Christmas dresses and photos

I nearly forgot about these two dresses I made for Gabby to wear at Christmas.

This first one was made using 'Kumari Garden Holiday' fabric by Dena Designs. I bought it from the US on Etsy. I have made this pattern before- SEE HERE. I love it because it is so simple- just made from  different size rectangles and she loves it because it has an exciting amount of 'twirl' happening.

This next one was made for Gabby's Preschool concert where the theme was 'White Christmas'. Gabby chose the fabric from Spotlight as it was super sparkly. I traced around the bodice of a dress she already owns and then just made a gathered, two layered rectangle for the skirt and sewed it to the bodice.

Each year, I like to take a Christmas photo of the kids and use it for our family Christmas card. This year, I decided to buy a bunch of Christmas coloured helium balloons and take the kids the National Park near our house for some photo fun. We got heaps of good shots- here's just a couple of my faves:

Check out these from the previous 4 years. Look how much my baby has grown!

2012

2011

2010

2009- Gabby's 1st Christmas

 So that's Christmas for another year. I hope you all had a happy one with time spent reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by. xxx

Easy sheath dress

What a perfect weekend for sewing! On Friday, my boys were at school and my husband had a day off work so he took our daughter for the day so I could have some 'me time'. YAY! I made 3 items of clothing throughout the day. Here's the first one:

I saw this picture of a 30 minute jersey sheath on Pinterest the other day using this textured jersey fabric. The tutorial can be found HERE. I had seen some similar fabric in Spotlight so went and nabbed some for the bargain price of $10 per metre (usually $34!)This dress took me less than an hour to make. I originally made it with sleeves, but I made the armholes too small so I just cut them off. I cut the neckline just a little bit too low- a good lesson- always cut less to begin with!

The rolly, rough type fabric was easy to sew with and very forgiving with cutting and sewing seams- great project for a beginner! There is also no need to hem the neckline, sleeves and bottom of the dress, but I did just to neaten it up a bit.

The fabric is also more flattering to wear than normal jersey. Those crinkles hide lumps and bumps really well! I think it will be good for Autumn with a little cardi and boots.

This dress only used 1 metre of fabric so it cost me $10 all up. Bargain! I still have another metre of fabric left so I might try another one with sleeves and higher neckline.

So there is my first little number completed on my super sewing spree day. Stay tuned over the next week or so for more easy clothing! I'd love to see what creative things you are working on at the moment. Feel free to leave a link below.

Thanks for stopping by.

A birthday dress for Gabriella Rose

My girl turned 4 yesterday.

This is the dress I made for her to wear at her party.

So the obsession with jersey fabric continues. This fabric is from a shop called 'Oh Sew Crafty' based in the U.K. The shipping was really fast and reasonably priced. I love this fabric! So, so pretty and girly.

Once again, I traced around one of Gabby's favourite dresses to make the pattern. She asked for it to be 'really long'.

Love this girl.

A buttercup bag for Tracey

Just a quick one today. A couple of months ago, I wrote about a bag I made for my cousin Libby's birthday. Well the free pattern that I downloaded from here was begging to be made again. So I made this one for my sister-in-law's birthday. This time I enlarged the pattern by 130%. I love making this bag. Everyone could give this a go.... really... it's so easy!

How cute is this fabric?

My sister-in-law, Tracey, is a VERY talented quilter and crafter and she taught me to sew about 5 years ago and I haven't been able to stop since! She has given my family and me lots of beautiful handmade gifts over the years so it's nice to be able to give just a little one to her.

Happy Birthday, Tracey!!

Busy but productive day

All the craft I've been doing has to begin to wind down now. It's inevitable and so sad. I am back to my part time job next week after 6 weeks holiday. Teaching truly is the best job in the world, especially my job as a Learning Support teacher. I love it- nearly as much as I love making things! But with the beginning of the school year comes the preparations that have to be done. So today, I started getting organised for the school year. I have so loved being home with my kids for this time and I am very grateful that I don't have to work full time so I can still spend plenty of time with them and hopefully get some crafty time in as well. It is a balancing act with one child at School, one at Preschool and one at Grandma's for 2 days per week, but we seem to muddle along quite well somehow! In amongst the school work today, I did manage to complete a few small projects which I am really happy with. These included another headband with a gorgeous fabric flower which I love (will definitely be making more of these!) a funky button necklace which I'm putting away for Gabby's Birthday and baking choc chip cookies. Here they are. Enjoy!

How cool is this necklace?! I used bright vintage buttons I've collected over the years and threaded them onto a piece of ribbon. She's going to love it! Shhhh this one's a surprise!

Headband for Bethany. Do you like it Carolyn? The flower can be clipped onto either side of  the headband or worn separately as a hair clip.

Yum! The boys and I made these choc chip biscuits today. So yummy but so unhealthy! We made them as a special treat to take with us when we go away this weekend. So looking forward to that!

Oh I love this one!

Experimenting with new patterns has to be my new favourite thing! I love how you can just browse patterns online, choose one, pay for it, download it and start sewing straight away. This is what I did with this little number-  a cute pattern by 'That darn cat'. I really enjoyed sewing this one. I bought the butterfly fabric from Pink chalk fabrics for about $4.50 a yard (bargain!!) and only used half a yard to make the dress! The spots are another Michael Miller wonder. I really am trying to move away from spots. I love them so much and they seem to work with everything. I forced myself to buy some stripy fabric yesterday so stay tuned for something different. The big buttons on this dress are from 'Sew Beautiful' in Springwood. Chunky buttons have to be another favourite of mine! Here it is.