Farmyard Twin-sets - Custom Order for Lucy

 Lucy, here are the sets for the twins if you're interested.The singlets are 0000.  I also have the same appliques on 0000 white bodysuits if you want to take a look. 

The nappy covers/bloomers are a touch smaller than the 0-3 month pattern. The bloomers are made with a cotton bias binding casing to make the elasticised legs/waist as soft as possible for their newborn skin.

 Oink.....This is a sunshine yellow set for the wee girl. The bloomers are yellow/white gingham with two gingham ruffles and two ruffles of cotton eyelet lace for a super cute butt. 

 Cluck......The little boy set is made from blue/white gingham with a matching applique on the singlet and butt.

I have more of this fabric (thanks Bec!) so you just might see some of a farmyard menagerie making their way into our store early in the new year.....

A Frufru Tutu - Custom order for Lucy

These tutu bodysuits first made their appearance in 2008, oh my that was a while ago. 

When I was recently asked to do a custom order for a gal who has a little baby girls and who is very into pink I thought back and remembered these. Don't you think layers upon layers of super soft tulle is perfect for that little princess?!

 

  This bodysuit is a size 000 and has 4 layers of soft pink tulle. Each piece of tulle has been hand sewn to  elasticised trim, allowing extra movement through the butt. The top layer of tulle has been sewn onto pink trim to give it an extra special finish. To top it all off, a pink heart has been appliqued to the chest.

I wish I had made one for Miss T now. Perhaps I can work my fingers to the bone and get one ready in a size 2 in time for her birthday.

 Lucy, if you think this would suit your friend, shoot me an email. I'll show you what I came up with for the twins in my next post.

Last order out for Xmas.

My last Xmas package on it's way. Check out how small that poppy clip is!! A special custom order for a 10 month old girl made using mimumee no-slip-clip. These teeny tiny clips are perfect for super fine baby hair - I should know Miss T has been wearing them ever since her hair has been more than peach-fuzz for hair!

Well that's it for me for Xmas gifts - Oh hang on, still have to make my kids their Santa Sacks, finish wrapping presents, make our 2nd gingerbread house, make mini puddings & another batch of Caramel corn. Better get cracking!

If I don't catch you again. Merry Christmas!

Thank you.......

I've been busy recently filling orders and sending my wee crafty wares off over the country as things from our store on the Madeit website are slowly moving. It is really quite exciting to have people other than immediate family being the recipients of the things I love to make, and even better when those who value the handmade send such positive feedback as this:

"Dear Amber, This is just a quick message, to say THANK YOU!! Thanks for the great product, the great communication, the quick posting and for being so lovely. I have it in my hand and I am most satisfied. I will definitely tell about you and your lovely creations to all of my mummy friends and I’m most certainly will be back for more, not only but for my little boy also! Both my hubby and I just love, love, love the clip ;) Have a Marry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with creative ideas and with great customers, so you can keep up the good work! Eszter"

Awwww shucks!

I've also had some orders from the kids daycare center which has kept me busy. The girls in the office were so generous and offered to have me display our clothes in the foyer leading up to Xmas. It has brought all the other crafty mammas from the woodwork and now the foyer looks like a little handmade market with my clothes & felted eggs, some gorgeous crochet toys, toy/library bags and other cute stuff.

From the week I had my wares out, I sold a bunch of Lil' man T's (some with matching shorts- I'll add this as an option to the store soon), a couple of I heart Xmas T's, two antique rose skirts and the can-can skirts were a hit with 3 sold. The nicest thing is now I have some custom orders for some of the mums!

I'm really loving sewing for the wider community who love the handmade as much as I love it. So thank you to all those who are supporting my little enterprise which is doing its job & keeping me sane.

'Be a Hero' and make upcycled shorts

Thank you Shirly for you're bag of clothes that were destined for the Salvos. This is the first of our 'upcycled' clothes, a pair of stretch denim shorts. I have to fiddle a bit with the waistband as it wound up a bit big but the fit & length are great. I love the "be a hero ribbon" trim on his pockets. And best of all, he loves them.





PS. this last pose was uninitiated, I caught him while we were having lunch today at mum's work-park. Too funny!!

Day 6 - Red & Green Day

Our Advent activity today is all RED and GREEN.

