Tuesday, August 25, 2009

We heart Hertta

We are getting ready for spring down south although yesterday it felt like summer was already on it's way. A change last night corrected that anomaly. It's technically winter here!

This skirt has been sitting around cut out for about 3 weeks. I finally got the impetus to sew. If I haven't sewn for a bit, I start to get antsy. I had to sew.

This pattern is from Ottobre 01/09, pattern #19, Hertta skirt. The fabric is Sandi Henderson's Farmers Market. The cotton lace at the bottom I bought last week at the Stitches and Craft show. The skirt went to together easily although I don't know how I feel about gathering the skirt in four different spots to get it to fit to the waistband. I just don't see the benefit of it, or how it's a special design detail. In my head it just make construction more complicated because I had to fiddle with four different spots of gathering. Maybe I'm just sulking because trying to use the ruffler in that small a length would be overkill and too hard to get just right.

Oh yes, the skirt...
hertta skirt closeup


And we all like photos, so here's a full length one.
Hertta skirt 1

T-shirt recon

In my last post I mentioned buying Moo a t-shirt at the Stitches & Craft show. Mollie liked the print as did I, but we both disliked the boxy look of the t-shirt. Thanks to the wonderful Teri's suggestion we now have...
shirt recon


Mollie loves the new style of her shirt and I think it looks much better on her.

I basically followed the tute, but I also unpicked the hem to give the shirt a bit more length and to add a lettuce hem. I really like the red thread contrast on the rolled hems.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Sydney Stitches & Craft Show

I went to the show on Thursday. As you will read on most other blogs, the Incubator was the best part. I concur.

So what did I get?
show haul

A couple of bag patterns and hardware from NicoleM. Nicole was lovely and helped me to pick the right bits for the bag that I want to make. Nothing flash btw, just a little something for the boy.
Speaking of bags for the boy, I couldn't resist a robot tote from Kristen Doran Design. I also spent a bit of time chatting with Kristen who is very nice. We are both fans of Converse.
I also stopped and introduced myself to Justine of MixTape. I subscribe.
I picked up some wool felt from Winterwood. I know the colours aren't my usual colours, but I wanted some things for doing machine embroidery buttons/patches.
I bought some Clear Grip and a 24" clear quilting ruler. I can always use a long ruler!
Some cotton laces. I bought two different ones because I wasn't sure what I needed/wanted for the skirt I was making Moo.

And for Moo a t-shirt with a print from Pippijoe.
pippijoe shirt

I love the print on the shirt, but am not that crazy about the boxy shape of the shirt. I'm toying with the idea of a few modifications.

I bought a 2-day ticket, so could have gone back, but Saturday I was just too tired and today, well, I decided to trace out five different tops from Ottobre for Will. I thought it was better use of time.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The renos

I just thought I would share a few pictures with y'all.
Here's the back of our house. Everything on the back of the house will be gone. The lean-to kitchen, the covered patio...GONE.
back of house


Here's my old kitchen emptied out...
old kitchen 2
old kitchen 1


Here's the first hole being made, so the stove can be moved into the dining room, now the temporary kitchen that one day will be our study/office.
first hole


And the temporary kitchen...(the dishwasher is in the laundry. we can't live without the dishwasher! LOL)
temp kitchen 2
temp kitchen 1


The builders are going to move some cabinets out of the old kitchen to put up on the wall, so those tuppeware containers will have a home off the counter. Not sure what is better, the particleboard counter in the temp kitchen or the wretched tile counter in the old kitchen.

Nerd Alert

dyeing books

These books arrived in the mail a month or so ago. I kept meaning to take a photo, but you know, the house stuff keeps distracting me!

So these books are mentioned and recommended on Paula Burch's website. Paula is a PhD scientist, so I trusted her recommendations. Should you buy these books? No, unless you are a chemist or have studied chemistry and think it's very cool. Me, I wanted to stimulate that part of my brain again. I have a degree in chemistry.

