KCWC | finished

I managed to finish the last and final bit of sewing for the Kids Clothes Week Challenge. While the family were busy watching the Aussie Rules Football Grand final on Saturday I sneaked off to my sewing room and finished these shorts. Mind you, it was not my best of sewing days. Lots of unpicking, ripping, breaking needles (then having to go to the shop for replacements) and when I thought it was all finished, somehow I'd made the waist band about 2 inches too big!! Of course I had sewn the elastic in and had to unpick the entire band. You know, one of those sessions when it takes twice as long as you know it should. But here they are (creased & un-ironed).

The hem is kind of unfinished as my model was unavailable at the time. They are temporary zigzagged waiting for the length to be determined at some stage in the future. The pocket design comes from this tutorial and was not as difficult as I imagined. Next time I will try to use a shorts or pants pattern with a separate waist band so the top of the pockets can be sewn into the seam - I think they would look better that way.

I tried to capture a photo of Sachin wearing his shorts (he does love those pockets) and this was it. One frame. Thanks for coming. Got more important things to do Mum!!

KCWC | half way

I'm playing along again with Meg's Kids Clothes Week Challenge  - check out her Elsie Marley blog for the list of over 300 other players. You can also see pics of what people have been making here in Meg's Flickr group. The challenge is to sew for 1 hour each night for a week and make clothes for children. Earlier in the year I played and knocked out a few winter items and couldn't resist the challenge again.

Sewing each night is proving to be difficult at the moment so I made use of a child free day yesterday and finished 3 of the 4 pieces I was aiming for.

Both of these dresses use the Raglan Shift Dress pattern from Whole Grain Baby. The house fabric was a cheapie found at IKEA for $3 (Aus) a metre. Ruby just loves rabbits and was smitten when she first saw the dress with the appliqued bunny. She told me this morning that it was one of her favourite dresses but not her most ever favourite - that belongs to the $5 special Grandma picked up at Target..... oh well!! 

A boy can never have too many shorts in his wardrobe and I love long ones. Good for protecting knees with all the falls that inevitably happen (not so good for the size of my mending pile). These ones are made from a light weight corduroy and I used a really old pattern that belonged to Mum in the 1970's from Knitwit. Given the pattern was designed for use with stretch fabrics is suits Sachin's slim build which lends itself to a straight fit.

This morning Miss Ruby headed off to Kindergarten for the last time. Another little milestone in her journey. Of course it was deemed important that she wear her favourite (but not most ever favourite) dress to Kindy and style it up for the cold day that it is. I can't be sure..... but I think she may have been a tad excited about both the dress and the day ahead :)

progress in the garden (Project 1)

I've been promising to share with you the progress we have been making in our garden. Inspired by this post by Anna over at Door Sixteen, I decided it was high time I put together a little photo journey of our work in progress.

We've owned the house now for almost 3 years and spent the first couple of those years concentrating on the original interiors which needed our TLC.

So about a year ago we started on our exterior makeover with the demolition of an old farm shed that sat at a 45 degree angle across the corner of our rear yard. We had no fences and the billy goat next door frequently popped in for a visit - much to my initial shock - in true city girl style.

While I'm writing this I'm thinking it is going to be an essay of a post as we literally have 4-5 outside projects on the go at the same time. I think the better way to do this is to tell you about one of the projects, the most finished one. Note I say MOST finished as I question whether any of the projects will actually ever be truly finished. I love to read Studio G - garden design blog - and recall an article featuring a most amazing garden which was owned by a landscape designer himself. Anyway, he admitted that it had taken 10 years to create which has stuck in my mind as an OK target to have for our time management. What do you think???

Enough of the blurb, here's the pictorial journey of our now private front yard. It is where the kids spend most of their time, directly accessed from a downstairs playroom (the sliding doors), visible for me from the kitchen upstairs and a great place to ride their bikes!

In it's sad and sorry state pre-makeover

no more escapees of the 2 or 4 legged kind - all fenced in

as all good renos go - while removing the concrete we broke the gas line

then a blank canvas

pavers go down and get a couple of sealer coats
(I cop some fairy major sunburn on the back of my neck...ouch)

garden bed walls are built

the sandpit gets filled, garden walls are painted black
and the family moves in!
oh..and we also lined the metal fence with a willow screen

planting has started - the unfinished brick walls in the centre are for
storage and will eventually have hinged timber slat seats with big 'ole
comfy cushions for sipping G&T in the sun

As with all projects there are still unfinished jobs. The seat being one and a pergola the other. This area gets hit with the sun quite severely in the Summer so we are hoping to build a shade structure before then so we can truly enjoy our new outdoor space.

The most recent edition is the Magnolia tree (Little Gem variety) which we planted on the weekend in the large box. On the other side we have combined Kangaroo Paws and Cordylines (Coffee & Cream). The lowest planter is filled with kitchen herbs and colourful flowers. So far the garden seems to be thriving but the true test will be the months around the corner. 

(sorry about the images being all out of alignment... I'm afraid it's in the too hard basket tonight.... might try to look at it tomorrow)

handmade birthday crown

I'm a big fan of Amanda Soule of SouleMama - so many things to like. In a nutshell, it's her creative parenting that I so admire. And she thinks outside the square. I have a copy of her first book, The Creative Family, sitting on my bedside table. Often, at the end of a difficult mothering day, I pick up her book and re fuel my Mummy Mojo for the next day. It really does work!!

One of her trademark projects is the Birthday Crown. It has taken me until birthday number 5 but finally Ruby donned her handmade Birthday Crown this year for her suitably themed Princess Party. It was a hit. I'm now looking forward to styling up another one for the little man of the house when his birthday comes around in December.

Happy 5th Birthday Ruby! xxx

memory cushion

I'm a sentimental person who finds it hard to depart with things that capture my memories. You know, birthday cards, notes, photos, kids drawings.... the list goes on. Ruby starts school next month (I know... where did that time go??) which feels like quite a milestone in this parenting journey. I've been looking through her art box and marvelling at the progression she has made in her first few years. To celebrate the end of her time as a pre-schooler I've made this cushion by embroidering (with running stitch on the machine) her first hand written words and a cat drawing for keepsakes.