RED & GREEN snowflake cookies

RED & GREEN outfits

And RED & GREEN playdough. Sorry no photo - imagine the cookies but in playdough form. In fact he thought Tilly was eating playdough this morning when he saw her eating a cookie!

What are you all doing today??

Stay tuned for day 7

The countdown continues....

I've been busy today.

 It started while Miss T slept.....

It continued after she woke up with some help from Baby Einstein....

Any thoughts??

Keep looking in, I'll post the final product once it's dry!

Let the fun begin!!

So, the Made it store I've stated with my great friend and partner-in-crime Rebecca is OPEN. And I've even made two sales!!! My felted shaker eggs have winged their way to Wollongong and a lovely lady from Echuca, Victoria will be saddling up her boys with some cowboy bodysuits. I love the way you can make these small connections across the country. It is quite exciting to think of your loved creations being worn by someone other than your own kids!

I'm too frightened to show you my sewing/computer room as it is a tad messy & cluttered (unlike the inspirational work spaces you see around blog-land) but I'm trying to eek out a place deserved of my new machine (that's another post). Anyhoo, I'm feeling crowded by the piles of unfinished and finished clothes so off to Ikea today to buy a stack of boxes to help get me organised before it gets too late.

I love Ikea, $12 and 6 storage boxes later and I feel better just seeing them constructed and stacked in the lounge! So, check out our listings, I now know exactly what I have in hand and everything is ready to ship within a day. 

Enjoy the rest of your day. I'm off for dinner at my mum's (doesn't matter how old you get, dinner at your mum's is the best).

Amber

If you have come back in time through the Mollydag Made blog & want to see what my sister & I were up to for the four years before I changed blogs to here, come see us at:

http://craftymammas.wordpress.com

More swingsets from the sewing machine

I can't get enough of this pattern! I've just finished my 5th Oliver + S Swing set top. I really must post them to their Flickr pool huh?

With the onslaught 4 year old birthdays this coming month, I had to get cracking and start some serious sewing. First up was a top & skirt for Giles's buddy Amelia (I forgot to photograph that! Bec has to take some for me). I made it from a beautiful double muslin with fairy print from Calico & Ivy. It turned out really well, I just hope it fits. As expected, Amelia threw the dress aside without much of a glance but LOVED the hand-me-down My Little Pony & accessories. Typical! Hee Hee! I'm sure Bec will make her wear the top & skirt once or twice before it gets handed down to Tilly.



Next up was another of Giles's girl friends, whose party was this afternoon. Remember this fabric Jacq? I had enough to make one in size 5 for the birthday girl & just enough left over (with some creative piecing on the back placard - no close-ups I'm afraid) to make a size 2 for Tilly.

I made two chiffon flowers which can be used as hair-clips, or can embellish the front of the dress. I can't find a link right now but there are tonnes of tutorials out there, I know you've tagged it before Jacq. All you do is rough cut a bunch of circles, melt the edges of each circle with a candle or lighter, then stack them up gluing each one with hot glue. I put some sparkles in the center but you could put anything - buttons, sequins, seed-beads etc.

Tilly wore her outfit to the party - too cute - although I am very biased.

I'm going on a sewing frenzy in the next few weeks. With a birthday every weekend for the next 5 weekends I'm going to be busy. Next is a girl party, then 3 boys....Hmmmm what to sew next.......Ideas?

Vintsge ribbon headband

Ok, this post isn't going backwards in time, I made this today. A headband to go with my new, much shorter, hair-do.

I made it from true 'vintage' ribbon - it came from mums sewing stash so it has to be vintage!! Ha!

Shell Stitch Crochet Beanie

[caption id="attachment_297" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Miss T's Shell Stitch Crochet Beanie"][/caption]

Pattern from The Dainty Daisy. Size 12-24 month (fits well). Made from 100% merino wool on a G (6mm) crochet hook.

Anything that I can make within 2 of Miss T's naps is OK with me.

Oliver + S Swingset summer

[slideshow]

I've bought the Oliver + S Swingset Tunic and Skirt pattern and have been knocking a couple of outfits out.  The pattern, as always, is easy to follow and it comes together quite quickly. I traced out the pattern one night, cut all the pieces one afternoon during nap-time and then was able to complete the top in one evening.

