Pants and Tantrums

So I finally worked out why Imogene could never keep a pair of pants up, She has a long torso, no bum, and short legs, every pair of pants I've bought her since she has been out of nappies would just fall down, belts helped but were annoying. So I finally worked out that the pants in the shops all had too low a rise. For some reason I've never made a pair of pants for Imee before, but this year I had to! I pulled out Burda 9706, which I've used a few times before to make pants for Charlotte and Laura, Pulled this fabric out of my bulging box of dress fabrics, I think its a cotton ripstop but I'm not 100% on that, and got to work.

Verdict: She loves them!! and the very best bit, I don't have to follow her around saying "pull up your pants" every 5 seconds!! The rise in these pants is quite high, so perfect for Imee! She also loves having her photo taken, such a poser!!

Laura also needed new pants, The ones she had been wearing, were turning into 3/4 pants! For hers I used up some lovely soft lilac cord that had also been languishing in my stash, with a cuff of the same material I used to back her doll quilt. Unfortunately she was not in the mood for photos.....

Here she is when I first turned the camera in her direction.....

Then she bolted.....

I don't know where she thought she was going, but I finally got an O.K shot of the pants!

Then she bolted again, I handed the camera too mark and took off after her as soon as this shot was taken because I realised she wasn't going to stop! That's Charlotte in the foreground there. After this photo when I caught Laura the tantrum kicked in big time, she screamed all the way back to the car, she is 3, I really dislike this aspect of 3, but she will grow out of it!

And to end on a happier note, here is Jocie, at 6mths, laughing at funny mummy with the clicky thing! She is such a lovely baby, and getting mobile now too, she is rolling and shuffling around on all over the floor, she is also trying to crawl, eek!!

And the Winner of the SEWN Giveaway is..............

Drumroll please.......Congratulations Helen! I've sent you an email!

If you haven't been to Helen's blog before go and check it out, Patchy Work of Mini Grey

Thanks everyone for visiting, I had so much fun I can't wait to do another giveaway (give me a little time to recover first though!)

A Doll quilt for Laura....

I'm pretty happy with it, Laura on the other hand absolutely loves it!

I had no plan going into this, and I've decided that I really don't like working that way.

Being a beginner though, this quilt gave me a chance to try out a few things, some bubbly quilting on the Beatrix Potter patch, which made the characters really pop.

I also did some leaves around the outside border from a template, which worked out a lot better then I thought it would, I will use this template again on the green and brown quilt.

I really liked the effect that the square spiral gave in this block.

And I love the backing fabric! (even though I oriented it the wrong way)

Don't Forget to leave a comment on This Post, to enter my giveaway for the SEWN Launch! Comments close tomorrow at 1pm AEST! And head over Here, to find 140+ other blogs that have joined the party!!

It's still raining.....

So please excuse the (even worse than usual) photo's. The colour's are pretty wrong, but you get the idea!

Jocie's 2nd Cardi, it still needs a button, I'll get to it eventually. It is actually cream and dark pink.

A beanie for my best friend's daughter, again cream and dark pink.

The hexagon blanket! Far from perfect, but I love it, and so does Mark, which is good because it is destined for our bed, colours are pretty good on this one except for the pink which is the same as the cardi and beanie.

Imogene's pyjama's, The colours are a little saturated but mostly right here, she still hasn't worn them yet, I think she was a bit miffed that she didn't get pink pants!

I've been cutting out a Cheery Chimp, I'm so excited to have finally started him, It took me a while to find the "right" fabric, but I have and all I will say is this chimp is a huge Beatles fan!

And Charlotte is at it again, this time embroidering an elephant, her stitches are getting better and better, and most importantly she is loving it!!

I'm planning on doing some more on Laura's doll quilt tonight, hopefully tomorrow I will have a finished top to show!

The Last day of Autumn.....

And it was too cloudy most of the day to take any photos outside.

I do have a nice photo of three of the girls in their new Pyjamas, Imogene's were last to be finished (only yesterday!) and she hasn't worn them yet.

Charlotte and Jocie's are a different pattern for the pants, but both have a little flower that I machine stitched to the (bought) shirt, Laura and Imogene's pants are the same pattern just different sizes, Laura's shirt has a half moon that I stitched on (very badly!), and Imogene has a bright pink shirt with a balloon stitched on, it even has a string from the knot down to the hem.

