Swap goodies

Boy do I love swaps...Jalisa is starting to love them too. Her she is modelling the outfit sent to us by Natalie.
Hmm, what to say. Lots of girly goodness going on here - rickrack, ribbon, applique, shirring - this outfit has the lot. Patterns are Ottobre, I recognised them immediately. The outfit is topped off with some gorgeous bows and clips. Jalisa loves these. No doubt they are available from Natalie's shop.

Onto Scott (aka grumpy pants)

Isn't this gorgeous too. Joy has appliques the dinosaur on her embroidery machine. I love the combination of coloured that were used - very noice. There is some more applique on the back.

The workmanship of both outfits is amazing - the topstitching is perfect, the finishing is done well...thank you both so much from all of us here

Thanks Dani

Once again I participated in the EB Christmas Swap - I finally picked up my parcel and it was worth the wait. Dani has handmade every single item in the package and every item is sewn so well, and is totally useful to me.

She made an apron, an oven glove, tea towels and a recipe book - thank you thank you thank you.

EB Secret Santa Quiz / wishlist

My SS could probably do a search and find last year's quiz but here are my answers anyway:

Would you like something handmade as a gift?
Handmade rocks. I don't take enough time to make stuff for myself. I am totally open to stuff such as handbags, grocery bags, apron, oven mitts, tea towels, placemats, coasters, hair accessories, fobs (scissors, keyring), fabric magnets, handbag organizers, make up brushes organizer, which I make for others but never seem to make for myself (why is that???)

Do you have a favourite Christmas Colour?
Not really.

Do you decorate the whole house or just a part of it?
Just parts of it. I decorate the coffee table and put up the tree. Oh, and some other christmas things on a shelf in the kitchen.

Do you have any Christmas Traditions?
We go around a look at Christmas lights many times leading up to Christmas. Christmas Eve we celebrate Christmas with Dh's family and Christmas day with mine. Christmas morning for our own little family. This year will actually be the first year we come back home on Christmas night, usually we are already on our annual camping holiday.

What sizes are your children?
Scott is 74cm tall and Jalisa is 104cm tall - both are skinny (so next size down at least in width).

Do you like quick projects or things that take a little longer?
Good mixture of both. I like to be challenged every now and then but like fast projects for quick fixes.

Is there anything that you like to collect?
Fabric of course. I am always on the look out for fun trims, decorative elastics etc.

Is there anything you don't want or need?
White cotton fabrics to dye. I have more than enough at the moment. Ditto plain knit fabrics, buttons, Christmas decorations/Christmas related stuff.

Experiments in dyeing

I felt like experimenting with dye this last week, so I made up some dye stock, pulled out my white fabrics and went for it. For whatever reason, I always rush into my dyeing and don't really take the time to make s'ure things are right. Big lesson for me, as I did not get the results I thought I would.

These are my attempts at space dyeing...it looked easy in a book...Top left is fleece dyed red and turquoise. I used a lot of water in the red so I thought it would turn pink, but no. I ended up leaving it sit in a bleach bath to tone down the colours. The right is the red/turquoise combo on cord. Bottom is Turquoise and yellow on fleece. I love how the colours blended, but there is too my white left over for my liking.
I also did some more marble dyeing. I also took notes (a suggestion made by Sara) of my experiments and have lots of ideas for the future. My favourites are the pink and oranges - the orange at the front has a lot more subtle swirly patterns in them that I just can't capture...my miserable attempts this morning managed to capture all the wrinkles of the fabric and blur the dye patterns.Hopefully I will be able to create larger pieces of marble fabric when I get Wayne to build me a dye table - at the moment I am using a lid of a storage container and while it does it's job, I can only do small bits of fabric.

Hopefully other people like this, since I am including some pieces in the snailblazer swap.

According to Jalisa...

...The postman brings good presents.

My valentine swap arrived and oh what a treat it was. The postman actually came when I was in the middle of cooking dinner and I had to send Jalisa out because I was embarrassed at wearing a tea towel for an apron (read on and you will see why I am revealing my secrets).

