Roll Up, Roll Up

It's only one more sleep until the next Made'n'Thornbury Market.

I've been crafting like a madwoman this week - cutting, stitching, unpicking, sewing, glueing, dreaming, creating..... but I think I'm ready. I just need to tick everything off my trusty list, pack it all into my giant suitcase, and load it all into the car.

There'll be heaps of fabulous crafty stalls including:

• Tinniegirl
• Finki
• Konstant Kaos
• Mrs Beckinsale
• Pivotal Xpressions
• Flickettysplits
• Buttons by Lou Lou
• Cheeky Little Monsters

and many more...

If you need the address:

99 Leinster Grove
Thornbury
Saturday 5th September
10.00 AM - 3.00 PM

See you there!

A gift for Lily

I finally made a choice on the fabrics, and whipped up a little welcome gift for baby Lily.

Some muted pinks mixed with lots of white - I think Lily's mum will like them. I couldn't resist the cute little piggies that I bought from the Retromummy Shop.

I can hear the rain pouring down on my tin roof - what a lovely noise..... happy Monday.

Toning it down

I have a love of big, bright, bold, 'in your face' colour..... and so I found it quite amusing when a girlfriend requested some new wraps for her baby daughter. She was happy for me to choose the print / pattern of the fabrics. The only specific request was that she wanted a 'toned down' version of what I would usually make.

I headed for the very large unhelpful chain fabric / craft shop yesterday in search of some 'toned down' fabrics.....

.....and this is about as 'toned down' as I can manage.

The latest boom

Another wave of new babies are on the way. Requests have been flying around thick and fast for bibs and blankies for the new arrivals. Was there a special event nine months ago, or was it just really cold in August / September???

It seems like it's been a long time since I've made bibs, so I altered my template slightly to make the newborn bib a little bit longer. I still need to make some little boy options, and some toddler sized bibs too..... better get to it!

My Creative Space

Not much creativity in my space this week. This is the remnants of the baby card that I managed to whip up for my girlfriend who had a little girl named Cate last Wednesday. She was two weeks earlier than expected, but luckily, I already had some handmade baby girl pressies pre-prepared in the stash for just such an occassion.


I gave her a cute little flannel buggy wrap and some sweet little bibs in girlie prints. Once I'm settled, I'm going to attempt a patchwork floor rug. Does anyone have any tips for making these? I'm thinking of doing a cotton patchwork top, maybe a couple of polar fleece layers in the middle, but then I'm not quite sure whether I should just use cotton for the bottom layer. I just need to keep in mind that it must be really easy to wash and dry.

For lots more creativity, visit Kirsty and play along...

Some new additions

My computer has been playing up for a while now, so it's off to be repaired, and I've borrowed the laptop instead. Some of the photo quality over the next few days may be a little dodgy as I don't have any photo editing software on this one.

I added some new items to The CurlyPops Shop.

This soft flannel baby wrap.... (I love the colours in this one but alas, I don't have a baby to wrap)

I've used vintage Sheridan sheeting for the body of this apron. It's an extra large size and should fit up to a size 22. I'm going to make some more in this size during the week.

A little stripey drawstring bag....

...and this lovely floral drawstring bag.

Making

I've been super busy this week making some custom orders outside of The CurlyPops Shop. This selection of bibs is heading off to a new home tonight along with some flannel wrap blankies.

Todays mission is to sew my little touchie off..... in between cups of tea and chocolate breaks anyway!

Somedays.....

Somedays my brain just doesn't want to work.....and I have to keep the unpicker very close by. I should know by now...place right sides facing together......

Thanks to the trusty unpicker (is there a proper name for this tool), I managed to whip up a flannel baby wrap.

There was a bit of kiddie crafting action on the weekend. My eldest nephew came over for a sleepover and wanted to do some sewing (only because I was sewing). He decided Friday night that he needed a neck pillow so he could lay on the couch and watch Collingwood. I cut him the two rectangles of fabric (so that he didn't have to use the rotary cutter). I drew a seam line on the fabric with a texta, and then let him sew the seams on the sewing machine, stuff it with polyfill, and then sew up the opening with a big dolls needles and some embroidery floss. I think he did a pretty good job.

Then on Saturday morning, the weather was miserable so decided that he wanted to make himself a pencil case. We picked out an op-shopped zipper from the stash (which I sewed on...not very well) and then I let him sew up the seams and turn it out (no drawn lines this time).

He sewed it fairly straight....there were just a few problems with the leadfoot on the pedal.

This was the finished result!

Smurfs and UFO's

My 9 year old nephew came over to my house after school during the week while I was making these smurfy t-shirts for Moo Moo and the yet to be born twins. I told him that they were Smurf T-shirts and he just looked at me blankly and asked "What's a Smurf?".

How do you explain a Smurf to a 9 year old who has never seen the cartoon? Ummm, well they're these little blue men and one lady and they wear white hats and pants, except Papa Smurf becuase his are red, and there was a bad guy name Gargamel and he had a cat named Azrael and you could buy the figurines at BP back in the late 70's & early 80's. That's about as much as I could remember.

