long, down past my bottom and then it looked like I was trying to hide myself. I also absolutely loved the neckline details and thought that it would look more cohesive if the same feature was on the bottom of the shirt.

the neckline detail that I replicated along the bottom of the shirt

So I chopped off about 5 inches from the bottom and straightened it. Added a self made binding to and top stitched it around the bottom to allow for a frayed edge like the neckline. Took the sleeves in more at the bottom binding. Sewed on new buttons.

Now I have a cool summer shirt for the days when I feel that I have had enough sun and need to cover up.

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My husband is wrong and my husband is right!!

I completed a refashion of my original refashion!!!

The first refashion

1. My husband is right. Yes the dress did not quite work, I still don't think it is perfect and as flattering as some things I have made but I have now worn it twice and enjoy doing so. As you can see in order to try and make it a bit more cohesive I bound the neck edge with orange. I do thing it works better.

The first attempt

2. My husband is wrong. He recommended putting the netting on the fascinator as it was for the wedding we have just had. But I felt it just did not work. So off came the netting and I was thrilled that I did it. I got quite a lot of comments on my fascinator!! (take that two ways - either it was just so fab, or they felt they could not make comments on the dress!!)


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Wedding refashion done

This morning I finished all the hand stitching of the facings etc and the dress is done.

The front

 It makes me feel like the middle of summer, bright and cheery. Aaron did comment that if the entire top was orange instead of the pink it would look better. I have to agree, I think it does look a bit cut up. But I really wanted the sleeve detail that was in the pink top.

The back

 Yesterday after I finished the sewing I got desperate for shoes. So in a fit I went to the three local Op Shops and thanks to the Methodist Mission I have white shoes to go with it for $4.

The back detailing

So this dress has cost me $12.50 plus the shoes and a blue cardigan I got a couple of years ago for $4.

Here is a reminder of what I started with - A orange linen tunic, A pink linen top and a almost floor length floaty skirt.

I used the cap sleeves

This was cut down

This is the main top

All I need to do is make a fascinator.

I made this entire dress using my dress dummy and pining it to it etc as I have seen a lot on Project Runway. It was a difficult way to make a dress but it has worked!! I had wanted to use a pattern but it had not arrived in time.

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Upcycling a bean bag

For Aaron's birthday I made a new bean bag cover as a square seat(poof) rather than the traditional bean bag shape. His bean bag has been redone a few times as the beans get old and tired. This will now be the third style and I think we are onto a winner.

yucky yucky yuck. I pulled the bean bag from behind the sofa and all I saw was yucky mould, manky tired bean bag.

So I made a cube bean bag. It works as a footstool when sitting on the sofa. It is a great seat to sit on and Xbox. It is clean!!!

I made one side straight red, just for a change if you want.

I was impressed with myself as I have only ever put piping into something and that was before Jakob was born - 11years ago! So I made the piping myself using the red material from the feature side and some cord I had hanging around. It sat really well when sewing and I am thrilled with the result.

The only thing that is still a mess is the garage where I swapped the beans from one bag to the other. There are A LOT of little polystyrene balls floating around our garage. It was not an easy task!

Happy Birthday Aaron.

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Another Upcycled Merino Boys Top

Yes I have been in my finishing mode again. I cut this jumper out for Jakob about 3 weeks ago. I thought that if I cut it out then I would get it done. But it still languished in my sewing corner.

He had picked the colours about 2 months ago!! He went through my stash of Op Shop Merino jersey's. I then had to sift out which ones would not garner enough material to remake a top. Just like Eli's jersey I used an old Top Kids magazine pattern.

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Showing off the coloured facings

I made a throne

From this

To this

From this

To this

A couple of weeks ago Aaron told me that the computer seat was too hard and his bottom got sore. Now I use that seat to do my day job and I have not found it to be a problem. Then I forgot about it. He re mentioned it on Thursday saying it had needed a cushion and why hadn't I made it yet.

So I looked, hmm it is a bit hard but I felt that it was a bit of a royal statement! So I ripped the old fabric off. Found some foam and wadding and stapled that on, then put on a layer of green velvet - that should be fit for a king's bottom. Stapled it all up and reinserted in the chair. It is not the most perfect redo that I have done, but I do have to say that it is more comfy. It got the royal seal of approval last night.         I link to these places

Super prepared - making Xmas Presents

Finished. 