Which leads me to the question...have you visited All About Hand Dyeing?
If you have any interest in dyeing, you can't go past it. If you ever wonder why I don't talk about how to dye things, that is because I don't believe in reinventing the wheel. If there is already good information out there on the web, I'm going to point you that direction.

On the other hand, if you want to hang out with me when I dye...well, that's cool too. Just wait for the renos to be done.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

And the winner is...

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 18 Result: 2

I couldn't figure out how to get it to paste nicely. Oh well, it says 2.

So the winner is Gilly! (Jodie, I counted your two entries as one.) Gilly send me your address, and I'll get the fabric on its way to you Monday! I'm expecting to see something soon since you are getting your overlocker!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

And the other Antonias

I managed to get Moo to model the other Antonias for me.

First one up for your perusal is the Love Bus Antonia. This shirt is going to be a gift for Moo's best friend.
lovebusantonia

I LOVE this shirt.

I thought Moo needed something she could have that was similar to her friend's shirt, but not the same. So I made her a top with a peace symbol. It's from the same embroidery set as the Love Bus, Love & Peace by Luzia Pimpinella.
peaceantonia

The first time Moo saw this shirt she asked me why I made her a shirt with a steering wheel on it.

This last Antonia was influenced by Andrea of Jolijou. Andrea uses blue and red together quite often, and I really like that colour combination. I wanted to use another one of Nic's embroideries, but I thought the design was too dense for stitching out directly onto the knit, so I embroidered onto a piece of gingham. I then sewed that onto the shirt with a decorative stitch and then added some buttons and ribbon. Now before you say, "Oh Sara, you are so clever", I must tell you that I am not. Nic did something similar with her fabbo gnomes embroidery.
redantonia


I also realised that in my insane state that I didn't say when a winner of the fabric would be drawn. I'm thinking Saturday because even if I did something before then, there is no way I'm making it to the post office before next week. Hopefully I will be able to still do my Monday morning coffees. The cafe where we have coffee is conveniently close to an Aus Post outlet.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Want some fabric?

Yeah, I'm sure you do, but before I get to that I must thank Chrisy of Sophism Press. Chrisy has designed two lovely capelet patterns which I received today in my email. She was extremely generous and gave the pattern away to all who commented on her blog post. Now if you know me, I'm sure you are thinking, "Sara doesn't crochet." And yes, that is true. I could learn, or I could outsource. I think I'll be hitting Tracy up for some of her crochet skills very soon.

So these home renos...well, they are starting. Starting....TOMORROW! Yes, I am screaming. Yes, I am freaking out. The builders said they would start NEXT Monday, but I had a phone call at 4:30 this afternoon asking if they could start tomorrow. I have to clear out the kitchen because they are kindly moving some of the cabinets and my stove into the dining room to create a makeshift kitchen. I thought I was going to have next weekend to do that!

Oh yes, the fabric! I dyed this fabric ages ago. It is organic cotton rib knit. It's 100% cotton.
organicribknit


I had plans, but I never got around to them, and now I doubt that I will. Each piece is about 50cm long. I think the fabric width is around 140cm, but might be 150cm. So I've decided that a lovely reader of my blog should get it. Leave a comment, and I will use a random number generator or get one of my assistants to draw a name.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Embroidery is addictive

This shirt is the fourth shirt I've embroidered. It all started with a present for Moo's best friend. I haven't sewn that shirt or the other, so no pictures just yet!

I had been toying with the idea of taking the shirts I am making for Moo to the market on Saturday and remaking them if they sold, but Mollie saw her shirt this morning and HAD to wear it TODAY. Who am I do to deny my girl? She had to wear it layered over another top as it's still quite cool here especially in the mornings.

Lime Antonia with gnomes


The body of the shirt is Lime coloured "Stella" knit. The sleeves are Hilco Prillie knit. The very awesome gnomes in love embroidery is by the super talent Nic of Luzia Pimpinella as is the mushroom button. Both embroideries are from Huups.

Close up of gnomes
close up of gnome embroidery


Mushroom button
mushroom button


I can't wait to finish sewing the other shirts!