Posts from — May 2008

I made a pair of pyjamas pants for each of the kids, then stuck a square of fabric over a $5 Cotton On Kids top that originally had “My Dad Rocks” written across the front of it. Zoe couldn’t wait for me to put hems on her pants, so she just rolled them up. Actually she’s had them rolled up for 3 nights now -I really must get them finished before they frey up to her knees!

This has been one of those projects that has sat there 99% finished for several weeks. My mum kindly helped me with the hem (it had got a bit short so she put bias binding around the bottom to minimise the size of the hem) and today I finally got the ribbon sewed on. I must say I am completely thrilled with how this dress has turned out, and so is Miss Zoe

Miss Zoe needs to wear pants to kinder every Tuesday for PMP (a physical education program aimed at promoting balance, coordination and a host of other worthy skills and attributes). Of course Miss Zoe does not like wearing pants on any day of the week, and so every Tuesday we have a stand off over what she will wear to kinder. In an effort to make Tuesday mornings happier for everyone, I made some Pink PMP Pants. I figure no little girl could complain about having to wear these pretty pants, and sure enough this morning Miss Zoe happily put them on and went off to kinder.

I took this photo just before she went in, carrying Mr Crocodile in a lovely purple necklace

I have a good excuse for not getting a lot of sewing done. Somebody gave this machine to my mum and it has been sitting at her house doing nothing every since. The other day I got frustrated with my old machine (which actually looks much newer than this one) and thought I’d give the Pfaff a whirl. On first attempt I couldn’t get it to zig-zag, and this afternoon the bobbin kept tangling, so deciding it must need a bit of a dust and oil I got a screw driver and opened it up. Oh my! There was so much dust in this machine I’m surprised it sewed any stitches at all. It also had a lot of thread/mashed up fabric stuck hard in several places (including under the bobbin). After about an hour of picking out dust, I put it back together, and it’s sewing very nicely. I can’t get it to do the fancy stitches pictured above the buttons on the right, but it already has a heap more stitches than the old one I was using, so I’m not worried. The only real problem is that it didn’t come with a manual, and I have no idea what most of the feet do! Anyway, here’s to using the Pfaff to finish a few projects before the end of the weekend!

I photographed this mushroom growing in our backyard last week, but I had to go out again this morning as I swear it’s grown twice as big since then! We call it the poison mushroom to deter the kids from touching/eating it, but Zoe couldn’t resist giving it a good poke with the stick. The backyard is still a real mess from a wind storm we had here last month which brought down several large gum trees (thankfully none of them near the house).

I took a photo with the microwave clock in the background to prove it! Hamish has been begging me to make another batch of banana and choc chip muffins all week, and in an attempt to put it off one night I mumbled something about getting up early to make them in the morning. Hamish came in at 7.30am the next morning to remind me -lucky it’s an easy recipe because I had stayed up until 1am the night before and my eyes were only half open. The muffins were delicious though, and one day later I just sent the last one off in his lunch box!

This fabric was supposed to be used to make pants for Miss Zoe, but I found the thought of making a skirt far more interesting. We bought most of these buttons on my first visit to Spotlight since being bitten by the craft bug (and my first trip in many years) where we were like two kids in a candy store. The others were bought at the Button Shop in Malvern when we went to buy buttons for the dress I wrote about last week. Zoe loves the skirt and it has already done a day at kinder (after a drawn out argument about which top would ‘match’ it best!). As for the pants, I have bought some very pink and flowery cord to make some pants which I hope she will love (pants are NOT very popular right now…).

I made Mr Crocodile come to life after seeing the idea on Whosies blog. Miss Zoe was initially disappointed that his eyes did not have black rings around them like they do in her drawing, but they are now cuddled up together in bed so I guess all is forgiven

I went to help out in Hamish’s classroom this morning and came home to this lovely crocodile, drawn by Miss Zoe aged 3 1/2. He smiles at me from his new home on the fridge door