Don't forget to enter my Giveaway for the SEWN Launch Party! Comments will close 1pm AEST on Monday June 8th, only one week away! Please make sure I have a way to contact you, either an email address, blog, or you can always check back on the day, I will be drawing it in the evening sometime. There are heaps of fantastic giveaway's all over blog land so do go and check them out, and it's not too late to sign up for a giveaway of your own either!

A Weekend Away.....

We went to Tiona last weekend, we were so lucky to miss all the rain, though it was still pretty bleak, we are hoping to get down there again in summer, when the water at Forster is a clear ice blue and without fear of being blown away!

The view from our cabin.

On the way to the lake. (2 minutes walk)

Wallis Lake.

The Green Cathedral.

Jocie (wearing her new Cardi) and Mark getting blown away on Seven Mile Beach. (less then one minutes walk from the cabin!)

I have a few finishes to share, but first I need to take some photos! Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with those, sunshine permitting of course!

Scrap & Stash Busting.

I'm ever-so-slowly working through my "to-do" and "want to-do" lists, but they are still a mile long! 

In no particular order:

On the hook, another little cardigan for Jocelyn, this will probably have 3/4 length sleeves, to avoid excess wetness of clothing (she is drooling/sucking on everything!). I'm using the leftover yarn from the big girls beanies.

A doll quilt for Laura, using the scraps from her own quilt, and a cute little Beatrix Potter patch. I am winging this, I have no plan at all, and it is all quite rough really, but I wanted to practise a few techniques and experiment a bit, and I'm doing it so that's the main thing!

Next up a pile of P.j pants for all the girls, all ready for the first pass through the machine, I'm definitely going construction line style with these!  I  bought a heap of Flannelette last year on clearance, I think it was less then a $1 a metre, Anyway all that material was taking up valuable storage space, so it had to used.  

And finally a Finish!,  A Pincushion organiser, made with the scraps of my first quilt, (which i will never ever show on here, It's just too embarrassing, though I was very proud of it at the time!) It may not look great but it is functional, I especially love the little scrap bin, perfect for a messy person like me! And of course I love how it sits on the arm of my chair or on my sewing table just right!

Look what I found in my letterbox.......

The other day I mentioned that i had won a giveaway over at Sparkly Green Knickers, Well my parcel arrived yesterday and this is what I won!!

I'm so excited about all the ideas running through my head, There is so many pretty fabrics here to work with!

Thank you Jo!!!

Giveaway time!!

I'm joining in on the SEWN Launch Party!!

Click on the pic above to find out more or go to Sarah's blog The Last Piece for more info, plus a list of all the blogger's joining the party!!

For your chance to win two fat quarters of Prints Charming Fabric, leave a comment on THIS post, by the 8th of June.

I will be drawing a name out of a hat/cup/bowl/other suitable receptacle, on Monday the 8th of June. Good Luck!

Edit: I will be closing comments at 1pm Aussie eastern standard time on June 8th, and also please please make sure I have some way of contacting you! email, blog link, etc, or remember to check back the evening of June 8th!

Spoilt Rotten!

Uhuh, that's right, spoilt rotten, who? ME!!!!

Last Thursday, my husbands grandmother, Nanna Gwen, gave me a present, I nearly cried.

Nan was given this beautiful Marcasite bracelet, on her 17th birthday (1940), by her dear friend Peter. Unfortunately Peter, was lost during WW2. As you can imagine this bracelet holds a lot of sentimental value, and I was honoured to be the recipient of such a gift.

Then on Sunday, it was my birthday!!

I got a new cutting board, and some lovely fabric, off of Mark and the girls, along with a huge stack of beautiful drawings, cards and colouring in, that the girls had made for me! They even wrote Jocie's name on a few so that she could give me something too! And I can't forget my perfect new P.J's, Betty Boop, flannelette, in pinks/purples, absolutely perfectly perfect pyjamas! (but I'm not showing a pic of me in my pj's!)

And, the lovely Nanna Gwen was at it again, with a delicious chocolate cake! Which my dutiful husband covered in candles, he even managed to fit just the right number of candles on it!

To top my wonderful week off, I woke up this morning to find out that I had won a giveaway over at Sparkly Green Knickers! (pics will come)

And just a heads up, I'm planning on a giveaway of my own in the next few days, to link in with the SEWN launch party!