What a pleasure it was to open Natalie. Shame on me for just shoving your stuff in the satchel when you took the time to wrap the items up so delightfully - all in theme with valentines. Individual items for the kids were wrapped up in red spotted cellophane and ribbons, complete with little tags. My present was wrapped in red tissue paper.

• 
  Here’s a run down of the goodies Natalie sent me:
  Heart appliquéd face washer for Scott
• Grosgrain? Ribbon covered hair clips for Jalisa - she loves them!
• Ferreo Roche and Lindt chocs (which I will share with DH)
• Some care bear fabric, vehicles fabric, red buttons, 2 heart buttons and some butterflies (which Jalisa tried to eat to see if they were lollies - what are these Natalie?) and
• A 3 heart appliquéd apron

Natalie - the apron is literally just what I wanted. I have been meaning to make myself some aprons, I even have the fabric set out, but have not been motivated enough to take the time to do that for myself. So I thank you so much for knowing exactly what I needed.

Getting to know you

If you want to, fill out this quiz in your own blog, so that I can get to know you a bit more (it might help with future swaps).

Describe your dress style: Fairly casual. I like to wear practical shorts/pants/denim for being Mum and when I am working but I love to wear dress and skirts. Tees/knit tops and cardigans and jackets in Winter. I would like to have a more creative look but I just don't like dealing with ironing etc for everyday wear.

Favourite colours: To wear, black, pink, white, silver, grey, green.

Colours you dislike: Many muted, burnt or fluro colours

Favourite prints:Pinstripes, some florals, paisley, some geometrics - I really like black and white prints

Prints you hate: gingham

What type of fabrics do you like to sew with and or wear (for yourself): Cotton, wool, rayon, linen and silk - can be mixed with spandex. Polyester is only good as polar fleece.

Do you like all different styles in your wardrobe or do you stick with the same basic styles in different colours: At the moment I have a lot of staples but years ago I had a lot of variety...I prefer a mixture though.


Favourite colours for your kids: white, brown, purple, pink, green for Jalisa, blue and white on Scott
Colours you dislike on your children: Same as me - I just don't really like those types of colours.
Favourite prints: Polka dots, retro inspired, flowers, stripes
Prints you hate: teddy bears
What kind of fabrics do you like to sew with: Cotton

Organised enough for a post

On the weekend, we attended the unveiling of a sign for Ashton's corner, named after Wayne's grandmother (seated). That is Wayne's parents on the right of the photo.
Grandma organised for the kids to have a jumping castle (Jalisa gained confidence later to bounce on her own, until she ended with a bruised nose)...

and some ponies to ride on.

Jalisa was in heaven, because she loves horses and jumping.

I finally got around to snapping a picture of Jalisa in her dress up outfit (crown and skirt) from Clair - thank you - they will be great to add to her dress up box.

I just realised I need to get a photo of the apron and oven gloves I made for Jalisa (after she desperately wanted the set that I made for Natalie's Jordan and Jai. Will get that done another day.

A few basics

I have done a bit of sewing lately, but have not gotten around to getting photos taken. It is really hard to get any photos of me, because Wayne gets home fairly late and by then it is dark.

This is a cardi for Jalisa, made from a lovely mystery jade-coloured knit. I used Ottobre's Best Tee pattern again, just extending the front. I was pleased that I was able to get this cut out of the leftovers from my cardi (as I had 2m but the knit was less than 150cm wide so my cardi basically took up the whole length without the planned leftovers. I was able to squeeze this in the sides!).
Again, Ottobre's best tee pattern, sans the neckband. I used the jade thread to topstitch with the twin needle.

I love Ottobre...I have got plans to use Ottobre for the dress up swap, so it is very handy!

Mail

I have had some exciting mail - and I don't really know for sure who they are from. Yep, secret santa swaps.

The is the swap from the EB sewing group - I am so in love with the top piece of fabric - that is so me (graduates from light pink to hot pink at each end). I think I will make that into a skirt. The other pieces will have to sit into the stash until I gain inspiration (I need ideas people). Thank you SS (they even included a gift of hairclips for Jalisa).
This is from the Crafty Mamas handmade swap. I simply cannot believe someone has made this purse - I am in awe of their talent. Thank you for this fantastic gift.

We are on holidays for the next two weeks, so no internet access - I hope I will survive.