Well I have started the mission that is called the Christmas Present List. Tick off the second. (The first was some zip pouches). Last year I made my first apron from an Op Shop (Charity Shop) man's shirt. A lot of kids that I have among my group of friends have admired it. So I decided that it totally fits my ethos for Christmas presents.
1. Does not take too long
2. Is not expensive (I got this shirt for $1)
3. Utilises what I have on hand
4. Is useful
So I am now going to Op Shops with this present in mind. I sewed this one in the hour while waiting for dinner to cook. I have one more cut and ready to go. Should finish it tonight. I love getting things on my list actually completed!

To keep it looking good I would have used Red bias on the edges and for the ties, but I did not have any in my stocks and I want to use what I have rather than go shopping.

The shirt getting chopped - use a sleeve to make a pocket

Adding a bit of trim to give it pizazz

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A boys Refashion

The finished hoodie - Jakob trying to be Dr Spock.

In a week we are going to Fiordland. It is predicted to rain, rain and rain some more. Which it does anyway (it is not called a temperate rainforest for nothing!). With rain comes the cold. The Merino jersey that I made Jakob last year was not so sucessful. The hood was too big, the Merino wool was a bit too light.

So I had a rush job on. Make a boys hoodie with pocket by Friday. And it is done. It took me two nights (approx 3 hours altogether). I am much happier with this one, the Merino jerseys I chose were heavier and so held their shape better. Also I was pedantic about the finishing and have used bias binding to prevent stretching around the hood / neck area. The sleeve ends look a lot tidier too, the boys love the semiglove end that a lot of tramping gear has and I know it will be handy down in the cold. I also used stitch number 15 on my Bernina sewing machine, rather than the overlocker and this was very successful.

So what started as two ladies Merino jersey's bought from the Op Shop, are now one boys hoodie to keep him warm.

The two ladies merino jerseys I started with

Chop off the arms

bind the edge of the pocket

stitch the pocket on at the top and bottom, matching side seams

Cut sleeve down to size and re-inser

Sew up the arm and side seams, then add the cuffs and hood.

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Quilted and Bound

The boys declared the quilt very comfy

Aaron trying it out after work

The quilting

Well the quilt for the caravan is finished. Whew and finally. Over the week I have been quilting it. I went for a sphere shape based around the diagonal seam. Never again. For a couple of reasons....
1. It meant the quilt went through my machine on a diagonal which was just too much bulk to push through the arm of the machine. Horrible to quilt - would do a cot or throw like this but never a bed quilt.
2. I like geometry- quilting this with a sphere shape takes away from the definition of the hourglass block and merges it more together. Now that is the effect you want on some quilts but not this.

The binding also should have been unpicked and redone as the larger part of the binding is on the back. But I had sewn the binding on by the time I realised and as this is for the caravan, therefore does not need to be perfect, I just left it as is.

So now Aaron and I have a flannelette quilt for our big bed and both the boys have ones for their beds. We will all be snug as bugs in rugs!!!! you can view the boys quilts here and here.

To look at the making process you can go to these posts on my blog.
pining out the quilt
patchwork finished
starting the piecing

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Ellerslie Flower Show

NZ in flowers

Devonshire tea in the Dilmah tent. Very smart and nice

Well Aaron and I went to Ellerslie on Friday. I won tickets - big yahoo and yippeee. I get the NZ Gardener weekly email called Get
Growing and for $10 you get a VIP section with competitions etc. And I won (yes I know I said that - but I was very excited)

Loved this colour combination

So we went. The gardens were spectacular. The recycled and upcycled gardens so appealed to me. There was one that was made from old kitchen benches and drawers and pallets. Oh the pallet use was amazing. I wanted to zoom back to work and pull the two pallets out of the skip. But where would I put them???

What was disappointing was the size. It was about 1/2 the size of the first show we went to in 2010 which was amazing. The food tent was non existent, they said that the food area was set up as a farmers market look with straw bales etc, but there were only 8 stalls - yes 8!

Amazing garden with Moa sculpture

So I enjoyed it, some was amazing, but we were home by 1.30pm. I am so pleased that I had not paid the $42 entry but actually won tickets.

In the recycled garden

   

Great upcycling of old movie theatre seats

Pallet vege garden, look at the use of old kitchens and drawers

A buzzy bee flower garden - fantastic