Spring Fling Skirt

The kids were invited to a 3rd birthday party on the weekend, by the little girl who lives over the back fence. They have just moved into their house so its nice to get to know some more neighbours.

Having just returned from a week on the beautiful Gold Coast I was feeling pretty unmotivated to sew or do much. But I gathered my strength and dived into my stash. I am loving what I came up with. A double layered twirly skirt, with vintage sheeting on the bottom layer and lovely cupcakes on the top.

We added a treasure pocket (this is what the girls have called them as they are perfect for collecting all sorts of treasures, like shells, sticks and bottle tops!). It came together nicely and I can see myself making some more of these in the near future. I did make the pocket a little on the large size (it was gaping open) but I managed to fix this by adding a button and buttonhole to the pocket. Prefect for Canberra spring weather with a little pair of leggings underneath.

Party Season...

I was only saying to someone last month that the girls didn't seem to have made that many friends at preschool. There were lots of parties happening and no invites for us (they weren't aware but I was hearing other parents talk about this party and that one..it actually made me sad to think that people were struggling to break through the special bond my girls share).

Well that all changed and we have had two preschool parties in the last two weeks. Yay to new friends!

I am really struggling with what to buy 5 year olds. There is so much commercialised stuff out there! So for our new friend S we made this superheroes cape (I used a tutorial that I found online and now I can't remember where I found it..sorry) and teamed it with a canvas to paint, some acrylic paints and paint brushes and for our other friend S I made a little twirly skirt and appliqued t-shirt and teamed it with 4 pretty butterfly clips and a sparkly lip gloss. I probably spent $20-$25 on each child. Not factoring in fabric (as it was all from my stash) or time. So please share your thoughts with me..Is this enough ??(baring in mind that its from two little people). What else can I do for 5 year old pressies??

And here is a sneak peek at some lounge pants I made for my sisters birthday. Vintage sheets and a lovely vintage linen tablecloth used for the cuffs..mmm comfy. I hope she likes them. The jewellery is from Zaruff in Sydney. You can buy it online. I have one of their hand crafted bracelets, made from semi-precious stones and venetian glass beads. Its chunky but I love it. They often have some great sales and you can pick up some of the jewellery at half price!

Increasing My Fabric Stash

I just thought I would share some of my fabric bargains that I have managed to score over the last month. Now its time to start planning some summer sewing.......

$2.50 for vintage cotton plisse at a country Op shop. Its a bit sad that when you go home to see your family..you have to have a good trawl through the local Op shops!

Linens, denim and a spotty drill, along with some buttons and embroidery thread picked up at the YMCA Garage Sale on Saturday

3 clowns also from the YMCA Garage Sale..they were too cute to leave behind

My splurge on fabrics from the US. I highly recommend this shop. Their service is fantastic.

Cottons from my parents local Spotlight..all for $2 a metre.

My spotlight never has anything this good. I just wish I had gotten more!





And some fabric from my local fabric store. They had a sale last month with 25% off quilting cottons for members.

Polka Dot Swap

Look what arrived in the mail for me last week. Yippee. My Polka Dot Swap Parcel from Bianca. Wow I have been so spoilt. After such a crazy week, it was lovely to sit down and savour all these goodies. Thanks Bianca.

3 lovely pieces of material - spotty velvet, spotty plisse and some gorgeous fabric for the little man

A lovely little bag (which I have had to hide rom the girls) and a covered note pad which already has a permanent home in my hand bag.

For Bianca, I made the Hostess Apron from this pattern . It was my first attempt at an apron and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it came together. I will be definitely making this one again. And a flower brooch, using some of my all time fav fabric and the Prints Charming Pattern I got at the craft show in Sydney. Lots of fun. Thanks to Stacey for all her hard work in organising the swap.

****On another note..is anyone else having trouble uploading images to blogger??******