Take that, misfit fabrics!

I was determined this weekend to use up some of my misfit fabrics to try out a new design. It's less than a month now until our trip to the States and Maia needs some really roomy dresses to keep her cool.


This is the first one I made and it took me three hours or so from drafting to finishing. It's a size 3T/4T but it fits fine now and should fit for a long time!



There is a big box pleat at the bodice (my first pleat!) which gives it even more room for growth.


It has quite a long slash down the back and this one has one big button and loop closure.


I used my 'mod' fabric for the second one.


For this one, I used a contrasting spotty fabric for the box pleat, although it blends in enough with the other fabric that it's hard to tell.


I really like the clean look of the neckline.


Last week I was lucky enough to get a lend of Blottedcopybook's snap press and this is the first snap I attempted. So easy, I think I'm definitely going to buy one for myself.

This is the inside of the dress where you can see the facings. I just had to show them off because they're very pretty!

I just received some plain linen and cotton slub in the post today and I think I'm going to do some more tonight with plain colour bodies and patterned pleats. Good way to ration my treasured horded fabric!

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Progeny giveaway

I've hosted a lot of pattern giveaways on my blog (including another two scheduled for this week!), but I haven't yet given away any of my flesh and blood. Now that Jamie is off nursery for seven weeks, and the kids have dedicated their waking hours to fighting for toys, resources and parental affection, to save my sanity I need to give one of them away.

For the sake of transperancy (you need to know what you're letting yourself in for), here is a quick summary of their pros and cons:

Jamie:


Pros:

• Sweet natured
• Very enthusiastic
  
• Enjoys hoovering
• Provides matchmaking / befriending service
  
• Good at puzzles
  
• Toilet trained
• Predictable diet of 15 easy to find foods, no cooking required
• Perfect for those who lack direction / are indecisive because he likes to micro-manage people

Cons:

• Nocturnal wanderings (including sneaking into adult beds)
• Persistent to the point of mania
• Answers 'Wot you say?' whenever you talk to him
  
• Prone to eye infections
• Asks a million questions a day
• All that health food is expensive
• Likes pushing people's buttons / invading personal space
  

Maia:

Pros:

• Very cute
• Fun to dress up / do hair etc
  
• Precociously verbal
• Provides mammograms
  
• Hilarious
• Good eater
• Likes bathing
  
• Good sleeper
• Can colour / play with stickers for hours

Cons:

• Bites
• Believes its her god-given right to drink her body weight in milk every day
• Drama-queen
• Won't do anything she doesn't want to do
• Thinks parental duties extend to scratching her back all day long
  
• Prone to ear infections
• Whines
  
• Has freaky toenail
  

Okay, who's game? To enter the giveaway you'll need to leave a comment with which child you'd like to take off my hands and why you think you deserve one.

Disclaimer: I'll need the child back at the end of the month because the grandparents would be disappointed if we show up one short.

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Kindred spirits

Yesterday Blottedcopybook brought her brood through to play with mine, and despite the rain we headed down to the Botanic Gardens for some outdoor hijinks. The kids had a blast, because they have so many shared interests....

Eight hands banging on the metal bins. The man in the background was amused. Not pictured: The highly unamused Botanics worker who gave us perhaps the dirtiest look I've even received.


Cuddles by two...


Cuddles in small groups...


Cuddles that become wrestling...


Wrestling that becomes pigpiles...


Refueling...


Minicheddars...


Looking expectantly at the camera...



And rolling. Lots and lots of rolling.

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Model rebellion

The other day I made another sleeveless smocky top so I could photograph the steps for the tute. Pictures of the fabric on the floor / in my machine: easy. Photographing the final article: tricky. Maia has decided modelling is not for her.


Here she is hitting the camera with a branch:


But occasionally I can get a nice picture when she's not paying attention:


Or mid run:

This is one of my misfit fabrics, and although there isn't a direct colour match, I think it works... Combining fabrics doesn't come easy for me but I'm trying things out!

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The amazing psychedelic nursery performance

Jamie's nursery is separated between the three year olds (Tweenies) and four year olds (preschoolers). For weeks and weeks he's been asking me first thing in the morning, 'Am I a preschooler yet?', after breakfast, 'Am I a preschooler yet?', on the way to nursery, 'Am I a preschooler yet?', the way home from nursery, 'Am I a preschooler yet?'... You get the picture. This obsession with 'becoming a preschooler' is because they've been preparing and rehearsing for their graduation ceremony for at least the last month. Whatever time he's not been asking, 'Am I a preschooler yet?', he's spent singing the songs from the graduation ceremony. Perfectly, with gusto. Dozens of them.

Yesterday was the big day. Finally I could tell him, 'Yes, Jamie, today you'll become a preschooler'. When I dropped him off all thirty of the kids were whisked away to a back room for final preparations, as the adults played musical chairs for the available chairs (I lost, as you see by the ubiquity of heads in my pics and my crappy hand-in-the-air blind video). And then they started marching in, Jamie bringing up the rear, not following the hands-on-shoulders brief, but introducing his own hands on hips brief.:

He looked around:His eyes searched mine:


He felt like this:

He felt like this:

He felt like this:
The pageant passed with all the children enacting the roles they've been practising, singing all the songs they've been rehearsing, while Jaim watched the proceedings like he'd had LSD for breakfast:



Pay particular attention to the 30 second mark, when he clearly has bigger things on his mind. Is this kid literally 'Too cool for school'?

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Entrant two: The Coolest Girl in the World*TM

I've gotten more customer appreciation pictures! Here's the incredibly cool Brodie rockin' her manga hoodie:


Apparently she likes it so much she wanted to sleep in it. Can't get better feedback than that!


Thanks so much to Felinedream for letting me post them!

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The Land of Misfit Fabric

I threw a bit of a tantrum last night. I was preparing to do the tute for my sleeveless smocky so I needed two fabrics that I could use together. And I wanted them to be nice because, well, they're going to be immortalised in a tute. But, casting my eyes over my fabric closet, could I see anything suitable? No. 'Maybe it's because it's such a mess, I'll clean it and sort everything out,' I thought. So everything was pulled out and spread across the floor. Sick of it, sick of it, random, sick of it, random. I wailed on Twitter. And Meridian Ariel suggested I post my misfit fabric here so you can all laugh at me help me get inspiration.











These are all fabrics I've had for almost a year now but don't use. So what do you think? I know full well that I could use every single one individually for peasant tops or dresses. Or should I just sell them?

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