Thank goodness, I had IQ installed on my Foxtel a few weeks ago. I'll have to tape some episodes and educate the boy!

I just googled the Smurfs and there is a new Smurf movie in production, due for release in 2009 and 2008 is the 50 year annivesary of their creation.

The lovely vintage Smurf fabric was part of my soupy prize from Pip. Cheap t-shirts straight from K-Mart!

And finally, a UFO (unfinished object) is now an FO (finished object). Six more blankies for the twins that I finished off lastnight.

Buzzy, Blankies & Softies

The Buzzy bag was finished off lastnight. I threaded some ribbon through the top pocket and made some fabric pulls for the ends so that the ribbon doesn't fray. I also sewed the ribbon inside the pocket at one side so that little people can't pull the ribbon all the way out (I learned that lesson after giving gifts in drawstring bags last christmas).

Thismorning I cut up fabric for nine more blankies for the twins. I just need to make some more bias tape and attach it to finish these off!

I had to babysit my nephew Moo Moo today so I didn't want to get out any sewing supplies while he was here. We did manage to sing and dance to the Wiggles (I had it on in rotation and I still have Hoop De Doo playing in my head), and we had a little picnic on the rug in the front yard with ginger nut and choc chip biccies. I did actually feed him real food for lunch first!

I've seen lots of cute little things in blogland over the last couple of days. Firstly 'Softies for Mirabel' is back again this year over at Meet Me at Mikes. I missed out last year because I was just lurking but I'm going to get into the swing of it this year.

I saw this cute little book weight over on A Spoonful of Sugar. I was making a banana cake last weekend and my recipe book kept flipping shut so this would be perfect!

And I finally managed to send off my last pay it forward gift all the way to New Zealand to Sew Funky.

I've found lots more cool blogs over the last couple of weeks so I really need to update my side bar, maybe I'll save that job for the weekend!

Oh and last but not least, an update on the ladder (that is still sitting in the front garden bed), Mr CurlyPops likes the idea of installing it somehow in the laundry to use for clothes drying (thankyou Drewzel). This is a great idea because it will be much more environmentally (and financially) friendly during the winter instead of using the tumble dryer. The house where we stayed in Bellbrae over the Christmas holidays had really high ceilings and they had a clothes drying rack in the loungeroom that worked on a rope and pulleys system so you let it down to hang the clothes and then raise it up out of the way until they dry. It was really cool, but I only have 7 foot ceilings so that isnt really going to work.

I wish I had a huge craft room so I could also use a bit to hang gorgeous fabrics for inspiration (I can dream can't I)! One day!

Bug Blankies

I made a couple of flannel bug blankies for the upcoming twins today using the fabric that I bought yesterday (oh lookie there, I made more bias tape)......

.....and I'm posting this photo just for a laugh. This is where I found my cat lastnight. Maybe he wants to help me make some more bias tape.....

I'm getting very close to post number 100 so keep your eyes peeled for a celebratory giveaway!

Aprons, Blankies and Pouches

I had a busy day today stitching up a storm (and making bias tape for everything I can think of!)


Last week I won another giveaway on Joanne's blog. I'm starting to feel a bit guilty because I've won three giveaways in the space of about 6 weeks.

Anyhow, Joanne wasn't having a great birthday so I decided to send her a pressie.

I made her this reversible apron (with bias tape on the edges)......


....and packaged it up and popped it in the post. Happy Birthday Joanne, hope you like it!

It's my brother in laws birthday tomorrow so my sister ordered this belt buckle for him from Randitan. The belt buckle is made from old car licence plates. Randi makes heaps of other cool things including funky earrings and pendants. I sewed up a little blue pouch to pack it in.

Then I finally made a moo moo blankie for my nephew Moo Moo (also with bias tape).

Latest report from Mr CurlyPops is that he has bought me some .........fabric! I can't wait to see what he has picked........and bring on April 1st so my internet connection resets!

Giddy Up!

I've tested out my new bias tape makers and they are fab!

It's so much easier than making the tape manually just with the iron. So I managed to finish two Giddy Up blankies for the twins and I finished the spotty blankie that I started earlier in the week.

I couldn't wait to use the fabrics from Retromummy, and luckily I had a few spare t-shirts lying around so I quickly added some Jack and the Beanstalk and some Funky Monkeys to the fronts.

I also had a scrappy bit of skull & crossbone leftover for this one.

These three are going to my nephew Moo Moo (it's ok, that's just his nickname - his parents aren't crazy folk).

Mr CurlyPops has just left the building. He's off to Hong Kong for the weekend to watch a rugby tournament (and buy me lots of presents). In his absence, I'm hoping to get lots of crafty things done, and I'm planning to drop in to Meet Me At Mikes tomorrow so I can snap up a Mirabel Heart before it's too late.

Anyhoo, have a lovely crafty weekend!