This is my 1st made from some Micheal Miller fabric. This dress was using the size 2 Swingset Tunic pattern and lengthened about 2-3 inches to dress-length. I'm really pleased with how it has turned out. I was a bit disappointed that the size 2 was a snug fit on Miss T, that was until I realized I was using the wrong seam allowance (whoops!). I've since made another with the correct seam allowance (the black & red one) and this is a much more appropriate fit for a size 2. As you can see, I'm too chicken to attempt a button hole so I used my much-loved snap machine for the closures on the back.

I can envision whole wardrobe of these Tunics come Summer 2011. That is unless I buy some of their new 2011 fall patterns coming out soon......

5 min crafting - Dummy straps & bookmarks

I found this in the drafts folder - not sure if i've posted it before but I'm doing some housecleaning here in the WordPress Dashboard and thought I'd rather re-post than delete.........

Here are a couple of my 5-minute crafting activities.

Dummy straps:

I truly don't know how people survive child rearing without these dummy straps. While we aren't anal about washing the girl's dummies it is a pain when they are spat out on the floor. Normally at the grocery check-out, or at the bank counter or somewhere equally gross & filthy.

These are so easy to make. A piece of ribbon, snapped at both ends - one to loop around a suspender clip (I found mine at a local craft store for $2.70 for 2), one for around the dummy. You can sew the suspender clip in permanently if you wish. I made a cute one with bee ribbon too but didn't take a photo. Must do soon. The ribbons are all from Calico & Ivy.

Next up, jazzed up bookmarks. Nice -AnnieP papers adhered to gross freebie drug-company bookmarks using contact cement. The have a magnetic clasp inside so the stick to your page. Nice & free!

And here's a random shot of Miss T.

Geeze, you can see how old this post is, T is now 20months old, I think she is 12 weeks in this shot. BTW this is a beautiful beanie that Nanna Beth sent T when she was born, together with a poncho. Beautifully soft & warm. Beth you might like to know she still fits it!!

Colour bingo

Ok Jacq, I've decided to post all my craftiness going backwards in time. This way you can have the big anticlimactic reveal of this crochet project. Ha!

Ok. Post number one is a great game we have been playing over the past few days. Easy peasy and fantastic for keeping toddlers busy in the backyard or inside on a rainy day. I can't remember where I got the idea, somewhere in blog-land.

If you are brave get the kids to paint each section of an egg carton a different colour. Me, well I couldn't face the multicolor mess so I quickly painted these while they were in the bath. It only took 5 min to paint and 5 min to clean (does that make me a bad craftymamma?)

Anyhoo, once the carton is dry send the wee ones out and get them to find something in the yard to match each colour. Green, brown & yellow was easy but we had to think outside the box to fill the purple & blue one! Giles ended up finding a blue telescope toy & bit of purple rubbish bin bag. Cool huh.

Try it one weekend. It will keep the kids busy for at least twice the time it takes to make, which in my book is a winner!

More on my hook

I can't help it ..... I'm addicted!!

I'm using up the spare wool from Tilly's granny square blanket to whip this up. Stay tuned to see what it will become.

Cardie complete

It's finished and I love it. Here are a couple of photos taken at Kings Park yesterday.

YO in the morning sun

It's making progress.

Edited to add: just as I sat there and pressed 'post', it started to rain!! Bugger. Talk about spoiling the mood.

'Princess cardie' for the princess

I've begun my next project for in front of the TV, the Little Princess Cardie (a free pattern offered by Lion Brand) Its a swing style cardigan apparently suited for a beginner - that claim is about to be put to the test!

We don't get Lion Brand here so I chose some bamboo/cotton from Spotlight. It is so silky and soft. A bit challenging to work with as the fibres are almost like embroidery thread and are easy to split as your hook goes in and out but I seem to be getting the hang of it.

I'll keep you posted with my progress. Wish me luck!!

Granny square blanket finished!

I love it - it's heavy, warm and just the right size for the crib or your lap. It's supposed to be Tilly's but mum thinks the colours are more boy-like. What do you think? (BTW, the only photo where the colours are most true is the one of the blanket edges). Either way, the blanket goes with our leather couches.

Geeze tilly is hard to catch on film! You can see the best 2 of all my shots of her with her new blanket. I am no blogging queen.

Now, find me a new easy pattern jacq. I can only do granny squares so it will be a challenge. I've seen this pattern (http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2010/07/how-to-crochet-a-hexigon-baby-surprise-sweater.html) but would it suit tilly??