All Things Mum

So, I have about two weeks until Father's Day when we will be celebrating Little Miss turning the big 2. I finally got around to buying some fabric to make a dress for her. Plus, I decided an extra special something... a Freya Doll by Melly and Me... Can't wait.... The material is a Heather Bailey design: Freshcut for Free Spirit ( I hope I got that right) The doll is a pattern made up by talented Aussie crafters who have their own blog Oh and I also want to make a headband for her which you can get from Heather Bailey's blog . Caveat : once you visit you'll be totally addicted and spend hours just devouring the delights on her site. And if that wasn't enough for you I found inspiration at Oh, Fransson . Now you have been truly spoilt today ; ) edit: Goodies sourced from Quilt Fabric Delights

There's not much happening in my neck of the woods. The rain is pouring down and I'm in no mood to do anything large-ish. I've been watching some Olympic action. I just love watching the finals. I get teary and emotional. So what did I come up with today? Just a quick bib for the little man. He's really into his food so what better than to finally make up something for him. What I did was just copy the outline of one of his existing bibs and cut out the required material. I made up black bias to keep all the layers together, sewed on an M, velcro and voila! A bib. It looks better in real life than in the picture, I promise. My only problem now is that I'm reluctant to mess it up : )

Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!! I soooo love this dress. I think if I made one similar for little miss' birthday she would just look too adorable in it. Then again, if I just won this one I wouldn't have to make her a party dress!!! Fingers crossed.

I thought I'd enlighten you readers on what a few of the books that I'm forever dragging out now that I'm a full-time SAHM. Also, that's my boy. He's sprouting his second tooth and he giggles until he has hiccups. 1. Destitute Gourmet: The title perfectly defines how I cook. Dinner stresses me just thinking about it and I end up making up something on the spot. Lucky for me my hubs likes most of the food I eat quote: 'I don't like it when you put chick peas in food' I've only ever made one or two things from this book so it's not really saving my sanity at the moment. 3/5 stars 2. Supernanny by Jo Frost: I love this book. Very simple and ingenius. I'm using the Naughty Step on my daughter although it frightens the hell out of me just thinking about using it. There's loads of information and my trouble is just trying to remember it all. She covers a whole lot of issues from newborn to toddler so it's well worth the read. 4.5 stars 3.

Happy Birthday Sis!!! We were as thick as thieves as children together and I hope your 30th is really fantastic. You deserve it. I finished the bag today. It was so much faster than my first bag and I really love this one. The fabric is a Japanese cotton: Seven Berry Trees. My sister is a gardener and I worry each time I see her pulling out her mobile and keys from her pockets. This bag is the perfect size to fit purse, camera, mobile and keys. Plus a bit of room for snacks or small scarf. I have taken pics of the method in this madness and I'll post it soon as a tutorial.

It's been really cold and chilly here in Sydney since we've settled into Winter. I should have made this coat sooner but I think she'll still get quite a few uses out of it even during the cooler spring evenings. So here's the coat that I made this week. It was quicker than I anticipated, but with my itch to get it done so quickly there were a few boo boo's here and there, just don't inspect it too closely or look inside ; ) I love the crochet lace pocket detail. I've never done a collar with facing inside the way this one is done before but luckily came across some help through a web blog here . Then it clicked how I was meant to sew in the collar and facings. Phew... so everyone likes it so far. I hope it keeps the cold and flu away.

I love tutorials and when I come across something I like I just wish I could drop everything and get started. One day I will get around to posting one instead of just copying them. One of my tips I do when I find a good tute is to copy it and download it to Word. That way, when I want to revisit or try to do it, I can either print it or just sit on my bed and read it over and over again (not remembering a single instruction!) without needing to be on the net. Here's some really cool tutorials I would just love to get done one day... Cathedral window (pictured) by Making Ends Meet Portable Cushion by Autum at Sew Mama Sew Tiered Skirt by Kuky Ideas I'm sure there's heaps more out there but I've got kids to look after. Right now I'm in the midst of sewing up a fleece coat for my almost terrible two toddler. Which reminds me, she's turning two in Sept!!! Better start up a birthday dress for her. Stay tuned.

Here is my finished bag from the ever omnipotent Japanese book. Okay, so I had some trouble with the bias. Firstly, I made the bias myself. This was a task in itself. I'd sit and stare at the graphs for a day calculating how big to make my square, how many inches of bias it would make, how big did I want my bias to be? I had no idea! It was my first time and truthfully, it wasn't as fun as just going out to buy some but it was more satisfying and it did look sooo much better... don't you think. I sat in bed last night pinning in the Pellon Craft Fuse (stabiliser) to the handles as I wanted it to be sturdier. I am not sure if I regret using it on the body of the bag as I did have some bubbles and it doesn't drape as nicely with the gathering buuuut ... it will do and as it's my first bag I can get away with it. I will be making more of these as I really love the design but I won't be using the craft fuse next time. It was so simple and I will make a smaller ver

I knew it would happen one day, I got tagged (finally) by Iris at IdeySpidey... Rules: 1. Link to the person who “tagged” you. 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. Write six random things about yourself. 4. Tag six people at the end of your post. 5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. 6. Let the tagger know your entry is up. so here goes... 1. I have 7 sisters and 2 brothers 2. I really want to have white teeth 3. My pet hate are people who whinge about nothing important and forget there's people in far worse situations in life 4. I love my sleep and despite this I want 4 kids or more, hee hee 5. I can drive manual 6. I love watching Gilmore Girls Cool. So how was that? I spent some time this morning sewing up my hand bag. I learnt a few things like you should sew in your pocket before you sew up your lining. I still need to sew up the handles with bias tape. I'm going to have a go at making my own from a tutorial I found from Sew