If ya got it

flaunt it. This is what Rainbow Girl came out wearing last Saturday.

She knit that scarf at school last term. Rainbow clothes you've seen before.

I have some other bits to blog. We've just been really busy with Grandma visiting.

Play at the park

I've had several friends tell me that the park at Newington Armoury is really good. I don't know why it's taken me so long to go there. It's not far from our house. I had planned to go to Chatswood Chase this afternoon to do some shopping, but decided it would be a lot more fun to take Will to the park. Col had the day off, so he joined us. No Mollie. She's at Winter Festival.

View from near the slides down to the river. The brown building is the cafe. Having a cafe at the park is a HUGE tick for me. It's nice to be able to buy a coffee.

Will climbing up the hill

At the top

Coming down the slide

Will climbed up that rope ladder then crawled across the ropes to us. We are the shadows.

Sorry the photos aren't the best. The light is hard to deal with in the late afternoon. Will really liked the park and said that we must bring Mollie and Grandma. Grandma arrives on Monday!!!

Going Dotty

I've wanted to make these pants since this pattern came out, but I could never find the time. I also hadn't found the right fabric. I was afraid of a fly zipper. Afraid of not being able to do it just right. Marie suggested the Jalie instructions for a fly zipper. Thank you Marie. The instructions worked a treat.

Funny thing is that you can't see the zipper because the apron covers it!

Pattern: Farbenmix Roberta
Fabric: Cord from Spotlight, patchwork printed poplin Stenzo from Bunte Fabrics.
Embroidery: Milli Zwergenschoen from Galerie Tausendschoen; Hedgie from Kunterbunt Design.







Moo loves them.

Making marshmallows

I've made marshmallows before, and I used powdered gelatin. I always thought I could taste the gelatin in the finished product which is icky to me. I don't really groove on gelatin at the best of times. A few weeks back on MasterChef a pastry chef mentioned that leaf gelatin doesn't have the same sort of flavour issues. This prompted me to grab some leaf gelatin last time I was at Chefs Warehouse.

I don't cook a lot with gelatin, but I wanted to have a play with my new ingredient, so I did a google search for marshmallow recipes using leaf gelatin. I found a very easy to follow recipe at the delightful Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

Pan prepared. I would recommend a thicker coating of cornflour/icing mixture. My marshmallow stuck to the pan a little, but I was able to pry it off.


Egg whites whisked (loving my glass bowl for the Kitchen Aid!)
f

Sugar syrup boiling


Used my Thermapen to check the temp of the syrup (couldn't take the photo while holding it in the syrup)


Leaf gelatin soaking. Super easy to use. It dissolved into hot sugar/egg whites with no issues. Magic!


Egg white & sugar syrup being whisked up


In the pan


Being sliced


The assistant tosses the cut marshmallows in cornflour/icing mixture


All done


We did make rocky road with half of the marshmallows. I think the kids will eat the other ones or maybe they will be used with hot chocolate.

Chilly cold today

It was cold in Sydney town today. It was a good reason to wear my super cool fingerless gloves.

My friend, Peta, knit these, and she also knit these wrist warmers for Moo.


Moo was also the recipient of this fabbo bean knitted by Suzanne.

Suzanne also knit me a gorgeous headband which I haven't photographed, but I've been wearing. Love it!

Makeup Bags

These bags were another "retreat" project. I figured I could easily sew them up and chat. They were all made with scraps that I received at Sew It Together. I'm not a scrap sort of girl as I tend to mainly sew clothes as you know. Some of the scraps were from Hawthorne Threads and some were from the lovely Anna of Polly Pratt. I didn't take photos of the insides of the bags, but they are different, but coordinate with the outer fabric. Some of the bags I embellished with ribbon and/or iron-on velours.







Pattern is an e-book from Farbenmix, Lieselotte Hoppenstedt. The pattern comes in English.

Lounge chooks

Chook #1 out of mainly Ginger Blossom fabrics. This chook is a gift for a friend. She doesn't read my blog or really blogs in general, so it's safe to post now. I made this bird at the annual Crafty Mamas craft retreat. I spent most of last weekend sewing and eating a lot of Malteasers and LAUGHING.

I didn't sew this bird at the retreat. I put it together and home and realised that I'd done most of the work, so might as well sew it up at home.

Our lounge chook was made to match the quilt for our lounge which is a copy of my friend, Milly's quilt.

I sewed the quilt top at the retreat.


The bird cushion is the Hello Birdie pattern by The Red Thread. Great little pattern for whipping up something very cute in a short amount of time. Thank you to Lisa at The Red Thread for giving this pattern to everyone who attended Sew It Together this year.

Old and new

My lovely friend, Milly, made these very cool pants for Will. And the main reason that I hadn't blogged about them is that I wanted to make a top to go with them. Yesterday I finally stitched the top.

The pants are made from Patterns by Figgy's Dapper Dillinger Trousers. To make the top I used the trusty Ottobre 301 pattern. I purposefully sized up for Will's top. I want him to get as much wear as possible out of that lovely Hilco campan knit.

I took this picture in a hurry, so it's not the best. I know Milly hasn't been thrilled with the fit of these pants. I have to say they look ok in the front, but are a tad too baggy in the back for my taste. Let's not tell Will that, ok? I think they look pretty darn cute on him!