A hat for Hannah

June is another busy month of celebrations in the Harris household. We have birthdays for 2 nieces, one sister-in-law, one dad and one Grandma, as well as our wedding anniversary.

Our niece Hannah is up first- she is turning 8. I found this pattern by Butterfly Tree here on etsy. It was another downloadable one which makes it just so convenient. This one comes in adult sizes too and I would love to try one for myself. The flower is stuck to a pin so it can removed easily.

And it's reversible!

It's hard to get a decent photo without a head in the hat! Here it is on me- it's a bit small but I'm sure you get the idea (Please excuse the no make-up, hair not done, looking into the sun self-portrait)

I'm sure you get the idea.

I really hope she likes it! Happy Birthday Hannah!

Costume ideas

Well the sewing has been put on hold for a little while- it's report writing time and I must focus!

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some costume ideas for those dress-up days that school springs on us from time to time. I quite enjoy the creating of costumes at the moment but ask me again in another couple of years when I have kids at school and I may not feel the same way. Ha!

Maybe you could use one of these ideas?

Jonah dresses as Mr Strong for a book character parade. We just got a big cardboard box from the local supermarket, cut out holes for head and arms, spray-painted it red and drew the face on with texta. The hat was from Big W and the leg-warmers from a little sock and hat shop in Penrith. Jonah can be a bit shy and sensitive and can get overwhelmed in dress-up situations so I drew Mr Strong's face onto the T-shirt he was wearing underneath the box. Good thing I did because he refused to wear the box in the parade! We have since made a Mr Skinny costume with a long, skinny box painted yellow with red hat.

This costume was for a day at school where all the kids had to dress as something beginning with 'f'. Jonah insisted on being a fly- ewww! I cut a foam ball in half, covered both halves in glue and rolled it in really fine red glitter. I then glued these onto a black beanie and added a headband with pipe cleaners for the antennae. The wings were made out of wire coathangers and sheer black stockings attached to some elastic so he could strap them over his shoulders. I used silver glitter glue to add the pattern onto the wings. Jonah LOVED this costume!

Jonah has been doing a unit at school called, 'The way we were'. He has really enjoyed all his teacher's stories about when she was a little girl. He can't believe it when I tell him I didn't have a computer when I was his age. Today, they had to dress up as a kid in the olden days. He wore his school shorts and a shirt we already owned. I searched the local op-shops and found some cute ones. The hat and socks were from little shop in Penrith Westfields- the best place to find socks and hats of all varieties. Jonah had a fabulous day playing 'olden day games' like marbles, jacks and pick-up sticks. What fun!

Anyway, I'm sure there will be plenty more dress-up opportunities in the near future. I'd love to see other people's costume ideas!

Handmade gift for Mothers Day

Do you need a quick, easy and funky idea for a handmade mothers day gift? How about these fun fabric covered necklaces?

I bought the twine necklaces from Spotlight (pack of 3 for $3). Thread wooden beads onto the twine necklace. Make a tube of fabric to fit your beads snugly. You do this by folding your strip of fabric (about 3.5'' wide) lengthwise and sewing along the raw edge before turning right side out. Slip the beads and necklace into fabric tube. Tie embroidery floss tightly in between each bead. Cut each end of the fabric so there is just enough to stuff into the hole of the beads on the end. Secure with a bit of hot glue. And there you have it!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL THE MUMS! (especially mine!!)

My mum with 5/6 grandchildren

Inspiration and Ironman

It's been a while since my last post! I lost my inspiration and motivation for a few reasons. After numerous attempts at making soft toy bunny rabbits for my nieces and nephew for Easter, I had to give up. I hate giving up, but they looked terrible! Every time I finished one, my husband laughed at it! So my confidence took a bit of a battering! Rabbit making is clearly not my thing!

My other reason for losing inspiration was the state of my sewing area. It got so out of control with fabric scraps, ric rac, ribbon, thread, buttons and the like that I just couldn't look at it anymore! Soooo I spent one whole rainy day cleaning it- fabrics are all ironed, sorted into colours and boxed and all my other bits and pieces have their own little compartment.  And now I feel ready to start creating again.

But not this weekend as I am off to Port Macquarie to watch my brother compete in an Ironman event. Really looking forward to it. You can read all about his ironman journey HERE if you are interested.

In the meantime, here are a couple of snaps of my little girl in her Easter dress. So colourful!

And one with my brother the Ironman. GO JONO!!!!!! xxxx

Holiday sewing

I love holidays!! During the day we have been bushwalking, picnicing, swimming, beaching, visiting, playing, resting and at night I have been SEWING! Lots of sewing!

Last night I finished these 6 reversible pinafores with matching headbands which will soon be available to buy at Sew Beautiful in Springwood in sizes 1, 2 and 3. Hooray!

My husband snapped this photo of me tracing the pattern for these dresses onto Christmas wrapping paper.

Next, I made this dress for my Gabby to wear at Easter. Have you ever seen funkier corduroy? I love it. I used the same pattern I used to make the dress found here. I wasn't sure how it would go with thicker corduroy fabric, but it seems fine.

Finally, here is my favourite holiday photo so far. My lovelies in the bush on a beautiful day.

They make me happy :)

Too busy!

It has been a while  between posts! I have been doing lots of sewing, but mainly spending time doing fun things with my 3 kids who are on school holidays. I have been working on 3 projects at once and haven't finished any of them yet. So here is a sneak peak of what will be appearing on my blog soon.

This will be (eventually) a small quilt for my brother's 1st baby, more reversible pinafores with matching headbands and Easter bunny soft toys. Oh my! I'd better get busy!

Stay tuned for the finished results!

In the meantime, I thought I'd share with you a dress I made last year for Gabby to wear to my cousin's wedding. It is getting a bit short now and she has only worn it twice. I'm considering how I can lengthen it to make it last a bit longer.

That's it for now. Back soon when I can show you some finished things!

Buttercup bag for Libby

Today marked the 21st birthday of my youngest cousin, Libby. She is so lovely and I love that we still like to hang out despite the fact that we are at such different stages of life. Libby was the flower girl at our wedding when she was 10 years old. How special!

This is a cute little bag that I made for Libby's Birthday. It is called a 'Buttercup bag" and the free pattern and tutorial can be found HERE. How great is it that people share their ideas and patterns on the internet? I love it. This one is really easy, fully lined and closes with a magnetic clasp. It also has a little pocket inside for your mobile. There are countless possibilities for embellishing this pattern. I have so many ideas and can't wait to make another one.

   

Happy Birthday Lovely Libby!